27 Jan
Ash colored clouds
still smoldering with embers
there on sunset’s hearth
The hallelujah
of the first snowfall is soon
muffled by the next
Growing impatient
for the car defroster’s balm
we pray and proceed
Direction decides
if one’s comfortably dressed
in winds such as this
After house cleaning
with no other place to go
dust motes resettle
20 Jan
Big circle
little circle
twirling into
a figure eight
I imagine
myself a dancer
on wheels
Cards in bike spokes
sing as I go
An appreciative
public
holds its
collective breath
when I
almost pull off
a wheelie
How aerobatic
a banana
seat bicycle
becomes
when fueled
by youth’s
imagination
Cards in bike spokes
sing as I go
Propelled
by summer air
drunk
on enthusiasm
I bow
and exit with
aplomb
Cards in bike spokes
applauding
19 Jan
This book was originally published in conjunction with a 1983 PBS program: Vietnam, A Television History. At the time of its publication, it was the first complete account of the Vietnam War. Karnow opens his tome with an account of the French colonization of Vietnam in the late 1800s. This is followed by a description of the country’s growing nationalism and resistance to French rule, focusing primarily on Ho Chi Minh. Influenced by the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Civil War, Minh embraced Communism. He would ultimately lead a revolution of his own which succeeded in driving the French from the country in the 1950s.
But at that time the country was divided in half, with the Communists controlling the northern half of the country and a Christian minority controlling the southern. While the peace treaty called for an election in the following year, it never did take place. Instead, American involvement in support of South Vietnam began to escalate, with the country seen as the linch pin in the containment of Communism in Asia. This is the point where Karnow begins to focus primarily on the United States’ side of the conflict, at the expense of the motivations of the Vietnamese themselves.
His history details the slippery slope that dragged the American government into a conflict that it had no chance of winning. From John Kennedy, to Lyndon Johnson, to Richard Nixon, their inability to escape the quagmire they found themselves in is highlighted. In each case, none wanted to the first president to lose such a war, especially to a rural economy that possessed none of our military might.
While it might have been the first account of the Vietnam War, it is certainly not the definitive one. Its “American” focus makes the story seem rather one-sided. While Karnow does an admirable job of explaining the political motivations of the major players involved, left out are the horrors experienced by the soldiers on both sides of the conflict, as well as the civilian population caught in between. A reporter long stationed in Vietnam, he clearly understands the subject he is addressing. It is a shame he chose to focus primarily on America’s involvement in the conflict.
19 Jan
Sapiens travels back one hundred thousand years to examine and explain why at a time when at least six human species inhabited the world, Homo sapiens was the only one to survive and prosper. Yuval Noah Hanari, a historian, then traces how Homo sapiens rose to gain dominance over all other creatures on earth. In the book’s final chapter, he addresses the possible futures that might await us as a species.
Hanari argues that what makes us unique is the result of four separate leaps forward: the cognitive, agricultural, industrial, and scientific revolutions. In each section, he outlines what make each revolution special compared to other animal life on the planet. There are numerous topics discussed along the way, including the importance of religion, scientific reasoning, and the acceptance of the concept of credit and money, which ultimately led to the creation of a global trade network that unified humankind across the globe.
Approaching the topics he addresses with confidence and brio, Hanari presents his opinions as facts. At times, driven by his own biases in certain subject areas, he preaches rather than informs. For the most part though, his writing style throughout is simplified and engaging. Sapiens is a book that is sure to appeal to a broad audience. He is to be commended for so ably condensing the history of humankind into just 464 pages.
19 Jan
The Capital Times newspaper began publishing in 1917. At the time, it was the third daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. William T. Evjue founded the newspaper to champion the causes of economic and social justice and peace. He remained its editor until his death in 1970. While it is now a weekly newspaper, it has a strong online presence in the community and continues to champion the progressive legacy of Robert M. La Follette, the Wisconsin governor and later U.S. senator who inspired Evjue to begin publishing the newspaper during World War I.
