kidzdoc is cutting down the mountain of unread books in 2012: part 10

Xenia Nikolskaya, The Minarets of Old Cairo










Currently reading:



Completed books:

January:
1. Volcano by Shusaku Endo (review)
2. False Friends: Book Two by Ellie Malet Spradbery (review)
3. A Disease Apart: Leprosy in the Modern World by Tony Gould (review)
4. Best Mets: Fifty Years of Highs and Lows from New York's Most Agonizingly Amazin' Team by Matthew Silverman (review)
5. Walkabout by James Vance Marshall (review)
6. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (review)
7. Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
8. Mister Blue by Jacques Poulin (review)
9. Stained Glass Elegies by Shusaku Endo (review)
10. Botchan (Master Darling) by Natsume Soseki (review)
11. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
12. Guadalajara by Quim Monzó (review)

February:
13. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
14. Erasure by Percival Everett
15. Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now by Touré
16. Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal
17. India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India by Akash Kapur (review)
18. The Three-Cornered World by Natsume Soseki
19. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
20. Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
21. The Golden Country by Shusaku Endo
22. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi

March:
23. Professor Andersen's Night by Dag Solstad
24. Amsterdam Stories by Nescio
25. Your New Baby: A Guide to Newborn Care by Roy Benaroch, MD (review)
26. Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU by Adam Wolfberg, MD (review)
27. There but for the by Ali Smith
28. The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle
29. When the Garden Was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks by Harvey Araton (review)
30. Walk on Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit by Michael Rudman (review)
31. Suffer the Children: Flaws, Foibles, Fallacies and the Grave Shortcomings of Pediatric Care by Peter Palmieri (review)
32. Tonight No Poetry Will Serve by Adrienne Rich

April:
33. Little Misunderstandings of No Importance by Antonio Tabucchi
34. One with Others by C.D. Wright (review)
35. The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro by Antonio Tabucchi (review)
36. Boundaries by Elizabeth Nunez (review)
37. Panther Baby by Jamal Joseph (review)
38. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq
39. Waifs and Strays by Micah Ballard (review)
40. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (review)
41. Natural Birth by Toi Derricotte (review)
42. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (review)
43. Thirst by Andrei Gelasimov (review)
44. When I Was a Poet by David Meltzer (review)
45. Book of My Mother by Albert Cohen (review)
46. The Lepers of Molokai by Charles Warren Stoddard

May:
47. Colonoscopy for Dummies ~ Special Edition by Kathleen A. Doble
48. Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw
49. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
50. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
51. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa (review)
52. The Line by Olga Grushin
53. What Is Amazing by Heather Christle
54. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
55. The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
56. The Treasures of Destiny by Laurie Harman Wilson
57. Confusion by Stefan Zweig
58. Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick
59. The Undertaker's Daughter by Toi Derricotte

June:
60. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
61. The Patient Survival Guide: 8 Simple Solutions to Prevent Hospital- and Healthcare-Associated Infections by Dr. Maryanne McGuckin
62. Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye
63. Scenes from Early Life by Philip Hensher (review)
64. The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History by V.S. Naipaul (not completed)

July:
65. God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet (review)
66. Being Sam Frears: A Life Less Ordinary by Mary Mount (review)
67. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (review)
68. The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss (review)
69. The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah
70. Pure by Timothy Mo (review)
71. Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey (review)
72. My Michael by Amos Oz
73. Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami (review)
74. Subduction by Todd Shimoda
75. Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan

Books acquired in 2012: (books in bold are ones that I purchased this year)

January:
1. Best Mets: Fifty Years of Highs and Lows from New York's Most Agonizingly Amazin' Team by Matthew Silverman (2 Jan; LT Early Reviewer book) √
2. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq (3 Jan; Kindle purchase) √
3. The Lepers of Molokai by Charles Warren Stoddard (7 Jan; free Kindle download) √
4. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (8 Jan; gift book)
5. Walkabout by James Vance Marshall (8 Jan; NYRB Book Club) √
6. There but for the by Ali Smith (9 Jan; ordered from Alibris 30 Jan) √
7. I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki (9 Jan; ordered from Alibris 30 Jan)
8. The Samurai by Shusaku Endo (9 Jan; ordered from Alibris 30 Jan)
9. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima ((9 Jan; ordered from Alibris 30 Jan)
10. Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami (9 Jan; ordered from Alibris 30 Jan)
11. Black Talk, Blue Thoughts, and Walking the Color Line: Dispatches from a Black Journalista by Erin Aubry Kaplan (10 Jan; LT Early Reviewer book)
12. Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell (11 Jan; ordered from Strand Book Store on 27 Dec)
13. Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima (11 Jan; ordered from Strand Book Store on 27 Dec)
14. The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima (11 Jan; ordered from Strand Book Store on 27 Dec)
15. The Golden Country by Shusaku Endo (11 Jan; ordered from Strand Book Store on 27 Dec) √
16. Deep River by Shusaku Endo (11 Jan; ordered from Strand Book Store on 27 Dec)
17. Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. (15 Jan; free download) √

February:
18. Panther Baby by Jamal Joseph (2 Feb; free ARC) √
19. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (4 Feb; NYRB Book Club) √
20. Class War?: What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality by Benjamin I. Page (10 Feb; free e-book from U of Chicago Press)
21. India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India by Akash Kapur (15 Feb; LT Early Reviewer book) √
22. Amsterdam Stories by Nescio (29 Feb; NYRB Book Club) √

March:
23. Your new baby: A guide to newborn care by Roy Benaroch (6 Mar; free Kindle download) √
24. Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU by Adam Wolfberg, MD (11 Mar; Kindle purchase) √
25. The Irish Americans: A History by Jay P. Dolan (17 Mar; Kindle purchase)
26. The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories by Etgar Keret (17 Mar; partial book purchase from Barnes & Noble gift order)
27. The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen (17 Mar; Barnes & Noble gift order)
28. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (17 Mar; Barnes & Noble gift order) √
29. Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now--As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It by Craig Taylor (17 Mar; Barnes & Noble gift order)
30. The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright (17 Mar; iBooks order)
31. When the Garden Was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks by Harvey Araton (20 Mar; Kindle gift book) √
32. Assumption by Percival Everett (20 Mar; Kindle gift book)
33. The Barbarian Nurseries by Héctor Tobar (20 Mar; Kindle gift book)
34. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes (22 Mar; Kindle gift book)
35. The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer (25 Mar; Kindle gift book)
36. Walk on Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit by Michael Rudman (25 Mar; borrowed book) √
37. Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete by Washington Irving (26 Mar; free Kindle download)
38. Suffer the Children: Flaws, Foibles, Fallacies and the Grave Shortcomings of Pediatric Care by Peter Palmieri (26 Mar; Kindle purchase) √

April:
39. Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley (3 Apr; NYRB Book Club)
40. The King of Kahel by Tierno Monénembo (15 Apr; Kindle e-book)
41. The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations by Zhu Xiao-Mei (15 Apr; Kindle e-book)
42. The Greenhouse by Audur Ava Olafsdottir (15 Apr; Kindle e-book)
43. Thirst by Andrei Gelasimov (15 Apr; Kindle e-book) √
44. Book of My Mother by Albert Cohen (16 Apr; Archipelago Books 2011 subscription) √
45. My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgaard (16 Apr; Archipelago Books 2011 subscription)
46. As Though She Were Sleeping by Elias Khoury (16 Apr; Archipelago Books 2011 subscription)
47. Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick (17 Apr; Kindle e-book)
48. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding (17 Apr; Kindle e-book)
49. Bleak House by Charles Dickens (22 Apr; free Kindle e-book)
50. Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye (28 Apr; Amazon UK order)

May:
51. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer (3 May; free e-book from the University of Chicago Press) √
52. Colonoscopy for Dummies ~ Special Edition by Kathleen A. Doble (3 May; free e-book) √
53. Foreign Studies by Shusaku Endo (6 May; Strand Book Store)
54. The Enormity of the Tragedy by Quim Monzó (6 May; Strand Book Store)
55. Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens (6 May; Strand Book Store)
56. The Coward's Tale by Vanessa Gebbie (6 May; Strand Book Store)
57. Trapeze by Simon Mawer (6 May; Strand Book Store)
58. HHhH by Laurent Binet (6 May; Strand Book Store)
59. The Undertaker's Daughter by Toi Derricotte (6 May; Strand Book Store)
60. What Is Amazing by Heather Christle (6 May; Strand Book Store)
61. Confusion by Stefan Zweig (8 May; NYRB Book Club) √
62. Scenes from Early Life by Philip Hensler (8 May; The Book Depository)
63. Pure by Timothy Mo (8 May; The Book Depository)
64. Capital by John Lanchester (19 May; The Book Depository)
65. A Mind of Winter by Shira Nayman (19 May; LibraryThing Early Reviewer book)
66. The Treasures of Destiny by Laurie Harman Wilson (20 May; ARC e-book) √
67. The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro (21 May; History Book Club)
68. The Complete 2012 User's Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle by Stephen Windwalker and Bruce Grubbs (29 May; free Kindle e-book)
69. Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif (30 May; Kindle e-book)
70. Last Orders by Graham Swift (30 May; gift book (J.N.))
71. The Patient Survival Guide: 8 Simple Solutions to Prevent Hospital- and Healthcare-Associated Infections by Dr. Maryanne McGuckin (31 May; LT Early Reviewer book)
72. Subduction by Todd Shimoda (31 May; LT Early Reviewer book)
73. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (31 May; Amazon UK)

June:
74. Ride a Cockhorse by Raymond Kennedy (4 June; NYRB Book Club)
75. London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd (26 June; City Lights Books)
76. Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous (26 June; City Lights Books)
77. Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey (26 June; City Lights Books)
78. Memoirs of a Porcupine by Alain Mabanckou (26 June; City Lights Books)
79. Is Just a Movie by Earl Lovelace (26 June; City Lights Books)
80. Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan (26 June; City Lights Books)
81. The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss (26 June; City Lights Books)
82. The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa (26 June; City Lights Books)
83. God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet (26 June; City Lights Books)
84. The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah (26 June; City Lights Books)
85. Massacre River by René Philoctète (28 June; City Lights Books)
86. Manual of Painting and Calligraphy by José Saramago (28 June; City Lights Books)
87. I Was an Elephant Salesman by Pap Khouma (28 June; City Lights Books)
88. I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferrière (28 June; City Lights Books)
89. Jim and Jap Crow: A Cultural History of 1940s Interracial America by Matthew M. Briones (28 June; City Lights Books)
90. McTeague by Frank Norris (30 June; free Kindle e-book)
91. Being Sam Frears: A Life Less Ordinary by Mary Mount (30 June; Penguin eSpecial)

July:
92. Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney (2 July; Books Inc.)
93. Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith (2 July; Books Inc.)
94. The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon by Philip Graham (2 July; University of Chicago Press free e-book)
95. Confessions of a Young Novelist by Umberto Eco (4 July; City Lights Books)
96. Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (4 July; City Lights Books)
97. Why Niebuhr Matters by Charles Lemert (4 July; City Lights Books)
98. Globalectics by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (4 July; City Lights Books)
99. Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (4 July; City Lights Books)
100. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (6 July; Kindle download)
101. Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk', the Most Outrageous Record Label in America by Jason Weiss (6 July; City Lights Books)
102. Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love by David Talbot (6 July; City Lights Books)
103. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo (6 July; City Lights Books)
104. Inside by Alix Ohlin (6 July; City Lights Books)
105. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova (8 July; Kindle download)
106. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (9 July; NYRB Book Club)

TBR books read in 2012 (books on my shelf for ≥6 months):

1. A Disease Apart: Leprosy in the Modern World by Tony Gould
2. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
3. Botchan (Master Darling) by Natsume Soseki
4. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
5. Guadalajara by Quim Monzó
6. Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal
7. The Three-Cornered World by Natsume Soseki
8. Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
9. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi
10. The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle
11. Little Misunderstandings of No Importance by Antonio Tabucchi
12. One with Others by C.D. Wright
13. The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro by Antonio Tabucchi
14. Waifs and Strays by Micah Ballard
15. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
16. When I Was a Poet by David Meltzer
17. Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw
18. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
19. The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa
20. The Line by Olga Grushin
21. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning
22. The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History by V.S. Naipaul

Books purchased in 2012:

1. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq √
2. Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU by Adam Wolfberg, MD √
3. The Irish Americans: A History by Jay P. Dolan
4. The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God and Other Stories by Etgar Keret
5. The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright √
6. Suffer the Children: Flaws, Foibles, Fallacies and the Grave Shortcomings of Pediatric Care by Peter Palmieri √
7. The King of Kahel by Tierno Monénembo
8. The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations by Zhu Xiao-Mei
9. The Greenhouse by Audur Ava Olafsdottir
10. Thirst by Andrei Gelasimov √
11. Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick √
12. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding √
13. Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye √
14. Foreign Studies by Shusaku Endo
15. The Enormity of the Tragedy by Quim Monzó
16. Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens
17. The Coward's Tale by Vanessa Gebbie
18. Trapeze by Simon Mawer
19. HHhH by Laurent Binet
20. The Undertaker's Daughter by Toi Derricotte
21. What Is Amazing by Heather Christle √
22. Scenes from Early Life by Philip Hensler √
23. Pure by Timothy Mo
24. Capital by John Lanchester
25. The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro
26. Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif
27. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel √
28. London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd
29. Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous
30. Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey
31. Memoirs of a Porcupine by Alain Mabanckou
32. Is Just a Movie by Earl Lovelace
33. Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan
34. The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss √
35. The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa
36.. God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet √
37. The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah √
38. Massacre River by René Philoctète
39. Manual of Painting and Calligraphy by José Saramago
40. I Was an Elephant Salesman by Pap Khouma
41. I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferrière
42. Jim and Jap Crow: A Cultural History of 1940s Interracial America by Matthew M. Briones
43. Being Sam Frears: A Life Less Ordinary by Mary Mount √
44. Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney
45. Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
46. Confessions of a Young Novelist by Umberto Eco
47. Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
48. Why Niebuhr Matters by Charles Lemert
49. Globalectics by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
50. Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
51. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
52. Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk', the Most Outrageous Record Label in America by Jason Weiss
53. Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love by David Talbot
54. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
55. Inside by Alix Ohlin
56. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova

Completed books from JanetinLondon's library and list of planned reads for 2012:

January:
1. Volcano by Shusaku Endo
2. Botchan by Natsume Soseki

February:
3. The Three-Cornered World by Natsume Soseki
4. Kokoro by Natsume Soseki

March:
(none)

April:
(none)

May:
5. The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa

Sleeping Trees
by Fady Joudah

Between what should and what should not be
Everything is liable to explode. Many times
I was told who has no land has no sea. My father
Learned to fly in a dream. This is the story
Of a sycamore tree he used to climb
When he was young to watch the rain.

Sometimes it rained so hard it hurt. Like being
Beaten with sticks. Then the mud would run red.

My brother believed bad dreams could kill
A man in his sleep, he insisted
We wake my father from his muffled screams
On the night of the day he took us to see his village.
No longer his village he found his tree amputated.
Between one falling and the next

There’s a weightless state. There was a woman
Who loved me. Asked me how to say tree
In Arabic. I didn’t tell her. She was sad. I didn’t understand.
When she left. I saw a man in my sleep three times. A man I knew
Could turn anyone into one-half reptile.
I was immune. I thought I was. I was terrified of being

The only one left. When we woke my father
He was running away from soldiers. Now
He doesn’t remember that night. He laughs
About another sleep, he raised his arms to strike a king
And tried not to stop. He flew
But mother woke him and held him for an hour,

Or half an hour, or as long as it takes a migration inward.
Maybe if I had just said it.
Shejerah, she would’ve remembered me longer. Maybe
I don’t know much about dreams
But my mother taught me the law of omen. The dead
Know about the dying and sometimes
Catch them in sleep like the sycamore tree
My father used to climb

When he was young to watch the rain stream,
And he would gently swing.

from The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241502

Planned reads for July:

Being Sam Frears: A Life Less Ordinary by Mary Mount - completed
Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey - completed
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - completed
The Coward's Tale by Vanessa Gebbie
The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah - completed
God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet - completed
Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan - completed
The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss - completed
My Michael by Amos Oz - completed
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz - reading
Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami - completed
Pure by Timothy Mo - completed
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Subduction by Todd Shimoda - completed
To the End of the Land by David Grossman

Apologies in advance for the redundancy in this message.

As I mentioned in my last thread, Lois (avaland) and I are the co-hosts of the upcoming Middle Eastern Literature third quarter theme read in the Reading Globally group, which will run from July 1 to September 30. Eligible authors and books will be based in the countries and regions of the traditional definition of the Middle East, as defined by Wikipedia:

Bahrain
Cyprus
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Palestinian Territories (West Bank and the Gaza Strip)
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

I've decided to eliminate Turkey for the purpose of this theme, as the first quarter Reading Globally theme focused on Turkey and the Balkans.

As part of the Middle Eastern literature theme, I've created a thread for a group read of The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz, which consists of his novels Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street, and will also run from July 1 to September 30. I'll plan to read one book each month, starting with Palace Walk in mid July.

Group Read: The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz

My other main goal for July will be to read novels that seem to be strong candidates for this year's Booker Prize, in anticipation of the longlist announcement on July 25. I've read Scenes from Early Life by Philip Hensher, and I should finish Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel by the end of the month.

First by reason of aging prostate awakening.

Intriguing poem. The imagery is so vivid. Thanks for sharing.

>7 richardderus: The owner of this thread extends a warm welcome to Richard, and glances briefly and disdainfully upon his troublesome prostate.

>8 labfs39: You're welcome, Lisa. And I thank Linda (Linda92007) for mentioning Fady Joudah, a Palestinian-American physician and poet, and his debut poetry collection The Earth in the Attic, which we'll both read for the Middle Eastern literature theme.

Just noticed that Cyprus is included as part of the Middle East which seems a little odd. My sister lives in Cyprus (at least some of the time) and that's not how they consider themselves at all. Definitely part of Europe.

>10 SandDune: Right, Rhian. I was very surprised to see Cyprus included in Wikipedia's definition of the 'traditional Middle East', and I didn't make a serious effort to look for books from that island for the upcoming theme.

What a beautiful picture in #1!

Wow, a Palace Walk GR... I bought the trilogy early this year and am planning to read it, so I might join you. This would be my 4th GR for July, so I might fall back, but maybe I'll catch up again later with the other books.

Have you finished The Master and Margarita? I remember you had it on 'Reading' status on the TIOLI, but I don't see it in your lists here on the thread. I finished it last night and feel very confused by it. I followed the GR comments, but still I am not as happy with it as I had expected after all the enthusiastic reviews here on LT.

