My New Friend, "PIRANESI" by Susanna Clarke

 

Me and my new friend, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

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Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. So, for example, if I were in a mysterious, magical house where I only ever talked to statues and birds, so long as I had books, I would probably be fine. 

Probably. 

Which brings me to my new friend, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This was a long-awaited comeback novel for Clarke, since her very successful (and very big) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell arrived in 2004. Piranesi, for most folks, was worth the wait. Much slimmer than her previous novel (Piranesi clocks in at 245 pages), but not less magical. For me, it created a different impact I wasn't expecting. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

It is difficult to talk about Piranesi in heavy detail without giving too much away. It concerns our narrator, who tells us his story through journal entries marked in a calendar he created, who lives in a strange, magical house that is his entire world. To his knowledge, there is only one other living person in this universe who he calls "the Other". The Other calls him Piranesi, but our narrator is pretty sure this is not his name. 

This magical house is filled with statues, but it also has an Ocean and Tides, and Clouds and rain. Piranesi, as he is called, survives by fishing, gathering seaweed both for food and fuel, and spends his days wandering the almost infinite rooms and hallways, keeping notes. He meets with the Other twice a week, who he believes is a scientist, and who is working on cracking the code for the Great and Secret Knowledge. 

The house, like the book, is a labyrinth and a puzzle. The book engages the reader by slowly and precisely unravelling the mystery of the House, and of the man called Piranesi. 

TAKEAWAYS

Piranesi won the Women's Prize for Fiction, and I can understand why. It is brilliantly written, incredibly smart and creative, and Clarke is both a top notch storyteller and writer (which, yes, are two different things). 

I was told that the book was very enjoyable and magic and fun and that I should read it. And yes, I found it magical in many ways, and enjoyable in many places... 

But I think it hit me differently than it did many people. Stop reading here if you don't want to hear my emotional response to the ending. I will not spell out what happens, but I am going to be very specific about how it made me feel.  Okay? So stop reading if you worry this may spoil things for  you---

I ultimately found Piranesi to be a tragedy in a way. Not a full-blown tragedy. There is hope, I suppose, and there isn't a bit ol' body count or anything. But the ending made me incredibly sad. The message, for me, ultimately was about how sometimes people must completely disassociate to survive, completely lose themselves and their very identity, as well as their memories. That in specific, traumatic situations, you must almost start over with a blank slate if you are going to make it. In short, you get lost. And even if you're found, you are never completely the same. There is a part of you that is still lost, and will always be lost. 

And that made me sad. 

Still, it is a masterful book and you should read it if you get a chance. 

My New Friend, "CARRY ON," by Rainbow Rowell

 

Me with my new friend, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I'm on the left. 

Hello. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. It could be worse--- at least I'm not living out some kind of Chosen One plot requiring some grand sacrifice with my story living on. 

Speaking of which, I would like you to meet my new friend Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. This is Rainbow Rowell's take on a Chosen One story, and I have read many people refer to it as the "Queer Harry Potter".  In this story, our hero is Simon Snow, who first appeared as a fictional character in Rowell's novel Fangirl (which I have not read). The lead character in that book writes fan fiction about Simon Snow, and, according to Rowell, she couldn't stop thinking about him and his world, so she had to write Carry On. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

A long while back, I read Rowell's book Eleanor and Park and really enjoyed it. Rowell knows how to create a realistic teen love story that sticks with you. 

I wanted to read some good stories this Pride Month with LGBTQIA+ characters, when I heard this was as much a queer love story as a "magic Chosen One" tale, I wanted to check it out. 

QUICK NOTE ABOUT HARRY POTTER, J.K. ROWLING AND TERFS

Like so many people with a pulse and breath, I loved the Harry Potter series and devoured them as they came out--- and I was in college. It is impossible not to see the influence of Harry Potter in any chosen one story since. 

Like so many people, I was disgusted when J.K. Rowling came out with her stance against the transgender community, particularly transgender women. I hoped she would evolve the on the issue, but instead has used her platform to spew transphobic bile, promote transgender misinformation and businesses, and, frankly, to ruin her legacy and the legacy of her work as something to embrace and include everyone. 

J.K. Rowling is a TERF. 

Fuck TERFs. 

So, yeah, I won't lie--- I jumped into the world of Simon Snow so I could recommend other magical stories that does not put money in TERF pockets. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Carry On is told from multiple first-person narratives, with our major protagonist being Simon Snow, the "chosen one" who is entering his final year at Watford, a school for magic children. Simon's mentor is "the Mage" (which is more like a title than a name), the current Headmaster at Watford, who is ruffling a lot of feathers in the magic world. Simon had always assumed he was a "Normal" (someone without magic), but it is clear he has magic that builds up and "goes off", magic he has a hard time controlling. 

Simon's best friend is Penelope Bunce, who is near the top of their class. She has been a part of many Simon adventures, and is a true confidant and brilliant wizard herself. Simon's girlfriend, Agatha, would rather be a Normal, or at least have a normal teenage experience, and is tired of losing herself in being a character in Simon's story. 

When Simon gets back to school, he is anxious for the scones (sour cherry--- he is an orphan and doesn't eat as well when not at Watford), anxious for his senior year, but not as anxious to be around his roommate Baz. The crucible chose them as roommates back when they were 11, and they have been at each other's throats ever since. They see each other as sworn enemies, and if Simon is really the Chosen One, he knows Baz will be on the side that wants to take him down. Baz comes from one of the old families, he is a snob, he has strong magic, and he is... a vampire. 

But for the first few months of school, Baz is nowhere to be found. Is he out plotting something against Simon and Watford? Is he joining an army against the Mage? Is he a victim of the Insidious Humdrum (the main monster in the book, who sucks up magic, leaving holes all over England)?

Or is he the love Simon Snow never even knew he wanted?

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I have to confess, the first 150 pages of Carry On are not as good as the rest of the book. Don't get me wrong--- they are fine, they establish the world and a few of the main characters and conflicts, but it isn't until Baz shows up that the narrative really takes off. 

Baz is a well-drawn character, and feels like a believable teen even though he is a vampire. 

And the love story between Simon and Baz is surprisingly believable. I only say "surprisingly" because the trope of "sworn enemies constantly fighting then falling in love" is pretty tired, and, for me, not always believable. But Rowell pulls it off. I think the first-person narratives help, as we get deep inside each character's head. It becomes easy to see there was love all along. 

TAKEAWAYS

Though Carry On feels complete in itself and appears to end where it ends, there are two sequels that I will check out in time. Must admit, I'm curious to see where Rowell takes these characters. 

It's a good book for representation and a sweet romance. 

My New Friend, "PLAY IT AS IT LAYS," by Joan Didion

 

Me and my new friend, Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion, and what a brutal, relentless friend it is!

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. That's right. I have seen the nothing, but I keep on playing. So... there's that. 

Speaking of such things, let's talk about my new friend, Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion. I have read Didion's brilliant book of essays The White Album, and her memoirs The Year of Magical Thinking  and Blue Nights. I have only read one other of her novels, A Book of Common Prayer. 

Joan Didion passed away in December of 2021, and in her honor, I started keeping a notebook, something I have never really been able to do with any regularity before, and by some miracle, have actually written in it every night. 

Play It As It Lays was published in 1970, and was made into a movie in 1972 starring Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins. Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne wrote the screenplay. Interesting, sine the books is unquestionably scathing in terms of L.A., the movie business, and the 1960s. Some compare Didion to Nathanael West with this book, which I think is apt. I can also see how it must have influenced a writer like Bret Easton Ellis, a vocal Didion devotee (he even quoted the opening line of this novel during an interview with Larry King). 

So how about I introduce you?

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

As I said above, I am already a Joan Didion fan, and have made it a point to try to make friends with as many of her books as I can get. This novel was at my local library, The Thompson Free, so I happily grabbed it. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Play It As It Lays is told in a series of short, electric, and often cutting chapters. There are 84, to be exact, some not even a full page in length. I have mentioned how I like this technique, how, for me, it tends to make every moment pop, seem very alive, and this novel is no different. If anything, Play It As It Lays is even more "relentless" as Library Journal described it. 