This history of the newspaper was written by two men with strong ties to The Capital Times. Dave Zweifel is the editor emeritus of the newspaper, and John Nichols is its associate editor. It reveals not only its importance and influence in southern Wisconsin, but nationally as well. Highlighted is the newspaper’s battle against racism, Joe McCarthy during the Red Scare, its early opposition to the Vietnam War and to the invasion of Iraq. Over the decades it has also championed civil rights and LGBTQ rights.
The authors are biased in their presentation of The Capital Times’ 100 year history, but that is beside the point. In our current environment, when newspapers are an endangered species and are attacked for reporting “fake news,” the book reaffirms the necessity of free press in this country. It has become evident that when communities lose their newspaper(s), a communication chasm is left no matter if all its citizens have internet access or not. In this digital age, one can only hope that The Capital Times has found the blueprint which will allow it to thrive for another 100 years.
19 Jan
Yesterday you walked barefoot
through the grass,
and you will this afternoon, too.
But dawn’s light
now lingers beneath the covers.
Despite the day’s
later heat, August has awoken
this morning to
find a note left on the doorstep.
Encrypted by
today’s fresh northerly breeze,
its wordless inquiry
is cool, astringent, and concise.
Even if dismissed as
a vagary once the sun patently
asserts dominance,
Equinox, house shopping, has
left a calling card.
Uninvited, it is sure to be back.
13 Jan
At the start of Advent,
there in a neighbor’s front yard,
cardboard cutouts appear,
populating an incomplete Nativity.
Mary, Joseph, and sheep,
already joined by three Wise Men
who have arrived early,
probably guided by GPS rather
than an eastern star.
Left out, a baby Jesus swaddled
in December’s snowfall.
Teasing an upcoming Christmas
premiere, the ensemble
gazes intently at what the plot
has yet to reveal.
Staked in the baby’s absence,
a placeholder suffices.
Handwritten, its sign proclaims,
“Arriving soon…”
6 Jan
Visualize a feather waltzing with
the night’s wind.
Construct, step by step, a stairway
to the stars.
Summon the sound of a stream
gurgling over rocks.
Conjure a cloud of blackbirds from
a summer’s sunset.
Whisper into silence’s ear a mantra
that makes no sense.
Let the thunder of today’s emotions
fade into drizzle.
Prescription taken, morning’s sure
to tiptoe in.
6 Jan
The spider is no match for
a napkin once it’s weaponized.
A book on meditation,
upon launching, can be used as
a nuclear bomb to
obliterate a scurrying centipede.
Used tissue will do
to stop an invading ant before
it reaches that crack.
Bats require the blast of artillery,
tennis racket or broom.
In the annals of guerrilla warfare,
poison suffices for mice,
an intense flame for a tick’s shell.
Based on past encounters,
such home invaders should know
by now not to intrude.
Even if we profess benign intent,
a fly swatter’s within reach.
2 Jan
Below is a list of the books I’ve read in the past year (linked to my book review), followed by abridged reviews of ten books that stood out to me.
