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Book of the Week: Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

This book has all the pieces of a particular puzzle that I completely enjoy: it's a memoir; it's poignant; and it's all about music. It's about two young rock critics, Rob and Renee, who met, fell in love, and married, and a mere eight years later, Renee dies suddenly, a pulmonary embolism, an immediate, unexpected death that leaves the narrator of this book bereft. This book is a loving tribute to his spouse. It talks about the wonder of being young and the strangeness of losing a love in this way. It's about the power of music and how it can shape lives. in a way, it's a period piece. It's about music in the nineties. It's structured around the fact that people used to create their own mix of music on cassette tapes.  But it's much bigger than that; it's about love and loss and trying to find meaning in life when your world turns upside down.  It's a very touching book, where you know the end from the beginning, and as you keep turning the pages, you want the events to somehow change. You do want these good people to grow old together. You want to know what they would be listening to in their senior years. It's a very moving book.

Book of the Week: The Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald

As a reader, it was a very happy day when I discovered John D. MacDonald and his Travis McGee series. I did not want to pick one book to recommend, but to wholeheartedly endorse the series.

If you are unfamiliar with these books, Travis McGee is a man who lives on a houseboat in Florida and works only when his coffers run low and when his sense of justice is stirred. Individuals hire him to right a wrong. They have been harmed in some terrible way, and if McGee can remedy the situation, he gets to keep half of what he can get back. They are always very dangerous situations. It is a journey into a heart of darkness, written in beautiful poetic prose, where MacDonald never flinches from the evil that lurks in these situations. There are tremendously tragic scenes and moments of enormous heartbreak. There are instances of humor and love. There's a portrayal of a great friendship between Travis McGee and Meyer, his confidante who also lives on a boat who counsels, consoles, and listens to McGee. I think they are astonishingly great books.

When you read the books, it's quite evident that they were written in a different time. The last of these books came out in the mid-eighties. The first was published in 1964. A contemporary Travis McGee would most likely be less Bondsian in some of his attitudes. To me, that was just a pose of the time. The books stand up with a great deal of heart and soul. Just writing about it now makes me want to read all of these books again.

 

 

Book of the Week: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

I first read Marjorie Morningstar when I was twelve. I was the kind of precocious reader who read well beyond her years, and I loved this book. In retrospect, there was a lot of things that I missed reading it that  young, but I did understand then the romanticism of being an artist, of having creative ideals, and the idea of having a glorious stage name. In later readings, I thought more about the notion of the idea of staying true to your self, of the hard work it takes to be an artist, and how your religion and culture can be a part of your identity. The book, it seems to me, is in one sense highly romantic and in another sense very practical. There are illusions established early on that eventually need to be reassessed, but it's a wonderful journey. I still read it every couple of years. Now when I do and if someone asks me what I'm reading, they often don't understand why I would read this book in this day and age. To me, it's a growing up book with characters that are dear to me. I can't imagine ever not reading Marjorie Morningstar.

Book of the Week: Helen of Troy by Margaret George

This was the first book I read by Margaret George, and I quickly realized that to read one of her books is to have an emotional experience. When I read one of her books, I want the book at my side, ready to be picked up and read at a moment's notice, while the story rattles around in my head throughout the day.

I've found Margaret George's books always to be well researched. They're exhaustive. They're a good advertisement for the Kindle, as they are big, heavy books. What I liked so much about Helen of Troy is that the gods are full-fledged characters in this book. George doesn't flinch from the myth. But she also gives us a look at the culture of war. I was very struck by the tremendous importance placed on what happened to casualties of war. If someone from your side is killed on the battlefied, would you be able to reclaim the body? Would you have any control over what happened to the body. Would it be given proper respect?

It was a very thoughtful, absorbing book, one that I would highly recommend.

Since I read this book, I've read her work on Cleopatra, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry VIII. In each instance, I found the books to be an emotionally immersive. it was one of those times whereI wanted to be talking about these books to everyone I met, and where some of the books were very hard to read. I found that especially true with Mary, Queen of Scots. It was very hard for me to finish the book, beause her suffering seemed so real. George seems to have this talent to convey characters and situations in a way that feel utterly relatable.

Book of the Week: The Breaks of the Game, David Halberstam

To start off: I would read anything by David Halberstam. I would open any of his books with the expectation that this woiuld be an experience when I would probably be talking a lot, because there would be surprising, interesting things to report. It would be a "Did you know," "I never knew," "Did you have any idea" experience where I would become a better, more learned person. This is what happens when you read David Halberstam books.

He also writes really beautifully. You not only have a book that's extremely well researched, but you have gorgeous sentences. It's heaven with a cover.

This is one of my favorites of his books. Halberstram traveled with the Portland Trailblazers in the 1979-1980 season. He had complete access. The book becomes an in-depth look at this team and also a big picture look at what was happening to the game at that point in time. As with all Halberstam books, I would recommend that, even if you don't like basketball, to give this book a try.You'll find wonderful character studies. You'll get a snapshot of America during that period of time. You'll get a sense of history and business and humanity all rolled up in this sprawling book that will cause your brain to fire up continually. There's just so much information, such a wonderful sensibility, this sense of passion and curiousity and love and respect for the subjects depicted here. It's truly exciting to read. There's just so much to discover.