kidzdoc in 2013: Old World, New Imports part 2

The March of Progress, Atlanta style

Looking south from the North Avenue bridge toward downtown

1955:



1964:



1978:



2004:












Currently reading:



A Happy Death by Albert Camus
The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell

Completed books:

January:
1. Quiet London by Siobhan Wall (review)
2. The Chip-Chip Gatherers by Shiva Naipaul (review)
3. Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif (TBR) (review)
4. The Eleven by Pierre Michon (review)
5. Pediatric Advanced Life Support Provider Manual by Leon Chameides, MD (review)
6. Communion Town by Sam Thompson (review)
7. Damascus by Joshua Mohr (review)
8. The Walls of Delhi by Uday Prakash (review)

Books acquired in 2013: (✔ = completed book, bold = purchased book)

January:
1. The Eleven by Pierre Michon (5 January; LT Early Reviewers book) ✔
2. Place of Mind by Richard Blanco (21 January; Kindle book)

This is a list of the groups and challenges that I plan to participate in this year:

Reading Globally

Fourth quarter 2012: China & Neighboring Countries
First quarter 2013: 20th/21st century Central and Eastern European literature
Second quarter 2013: Southeast Asian literature
Third quarter 2013: Francophone literature (excluding European writers)
Fourth quarter2013: South American literature

Author Theme Reads

Main author:
Émile Zola (Jan-Dec)

Mini-Authors:
Honoré de Balzac (Jan-Mar)
Guy de Maupassant (Apr-Jun)
Marguerite Duras (Jul-Sep)
Simone de Beauvoir (Oct-Dec)

Read Mo Yan

Literary Centennials

Patrick White 100th Anniversary Challenge

Booker Prize

Orange January/July

Medicine

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif

Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards

National Book Awards

Wellcome Trust Book Prize
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif

Planned reads for January (as always, subject to change):

Albert Camus: A Happy Death
Mohammed Hanif, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (completed)
Nicole Krauss, Great House
Charles Lemert, Why Niebuhr Matters
Wiesław Myśliwski: Stone Upon Stone
Lawrence N. Powell: The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans (reading)
Uday Prakash: The Walls of Delhi (reading)
Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (reading)
Bruno Schulz: The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories
Sam Thompson, Communion Town (completed)
Siobhan Wall: Quiet London (completed)
Can Xue: Vertical Motion
Mo Yan: Pow!

Shiva Naipaul: The Chip-Chip Gatherers (completed)
Pierre Michon: The Eleven (completed)
Leon Chameides, MD, et al.: Pediatric Advanced Life Support Provider Manual (completed)
Joshua Mohr: Damascus (completed)

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I'll be back. Love your progression of pictures of the Atlanta skyline!

Whoa! Atlanta done gone metastatic!

Darryl - I really love those photos! Much more traffic, many more buildings - not so sure that there is that much progress though!

>5 ronincats: Thanks, Roni. I like the newer skyscrapers in town, but the traffic here is hideous. The last photo shows the Downtown Connector, which is a merge of Interstates 75 & 85 that cuts vertically through Midtown and Downtown. The traffic in the photo is very typical for an afternoon rush hour here, BTW.

>6 richardderus: Yep. Photos of Midtown, Buckhead and Sandy Springs (where I work) would show a similar explosion of skyscapers and traffic.

>7 PaulCranswick: Right, Paul. I was being a bit sarcastic (as usual) when I used the term "March of Progress", which isn't always a good thing. An African-American physician in the Deep South would never have been permitted to treat white patients in a children's hospital in the 1950s and 1960s, even though Atlanta was much more tolerant of its black residents during the years of segregation and Jim Crow legislation.

Behind already on your first thread, I'll have to go back and read about the books you've already completed as I haven't heard of any of them...

.......I take it I am no longer welcome here if I push the Franzen thing? ;) I recall getting a rise trying to get a rise out of RD over the very same author.
*whispers under breath while running away*
Well, I like him, anyway...(na na na na na)

A huge progression in your top photos Darryl! I've heard many a traveller joke about NZ's State Highway 1. It runs from the top of the North Island, to the bottom of the South Island. It is not NZs only road, but people joke that it is.

10 > Taunting like that ... will only give you trouble when you least expect it :)

That 2004 photo is a real diffrence, wow. Happy weekend, Darryl!

Checking in on the new thread, Darryl.

Great pictures! I love to see how a place has changed through the years.

I love the "progress" photos, Darryl. I'm always fascinated by views of the same place over time.

Thank you for including the links to your groups and challenges. I enjoy clicking through them.

I find that third picture very scary, Darryl. What's going to happen in future pictures?

Not sure march is quite the right word for any of it!

'Slowly crawl' for the last photo on its own.

'Chaotically barrel along like a bull in a china shop with no thought of the future or the repercussions' for all three in general.

That 2004 pic doesn't even look like the same location as the other two! Reminds me of going back to Ottawa two years ago and finding that the whole neighborhood around where I used to live as a small child and as a preteen had changed. The landscape was the same, but.... Sigh.

I am amazed at the earlier photos in the progression, since I've lived here since --um 1987?, the 2004 photo looks normal to me, while the ones from the 50s & 60s - look at all that space!

And lunacat's words:

with no thought of the future or the repercussions

are even more scarily appropirate for our water situation.

Hi Darryl, just stopping bye to wish you a fab weekend.

Very impressive change of scenery in the opening pics, but I think I prefer the space which is still to see in the first.

Amazing the changes since I was born: 1944 to 2014 will be 70 years. Telephone.... Radio..... Television.... Cars, and Trucks, and SUVs, and Motorhomes..... Banks...... Mortgages..... Credit Cards..... Computers.... Cell phones.... eReaders..... Print on Demand....
Movies... Wars.... Climate change

oh my, I don't think I want to go any further down this road

hmmm, print on demand isn't that bad?? Or radio??

Hello Darryl

As always, I enjoy the photos posted here.

That's a great trio of photos!

ETA: Referencing your comment on your prior thread, Darryl. I'm so sorry to hear that the flu season is being so bad! I'm glad I got my shot. I'm propped up in bed with a cold this afternoon but if this is the worst I get all year, I'll call myself very lucky. The thought of a little 18-day-old in hospital with a fever just breaks my heart. I'm glad you are there to care for them.

Love the three photos!

I missed the whole last half of your last thread, but I'm not surprised to see reference in the message above to the difficult flu season. I'm hearing horror stories from all over. Personally, I should have listened to my doctor and had the flu shot. My son did (he always gets the shot, as he has asthma) and he didn't get sick at all while surrounded by really sick family members (like me). Next year I get the shot.

Hi Darryl, love the top pics. RD has hit the mark, 'metastatic' it the word to describe it.

When we review books on LT we can be brutally sincere because the newspaper and magazine reviewers are bound by numerous considerations like big publishing houses, big author names, etc, whereas we are not.

Lastly, a late new year resolution of mine is to keep updated with the literature of my region (south east Asia) as I have discovered two literary awards, thanks to you.

Howdy do. Nothing to say, really.

Finally caught up with you, Darryl. Joining everyone else here that is enjoying the mini photo essay/journey at the top of your thread. Such an amazing transition of change! I left big city life for quaint small city life some 20 years ago and I just cannot get over how 'uniform' so many large cities/urban centers in North America appear at a glance to have similar skyscraper scenes and motorways. I am reminded of my reaction to this every time I visit my family. Makes me happy to return to my non-skyscraper little corner of the world.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Darryl just stopping by to wish you the very best of weekends and to note that Megan's misrepresentation of her country's road system is indeed a misrepresentation.....but only just.

Hi Darryl - I finished with Great House a couple of days ago and just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I felt that the characters were all a little unrealistic in their motivations. I liked her way of writing enough that I'll pick up The History of Love, it's somewhere here in my house as my daughter read it a long while ago.

Hi Darryl, still busy I see. I hope doing fun stuff involving meals and friends.
I am over half way though The Sense of an Ending. I like it a lot, but am slightly irritated by the jellyfish-spined nature of the narrator. I can see him starting to toughen up though, I hope he does.

>30 PaulCranswick: I suppose I asked for that ;)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Darryl!

I'm working this weekend, so I wouldn't call it a great or wonderful one. Fortunately tomorrow is my last work day for nearly a week and a half. Hopefully I can catch up here before I nod off to sleep.

>9 gennyt: Hi, Genny! The first three books I've read are definitely available in the UK. The Michon is an LTER book published by Archipelago Books, which is based in Brooklyn. However, I've seen this publisher's books on display at Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road on my past visits there, and Amazon UK has the book for sale, as it was released there on January 8.

>10 LovingLit: Watch it, Megan. I still reserve the right to use the ultimate weapon: an especially frightening photo of Sarah Palin pouting fiercely, which I've kept in reserve for situations such as this. Don't make me post it here.

So, how does one get from the North Island to the South Island by car? Ferry? Bridge? Amphibious vehicle???

>11 roundballnz: Tell her, Alex!

>12 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana. That horrible traffic in the 2004 photo is nothing unusual for Atlanta, especially during a Friday afternoon in the spring or summer. This highway, the Downtown Connector, is a merge of two major US interstate north-south highways, I-75 and I-85, that cuts through central Atlanta. Just south of this photo another major interstate, I-20, which runs east-west, intersects with I-75/I-85. Many drivers who are traveling to places like Florida, New Orleans and other major places in the Deep South must travel through or around Atlanta, which causes monumental traffic jams here, even if there are no accidents.