The Tsar Of Love And Techno / Anthony Marra
Lincoln In The Bardo / George Saunders
Emma / Jane Austen
Exit West / Mohsin Hamid
Istanbul : Memories And The City / Orhan Pamuk
Catcher In The Wry / Bob Uecker and Mickey Herskowitz
The China Mission : George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-1947 / Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
The Nix / Nathan Hill
Transit / Rachel Cusk
The Museum Of Innocence / Orhan Pamuk
Less / Andrew Sean Greer
The Sleepwalkers : How Europe Went To War In 1914 / Christoper Clark
Red Notice : A True Story Of High Finance, Murder, And One Man’s Fight For Justice / Bill Browder
The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness / Arundhati Roy
The Design Of Everyday Things / Donald A. Normand
The Good Earth / Pearl S. Buck
The Poison Squad : One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade For Food Safety At The Turn Of The Century / Deborah Blum
Sing, Unburied, Sing / Jesmyn Ward
She Has Her Mother’s Laugh / Carl Zimmer
There Are No Children Here : The Story Of Two Boys Growing Up In The Other America / Alex Kotlowitz
The Men Who Lost America : British Leadership, The American Revolution, And The Fate Of An Empire / Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy
Stay Awake / Dan Chaon
Thunder In The Mountain : Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, And The Nez Perce War / Daniel J. Sharfstein
Hannah Coulter / Wendell Berry
Positively 4th Street ” The Lives And Times Of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, And Richard Farina / David Hajdu
Miguel Street / V. S. Naipaul
Rogue Heroes : The History Of SOS, Britain’s Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged The Nazis And Changed The Course Of The War / Ben Macintyre
Curriculum Vitae : Autobiography / Muriel Spark
Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill Or Die : How The Allies Won On D-Day / Giles Milton
A House For Me Biswas / V. S. Naipaul
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me / Richard Farina
Dark Reflections / Samuel R. Delany
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / John Le Carré
Labyrinths : Selected Stories & Other Writings / Jorge Luis Borges
Leadership : In Turbulent Times / Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Sea The Sea / Iris Murdoch
Frederick Douglass : Prophet Of Freedom / David W. Blight
The Radium Girls : The Dark Story Of America’s Shining Women / Kate Moore
Black Mass : Whitey Bulger, The FBI, And A Devil’s Deal / Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neil
Charming Billy / Alice McDermott
Education : A Memoir / Tara Westover
Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk / Kathleen Rooney
Notes On A Foreign Country : An American Abroad In A Post-American World / Suzy Hansen
Lake View And Rocky Peaks / R. D. Zachman
Freshwater / Akwaeke Emezi
Lincoln In The Bardo / George Saunders
It is February 1862, and while Abraham Lincoln and his wife host a large dinner party in the White House, their son Willie is gravely ill in an upstairs bedroom. The President has been reassured that his son is likely to recover. However, he does not, and several days later Willie is buried. Shortly after, in newspaper reports, mention is made of a grief-stricken Lincoln returning after-hours to visit his son’s crypt. George Saunders launches from this factual incident to create a truly fascinating and unique novel.
While the story opens in the White House, the remainder of it takes place over the course of one night in the Georgetown cemetery where Willie is buried and Lincoln mourns. There, spinning off into the supernatural realm, the reader is introduced to a strange purgatory populated by ghosts who refuse to accept that they are dead. Rising from their “sick beds” every evening in their disembodied shapes, they argue and talk about their past lives, desperately trying to keep boredom at bay.
The book is filled with a cacophony of voices; some alive, most dead, both historical and invented. Bardo is a term taken from the Tibetan tradition, referring to a transitional state between life and death. Using Lincoln’s familial loss as a touchstone, Saunders addresses what it means to be human, and the need to come to terms with and accept one’s failures, sorrows, and regrets. It is a modern day reworking of The Divine Comedy: profound, often hilarious, and deeply moving.
The Good Earth / Pearl S. Buck
The Good Earth tells the life history of Wang Lung, an illiterate farmer living on a small plot of land in rural China. He is a man who could care less about politics or the news of distant events; his entire focus is on nurturing the land that feeds his family. To him, the soil he toils on represents the worth of a person. Even so, he is only too well aware that he is at the mercy of weather events. A good growing season means there will be just enough food on the table to sustain his family through the fallow winter months; a poor one brings only the prospect of starvation and lawlessness in the countryside.
The story’s time period is never mentioned, but based on Buck’s detailed description, one supposes it is set in the early part of the 20th Century. In the opening chapter, Wang Lung is preparing to visit the House of Hwang, a noble family that rules over the community. His purpose is to bring home a wife. O-Lan is a slave no longer wanted, a plain looking woman, but like Wang Lung, she is a tireless worker. Over the course of her short life, she gives birth to four children, two sons and two daughters. All are delivered at home, alone in her bedroom without any medical assistance. And the day after giving birth, she again joins her husband to provide assistance in the fields.