Darryl - my first working assignment after university was on a textile complex near Alexandria and I have very fond memories of the time I spent in that wonderful, history steeped place. I lived in a small seaside village called Hannuville next to the slightly larger resort of Agami. Great times and I will follow you undoubtedly for Mafouz's second installment of the Cairo Trilogy - read the first one a couple of years ago and it is a marvellously evocative piece.

Bother. Just been skim reading your last 2 threads (since I last posted) and missed out on some really interesting conversations!

Re #12 I was just about to ask the same about The Master and Margarita - I sense you're not getting on with it very well? It took me a while to get going with it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it - and it's fascinating from a historical perspective.

Love the pic at the top - I'd love to go back to Egypt one day - so much still to see.

Hello,

I very much liked the review on this Book - A Disease Apart: Leprosy in the Modern World by Tony Gould . I am quite interested in disease(s) and their history. Was quite difficult to get it. Now I have to wait "only" 3 weeks for it to arrive from the US.

:) I also love that photo at the top:)

>4 kidzdoc: Wonderful! I am currently reading from both Like A Straw Bird It Follows Me (I love the jacket image) and The Earth in the Attic, and very happy to report that Ghassan Zaqtan and Fady Joudah are in fact scheduled for the NYS Writers Institute in October.

Lovely pic!

>12 Deern: Thanks, Nathalie. Regarding the group read of The Cairo Trilogy, feel free to join us at any time during the third quarter of the year. I suspect that some people won't start reading Palace Walk until mid to late July or in August, so you should be in good company.

I had intended to read The Master and Margarita this month, but June has so far been one of the least productive months in the past few years. I didn't get far into it (~40 pages), and I didn't bring it with me to San Francisco. I'll try to get to it later this summer or early in the fall.

>13 PaulCranswick: That must have been a wonderful and eye-opening experience, Paul. I look forward to your presence in the group read of The Cairo Trilogy. Do you think you'll read Palace of Desire this month, or in August? If you plan to start it next month, I'll create a separate thread for this book now.

>14 flissp: Hi, Fliss! I'm glad to see you back here, even if you missed the wacky conversations about Black Panthers, beehives, Jheri curls, etc.

I'll definitely read The Master and Margarita this year, although my focus for the next three months will be the Middle Eastern literature theme and the Booker longlist.

I haven't been to Egypt yet, although it's certainly high on my list of places I would eventually like to visit.

>15 drachenbraut23: I'm glad that you liked my review of A Disease Apart, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. I also enjoy reading about the history of medicine and diseases, particularly ones caused by infectious organisms. I also liked Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox by Gareth Williams, The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria by Randall Packard, Flu : The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic by Gina Kolata, Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts, and The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis by Sherwin Nuland.

>16 Linda92007: I read a few poems from The Earth in the Attic last night, and I enjoyed what I read. I'll finish reading it this weekend, at the latest. I look forward to your comments about Joudah and Zaqtan's appearance this fall.

>17 tiffin: Thanks, Tui! Needless to say, I chose it in honor of the upcoming Middle Eastern literature theme.

Good news from Washington: The US Supreme Court upheld nearly all of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, in a 5-4 decision:

Supreme Court Lets Health Law Largely Stand

It's a step in the right direction, but it doesn't provide universal single-payer health care that is affordable for all Americans. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't been following the debate about the ACA closely, but I certainly will from this point on.

I'm sitting in my favorite North Beach cafe, Caffè Greco, as I wait for City Lights to open at 10 am. The weather here continues to be perfect; it's sunny and 57 degrees, and it will reach 66 degrees today, which will be the warmest day of the week. Atlanta, on the other hand, is currently at 91 degrees at noon, and it's supposed to hit 95 degrees today, with triple digit temperatures forecast for the weekend.

>19 kidzdoc: I was just privately celebrating that myself. :) No matter how much we work on the healthcare system, there will always be problems...however, I think any move that increases the likelihood of poorer people going to a family physician rather than to the emergency room whenever they're sick is a move in the right direction! Unfortunately a lot of people don't realize how much money is wasted annually on such visits.

>18 kidzdoc: Wow, your list of medical history books makes me sigh with frustrated anticipation. I've been planning on reading SO many of those books, but I'm very scatter-brained when I choose my books (some might call it eclectic, but eclecticism doesn't ever lead to expertise, does it?)

Hi Darryl, I LOVE the picture at the top of your thread. Egypt is definitely a place I'd like to visit some day too. I remember back in the 80s when I was living in Israel with my mom, we had planned to visit Cairo. This would necessarily have been in 1981 because we thought it best to put off this trip when Anwar Sadat was assassinated. A sad event that was, too.

I read The Cairo Trilogy before joining this group, in 2008 and thought all three books were brilliant. Something I'll probably want to read again sometime in the future. Parts of it remain vividly in my mind, which doesn't happen very often, what with my terrible memory. I'm almost sure you'll enjoy all three books too.

I'm only halfway through Wolf Hall as taking my sweet time with it, though Suzanne is helping me understand all the details with our tutored read. Unlikely I'll get to Bring Up the Bodies anytime soon, though it's definitely on the horizon.

Sounds like you're in a much more comfortable place, weather-wise right now. I haven't been back there since the late 80s, though I would gladly trade places with you right now. Is San Francisco a place you'd consider living in?

#18 Thank you for all the recomendations. All noted down. They all sound very interesting. I have read already some interesting stuff on Semmelweiss and also choose him for my essay - many, many years ago - in my pediatric nursing training. :)

I have to aggree with 20# that you have a very interesting collection of medical history books.

Great photo Darryl. Hope you're having fun in SF and you leave some books for other customers in City Lights.

Drachenbraut and Hibernator, I just wanted to throw in another recommendation for And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts. But don't read it when you're in the mood for something light and uplifting!

Darryl. It's such a pleasure to think about you sitting at the cafe awaiting the opening of City Lights. Jealous of your 60ish temps as it is way over 100 in the KC area today, and reportedly will stay high for the foreseeable future. . .
I'm enjoying your book purchase lists and agree with all regarding the beauty of your new thread pic. The composition and colors of the photo are amazing!

If this were Facebook, I'd give #25 a definite like. If it were a review, I'd give you thirty-eleven thumbs up! Enjoy your vacation. Your kids need you rested and ready to cure when you return.

Book haul #2 from City Lights: only 5 books today, 4 of which came from my wishlist:

Massacre River by René Philoctète: A novel based on a massacre that took place in 1937 on the island of Hispaniola, when the army of Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic murdered approximately 20,000 Haitians living on the border of the two countries. In this story, a Dominican man attempts to rescue his beloved wife, a Haitian woman, from the carnage taking place in a small Dominican town. This was the only book that wasn't on my wish list.

Manual of Painting and Calligraphy by José Saramago: This is Saramago's first novel, which was originally written in 1976 and recently reissued in English translation, which concerns a struggling young artist who operates during the last years of the regime of Portuguese prime minister António de Oliveira Salazar.

I Was an Elephant Salesman by Pap Khouma: Recommended by rebeccanyc, this is a novel based on the lives of "anonymous African street vendors in cities across Europe", in which the author portrays himself as one of these faceless immigrants.

I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferrière: A humorous novel about a writer who is given a large advance to write a novel, but finds himself unable to write a word of it. He proclaims that he is actually a Japanese author, and he gains fame and notoriety for the still unwritten book (I think).

Jim and Jap Crow: A Cultural History of 1940s Interracial America by Matthew M. Briones: This book looks at the diaries of Charles Kikuchi, a Japanese American who was forced into an interment camp soon after Pearl Harbor, then moved to the South Side of Chicago after his release, where he witnessed racial hysteria toward himself and other Asian Americans, and towards his African American neighbors and clients he served as a social worker.

4 out of 5 from your wishlist, that is a well planned bookshop trip. Glad the climate is suited to your needs, and you're having a good break.
And hi to the new thread too :)

>20 The_Hibernator: Right, Rachel. The emergency department in many US hospitals has become a primary care facility for many people, including the one I work at. Needless to say, it costs the health care system (and all of us taxpayers) for a child to be seen in the ED for an ear infection or a fever rather than a primary care physician's office or a health clinic. The percentage of uninsured kids my group takes care of as inpatients has jumped dramatically in the past few years, even though Georgia and all other US states have programs where the children of poor and middle class families can get low cost health insurance (Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), known as PeachCare in Georgia). Georgia has made it increasingly difficult for families to apply for, gain and maintain coverage under these programs, and it's not uncommon for a family whose child is admitted to the hospital to find out that their insurance coverage has lapsed, usually due to no fault of their own. We originally thought that these families were remiss in ensuring that their kids' benefits were up to date, but this has been happening far too often, to very responsible parents.

I still have a bunch of books about medicine and health care that I haven't read yet, particularly recent ones about health care reform and the US health care "system", such as The Politics of Medicaid by Laura Katz Olson. I had hoped to make a dent in these unread books this year, but it hasn't happened yet.

>21 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana! I loved that picture as well when I searched for images of old Cairo. I can certainly understand why you didn't visit Egypt in the aftermath of Anwar Sadat's assassination. BTW, has anyone heard anything about Hosni Mubarak, Sadat's successor, recently? He was supposedly close to death last week, after he suffered a stroke, but I haven't heard or read anything about him since then.

I'm glad that you enjoyed The Cairo Trilogy; I'm looking forward to starting it anew next month.

I'm enjoying Bring Up the Bodies so far, although I'm slowly working my way through it, and The Loss of El Dorado, V.S. Naipaul's history of the origins of colonial Trinidad. I'll have to pick up my reading pace if I expect to finish both books by Saturday.

I seriously considered moving to the Bay Area about 10 years ago, when two of my closest friends from medical school were completing their fellowship training in San Francisco and nearby Palo Alto. However, I found out that I would probably have to take a significant pay cut if I were to take a comparable job here, which would be exacerbated by the significantly higher cost of living as compared to Atlanta. My closest friend moved from Palo Alto (where Stanford is located) to Madison, Wisconsin, and my other friend took a job in San Jose, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. So, I wouldn't have seen either one of them very often if I had moved here.

>22 drachenbraut23: Sherwin Nuland's book on Semmelweis was very well written, as it was akin to a medical mystery rather than a drily written account of puerperal fever. Nuland, a surgeon at Yale Medical School, has written several other notable books about medicine, particularly How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter, which was one of the few books I read during medical school.

The books I mentioned are only a few of the ones I own about the history of medicine. I've particularly enjoyed the books I've read by Roy Porter, including Quacks: Fakers and Charlatans in Medicine, which I bought at the bookshop within the Wellcome Collection in London several years ago. It has a great selection of books about the history of medicine and diseases. (I mention this because I noticed from your profile that you work in the capital.)

>23 cushlareads: Thanks, Cushla. I'm definitely enjoying my stay in San Francisco so far, although I haven't done much so far other than buy books and eat at my favorite local restaurants. I have several activities planned for this weekend and next week, though.

North Beach, the Italian section of San Francisco and traditional hangout of the Beat poets, has several cafes that are conducive to people watching, relaxed conversations, and hours of uninterrupted reading. The photo below was taken at Caffè Greco, where I usually start my mornings, including today:



I'm back at my hotel, but I'll probably head back to North Beach this evening. Hmm...then again, it will probably be very festive and loud tonight, as the locals celebrate Italy's upset win over Germany in the semifinals of Euro 2012. I was there one year when Italy won a semifinal match during the World Cup (in 1998, I think), and there were spontaneous celebrations in the middle of busy Columbus Avenue afterward.

>24 brenpike: I'm absolutely amazed at the forecast high temperatures for Atlanta the next three days (103-105 degrees!). I normally come to San Francisco for a couple of weeks during the summer to escape the heat of Atlanta, but I couldn't have timed it any better than I did this year. If I haven't said so already, I hope that everyone stays cool and safe this weekend.

>26 tututhefirst: I'll certainly be well rested when I return to work the week after next, and far less grumpy as well. My partners and I were getting pretty burned out after an unusually busy spring and early summer, so this vacation was a sorely needed one for me.

>28 LovingLit: Hi, Megan! It is very unusual for me to walk out of City Lights with so few books, so it was a well planned trip. It was quite crowded there on Tuesday, so I returned today to scan the New Fiction and New Nonfiction sections for books of interest. I found far fewer books than I normally would, and I limited myself to those books that I wanted to read ASAP. I'll make at least one more trip there toward the end of next week, just before I fly back to Atlanta the Saturday after next.

Darryl, have you been to Bar Bambino in Mission yet? It's on 16th Street and is a wonderful wine bar and restaurant. They have an amazing cheese room. The food is based on seasonal produce and oh so delicious.

>31 cameling: I haven't been to Bar Bambino yet, although I was within a stone's throw of it this afternoon. I got a hair cut at the place I usually go to, New Chicago Barber Shop on Fillmore St near Geary Blvd. I then took an outbound 22 Fillmore bus to 16th & Mission, as I thought my new favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, Taquería el Farolito, was located there, next to the BART station. (Bar Bambino is 1-2 blocks east of Mission on 16th Street, as you probably know.) Thanks to the foursquare app on my BlackBerry, I soon realized that the taquería is next to the 24th & Mission BART station.

It's easy for me to get to Bar Bambino, as the hotel I'm staying at (Hotel Whitcomb, on Market near 8th Street) is just in front of the Civic Center MUNI and BART station; the next stop on BART heading toward SFO is 16th & Mission. I'll check it out sometime next week.

Any other SF recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Darryl, I'm planning to join you in the GR of The Palace Walk and will read that book in July.

I was wondering how you viewed the idea of reduced Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors as Part of the ACA but maybe you are on salary at the hospital you're working at in Atlanta and wouldn't be concerned about that. It's rather odd that it's been two years since it was passed and I feel like I don't know much about it but I did hear the bit about reduced reimbursement on NPR this morning.

>33 brenzi: Great question, Bonnie. My partners and I had been talking informally about the Affordable Care Act, and what effects it would have on the not-for-profit hospital system we work for as a whole, and on our group in particular. From what I know, it seems to be a mixed picture. On one hand, the system will benefit by caring for a decreased number of uninsured patients, as we lose a lot of money in uncompensated care that is provided to inpatients and children seen in one of our emergency departments or immediate care centers. On the other hand, Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals are expected to decrease, so hospitals that care for large number of publicly insured patients will see a loss of revenue. I'm interested to see how much these cuts will be, and whether this will also apply to the children covered under PeachCare, Georgia's state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low cost health care for families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to purchase private health insurance, which reimburses hospitals and doctors relatively well. I believe that the hospital I work for (one of three within the system) sees more kids covered under PeachCare than Medicaid, due to its location in a wealthy Atlanta suburb, compared to the other two hospitals, so the hospitalist group I work for may be in slightly better shape.

One of the bigger concerns I have is the effect of the Affordable Care Act on reimbursements by Medicaid and PeachState to primary care providers. It's difficult for PCPs to treat a sizable percentage of these patients and keep their practices afloat without seeing large numbers of patients and spending 5-10 minutes with each one. Needless to say this results in inadequate care, which can result in increased ER visits and hospital admissions for acute and chronic illnesses that could be prevented if the PCP provided good comprehensive health care or picked up on the early signs of a preventable illness. For example, my group admits dozens and probably a hundred or more patients every year due to asthma exacerbations that resulted from a child not having a rescue medication such as albuterol or Xopenex at home when an asthma attack started, or because those with mild, moderate or persistent asthma weren't prescribed a preventive medication such as an inhaled corticosteroid (Pulmicort, Flovent, Advair, Symbicort, etc.), which could have allowed their asthma exacerbation to be successfully managed at home or by the PCP.

You're correct in guessing that I'm a salaried physician, so my base salary isn't directly affected by the changes that will take place due to the ACA. However, my group is subsidized by the hospital system because the revenue we generate isn't sufficient to pay for our salaries and overhead costs, such as malpractice insurance, due mainly to the low reimbursement rates paid by Medicaid and PeachCare. As long as we are fiscally responsible and stay within our budget, we are in good shape, and are more likely to be granted requests for increased manpower. However, if our revenue drops significantly, it will make it more difficult for us to stay within budget, which could have some long term effects down the road, such as increased work hours and responsibilities (I seriously doubt that the system would cut our salaries).

I think it will be several years before the effects of the Affordable Care Act will be clearly discernible, but my gut feeling is that it will have a mixed and minimal effect on the hospital system and the hospitalist group I work for.

ETA: I'm glad that you'll be joining us for the group read of Palace Walk in July! I'll have to do a head count, but it seems as though at least 8-10 people have expressed a strong interest in reading the trilogy next quarter.

Hi Darryl, love the exotic sounding books from the City Lights. Many of the medicine background books go to the TBR list. Thanks.

Been entertained by the hairdo conversation. I was tickled by the fact that evryone's MIL has a wierd hairdo but not mothers (universal phenomenon).

You're welcome, Gautam. I'll read the two books on medicine I bought at City Lights in the next few days. The Making of Modern Medicine will be a quick read, as it's less than 100 pages and contains numerous photographs, and God's Hotel is based on a hospital in San Francisco, and I'd like to read the book and visit the hospital before I leave here next Saturday.

LOL about the MILs with weird hairdos comment! Does that also apply to your wife's mother?

I'm interested in reading Palace Walk as well, although I'm not sure I'll be able to commit to reading all three. But I probably won't be able to join in any discussions until towards the end of the month when I'm back from holiday.

Only 5 books from City Lights?! I assume you'll be back there tomorrow ;o)

Caffè Greco is going on my list for November - looks like a great cafe - I didn't notice it last time I was there - is it very near to City Lights (ie am I just incredibly unobservant - definitely a possibility)?

Re Egypt - yep, definitely a wonderful place to visit. I can safely say that Abu Simbel is one of the most jaw dropping places I've visited, despite the fact that it's inevitably incredibly touristy as you have no choice but to go as part of a tourist convoy (for safety reasons).

I dunno know, Darryl, isn't reading all that medical stuff kind of a busman's holiday for you?

>37 SandDune: No problem, Rhian. Several of us won't start reading it until mid July, so you'll be in good company. Don't feel obligated to read all three books, and even if you do you don't have to finish them by the end of September, as I expect that some people won't get to all of them by then.