>13 alcottacre: Thanks for checking in, Stasia! I may not read any books until midweek or later, as I'll have to read the new PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) Manual in preparation for the PALS Renewal Course that I'll take on Thursday.

>14 Samantha_kathy: Thanks, Samantha. Those photos came from the Atlanta Time Machine website, which has hundreds of old and new photos of Atlanta. I'll probably post more photos here soon.

>15 lauralkeet: Same here, Laura. I'll glad that you liked that photos.

>16 labfs39: You're welcome, Lisa.

>17 SqueakyChu: Scary indeed, Madeline. One major reason why Atlanta's decades long decline in the population of the city has reversed recently is that younger residents don't want to spend countless hours in their cars commuting from their suburban homes to work and back every day. I have a reverse commute, from Midtown to Sandy Springs just north of the Atlanta city limits, but my 11 mile commute is still often and painful one. A recent analysis showed that Atlanta commuters have the longest trip times of any residents in a Southern city, as a majority have trip times of 30 minutes or longer each way. My trips to work are usually less than 30 minutes, but the drive home routinely takes 35-40 minutes or longer.

>18 lunacat: You have it right, Jenny. The public transportation system here is easily the worst of any major city I've lived or visited in, which is one of the main causes of these traffic jams.

I can barely keep my eyes open now. Off to bed...

#35 A recent analysis showed that Atlanta commuters have the longest trip times of any residents in a Southern city, as a majority have trip times of 30 minutes or longer each way.

From the perspective of someone who used to commute into London that actually sounds really quick! My commute (by train) used to be an hour and ten minutes door to door, and that was considered reasonable. I now have a forty to forty-five minute drive. Funnily enough, at times I miss the longer commute as it was great reading time!

Hi Darryl, I love these pictures at the beginning of your thread. It's so interesting to see the historical development of a special place! I leave another star, so that I'll find my way back again. Have a lovely weekend!

When I get overwhelmed by traffic and technology changes, I simply retreat to my little library, open a book, and all is well with the world again. I'm sure you have discovered that "cure" as well, Darryl. As usual, you have initiated yet another thoughtful topic of conversation on your thread. I hope you are having a peaceful Sunday.

I hope you got some rest, Darryl. Happy Sunday!

Rest and sleep, then back to some depressing grim cheerless reading. You *do* know how to live, eh what?

Message #42, take two.



Woo! I finished my busy four week stretch of work days last night. The weekend was busy, but not hectic or overly stressful, especially compared to the past three weeks. Yesterday was a long day (8 am to 9:30 pm), and I began to type this message last night, but I fell asleep within minutes.

Now comes the benefit from working so many days in December and January: I only have eight work shifts over the next five weeks, starting today, and I'm off until Wednesday of next week. As I mentioned previously, I will have a Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Renewal Course on Thursday, and I'll have to study the Pediatric Advanced Life Support Provider Manual over the next three days. The format of the course has changed significantly since the last time I took it in 2011, so I'll have to read the new manual closely. I should have plenty of time, but I'm pretty exhausted and may not have the energy or time to do much else over the next three days.

>19 Chatterbox: You're right, Suz. As Ardene said in message 20, the 2004 photo is very familiar to me, whereas the other ones don't look like Atlanta at all. BTW, this series of photos comes from the Atlanta Time Machine website, which contains hundreds of "then and now" photos, and this series of photos can be found on this page:

http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/dtnorth2.htm

Here's a 1978 photo from approximately the same location but taken at street level instead of the North Avenue bridge, which is a good midpoint between the 1964 and the 2004 photos in message #1:



The Noland building in the left of this photo can be seen in the left the 1955 and 1964 shots, although the name in the latter photo is partially obstructed by a tree. The Westin Peachtree Hotel (the tall, cylindrical skyscraper) and the Equitable Building seen to the right are visible in the 1978 and 2004 photos, as are the two tallest buildings to the right of them.

>20 markon: I've lived here since 1997, Ardene. The 2004 and even the 1978 photos are recognizable, but the 1955 and 1964 photos seem more appropriate for Rome or Cartersville than Atlanta.

>21 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca! I can't say that this past weekend was a fabulous one, but this coming week should be.

Atlanta does have several lovely neighborhoods and parks, so it isn't just a concrete jungle with horribly congested streets. If you've seen the movie Driving Miss Daisy, with Morgan Freeman as a chaffeur and Jessica Tandy as a stubborn and proud elderly woman from old money Atlanta, you would have seen the Druid Hills section of the city. That is the same neighborhood that Emory University is located, which is my residency alma mater, and I would often drive past the house where Miss Daisy lived, on Lullwater Road, on my way to and from the children's hospital at Emory.



I'll post some photos of the nicer Atlanta neighborhoods here later this week.

>22 maggie1944: It is mind boggling to think about the massive societal changes that have taken place in the past 70-80 years. My father was born in 1934, and my mother was born the following year, and we'll sometimes talk about this same topic.

>23 Chatterbox: Have you or anyone else seen any bookstores that provide print on demand service in house? I thought I read that the Blackwell's bookshop on Charing Cross Road offered this service, but I forgot to ask about it the last time I was there.

>24 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda!

>25 EBT1002: I'm sorry to hear that you're sick, Ellen, and I hope that you recover soon.

Everyone I've spoken with who has worked at Children's for a long time says that this is the worst influenza outbreak we've ever seen. The ED continues to see massive numbers of kids with ILI, or influenza like illness, and they are handing out prescriptions for Tamiflu left and right. I understand that the pharmacies are running out of the influenza vaccine and Tamiflu, due to the high demand for each.

I admitted another toddler (20 months old, I think) to the hospital on Saturday night with high fevers and respiratory distress, who has both influenza A and a secondary bacterial pneumonia. Fortunately she was doing much better yesterday, and she might be able to go home today.

I saw that the most recent issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), included an article about the effectiveness of this season's influenza vaccine. I'll read that article after I finish catching up with my thread, and post a summary and a link to the article here.

>26 tymfos: It's not too late to get the flu vaccine, Terri. The latest ILI activity indicator map in the most recent version of CDC's FluView shows high level of influenza like illness in Pennsylvania, although it isn't as high as it was the previous week.

>27 mausergem: Thanks, Gautam. Yes, the growth in the Atlanta metropolitan area can properly be described as metastatic. Three suburban counties here were among the 10 fastest growing counties in the US from 2000 to 2010, and the city has had an increase of nearly 40,000 residents since 1990, after a loss of over 100,000 inhabitants from 1970-1990. Most impressively (or disturbingly), the metro area added over 1 million new residents between the 2000 census (4,112,198) and the 2010 census (5,268,860). Unlike many older American cities, particularly those in the Northeast such as Boston, NYC and Philadelphia, Atlanta has an almost nonexistent public transportation system, so far more people drive to work, school, etc. here than in those cities.

When we review books on LT we can be brutally sincere because the newspaper and magazine reviewers are bound by numerous considerations like big publishing houses, big author names, etc, whereas we are not.

Great point; I agree completely. I'd rather read brutally honest reviews about a book, positive or negative, especially if it's one I'm interested in reading. I do look at others' reviews, and I generally don't let one bad review dissuade me from a book, as I've said before.

Lastly, a late new year resolution of mine is to keep updated with the literature of my region (south east Asia) as I have discovered two literary awards, thanks to you.

Excellent! I'm glad to be of help. I also need to do a better job in keeping up with contemporary African American literature, as many of these authors receive little public attention and their books are not often reviewed by the mainstream media.

>28 richardderus: Howdy do. Nothing to say, really.

This is probably the most worrisome post I've seen on LT in the past year. Has someone checked out our suddenly voiceless friend lately?

>29 lkernagh: I left big city life for quaint small city life some 20 years ago and I just cannot get over how 'uniform' so many large cities/urban centers in North America appear at a glance to have similar skyscraper scenes and motorways.

Interesting comment, Lori. I'm struck by the uniformity of the suburbs in the US, and I find the cities to be far more unique in their architecture, skyscrapers and cultural amenities. I would feel like a hamster in a cage in a small town or cookie cutter suburb, particularly if I couldn't escape to a nearby big city on a regular basis.

>30 PaulCranswick: A happy week to you, Paul. As I mentioned above, my upcoming week will be much more pleasant than my weekend was, since I won't have to work. I do enjoy my job, but I relish my time away from the hospital.

Megan still hasn't answered my question about travel from the North Island to the South Island by car. *waits patiently*

>31 avatiakh: Thanks for letting me know your opinion about Great House, Kerry. I'll still plan to read it this month.

>32 LovingLit: Hi Darryl, still busy I see. I hope doing fun stuff involving meals and friends.

Yes, but only if meals in the hospital cafeteria or doctors' lounge with friendly colleagues counts as fun stuff.

I'll visit your thread to get your take on The Sense of an Ending later today or tomorrow.

>33 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. Wonderful weekend, no; wonderful week to come, definitely.

>36 EBT1002: Yep, that photo of the cat sleeping on the keyboard is spot on.

>37 SandDune: The hospital I work at is 11 miles from where I live, yet it routinely takes me 30 minutes or longer to drive home on weekends, unless it's a weekend or late on a weekday night. On Friday afternoons the trip routinely takes 45-55 minutes, due to the exceptionally heavy traffic that goes through Atlanta on those days, especially in the summer. Many local and out of state travelers use Interstate 75 (I-75, which runs NW to SE) to travel south to Florida, and others take I-85 (NE to SW) to go to New Orleans and to Gulf Coast beaches in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. These interstates connect in Atlanta, and form the Downtown Connector, the clogged highway seen in the 2004 photo in message #1. Even if drivers don't use the Connector during rush hour, the roads that leads to these interstates are also badly congested.