It tells the story of Maria (pronounced Mar-eye-ah) Wyeth, who we meet in a mental hospital. There are a few short first person accounts, and then the novel dives into a third person narrative as we take the journey to learn how Maria ended up in the hospital. The journey includes her upbringing in the desert with her failed father, her becoming an actress on the East Coast, marrying film director Carter Lang and appearing in a few of his movies (including a documentary about her, unreleased), her Hollywood lifestyle, her hospitalized daughter Kate who she desperately loves, and her eventual divorce. 

What I did not know going in was that an underground, illegal abortion and its subsequent complications plays a huge role in the narrative. It hit me in a big way, especially since the SCOTUS may very well be overturning Roe v Wade, making humiliating, dangerous abortions like the one depicted in the book a very real possibility in this country again. And that makes me sick. 

I am not going to lie: this book is rough. Rough. But, goddamn, Didion writes so very well, and the prose simply crackles. 

IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS

I am not going to spoil the book, but I will say that one of the major themes of the book deals with the question, "What does anything matter?"  And often, one can't help but think that our characters here, and the 1960s themselves, leads to a very chilling answer---

Nothing. 

Nothing at all. 

But this book matters. It's unflinching honesty matters in a big way. 

Thanks for reading my take on Play It As It Lays. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

My New Friend, "RICK" by Alex Gino

 

Me and my new friend, Rick by Alex Gino. A remarkable middle-grade novel in the same world as their outstanding book Melissa.

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. But with a friend like Rick, by Alex Gino, one can really learn that they belong to a whole community of friends. 

Rick is a middle-grade novel that follows a supporting character from Alex Gino's outstanding novel Melissa (yes, it was originally published as George, but Melissa is a much more appropriate title and I am glad they were able to change it). And like Melissa, I believe it is an important and necessary book, and continues to be more and more as each day passes. Let me introduce you...

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

My friend Michelle is the youth librarian at my local library, and since I write plays for young people, I often ask her about good middle-grade and YA novels--- for one thing, I like to stay up-to-date on the market, but, even more honestly, I just really like reading middle-grade and YA fiction. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am not a snob about books for young people. I like to read a wide, diverse collection of books. 

And frankly, some children's and teen literature is just as, if not more important than much of the mainstream stuff published for adults. 

But I digress. 

My friend Michelle recommended Melissa by Alex Gino to me last year, and I read it and loved it. I highly recommend it. So this pride month, I wanted to read Rick, and I am glad that I did. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

As with their excellent middle-grade novel Melissa, Alex Gino creates a relatable, important read with Rick. Rick, who was a minor character in "Melissa" has been best friends with the mean Jeff for a long time, and often stays quiet when Jeff is being unkind to others, because, as we all know, it can be so hard to speak up.

But Rick is going through some changes. With the start of middle school, and his big sister moving out to go to college, Rick begins to have feelings that he's not like other boys his age. Unlike Jeff, he doesn't find himself checking out the "hotties", and it increasingly bothers him when his Dad keeps bringing up how normal it will be for him to start noticing girls ("Or boys," his Mom adds). But Rick doesn't have those kinds of feelings for boys or girls. He decides to attend the Rainbow Spectrum Club at school, for the LGTQIAP+ community and anyone with questions--- a club for everyone. But he knows he must keep his membership a secret from Jeff.

Alex Gino's story will resonate with every middle grade kid. Their characters are fleshed out and interesting, and the relationships are wonderful--- I particularly love Rick's relationship with his Grandpa Ray. And it's great to see Melissa again, and know that she is being her best self.

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

As mentioned above, I love the relationship between Rick and his Grandpa, as they bond over their favorite sci-fi show. It's a delight to see how they become so close to one another. 

Which is something I think Gino does really well. They always have a couple really cool and supportive adult characters that the young characters can talk to and confide in. It's nice to see that represented. 

Gino makes Rick's struggles to stand up to Jeff so real. And the community they have created with the Rainbow Spectrum club is a delight. 

And Gino provides an afterward about the evolving language of the LGBTQIAP+ community or the QUILTBAG+ , depending on which you prefer. I learned things from this book as well, particularly how the idea of being an "ally" shouldn't be a noun, but a verb, something that we do and not who we are. 

TAKEAWAYS

As I have said, this book is important. As more and more hateful bills targeted at LGBTQIAP+ children, and specifically transgender children, we need books like this. I am not exaggerating when I say that representation saves lives. 

Read this book with your kids. And if you know a kid who is struggling, give them these books. 

And if you are a young person under 25 who is confused, needs support, someone to talk to, consider the Trevor Project, and their TrevorLifeline, 866-488-7386, or TrevorChat at thetrevorproject.org

Happy Pride Month. Feel free to comment below. 

My New Friend, "TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS" by Kate Racculia

 

Me and my new friend, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia. My new pal is set in Boston, giving me an excuse to show my Red Sox pride here. 

Hi. I'm Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books... well, and sometimes the occasional binge watch of Twin Peaks, or favorite horror movies. In this way, I am much like the title character of my new friend. Shall I introduce you?

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

Another loner who loves books once recommended Kate Racculia's second novel  Bellweather Rhapsody, and I read up on it and it sounded like a book that I would enjoy and that would speak to me. I knew it was at my library, but the day I went to check it out, it had just been culled for their annual book sale. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts was still available, and after reading the blurb, I decided it would be fun. 

I have since purchased and received a reasonably priced copy of Bellweather Rhapsody from an independent bookstore. I look forward to it. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Tuesday Mooney fancies herself a loner. She enjoys her work researching rich people for the purpose of fundraising at the hospital, she enjoys tutoring her teenage neighbor Dorry, and enjoys the occasional night out playing karaoke roulette with her friend Dex. But the prospect of being needed makes her feel uneasy, ever since her best friend Abby disappeared when they were teenagers, and subsequently started talking to her in her mind. 

Tuesday also loves puzzles and mysteries, so when an eccentric billionaire named Vincent Pryce dies, after setting up an elaborate treasure hunt for the city to play, Tuesday is sucked into the excitement and the adventure of it all. And while she becomes a bit of a local celebrity when she discovers the initial clues, her world gets intertwined with that of a billionaire family, with one brother who might be dangerous, and another who might be a potential boyfriend. 

And, after years of silence, Abby starts talking to her again. 

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I could talk about the fun literary and pop culture references that abound in these pages. I could talk about the fun banter, the quirky set ups, and the love letter to the city of Boston. I could talk about the little twists and mysteries along the way.  

But for me, what really hits me in the imagination here are the characters, especially the main characters, who Racculia creates with such care. Tuesday Mooney is a complex character who isn't always likeable, but who you like and root for anyway. She has practiced cutting herself off from the world, especially since the disappearance and presumed death of her best friend. It is easier to be alone, to need anyone and not be needed. To remain a mystery, even to herself. 

Her friend Dex is a great creation, and it is refreshing, in my opinion, that the character is informed by but not defined by being a gay man in Boston in 2012. Dex dreamed of being a musical theater performer, but found himself rising in the ranks of finance, a job that he is very good at even if it makes him feel awful a good portion of the time. He is also longing to know his true self. 

Dorry, the young woman who Tuesday tutors, is another wonderful creation, perhaps my favorite. She has lost her mother, and does have desperate need for connection, to the extent that the first she really met Tuesday, she hugged her. She wishes she could talk to ghosts. 

The side characters are fun too, especially Lyle, the widow of the eccentric Vincent Pryce. 

TAKEAWAYS

I had a fun time reading this book, and also, as a performer myself, appreciated the journey of the character Dex. It is not easy to navigate this life, and the book explores this theme, and comes to the conclusion that it is easier to do so with people you love, need and care about--- and while this might sound simple, it is actually deeper and more complex than one might think. 

Could 20 pages have been cut along the way?  Maybe, but in doing so, it might take away from the great character stuff that really made the book for me. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. Please feel free to share yours in the comments below....

My New Friend, "FEVER 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

 

Me and my new friend, Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Hello. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. 

My new friend is Fever, 1793 by the brilliant Laurie Halse Anderson. 