A family long accustomed to wealth, the House of Hwang’s opulent life style has led to a depletion of their fortune. In desperate need of money, the Hwangs are only too willing to sell their land when Wang Lung offers to buy parcels of it. The story comes full circle with Wang Lung late in life being able to move his into the palatial residency long after the House of Hwang has fallen to ruin. This comes, however, only after a severe drought drives Wang Lung and his family to a larger community in search of work and food. It is there that an unexpected event provides him with enough money to return to his community and allows him to begin to slowly expand his land holdings.
The Good Earth is a novel set in pre-revolutionary China, but it is a timeless story that describes what life was like for peasant families throughout recorded history. For readers who have not read the novel since high school days, it is well worth picking up again. The world described within it still resonates today. Rooted in the good earth, Buck’s simple tale will continue to delight generations to come with a glimpse of what our ancestors once endured.
In this sweeping overview of how heredity has shaped human society, Carl Zimmer examines the birth of genetics as a science, tracing its progression over the centuries to present times. In doing so, he presents not only the scientific details our DNA, but also highlights the key figures involved in piecing together an understanding of how we inherit genes from our ancient ancestors, and how those genes are passed from parent to child.
The book reads like a first class mystery story as Zimmer follows the numerous missteps taken along the way, and how erroneous theories affected cultural beliefs and actions. He does not scrimp on aspects of the science involved, but provides it in a manner that is readily understood by the layperson.
Published in 2015, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, describes in its final chapter the advent of genome editing through the use of CRISPR. It highlights the many ways this could shape our future as well as all the dangers that lurk in the shadows through using the new technologies now available to manipulate heredity. Zimmer reveals not only how our genes have shaped the nature of who we are, but also the role environment plays in the process. Despite the book’s daunting length, the author has taken a complicated topic and turned it into a page turner that is difficult to put down.
There Are No Children Here : The Story Of Two Boys Growing Up In The Other America / Alex Kotlowitz
As the title indicates, this book tells the true story of two boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers. The “other America” chronicled in this case is Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, a public housing complex built in the 1950s. At the time, it was a place where the area’s Blacks were eager to move into with their families. Over time, however, crime and neglect began to reduce the complex into a cockroach infested building with broken appliances and filth everywhere. By the 1980s, the time period the book describes, the residents of Henry Horner Homes feared for their lives with drugs and gang activity overrunning the area.
Lafeyette and Pharoah’s mother, LaJoe, grew up in the complex, and it is where she raised her eight children (the last three were triplets). All shared the same father, Paul Rivers. A parent with drug and alcohol problems, he is often absent from the family’s crowded apartment. During the time period described, Lafeyette is a young teenager, struggling to keep out of trouble and avoid being caught up in the rival gang wars taking place in the neighborhood. Pharoah, several years younger than his brother, is a studious daydreamer, hoping he will have the chance to attend college and escape the “projects”.
Alex Kotlowitz spent three years researching this book, conducting frequent interviews with both boys, their mother, and friends of the family. While his story of urban poverty is at times heartbreaking and tragic, he also portrays the love that this family has for each other and the moments of brightness and hope that keep them from succumbing to despair.
There Are No Children Here was a groundbreaking feat of reporting, and its “You Are There” perspective captures the challenges that LaJoe faced in trying to raise her children while on welfare. Some thirty years after the book’s publication, one cannot help but wonder about what happened to Lafeyette and Pharoah once they reached adulthood. In this meticulous portrait of the two boys and their family, Kotlowitz provides a harrowing description of the efforts it takes to survive when living in such a blighted urban landscape.