>38 PersephonesLibrary: Thanks, Kathy; I'm glad that you liked those photos.

>39 Donna828: Absolutely right, Donna. Books (+/- vodka) will always be my respite from busy hospital work days and hectic and stress filled drives home from work.

>40 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I didn't get much rest as I should have last week, but I'll definitely catch up on sleep and rest this week and next.

>41 richardderus: Rest and sleep, then back to some depressing grim cheerless reading.

Yep. The PALS Provider Manual is pretty damned grim and cheerless. It's after noon, so I'd better go to the supermarket for supplies, eat lunch, and get to work on it.

Can I point something out about 'professional' reviewers? Having worked in mainstream media, I can say I have never encountered anyone who felt bound by "big publishing houses, big author names, etc.". Ever. Ever. Individual reviewers may end up feeling bound by this, or by personal considerations. If you're reviewing a novel by a peer, you may not want to be seen to trash it lest that put you out of favor with the literary clique, or in case you don't get blurbed by that author's friends, or... But from a publication's POV? It's a non-issue. The fact is that a big publishing house needs reviews still, however big the author is, but especially if the author isn't mega yet. If a negative review were going to sink James Patterson, or Danielle Steele, well, that would have happened long ago. Those authors are immune to bad reviews. So far, the explosion in sites like LT, Goodreads, etc. and the proliferation of Amazon reviews hasn't dented interest in the NYT Book Review or other major forums. If it had, the book pages would have gone the way of the classified ads. They haven't.

The book editors that I know want thoughtful, articulate, insightful reviews. Polemic is fine, if it meets the previous criteria. Rants that don't meet those criteria don't pass muster. (And remember that what may strike us as a rant may not appear that way to someone else, much less the editor; see the review of Colm Toibin's new novel that I quote on my own page from a Catholic publication.) One way in which the name of a big publisher or author DOES influence reviews is in the decision to review a book at all. For instance, I would bet big bucks that the new Tracey Chevalier novel will be widely reviewed, and I would bet big bucks that the lazier reviewers will mention the new movie about slavery (Django Unchained or something?) alongside it. It will be tougher for a first book from a small press to get the attention. Not because the media are controlled by the big publishers, but because it's just harder to make the decision to devote time or attention to a book that you don't know whether people will want to read about. Just look at immediate reviews of Harry Potter #1 vs those for The Casual Vacancy. On the other hand, if someone at one of those small presses knows someone at the NYT and says, this is the best novel I've read in a decade, odds are that book will be handed out for someone to review.

Where this does break down a bit is at the level of the individual reviewer. Some are more thoughtful and better-informed than others. Some don't really care what authors think of them, or are able to build a reputation simply for being honest and excellent reviewers. Others are just people like us who happen to review books for newspapers instead of LT. They are reviewers, not critics. (I'd define myself as a reviewer, but say that I'm a critical reader, if that makes sense.) I've been asked to read/review a weird mishmash of stuff (I have usually said no). I know people who review for a living and never once have they mentioned being asked to put in a good word for an author or book because of the publisher or author. I do know of one who agonizes over how to pen a negative review of a book by a friend -- my response was to suggest that he not agree to review books by friends in the first place, which is kind of a conflict of interest, and one not usually disclosed in a review.

OK, here endeth the rant... Back to work.

Enjoy your well-earned week off, Darryl. I'm enjoying the pics at top (we forget how fast our cities evolve) and your background on Atlanta. Looking forward to seeing more of its neighborhoods here. No surprise, I'm with you on cities vs. suburbs. I need the variety that the cities offer.

Thanks for waiting patiently, Darryl.
So, how does one get from the North Island to the South Island by car? Ferry? Bridge? Amphibious vehicle???
The Interislander Ferry, takes about 3 or 4 hours and takes cars caravans trucks, and all sorts. It goes from Wellington to Picton- to join up that red line ;)

Have a great week off! Sounds like you've earned it!

The finalists for the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced earlier today:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Reyna Grande, The Distance Between Us (Atria Books)
Maureen N. McLane, My Poets (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Leanne Shapton, Swimming Studies (Blue Rider Press)
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, In the House of the Interpreter (Pantheon)


BIOGRAPHY

Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Alfred A. Knopf)
Lisa Cohen, All We Know: Three Lives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Michael Gorra, Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece (A Liveright Book: W.W. Norton)
Lisa Jarnot, Robert Duncan, The Ambassador from Venus: A Biography (University of California Press)
Tom Reiss, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo (Crown Publishers)

CRITICISM

Paul Elie, Reinventing Bach (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Daniel Mendelsohn, Waiting for the Barbarians: Essays from the Classics to Pop Culture (New York Review Books)
Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey (Wave Books)
Marina Warner, Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights (Belknap Press: Harvard University Press)
Kevin Young, The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness (Graywolf Press)

FICTION

Laurent Binet, HHhH, translated by Sam Taylor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ecco)
Adam Johnson, The Orphan Master’s Son (Random House)
Lydia Millet, Magnificence (W.W. Norton)
Zadie Smith, NW (The Penguin Press)

NONFICTION

Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Random House)
Steve Coll, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power (The Penguin Press)
Jim Holt, Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story (A Liveright Book: W.W. Norton)
David Quammen, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic (W.W. Norton)
Andrew Solomon, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity (Scribner)

POETRY

David Ferry, Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations (University of Chicago Press)
Lucia Perillo, On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths (Copper Canyon Press)
Allan Peterson, Fragile Acts (McSweeney’s Books)
D.A. Powell, Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys (Graywolf Press)
A.E. Stallings, Olives (Triquarterly: Northwestern University Press)

"Winners of the National Book Critics Circle book awards will be announced on Thursday, February 28, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium. A finalists’ reading will be held on February 27, 2013, also at 6:00 p.m. at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium. Founded in 1974 in New York City, the NBCC is the sole award bestowed by working critics and book-review editors."

More information: http://bookcritics.org/

Interesting list of finalists. I'm particularly interested in the biography of Henry James. And of course I'm always interested in the fiction nominees. I own but have not yet read The Orphan Master's Son and I'm interested in acquiring NW and maybe Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (the reviews on the latter have been mixed, it seems).

As I mentioned in message #43, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report web site posted an early release of an article, entitled Early Estimates of Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness — United States, January 2013, in Friday's issue. The study was a prospective analysis of patients ≥6 months of age who were enrolled at one of five outpatient medical facilities affiliated with the U.S. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network, and who developed an acute respiratory illness (the vaccine status of each patient was determined at the time of enrollment in the study). 1155 children and adults enrolled in the study, which began at each site two weeks after influenza activity had been documented locally. Each participant was tested for the flu, and the study determined that the current (2012-13) influenza vaccine is 62% effective in preventing the infection, making it moderately effective. That may sound lousy, but it is in keeping with the 60-70% effectiveness rate of the vaccine in most years; and, I'll take 62% effective over 0% effective (i.e., no vaccination) any day! As the authors mention in the article, "Influenza vaccination, even with moderate effectiveness, has been shown to reduce illness, antibiotic use, doctor visits, time lost from work, hospitalizations, and deaths."

Reducing all those things, most particularly death, is a good thing.

I was moderately catatonic yesterday, as my brain cells mainly slept throughout the entire day. I'm still quite tired, but I feel much more alert this morning. I read 1/4 of the PALS Provider Manual, which mainly consisted of information I already knew, but I couldn't focus on anything else, including catching up on LT posts.

>46 Chatterbox: Interesting comments, Suz. Thanks for your insider's view of the reviewing process.

>47 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. I've added the 1978 photo to message #1. Although it isn't taken from the North Avenue bridge and is a few hundred feet in front of the bridge, it still serves as a good representation of the beginning of the skyscraper boom in Atlanta. BTW, these photos only show a portion of the downtown skyline, and there are far more (and newer) high rises in Midtown, where I live, and in Buckhead to the north.

I do like the suburban neighborhood my parents live in, with quiet streets, friendly neighbors and less traffic jams, but I especially like its proximity to train stations in Langhorne and Trenton, where I can easily travel to Philadelphia and NYC, respectively.

>48 LovingLit: Thanks for the info about the Interislander Ferry, Megan. I couldn't tell for certain, but it seemed as if the distance between the North Island and the South Island was too great for a bridge to connect them.

>50 EBT1002: Of those 30 NBCC finalists I own In the House of the Interpreter, The Passage of Power, HHhH, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, NW (which I've read), and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Two books are near the top of my wish list: The Grey Album by Kevin Young (who is an English professor at Emory and another accomplished poet on the Emory faculty, along with Natasha Trethewey, the current US Poet Laureate), and Spillover, which I nearly bought in San Francisco last year.

>52 EBT1002: Reducing all those things, most particularly death, is a good thing.

Right. As of Friday there have been 20 deaths in US children attributed to influenza. Although none of the patients I've ever taken care of with influenza has died I do know of several children who were seen at Children's and died, including one who was discharged from our ED and another who died at a local hospital before she could be transferred to our PICU. The ones I know about were healthy kids, which emphasizes the importance of ensuring that as many of them as possible are vaccinated every year.

Fortunately I respond well to the influenza vaccine. I've received it every year since at least 1997, the year I started my residency at Emory, and the only year I've contracted the flu was the one year in which the vaccine wasn't a good match against that season's prevalent strains of influenza. I've treated at least a couple of dozen hospitalized kids with influenza since December, along with over 100 other ones with respiratory viral infections, but I haven't been sick at all since I picked up that nasty bug when I went to London in September.

