Honor Crimes & My Sisters Made of Light

Jackie St. Joan did a reading at Garcia Street Books from her novel My Sisters Made of Light. Jackie is an attorney who focuses on domestic violence issues. Her novel is based on women victims of "honor crimes" in Pakistan. She spoke about the complex cultural issues involved. Thousands of women & girls are killed or abused each year by family members who believe their behaviour has brought dishonor to the family or community. Honor crimes are illegal in Pakistan, yet they continue to be common. They are often approved beforehand by local citizens and are thus very difficult to prosecute. She is donating half of her proceeds from the novel to the construction of a safe house in Pakistan for abused women and girls. Her website is: http://www.mysistersmadeoflight.com/. You can contact her there to made donations for the safe house.

Serenata with Krista River

Debbie performed with Serenata on February 6th in a chamber music program that featured mezzo-soprano Krista River. Krista's lyric mezzo was lovely in songs from Beethoven's Four Ariettas and Brahms' Zwei Gesange. The program had an unusual offering of oboe and voice, from Ralph Vaughn Williams' Ten Blake Songs. It was a wonderful pairing, with Pamela Epple playing oboe. River's rendering of Noel Coward's If Love Were All and A Bar on the Piccola Marina was a real crowd pleaser! Debbie and Krista's photo appeared the following day in the local paper....at a restaurant cheering on the Green Bay Packers in the Superbowl!

If you love movies, please read this book!

Steve Erikson's Zeroville is an homage to Film, with a capital F. Here is an extraordinary exploration of film-making and film-makers, through the eyes of a young man obsessed with Film. Yes, he has Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, from A Place in the Sun, tatooed on his shaved head. Zeroville has a clever structure and plot. It is also filled with fascinating characters and wonderful insights into great movie making. The title is from Godard's ground breaking film, Alphaville. Erikson's writing is edgy, without going over the edge, a big plus among young writers today.

The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe

A long title for a fun, clever, short book, by Andrew O'Hagan. Maf is an erudite, opinionated dog who weighs in on the Arts and Politics, with capital letters, during the early '60's in the US. There are some great cameos by Lee Strasberg, Leo Castelli, Frank Sinatra, John Kennedy, Carson McCullers, Lillian Hellman, a host of critics & scholars. Once past the first 20 pages of set-up, Maf finds his stride and it's a romp!

End of a Dry Spell

Jane Gardam is new to me, and I'll be reading more. She has written 16 novels and is a two time winner of the Whitbread Award, so where have I been? I just finished Old Filth, written in 2004. It is delightful reading: wonderful characters, great writing, and beautifully structured & paced. It is the story of a "Raj orphan", abandoned by his father, raised by Malay natives & then an abusive foster home in Wales. He is tossed by life for years, gets through Cambridge, & becomes a successful lawyer & judge in Hong Kong. Filth is his acronym for Failed in London Try Hong Kong. There are some great early developments that are saved for the very end the book. The soft cover was published by Europa Editions, always dependable for a good read!

One out of Three

I read three highly praised recent novels by young authors. Two of them were completely lost on me. Poorly plotted stories of misfit main characters and their even more dysfunctional, horrid families: what's the point? Perhaps it is a new genre, misfit ennui? You Were Wrong topped it off with edgy, often annoying, writing. Erased was filled with absurd characters that toppled into goofiness. The Hidden by Tobias Hill was a welcome relief, good writing, well drawn characters. It reminded me of Don Delillo's The Names in many respects, which is a compliment. A recently divorced anthropologist washes up at an archeology dig in Greece. He tries hard to be accepted into the secretive inner circle here.This conceit did wear thin, but the accelerating pace of the ending freshened it up. Be careful what you wish for.

The Novel Bookstore & 100 Foot Journey

Here's one for lovers of "good novels". Two avid readers open a bookstore in Paris which only sells "good novels". Their inventory is selected by a secret committee of authors who never meet. There is an outcry against this undemocratic idea, which culminates in threats & violence against the committee. A bit of mystery & love story, and many, many recommendations of good novels. Structure could be tighter and needs editing in the second half of the book, but if you love reading novels, this will be fun! It has a bit of the flavor of Elegance of the Hedgehog, & both were translated by Alison Anderson.

The Hundred Foot Journey: Indian ex-pats' restaurant and their son's journey to three Michelin stars. Not the best writing, but if you are a "foodie", this is it!