This piece of late middle-grade/YA historical fiction by Laurie Halse Anderson is told in an honest voice, is well-researched, and makes history relatable for both the young reader and older reader (like me) alike. 

"Fever 1793" is set in Philadelphia during a vicious outbreak of the yellow fever in the late summer of 1793. Our narrator is Mattie Cook, who lives with her Mother and Grandfather (her father died years ago), and works at the Coffeehouse her mother runs. Life, though not without its annoyances, like a strict Mother who is already worried about who she will court and marry, Mattie lives a happy existence in the coffeehouse, listening to her Grandfather's old stories about his soldiering life in the Revolutionary War, and talking to Eliza, the cook at the coffeehouse, a free black woman who is part of the Free African Society. 

But then suddenly the yellow fever epidemic hits. Bells toll with each death. People who can afford to flee the city. The market disperses, people leave their infected loved ones out to die, and mass burials and death carts are not uncommon on the streets. 

Though Mattie's mother falls ill and sends her daughter away to the country to avoid the pestilence, a mishap occurs and Mattie and her Grandfather are abandoned. It is here that Mattie's journey of learning how to take care of herself and find inner strength and determination she didn't know she had really takes off. 

Laurie Halse Anderson is perhaps best known for the brilliant and essential "Speak," and is a writer who excels at first-person narrative. Readers will want to keep turning pages and learn Mattie's story. 

And now, in our current times, the story of a mass illness feels all the more relevant and chilling. 

One way in which Anderson excels is in giving us a sense of the grave, communal sense of loss in the wake of this epidemic. How the loss impacts an entire society. 

I only wish I could feel that this same sense of respectful loss were with us now. 

My New Friend, "LUCKY STRIKES" by Louis Bayard

 

Me and my new friend, Lucky Strikes by Louis Bayard

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. And sometimes, a friend can make you feel young at heart. 

Which brings me to today's new friend, Lucky Strikes by Louis Bayard. Louis Bayard is probably best known for his historical mysteries, including Mr. Timothy, a Victorian novel about a grown-up Tiny Tim. Lucky Strikes is also historical, taking place in the fictional Walnut Ridge, Virginia, during the Great Depression. But this novel is geared more toward late middle-grade readers (probably around 8th grade) and young adults, due to some of the themes and a bit of PG-13 language... well, more than a bit. 

I am no snob about children's, middle-grade, and YA literature. I enjoy reading it all. As a matter of fact, most of my income comes from the plays I have written for children, middle-grade and young adult audiences and performers. That's right. I'm a playwright. Have I not mentioned this? You can learn more about my work by CLICKING HERE. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

In my hometown, there is a store called The Dollar Tree. Perhaps you have one in your town, too. I saw Lucky Strikes, liked the cover, thought the inside blurb sounded interesting, so I picked it up. 

Seriously book lovers: don't assume that The Dollar Tree just has garbage. Yeah, a lot of the books look pretty bad, but I have also found a number of mainstream literary novels in hardcover editions there, like Jonathan Safran Foer's Here I Am,  Jonathan Lethem's The Feral Detective, and most recently, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Little Boy. And there are others. 

So don't just breeze by, assuming that there is nothing at your local Dollar Tree worth reading. You might be surprised. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Lucky Strikes (also the name of a popular cigarette brand), is told by Amelia Hoyle, living in Walnut Ridge, VA, with her family. She tells us right in the first sentence that "Mama died hard, you should know that", but there is no time for much grieving. At only 14, Amelia has been taking care of everyone while her mother was ailing, keeping up the family gas station and convenience store, named Brenda's Oasis. After burying her mother with the help of her younger siblings, Janey and Earle, she gets to down to the business of keeping her family together. With the help of her mother's lawyer friend Chester, she goes through options, but has no real solid plan until one literally rolls off  of a coal truck and lands by her gas pumps. This is Hiram Watts, a vagabond, hobo, call him what you will. Amelia cleans him up, gets him off the sauce, and makes a deal with him:  she'll give him shelter and food in exchange for him pretending to be the father she's never known. 

Throughout the novel, we learn that Amelia is a gifted mechanic like her mother, and has earned the respect of a whole handful of truckers who only trust her to fix their trucks. And Hiram turns out to have quite a history himself, spinning yarns about being an actor, a ladies' hat salesman, and his travels to Hong Kong. They begin to form a strange, but unexpectedly warm family unit. 

If only the awful Harley Blevins, the local rich guy who owns a bunch of Standard Oil stations, wasn't intent on driving Brenda's Oasis out of business, using nefarious means he will never be punished for, since he has the local Sheriff and judges in his pocket. 

Watching Amelia make her way the best way she knows how is the real joy of this book. 

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Amelia's voice is what really makes this book a fun, fast, terrific read. She is a smart, strong, resourceful, young woman who, despite the toughness projected, gives off a great deal of warmth and love. Bayard makes her a very believable protagonist and narrator, and, at the end, when we realize who she's telling the story to, it is a lovely little surprise. 

As Booklist said in its starred review, it is "A darn good yarn". 

BUT JUST ONE THING...

I understand that the entire cast being white is probably accurate for its time and place--- I get that. But I could have done without the mention of The War Between the States (a "South Will Rise Again" type name for the Civil War), though, again, it is what Amelia probably would have called it. And it seemed a bit unnecessary when Amelia, when going to discuss business with the nefarious Harley Blevins, was surprised he didn't have a "darkie" servant opening the door. It could have been worse, and again, it is probably a word that Amelia would have used, but it seemed like a simple enough sentence to excise without losing anything at all. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am glad The Dollar Tree helped me find this book. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and introduced me to a new author. I am most curious to check out some of Mr. Bayard's historical mysteries. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below. 

My New (Old) Friend, "VENUS" by Suzan Lori-Parks

 

Me with my friend Venus, a brilliant, Obie-award-winning play by Suzan Lori-Parks.  I first read the play in college and it felt like new reading it again. My edition also looks like new, safely packed away in a box for years now.

Hi. I'm Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Don't worry about it. I've made it this far. 

I've made it far enough to reconnect with an old friend and have it feel like making a new friend all over again. This friend is Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks, the first play I have covered on talked about on this particular blog, but by no means will be the last. Some of my favorite books are plays, after all, and I couldn't be happier that I am discussing a play by Suzan-Lori Parks, who is one of my favorite living playwrights. Back in the early 2010s, I would tell people that if I were on the Board in Sweden, my two top picks for a Nobel Prize in Literature would be Kazuo Ishiguro and Suzan-Lori Parks. In 2017, Mr. Ishiguro did indeed win. Now I am waiting for Parks to get that recognition. For one thing, the Nobel doesn't honor enough playwrights in my opinion. For another, she simply deserves it. 

Not that she is short on prizes. She has won many, many over the years, including an Obie for Venus, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for her incredible Topdog/Underdog, and her most recent play, 2019's White Noise won an Outer Critics Circle Award. Along the way, she also received a MacArthur "Genius" Grant. 

Because she is a genius. 

With an incredible work ethic. She undertook the challenge of writing 365 plays in 365 days. And she did it. The result, 365 Plays/365 Days has been produced in theaters all over the world. 

ABOUT MY NEW (OLD) FRIEND, VENUS

Venus tells the real-life story of Khoekhoe woman Saartjie Baartman, also known as Sarah Baartman, and who would come to be known as the "Hottentot Venus". Baartman, when she is "The Girl", is living her life in South Africa in the early 1800s when she is asked by a bearded opportunist if she would like to go to London where "the streets are paved with gold" to be a dancer. He assures her in two years, she could make a fortune and come back home wealthy. She agrees to go on these terms, that everything will be split 50/50. Once in London, he pushes her into a sexual relationship before selling her to "The Mother-Showman" and her freak show, and then disappearing. 

This is not easy subject matter. Baartman is put on display because of her backside, and spends years being objectified, pawed at, touched, sexual assault (alluded to in a few lines). This plays is about not only colonization, but about the objectification, racialization, and fetishizing and historical sexualization of back women. It is uncomfortable. Just the cover of my edition is uncomfortable in its dehumanizing, racist imagery. 