In Holland, people with serious health issues can get the influenza vaccine in October or November each year. Years ago, my doctor 'strongly advised' me and my children to do so, and we didn't have the flu since then.

In the US, everyone 6 months of age or older is encouraged to get the vaccine, and supplies are generally available by late September or early October. Unfortunately the percentage of eligible people in the US who receive the vaccine remains quite low, despite the H1N1 scare several years ago. I can't remember the US figure, but last year just over 35% of Georgians received a flu vaccine. I still don't understand the persistent reluctance of many to get vaccinated, especially those who have had the flu. I'd rather receive a jab every week than go through that horrid illness again!

The lab where I work has a newly launched book club. Their first nonfiction choice is Spillover.

I'm pretty amused by the publisher's choice of cover as Quammen prides himself on non-sensationalism.

Methinks he may have to find another quality about which to take pride.

Darryl...you're missing an award...the Story Prize nominees are announced, and they're all grim and depressing! You should be morris-dancing and making legs all over the lawns of Atlanta!

Their website.

Oh, and did you see this about the National Book Awards?

"The National Book Awards are getting a rewrite.

New rules announced Tuesday include a "long list" of 10 nominees to be offered for each of the four competitive categories before being narrowed to the traditional five finalists. And the pool of judges will be expanded beyond writers to include critics, booksellers and librarians. ... The expansion to 10 mirrors a recent change in the Oscars, but foundation board members said they had been looking to Britain's popular Man Booker Prize as a model."

About darn time!

Interesting list up there in #49 -- perhaps it will galvanize me to read The Orphan Master's Son and The Black Count. I also like what little I have read by Lydia Millet. Also have ARC of House of Stone sitting her and staring at me reproachfully...

>56 streamsong: Right. I had started to buy Spillover at City Lights or one of the other Bay Area bookshops last fall, but that garish cover made me put it back, as I thought that it wasn't as serious a book as I would have hoped for. The Kindle edition is less than $10, so I'll probably read that version of it.

>57 EBT1002: Agreed. I'm frequently amazed at how garish the covers of American books are compared to the ones published in the UK.

>58 richardderus: Thanks for that, Richard. So, following on RD's lead, the three finalists for The Story Prize for 2012 were announced this morning:

     Stay Awake by Dan Chaon
     This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz
     Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

The winning book will be announced at the New School in NYC on March 13th.

>59 richardderus: I did receive several e-mails about the changes to the structure of the National Book Awards, but I only read them within the past hour. Here's an excerpt from the press release from the National Book Foundation's web site, entitled "Changes in the National Book Awards Review and Selection Process":

After a year of discussion and a study by an independent consulting firm, which included soliciting input from hundreds of members of the book community, the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation announced today that the Foundation will change the National Book Awards process to broaden the reach and impact of the awards.

The National Book Awards are given out each year to the best American books published in each of four genres – Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and Young People’s Literature.

“Our mission is to increase the impact of great writing on American culture and these changes are concrete steps to further that mission,” said David Steinberger, Chairman of The National Book Foundation Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of The Perseus Books Group.

One change in the process will increase the number of honored books by selecting a “Long-List” of ten titles in each of the four genres, to be announced five weeks before the Finalists Announcement. In 2013, the Long-Lists will be announced on September 12th (forty titles), the Finalists on October 15th (twenty titles) and the National Book Award Winners on November 20th (four titles.)

“Every year many worthy titles don’t make it all the way to becoming Finalists. The Long-List will allow us to recognize more good books and broaden the conversation,” said Morgan Entrekin, Vice Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Grove Atlantic.

In addition, judges comprising the four panels—Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature—will no longer be limited to writers, but now may also include other experts in the field including literary critics, librarians, and booksellers. The number of judges in each panel will remain at five.

“In the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s,” said Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, “such prominent critics as Malcolm Cowley, Irving Howe, Alfred Kazin, and Helen Vendler served as National Book Award judges, bringing a breadth of knowledge and expertise to the panel discussions. By enlarging the judging pool new and exciting voices will again deepen and enrich the process.”

IMO this is great news, and it will make me much more interested in the NBAs than I already am. I've wanted to start reading more American fiction, and this will certainly help. There will be some overlap with the Booker Prize, which will remain the literary prize I focus on the most, but there will be approximately one month between the NBA shortlist announcement in mid October and the award ceremony in mid November (good move, NBF!). So, I'll make it a point to read the NBA Fiction shortlist at least, and maybe see if I can read the longlist as well. Who's in with me (besides Richard, of course)?

>60 Chatterbox: I own three of the five NBCC fiction finalists, so I'll plan to read those first. Rebecca posted a great review of The Black Count within the past day or two, so I'm much more interested in it than I would have been.

*ignoring the little voice in my head that is reminding me to not buy so many books this year*

The only one nominated for the Story Prize that I've read is Battleborn, and I had mixed feelings about it. I've read a novel by Dan Chaon, and I had mixed feelings about that. Still haven't read any Junot Diaz, although I know I should and have The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on the TBR for years. Thanks for the compliment, Darryl.

Ignore that voice, Darryl. Like you, I found Rebecca's review of The Black Count to be very persuasive.

I'm definitely going to try to read all five of the NBCC finalists, but I rarely get to them before the winner is announced in these things because (a) I don't own an e-reader, (b) I very rarely purchase hardcover books, and (c) I end up in a long queue at the library. This year I'm focusing on Booker nominees for one of my 2013 challenges, but I should have lots of room leftover for these 5 NBCC fiction finalists.

Darryl, a very good friend of mine went to Emory for her medical degree. She now practices homeopathy and holistic medicine.

Each time I have surgery she cringes....

I hope you are able to rest now that your long stint at work has finished.

>46 Chatterbox:, Just one counter arguement from my side. I'm not going to debate this further. When I hear New York Times book review podcast or Guardian book review podcast, the majority of the reviewers are contemporary authors. So if you believe that everyone of the reviewers are not swayed by peer pressure and write unbiased reviews that that is just naive.

I'm a bit weary of American awards. I have been disappointed a couple of times. Tinkers is the last one I remember.

Hope you are enjoying your days off, Darryl, especially after you finish your review for your exam!

Interesting on the short story prize. I have seen the Junot Diaz and Dan Chaon books in the stores here but not t'other one yet.
I think updating the National Book Award with a longlist is a great idea.

btw I'm wondering if the voice in your head pushing you to spend all your money on books has a Yorkshire accent?

Gautam, I completely agree with you that reviewers can be swayed by peer pressure, collegiality, etc. etc. (But then I also would argue that no review is ever unbiased, as we all bring our own preconceptions and preferences to any book that we read...)

My point was simply that it's not about the media catering to powerful publishers or authors by publishing suck-up reviews. In fact, some book editors I know are delighted when they get a thumbs-down review, as it's still relatively rare. (Like a Wall Street analyst issuing a "sell" rating on a stock; those in the know realize that a "hold" is really a "sell" in diplomatic disguise.)

I'm weary/wary of awards, although sometimes they'll point me in the direction of a book I wouldn't have been aware of otherwise.

OK, here's a query -- is Junot Diaz worth all the hype??

Suzanne - go listen to him read his “How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)” here at the New Yorker.

>62 rebeccanyc: I read several LT reviews of Battleborn ("Ms. Watkins mirrors the desolation of her suffering, addled denizens with the desolation of harsh, empty Great Basin Nevada.") and Stay Awake ("a dozen short stories about (mostly) Midwest men who are emotionally, physically and/or psychologically displaced after (sometimes years after) the loss of parents, spouse or child"). Neither book is of interest to me.

I did enjoy This Is How You Lose Her, though, although not as much as his debut short story collection Drown, if memory serves me correctly. I liked the voices and characters in This Is How You Lose Her, but most of the stories were about one character, Yunior, a Dominican kid from North Jersey, along with his mother and older brother. So, even though the individual stories were very good, the collection as a whole was a bit repetitive and tiresome. I'll write a review of it later this week or next week.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was a bit maddening, and I gave up on it once or twice before I finally got into it. I see that I haven't rated it yet, but I think 3½ stars would be about right, and definitely no more than 4 stars.

>63 EBT1002: Ellen, I'm having some second thoughts about my commitment to reading all of the finalists for the National Book Award, after reading the messages that followed yours, especially the one by Gautam. I'm not very interested in the characters and settings of many of the most prominent books that are written here (such as those in the short story collections I mentioned above), so I'd be less eager to read books in these settings. I'll probably read five the longlisted books that interest me the most.

>64 Whisper1: Your friend sounds, um, interesting, Linda. Emory certainly isn't known for homeopathic medicine, being one of the top allopathic (mainstream) medical schools in the country, so I would assume that she learned about homeopathy and holistic medicine on her own.

>65 mausergem: I'm a bit weary of American awards. I have been disappointed a couple of times.

Interesting comment, Gautam. I would tend to agree with you, off the top of my head, but I'd like to compare the fiction winners of several major literary awards since 2000, within and outside of the US, to confirm this. Here goes:

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction:
     2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
     2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
     2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
     2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
     2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
     2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
     2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
     2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
     2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
     2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
     2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding
     2011: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
     2012: No award given.

Hmm. I've read Middlesex, The Known World, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I liked them all, but none would appear on my top 50 novels of the 21st century.

National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction:
     2000: Being Dead by Jim Crace
     2001: Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald
     2002: Atonement by Ian McEwan
     2003: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
     2004: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
     2005: The March by E.L. Doctorow
     2006: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
     2007: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
     2008: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
     2009: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
     2010: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
     2011: Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman

From this list, I've also read 2666, which I liked but also wouldn't appear on my top 50 list, but Wolf Hall is probably my favorite novel of the century. However, this is a novel written by a British author.