Atul Gawande has a nice blog piece about the Affordable Care Act and the problem of uninsured Americans in the online edition of The New Yorker:

Something Wicked This Way Comes

>38 flissp: I think the main reason I've purchased so few books from City Lights so far (few compared to the usual 20-25+ books I purchase from there on my usual visits to San Francisco) is that there are fewer books on my wish list that are currently available there, and because I've avoided buying some of the larger books that I can easily acquire elsewhere, such as Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo and Thinking the Twentieth Century by Tony Judt. I also avoided buying some of the novels in the World Literature section that I would normally get, and add to the pile of unread books after I returned home.

I'll probably go to some of the other independent bookstores in San Francisco and Berkeley to look for the books that are highest on my wish list, particularly Green Apple Books near Golden Gate Park, and Moe's and University Press Books in Berkeley. Downtown SF and North Beach tend to be mega-crowded on weekends and holidays, so I like to avoid those areas whenever I can.

Caffè Greco, like City Lights, is on Columbus Avenue, on the same side of the street, about 1-1/2 blocks up the hill and in the opposite direction from the Transamerica Pyramid. It's my #1 favorite cafe, regardless of city, as the guys that work there are very friendly (I received a warm "Welcome back, hermano!" greeting from Carlos on my first visit there on Tuesday), and the people that go there tend to be neighborhood residents rather than tourists. It tends to be crowded and noisy at nights and on weekends, but it's still enjoyable at those times.

Hmm...I don't like traveling with tourists, particularly ones from conservative middle America with their prejudices and condescending attitudes. I'd rather meet local people and eat in neighborhood restaurants, so I'd probably avoid the tourist traps if I were to go to Egypt.

>39 tiffin: I had to look up busman's holiday, as I'd never heard that term before. I think you're right, although I do enjoy reading books about the history of medicine, especially about hospitals and infectious illnesses. Call me crazy if you'd like.

Hmm...I don't like traveling with tourists, particularly ones from conservative middle America with their prejudices and condescending attitudes. I'd rather meet local people and eat in neighborhood restaurants, so I'd probably avoid the tourist traps if I were to go to Egypt.

Yes, I would normally completely agree with you, but this really is a place you have to visit Wiki entry if you go to Egypt and make it out of Cairo (which you should). It's not a city/town, but two temples near Lake Nasser (UNESCO had to move it back piece by piece when they flooded the lake). Unfortunately, unless things have changed since I went (in 2004), you have no choice but to be part of the convoy (ever since some tourists were shot there). That doesn't mean that you have to be on one of those big buses yourself, but it does mean that the site is only ever busy.

Thank you for the Caffè Greco instructions, I shall keep an eye out this time round - I would have missed it as I approached from the South and left to the North last time. ;o) I'm not sure how much free time we'll have but it's a particularly big conference, which usually means that you can skive off one afternoon (while less useful sessions are going on...)

Thanks for the link to the New Yorker article. It made me put in an interlibrary loan request for The Rhetoric of Reaction. Perhaps it will help me understand how people (sic. politicians) can come up with such nonsensical arguments.

19> Well, I guess John Roberts won't be a very popular guy at the July 4th BBQ at Scalia's house. But I was pleased to see that he was willing to be objective, to actually put the Constitution (which the conservatives keep holding up as their idol) and the law of the land ahead of political convenience.

Loved how Stephen Colbert spun it: it may be a loss for conservatives, but it's a victory for Romneycare!

Hi Darryl! Kinda bummed that I missed the hair spray discussion on the last thread (I was a Stiff Stuff fan in the 1980s), but it sounds like you're having a wonderful time in San Francisco. We might incorporate it (San Francisco) into our vacation next year. I'll have to make a point to stop at City Lights. I wasn't aware of it the last time I was there.

Darryl, I had the privilege of living in Menlo Park for nearly a year when I was 19 and had been taken on as an au pair by friends of the family. Unlike many young women who do this sort of thing, my employment terms were most generous, with weekends off so I could travel around, so that I would take the commuter train almost every weekend to make my way into San Francisco. I also got to travel around with a French boyfriend I'd made over there (he was a chef and did his best to fatten me up!), so I got to do road trips to Napa Valley, Carmel, and the Lake Tahoe area among others (that Tahoe trip was with a med student from Stanford, a girl I'd met at a ballet class). I think that year was probably one of the very best in my life. I would have gladly stayed there, but it wasn't really an option as I had yet to do some studies and embark on a career. The family I worked for had apparently had Steve Jobs over for dinner more than once, and I, being a fan of Apple products, had high hopes he'd be invited again during my stay, but it was not to be.

Darryl - enjoying your fascinating trundles around SF and I must say it is geting up the wanderlust in me too.
I'll follow you on Palace of Desire and go with August as it will be fun to read it at the same time.

Ooh, you have to go to Lulu down by SOMA, and whatever else you order, make sure you also order their creamed polenta ...it's seriously to die for.

Since you're not too far from Mission, have you checked out Bissap and Little Baobab, a cute African over on 19th Street?

Is the Civic Center near Grove Street? 'coz I remember a Southern Creole/ Cajun restaurant on Grove called Boxing Room which served some awesome Louisiana food.

>42 flissp: Thanks for that recommendation, Fliss. I suppose it's better to endure the company of conservative Americans than it is to be shot at. Maybe.

For me, the only remotely negative thing about North Beach is that I have to ride a streetcar and a bus to get there from the hotel I normally stay at, so it isn't someplace I can go to in the morning if I'm attending a conference here. From Union Square the 30 Stockton bus, the 8X San Bruno Express and others run on Columbus Avenue for at least a portion of their journeys, which makes it much easier.

>43 tangledthread: You're welcome, tangledthread. I look forward to your comments about The Rhetoric of Reaction.

>44 Cariola: Roberts will also be a persona non grata at Clarence Thomas' house as well. (BTW, have Scalia and Thomas ever been on the opposite sides of a Supreme Court vote?)

>45 DorsVenabili: I hope that you're able to make it to San Francisco next year. A trip to City Lights and North Beach is a must if you do go.

>46 Smiler69: Nice story, Ilana! You've had no small number of interesting travel experiences.

>47 PaulCranswick: I'm glad that you'll join us in reading Palace of Desire, Paul. I now count 15 people who will be reading or following along with the discussion of The Cairo Trilogy, so we have a good group in place.

>48 cameling: I was a frequent visitor to Lulu Petite, the sidekick to Restaurant LuLu, when it was located in the Ferry Building. Unfortunately it seems to have closed down in the past year or so. I haven't been to the actual restuarant in SoMa, so I'll have to check it out at some point.

Thanks for the reminder about Little Baobab; that's one place I've heard about but haven't tried yet.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you for mentioning Boxing Room!!! I hadn't heard of it, but you're right; it's a short walk from the hotel, and the menu does look awesome. I'll definitely go there early next week (and probably more than once).

The Loss of El Dorado by V.S. Naipaul has been a painful slog, and it's keeping me from reading other books that I'm far more interested in. I'll call it quits after 150 pages.

Hi Darryl! Sounds like you're having a great time in SF - this place is making my mouth water with all of the food talk! *sigh* Will happily live vicariously through your travels in the meantime.

I've had an enjoyable day so far, although I haven't done anything new or exciting. I wanted to sit and read by the beach (the city's western border is the Pacific Ocean), but it was too cold and foggy this morning (it was probably in the mid-50s by the ocean). I went back to my favorite taquería and ordered a carnitas burrito, which was divine, then listened to a salsa band give a live performance on the plaza just above the 24th & Mission BART station. I'll relax for a bit, and then head back out a bit later this afternoon.

I've read nearly half of God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet, and it is outstanding so far. I'll finish it no later than tomorrow.

the city's western border is the Pacific Ocean)
The beach at San Francisco is where I got my first ever view of the Pacific Ocean - or any ocean. I think that's part of the reason I love SF so much.

Darryl, your vacation in SFO sounds really wonderful, especially given the contrast in temps between there and your home city of Atlanta. I had a great long weekend in SFO this past spring, but did not really explore the North Beach area. Next time we go I will put that on our must-explore area, along with a trip to City Lights bookstore!

A couple days ago I saw the shiny new thread, and opportunity to catch up, and already there is no hope. Returning to lurking... appreciating the adorable menacing Black Panther photos, and the minarets.

Glad to hear you're having a wonderful time in SF, Darryl. Lulu has another branch in Palo Alto ....and for the life of me, I can't remember the name, but I think it starts with a 'Z'.

>52 avidmom: Among other things, I love that two of the MUNI Metro lines, the L and the N, terminate two blocks away from the ocean.

>53 EBT1002: I would highly recommend exploring North Beach, Ellen, along with Chinatown, the Mission District and the Sunset District. I avoid Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf at all costs, especially in the summer and on weekends.

>54 qebo: Hi, Katherine! From the comments I've received on LT and Facebook, the only menacing things about the Panther Youth photos were the gun and Marika's beehive.

>55 cameling: I don't often make it to downtown Palo Alto, now that my good friend Dave has moved to Madison, WI. Another friend of mine and I often go to the annual two day Pediatric Update conference at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, but we've only eaten in PA once, at a Chinese seafood restaruant on Embarcadero Avenue...checking Google...it's Ming's, which was excellent. Normally we'll meet up with a mutual friend and former med school classmate who lives between Cupertino and San Jose, and eat near where she lives. (Oh, that reminds me...I haven't heard from her all week, I'll have to give her a call today.)

I finished God's Hotel this morning. Review soon...

Book #65: God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet



My rating:


The original Lagunda Honda Hospital

Laguna Honda Hospital was built in San Francisco in 1867 as an almshouse, which provided medical and spiritual care and a sense of community to the early residents of the city who could no longer support themselves. After it served as a place of refuge for many of the survivors of the devastating 1906 earthquake, Laguna Honda was rebuilt in 1909 as a 1,178 bed facility at the base of Twin Peaks, making it one of the largest almshouses in the United States throughout the 20th century.

The concept of the almshouse dates back to medieval Europe, as a Christian tradition that existed in most larger communities. These almshouses, initially run by monks and nuns, became the earliest hospitals, the most famous being the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, which was founded in the year 659 and remains in existence today.


Lagunda Honda Hospital, built in 1909

Lagunda Honda Hospital's main focus was on long term comprehensive care for people with dementia, traumatic brain injury, and end-stage illnesses such as cancer, alcoholic cirrhosis and, in later years, AIDS. It also provided rehabilitative care for patients with non-life threatening conditions whose physical limitations, lack of caretakers, poverty and homelessness, mental illness or substance abuse did not allow them to recuperate fully at home. Most of its residents lived there for months and years; some succumbed to a peaceful death surrounded by family members and hospital staff, and many were released to a supportive environment after they were physically and spiritually healed.

Victoria Sweet was a newly minted internal medicine physician who sought a position in which she could practice on a part time basis while she pursued a doctoral degree in the history of medicine. She was somewhat familiar with Laguna Honda from her medical training, but was skeptical that practicing in an almshouse was the right fit for her. She accepted a temporary two month position, and more than 20 years later she continues to practice there.

God's Hotel is Sweet's chronicle of her career at Laguna Honda, the patients, staff and colleagues who taught and enriched her, and the transformation of the hospital from one of the last almshouses in the United States to a newly built hospital and rehabilitation center. The hospital's changed mission coincides with the transition from 20th century medicine provided to patients by doctors, nurses and ancillary staff, to 21st century health care management, in which hospital administrators, government officials, insurance companies, efficiency experts and lawyers dictate what services "clients" should receive from the "system".


The new Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, circa 2010

The author also describes her study of Hildegard of Blingen, a 12th century nun, theologian and medical practitioner, who wrote a textbook about medicine that combined the "four humors" theory of premodern medicine with her own knowledge of medical botanicals. Sweet's study of Hldegard formed the basis of her PhD in the history of medicine and resulted in an award winning book, Rooted in the Earth, Rooted in the Sky: Hildegard of Bingen and Premodern Medicine. In addition, Sweet also embarked on a pilgrimage from Le Puy in southwestern France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a 1200-mile journey based on a medieval route originally taken by St. James. She describes these two intellectual and physical journeys in detail, and how they influenced the care of her patients and her view of the ideal practice of inpatient medicine for chronically ill patients, one in which holistic and deliberate care (which she describes as "slow medicine") rather than stabilization and rapid discharge could be shown to be more cost effective, due to lower readmission rates and decreased cost of unnecessary outpatient medications.

God's Hotel is a powerful rebuttal and a loving testament from a wise and sensitive doctor practicing "in the trenches", one who works diligently to provide the best care to her patients, while bemoaning the negative effects of health care reform and the influence of bureaucrats who make untoward decisions by evaluating data rather than communicating directly with patients and those who provide direct care to them.

Great review - I think I am not allowed to look at your thread anymore - ***seufz*** another book that will go on to my wishlist.

:)

Thanks for the wonderful review of God's Hotel, I'm on the waiting list for our library's copy. Thanks to your review, I also must search out a copy of Rooted in the Earth.

Daryl, you keep making my To Read list longer and longer!

>58 drachenbraut23: Thanks for the compliment on my review, drachenbraut!

I did have to look up seufz, as I was afraid for a moment that I might have been cursed in a foreign language ;-). I was relieved to find out that it meant sigh. Thanks for adding a word to my vocabulary, once I'll probably use often on LT!



>59 tangledthread: You're welcome, tangledthread. Due to the length of my review I didn't discuss the interesting patients in the book, but the book is filled with them and their personal stories. It would be a great read for the general public, along with anyone interested in almshouses and long term care facilities, the transformation of American medical care in the era of deinstitutionalization, and the effect of insurance companies, government intervention and bureaucracies on the practice of inpatient medicine in the United States. My one minor critique of the book, which prevented me from giving it a full five stars, is that I found her analysis on the changes that took place at Laguna Honda Hospital to be somewhat one sided and not as insightful as I would have liked.

Keeping in the spirit of adding to everyone's wish list, The Millions has come out with its list of the most anticipated books of the second half of 2012:

Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2012 Book Preview

Lists such as this normally make me squeal with delight, but this list is especially enticing. I was already aware of several of these books, but there are a few that I wasn't aware of. These are the ones I'm most interested in:

Our Kind of People: A Continent's Burden, a Country's Hope by Uzodinma Iweala
The Investigation: A Novel by Phillipe Claudel (LT ER book that I didn't win)
Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle (LT ER book that I did win)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (her first "adult" novel)
NW by Zadie Smith (Booker Prize longlist candidate?)
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz
Nice Weather by Frederick Seidel
Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie
There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
Raised from the Ground by José Saramago
See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Not mentioned in this list is Nicola Barker's upcoming novel, The Yips.

61: Darryl, thanks for posting the list of upcoming books. I was worried that I would run out of new books to read. ;-)

God's Hotel...what a lovely idea that is...and of course, since the profit to be made from it is low, it had to be changed.

Yuck.

#61 - Great list. I'm thrilled that there's a new Junot Diaz coming out, but slightly disappointed that it's not a novel. Poop.

Interesting list for sure. Lots to look forward to there, though I doubt I'll be one of the first readers for any but maybe one of these titles. I was going to add the Philippe Claudel to the WL, but then found it was already there. Probably from last year when you switched me on to him via Monsieur Linh and His Child, which I quickly followed up with By a Slow River (don't know if you've read that one, but I strongly recommend it). Of course the library here has a great number of his titles on offer, so The Investigator which came out in 2010 originally was one I singled out. I'll just have to make a point to borrow it ASAP and maybe end up ahead of the crowd for once?

I've yet to read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, but I'll look forward to your review of her latest offering. As for Ian McEwan, I already have a whole bunch of his books on my shelves just waiting for me to pick them up... so again, will look out for your review. Lots of amazing authors on that list to be sure.

Since you mention ER books... have you started on A Mind of Winter yet? I started on it a couple of days ago and so far must say I'm impressed.

>62 Donna828: Right, Donna. My TBR pile needs an infusion of new books. ;-)

>63 richardderus: Lagunda Honda Hospital was viewed by the city's bureaucrats as being inefficient and out of date, a dinosaur in the era of HMOs, DRGs and deinstitutionalization. As a result, the mayor selected an efficiency expert team to evaluate the hospital, and make recommendations on how money could be saved. Jobs were cut, particularly the head nurses who oversaw each of the hospital's 38 wards and made sure each was functioning optimally, which led to decreased care and at least one awful and preventable death, which Dr. Sweet discusses in the book. In addition, the US Department of Justice and disability rights lawyers filed lawsuits against Laguna Honda, claiming that it was an outdated and unsafe facility in the first case, and that its patients should be moved to residential settings as soon as they were medically ready. This led to the building of the new Laguna Honda Hospital, a mixed blessing, and the decrease of beds in the new facility by 1/3, definitely not a good thing, as there is a waiting list of patients that are in other hospitals or facilities who are supposed to be transferred to Laguna Honda whenever a bed there becomes available.

>64 DorsVenabili: Same here, Kerri. However, I did enjoy Drown, his first collection of short stories, so I have high hopes for his new book.

>65 Smiler69: I'll definitely look for By a Slow River this week; thanks for recommending it, Ilana. The Investigation: A Novel will be published next Tuesday in the US, so I'll look for it then (actually, I'll probably download the Kindle version of it next week).

White Teeth was amazing. Unfortunately, I haven't been anywhere near as fond of her other books. NW has received some very positive buzz in the UK, and it has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Booker longlist, which will be announced on July 25th. I think I've at least liked everything I've read by Ian McEwan, so I'll get his new book ASAP.

Thanks for the reminder of A Mind of Winter. I've fallen a bit behind on my LT ER books, so I should try to get to it this month.

I second By a Slow River. I would put this book by Claudel on my list of all time favourites each and every day

I have just started reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamamanda Ngozi Adichie. I have heard so much good comments that I'm really excited that I have finally started with this book.

61> Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, and Colm Toibin--I'm happy!

Book mini-haul #3: I went to a nearby branch of Books Inc., an independent bookstore in the Bay Area, this afternoon, as it had two books and one magazine that were all at the top of my wish list.

Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney: This book won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011, and I'd been looking for it in bookshops since last fall.

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith: The winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, another book I've wanted to get for several months.

Granta 119: Britain: The latest issue, which features articles about modern Britain by several writers who are familiar to me, such as Gary Younge, Ross Raisin, Mario Vargas Llosa, Mark Haddon, Jon McGregor and Adam Foulds.

>67 lilianboerboom: I didn't see By a Slow River today, but I'll go to City Lights tomorrow and look for it there.

>68 Cariola: Same here, Deborah. It seems that many of the literary stars in the UK are publishing books this year, with Kazuo Ishiguro being one notable exception.