And being uncomfortable is the point. 

Eventually, a character called the Baron Docteur (based on Georges Cuvier--- more on him later), buys Baartman from the Mother-Showman. He takes her to Paris where he begins an affair with her, but also puts her on display as a scientific specimen. In this way, she is still being gawked at and pawed over and ultimately dehumanized. 

The Baron Docteur is married, and receives pressure from "An Old School Chum" to stop the affair, and get to the dissection, which, really, should be the only purpose for his interest in this "Hottentot Venus", right?

There is also a "play-within-the-play" called For the Love of the Venus, performed by the Chorus. 

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE PLAY

What I love about the play is its power and its energy. Suzan-Lori Parks, instead of telling a standard, linear tale here, uses terrific theatricality, theatre of the absurd flourishes, lively language, and a Chorus ensemble to heighten the themes and characters. She uses history as a jumping off point, but is truly interested, as she herself said, in the "questioning the history of history". 

I also love that Parks is not afraid to make us feel uncomfortable. She does not shy away from the nastiness of how Baartman is used, how she is objectified and sexualized. She shows the lust head-on and in your face. And at the same time, she makes Baartman such a complete character, making it all the more upsetting to see her as either an object of lust or a scientific specimen. 

Another major idea explored here is the very notion of agency over ones own life and body, which, of course, is all the more relevant even today with our SCOTUS. 

IN REAL LIFE

Georges Cuvier, in real life, was a French zoologist, sometimes called "the founding father of paleontology". Like other "founding fathers", he was also an entitled white man and a racist, who was one of the founders of scientific racism, the psuedo-scientific bullshit that suggests that other races are inferior to whites. He subjected the real-life Sarah Baartman to examinations while she was being held captive and neglected. After her death (she was only 26), he performed an autopsy, and compared her physical features to those of monkeys. 

Suzan-Lori Parks has these "findings" described by the Baron Docteur in her play. It is, obviously, stomach turning. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Venus and the real-life Sarah Baartman deserve dissertations and far more conversation than what I can accomplish here on my stupid little blog. But what I can say is how fortunate I feel we all are to have this play. We need to remember. We need to take stock and accountability of the fact that white people have systemically stripped people of color of their agency and humanity for their own benefit, desires, and discoveries for... well, forever. We should be uncomfortable by this fact. We shouldn't look away. 

Please check out the work of Suzan-Lori Parks. I look forward to reading and re-reading more of her work, including her novel Getting Mother's Body. 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

My New Friend, "HEAVEN" by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd

 

Me, Bobby Keniston, with my new friend "Heaven" by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and, as the name of this blog suggests, my only friends are books. You might be thinking, "Huh, that's sad," but it's not really. Books don't bully you or one day just disappear...

Which brings me to my new friend, Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd. But before I get into the details of my new friend Heaven, I would like to share a quote from author Mieko Kawakami:

"We have to confront and examine our mistakes, and write stories to pass down our folly and ignorance. Literature should not just portray our ideals. We have to examine our past mistakes, our past ignorance, without turning our eyes away." (from an interview/conversation between Kawakami and Fernanda Melchor for "Broadly Speaking" through the Wheeler Centre. You can watch the full interview on YouTube by CLICKING HERE... I highly recommend it). 

Kawakami certainly does not turn her eyes away from harsh realities in Heaven. The word "unflinching" really had no solid meaning to me until reading this book. It is indeed a work of art, so let's talk about it. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

I heard about Heaven from a booktube channel called Books and Bao, hosted by Willow Heath, and they had so much praise for the novel and Kawakami (you can watch their video review HERE). I would like to think I would have heard of the book when perusing the International Booker Prize longlist and shortlist, but, who knows? Willow's recommendation certainly encouraged me to check it out sooner. I am glad to have read the book before the winner of the prize is announced. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Heaven is a first-person narrative of an unnamed fourteen year-old protagonist who is bullied. Constantly. In myriad, painful ways. Please believe me when I say this. The bullying is graphic, but often told in a simple, almost understated manner to highlight just how tragically normalized it has become for our narrator. Though perhaps understated isn't the best way to describe it-- perhaps it is better to say that it is presented flat-out as a fact of our narrator's life. His tormenters, led by a cool, beautiful boy named Ninomiya, call him "Eyes" because of his lazy eye, and they punch him, kick him, and hurt him, and he waits for it to be over with. 

But the novel actually begins with our narrator receiving a note in his desk at school, a note saying "We should be friends." It turns out that the note is from a girl in his class, Kojima, who is also bullied. When they meet up, they do become friends, and though they can never intervene to help each other at school (indeed, they never even really talk at school), the secret notes they share offer a great deal of comfort to each other. 

This is a short novel, and I don't want to give too much away, but I will say this: to suggest that the book is simply about bullying is like saying Moby Dick is just about trying to catch fish. Kawakami uses bullying to look at the bigger picture behind power structures, and the meaning, if any, behind them. 

Short and sleek, but absolutely painful and beautiful. 

BULLYING

I know I have already said it, but I cannot stress enough how unflinching a portrayal of bullying resides within these pages. If you were someone who was bullied (as I was), this book will bring up the memories and the pain (at least it did for me). Kawakami captures the constant stress, anxiety, fear and shame that comes with the territory of being bullied. Please do not misunderstand me here--- I don't mean to suggest that is like some afterschool special about bullying for a YA or middle grade audience. It most certainly is not. Kawakami delves deeply into the philosophy behind bullying, truly exploring what it means to have power, what it means to be weak, and whether that weakness can really be a strength. 

It is not easy to read sometimes, but still an important read, in my opinion. 

If you are someone who had no experience with being bullied, and that's really great if that's the case, you may think it is perhaps exaggerated here. I don't know. Maybe a little. But it felt very real to me. I didn't have it exactly as bad as our narrator, but there were some similar moments. 

Things you never forget. Things that, many years later, your realize are permanently a part of you. 

Special note: if you are being bullied, do not make the same mistake I did. There are things I kept to myself, never told my parents or a teacher, not even my closest friends. I know, believe me, I know, there is shame attached to being bullied and it is not easy to talk about. But please try to talk to someone, even if it is anonymously. There is support out there. CLICK HERE for some resources. 

BEAUTY

And yet, amongst all the pain, there is still beauty. And Kawakami's writing is absolutely beautiful, and lovingly translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd. 

"His eyes shifted, the way the shadows of clouds pass the sun on windless days."

I can't even tell you how much I wish I could write a description so beautiful in its simplicity and precision. 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

This book hurt my stomach at times, and I mean this as the highest compliment. Great writing does hurt sometimes, great writing should be unflinching and honest. I am so happy to have finally read Mieko Kawakami and can't wait to read her other works in translation, like Ms. Ice Sandwich, Breasts and Eggs, and the recent release, All the Lovers in the Night. Clearly Kawakami is a writer at the very top of her powers, and she has a brand new fan. 

Thank you for reading my thoughts on my new friend Heaven.  Come back Monday to meet a whole new friend, and please feel free to comment any thoughts below. 

My New Friend, "FLIMSY LITTLE PLASTIC MIRACLES," by Ron Currie, Jr.

 

Me and my new friend, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., who grew up about an hour from where I live.

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. But that's okay. To paraphrase my new friend, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., maybe no man is an island, but I am at least an isthmus. It's clever little lines like this one that make me very glad indeed I have made some new friends by Mr. Currie. But Currie is not only clever, but really working to take a big bite into some of the paramount experiences of being human--- love, grief, guilt, the meaning of truth, and, ultimately, the breaking down of self. And he does all of this with the reputation of being a comic writer. Of course, this makes sense, in actuality. Some of the greatest works of art that plumb the depths of what it means to be human are protected by the candy-coated shell of comedy. A spoonful of sugar, after all, makes the medicine go down, as our favorite British nanny likes to say. 