National Book Award for Fiction:
     2000: In America by Susan Sontag
     2001: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
     2002: Three Junes by Julia Glass
     2003: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
     2004: The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
     2005: Europe Central by William Vollman
     2006: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
     2007: Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
     2008: Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
     2009: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
     2010: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
     2011: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
     2012: The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Sad to say I've only read two of these books, Let the Great World Spin and Salvage the Bones. These are definitely two of my favorite American novels of the 21st century, but I'm not sure that either one would make my top 50 list.

I should have also looked at the books chosen as finalists for these awards. These non-winning titles are at least strong contenders for my favorite 100 novels of the century:

Waiting by Ha Jin (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist)
War Trash by Ha Jin (2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist)
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000 NBCC finalist)
A Distant Shore by Caryl Phillips (2003 NBCC finalist)
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (2004 NBCC finalist)
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2004 NBCC finalist)
Small Island by Andrea Levy (2005 NBCC finalist)
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (2007 NBCC finalist)
Open City by Teju Cole (2011 NBCC finalist)
The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst (2011 NBCC finalist)
NW by Zadie Smith (2012 NBCC finalist)
I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita (2010 NBA finalist)

ETA: Of note, several of these books were written by non-Americans, namely White Teeth, A Distant Shore, Small Island, In the Country of Men, The Stranger's Child and NW. Several others were written by American citizens who were born abroad, namely Waiting, War Trash, The Dew Breaker, and Open City. That leaves only The Plot Against America and I Hotel as books written by authors born in the US.

Interesting to look at these lists. From the Pulitzer, I've read and liked Empire Falls and really liked A Visit from the Goon Squad, and read and disliked Interpreter of Maladies and the Road. From the National Book Critics, I've read and liked The March and 2666 and really liked Wolf Hall, A Visit from the Goon Squad, and Binocular Vision, read and had mixed feelings about Atonement, and read and disliked The Inheritance of Loss.
From the National Book Award, I read and liked The Great Fire, Europe Central, and The Round House, read and really liked Tree of Smoke, Shadow Country, Let the Great World Spin, and Lord of Misrule, and read and had mixed feelings about The Echo Maker. From the longlist list, I've only read Open City, which I moderately liked, and The Plot Against America, which I didn't.

Are any of these the "best" of their year? I can't really answer that because I haven't read enough contemporary fiction, but I would rank A Visit from the Goon Squad, Wolf Hall, Binocular Vision, Tree of Smoke, Shadow Country, Let the Great World Spin, and Lord of Misrule among my favorite books in the years I read them.

Now for some British literary awards.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction:
     2000: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
     2001: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
     2002: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
     2003: Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
     2004: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
     2005: The Sea by John Banville
     2006: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
     2007: The Gathering by Anne Enright
     2008: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
     2009: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
     2010: The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
     2011: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
     2012: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall, The Sense of an Ending and Bring Up the Bodies easily make my top 50 list. These shortlisted and longlisted books would be amongst my favorites of the century:

     By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah (2001 longlist)
     The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut (2003 shortlist)
     A Distant Shore by Caryl Phillips (2003 longlist)
     The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2003 longlist)
     Saturday by Ian McEwan (2005 longlist)
     Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie (2005 longlist)
     In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (2006 shortlist)
     Animal's People by Indra Sinha (2007 shortlist)
     On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (2007 shortlist)
     The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (2007 shortlist)
     The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (2007 longlist)
     Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008 shortlist)
     A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (2008 longlist)
     Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (2008 longlist)
     The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (2008 longlist)
     The Children's Book by AS Byatt (2009 shortlist)
     The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (2009 shortlist)
     Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (2009 longlist)
     Love and Summer by William Trevor (2009 longlist)
     In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut (2010 shortlist)
     Room by Emma Donoghue (2010 shortlist)
     The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (2010 longlist)
     The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst (2011 longlist)
     The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (2012 shortlist)
     The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (2012 shortlist)

Orange Prize for Fiction:
     2000: When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant
     2001: The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville
     2002: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
     2003: Property by Valerie Martin
     2004: Small Island by Andrea Levy
     2005: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
     2006: On Beauty by Zadie Smith
     2007: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
     2008: The Road Home by Rose Tremain
     2009: Home by Marilynne Robinson
     2010: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
     2011: The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
     2012: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

From this list, Small Island, Half of a Yellow Sun, The Lacuna and The Song of Achilles would be in my top 100 list.

Other favorites from the shortlists and longlists:
     White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000 shortlist)
     The White Family by Maggie Gee (2002 shortlist)
     Old Filth by Jane Gardam (2005 shortlist)
     The Outcast by Sadie Jones (2008 shortlist)
     Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (2009 shortlist)
     The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (2009 longlist)
     Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2010 shortlist)
     Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed (2010 longlist)
     Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig (2010 longlist)
     Room by Emma Donoghue (2011 shortlist)
     The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (2011 shortlist)
     Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson (2011 shortlist)
     Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding (2012 shortlist)
     Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (2012 longlist)

Whew. I think that's enough!

As I was making this list, I realized that an argument could be made that the books on the Booker and Orange Prize longlists from these years were among my favorites because I read more of them than the books I read for the three American awards. I think it's more than that; the Booker and Orange books, in comparison to the Pultizer, NBCC and NBA books that don't appear on those other two lists, were far more appealing and better written books, IMO.

OK, I'll bite!

From the Man Booker, I've read and liked The Blind Assassin, read and really liked Wolf Hall (and expect to really like Bring Up the Bodies, which I plan on reading on vacation at the end of the month), read and disliked The Inheritance of Loss and The White Tiger, and really disliked The Finkler Question. From the long list, I read and liked By the Sea and The Glass Room (more at the time than in retrospect, really liked Netherland, and didn't like Room very much.

From the Orange, I've read and liked Bel Canto, really liked Half of a Yellow Sun, and didn't much like On Beauty. From the long list, as above.

Unlike you, with the exception of the Mantels, Netherland, and Half of a Yellow Sun, I think I liked my favorite US award winners (post 73) better, but I haven't read nearly as many of the Booker/Orange titles as you have, so I have less grounds for comparison.

>66 ronincats: Thanks, Roni. I need to get back to my final day of preparation for my PALS renewal course, as I still have a lot of ground to cover before tomorrow. I'll catch up on my thread, maybe visit a few others, and then resume studying around noon.

>67 PaulCranswick: I doubt that the National Book Awards will ever become as important to American readers as the Booker Prize is to the British reading public, but this decision by the National Book Foundation is a large step in that direction.

btw I'm wondering if the voice in your head pushing you to spend all your money on books has a Yorkshire accent?

Ha! No, my own inherent voice is loud enough.

>68 Chatterbox: I agree, I don't think that the media publishes overly effusive reviews to please major publishers and authors. However, I would like to see more reviews of books from smaller publishers, such as Archipelago Books, and written by authors who receive critical acclaim from their peers but little public attention. NYC is full of talented writers, so why doesn't the NYT focus on them instead of the more popular and mainstream ones? It often seems that the NYT caters to the large publishers who are based in Manhattan, who preferably publish books that sell well in suburban and middle class America but don't reflect the diversity and vibrancy of NYC or the United States as a whole.

I'm weary/wary of awards, although sometimes they'll point me in the direction of a book I wouldn't have been aware of otherwise.

Needless to say I hold a very different view of literary awards! I may not always like the book chosen for the award, but I'll often find several superb books from the longlists or finalist lists that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise, such as The Glass Room, Grace Williams Says it Loud, I Hotel, The White Family and Hearts and Minds.

OK, here's a query -- is Junot Diaz worth all the hype??

When I think of "hyped" authors I don't think of Junot Díaz, who hasn't graced the cover of a major magazine to my knowledge and had dozens of published reviews written about his books as Jonathan Franzen, Stephen King and now George Saunders have. Saunders's latest short story collection Tenth of December has now been reviewed by the Guardian and the Observer (the Sunday version of the Guardian), along with the Telegraph, the New York Times, New York Daily News, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, and probably a dozen or more other major US publications, and he graced the cover of the New York Times Magazine earlier this month. That's what I would call hype!

Is Junot Díaz one of my most favorite contemporary authors? No. Is he worthy of attention? I'd say yes, since his is a unique voice in American literature, unlike the suburban and small town pablum offered by Jonathan Franzen, Stephen King, and so many other writers in this country. I'm still amazed that Freedom received so much attention here and abroad; I found it "insufferably dull", in the words of one reviewer, and all I can remember about it is that it was set in a neighborhood in St. Paul, MN and its main character was a middle class former suburbanite who was struggling to "find herself". I read the synopsis of the book, and I descended into near catatonia as I began to recall some details from it. Reading Freedom was like eating a lunch consisting of bologna on Wonder bread and Kraft macaroni & cheese.

>69 avatiakh: Thanks for posting that New Yorker link, Kerry. I was glad to listen to that story again (from Díaz's debut short story collection Drown), and hear Edwidge Danticat talk about him. BTW, Danticat is one of my favorite American authors, although she was born in Haiti and writes more about her country of origin than her country of residence. Her memoir Brother, I'm Dying is one of the best books I've read this century.

>73 rebeccanyc: I own The Interpreter of Maladies but I haven't read it yet. Or, at least I don't think I have; if I did read it I wasn't impressed by it. I may have The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay in one of my boxes of uncategorized books, and The Road might be there as well; I haven't read either book yet, but I'm in no hurry to do so. I also own but haven't read Tinkers.