Book #66: Being Sam Frears: A Life Less Ordinary by Mary Mount



My rating:

I read an article in the online edition of yesterday's Observer (UK), which was an excerpt from a new e-book about a man with familial dysautonomia (FD), a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder that mainly affects people of Eastern European Jewish descent. One in 27 of these individuals are silent carriers of the FD gene, as they carry one bad FD gene and one normal gene, and they are not affected by the disorder. If two FD carriers marry and each passes on the bad gene to the fetus, the newborn child will have this disorder. It has a variety of physical manifestations that affect the autonomic nervous system, which controls the function of a variety of different organ systems. Affected individuals have problems controlling their blood pressure and heart rate, and frequently have difficulty swallowing liquids and digesting foods. They also do not make tears, which can lead to progressive blindness, and have a decreased ability to sense pain. The average life span is 15 years, and 50% live to the age of 40. Affected individuals are generally intellectually normal, despite their numerous physical afflictions. Unfortunately, there is no known cure for this disorder.

The author was introduced by a mutual friend to Sam Frears, a Londoner who had recently celebrated his 40th birthday. She befriended him as well, and accompanied him as he participated in his usual activities of daily living. Sam is fortunate on one hand, as he was born to two prominent parents, Mary-Kay Wilmers, the editor of the London Review of Books, and the film director Stephen Frears, who took him to see the best specialists in the UK and the US after his diagnosis was eventually made. Sam relies on others to get about, due to difficulty in walking independently and progressive blindness, yet he leads a full and rich life, working as an actor and remaining physically active to maintain his body as best he can. He accepts his condition with grace and an infectious joie de vivre, along with an ability to laugh at himself that would be laudable for a person who wasn't so afflicted.

Being Sam Frears, one of the new series of Penguin eSpecials, was a touching and inspiring albeit brief look into the life of a very able disabled person, who is determined to live as normal a life as possible for as long as he can. The author did a superb job in portraying Sam and those who befriend, love and support him without pitying or coddling him.

Observer article and excerpt from Being Sam Frears: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/01/sam-frears-a-life-less-ordinary-ex...

Great review of Being Sam Frears, Darryl.

The second half of this publishing year looks like a great one. Thanks for posting the link. There are more than a few that I will look for as they come out, Junot Diaz and Colm Toibin being prominent amongst them.

>72 Linda92007: Thanks, Linda.

That article hit most of the upcoming UK releases of note. I'll look for similar lists published by the Guardiaan or in a blog by Foyles Bookshop.

Hi, Darryl! I just finished catching up a couple hundred posts from your last thread and this one. Loved your tips for parents/caregivers (am sorry you have to deal with such badly-behaved adults) and the discussion of beehive hairstyles on the last thread. During the 60's, my Aunt Flossie had what I consider the grand-mama of all beehives, bleached blonde and piled seemingly a foot high.

I think I'm going to add God's Hotel to my Ever-Expanding List. Thanks for the informative review/comments.

>74 tymfos: Hi, Terri! It's good to see you here, and I'm glad you enjoyed my review of God's Hotel.

I finished two books yesterday, Bring Up the Bodies, the outstanding sequel to Wolf Hall (4-1/2 stars) and The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss, a short work that is better suited for the reader unfamiliar with the history of North American medicine in the late 19th and early 20th century (3-1/2 stars). I'll probably review both books later today.

I had another of my bizarro nightmares this morning, and only slept for 3 hours as a result (although I did have a two hour afternoon nap yesterday). I was thinking of going to Oakland to watch the A's play the Red Sox at the Coliseum this afternoon, but I suspect that an afternoon nap is in today's plans. So, I may not do all that much today other than read and sleep, which is okay by me.

Sorry about your nightmare! I'm a very lucky sleeper myself--never suffer from insomnia or nightmares. That must be horrible! Actually, I'm a somewhat lucid dreamer--I always know I'm dreaming and can change the dream if it's going down a path I don't appreciate. But that's not usually necessary. Hopefully you have a good day and get some rest!

ETA: though come to think of it, it's possible I'm a "lucky" sleeper (no insomnia) because I am generally very careful about sleeping for the same amount of time and at the same time every day--within limits. For some people that's either not possible or not a priority. I'm sure regularity helps a lot!

#71 - Hi Darryl - Being Sam Frears sounds fascinating - great review. God's Hotel sounds wonderful as well. It doesn't seem like something I would normally read, but then I read County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital based on your comments and that turned into a five-star read for me.

Sorry about your nightmare. Wishing you a great day.


glitter-graphics.com

>75 kidzdoc: Uh-oh. Do I have something to feel guilty about, kidzdoc? I hope your nightmare didn't involve a giant chicken heart. ;)

Looking forward to your review on The Making of Modern Medicine & am adding Being Sam Frears onto the wishlist.

>76 The_Hibernator: My nightmare didn't involve anything I had read, heard about or seen. I was traveling with my parents on some sort of remotely controlled futuristic aircraft or spaceship, in which we appeared to be the only passengers. A good friend of mine was also traveling to the same destination with his family; their ship was on time, but we were very late, and I noticed at some point in the trip that we were hovering over the same downtown area (Philadelphia?) that we had left from hours earlier. Soon afterward, the craft ascended to the upper atmosphere and hovered in space. I yelled at the ceiling, to ask what was going on, but received no response. I called my friend, whose ship was nearly at its destination, but he had no idea what was going on with our ship.

Since we weren't moving, my parents and I decided to make lunch, which involved picking out cold items from a shelf that looked like something out of an old Horn & Hardart restaurant, then heating them in microwaves. As I was heating some potatoes we received an intercom announcement that we should take our seats immediately, as we were under attack. As I sat down, I noticed that a missile was headed directly for us, which struck the craft, and I knew that we were doomed. That's when I woke up, in a mild panic, just after 3 am. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was wide awake from then on.

Seriously. You can't make this $^#! up.

Please note that I did not take any mind altering substances yesterday, other than a glass of red wine.

I sometimes wake up before something horrible happens, such as the time a Cujo-like dog jumped out of a pickup truck ahead of me into my convertible, but not always. My dreams usually aren't this bizarre, and are more likely to have some basis in reality, which makes them even more frightening. In a typical dream, someone very close to me suffers a horrible accident, and I am in close proximity to the person but cannot do anything to prevent the accident from happening. In my other dreams I find myself in a version of Bizarro World, as I'm in a familiar setting (work, parents' house, friends' home) with the usual set of characters, but something isn't quite right (e.g., a familiar person in an unfamiliar setting, such as my father working alongside me as a doctor). I'll generally wake up from these dreams in a mild state of confusion, as it will take me several minutes to figure out if the dream really happened or not.

As I've mentioned previously, I'd much rather have Caroline's dreams, particularly the one with the marching mice.

I stopped sleeping well in residency, and many of my partners at work are poor sleepers as well. Many of them take sleep medications on an least an intermittent basis, but I haven't done this yet.

>77 DorsVenabili: Thanks, Kerri. I didn't write a review of County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital, but I really should. I'll try to do that later this summer. I'm glad that you enjoyed it as much (if not more) than I did.

>78 tymfos: Thanks, Terri. I'll have a good day today regardless, since I'm not working and can do whatever I want to. I'm at my usual breakfast spot, Caffè Greco, and I actually feel very good. I'll probably crash later today, though.

Happy Fourth of July to you and everyone else! It's another gorgeous day here, as it's sunny and will reach a maximum of 67 degrees.

>79 avidmom: Ha ha! No chicken heart dream; I think mine was even more bizarre. I have no idea where that nightmare came from.

I'll definitely review The Making of Modern Medicine later today, as it won't take very long.

I wouldn't have known about Being Sam Frears if I hadn't read the article in the online edition of The Observer on Sunday. Penguin has a series of eSpecials, similar to the Penguin Specials that were published in the mid-20th century, but in electronic format. I'm glad that several of the major publishing houses are issuing e-books, including Bloomsbury and Vintage.

BTW, I don't know if I've mentioned that the University of Chicago Press comes out with a free e-book every month, one that has been previously published. I've downloaded several of them, including We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, Isolarion: A Different Oxford Journey by James Attlee, and this month's selection, The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon by Phillip Graham. I receive a monthly e-mail from UCP that informs me of the book, but at the moment I don't see the link to subscribe to the list. Here's the UCP link:

The University of Chicago Press

What a terrible nightmare! Sorry you're experiencing this, especially on vacation. Most of my nightmares are about work (except the one where my teeth strat crumbling out).

How do you think Bring Up the Bodies compared to Wolf Hall? I gave a slight edge to the latter (5 stars to 4.5).

Being Sam Frears review duly upgethumbed, book given widest possible berth, can't deal.

Have a wonderful, cool day and fagawdsake go see the As!

>81 Cariola: Yeah, I'll occasionally have dreams where some essential body part is failing or malfunctioning.

I completely agree with you on Bring Up the Bodies vs Wolf Hall. Both were outstanding, but I liked Wolf Hall just a little bit better. I fully expect to see Bring Up the Bodies on the upcoming Booker Prize longlist, though.

>82 richardderus: Being Sam Frears was more uplifting and humorous than sad, although I did shed an internal tear for Sam's upcoming loss of vision. There was one interesting segment, in which the author compared Sam to a friend of his, who had been blind since birth. Even though Sam has some vision left, he is more affected by his decreased visual acuity than his completely blind friend, as Sam has been a seeing person for most of his life, and has a much more difficult time adjusting to future blindness.

I may still go to today's A's game, as I'm only slightly sleepy. However, I'd hate to go, and then spend most of the game sleeping. I think I'll take a quick trip to City Lights, assuming it's open, and decide after that.

Wow - That's some nightmare. It sort of sounds like you were extras in the beginning of Battlestar Galactica!

I used to have strange dreams about finding nuclear bombs. Thankfully that dream-era is over.

What a terrible nightmare, Darryl... or rather, terrible nightmares! Missiles coming towards your ship, Cujo-like dog leaping at your car ... crikey ... you should write these down and sell them as story ideas to Hollywood.

uh oh, tagging in for the nightmare talk....mine are all about water or waves coming to get me, splashing up against my windows or lapping at my legs. *shudder*
Cujo dogs I could do without as well.

Marching mice? So was Caro's dream a nightmare or a comedy or a circus dream? lol

>84 DorsVenabili: I used to have strange dreams about finding nuclear bombs. Thankfully that dream-era is over.

True, provided that neither Sarah Palin nor Michele Bachmann ascend to the presidency. I will immediately seek political asylum in Canada or the UK if that happens.

>85 cameling: I think that my dreams are too weird for Hollywood.

>86 LovingLit: I had a dream within the past year or so in which I was in a high rise building, heard a roar from outside that became increasingly loud, and looked out a window in time to see a massive tsunami wave that was about to engulf the entire building. I awoke from that one in a panic as well.

From what I remember, Caroline's mice dream was a humorous one. I'm sure that she'll chime in and give us the details of it.

Book haul #4: My third trip to City Lights, where I bought five books from my wish list, along with one mistake purchase that I'll return before I leave.

Confessions of a Young Novelist by Umberto Eco: These essays are taken from the 2008 Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature at Emory University, an event that takes place every 2-3 years which features a single renowned author who gives four lectures that are free to the Emory community and the general public. I saw one of Mario Vargas Llosa's lectures when he appeared in 2006 (which formed the basis of his book Wellsprings), but I think I was out of town when Eco gave his lectures. The authors talk about their careers as a writer, the craft of writing, their influences, and the importance of literature in modern society.

Interesting...Paul Simon will give the next set of Ellmann Lectures, on February 10-12, 2013. Hopefully I can attend some or all of his talks. There aren't many Atlantans in this group to my knowledge, other than Ardene (markon) and Jenny (GCPLreader), but I'll mention the series here early next year, in case anyone else is interested in going.

Songwriter Paul Simon to give 2013 Ellmann Lectures

Why Niebuhr Matters by Charles Lemert: I've been interested to learn and read more by the 20th century theologian and intellectual Reinhold Niebuhr, and I own his book The Irony of American History, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. This seems to be an accessible introduction to Niebuhr, and I'll put this near the top of my TBR list.

Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi: The New York Times had a nice profile of the Iranian author in its Arts section on Monday, as his most famous novel The Colonel has just been published in English translation in the US. (I bought it in London last summer, and I'll read it for the Reading Globally Middle Eastern Literature challenge soon.) The article mentioned that this novel, described as "perhaps the most important work in modern Iranian literature", was his only other novel that was available in English translation in the US; I saw it at City Lights last week, but forgot to get it. It's centered around a woman and her impoverished family in a remote village, whose husband has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I'll also read it for the Middle Eastern Literature theme, probably in September.

Here's the link to the NYT article about Dowlatabadi:

An Iranian Storyteller's Personal Revolution

Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: This book, published in January, is taken from a series of lectures he gave at the University of California, Irvine, about the importance of postcolonial literature in permitting the Western reader to view these countries in a different framework, to allow for greater understanding of their societies and individuals.

Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Gates, a renowned professor at Harvard who has also hosted numerous specials on PBS about African American culture, wrote this book about the little discussed but influential presence of people of African descent in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.

My "mistake" purchase was The Neruda Case by Roberto Ampuero, the first novel published by a Chilean author known for his series of detective novels. In this novel, investigator Cayetano Brulé is enlisted the dying poet Pablo Neruda to resolve a secret that involves the military coup d'état that allowed General Augusto Pinochet to rise to power. The reviews of it have been mediocre, so I'll substitute it for a book I'd much rather read.

Needless to say, I didn't go to today's A's-Red Sox game (although I kinda wish I had, as it's been a good one; it's 2-2 in the top of the 7th inning). After I had a light breakfast and read for a couple of hours, I stopped by City Lights, and went to my favorite SF boulangerie to buy bread. On the way back to the hotel I decided to stop by Boxing Room, the Louisiana restaurant that Caroline had mentioned, since it was nearly noon and I was in the mood for gumbo or a seafood po'boy. Unfortunately it was closed today, being July 4th. Undaunted, I took the MUNI Metro to the Parkside neighborhood near the ocean, to get dumplings at Dumpling House, which is renowned for its pork dumplings and pot stickers. Once again I met with failure, as it is closed on Wednesdays. Numerous other local restaurants were also closed. So, being almost completely daunted, and realizing that I wouldn't make it to Oakland in time for the start of the A's game, I settled for a crab melt at a tiny restaurant near the West Portal MUNI Metro station, which was decent but not memorable.

I'll take a nap, and then head out for dinner a bit later.

I did finish about 2/3 of The Earth in the Attic, a poetry collection by Fady Joudah, and I started Pure by Timothy Mo, a novel set in Bangkok which has been widely praised and touted as a good candidate for this year's Booker Prize longlist.

Interesting...Paul Simon will give the next set of Ellmann Lectures, on February 10-12, 2013.
Arrrgh, I am dying of jealousy!
I need a doctor- quick!

>90 LovingLit: Checking flights from Christchurch to Atlanta...yikes. The shortest flight path between these two cities is just under 23 hours, with two stops in between. Maybe I should just videotape the lectures and send them to you.

I'm glad to see that you gave Bring up the Bodies 4.5 stars! I've started it today and it looks promising!

Hope you enjoy your night :)

>91 kidzdoc: thanks for coming to the rescue, well, trying to anyway :)
The time on the plane wouldnt worry me so much as the time taken to earn the money to pay for the plane. I bet it will be fantastic to hear Paul Simon talk, I hope you do make it and that you have a great time. Maybe get his autograph for me.....and tell him I love him (ok, too far)

Darryl, sounds like you're having fun in SF, despite your frustrating search for food today! I did go to the Mariners/Orioles game today and I actually came close to falling asleep around the 6th/7th inning. It's not just that the Mariners lost or played badly (they did both); the game was just lackluster. Oh well, it was a beautiful day at Safeco Field and there are worse ways to spend a summer afternoon.

The second half of 2012 has some very tempting reads coming our way.

I wonder if the Niebuhr book is part of the same series as Hitchens' Why Orwell Matters?

There is a new bio of Hildegard of Bingen coming out soon; you might look for some of her music, as recorded by Sequentia.

Weird dreams, yes. ... After tutoring Ilana on Wolf Hall, I found myself in a dream where I was playing the role of Cromwell in some kind of stage play/event, and forgot my lines.

>92 ChelleBearss: Bring Up the Bodies is awfully close to a 5 star read, and I may give it the extra 1/2 star by the time I review it later this week.

>93 LovingLit: I'll have to get the exact times of the lectures later this year or early next year, to determine which ones I'll want to attend. Typically there are four lectures in a three day period in the middle of the week, with three of the four geared toward the general public (held in the evenings) in the campus's main chapel and one primarily for the Department of English during the day. So, I probably won't be able to attend all of the talks, but hopefully I can make it to at least one or two. The lectures are typically published in book form (Margaret Atwood's 2010 Ellman lectures were published in the book In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination last fall), so hopefully Simon's lectures will be as well.

>94 EBT1002: Definitely so, Ellen. Today was a quiet and not very productive day, but it was an enjoyable and relaxing one. I wish I had decided to go to the A's game, though. David Ortiz hit his 400th home run for the Red Sox, but the A's came out on top 3-2, sweeping the BoSox in three games. The Mariners come to town on Friday, and there's a slight chance that I might go to the game that evening. I probably won't, though, as I have a late morning flight back to Atlanta on Saturday.

There are two museum exhibits I want to see before I leave, at the Asian Art Museum and at SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). SFMOMA is open late on Thursdays, so I'll go there tomorrow night, and catch the other exhibit on Friday.

There are some outstanding books that will be published in the next six months, and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Booker Prize longlist in three weeks. As I had mentioned in the Booker Prize group's 2012 speculation thread, one book that has received praise by at least two people in the speculation thread on the Booker web site that I hadn't heard about is Inside by Alix Ohlin, which was published early last month in the UK and US and mentioned amongst the New & Notable books in the most recent issue of Belletrista here. Ohlin was born in Montreal, educated at Harvard, and teaches at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, so her novel would be eligible for consideration. I've added it to my wish list, as I'll probably want to read it even if it isn't longlisted.

>95 Chatterbox: Good question, Suz. My knee jerk reaction would have been to say yes, that Why Orwell Matters is part of Yale University Press' Why X Matters series, along with Why Niebuhr Matters and Why Translation Matters by Edith Grossman, which I bought from City Lights a year or two ago. Actually, Hitchens' book was published in 2002 by Basic Books, and is not a part of the Yale series.

Thanks for the info about Hildegard of Bingen's music. Scott, my friend who works at City Lights, gave me a recommendation for a jazz CD this morning, Intents and Purposes by the Bill Dixon Orchestra, so I plan to go to Amoeba Music on Haight Street either tomorrow or Friday to look for it. It's one of the largest music stores in the country, so it might have Hildegard's music as well.