Only I am not convinced that Ron Currie, Jr. is a comic writer as others say. This is not to suggest that his work is not often funny, because it is. He is often compared to Kurt Vonnegut, though, like Currie himself, I have my doubts that the comparisons are apt. Certainly they both have elements of the satirist. And structure-wise, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles feels most like a Vonnegut novel, one like Hocus Pocus perhaps, with each section being very short, sometimes even a single sentence, and never longer than a few pages. Still, I must say, I find Currie's writing pushing itself to be as raw as it possibly can, to be right on the edge. But when you're on that edge, it isn't always easy to keep the reader with you. It is a testament to Currie's talent that he can keep bringing you back with moments of deep humanity and poignancy. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

As I mentioned in my discussion about my friend God is Dead, (which you can read by HERE),  I first discovered Ron Currie, Jr. because of an interview he did with Carolyn Chute. Since I have been wanting to read more Maine voices (as I am a Maine writer myself), I found three of his books in my local library and checked them out. So now I have made friends with God is Dead, Everything Matters! (which I may write a post about some day), and my newest friend I am discussing here. 

By the way, the interview between Ron Currie, Jr. and Carolyn Chute is pretty cool--- the least pretentious discussion between two authors you will ever hear, I bet. You can check it out on YouTube by CLICKING HERE. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., is narrated by a fictionalized Ron Currie, Jr., who, though fictional, has a great deal in common with the Ron Currie, Jr. who wrote the novel. Our narrator, Ron, has gotten back together with his high school sweetheart Emma, who he has never stopped loving, as she is going through a painful divorce. The connect and copulate wildly (and rough), but Emma also needs time to put her life together. Ron, who is a writer, needs to finish a book he is under contract for, so, they decide he should go away to a Caribbean Island where he can write, while Emma works on herself for a while. Once on the island, Ron has major doubts, and Emma grows distant. Between visits from his only friends Dwayne and Hankie, and rough, vicious fights with the locals, Ron feels as though Emma is slipping away from him. Her messages grown scant and, at least to his mind, cold. This makes it easy for him to do a great deal of drinking, and then hooking up with a young woman named Charlotte, who moves in without any real invitation. 

In-between all of this, Ron is clearly still dealing with the immense grief that came with the passing of his father. His father died of lung cancer, and Ron watched as he grew weaker and more dependent, until he was finally gone. This no doubt contributes to his feeling of abandonment from Emma, and his general uncertainty that comes from deep grief. It almost certainly accounts with his obsession on the Singularity, how AI will take over, and perhaps make a world without grief or pain or darkness of any kind (we hear a great deal about the Singularity in the book, and about Ray Kurzweil, who wrote, The Singularity is Near).

This is told in a manner many would call postmodern. It is, as I said before, a series of very short chapters that are non-linear. For example, it is not really much of a spoiler to say that Ron and Emma do not end up together, as he tells us this very early in the book (which somehow doesn't make it any less sad when they don't). And the book jacket describes how one of the major thrusts of the book is Currie faking his own death (in his defense, he wasn't trying to fake it), even though that doesn't really come into the story until more than halfway through the book. It is from here that Currie delves into the theme of deeper truths that can come from made up stories than from facts, in what appears to be a reaction to the hoopla surrounding James Frey and A Million Little Pieces.

The jumping around in a non-linear fashion actually makes the book more accessible in my opinion. It is like Bukowski in a meat grinder with Vonnegut and some Wallace, maybe even a dash of Bret Easton Ellis from Lunar Park.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Ron Currie, Jr. is a terrific writer, and I like how the structure and form of the book. Currie has a great deal to say, and he doesn't mind throwing unpleasantness at the reader. He asks difficult questions without being brazen enough to suggest he has the answers. Sometimes the excesses can feel like they are too much, but by the very humanistic and poignant wrap up, I began to wonder if the excesses are what make ending not only possible, but also so powerful. 

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

Like his other work I have read, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles is not for the faint of heart and squeamish. There are several depictions of violence, and some very rough (but completely consensual) sex. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am happy I discovered Ron Currie, Jr. and his work. It sticks to my bones and makes me think. It is not always easy, but literature is not supposed to always be easy. Or nice. I think he is a writer who deserves a wide readership. 

And I'm not just saying that because he is a fellow Mainer. 

Oh, and the title? It refers to nicotine patches. 

Thanks for reading my blog about my new friend. Come on back next time when I talk about a new friend, and please feel free to comment below with recommendations! 

My New Friend, "KINDRED" by Octavia E. Butler

 

Me and my new friend "Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler. This is the 25th Anniversary Edition

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. And sometimes books have to tell you hard truths. Sometimes friends have to hold you accountable. Sometimes friends need to make you look at an issue with empathy, shock, and, yes, sometimes even guilt, to help you grow and change. 

I am talking about my new friend, Kindred the late, but certainly great Octavia E. Butler, who helped redefine what science fiction for a new era. Kindred may be her most celebrated standalone novel. Written in 1976, writer Walter Mosely said, "It is everything the literature of science fiction can be," while Harlan Ellison called the book, "That rare artifact... the novel one returns to, again and again, through the years, to learn, to be humbled, and to be renewed." 

I think my new friend is truly great. Let's talk about why. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

I have been meaning to read some Octavia E. Butler for quite some time. And then a YouTube channel I enjoy watching called "Books and Things" had a video about a Historical Fiction Readathon for the months of May--- and here we are. One of the challenges in this readathon is to read a piece of historical fiction that has a speculative element, and the host, Katie Lumsden, recommended Kindred. That felt like a nice bit of encouragement to finally discover this brilliant author, and I am very glad I did. 

(If you want to watch the video about the #HistoricalFictionReadathon, you can do so by following THIS LINK)

I was happy that my local library, The Thompson Free Library, had a copy of my new friend Kindred. I am a little sad, though, that it looks like I'm the first person to ever take it out. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Kindred tells the story about woman a black woman in the 1970s who, after moving into her new house with her white husband Kevin (I only mention their races because they are imperative plot points and thematic points in the book), inexplicably finds herself getting dizzy, losing, fading away from her new home and arriving in the antebellum south on a plantation in Maryland. Here, she finds her path intersected with Rufus Weylin, the son of the plantation owner, who, we learn early on, is an ancestor. She is clearly coming back to save his life time and again, protecting her very bloodline, though at the expense of becoming an enslaved person and confronting the violence of the time. Each time she is pulled back, the stakes are higher, and she loses not only more months and years of her life, but also is threatened with losing the very foundation of who she has always known herself to be. 

SOME THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Kindred is simultaneously a difficult book to read because of its unflinching portrayal of the inhumane treatment that white Americans inflicted upon the people they enslaved, while also being a suspenseful page turner. That is a huge testament to Butler's remarkable skill as a storyteller. 

I also love that Butler doesn't waste time. She comes right out of the gate, hooks you, then continues to keep kicking it up a notch as the pages fly by. For example, her are the first two sentences of the book:

"I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm."

If that doesn't grab a reader, then let's just say it is the fault of said reader and not the writer. 

You will notice based on these first two sentences that the story is told as a first-person narrative, another brilliant stroke by Butler. For this story in particular, a first-person narrative heightens the idea of empathy as we the reader see things through Dana's eyes, and hear her every thought. And Butler gives us a thoroughly complex, but relatable, and oh-so-strong narrator. Dana is brilliant, resourceful, and with compassion that I believe very few people could have in her circumstance. She is put through a great deal in this book, and we are put through it with her. It is impossible not to root for her (unless you are an awful person, but more on that later). 

Butler gives every character (with the exception of maybe one or two very minor ones) a complex humanity. This is what could be truly brilliant about the book, and the very thing that makes it as philosophically complex as it is flat-out entertaining: Butler recognizes that, like it or not, whether we want to admit it or not, dark, grotesque inhumanity is still part of being human. The enslavement of a race of people would not be possible if it wasn't. 

Try to let that sit with you for a moment. As much as we try to separate ourselves from the very idea of inhumanity by calling it inhumanity, it is simply not true, but just another way for humans to avoid accountability. These vicious deeds SHOULD NOT be part of the human experience. But, dammit, they are, and acknowledging it is the first step to maybe trying to actually do something about it. 