From the NBCC list of winners I own but haven't read Being Dead, Atonement and The March, and from the NBA list I have yet to read The Corrections, Shadow Country and Lord of Misrule from my TBR pile. I do want to read The Round House, but I'll probably read Plague of Doves, which I already own, first. None of the other titles on these three American awards lists have any great appeal to me.

I own most of the Booker winners from that list that I haven't read yet, namely The Blind Assassin, The Line of Beauty, The Sea and The Inheritance of Loss. The White Tiger was disappointing, and you'll be glad to know that my opinion about The Finkler Question has progressively deteriorated since I read it. I liked but didn't love Half of a Yellow Sun, possibly because I read it soon after I read Wizard of the Crow, one of my top 5 favorite novels of the century, and I felt similarly about The Tiger's Wife and On Beauty. I do want to read We Need to Talk About Kevin soon, and I did buy Home on sale from Borders several years ago, but I'm not chomping at the bit to get to it.

Out of your not-yet-reads, I'd put Interpreter of Maladies at the top for you, Darryl. I can't imagine you not liking that one. Thanks for reminding me about Wizard of the Crow - onto the tbr it goes.

Thanks, Joe. I do want to read Interpreter of Maladies sooner rather than later. I think of her as one of my favorite authors, but I've only read one of her books, Unaccustomed Earth. Sadly, I'm left to conclude that my very positive opinion of her is for some other reason.



I can't quite put my finger on it, though...

It must be her beautiful necklace, Darryl...

When I say "hype", I'm referring to seeing his books everywhere. Whenever I walk into a bookstore, they seem to be on a table near the front, or prominently displayed. They are on a lot of "recommended reading" lists on HuffPo or Slate, and there is a LOT of buzz. It's the chatter surrounding a book that I'm thinking off (eg Karen Russell, Tea Obreht) rather than an author's celebrity/bestseller status. I wouldn't describe what happens surrounding Stephen Kng as "hype" that comes from a bunch of readers jumping on the bandwagon -- it's more a massive media campaign to let people know that "the new King novel" is in bookstores. Not sure I'm explaining it clearly...

Since you read so much more English/European/African/Asian/Latin American fiction than you do American fiction, do you think that affects your thoughts on the latter as a category -- i.e. that you have read less, therefore you have found less that you respond to, therefore you are more likely to avoid it in favor of others in future?

I tried The Dew Breaker by Edwige Danticat, but didn't respond to it much. Perhaps that's why I've been reluctant to pick up Junot Diaz. I have now tried NW three times, and on each occasion stall about 50 to 75 pages into it. I'm not liking the characters; I find the style alienating in some way.

Will look more at these lists later, but given that prize lists are selected by the same kinds of people that do or oversee those reviews that some people don't like/heed (book editors at major publications, novelists who also review, etc.), does that ever cause people to pause for thought? There's a certain disconnect: if you discount reviewers but value prize shortlists/longlists, and the two represent very similar groups of people ???

Curiously, turns out that the young woman I have gotten to know who works behind the counter in my local bakery is Christopher Hitchens' daughter. And that Martin Amis is moving into my neighborhood permanently soon, or so she says. LOL. I'm way out of my class here!!

>79 kidzdoc: LOL! I'm going with Diana on this one. Has to be the necklace.

>80 wilkiec: Yes, I think you're right, Diana. It must be the necklace.

See, another gorgeous necklace...

Umm...Diana? Dear? Darryl is what we call a "straight man," which means he does not see things like clothes or jewelry on women.

At all. Ever. Even when they are there.

Just so you know.

All those prize-winners! Egads, gadzooks and Godzilla! I've read some and disliked far more than I've liked. Margaret Atwood *shiver* and that useless behind-the-curve McCarthy twit and goddesses preserve me Snoreboy McEwan, then that self-important git Frazen...ew. Zadie Smith wins prizes? Well, there goes my faith in the system. Bloated blimplike gasbaggery like Mantel's doesn't deserve a prize either.

Maybe I'm best off not looking at prize lists...

Wait... straight men don't see jewelry, fashion, nails?? LOL

>86 TinaV95: Oddly enough, no! It's as though women were all naked or something. Strange, isn't it?

*regains consciousness after Jhumpa Lahiri induced swoon*

>81 Chatterbox:

When I say "hype", I'm referring to seeing his books everywhere. Whenever I walk into a bookstore, they seem to be on a table near the front, or prominently displayed. They are on a lot of "recommended reading" lists on HuffPo or Slate, and there is a LOT of buzz. It's the chatter surrounding a book that I'm thinking off (eg Karen Russell, Tea Obreht) rather than an author's celebrity/bestseller status. I wouldn't describe what happens surrounding Stephen Kng as "hype" that comes from a bunch of readers jumping on the bandwagon -- it's more a massive media campaign to let people know that "the new King novel" is in bookstores. Not sure I'm explaining it clearly...

Sadly, Midtown Atlanta has lost all of its major bookstores, except for a Barnes & Noble on Georgia Tech's campus which I've been to once, so the last time I was in a bookstore was during my trip to San Francisco in November. So, most of the information I receive about books and authors is from the media (print and online), and from readers on LT. What I've heard about Junot Díaz recently has mainly come from his book's nomination for the NBA and NBCC awards for fiction, and not because seemingly every book reviewer with a pen is writing about him simultaneously. I've heard more about George Saunders in the past two weeks than I've heard about Junot Díaz in the past two (or more) years! And, I haven't seen anyone praise Junot Díaz the way that George Saunders has been recently:

"George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You'll Read This Year" (Joel Lovell, NYT Magazine)
"No one writes more powerfully than George Saunders" (Michiko Kakutani, NYT)
"George Saunders's flamboyant satires of American life have become a major influence on a generation of younger short story writers" (Hani Kunzru, the Guardian)
"George Saunders...is one of America's best short-story writers" (David Wolf, the Observer)

Etc, etc etc. This reads like an ad for a blockbuster Hollywood movie. The hype meter is off the chart!

And, of course, the catatonia-inducing Jonathan Franzen has his own group of fanboys and fangirls, who have made similar pronouncements about Freedom: "a masterpiece of American fiction"; "the ultimate lyrical realist novel"; "an epic family saga that has it all". To my knowledge Junot Díaz has never received this degree of nauseating praise or attention.

Since you read so much more English/European/African/Asian/Latin American fiction than you do American fiction, do you think that affects your thoughts on the latter as a category -- i.e. that you have read less, therefore you have found less that you respond to, therefore you are more likely to avoid it in favor of others in future?

I remain very interested in American literature, even though I read far more books written or set outside of the US. However, several recent highly praised and overly hyped books written by American authors were complete duds for me; Freedom, A Gate at the Stairs and Swamplandia! come to mind immediately. The works of recent contemporary fiction set in America I've enjoyed the most have been mainly written by US born minorities, immigrants to the US, or writers from abroad, such as Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin), Joseph O'Neill (Netherland), Colm Tóibín (Brooklyn), Edwidge Danticat (The Dew Breaker), Ha Jin (Waiting, War Trash), Maxine Hong Kingston (China Men, The Woman Warrior), Karen Tei Yamashita (I Hotel), Percival Everett (I Am Not Sidney Poitier), Michael Thomas (Man Gone Down), et al. Conversely, and to counteract any suspicion that I may be prejudiced against white American authors, several of my favorite authors from abroad are or are descended from white Europeans: Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, Colm Tóibín, JM Coetzee, Jean Echenoz, Damon Galgut, et al. And, recently there have been books by white American authors that I've loved, particularly Zeitoun, The Song of Achilles and The Lacuna.

The setting of a book is something I look at when I decide whether I want to read it or not. A work set in the UP of Michigan, Nevada or the suburbs of a Northeastern city won't grab my attention, whereas one set in a major city (NYC, Chicago, SF) and involving characters other than middle class adults engaged in perpetual navel gazing (hello again, Jonathan Franzen) will have a much better chance of earning a place on my bookshelf.

I tried The Dew Breaker by Edwige Danticat, but didn't respond to it much. Perhaps that's why I've been reluctant to pick up Junot Diaz. I have now tried NW three times, and on each occasion stall about 50 to 75 pages into it. I'm not liking the characters; I find the style alienating in some way.

Hmm. I liked both books and its characters, so I can't comment on your opinion of them. Have you read Zadie Smith's White Teeth? I loved that book, which had me doubled over in laughter from beginning to end.

Will look more at these lists later, but given that prize lists are selected by the same kinds of people that do or oversee those reviews that some people don't like/heed (book editors at major publications, novelists who also review, etc.), does that ever cause people to pause for thought? There's a certain disconnect: if you discount reviewers but value prize shortlists/longlists, and the two represent very similar groups of people ???

I find that the books reviewed by the Guardian are much more to my liking than the ones reviewed in the NYT and much of the American media. A case in point would be the 2011 Guardianarticle Here's our Booker dozen – what's yours?, which listed the books that its editors felt were deserving of the longlist, which was infinitely better than the rubbish longlist that the actual jury came out with. The Stranger's Child and The Sense of an Ending were selected, but several outstanding books from the Guardian list weren't, particularly Pure (Costa Book Award winner), Chinaman (winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize), The Good Muslim (shortlisted for this year's DSC Prize and the 2011 Man Asian Prize), There but for the (longlisted for the Orange Prize), and Edward St Aubyn's At Last. And, my favorite reviewer, the Guardian's Maya Jaggi, has recommended several books that I have greatly enjoyed, including Three Strong Women, Monsieur Linh and His Child, The Lacuna, Map of the Invisible World and Burnt Shadows. So, I don't discount British reviewers in the way that I do American ones.

