They Eat Puppies Don't They?

A funny title for a very funny satire of one of the planet's biggest issues today: US-China relations, or should I say, China-US relations. This is the first book by Christopher Buckley that I've read and it is a hoot. No one is spared here: the military-industrial complex, CIA, NSA, Communist Chinese leadership, Chinese propagandists and US public relations spinners all get sliced. Buckley develops characters that are perfect for their political roles, and are often laugh out loud. The book touches now and then on the brutality of the Communist Chinese Party, their Public Security Forces and military, and the atrocious labor conditions in the Workers' Paradise. One key character says to her Chinese counterpart in a TV interview, "I see another miserable worker in Guangdong hurled herself off the roof yesterday. What's the death total for that factory now?" (She's of course referring to the notorious Foxconn factories that manufacture every iPhone, iPod, & iPad on the planet. But, what the heck, the prices are great!) An important conceit of the story is an illness of H.H. The Dalai Lama, so thankfully, the book also refers to the Communist Chinese' horrid oppression of the Tibetan people. I wish there had been more of the tough stuff, but it is, after all, a satire and there are laughs in abundance. 

The Vanishers & 2 Reminds Me

Heidi Julavits' The Vanishers is a fun, romp of a book built on top of some big issues. Its tone reminds me of The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas, minus the 19th century philosopher/scientists. So, get ready to suspend disbelief or belief or both, and have fun. This book has been described as a psychic mystery, true enough. The protagonist, Julia, is a young psychic hired to find a radically avant-guard film maker, who coincidentally knew Julia's mother at the time of her death.  Julavits uses this story to dig deeply into mothers, fathers, daughters, communication, grief, loss, suicide. It has a complex set of lively characters & relationships. But, don't despair, it is written with a very light touch and wit, and is often quite funny. In fact, Julavits'  writing style reminds me of Vendela Vida, whose work I enjoy very much. Vida's writing often has a musical phrasing: three sentences will set up a fourth that is a clever zinger. I learned in the acknowledgments that they are co-editors of the literary magazine The Believers.