I also love Butler's depiction of the relationship between Dana and her husband Kevin. They are both writers, and, while they do have fights, their love is strong. When Kevin is sucked back in time with her (perhaps a mild spoiler, but it happens early on--- sorry), we really get to see how it affects their relationship and what they feel about one another. 

It is also worth noting that, since the novel takes place in the 1970s, Butler's present day is historical now, too. A history story that goes into a deeper history story. Clearly, one of the messages here is that, even for present day Dana, there are still issues (especially her marriage to a white man). One can look at the novel as very prescient in the idea that for ever advancement, we are always being pulled back by the wrong people. 

Sad that it is still true even 46 years after the novel was published. 

RANT

Which leads me to a little rant. 

Kindred, in my opinion, should be taught in every high school in America. The fact that it is one of several books that, even recently, have been banned in my country at certain schools, proves Butler's point completely. 

We make progress but are pulled back. 

This book should be taught because it tells the truth. 

White people enslaved back people in this country. In a very real and horrifying sense, it is part of how this country managed to be built. This needs to be discussed openly and honestly and often. 

I will not lie--- I am sickened by the many arguments against CRT, the arguments that ban books by Toni Morrison and Octavia E. Butler and many others--- sickened and honestly exasperated.  No one is saying that any of us white people today are responsible for enslaving black people in the 1800s. But here is the simple truth:  we white people have benefited and continue to benefit from the white supremacy that help build this country. This is not opinion, It is fact. And white people are the only ones who can really fix the problem of white supremacy, because we are the ones who made it and continue to benefit from it. 

And it starts by taking this accountability of our history AND our present. 

Rant over (for now). 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

Read Kindred. It is enriching as well as being absolutely exciting and gripping. Fiction can make a difference and it is writers like Octavia E. Butler who can remind us. 

Please feel free to tell me your thoughts about my new friend Kindred in the comments., and join me next time with a while new friend. 

My New Friend, "SEA OF TRANQUILITY" by Emily St. John Mandel

 

A photo of me and my new friend, Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. This isn't such a bad thing. There are many dashes in the "Pro" column, in fact. Books don't have to stay away from you during a pandemic, for one thing, right? No nasal swabbing a book before you can invite them to your party or to share your home...

My newest friend I want to talk about today is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Mandel has blown up on the literary scene, especially since her fourth novel, 2014's Station Eleven was a finalist for the National Book Award and a recipient of the Arthur C. Clarke award. Station Eleven, which centers around a pandemic, has been discussed widely again these last few years (wonder why?) and has been made into a critically-acclaimed limited series for HBO Max. Mandel's most recent novel was The Glass Hotel, one of my favorite novels of 2020, which centers around a Ponzi scheme and a kind of ghost story. 

Before I get into many details about Sea of Tranquility, my new pal, I should start by saying that Emily St. John Mandel is quickly becoming one of my favorite novelists, along with the likes of Jesmyn Ward, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Neil Gaiman. True, I have only The Glass Hotel and my new friend, but both novels are just that good. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

As I mentioned above, I read Emily St. John Mandel's previous novel, The Glass Hotel, back in 2020. I picked that book up at the Thompson Free Library. It became such a good friend, that I anxiously looked forward Mandel's next book, and, well, here it is. I purchased a copy, and have since ordered Station Eleven as well. It is my intention now to go back and get her first three novels, too. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Sea of Tranquility doesn't have an easy "elevator pitch," as Mandel has said herself in an interview. But here is a basic rundown:

Sea of Tranquility goes through different time periods, beginning with 1912, where we follow Edwin St. John St. Andrew (yes, a young man with two saints in his name) who ends up "exiled" after anti-colonial remarks at a dinner party to the forests of Canada in the fictional Caiette (also seen in The Glass Hotel). It is here that the young man has a strange experience in the forest, as if being transported and surrounded by violin music. He also meets a mysterious man pretending to be a priest who calls himself Roberts. 

Next, Mandel transports us to 2020 for a section called Mirella and Vincent who were both characters in The Glass Hotel ( don't worry--- you don't have to read The Glass Hotel  to understand this book, though I do highly recommend it just the same). Mirella's husband was a victim of Vincent's husband's Ponzi scheme and lost everything. Vincent disappeared years ago, and Mirella wants to know what happened to her, so she goes to a concert being held by Vincent's brother Paul. Paul shows an old video tape of a strange occurrence videotaped by Vincent when they were children. It is a brief moment, and very similar to what happened to Edwin in 1912. After the concert Mirella meets with Paul, who is also being spoken to by a strange man named Gaspery. But Mirella seems to remember Gaspery from somewhere...

From here, we can (literally) fly to the moon when we meet Olive Llewelyn in the year 2203, a writer on a book tour, currently on Earth. Olive lives in the second colony on the moon, and is overwhelmed a bit by the tour, missing her husband Dion and their young daughter Sylvie. Olive wrote a very successful novel about a pandemic and may be close to finding herself in a very real pandemic of her own. After meeting a "journalist" by the name of Gaspery Roberts, named after a character from her book, she wonders if it may not be wiser to cut the book tour short. 

And this brings us to the very heart and crux of the book, which is why I don't really want to say anything more. Clearly, Gaspery is the unifying character of these three threads in time. 

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Sea of Tranquility packs the richness of an epic into 255 quick-turning pages. Mandel is skillful at weaving plot threads into a beautiful tapestry--- so skilled, in fact, that I find myself succumbing to this completely unoriginal metaphor. But I'm not the great writer, here. That would be Emily St. John Mandel. 

Everyone is talking how this is Mandel's most speculative fiction to date, and while that may be true, it is still, at its core, a very human story and one we can all relate to, especially now. 

Olive Llewelyn, the writer, while not a complete stand in for Mandel, was clearly written with a deep knowledge of what it is like to be a successful writer of a pandemic novel who is now living during a pandemic. These insights are some of the most poignant in the book. 

"I suppose anything written this year is likely to be deranged," a character says of a piece being written during the pandemic lockdown. I am sure Mandel said the same thing time and again, but make no mistake--- Sea of Tranquility is only deranged in the most relatable way for those of us who have survived 2020 and 2021. This novel could not or would not have been written without the pandemic, at least not in the way it is given to us now. 

I suppose we can chalk that up to a little bit of bright side. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

Enough of this. Just go get the book. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on my new friend, Sea of Tranquility. Come on back when I make a new friend! 

My New Friend, "THE WOMAN IN THE PURPLE SKIRT," by Natsuko Imamura, translated from the Japanese by Lucy North

 

Me with my new friend, The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated from the Japanese by Lucy North

Hello. My name is Bobby Keniston, and books are my only friends. Before you start feeling bad for me about this, keep in mind that there are more books in the world than any of us could need in a lifetime, so... that makes me popular? Right? Right???

Or maybe I'm as invisible as I sometimes fear. Which leads me to today's new friend, The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated from the Japanese by Lucy North. The Woman in the Purple Skirt is all about feeling invisible, and turning that invisibility into obsession toward one who is far more visible than you--- like a woman in the neighborhood who wears a purple skirt and seems to fascinate everyone she meets. She certainly fascinates our narrator, the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

Like most people, I like to learn about other parts of the world. I realized I hadn't nearly enough books from all over the globe. I have been particularly interested in reading more Japanese literature. So went on YouTube and found a BookTuber with a channel called Books and Bao, who had a wonderful video recommending  "30 Must-Read Japanese Books in Translation," which you can watch yourself by CLICKING HERE.  The Woman in the Purple Skirt was on the list, and, much to my delight, was carried by hometown library, the Thompson Free. 

Libraries are a great place to find new friends, wouldn't you agree?

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Okay, so this is where things get a little difficult. The joy in reading this book is from the Imamura's brilliant creation of our narrator. This is not a plot-heavy book, but the things that do happen in the last third or so, are really big, and I would never dream of spoiling them. I can describe my new friend a little bit, but don't be surprised if I don't do it justice, because it might seem simple. But I assure you that it is anything but simple. 