Curiously, turns out that the young woman I have gotten to know who works behind the counter in my local bakery is Christopher Hitchens' daughter. And that Martin Amis is moving into my neighborhood permanently soon, or so she says. LOL. I'm way out of my class here!!

Nice! There's no one like that here in Atlanta, unless you count the children of R&B singers and hip hop artists, which I don't.

Yikes...I really need to get back to studying, it's 2 pm already. I'll check back in later.

...but after I respond to the slanderous comments made by a certain Long Islander.

>85 richardderus: Darryl is what we call a "straight man," which means he does not see things like clothes or jewelry on women.

At all. Ever. Even when they are there.

>87 richardderus: It's as though women were all naked or something.

Ahem. Whose threads regularly feature barely clothed people on them??? And now you have encouraged the formerly innocent 75ers Jenny and Nora to do the same thing. The attractive women seen in this thread are properly clothed, and are more than just eye candy. I rest my case.

*stomps away in righteous indignation*

Hi Darryl, :) nothing to add to your "prize" discussion. I usually don't care much if a book was nominated for anything as long as it appeals to me. I quite often can't understand why particular books won a prize, especially when I felt that some of the other nominations were much better.

BTW: I do like the neclaces, maybe a bit ornate for my taste.... but nevertheless...*grin*

>89 kidzdoc: Silly. Silly silly. Don't deny your hard-wired destiny, dude. I am a perfect example of this. Hardwired by nature to want to look past the fripperies like personality, honesty, sincerity, talent, etc etc etc, and see to the heart of the matter: Hot, or not?

Maleness. It's all good, unless we think it isn't.

Of all the award winners listed in #71, the only one that I have read and thought was outstanding is Wolf Hall. I liked--but would not consider as top novels of the 21st century--The Interpreter of Maladies, March, and Atonement. I did not enjoy Middlesex, Tinkers, Gilead, or The Inheritance of Loss;Olive Kitteridge was just OK; and I could not get through either The Corrections or The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

From your secondary list, I would definitely agree that Waiting and White Teeth should be included in any list of the top novels of the century.

I'd add these Bookers, too: The Sense of an Ending, Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies. I've read nearly all of the other winners but wasn't much impressed with them. I'd agree with two of your choices from the short and long lists: On Chesil Beach and The Children's Book. Quite a few of the others are in my TBR stacks. I'd add Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam and The Master by Colm Toibin. There are lots of others on the short and long lists that I've liked, but not enough to claim them as books of the century. Maybe books of the decade.

Of the former Orange winners, the only one I would consider qualified would be The Song of Achilles. But I'm still shocked that Gillespie and I wasn't even nominated for the Booker.

85> Don't hold back, Richard!

Darryl, I'm in an even worse situation as far as bookstores go. Today I was trying to find a copy of Cold Mountain; I'm teaching it this semester and couldn't find my copy. All of the retail bookstores in this town and the two nearest have closed, with the exception of the Christian book store and the porn shop. We have two used bookstores: one sells little other than antiquarian books; Civil War books, and comics, the other has junk mass paperbacks that I wouldn't read. I used to be able to drive 25 miles or so to the Hagerstown, MD, Borders--but of course, that's gone now. The only thing left in Hagerstown is a Reader's Digest Book Outlet and another Christian book store. I would have to drive to Harrisburg, which is about an hour and 15 minutes away, to find the closest B&N, B. Dalton, or decent independent book store.

Richard, thanks for explaining it to me :)

Darryl, I really think despite its being set in the Florida Everglades that you might like Shadow Country, as it confronts uncomfortable issues of race, class, and the violence of American life, albeit in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

involving characters other than middle class adults engaged in perpetual navel gazing - I agree - I'd far rather read about a wider range of characters.

>97 SandDune: As another one who found Freedom, in particular, to be deadly dull and absolutely lacking in profundity, I fully agree. I am reminded of my favorite quote from Amos Oz:
"The best way to know the soul of another country is to read its literature."

This might be going backwards in the conversation (sorry!), but I have to chime in regarding The Interpreter of Maladies, which is still so far my favorite work by Lahiri. It really is, I think, a wonderful collection of short stories, but for most readers, the one big fault is incredibly problematic--thematically, and character-wise to some extent, the collection gets repetitive. Each story is dissimilar enough that its well worth the read, but when read all together as you'd read a novel (and as many of us on LT read short story collections), many of the stories start to blend together and conclude with the reader having a less powerful reaction to the work than they might have had if the stories had been read individually and separately, with other works sprinkled between. I would argue it would be up there on the list of top novels, for me at least, but the repetitive themes are enough that it makes a very different impression depending on how you read it... But, I can also say that I could rant about awards for hours, so I'll just stay bemused and frustrated by the rest of this discussion from afar (bemused by the discussion, and agreeable, frustrated by the award choices in many cases, to clarify!).

*contemplates Harlequin's mammoth output* That's Canada done for.
*contemplates Danielle Steel, Jonathan Franzen, and EL James* Murrika has no soul.
*contemplates Dickens* But at least we ain't got this carbuncle on the buttocks of our literature!

94: Wow, that's even worse than Lancaster, where B&N significantly improved the situation.

Caught up but now I need a nap.

>71 kidzdoc: (I know, I am a long way behind) Out of the National Book Awards, I have barely even heard of most of the books. THis really surprises me.

The Booker and the Orange Prizes I know far more about so their winners I have read more of. My favourites from all your lists are The ROad and We Need to Talk About Kevin. But- I have so many more to read from them too, which I am really excited about.

I'm stuck pondering Cariola's plight, stuck in between Christian Fiction and Porn, with narry a novel 'twixt them...

Very amused to find that despite all the hype, I have never heard of George Saunders... :-)

I haven't tried to read Jonathan Franzen, so couldn't possibly comment. I do think stories set in the suburbs of Middle America can be just as compelling -- it all comes down to the author and what he/she is trying to accomplish. For me, it would be a higher hurdle, as there seem to be two or three basic plot themes to explore and one broad narrative, all of 'em twists on The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, but I'm not ruling it out.

Oh yes, Pure was one of my great books last year. Along with Hilary Mantel, Andrew Miller shows that historical novels don't have to live in a ghetto.

Okay, I'm done studying for PALS...unless someone wants to help me practice putting in an endotracheal tube, an intraosseous line (needle inserted into the tibia for rapid IV fluid administration), or using the defibrillator on them. Any volunteers?

BTW, if anyone has taken a Basic Life Support class in the past, the sequence has changed, to emphasize the importance of chest compressions in CPR. For one person CPR it's 30 compressions to two breaths (at 100 compressions/minute), starting with compressions, and for two person CPR it's 15:2. These new guidelines came out in 2010, so anyone who learned BLS before then should get recertified soon.

I'll catch up with as many messages as I can before I go to bed, and check in tomorrow after the PALS renewal course (7:30 am to 4:00 pm, ugh).

>90 drachenbraut23: I usually don't care much if a book was nominated for anything as long as it appeals to me. I quite often can't understand why particular books won a prize, especially when I felt that some of the other nominations were much better.

The main reason I like these literary awards is that they highlight some of the best books of the year, and potentially introduce me to books and authors I wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to. I may not have read books like Wolf Hall, The Glass Room and Gillespie and I, three of my 10 favorite books of the century, had I not followed the Booker and Orange Prizes, although the opinions of my friends on LT may have persuaded me to give the Mantel and the Harris a try.

It seems to me that the book that ultimately wins a prize is either one that stands out so much in comparison to the others that it garners near unanimous support (e.g., Wolf Hall?), or one that is a "lowest common denominator" choice, a book that everyone can agree on but no one raves about (e.g., White Tiger or The Finkler Question?). I have no idea about the selection process for these three books, but I can envision this process happening with these three books.

>91 richardderus: Hardwired by nature to want to look past the fripperies like personality, honesty, sincerity, talent, etc etc etc, and see to the heart of the matter: Hot, or not?

No! That's not the way a 21st century man is supposed to think (right, ladies?). The ATL is filled with physically attractive but self-absorbed, vacuous and vapid peacocks and peahens who are about as appealing as a glass of sweet tea with one or two teaspoons of extra sugar. Women here tend to put on slightly less makeup than circus clowns (or Tammy Faye Bakker), and wear so much perfume that their odor often lingers in a public space for half a minute or longer after they have passed by (which is not helpful for those of us who have asthma).

>92 Cariola: Deborah, I agree with you that Wolf Hall (written of course by a British citizen, not an American one) is the only outstanding book selected as a winner of the Pulitzer, NBA or NBCC fiction award since 2000. I do want to read The Master soon, and I'll add Maps for Lost Lovers to my wish list.

Gillespie and I was yet another book published in 2011 that wasn't chosen by the clueless Booker Prize jury that year. That year was an outstanding one for Commonwealth literature, but you wouldn't know it from the Booker longlist.

>93 Cariola: Don't encourage him, Deborah!

>94 Cariola: Yikes! A Christian bookstore and a porn shop? Yes, without question I have nothing to complain about in comparison to those choices. There are three major universities (Georgia Tech, Emory and Georgia State) within 2-3 miles of where I live, each of which has at least one sizable bookstore, and there are several independent bookshops in nearby Decatur, which is just east of Atlanta. Atlanta isn't a literary capital London, San Francisco/Berkeley or NYC, but I guess it isn't so bad after all.

>95 wilkiec: Don't listen to him, Diana. Unlike some people, I appreciate well dressed and intelligent women who don't dress like exhibitionists or display their wares for the world to see (and then get upset when men stare at them). Stupid women are a turn off, no matter how physically attractive they are.