The Men Who Lost America : British Leadership, The American Revolution, And The Fate Of An Empire / Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy
While I have read many books about the War of Independence, they were mainly told from the American perspective. What attracted me to The Men Who Lost America is its focus on the British political and military decision makers during the conflict. In the book, O’Shaughnessy concentrates on the men most often labeled as being responsible for Britain’s loss of America at war’s end.
Each of the men is given a biographical chapter, with the focus around their involvement in the conflict. This leads to some repetitiveness, since each of the men’s activities overlap with the others’ interpretation of events. Rather than being a detriment, this allows the author to show the differing perspectives of events already described. The profiles in the book include the monarch, politicians, and the military leadership involved.
While each of the men profiled has been blamed for Britain’s loss of America, this detailed history provides ample evidence that there are far too many factors involved to lay blame on a single individual. From the first, it was obvious to many in Britain that the war was not a winnable proposition. The only hope for the British government was that there were enough loyalists in the colonies who would rise up to assist the occupying army in subduing the rebellion. This failed to occur, and once France, Spain and Holland became involved in the conflict, Britain’s military resources were spread far too thin to deliver a knock out blow in America. In the final analyses, the British chose to focus on preserving Canada and their Caribbean possessions. For anyone interested in the history of the War of Independence, The Men Who Lost America offers a fresh perspective on the conflict.
Hannah Coulter / Wendell Berry
Over his prolific writing career, Wendell Berry has created a number of books set in the fictional town of Port Williams, Kentucky. This novel is the only one that features a woman narrator. It is the voice of Hannah Coulter, a now elderly woman in the early 2000s, presenting a fascinating autography of her life in this close knit rural community.
In it, she vividly recreates her childhood growing up during the Great Depression. It is also a tale of her relationships with two husbands, The first ended shortly after it began, with her husband being killed during the European conflict in World War II. Her next marriage stood the test of time until her husband’s death from cancer late in the twentieth century. Describing each, she paints pictures of the compromises necessary on the parts of both parties in creating a loving relationship. The lives of the children from each marriage are also addressed, showing how, in a society now favoring urban life over rural traditions, all of them grew up and left Port Washington to settle in cities across the United States.
Wendell Berry is a gifted poet, and while the book eschews poetic flourishes, his simple prose is a delight to read. It effortlessly captures the essence of rural life and touches the heart strings. Hannah Coulter is an elegy to the slow death of the American family farm. It recreates a time where hard work and strong moral beliefs were their own reward. The book held me captivated from beginning to end. Atmospheric and quietly moving, it is essential reading for anyone interested in a time period now rapidly fading from human memory.
Miguel Street / V. S. Naipaul
Miguel Street, published in 1959 was not V. S. Naipaul’s first published work, but it was the novel that introduced him to an international audience. It is actually a collection of linked stories, all narrated by a nameless boy growing up in Trinidad during World War II. The novel focuses on a specific neighborhood in the Port of Spain. Miguel Street is a derelict corner of that capital city, but its poverty is enriched by a cast of characters who seem to be living happy-go-lucky lives. Against the odds, their dreams of a better life provide a colorful rainbow above this supposedly downtrodden community.
Each chapter focuses on a single character living on Miguel Street. But in such a small community, the lives of Naipaul’s eccentric characters overlap, and in doing so, their separate stories blend into a novel’s complexity. It is the innocent narrator’s view of the events that provides a poignancy to the adult lives that he details. While richly comedic in the telling, underlying each story is a sad truthfulness that shows the difficulty each character faces in overcoming the chains of poverty in pursuit of their dreams. In the book’s conclusion, among the male characters, it is only the narrator who eventually overcomes the odds to escape Miguel Street and achieve success in the greater world.
Modern day readers will be disturbed by stories that portray a husband who often resorts to beating his wife and children. But the women Naipaul presents in the book are usually able to give back, tit for tat, the abuse they receive. A good many of them manage to escape sad marriages to reinvent their lives in better circumstances. The men highlighted are, for the most part, not so fortunate.