The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan (which is how she likes to think of herself, though she does have a name we learn later on) watches the Woman in the Purple Skirt (who also has a name). Watches her go to the bakery and pick up a pastry, watches her go to the park and sit on HER BENCH, watches her eat the pastry. Watches her read the want ads in the paper. Watches her go home. Watches her go from job to job. Watches as the kids in the park, who seem just as fascinated by the Woman in the Purple Skirt as our narrator is, play games to decide who has to run up and tap her. 

Our narrator does all this watching, and is invisible. No one seems to ever see The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. 

The major thrust of the book comes when our narrator, through a few little tricks, gets the Woman in the Purple Skirt to apply for  job cleaning a hotel, the same hotel where our narrator works. The Woman in the Purple Skirt gets the job, becomes very popular, all while our narrator watches, unable even now to introduce herself. 

This is about as comfortable as I am giving away plot points. Too much of the joy comes in discovering what happens next. But I can say that this is a stark portrait of obsession and loneliness. 

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I love the language. The simple, understated nature of how our narrator tells the story. What one realizes after awhile is that what makes the book so readable yet unsettling as well, is the ability Imamura has to make the narrator both relatable but completely unrelatable, too. We follow her as she follows The Woman in the Purple Skirt. And quickly learn that our narrator sees nothing at all unusual about her obsession. Nothing at all unusual about her stalking behavior. After all, how bad can it be if she, herself, is invisible to everyone?

Imamura's writing is addictive, and this is a short novel that could most likely be read in one sitting. Big credit to Lucy North's translation, as well, for capturing the spirit here. 

FAVORITE SCENES

It's hard to choose, but here are few:

There is a moment after the kids in the park have been playing with The Woman in the Purple Skirt, and they all share an apple. Once they are gone, our narrator goes to the bench, where an orange has been left behind, and bites into it viciously, through the peel, and continues to bite and bite. 

There is another moment, which made me laugh out loud, when our narrator, the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, steals a pair of sunglasses. I will not describe the scenario any further. But it was terrific. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I had a blast reading this book, and it has stuck in my mind, too. One can't help but think of the chorus of "Eleanor Rigby", or a movie like One Hour Photo, other media that explores loneliness. But The Woman in the Purple Skirt feels special, perhaps because of Imamura's light, skillful touch. 

It definitely got in my head. 

Thanks for checking out my thoughts on my new friend, The Woman in the Purple Skirt. I definitely recommend you all making friends with her, too. 

See you next time, as soon as I make a new friend. 

My New Friend, "THE SWEET RELIEF OF MISSING CHILDREN" by Sarah Braunstein

 

Me and my new friend, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein. I'm the one in the hat. 

Hello everyone, my name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Don't worry about me--- perhaps there is a sweet relief that comes with being friendless except for stories, perhaps even like The Sweet Relief of Missing Children, the new friend I will be talking about today. This is the debut novel of Sarah Braunstein, an MFA alum of the distinguished Iowa Writers' Workshop who currently lives in Maine, and, according to her website (which you can visit by CLICKING HERE), teaches at Colby College. She has also been the recipient of a "5 Under 35" award from the National Book Foundation and a Ronna Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. So, yeah, she is far too accomplished to be my friend, but at least I have her book. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

Constant readers of my blog (Hello?! Hello?! Do you exist?!) know that I started this project with a number of Maine authors, as I am a Maine writer myself, and wanted to read more from Maine voices that didn't belong to Stephen King. When I was doing some research about writers based in Maine, Sarah Braunstein came up. I was completely captivated by the title The Sweet Relief of Missing Children, found it dark yet lyrical, a mite unsettling. The book proved to live up to these initial feelings about the title. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My new friend was the recipient of the 2012 Maine Literary Award for Fiction, and deserves a higher rating on Goodreads (though many great books are divisive). 

The Sweet Relief of Missing Children begins with a short passage about Leonora, a 12-year-old girl who is taken. This is not a spoiler--- this is how the story begins and is mentioned directly on the jacket. We do not know right away how she was taken or by whom, only that she has been taken. Leonora and her story becomes the structural foundation on which the many wings of this house are built, and meant to be the device which connects them all. In this regard, it mostly succeeds. 

The several threads of the novel, which Bitch magazine called "akin to the film Magnolia (if Saul Bellow had written the novelization)", include Paul, who we meet as a young, serious boy, ditched by his mother "Goldie" on his birthday, who goes out with a photographer in hopes of becoming a model. Unbeknownst to Paul and Goldie, they are often spied on by a genuine Peeping Tom--- Tom Grant, an abortion nurse with a daughter, Jade, Paul's age. The reader will meet Paul and Jade when they are teenagers in what turned out to be my favorite section of the book. 

Other threads include Sam, the only survivor of an "accident" after his mother drove their family into a train. He is adopted by his Uncle Joe and his wife, Constance. Joe is great friends with Hank and his wife Grace, who have a daughter named Judith who one day goes missing. Sam, who would rather be losing his virginity to his high school girlfriend Helen, becomes instrumental in bringing Judith home. 

My friend jumps around in time and in perspective frequently. I am a fan of stories that are not afraid to be non-linear, and was happy to take the journey. There are a few other threads I feel I can't get into without distinct spoilers, but we do see Paul, Sam, and Judith grow up (sadly, I felt that Jade was kind of written away in just a few sentences), and, in-between, we learn more details about Leonora's life, a strange encounter she has with an adult, and, ultimately, her abduction. 

I understand that some people are frustrated by non-linear novels. I understand this fact, but don't quite get it. Novels should stretch your mind at least a little, don't you think?

FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I like the dark, unsettling feel to much of the novel. Braunstein does well at creating emotional reactions with clear, yet lyrical prose. I wrote down many lovely quotes from the book, sentences that say far more than the number of words would suggest. When a character thinks how he "felt a desire to smash love into his body, to smash love into the world, to allow love to be the violent act he'd always suspected it was," I was struck by the beauty and darkness of the image, and impressed by the very mechanics of creating such a sentence. 

SOME CHALLENGES WITH MY NEW FRIEND

Even the best of friends can sometimes overstay a visit a little bit. After the major threads are resolved, including Leonora's, there are another fifteen pages to the book or so. And while they are not completely out of place, I would be lying if I didn't say they felt a tiny bit anticlimactic. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am very happy I discovered this book. I had to get it on interlibrary loan from the Bangor Public Library. But I am happy I found it and read it. Sarah Braunstein's website says a new novel is in the works, and I will definitely read whatever she puts out next. 

I need as many friends as I can get. 

Come on back to my next post and meet the new friend I have made. Please feel free to comment below about your favorite friends, too. 

My New Friend, "MILL TOWN: Reckoning with What Remains" by Kerri Arsenault

 

Me and my new friend, "MILL TOWN" by Kerri Arsenault. It should be YOUR new friend, too.

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. You may not believe me, in which case, you have probably never met me. And if you did, you would probably say, "Yeah, books are probably your best bet." 

That's okay. 

Today I want to talk about a new friend I made, a new friend that I think is very important and one you should all make friends with, too. Not only make friends with, but talk about with other friends and your local and state representatives. 

My new friend's name is "MILL TOWN: Reckoning with What Remains" by Kerri Arsenault. My new friend is Kerri Arsenault's first book. Within the pages, she describes the many, many jobs she has undertaken over the years, but on the book jacket, it mentions how she is the book review editor for Orion magazine and a contributing editor at Lit Hub. Saying this is a stunning and accomplished debut book is an understatement.

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

In the town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, where I live, the hometown library is called the Thompson Free. It is run by people who are constantly trying to bring events to the community. There is also a book club, and one of the selections was my new friend "MILL TOWN". I am not part of the book club (see the name of the blog or the old Groucho joke about not belonging to any club that would have me as a member), but I was interested to join in on a Zoom event with author Kerri Arsenault, as I had heard nothing but good things about the book, and I always find it interesting to hear writers talk. Especially writers who grew up in Maine. 

I had only read two chapters when I logged on to the Zoom event, but still enjoyed every moment of it, and was even able to ask her a few questions. Regardless of having had dental work that day, Ms. Arsenault was very generous with her time, very encouraging of conversation, and clearly passionate about her work, while still being easygoing. If you've got a little over an hour to spare, you can actually catch this book talk on YouTube by CLICKING HERE.

A BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

"MILL TOWN: Reckoning with What Remains" tells the personal story of Kerri Arsenault growing up in Mexico, Maine, near the paper mill in Rumford, responsible for the economic survival for the area. Unfortunately, as we should all know, economic survival and public health do not always go hand-in-hand. This area in Maine became nicknamed "Cancer Valley" by its own residents because of the truly shocking inordinate amount of certain types of cancers that claim both men and women in the region. Many seem to inherently understand that the Mill and its pollution are at the heart of this public health issue, but no conclusive evidence can be drawn. More to the fact, one wonders if even conclusive evidence could change things. The area recognizes that the smell that permeates their town is the smell of pollution, the smell of potential sickness. But they also understand that it is the smell of money. 

My new friend is part memoir, and partly a call to environmental action and discussion. As the great Jonathan Lethem blurbs on the back cover, Arsenault's "pursuit of truth is as compassionate as it is relentless."

I am not lying when I say this project is personal for Arsenault:  both her grandfather and father died like so many others do in "Cancer Valley". And one need only read the book and acknowledgements to see how many people she talked to for the book died throughout the writing or before publication. 

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I love that my new friend is not just a lecture. I find Arsenault's account of growing up happy in her mill town to be an interesting memoir. Her prose is exquisite, as fine as in any literary novel, which is important, I think, in nonfiction. 

What I love most is that Arsenault's scope is wide and holistic. This is not just an environmental treatise. Her discussions of the working class and the anti-union politicians who could care less about them are just as important as the dioxin levels and chlorine gassings--- because it is the anti-union politicians and the notion of profit over public health which makes such horrors possible. Kerri Arsenault knows these people, knows Maine, because she grew up here. You can't fake that, even if people do make you feel like an interloper at times after you have left. But she knows what drove Mexico to go from overwhelming support to Obama to overwhelming support for Trump, and understands it was hope for change both times, because the working class sees very little change that has an effect on their lives. 

We all have to learn, as Arsenault lays out, that environmental health is directly related to public health, sure, but also related to poverty and grossly unchecked capitalism. 

It is literally killing us. 

PERSONAL CHALLENGES FOR ME

I read through this book slowly (twice). The reason I my readings were slow is because I live with what some call Illness Anxiety, some call Health Anxiety, and yet others simply call being a Hypochondriac (exacerbated by the pandemic, but that's another story). Reading about the levels of dioxins not only in our water but in our bodies, the levels of pollution in a place called "Cancer Valley", and the fact that it can't be addressed without major economic upheaval, makes me anxious. I can't lie. This is no fault of the book, and it is important to know these things. I just have to work hard to stay out of my head. 

And I need to buy a heavy-duty water filtration system. 

PERSONALLY FUN FOR ME

While this book is not just for Maine readers, Maine readers (especially in the rural communities) will have extra insight. I was especially glad to read a brief section calling out former Congressman Bruce Poliquin's phoniness. He comes around my area to events like County Fairs, smiles his fake smile from his face that looks like Millhouse's dad from The Simpsons, then disappears. He is running for his old seat, and hope he will be thoroughly defeated again. 

Arsenault also has a section on her fight against Nestle and I remember much of that from the news. 

More personally, her brief section on Roxanne Quimby, Burt's Bees, and Quimby's National Park made me smile. I went to school Roxanne's son and daughter, Lucas and Hannah. But I first met them when Roxanne was in a community theater production of Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward with my parents, and us kids would hand around waiting for the rehearsals to be over. 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

There are too many beautiful quotes to begin sharing here. 

I do not read a ton of nonfiction, but I loved this book because it is an important book that speaks to the working class, and to everyone who cares about public health, the environment. What the working class feels forced to submit to is not only dangerous for them, but for all of us who can't afford to live upstream of the pollution. 

Seriously:  read it. 

Thanks for checking out my thoughts on my new friend. Come back soon and you'll meet another new friend of mine, every Monday and Thursday. 

My New Friend "GOD IS DEAD" by Ron Currie, Jr.

 

A photo of me and my new friend. I met my new friend at the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Hi everybody. My name is Bobby Keniston. My only friends are books. But don't feel sad for me--- after all, a book has never called me up at 2 in the morning wanting to talk about something bad that has happened in their life, causing me to feign interest and empathy while my eyelids keep wanting to close. So... there's that. 

Today, I am going to introduce you to my new friend, "God is Dead" by Ron Currie, Jr. 

QUICK DISCLAIMER

I realize the title alone will activate the blasphemy radar for certain readers. These readers will not even want to go past the cover or title page, and probably shouldn't. While there is challenging content within the book, I would not consider it blasphemous or immoral or anything of the sort. But then, I like to read critically and think about what I've read, and am not the type of person to hide my narrow-minded world view and prejudice behind an appearance of morality and righteousness. That's just me. If you are that type of reader, you may want to skip this post altogether. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

For the many, many readers who have been following along with my posts (is there anybody out there?), you know that I have been trying to discover more Maine authors. One of those authors has been Carolyn Chute, and when I did a search about her, I found a YouTube video of Ron Currie, Jr. interviewing her about her latest book, "The Recipe for Revolution" for the Portland Public Library. You can actually watch the video if you like by CLICKING HERE--- it's a long interview, but worth it. It may be the least pretentious interview between two authors you will ever see. This is what piqued my curiosity about Mr. Currie and his work. 

In full disclosure, I read Mr. Currie's first novel "Everything Matters!" before I read "God is Dead," which is his debut book, though a collection of thematically-linked short stories and not a novel. I may write about my friend "Everything Matters!" in a different post. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

As I mentioned above, "God is Dead" is a collection of short stories, starting with the title story in which God comes to Earth as a Dinka woman in the North Darfur region of Sudan. God has come, it seems, to apologize to humanity, but can do very little except sympathize and provide endless amounts of sorghum. God runs into Colin Powell, who, in the world of the story, has come back into contact with his childhood and the racism he faced, and it has made him a "foul-mouthed race warrior" as Lydia Millet said in her blurb for the book. Indeed, Mr. Powell practicing his best Samuel L. Jackson glare is a moment that made me laugh at loud, which I don't do too often when reading. 

In any case, God, while in this human form, dies, and is subsequently eaten by a pack of feral dogs, who have no idea that they are eating the "Creator", and it gives them a strange consciousness, though this  isn't fully revealed until later in the book, the sixth story, titled "Interview with the Last Remaining Member of the Feral Dog Pack Which Fed on God's Corpse", which, despite a title that will turn off readers I mentioned in the disclaimer above, is actually a fascinating tale about meaning and existence, through the eyes of a changed feral dog, who, for all its consciousness, is not deified. 

Indeed, every story after the first is an examination of how our society would change if we had distinct and definite proof that God had somehow died. Suicides for the clergy sky rocket. There is a mass panic for a time. New idols (including children) are put in place to fill the need to worship. New philosophies, the Postmodern Anthropologists and the Evolutionary Psychologists, form, indoctrinate, create zealots and war on each other (these names were another deep chuckle--- I laughed out loud when a popular country song, "Proud to be a PoMO" is played at a parade). 

Basically, the world changes completely, but not really at all. People simply scramble to look for meaning. 

Which is funny. 

But really sad. 

FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

There are three stories that connect into one big story:  "False Idols," "The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit" and "Retreat". It was nice to follow these characters. 

I also like how Ron Currie's theme here, and in "Everything Matters!' is how meaning can exist if we make it so. We often try too hard, or depend on outward forces, real and imagined. But Currie seems to be telling us that we don't need to do this. There's plenty of meaning within if we just look for it in the simplest of terms. 

FUN FACT

When my new friend was first released, many compared its author to Vonnegut. Mr. Currie himself has said that he doesn't find the comparison an apt one. Neither do I. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I recommend it for those who want to think about our world and its quest for meaning. Be prepared--- despite some humor, it can be a big downer and isn't for those squeamish about dark comedy. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on my new friend and its author, Ron Currie, Jr. 

Come on back to hear me talk about a new friend...