I hope that you woke up from your dream before you were sent to the Tower of London and beheaded!

It wasn't a great reading day, but I did finish The Earth in the Attic, a collection of poems by Fady Joudah, a Palestinian-American who is an emergency medicine physician in Houston. I started reading Pure, the new novel by Timothy Mo that has received glowing praise in the UK and has been touted as a strong candidate for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist. It's good so far but a bit dense, so I'll probably won't finish it until the weekend.

It's nearly 11:30 pm here, so I'll call it a night and write reviews sometime tomorrow.

Hi Darryl! God's Hospital is firmly on my TBR list thanks to your excellent review! Back in high school I discovered Hildegard and her music and she's been on my playlist ever since. I hope you can find some of her stuff and that you like it! Hope you had another great day in SF!

Adding Inside by Alix Ohlin to my own wish list. It looks quite interesting.
Enjoy your last couple of days in the Bay area!

If you recall Darryl I ended up giving Bring Up the Bodies the full 7 stars and have not changed my mind since reading it. I liked it just slightly better than Wolf Hall. Thanks for the link to the University of Chicago Press. Duly noted.

Wow, drifted off into a nap and had another weird dream. No Cromwell this time, but waaay too vivid for my peace of mind.

OK, Hildegard -- look for the Sequentia recordings. I think they are mostly on Harmonia Mundi or RCA, but anyone who works with trendy classical music should be familiar with them. There are perhaps a dozen discs -- pick one at random or on a recommendation!

Book #67: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel



My rating:

(A short review, as there are several excellent ones available within and outside of LT.)

The long awaited sequel to the 2009 Booker Prize winning novel Wolf Hall, which chronicles the rise of Thomas Crowell from a despised blacksmith's son to the right hand man of Henry VIII and arguably the most powerful man in England, lives up to its high expectations. She, Mantel, resumes the story after the execution of Thomas More, and focuses on the downfall of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife, who fails to bear him a male heir and becomes less desirable in his eyes. He becomes obsessed with Jane Seymour, the former lady-in-waiting to Anne and her predecessor, Katherine of Aragon, and Cromwell is given the task of uncovering information that would nullify his marriage to Anne, so that Jane can replace her as Henry's spouse.

She, Mantel, portrays Cromwell as the ultimate chessmaster, as he expertly and deviously manipulates his pieces and captures those of his opponent, while maintaining control of the board at all times until the final outcome is a foregone conclusion. Old slights and seemingly innocent comments by former friends and foes are used by Cromwell to his utmost advantage, to bring down Anne and to increase his own power and influence with Henry. As in Wolf Hall, the dialogue is witty and bitingly humorous, and the action filled narrative made this a book that was nearly impossible to put aside until its foregone conclusion.

Bring Up the Bodies is nearly as brilliant as Wolf Hall, as she, Mantel, proves again to be one of the contemporary masters of historical fiction. It certainly deserves to be included on the upcoming Booker longlist, and I will look on with interest to see if it can claim another prize for its fabulously talented author.

:) I'm glad you liked Bring up the Bodies...now we just have to wait for the third!

As always, a brilliant review from you, Darryl. I'm glad I've already got Bring Up the Bodies in my TBR Tower, otherwise, it would surely be zipping over to the obese wish list after reading your review.

How much longer are you going to be in SF?

She, Mantel, . . .
HA! :-)

Nice review, Darryl. I do hope the Booker judges don't take the "Oh, she just got one, and it's the same subject" attitude.

Book #68: The Making of Modern Medicine: Turning Points in the Treatment of Disease by Michael Bliss



My rating:

This short work by noted medical historian Michael Bliss of the University of Toronto focuses on three events that led to the transformation of the public view of medicine in North America, from a profession that was often powerless to alter the course of serious illnesses in the late 19th century, to one in which scientific advances and changes in medical education led to the possibility of cure of dreaded diseases and, more importantly, the hope for further cures in the early 20th century.

Bliss first describes the smallpox epidemic in Montréal in 1885, a disease preventable by vaccination at that time, which claimed the lives of over 3,000 residents within the city's limits in less than one year. The majority of the deaths did not occur among the poorest residents, who were largely vaccinated by their personal physicians in childhood. Instead, the victims were concentrated in the French Canadian population within and outside of Montréal, who erroneously believed that vaccination against smallpox was a dangerous tool designed by the English speaking medical community to sicken them. This opinion was supported and encouraged by several anti-vaccinationists in the French Canadian community, whose proclamations were eerily similar to those of the current lot of scaremongers in the anti-vaccine community.

The second story concerns the career of William Osler, the "father of modern medicine", who was trained and later taught at McGill University, before he accepted a position as Physician in Chief at the new Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical School. Johns Hopkins was founded by a wealthy philanthropist, and the medical school was based on the training methods of the prestigious schools in Europe; as a result, Hopkins became the gold standard for medical education in the United States, even superseding the University of Pennsylvania, the oldest medical college in North America. Osler, one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Medical School, wrote the famed textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine as he waited for the medical school to admit its first students, which was published in 1892 and continues to be widely read today; created the clerkship system, in which medical students moved from the classroom and laboratory to the hospital wards and clinics to observe direct patient care; and instituted the modern internship and residency programs for medical school graduates. His teaching methods, thoughtful approach to the patient and collegial collaboration with other specialists continue to be practiced and taught to this day.

The final segment describes the discovery of insulin by Frederick Banting and his colleagues at the University of Toronto in 1922. The hormone was isolated from pancreatic extracts, purified, and then tested on diabetic animals. It was first administered to a human patient at the Hospital for Sick Children in January of that year, and it had an immediate and long lasting effect, as the then teenage boy would live for another 13 years. The most famous of Banting's early patients was Elizabeth Hughes, the 15 year old daughter of the US Secretary of State Charles Hughes, who was close to death from starvation, the standard treatment for diabetes in August 1922, as she weighed only 45 pounds. She was brought to Toronto and administered insulin, which led to a remarkable recovery. Hughes went on to lead a full and active life until her death in 1981 at the age of 73. Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 at the age of 32, and he remains the youngest Nobel laureate in this field.

At just over 100 pages, The Making of Modern Medicine serves best as an introduction to Bliss and his previous books, on which this one is based, and to the reader with little or no knowledge of the history of North American medicine. Thanks to this book I will read William Osler: A Life in Medicine and Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery, Bliss's noted biographies of these two giants of medicine, in the near future.

>98 LauraBrook: Thanks, Laura. I didn't make it to Amoeba Music yesterday as I had planned to, thanks to a nightmarish shut down of the MUNI Metro subway in San Francisco that lasted for most of the day. I'll probably go there later today, and look for her music in the classical music section. Amoeba is supposedly the largest record and CD store in the US; it's certainly the largest and best stocked one I've ever been to. So, I would suspect that they will carry her recordings.

I did listen to some of her choral recordings on iTunes yesterday, and I liked what I heard.

>99 EBT1002: I posted three reviews of Inside on its LT home page. Based on what I've read of it I hope that it is selected for the Booker longlist later this month.

>100 brenzi: Yes, I remember your disappointingly low 7 star rating for Bring Up the Bodies, Bonnie. ;-) I gave a slight edge to Wolf Hall, but both books are spectacular.

>101 Chatterbox: Thanks for that recommendation of the Hildegard Sequentia recordings, Suz. I'll keep that in mind if I go to Amoeba Music today. I'm feeling a bit lazy this morning, so I may postpone a trip there until my next SF visit in the fall.

>103 The_Hibernator: Right, Rachel. The good news for Mantel fans is that she is already working on the third novel, The Mirror and the Light, along with another historical novel set in a different period.

>104 cameling: Thanks, Caroline! However, I would have thought that Bring Up the Bodies would have already been on your wish list, after the outstanding reviews by Deborah, Linda, Tui and others in this group.

Today is my last full day in San Francisco (sob). It's been a good stay, as it seems like I've been here for longer than two weeks (actually 11 full days, not counting last Monday's and tomorrow's travel days). It's still early here, as it's just before 8 am Pacific Time; I'll exchange the "mistake" book I bought at City Lights on Wednesday after breakfast, head to the Asian Art Museum afterward, pick up a take out lunch at Boxing Room, and then head back to the hotel. I'll go out again in the afternoon and evening, possibly to Amoeba Music (assuming that the MUNI shutdown has resolved), and/or to SFMoMA for the 'Photography in Mexico' exhibit there.

I did get soup dumplings and pot stickers at a place I've seen on MUNI Metro's L Taraval line in the past but never stopped at, namely Dumpling Kitchen, located on Taraval between 29th and 30th Avenues in Parkside, on my way back from spending an hour at Ocean Beach. It was a friendly little place, and the dumplings were superb, even though I didn't eat them until 1-1/2 hours later, thanks to the MUNI Metro shutdown. Although it seems like a long way away from downtown SF it's probably no more than a 15 minute ride on the L tram, which runs quite frequently throughout the day.

>105 Cariola: I hoped that someone would pick up on that, Deborah! For those of you who haven't read the book or the reviews of it, Mantel repeatedly refers to Cromwell in the book as "He, Cromwell", which many reviewers have commented on. I found it mildly annoying, but not enough to drop my rating of the book to any significant degree.

I agree; I hope that the Booker judges ignore her previous win, and judge this book on its merits alone. Of the "Booker eligible" books I've read so far, I'd rank it ahead of Scenes from Village Life and Painter of Silence.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Pure by Timothy Mo, which has received strong reviews and appears to be another Booker longlist contender. It's quite good so far, and I hope to finish it during tomorrow's flight back to Atlanta.

Thumbs up for your excellent comments regarding Bring up the Bodies. Caro is correct -- yours is a brilliant review.

All the best to you Darryl.

>107 kidzdoc: Thanks for the excellent review of The Making of Modern Medicine, it moves up to the top of my wishlist now.

"She, Mantel" -- LOL....

Yes, BUTB is a v. worthy successor. It's a different feel -- the events are much more compressed...

Congratulations, Andy Murray! By defeating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, he is the first British man since 1938 to qualify for the Wimbledon gentlemen's singles final on Sunday. His opponent: six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.

>108 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda. And the same to you.

>109 avidmom: You're welcome, avidmom. I look forward to your comments about The Making of Modern Medicine.

>110 Chatterbox: I definitely agree that Bring Up the Bodies is a worthy successor. Even though I ranked Wolf Hall a bit higher, there is very little difference in my view, say 5.0 stars for the first book and 4.8 stars for the sequel.

Hope you have a great last day in SF, Darryl - I've really enjoyed reading what you've been up to, especially the food parts!

Happy to see that you too loved BUTB.

The Making of Modern Medicine sounds very good. It'd add to my stock of stories for my kids about the reasons for vaccinations - Teresa had her MMR jab last week (under great duress - she tried to run away and then hid under a chair!) and beforehand I showed both kids pictures of iron lungs and smallpox. I'd never seen a picture of smallpox before...ugh. My father-in-law survived it when he was a boy in China.

Have a safe flight back to Atlanta, Darryl ... you'll be in time to watch Federer/Murray match on Sunday. Regardless of who wins, it will be a historic moment anyway. Murray, if he wins, will end the English Wimbledon drought, and Federer, if he wins will regain his #1 title, equalizing Sampras for total number of weeks at that rank and will have won 17 majors. He's looking good, but Murray has improved under the coaching of Ivan Lendle. I know what I'm going to be doing on Sunday. :-)

Good review of Bring up the Bodies. I agree with you, Mantel writes some great historical fiction.
I'm about halfway through now and finding this one much easier to get through since most of the characters were introduced in Wolf Hall

Book haul #5: One last trip to City Lights, where I bought two books that were recommended by my friend Scott, who works there, and two more from my wish list:

Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk', the Most Outrageous Record Label in America by Jason Weiss: This book discusses the short lived ESP independent record label, which was founded by Bernard Stollman in 1964 in order to document the nascent free jazz movement in NYC, featuring future stars such as Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra, along with local folk-rock bands like the Fugs and Pearls Before Swine. The label was a critical success, but it experienced political and financial difficulties during its short existence, which led to its demise in 1974. Weiss tells the story of the ESP label through an examination of Stollman, followed by a series of interviews with the artists that it recorded, and others who were influenced by the music.

Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love by David Talbot: This book examines the transformation of San Francisco that began in 1967, the year of the Summer of Love, through the turbulent 1970s, when the city was rocked by wanton murders, political assassinations, riots and terror campaigns, which ended(?) in 1982, during the early years of the devastating HIV epidemic that shook the city's gay community.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo: Recommended by numerous LTers, this has been on my wish list since early this year.

Inside by Alix Ohlin: I mentioned this book earlier this week, as it has received rare reviews both here and in the UK and has been mentioned as a possible choice for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist.

>113 cushlareads: Thanks, Cushla. Yes, I've had another very enjoyable day here. The weather was perfect, with most sunny skies and a high temperature of around 65 degrees, I think. After I watched the Murray-Tsonga match I went to City Lights and had lunch at Caffè Greco, followed by coffee and dessert. Many of the cafés in North Beach include outdoor seating (although it's often too cold in the mornings and evenings to dine or drink coffee al fresco), and it was nice enough to do that today.



As I sat there I had brief conversations with Carlos, one of the guys who works there, a middle-aged guy who lives the neighborhood who I see there most mornings, and an attractive first generation Chinese woman, who sat across from me, watched me as I was reading, then introduced herself and asked me about the book I was reading (Pure by Timothy Mo) and the ones I had purchased from City Lights. I would have loved to have talked with her more, but she had to leave; hopefully I can run into her again on a future visit here.

I think I'll finish packing and then head out for the evening, once I figure out what I'd like to have for dinner.

>114 cameling: Thanks, Caroline. On one hand I'm eager to get back to Atlanta and go to work on Monday, but I'd love to stay here and continue to experience the rich diversity and uniqueness that makes San Francisco such a special place. I'll definitely come back here in the fall, as I usually do, but I'd love to make another trip here in the summer, especially if it continues to be as hot as it has been the past couple of weeks everywhere but the West Coast.

>115 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. Mantel is moving up on my list of favorite living authors, as I may have mentioned, and I'd only put Mario Vargas Llosa above her at this point. I'll probably look to read all of her books, and I hope to get to A Place of Greater Safety later this summer.

I forgot to mention that I downloaded the Kindle version of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander this morning, after I read a fabulous review of this book by Club Read member DieFledermaus:

http://www.librarything.com/work/9191913/reviews/86841136

That is an excellent Review. :) Have to check the thread out.

Ah! That looks interesting! I'm very interested in books about social justice and our prison system. Thanks for pointing it out.

>119 drachenbraut23:, 120 You're welcome. I'll try to get to The New Jim Crow sooner rather than later.

Sad news: The brother of Gabriel García Márquez recently confirmed that the Nobel laureate is suffering from dementia.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's brother confirms writer is suffering from dementia

The New Jim Crow sounds great - I just reserved it at the library.

I remember going to Amoeba Music in San Francisco! It's wonderful that it's still there, as all of the large record stores in Chicago are gone. We still have small, mostly used, shops, but that's about it. I remember when the record store trip was a weekly occurrence.

*snap* We both did "She, Mantel". hahahahahaha
Off to slap a thumb on yer.

Darryl - thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the tens of posts I had fallen behind on. Like the fact that you took a couple of days to think about the Hilary Mantel sequel before posting a typically thoughtful and insightful review. Note that you swayed in the end towards the 5 stars.
Also thanks for the list of upcoming literary highlights - handsome ladies hold centre-stage with Adichie and Smith to the fore - Rushdie, McEwan, Kincaid, Toibin and Amis make up a pretty strong list.

>122 DorsVenabili: I didn't make it to Amoeba Records yesterday, so I'll make sure to go there the next time I come here (I'm currently at SFO, waiting for my flight to Atlanta to board). I'll definitely come back in the fall, probably in October or November, and if I have time I might make another trip before or after then, especially if the hot weather continues in the East.

>123 tiffin: I didn't notice that when I read your review, Tui! I thought I was being unique. Great minds think alike, right?

>124 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I do find that my reviews are often better once I let my brain process the book in the background for a day or two, sort of like an ancient computer that needs time to warm up and process information. I initially gave Bring Up the Bodies a 4-1/2 star rating before I finally decided to give it the extra 1/2 star after I thought about it for a bit, and compared it to other 4-1/2 and 5 star novels I've read this year.

This looks to be a very strong year for British fiction, and, given the solid set of judges, it should be an outstanding year for the Booker.

Just looking at people wearing jackets in SF makes me feel hot, as I sit in front of my fan & swelter. Hope you have a safe flight home & that you're braced for Hotlanta...

Heard the news on the BBC late last night; I had wondered, as he had always struck me as someone who wouldn't stop writing unless something like that hit, and it has been a while since the last new book, hasn't it?

hot, hot, hot...

Oh, very sad news about Gabriel Garcia Marquez indeed.

I'm another fan of your Bring Up the Bodies review Darryl, and you made me chuckle with the "she, Mantel" bits, as I'd already seen elsewhere that she had taken that approach in this novel.

Sorry your wonderful vacation in SF had to end, but sounds like you got a lot out of it. Here's hoping it's not too hot in Hotlanta as it is in most of the rest of the world (except for those parts where it's winter right now, obviously).

Oh my Darryl, I love your review of my favorite book thos year and the she. Mantel bit is quite brilliant. Don't you wish mantel could clone herself and write twice as many books? That said, I'm planning to read A Greater Place of Safety in August myself.

Very sad news about Marquez' diagnosis of dementia. Apparently due to his treatment for cancer according to his brother. We won't see any more new work from him and he goes the same way as Iris Murdoch.

I'm back in Hotlanta, although I know that it hasn't been as hot here as it has been in the Northeast and Midwest. Atlanta had its hottest day on record last weekend, reaching 106 degrees on Saturday and 105 degrees (tying the previous all time high temperature) on Sunday. SF was at least 40 degrees cooler than that last weekend, so I'm glad I was out there!

>126 Chatterbox: Definitely not braced for Hotlanta. On several occasions these past two weeks I regretted not wearing a sweater over my turtleneck instead of my light jacket, particularly on July 4th or 5th, when it didn't make it to 60 degrees. Fortunately the drivers of several of the MUNI vehicles I rode those mornings turned the heat on for their passengers' comfort.

Gabriel García Márquez's last published work, according to Wikipedia, was Memories of My Melancholy Whores (2004). There was hope that he would finish his autobiography, which started with Living to Tell the Tale. I remember a few years ago that there was speculation that he was in poor health (and possibly dying?), but I believe he released a statement that he was doing fine. It will be interesting to see if he has worked on his memoirs, and how far he got before he was stricken with dementia.