For those not familiar with Naipaul’s extensive literary output during his lifetime, Miguel Street is an excellent introduction to his creative writing skills. The book from start to finish proves to be a delight to read. Using humor, the author brings to life characters who refuse to succumb to the despair of their impoverished lives. Once the last page is turned, the reader’s lone regret will be that they have only experienced Miguel Street second hand.
Leadership : In Turbulent Times / Doris Kearns Goodwin
In Goodwin’s latest tome, she looks back at how four presidents rose to the occasion when confronted with a challenge early in their presidencies. The four individuals she focuses on are ones she has written about in earlier biographies. The presidents she highlights here are Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson.
The book is divided into four sections The first describes what inspired their initial interest in public life. Next, she spotlights an event that threatened to derail the political career of each before they could achieve their dreams of success. The third reveals how each man dealt with a major issue that would define their presidency. The final chapters address how each faced their approaching deaths once no longer in office.
While these four presidents differ in personality, all were fired with an ambition to make their mark by challenging the status quo. For each, resilience played a key role in their later success. More importantly, strong moral beliefs defined their time in office. Their success resulted from being able to incorporate the advice of the people they surrounded themselves with once in office, while remaining true to their desire to sustain our country as a democracy.
In the turbulent times we are currently living through politically, Goodwin’s book provides an insight into how four presidents rose to the occasion to provide a path forward. While each of them has faults in terms of leadership, all four persevered to ensure that America would live up to its own Constitution. One can only wonder how today’s occupant of the White House will fare in comparison.
Charming Billy / Alice McDermott
In the opening chapter of this novel, the family and friends of Billy Lynch gather at a small bar in the Bronx following his funeral. As they reminisce about the man, events from his life are recalled, including tales of his first love who died before they could marry, how he later met the woman he would wed, and the sad fact that Billy was an alcoholic. But in this multilayered story, nothing is quite what it appears on the surface.
A gifted writer, Alice McDermott masterfully depicts the Irish community that Billy returned to following World War II and where he spent the rest of his days. The other main character in this story is Dennis Lynch, Billy’s cousin and best friend. It is Dennis’ grown daughter, whose first name is never given, who is the book’s narrator. Throughout, she’s a keen observer, letting the people who knew Billy best have their say. That said, she does offer subtle clues about the extended family members’ and her own life, adding depth to the story.
One could write an entire chapter on the themes addressed in this novel, with unrequited love, romantic illusion, and alcoholism topping the list. But just as importantly, it is about family relationships, married life, religion, and the strong bond between a daughter and her father. McDermott has created a wonderful narrative in which her characters are presented with compassionate candor.
Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk / Kathleen Rooney
In Kathleen Rooney’s 2017 novel, Lillian Boxfish took 1930s New York City by storm. She began her career writing copy for Macy’s, rising to later become the highest paid advertising woman in the country. During this time period she also gained acclaim for several collections of light verse that became best sellers. But her star began to lose its shine after cultural tastes began to change following World War II. This novel opens on the last day of 1984 when Lillian heads out for an early dinner at her favorite restaurant in Manhattan. Now eighty-five years old, she has spent her entire adult life living in this beloved city. After finishing her meal, rather than returning home, she decides to take a walk that, in the end, will take her on a tour of more than ten miles (and through decades of recalled memories).
On this trip around Manhattan, she interacts with a bartender, bodega clerk, security guard, limousine driver, and with some shadier characters as well. Throughout, she views the world with humor, curiosity, and honesty. But some of her memories are dark ones, especially those surrounding a failed marriage and a botched suicide attempt, followed by a time spent institutionalized. Lillian frankly admits the mistakes she has made in her life, but does not let regret weigh down her positive outlook on life. Few readers will be disappointed in taking this walk with Lillian. On this last night of 1984, her stroll takes one from the Jazz Age through the Depression, to the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic. Lillian is a delight to get to know.
Robert Up At Dawn 