![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jul. 27th, 2004 09:51 pm"She went to the union hall, when a meeting it was called . . ."
I went down to the IBEW hall this evening to watch State (soon to be U.S. ) Senator Barack Obama kick some major butt. Good crowd, good food, lots of energy, and a great speech! Content and delivery were A+.
But here's a question that I wonder about every four years. What is it about political conventions that makes otherwise normal adults suddenly want to wear bizarre hats?
#78
Cyanide Wells, by Marcia Muller
Fourteen years ago, Matthew Lindstrom's wife Gwen disappeared. Suspected of murdering her, he found his life in shambles, and moved to Alaska, where he made a new life. Then he received an anonymous phone call, telling him that his wife was alive, well and living in California under a new name.
When he goes to California seeking answers, she disappears again, fleeing with her child from her new lover, Carly. When Carly and Matt join forces to try to find her, they discover that her lies reach far into the past.
I've always liked Muller's Sharon McCone series, and this non-series mystery lives up to those, with one exception. The plotting is deft, the characters interesting, but there is no real explanation for Gwen's history of deceit. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book.
#79
High Spirits: a Collection of Ghost Stories, by Robertson Davies
Every story in this book is a joy. Davies spoofs himself, as, in his persona as Master of Massey College of the University of Toronto, he narrates them. It seems that there is something about Massey College that is attractive to ghosts, famous, infamous and not famous at all. "Every part of our great University strives for distinction of one kind or another, but it is everywhere admitted that in the regularity and variety of our ghostly visitations Massey College stands alone." Even Little Lord Fauntleroy puts in an appearance! Splendid stuff.
#80
Welsh Boys Too, by John Sam Jones
I had to read this after having enjoyed the author's second collection of short stories about being Welsh and gay, Fishboys of Vernazza. This is quite good as well. Among the best is one story ("The Birds Don't Sing . . . ") set outside of Wales, in Poland, amid memories of Auschwitz. I could see it coming from the first paragraph, but it was still a shock. In "But Names Will Never Hurt Me", a boy harassed at school decides that being called "rent-boy" doesn't sound so bad. Mrs. Amelia Roberts, the "elegant old aunt", goes to Shrewsbury to pick out a new suit ("The Magenta Silk Thread") for a very special service. And there is the wonderfully funny "Pocket Sprung and Nested", in which two older lovers go shopping for a new mattress.
I went down to the IBEW hall this evening to watch State (soon to be U.S. ) Senator Barack Obama kick some major butt. Good crowd, good food, lots of energy, and a great speech! Content and delivery were A+.
But here's a question that I wonder about every four years. What is it about political conventions that makes otherwise normal adults suddenly want to wear bizarre hats?
#78
Cyanide Wells, by Marcia Muller
Fourteen years ago, Matthew Lindstrom's wife Gwen disappeared. Suspected of murdering her, he found his life in shambles, and moved to Alaska, where he made a new life. Then he received an anonymous phone call, telling him that his wife was alive, well and living in California under a new name.
When he goes to California seeking answers, she disappears again, fleeing with her child from her new lover, Carly. When Carly and Matt join forces to try to find her, they discover that her lies reach far into the past.
I've always liked Muller's Sharon McCone series, and this non-series mystery lives up to those, with one exception. The plotting is deft, the characters interesting, but there is no real explanation for Gwen's history of deceit. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book.
#79
High Spirits: a Collection of Ghost Stories, by Robertson Davies
Every story in this book is a joy. Davies spoofs himself, as, in his persona as Master of Massey College of the University of Toronto, he narrates them. It seems that there is something about Massey College that is attractive to ghosts, famous, infamous and not famous at all. "Every part of our great University strives for distinction of one kind or another, but it is everywhere admitted that in the regularity and variety of our ghostly visitations Massey College stands alone." Even Little Lord Fauntleroy puts in an appearance! Splendid stuff.
#80
Welsh Boys Too, by John Sam Jones
I had to read this after having enjoyed the author's second collection of short stories about being Welsh and gay, Fishboys of Vernazza. This is quite good as well. Among the best is one story ("The Birds Don't Sing . . . ") set outside of Wales, in Poland, amid memories of Auschwitz. I could see it coming from the first paragraph, but it was still a shock. In "But Names Will Never Hurt Me", a boy harassed at school decides that being called "rent-boy" doesn't sound so bad. Mrs. Amelia Roberts, the "elegant old aunt", goes to Shrewsbury to pick out a new suit ("The Magenta Silk Thread") for a very special service. And there is the wonderfully funny "Pocket Sprung and Nested", in which two older lovers go shopping for a new mattress.