>127 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana. "He, Cromwell" was repeated a few dozen times throughout the book, which I got used to but never liked. I wish she had just used "Cromwell" instead. However, it is a very minor criticism of an outstanding book.

>128 brenzi: I agree, Bonnie. I don't think it's an understatement to label Mantel as "brilliant", and there aren't many living writers I would attach that label to. Mario Vargas Llosa and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o are deserving, but I don't think anyone else is, based on what books I've read by them.

I had planned to read A Place of Greater Safety this summer, so I will probably join you if you decide to read it in August.

I'm 2/3 of the way through Pure, Timothy Mo's latest novel. Despite several rave reviews of it I'm not all that impressed, as I've found it to be a bit too clever and unfocused so far, which has made it a somewhat difficult book to get into. I'll should finish it by tomorrow.

>129 PaulCranswick: Right, Paul. I didn't realize that Iris Murdoch died under similar circumstances. I haven't read anything by her yet, although I do own The Sea, the Sea, her Booker Prize winning novel, Bruno's Dream and Sartre: Romantic Rationalist. Do you or anyone else recommend any other books by her?

Darryl, I just read A Severed Head recently, my first book by Murdoch and thought it was quite funny. It definitely made me want to read a lot more by her, which has to be a good sign!

Darryl, I'd suggest reading Iris Murdoch's book The Bell. Maybe Jackson's Dilemma, though that's not a hearty endorsement, and certainly The Sea, the Sea.

Loved Sour Sweet by Mo, which may have been his debut? Then ran out to buy An Insular Possession when it came out (VERY clever title...) and got bogged down. Should try it again. Never read more Mo.

And a definite "yes" to The Sea, the Sea. I also liked Acastos, though that may not be to most folks' taste. Still, a fun riff on Plato.

I really like Iris Murdoch, although she was a bit of an acquired taste. A Severed Head is probably my favorite so far; The Bell is also very good as is The Sea, the Sea. But be prepared: all of these have a common element of a middle-aged man getting his comeuppance!

Of the 10 Murdoch novels I've read so far, the only one I couldn't finish was The Good Apprentice.

The Sea, The Sea is in my top three of all time, of course. I agree that The Bell is also excellent. A Severed Head is good too, although I didn't enjoy it as much as the others. I'm trying to get to The Black Prince this month and I plan to read many more next year.

>132 Smiler69:-135 Ilana, Richard, Suz and Laura: Thanks for those Murdoch recommendations. I'll start with The Sea, the Sea then.

I've come back from my usual early Sunday morning trip to the market; it's 76 degrees with 81 percent humidity, and it's supposed to hit 95 degrees today, with a heat index of 103 degrees. There's also a Code Orange alert for people with respiratory illnesses, such as asthma. Sigh. It's hard to live the bohemian café life when you feel like a limp noodle and can't breathe.

I'm all set for the Murray-Federer match!

I read Murdoch's The Time of the Angels and really enjoyed her particular style. I am looking forward to reading more of her books and have A Word Child and Bruno's Dream on my Kindle.

Thanks, Linda. I downloaded Bruno's Dream to my Kindle last year, when it was on sale for $1.99. Hopefully I'll get to it soon, but I'll read The Sea, the Sea first.

Mom used to have a ton of Irish Murdoch's books and got rid of them at some point before I could read them, rats and darnation. I really should track down The Sea, the Sea.

Sorry to hear the news about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I find his work variable, but I loved Living to Tell the Tale, and was hoping for more installments of his autobiography. It made me go back and read some of his work, since there's a lot of connection between his life and some of the stories he tells.

Darryl, just spotted your HOT review of Bring Up the Bodies. Fabulous! Thanks for that. Presently working my way through Wolf Hall, and while it's taking me some time to grasp Mantel's flow, I expect I'll want to follow up with her next Tudor adventure.

Darryl - I love Iris Murdoch's early novels Under the Net, The Bell and The Sandcastle. Start at the beginning mate. Hope you are staying cool in Hotlanta.

Hi Darryl,

Unfortunately I disagree with all the good stories about The Bell by Murdoch. I didn't like it all. Of course I will read The Sea, The Sea soon for my Booker-project. I'll definitely try to have an open mind and give it a fair chance, but I have to admit I'm not really looking forward to it. But who knows, it might be a pleasant suprise.

I also would like to try Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o somewhere in the future. Which one would you advise to start with?

Great to hear all you positive hollidaystories. It sounds like you had a fantastistic time in SF.

>140 tiffin: All the talk of The Sea, the Sea made me take a quick through it. I read the first couple of pages, and I love her writing style so far. I'll put it back, but hopefully I'll read it in the fall.

>141 rebeccanyc: I completely agree with you, Rebecca. GGM isn't one of my favorite writers, but I was hoping that he would be able to complete his memoirs. Hopefully he was working on them before he became unable to write.

>142 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. I think it's fair to say that if you liked Wolf Hall you'll also enjoy Bring Up the Bodies.

>143 PaulCranswick: Thanks for that recommendation, Paul. I see that her first novel, Under the Net, is considered to be one of the 20th century's greatest novels, so that would be a good place to start. However, given my current book buying frenzy, when I bought more books in less than two weeks than I had in nearly six months, I'm a bit reluctant to add any new ones just yet. Under the Net is now on my Kindle wish list, though.

Staying cool in Atlanta in July means staying inside. I went out from 7-8 am, and I almost certainly won't go back outside until I leave for work tomorrow morning.

>144 lilianboerboom: I certainly won't read The Bell anytime soon, certainly not before I finish the three books of hers I own and Under the Net.

Regarding Ngũgĩ, I'd start with Wizard of the Crow, his most recent novel, which is my favorite of the ones I've read so far, or A Grain of Wheat.

Yes, I had a wonderful time in San Francisco, and I'm eager to get back there ASAP.

Book #70: Pure by Timothy Mo



My rating: (3.3 stars)

The first novel to be written by Timothy Mo in over 10 years is set in contemporary Thailand, and the main character is Ahmed, who prefers to be called Snooky, a narcissistic ladyboy (transvestite) from a Muslim family in southern Thailand who does drugs on a regular basis and steals from upscale stores and his her straight male clients to support her decidedly non-Islamic lifestyle in the heart of Bangkok. She and her fellow katoeys are caught by vice squad officers in flagrante delicto during a drug fueled orgy, and Snooky is beaten and imprisoned after she taunts them. In exchange for her release from charges that could send her to prison for decades, she provides the vice squad with valuable information and agrees to work as an undercover agent for a local Islamic school that is suspected of carrying out acts of terror.

The novel consists of chapters narrated by the key characters: Snooky; Victor, a pompous Oxbridge professor and former British intelligence agent in Southeast Asia; Shakyh, the Pakistani mastermind of the Islamic school; and Umar, the school's spiritual leader, who secretly despises Shakyh and Snooky Ahmed. Victor's main purpose is to provide a historical backdrop for the rise of Muslim extremism in southeast Asia; Shakyh also serves in that role in addition to planning the group's increasingly more violent acts. Snooky becomes more radicalized, while she hides but doesn't disavow her ladyboy identity or her drug habit, and walks a dangerous tightrope as she provides the police with information about the group, knowing that she will meet a painful death if she is uncovered.

Pure is an interesting novel about the political history of Thailand and the rise of Islamic activity in southeast Asia. However, I found the novel to be overly clever and rather unfocused, one which would have benefitted from an experienced editor, which this book apparently didn't have. It has received rare reviews, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was selected for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist, but I would be disappointed if it did.

"overly clever" -- that is a problem I have all too often with some wildly and widely lauded books. The writing may be excellent, and yet they leave me completely cold. That's roughly what I mean when I call a novel "self-conscious"; reading it, I ended up feeling that the author is delighting in his/her own literary skill; standing back and saying, wow, that was a great turn of phrase. I could, of course, be overthinking this myself!!

I think this is why I never finished An Insular Possession; the topic sounded SO compelling, and yet I couldn't immerse myself in the story. I may take another crack at it and a look at "Pure", just because of the topic, but only as a library book.

>147 Chatterbox: Suz, your comments are certainly in line with my thoughts about Pure, and with C by Tom McCarthy. Three of Mo's first four novels were shortlisted for the Booker Prize, namely Sour Sweet, An Insular Possession and The Redundancy of Courage, so I have to believe that he's very talented. However, his output tailed off after he decided to publish his own books, and he basically dropped off the literary map until Pure was released.

I think that this could have been a brilliant novel had it received critical input from an experienced editor. If I can use a sports analogy, it was akin to seeing a star baseball player hitting a powerful drive that looked like a home run when the ball left his bat, but the ball landed in the outfielder's glove on the warning track for a long, loud out.

I do own Mo's debut novel Sour Sweet and his fourth book The Redundancy of Courage, and I'll still plan to read them in the near future.

Oh dear, clever-clever takes another toll. Yech. Well then, that's a shoo-in for some prize or another.

>145 kidzdoc: I have trudged through 2 of Iris Murdochs, but will also try The Sea, The Sea one day.
Glad SF trip was a hit Darryl, a much appreciated break for you!

Thanks for the review of Pure, Daryl. Sounds like one I will just skip.

Congratulations on another hot review!!

>149 richardderus: Probably.

>150 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan. San Francisco has become a second home for me, so it was nice to go there and just be a cafe and bookstore bum.

>151 tangledthread: You're welcome...and thanks! I'll be very curious to see if Pure is selected for the Booker longlist, and read reviews by other LTers who decide to read the book if it is.

Back to work today. I'm amazed at how busy the inpatient service still is, and how many kids have pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses in early July. I'll work tomorrow and Wednesday, and then I'll work Saturday through next Wednesday after I have Thursday and Friday off. That's not bad at all.

One of my work partners sent us this photo via e-mail. Please note that these methods for transporting small children on a motorcycle are not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (so don't get any ideas, Megan).

Amazing . . . 9 people on one bike! Even knowing how dangerous it is, it is making me laugh. A very funny sight.

It's the baby in the bucket that cracks me up.

I am an occasional lurker here - it is difficult to keep up with all the threads! - but have caught up and was happy to see your review of Bliss' book, The Making of Modern Medicine. That is the first book by Bliss I have read and I am looking forward to reading his book on William Osler.

The baby in the bucket!! OMG hilarious! Until, that is, one contemplates the probability of disaster.

>152 kidzdoc: I aspire to be a cafe and bookstore bum

>153 kidzdoc: I see my "kid in the dog kennel" moment has not been forgotten.....But even I might draw the line at a "kid in a bucket AND on a motorbike" attempt!
I took a great photo when I was in Taiwan of a family on a scooter, I think it was 5? But 9 is a whole new level, if only it were an Olympic sport....this team would surely win :)

>153 kidzdoc: Oh. MY. God. Insane and yet hysterically funny.

>153 kidzdoc: Under the heading of "what would Ray Lahood do?"
This makes me shudder after working rehab. w/ those injured in motorcycle accidents....the ones who did not become organ donors.

Following up on the most dangerous motorcycle ride of all time photo, one of my partners sent us photos from the "Parent of the Year" contest, which included the motorcycle shot and 15 others. I'll post them here, for your enjoyment and horror.

Here's today's special parent in action:

That's "special"...

>154 brenpike: Part of me wants to laugh, but I also want to shriek in terror. I've taken care of several kids in the hospital who were admitted due to what I call "Stupid Parent Tricks". These range from the common and understandable, such as a toddler who overdoses on a parent's or grandparent's medication that was accidentally left within reach, to the incredibly stupid, such as the teenager who suffered multiple facial fractures due to an accident involving jet skiing on a ramp while his father filmed the event for America's Funniest Home Videos, to the horribly tragic, which are too disturbing to mention here in detail.

>155 avidmom: I'm not completely convinced that I know who is holding the baby in the bucket. I would assume that it's the first woman, but I can't quite tell.

>156 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori. I'll definitely read Bliss's biography of William Osler, either later this year or next year.

>157 richardderus: Right. It's very easy for me to contemplate and visualize all the things that could happen to these kids, which made me gasp in horror when I saw that photo.

>158 LovingLit: I'd love nothing more than to retire, buy an apartment in North Beach, and spend my days sitting in cafes, reading books, and having conversations with interesting people.

These people may win something. I vote for a trip to the county jail, followed by a date in Juvenile Court.

>159 brenzi: Right. Funny at a snapshot view, but unbelievably stupid and dangerous at the same time.

>160 tangledthread: The hospital I work at has one of the largest pediatric Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Units (CIRU) in the Southeast. It's heartbreaking to pass by the rooms; many of the kids are teenagers who suffered spinal cord injuries due to accidents, and their parents often post photos of them taken before the accident. Seeing the kids in wheelchairs, struggling to achieve basic activities of daily living, is quite depressing.

Today's laugh of the day: I was looking for information in Spanish about epilepsy for the mother of a baby that was admitted due to seizures this week. I found information on the epilepsy.com web site, but what was most surprising was a question asked by a young adult with epilepsy on the site's blog:

Is it safe to do LSD if you have epilepsy?

We typically tell parents that there are no stupid questions. Clearly I'll have to change my thought about that statement.

There's no diagnosis code for stupidity; maybe there should be.

161> Hope none of those kids is in diapers . . .

>164 kidzdoc: I'm guessing "no."

Darryl - love the innovation of the Special Parent in Action photos. In Malaysia one of my major gripes is the parents who routinely wear their motor-cycle helmets and have a small child or infant wedged between them with no head gear at all. Also there is a local practice of walking along at the side of a busy road holding hands with the child with the parent safely on the inside and the child exposed to the traffic. Infuriating.

Jumping into the Mo discussion. I have read but two. Sour Sweet and The Redundancy of Courage. The latter, set in what we take to be East Timor, is excellent, the former also very good. He has fallen off the radar somewhat but the title is a lazy one given that Pure by Andrew Miller was published to acclaim only a short while ago. Couldn't he come up with something more original than that? Doesn't he realise the difficulties this imposes checking the touchstones?!

>165 avidmom: Our electronic medical record system permits us to look up ICD-9 codes. Sometime in the past, in a pique of frustration, I searched the database for "stupid parent" after entering the code for "teenage mother". (Un)fortunately there is no ICD-9 code that includes the word "stupid"; hopefully ICD-10 will correct that oversight.

>166 Cariola: Ooh, yes...

>167 richardderus: It depends on who you ask. My answer would be yes, as long as you have rapid acting IV anti-seizure medications on hand, an IV already in place, and a team ready to perform rapid sequence intubation, place you on mechanical ventilation, and transport you to your local ICU. On the other hand, one of my partners, who was working with the brand new family practice intern and just finished telling her, tongue in cheek, that many answers to parents' questions can be answered by saying "7-10 days" (e.g., "How long does a cold last?" "How long before my daughter can go back to school?"), responded that it was safe to do this—for 7-10 days.

>168 PaulCranswick: Paul, are these practices legal in Malaysia? Here the driver of that motorcycle would be immediately arrested, and the kids on board would likely be taken into temporary protective custody until a local juvenile court judge could find a relative with half a brain to take care of the little ones properly.

Ha ha! You aren't the first person to comment about Mo's poor choice of a title, given Andrew Miller's recent Costa Award winning novel Pure (which I own and plan to read soon). From my understanding, Mo has moved to Hong Kong, and is out of the loop of the publishing industry and the literary scene in Britain, so he may not have been aware of the title of Miller's book—or, he may not have cared.

Here's today's entry in the "Parent of the Year" competition:

>171 kidzdoc: Hope they're not going for burritos.

PS. Am very much enjoying the writing in Palace Walk.

Darryl - these are not legal activities in Malaysia but the police turn a blind eye to it as the mainly Malay bikers don't have sufficient money to pay them for taking the trouble to stop them.

Love the photo of the cyclist. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the child, the doll, the bike or the cyclist struggling against the load imposed by the selfish daughter insisting on the carriage of her barbie.

Hah! I can only echo Paul's thoughtful comments. What a photo!

Here are two more "Parent of the Year" photos, which are similar to the one I posted this morning:





I especially loathe like the first one; it's bad enough that the clueless dad is obviously more interested in his smartphone than his suffocating child, but the mother, who you would think would scold her husband for putting their child in danger, is equally unconcerned.

>172 tangledthread: LOL!

I'm glad that you're enjoying Palace Walk. I'll probably start reading it this weekend.

>173 PaulCranswick: Are we supposed to feel sorry for the child, the doll, the bike or the cyclist struggling against the load imposed by the selfish daughter insisting on the carriage of her barbie.

All of the above. The child and the doll are at extreme risk of asphyxiation; the bicycle is groaning in agony (due to the doll, of course); but the cyclist is the ultimate victim, as she has to transport the two unruly passengers free of charge.

>174 jnwelch: These first photos aren't the worst of the lot, IMO.

uuuuuccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Had to go with potato dumplings, of course.. and, back later to catch up :P

Although the photos .. .. .. holy goddess......

>177 richardderus: Yep.

>178 mckait: I like potato dumplings; however, I'm terminally addicted to steamed Shanghai style pork dumplings:

Darryl - love the lists at post 169! Good thing I stopped after two kids. Reminds me of a good friend of mine who was somewhere in the middle of 8 kids. He was asked to bring a baby picture to school and his mom didn't have one so she gave him a picture of one of his older siblings. It's amazing that he's become a functioning adult.

Hi Kidzdoc,
The "parents of the year" photos are just hilarious - they make me cringe, and LOL at the same time - And I definately understand how you feel about them, I have worked long enough in pediatrics to agree with your assessment on "stupid parents", "more stupid parents" - "parents who should not have kids".

# I love dumplings in all shapes and sizes - from potatoes, flour, semolina, grains, whatever - just get me dumplings :)



German "Semmelknödel" in Mushroom White Wine Sauce and Herbs - Yummie

Having a little Pavlovian moment here with those Shanghai pork dumplings. If only I could just lift them out of the picture...

>169 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I don't know when I've laughed as hard. That is simply hysterical. I'm at the half way point in Palace Walk and really enjoying it.

I knew which dumplings you meant.. but wanted to remind you of your
temporary "roots" lol .. I love steamed pork dumplings too.
My daughter had a "dumpling bar" at her wedding reception.
All sorts of interesting dumplings.. even had some pieroghi sent from Pieroghi Plus!
Their ( then) neighbor and friend is a caterer :) so the food was quite good!

What a brilliant idea, Kath! I may steal that one.

mmm.... pieroghi. Dumpling bar... that's a great idea.

Darryl... dangerous to be sure, but I couldn't help laughing at the baby in the bucket. And you have to give the adults some credit for creativity as well though.

Fried pork dumplings, please, with extra dipping deliciousness. A dozen should do to start.

Ooohhh dumplings *drool*

*waving* at Darryl

Perhaps I should not mention that I hate dumplings. . .despite the fact that I am shaped like one ;)

Darryl, I'm just amazed by the "stupid parent' photos. Good grief!

Oh, those dumplings look good . . . all of them!

Always loved har gow dumplings especially with garlic chives, take me to yum cha anytime.

Hey Daryl, just passing by and saying hello and hope all's well with you, busy guy you must be.

>180 Nickelini: You're welcome, Joyce. It certainly takes a special family to raise more than four kids, IMO. The vast majority of my married close friends and relatives have one to three kids, and none have a desire to have any more than that.

>181 drachenbraut23: I encounter quite a few parents of hospitalized kids who, IMO, should never have borne children, particularly the ones who physically abuse or neglect their kids. One baby had fractures of nearly every rib, anteriorly and posteriorly, along with broken bones in his arms, legs and skull; it's a miracle he's still alive. The other kid, an incredibly adorable 3 year old, came in with a variety of old and new bruises, along with a skull fracture, a brain bleed, and two fractures of his lower jaw. Fortunately the father of the first child and the mother of the second one are in jail. If there is any justice, both will receive the same attention from their fellow inmates that they gave to their defenseless kids.

Those German dumplings look scrumptious! Thanks for the photo; I'll have to look for them in a German restaurant here or in Europe in September.

>182 tiffin: Same here, Tui. I'll probably go to a local dumpling house later this week to get my fill of them.

>183 brenzi: You're welcome, Bonnie. I sent it to two of my friends at work, both of whom have had twins and are currently pregnant with their third child. They both agreed that there was a good chance of those things happening this time around.

ETA: I'm glad that you're enjoying Palace Walk. I'll plan to start it on Thursday, and finish it by this coming weekend.

>184 mckait: A dumpling bar at a wedding reception sounds perfect!

Regarding my Pittsburgh roots: One of my classmates from Pitt (who is about to complete a pediatric surgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins) came to Atlanta last week, and she, I and another Pitt Med graduate who is a pediatrician in suburban Atlanta got together for dinner last Thursday. My classmate asked the two of us how we liked living in Atlanta; both of us felt that it was a nice enough place to live, but we both agreed that Atlanta is a very superficial town, basically an L.A. of the South. All three of us talked about how much we missed living in Pittsburgh, with its ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants, friendly people, excellent public transportation (at least in the Oakland, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods where we lived), and nearly nonexistent traffic jams and sensible drivers as compared to Atlanta or the Baltimore-D.C. area. My classmate went back to Pittsburgh recently, and said that the city is even nicer than it was when we were there in the mid-1990s. Fortunately I'll see both of them again in October, as we'll all attend the American Academy of Pediatrics' national conference in New Orleans.

>185 tiffin:, 186 I haven't had pierogies in a long time; I'll have to look for a restaurant that serves those in Atlanta.

>186 cameling: Caroline, you meant stupidity instead of creativity, right?

>187 richardderus: I prefer steamed dumplings, but I wouldn't turn down fried dumplings by any means. I assume that you meant a dozen orders of dumplings, and not just a dozen dumplings.

>188 alcottacre: What??!! No one here is allowed to hate dumplings! That's worse than liking Miracle Whip or Sarah Palin. We shall have to take up a collection for a round trip ticket to San Francisco for Stasia, so she can taste some authentic Shanghai pork dumplings. I'm certain she'll change her opinion afterward.

>189 tymfos: Yep; all of those dumplings look divine.

>190 avatiakh: Mmm...har gow dumplings look divine. I think I've had them at Yank Sing, a notable dim sum restaurant in San Francisco. I'll certainly check my local dumpling house later this week to see if it sells them.

>191 Smiler69: Hi, Ilana! Yes, it's been busy at work the past three days, with lots of patients and nonclinical responsibilities. I probably won't be on LT much until Thursday, the start of a four day stretch off from work.

I finished two books within the past week: My Michael by Amos Oz, for the Reading Globally Middle Eastern literature third quarter theme, and Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami, for the Author Theme Reads group (we're reading books by Murakami this quarter). Both were good; I'll review them later this week.

All these bad parenting photos are making me fell all of a sudden very capable!

I haven't read any Amos Oz yet, but I'm going to try hard to get to A Tale of Love and Darkness over the next couple of months. :) There are just so many books to read and I over commit myself to themes and group reads. *sigh*

Looking forward to your review of the Murakami, as I'm uncertain about reading anything more by him.

Did you finish 1Q84, Darryl? As you know, I'll read anything he writes, and I thought 1Q84 was one of his best.

Ah, I got it. Rebecca was talking about Ryu, not Haruki.

Hi Daryl...curious to know how this story is being talked about on the physician side: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/07/17/rory-staunton-death

Finally rec'd the Victoria Sweet book about Hildegard of Bingen Rooted in the Earth, Rooted in the Sky while wating for the availability of God's Hotel. She has an interesting way of approaching the topic of medical history.

Hi, Darryl. I'm horrified (but amused--no, horrified) by the stupid parent pics. And as a mother of three had to chuckle in recognition over # 169 first kid/third kid. They really do grow up in entirely different families.

I'm glad you enjoyed Popular hits of the Showa Era as I have that one on my shelf. However I seem not to be quite ready for Quarter 3.

#193 : Darryl, I am trying to be nicer to people. ;-) And maybe that baby in the bucket was wedged in somehow so he couldn't be flung out or bounced out if that motorbike hit a pothole, and perhaps they're on a street with no other cars or bikes, or ..... perhaps they were in the 'before' photo of a road safety advertising campaign and the 'after' collision photo hadn't been posted yet.
.
.
.
.
.
.and yes .... perhaps they're just rock stupid.

>195 LovingLit: LOL! Megan, based on what I know about you on LT, I'm certain that you're a dedicated and fabulous mom. :-)

>196 The_Hibernator: Rachel, I'd highly recommend A Tale of Love and Darkness to you. It's one of the better memoirs I've read, and I wouldn't mind reading it again this quarter if I didn't have so many other books to read.

>197 rebeccanyc: I gave Popular Hits of the Showa Era 3-1/2 stars, but that may be a bit low. It's a difficult book to rate, as it was very readable but weird and a bit distasteful. Despite that, I liked it, and I'm eager to read In the Miso Soup and Coin Locker Babies this quarter.

>198 jnwelch: I did finish 1Q84, and it's one of my favorite books by Haruki Murakami. As you pointed out, Popular Hits of the Showa Era was written by Ryu Murakami (no relation); I read it for the Author Theme Reads group, whose author for the quarter is Ryu Murakami.

>199 tangledthread: I haven't talked about that case with any of my partners, but I did read the NYT article that described it last week. I also reviewed the labs and vital signs that accompanied the article (available here). Several things jumped out at me: first, his extremely high band neutrophil count, which is indicative of a very serious infection; his low platelet count; and his abnormal vital signs, particularly his rapid heart and respiratory rates. Hindsight is 20/20, of course; however, if one of the ER doctors saw a kid with 53% bands, a platelet count of 117, and a high fever with tachycardia and tachypnea, and asked me what I thought, I would have been concerned that he was in the early stages of sepsis. I would have recommended obtaining a CRP, or C-reactive protein, a nonspecific marker of infection or inflammation, which would help me decide if he had viral or bacterial sepsis, and a blood culture, giving him broad spectrum IV antibiotics, say ceftriaxone (Rocephin) and either vancomycin or clindamycin, and admitting him to the hospital under close observation. I'm frankly amazed that this kid was sent home from the NYUMC ED and not admitted to the General Pediatrics service, and it wouldn't have been unreasonable to admit him to the PICU there, depending on what his blood pressure did. He didn't have a widened pulse pressure per those vital signs (BP 103/50), but I'll bet that he became hypotensive and went into septic shock within hours after he was discharged.

IMO this kid was badly mismanaged, by his PCP (primary care pediatrician) and the ER doctor that saw him and sent him home. I think it's fair to say that this is malpractice, and I would expect that the family would easily win a suit filed against the ER doctor and NYUMC.

I'll be interested to get your opinion about Victoria Sweet's book about Hildegard of Bingen.

>200 AnneDC: As isolated events I think those photos are equally amusing and disturbing. When I think about parents like these, I'm very concerned that they are neglectful and not very bright, and that they won't take care of their kids properly.

I'm ready for and excited about the third quarter, but my focus has been split in multiple directions (Booker Prize, Author Theme Reads, Reading Globally, unread LT ER books, Orange July). However, this month has been one of my better ones of the year so far.

>201 cameling: I vote rock stupid, probably from too many concussions suffered by dangerous motorcycle rides.

There's a novel about Hildegard coming out in a couple of months' time -- I think October? Will have to check.

My brother & sis in law have three, but all are so close in age that when one is in a picture, the others usually are, too. It's funny, but because Julie (eldest) is slightly small for her age and Jamie (youngest) is very tall for his, they end up looking all the same height. I imagine by the time they are teens, that tight-knit trio will still be intact. Julie & Connor are exactly a year apart; Jamie only 18 months younger than Connor.

Hi Darryl

I haven't had time to spend on LT and miss the communications. As always, it is good to stop by here and get a LT fix of good books and conversations!

>203 kidzdoc: now that's what I call a medical opinion!
I have to admit that reading it made me very aware that my specialised medical terminology is lacking, to say the least :)

Oh this is so sad. I really hope the parents decide to file a suit against them. Looking at the history of that boy they would win with no questions asked. I agree with your assessment of malpractice. We would not have send a child home like that and would have admitted for observations and BC and CRP.

I am glad to hear that you liked 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, did you read anything else by him?

Darryl - I remember that by reading My Michael you are filling in a missing blank in your reading years. Well done mate.

Hi,
just to let you know my copy of A Disease Apart Leprosy in the Modern World - Tony Gould finally arrived. *Grin*
So this will go on my TBR pile for next month.

I realise that I haven't read My Michael yet and it looks like one I'd like. I'll try to fit it in after Palace Walk.

#203 It's so scary to be a parent of a sick child. You are trying to keep calm and comfort your child, recall all the symptoms and chronology for the doctor, listen to the doctor, interpret for yourself the x-rays and labs, which you only get a peek at (even vitals are treated as state secrets). You want to trust your doctor and not let your own small knowledge interfere and yet you want to understand and know your child is getting the necessary care. It seems like a hard line to walk between respecting that your doctor knows best and advocating for your child.

To be fair, I'm a bit sensitive at the moment. Monday my daughter had a follow up x-ray and the dr said the pneumonia was looking much better (the main patch, visible even to my untrained eye, was much smaller). However this morning the dr called and said that the radiologist is concerned that the pneumonia is spreading. I think perhaps both the doctor and I were both too focused on the big patch. I would not recognize pneumonia in the lower part of the lung because of the other organs, but I didn't ask either.

Ye gods and little fishes. Parenting is hard.

Hello Darryl - I will watch with interest the group read of Cairo Trilogy - I loved them so much I read them back-to-back and was still sorry when I reached the last page. I visited Egypt a few years ago and, with Cairo, it was love at first sight! (And I hadn't really wanted to go there - as a woman, I am not so comfortable in moslem countries) but the people were amazing - great sense of humour. Didn't make it to Abu Simbel, but was blown away by Karnak and the other temple near that site (the name of which completely escapes me now). Anyway...end of the working day and i am going home! I really appreciate you for the fascinating books that you read and share with us!

>204 Chatterbox: You're right, Suz. Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt will be published on October 9, according to Amazon.

>205 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda!

>206 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan. On a third reading of the article, I'll excuse the primary care pediatrician from my claim of malpractice, as she did refer him to the NYUMC ED when she first saw the boy, and after the telephone conversation the following day. It doesn't seem as though she recognized the severity of his illness and the significance of the worrisome vital signs he had in her office when she saw him. However, she did do the right thing by referring him to the ED.

I'm also surprised that the parents didn't bring him to an ED the night he first became ill, when he had vomiting, significant leg pain to the point that he couldn't walk, and high fever. He wasn't seen by his pediatrician until that afternoon, and he was finally seen in the ED that evening, nearly 24 hours after he first started showing signs of systemic illness. I don't want to put blame on the parents, but he deserved to be seen the previous night, and if his illness had been properly diagnosed at that time he probably would have made a full recovery.

Another disturbing aspect of this story is the inordinate amount of time it took for the labs to come back from the ED. It apparently took three hours for the labs to come back for this kid, and it seems as though he was discharged home before the results were available, which makes no sense to me. Why order the labs if you've already decided that the patient was going to be discharged?

I can't understand why it would take three hours to get lab results in a major university hospital such as NYUMC. When we send off stat labs in our ED we normally get results within one hour, so decisions about patient management are made much more quickly.

>207 drachenbraut23: I agree. I would be shocked if any of our ED docs sent a kid like that home. BTW, the EDs in the three hospitals in the system I work for see ~200,000 patients every year (children only), more than any pediatric health care system in the US. Our ED is the largest of the three, with 50 regular ED rooms, two trauma bays, and another 30-40 rooms in the Fast Track area (for nonurgent cases such as URIs, otitis media, etc.), and I think we have nearly 100,000 patient encounters per year there. The hospital itself has nearly 250 beds, and we can flex up to nearly 300 beds in our overflow and surgical observation areas.

One point I emphasize to the residents, medical students and physician assistant students on rounds is the importance of distinguishing a SICK kid from a sick kid as soon as possible, and before it becomes all too obvious to everyone. As you know, most kids are quite hardy and resilient during an illness, even a serious one, but they can crash hard and fast, particularly when they go into shock.

>208 PaulCranswick: Thanks for reminding me, Paul; I hadn't realized that. I'll have to compile lists similar to yours in the next couple of days.

>209 drachenbraut23: Excellent! I'm eager to get your take on A Disease Apart.

>210 avatiakh: I'll review My Michael later today or tomorrow. I'll start reading Palace Walk this week, definitely tomorrow if not later today.

>211 labfs39: It's so scary to be a parent of a sick child. You are trying to keep calm and comfort your child, recall all the symptoms and chronology for the doctor, listen to the doctor, interpret for yourself the x-rays and labs, which you only get a peek at (even vitals are treated as state secrets). You want to trust your doctor and not let your own small knowledge interfere and yet you want to understand and know your child is getting the necessary care. It seems like a hard line to walk between respecting that your doctor knows best and advocating for your child.

That sums it up as well as any statement I've read. It's also very difficult when your child is in the hospital, as the kid is in a completely unfamiliar and often frightening environment, and the parents are entrusting the care and sometimes the life of their child, their most precious possession, to doctors, nurses and staff who are completely unfamiliar to them. That's what makes my job so difficult, challenging, and time consuming. However, it's also incredibly rewarding when things go well, as they almost always do.

I think perhaps both the doctor and I were both too focused on the big patch. I would not recognize pneumonia in the lower part of the lung because of the other organs, but I didn't ask either.

It can be difficult to accurately interpret X-rays at times, even more so when one focuses on one area and ignores the entire film. I've done that plenty of times! If possible, I like to have the radiologist's interpretation of any radiographic study before I tell the parents. If I don't, I tell them that "this is my interpretation of the study, but since I'm not a radiologist, I want to get the official reading of it and I'll let you know as soon as I have it."

>212 PrueGallagher: Thanks, Prue! I'm eager to start reading The Cairo Trilogy. I read the first two books several years ago, but I don't remember much about them.

Darryl, I've been putting off checking in on your thread since my vacation because it's one that I feel reluctant to "skim." Still, I simply must admit defeat. I don't have time to give it the read I usually prefer to give it (this is in way of saying that your thread often has wonderfully substantive discussion, along with a couple of others, and I like to give it my full attention even though I rarely chime in).

But, I did notice that one of your purchases at City Lights was Inside by Alix Ohlin. I recently put her new short story collection, called Signs and Wonders on hold at the library after hearing a review on NPR. Now I've put Inside on hold as well. I look forward to exploring this new (to me) author.

Also, Palace Walk is waiting for me to pick up this weekend; I'm planning to join in on The Cairo Trilogy read.

So, though I didn't really read the last 117 posts in detail, I will now declare myself "caught up."

Onward.

Interesting to follow your views on the article ....

>214 EBT1002: That's absolutely unacceptable, Ellen. Skimming 117 posts is not keeping up. Just for that, there will be a pop quiz once this thread reaches 250 messages, and only those who score at least 80% will be allowed to post on the next thread.

I bought Inside after a couple of people praised it on The Man Booker Prize's now apparently defunct Debate forum which discussed books that were felt to be good candidates for the upcoming Booker Prize longlist (which will be announced next Wednesday). She teaches at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, but she was born in Montreal, so her novel would be eligible. If it doesn't make the longlist, I'll read it for next month's Hot Author challenge:



Sorry, Sadie...

>215 mckait: Thanks, Kath. The author of the article, Jim Dwyer, has received a lot of negative comments from physicians about it. I find much of the criticism to be invalid, with one exception: I wish that the ED physician and the primary care physician weren't named in it. I've certainly made mistakes, and decisions that weren't wise or correct in hindsight, but I'd hate to see my name plastered in the local media as a result. If I or any of us committed a felony then I don't have a problem that person being publicly outed; this happened to a former colleague of mine at Children's, who was arrested after he was forced to leave the organization and was caught running a pill mill in the area, where he dispensed narcotics without examining patients. One of the local TV stations conducted a sting in conjunction with local and federal government officials, and the bust was captured and shown on the station's evening news broadcast. It was saddening and shocking to see him being led away on TV, but if the charges are true, I can't say that he didn't deserve it.

Darn. I've made too much garlic cheese grits, and I put too much butter and shrimp in them. I also have more vodka and rum than I know what to do with. Anyone want to help out?

*books flight for Hotlanta*

Cheese grits here I come!!

I finished Subduction by Todd Shimoda, an LT Early Reviewer book, last night, and early this morning I finished Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan early this morning, my 75th book of the year. The novel was good, but the poetry collection was a bit inscrutable. I'll review Subduction later today or tomorrow, and wait to review the poetry collection until I've looked over it again this weekend.

Sigh. Another mass shooting in the US, which I assume that everyone has heard of by now. I have two close friends from residency who live near Aurora; one is okay, but I'm waiting to hear from the other one. I hope that all of the Denver area LTers are also safe.

I'm caught up, I am!! And with only a little skimming. I've looked long and hard at that picture in No. 153, wanting very much to find evidence of photoshopping...I even googled and snopesified it. Sadly, no hits that suggest it is anything other than authentic.

>217 richardderus: Thank you, sir! I knew I could count on you. I'm not sure if Ellen should get any, since she only skims this thread. ;-)

>219 laytonwoman3rd: A little skimming is okay, Linda.

Some of the other photos do look as if they could be photoshopped. I'll starting posting them shortly.

garlic cheese grits with butter and shrimp? Oh my, that sounds wonderful.
*tries to think of a good trick to perform to earn just a teeny taste of Darryl's masterpiece*

Grits or no, I might join you in reading one of her books for Hot Authors August, Darryl. :-)

Here's today's "Parent of the Year" photo. Is it real, or is it photoshopped?



>221 EBT1002: *awaits Ellen's trick*

Inside looks very interesting. But I'll wait a few more days and see what's actually on the Booker longlist before I make decisions on which to read. :) Too many books, too little time. :(

That image looks pretty real to me...I can't see any signs of photoshop. On the other hand, It's not really clear enough to really tell what's going on...is the kid crawling? Is he on an inner tube?

May I have some grits now? :-)

Or now?

LOL! Do I have to eat grits if I ever go to Atlanta??

Prue, traveling in Muslim countries seems to vary tremendously. I travel solo pretty much always, and I found Turkey by far the most difficult -- ironically, it's also the most secular. Egypt I haven't been to as an adult, so I can't judge. Morocco was OK, with only one difficult moment in Marrakech. Syria was easily the most open and friendly -- ironic in view of the totalitarian regime, and tragic in view of current events. Everywhere I went there, people were curious, interested, friendly, chatty, etc, from a woman archaeologist I met working a centuries old ruined castle, to a gun-toting solo guard of an isolated Graeco-Roman city, now in ruins, who grabbed me by the hand to show me where some ancient Romans had carved gameboards into the paving stones. Jordan was so-so. It just depends on when you're traveling, and how you're traveling. Egypt would make me anxious a bit if I were in a group, because groups have been terrorist targets.

>223 The_Hibernator: Right, Rachel. I'm also waiting for the speculative longlist that the Guardian published last year. It was far superior to the actual longlist, as I've mentioned repeatedly.

The Booker Prize completely redesigned its web page today, and one of the noticable absences is the Debate section, where everyday readers, authors, and even judges such as Susan Hill could talk about the prize and the books that made the longlist, and those that they felt should have been honored. The discussions have been occasionally vindictive, with personal attacks against other members and comments that were harshly critical of the group's moderator, the Booker Prize judges and the director, Ion Trewin. As a result, I mostly lurked on the forums, and I only participated by ranking the long- and shortlisted books as I read them.

There is a message on the web site, which mentions that Debate forum members will soon receive an e-mail message about the Debate section. However, I suspect that the Booker folks grew tired of the near constant criticism and poor behavior of several members, and decided to pull the plug on it without warning.

>224 The_Hibernator: The image looks real to me, but I'm not as convinced about the sign.

>225 EBT1002:, 226 Ellen, you have more than earned a full share of garlic cheese grits, with extra butter, shrimp and anything else you'd like in them.

>227 Chatterbox: You don't have to eat grits if you come to Atlanta, but you may develop an addiction to them if you stay here long enough.

Suz, beware. Grits have a bad reputation but they are essentially a vehicle for wonderful other things. I'm convinced that Darryl knows how to make them irresistible. I mean, shrimp and butter and garlic and cheese...... what's not to love?
(just tell my arteries to pipe down and "chill")

Book #71: Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on Mississippi's Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey



My rating:

Natasha Trethewey, the newly selected Poet Laureate of the U.S. and current professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, wrote this book, a combination of memoir, history and elegy, about her family and other residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was decimated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Although the eye of the storm made landfall in Louisiana, the brunt of the winds and the associated coastal flooding was felt in cities such as Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. Over 90% of these towns were flooded, and nearly all private residences and public buildings suffered moderate to severe damage. At least 235 people were killed in the state as a result, and the region continues to feel the effects of the storm seven years later.

Natasha Trethewey grew up in North Gulfport, a mostly African-American portion of the city, from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. Although racial segregation and discrimination were formally outlawed by the time of her birth, its effects lingered in the Deep South for many years afterward, as many blacks continued to frequent stores owned by their neighbors and to employ local tradesmen. One of these men was her great-uncle Willie Dixon, known as "Son" to his family and neighbors, who used his earnings from his nightclub to repair, buy and sell rental properties in North Gulfport.

Her younger brother Joe took over the family business after Uncle Son's death, and his story of steady success followed by devastation and tragedy is the central element of this book. Although federal funding was allocated to the residents of central and southern Mississippi, government officials and local politicians diverted much of it to the wealthier residents and the growing tourism and gambling industries, leaving behind many of the region's poorer residents, both black and white. Trethewey describes the mismanagement of the coastal wetland by local developers, and how it contributed to the disastrous flooding. People employed as service workers by the gambling industry and in construction suffered mightily, as they lost their jobs and their homes in less than 48 hours. Many got their jobs back, but property owners increased their rents substantially, leaving many of them unable to pay their bills. Local businessmen, particularly in North Gulfport, were also adversely affected, due to ordinances that permitted the city to take over their land if their owners decided to rebuild their damaged properties.

Trethewey occasionally refers to an unforgettable quote by fellow Southern writer Flannery O'Connor to describe the feelings she and her fellow Mississippians shared in the aftermath of Katrina: "Where you came from is gone. Where you thought you were going to never was there. And where you are is no good unless you can get away from it." She also uses her own formidable skill as a poet to tell the stories of those whose lives have been ruined by the storm, such as Tamara Jones in her poem Believer:

The house is in need of repair, but is—
for now, she says—still hers. After the storm,
she laid hands on what she could reclaim:
the iron table and chairs etched with rust,
the dresser laced with mold. Four years gone,
she's still rebuilding the shed out back
and sorting through boxes in the kitchen—
a lifetime of bills and receipts, deeds
and warranties, notices spread on the table,
a barrage of red ink: PAST DUE. Now,
the house is a museum of everything.

she can't let go: a pile of photographs—
fused and peeling—water stains blurring
the handwritten names of people she can't recall;
a drawer crowded with funeral programs
and church fans, rubber bands and paper sleeves
for pennies, nickels, and dimes. What stops me
is the stack of tithing envelopes. Reading my face,
she must know I can't see why—even now—
she tithes, why she keeps giving to the church.
First seek the kingdom of God, she tells me,
and the rest will follow—says it twice

as if to make a talisman of her words.

She closes the book on a hopeful note, despite the serious trouble her brother finds himself in, and the reader is left with the sense that the survivors of Katrina will fight back against the odds and reclaim their livelihood and the heritage that defines the proud state of Mississippi.

Beyond Katrina is a powerful testament and statement by this uniquely gifted writer, whose talent will now receive wider attention in her new position as America's poet laureate. I look forward to her upcoming poetry collection Thrall, which will explore her relationship with her white father, a professor of poetry at Hollins College, and her experiences as an interracial child and young woman.

Book #73: Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami



My rating:

Ryu Murakami (1952-), who is no relation to the far better known Haruki Murakami, is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker who has written roughly 40 books about contemporary Japanese pop culture, only a few of which have been translated into English to date. Popular Hits of the Showa Era was written in 1994, but was not released in English translation until 2011.

This is an absurd comic novel and cultural satire set just after the completion of the Showa Era, which refers to the reign of Emperor Hirohito from 1926-1989. The first set of main characters are six young men, who are each nihilistic misfits that have been largely abandoned by their families and the larger society, but find common ground in each other and a shared interest in mindless violence and an elaborate and somewhat disturbing karaoke ritual. If you can visualize a group of Beavis & Butthead clones on steroids, you've got them pegged. They have little emotional connection to anyone, and they harbor an inexplicably deep hatred of Oba-sans, or aunties, the seemingly ubiquitous dowdy women past their prime period of attractiveness. As one of them says, "They always say that when human beings are extinct, the only living thing left will be the cockroach, but that's bullshit. It's the Oba-san."

One of the young men, filled with unfocused rage and vengeance, approaches an Oba-san who is unknown to him, and murders her in broad daylight. The woman is one of the members of the Midori Society, consisting of six thirtysomething women who all share the same last name and the same fate as unmarried, undesirable, purposeless and unfulfilled women who are equally as nihilistic and amoral as the young men. They learn who the killer is and take their revenge on him, which sets off a war between the two factions that is a cross between a bizarrely funny Looney Tunes cartoon and a mindlessly and increasingly violent B movie.

Despite all of this, I actually enjoyed this novel, which I found to be a biting critique of the nihilism, crassness and commercialization of contemporary Japanese pop culture, one in which its admirers seek instant gratification and bear no concern for the consequences of their behaviors or actions.

Wow, great reviews of Beyond Katrina and Popular Hits of the Showa, Darryl! Both beautifully written. Thumbs from me. I don't think Ryu Murakami is my kind of author, but I've belatedly become very interested in our new poet laureate (I'm reading her poems for the first time), and this sounds like an excellent nonfiction book from her.

Thanks, Joe. She mentioned that she will start writing a memoir next year, which I'm very eager to read. BTW, which poetry collections of hers are you currently reading?

ETA: I wouldn't have thought that Ryu Murakami was my kind of author either, before I read Popular Hits of the Showa Era. I'm not sure that he is, but reading this book has made me eager to read the other two books of his I own, Coin Locker Babies and In the Miso Soup. Murakami is the focus of the Author Theme Reads group this quarter, which is why I'm reading his works now.

Thumbs-upped both reviews, Darryl.

Am quite considerably surprised that you liked Ryu Murakami's novel as much as you did.

#230 and 231 - Great reviews, Darryl! I will look for Beyond Katrina, but will most likely skip the other, as it's not quite my thing.

I'm very much looking forward to the Booker announcement. My goal is to read 6 to 8 from the longlist...I think.

#230 Loved reading your review - especially the poem.

#231 If you can visualize a group of Beavis & Butthead clones on steroids, you've got them pegged. Yes, I guess I could, I simply don't want to. The Murakami book sounds like it has similarities to A Clockwork Orange.

yes, yes, agreeing with the crowds on your reviews. Liked the Katrina review particularly, and the poem.

Interesting view on the removal of the Booker forum, sounds very plausible to me :)

>233 kidzdoc: I picked up Trethewey's Native Guard, Darryl. So far it's very good, and a sad recount of her mother's early death.

>234 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I'm also surprised that I liked Popular Hits of the Showa Era as much as I did. I'll read Coin Locker Babies next month, and In the Miso Soup in September or October.

>235 DorsVenabili: Thanks, Kerri. Beyond Katrina is definitely worth a try. Some people would like the Murakami I think, but I'm not sure who.

>236 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom. Trethewey is a superb poet, and I'm thrilled that was selected to be the next United States Poet Laureat, both as a fan of hers and as an Emory alumnus. Her term will start in September.

I haven't read A Clockwork Orange, but I've seen the movie at least twice. The characters in Murakami's novel aren't as evil as the ones portrayed in that book, and the violence in Popular Hits of the Showa Era is much more easy to tolerate, as it is absurd and far less believable, particularly the final scene, which seemed like something out of a Monty Python skit.

>237 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan. I'll have to see if Trethewey will be signing copies of her new book before she assumes her new duties as U.S. Poet Laureate. Oh, wait a minute...she's one of the featured authors at the upcoming Decatur Literary Festival just outside of Atlanta, which I should be able to attend this year. Checking...yes, she's giving the keynote address for the festival at Emory on August 31, and I'm off from work that day. Yay!

The reason for the removal of the Debate forum from the Booker Prize web site is only my opinion; the moderator only mentioned that the organizers of the prize wanted to take advantage of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to allow for greater participation by readers. Several people have registered their protests with this decision, but it seems to be a final one to me.

>238 jnwelch: Native Guard is the book I would recommend as an introduction to Trethewey's poetry. I read it several years ago, but I haven't reviewed it. I'd give it at least 4-1/2 stars. Her newest collection, Thrall, picks up where Native Guard left off. It will be published in the US on August 28, and I'll plan to buy it when I attend her keynote address at Emory.

Caught up! Trethewey is a Cornish name. "By Tre, Pol, and Pen, ye shall know the Cornish men"

Beyond Katrina sounds powerful and lovely. She is an author for whom I'll be keeping my eye out.

Booker longlist to be announced this coming week, right?

>240 tiffin: From the looks of her father, Eric Trethewey, who is also a college professor (Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia) and published poet, it wouldn't surprise me if he is Cornish.



>241 EBT1002: Definitely check out Beyond Katrina, Ellen. I think you'd enjoy it.

Yes, the Booker longlist will be announced on Wednesday. I can hardly wait!

*munching happily on Rainier cherries*

#193: Should I mention that I am a vegetarian too and will not eat pork dumplings in San Francisco or anywhere else? I am just a hopeless case when it comes to dumplings, I am afraid.

#231: I think I will be giving that book a pass for now. It does not really sound like my cuppa.

>243 alcottacre: That's okay, Stasia. The places that specialize in dumplings also make vegetarian ones, I think. Checking the menu for Dumpling Kitchen in San Francisco...yes, they sell vegetarian dumplings and pot stickers, and plenty of other meatless dishes.

Popular Hits of the Showa Era definitely isn't for everyone.

Here's another "Parent of the Year" photo:

Read A Clockwork Orange a lifetime ago...
Beyond Katrina is one I will investigate.

#243: Whew! I would at least try vegetarian dumplings :)

>245 mckait: How did you like A Clockwork Orange, Kath?

>246 alcottacre: I've had vegeterian dumplings numerous times, and I like them. Hmm...my refrigerator is now loaded with good healthy food after my trip to Publix supermarket earlier this morning, but I'm tempted to make a dumpling run this afternoon.

Darryl - good review of Popular Hits of the Showa Era ...you had me with the quote about the cockroach and Oba-san. I'm willingly adding this to my obese wish list. While it's not comic, I think you ought to check out his Audition .. which, while not comic, is a short but worthy read, IMO.

I'm not sure if it's just my computer, but that last picture you posted today in #245 doesn't show up.

Garlic - good. Grits - good. Shrimp -good. Cheese - good. How could anyone not like a combination of all four? I'm coming over for leftovers.

>248 cameling: Thanks for the recommendation of Audition, Caroline. I remember your review of it, and it sounded interesting at the time. I've added it to my Kindle wish list on Amazon.

Can you see the photo now?

Richard, Ellen and I have finished up the last batch of garlic cheese grits with shrimp. I still have a dozen bags of grits and two bags of frozen shrimp, so I'll whip up a batch now.

> 231

I liked the weirdness of In the Miso Soup and would certainly not mind reading another book by Ryu Murakami. I was attracted to reading that book because I saw it mentioned frequently and wondered if the author were any relation to Haruki Murakami (which, as you've already mentioned, he is not). I've had Coin Locker Babies on my wish list for some time but have not yet had a chance to grab it. Now I'll be looking for Popular Hits of the Showa Era as well, thanks to your review.

By the way, I was blown away by A Clockwork Orange which I read for the first time last year. I loved the inventive language of that story. Anyway, that novel was 5 stars for me. I can see why it has become a cult classic.

My prediction: you'll also the other books by Ryu Murakami - or, at least In the Miso Soup, which is the one I read.

Whoa...I am just in time for your pop quiz, Darryl. I know there are some great book reviews and discussions here but the stupid parent pictures are what will stick with me. Unbelievable! Okay, I'm off to sharpen a pencil with a big fat eraser...

End of thread pop quiz: Participants must earn a score of at least 80% to participate in the new thread. Members of the Tea Party, such as Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin, and other mental defectives only need a score of 20% to move on.

1. Which of the following countries is included in the Middle Eastern literature Reading Globally read? (a) Tanzania (b) Nebraska (c) Syria (d) Algeria

2. The new United States Poet Laureate is: (a) Walt Whitman (b) T.S. Eliot (c) Rush Limbaugh (d) Natasha Trethewey

3. Who is the only Arab author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature? (a) Osama bin Laden (b) Naguib Mahfouz (c) Albert Camus (d) Huma Abedin

4. President Obama's Affordable Care Act was found to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court: true or false? (a) true (b) false (c) false if you watch CNN, true if you watch the BBC or a reputable news source (d) false according to Bill O'Reilly of Fox News

5. Haruki Murakami and Ryu Murakami are (a) a newly married couple (b) unrelated Japanese novelists (c) twin brothers separated at birth (d) the lead singers of the popular music group The Murakami 5.

You have five minutes to complete this quiz. Anyone caught cheating will be forced to read nothing but chick lit for the remainder of the term.

*deleted answers*

:)

ETA: ...with two minutes to spare!

>253 SqueakyChu: Ack! Cheater!!! You posted the answers for everyone else to see. Please report to your nearest Barnes & Noble for your six month supply of chick lit.

230> Thanks for the detailed review of Beyond Katrina. I saw this book at a conference in 2010 but couldn't recall the title. I teach a freshman seminar using Zeitoun, and I thought this would be a great book for additional excerpts. I'll be ordering a copy ASAP!

Well, I got it with 4 minutes 35 seconds to spare, but I'm not going to tell you the answers because I don't want to be condemned to chick lit like poor Squeaky Chu.

Yea! I've graduated to the next thread!

That's okay. I'll just Bookcross* all the chick lit! I can rehome any book I encounter (even if I have to pulp it!). :)

* Hey! That's tons of new free material I can provide to others at upcoming book fairs. I'm not complaining.

>255 Cariola: You're very welcome, Deborah. I'm glad that you'll probably use Beyond Katrina in your freshman seminar, and I'll be curious to see what you think of it.

>256 rebeccanyc: 25 seconds is an awfully short time to complete such a difficult quiz, Rebecca. I can't prove that you didn't look at Madeline's answers, so I'll have to declare that quiz null and void. There will be a makeup pop quiz soon.

>257 The_Hibernator: Says who?

>258 SqueakyChu: For the moment you get a grade of Incomplete like everyone else, Ms Chu. You did answer the questions correctly, so you may participate in the new thread after you submit a 25 page report about the Fifty Shades trilogy.

I can't prove that you didn't look at Madeline's answers, so I'll have to declare that quiz null and void. There will be a makeup pop quiz soon.

LOL!!

> 259

I am *not* reading the Fifty Shades trilogy until you read the entire Twilight series!!

For my own entertainment, I think I'll just go back and re-read some of your older threads. ;)

While not reporting in, I'm confidently asserting that I scored 100% (something not likely to have happened before perusing your thread) --

*opens library copy of Palace Walk and heads over to Darryl's new thread*

I should include some of them in my plan too :3