>96 rebeccanyc: I do own Shadow Country, and I definitely want to read it in the relatively near future.

>97 SandDune: Right, Rhian.

>98 EBT1002: Yes, that's my favorite Amos Oz quote as well. I heard him say it when he was interviewed by Charlie Rose a year or two ago, and I wrote it down after I heard him say it.

America is a country of immigrants, and IMO its best literature is about the people who come here from abroad, struggle to establish a foothold, and experience success or failure while doing so. Stories about suburban and small town Middle America, with its largely homogeneous individuals and indistinguishable towns, are about as unique and interesting to me as a comparison of one slice of Wonder bread with others in the loaf. I'd much rather read about legal and illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Central American countries; Muslims in this country who seek to practice their religious beliefs in the face of post-9/11 prejudice; recent immigrants from Russia and former communist countries in Eastern Europe; etc. Of course, these immigrant stories must be well written, and stories about Middle America can definitely be of interest to me if they bring something new to the literary table.

>99 whitewavedarling: Interesting comments, Jennifer, especially about The Interpreter of Maladies. I'll keep that in mind when I do read it, and I'll plan to read one story at a time rather than read the book at one fell swoop.

>100 richardderus: Who's Harlequin?

I haven't read anything by Dickens in years. For that matter, I'm not sure I've read anything by him at all, and certainly not since high school.

>101 qebo: Deborah, does the university you teach at have a decent bookstore?

>102 tiffin: *covers Tui with a warm blanket*

>103 LovingLit: I haven't heard of the NBA Fiction winners from 2002-2004, and I am completely unfamiliar with the ones from 2005-2007.

I'm far more interested in reading the Booker and Orange Prize winners and longlisted books than I am about reading the ones which were selected as finalists for the US literary awards.

>104 Chatterbox: I hadn't heard of George Saunders before this month, but I can't seem to avoid him now. I will avoid his book, though, especially after reading comments from at least one member of Club Read whose opinion I trust.

Whoa, it's nearly midnight. Off to bed...

I'll be OK with being defribillator guinea pig. I'm so exhausted tonight that it's about the only thing that might wake up me up enough to finish my work. Since there's no sign of anything of the kind around, I think I'll just crawl upstairs to bed. Seriously, wow, acute fatigue.

>99 whitewavedarling:: I second the comments about Interpreter of Maladies. I love Lahiri's short stories.

#106 Stories about suburban and small town Middle America, with its largely homogeneous individuals and indistinguishable towns, are about as unique and interesting to me as a comparison of one slice of Wonder bread with others in the loaf.

Although I respect your thoughts about this, I think these people may be more diverse than you give them credit for, and that writers from these parts of the US, or who write about these parts of the US, may write interesting books too. If I look at more or less contemporary US literature that I've read in recent years (thanks, LT, for enabling me to do this so easily), I can find several that I consider "favorites" that come from the the middle or the country and/or are about people living in small towns. For example, I admire the work of Bonnie Jo Campbell, especially her short story collection American Salvage, Jaimy Gordon, especially She Drove without Stopping and Lord of Misrule, Jean Stafford's The Mountain Lion, Amy Bloom's short stories, especially A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You and Where the God of Love Hangs Out, Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods, Rebecca Barry's Later, at the Bar, Mary Swan's The Boys in the Trees (although this was small town Canada, and Deirdre McNamer's Red Rover. I note that almost all of these are by women, for what that's worth.

#99, 109 I was not a fan of Interpreter of Maladies, perhaps for the reasons whitewavedarling gives in 99.

107> Nope, the university bookstore carries little aside from the textbooks required for courses and books written by faculty members. Aside from that, there are a few current paperback best sellers the kids might want and some gift-type books. The rest is office supplies, sundries (cough drops, toothpaste, candy, etc.), and university logo clothing and other items.

The porn shop is listed in the yellow pages under Books. Right next to the Christian book stores.

I will put in another thumbs up for The Interpreter of Maladies, although I can see where the similarity of the stories might bother some readers.

Darryl - Wonderfully stimulating review of the first twelve years of the century in lit. My reading has been largely geared towards British awards even though the shelves are stocked with National Book Award Winner and Pulitzers by the score. My own winner of winners from the Booker and Orange/Women's Prize
Half of a Yellow Sun
The Road Home
Wolf Hall
True History of the Kelly Gang
Song of Achilles
Small Island

Jhumpa Lahiri (what an apt name) - you state you can't put your finger on it mate and I cannot either, but I would very much would like to!

>107 kidzdoc:: leave one ear uncovered...I'm following along.

112> I seem to recall reading somewhere that 'Jhumpa' is a family nickname, but I don't remember what it means.

So, from never having heard of George Saunders, I just stumbled across the following -- it turns out he won a Macarthur genius grant in 2006?

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/15/169405243/george-saunders-lives-up-to-the-hype

> 105 Right Darryl, that's what we learned on our last "big" NALS/PALS as well. I hope you enjoyed practicing putting in an endotracheal tube, the insertion of an intraooseous needle (I have only assisted twice with that - *shudder*) and the use of the defib. LOL

I still have got Wolfhall, Bring Up the Bodies and Gillespie and I on my TBR for this year.

Wish you a great evening Darryl :)

Woo hoo! I passed the PALS Renewal Course this afternoon!



I passed the oral portion of the exam with flying colors, using the sneaky technique of choosing the pamphlet with the fewest number of pages (indicating the easiest scenario), and leave the thicker (and more complex) ones to the other members of my group. One of the group members, a float Med/Surg nurse, frowned at me when I told her what method I chose to get the simple case; she got the most difficult case after I chose ahead of her (heh heh). I cut it a bit close with the written exam, scoring an 88%, just above the 84% needed to pass. I was in a postprandial stupor at that point, so I missed four questions that I knew the answer to. No matter; all that counts is that I (and the other members of my group) passed, and we are good for another two years.

The course was far more stressful this year, due to changes in its format, and two of my very experienced physician colleagues were more anxious about passing the test than I was. The written test was relatively easy, but the oral scenarios, in which we had to save children in cardiorespiratory arrest from different causes, is highly stressful, even though the patients aren't real. We all take this course and PALS very seriously, and everyone becomes visibly upset when their patient doesn't survive the resuscitation effort, even when the child was managed correctly.

So, now that that's out of the way I can relax for the next 5+ days, as I'm off until Wednesday. I'll take a nap, then hit the (pleasure) books.

>108 Chatterbox: Thanks for the offer, Suz, but you'll be glad to know that you're no longer needed as a defibrillation model (which is infinitely less appealing (and more painful) than being a runway model).

>109 lauralkeet: I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed The Interpreter of Maladies as well, Laura.

>110 rebeccanyc: Good comment, Rebecca. You're right in saying that people in Middle America are more diverse than I give them credit for, but I remain relatively uninterested in their stories, probably because I haven't read anything that has grabbed my attention. I do want to read Lord of Misrule this year, and I'll try to be more open minded when I hear about books from this region of the country.

I do admit to being wary of people from small towns and rural areas, as the prejudice I've experienced as a physician came from people I encountered who came from small towns in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, some of whom called me a "nigger" to my face or said it behind my back when I was close enough to hear it. Pittsburghers and those who lived in the suburbs didn't hold these views, and I haven't had a single person use the word or an equivalent one in the 15+ years I've lived in Georgia. I wouldn't say that Georgia is free of racial prejudice, but people here and in other Deep South states are far more tolerant of African Americans than they are in rural areas of the North or Midwest, probably because AfrAms are far more prevalent in small towns and rural areas below the Mason-Dixon line than above it.

>111 Cariola: The porn shop is listed in the yellow pages under Books. Right next to the Christian book stores.

That must drive the Christian bookstore owner and those who frequent the store up the wall!

>112 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. As you said, my reading is shifted heavily toward British and Commonwealth fiction, although my nonfiction and poetry books are predominantly written by authors from the US. We're in agreement about Wolf Hall, The Song of Achilles and Small Island.

I meant to say yesterday that I was very disappointed that The Song of Achilles wasn't nominated for any major US literary awards (Pulitzer, NBA, NBCC), and received far less attention in this country than it did in the US, except for one negative and snarky reviewer by some nondescript asshole with a chip on his shoulder in the Sunday NYT Book Review. The most positive article I read about Madeline Miller came from an article in the NYT Style Magazine, which was more interested in her physical attractiveness than her outstanding book. On the other hand, the reviews in the British press were far more positive and thoughtful, and the difference in treatment between the two countries is yet another reason why I think so little of the quality of book reviews in the major media outlets in this country, especially the ones in the "paper of record".

>113 tiffin: *delivers a mug of tea and a plate of warm scones with jam and clotted cream to Tui's bedside*



>114 Cariola: I seem to recall reading somewhere that 'Jhumpa' is a family nickname, but I don't remember what it means.

Here's an excerpt from a 2003 interview of Lahiri in the NYT Magazine, entitled Questions for Jhumpa Lahiri:

My name, Jhumpa, which is my only name now, was supposed to be my pet name. My parents tried to enroll me in school under my good name, but the teacher asked if they had anything shorter. Even now, people in India ask why I'm publishing under my pet name instead of a real name.

What does Jhumpa mean?

Jhumpa has no meaning. It always upset me. It's like jhuma, which refers to the sound of a child's rattle, but with a ''p.'' In this country, you'd never name your child Rattle. I actually have two good names, Nilanjana and Sudeshna. My mother couldn't decide. All three are on the birth certificate. I never knew how to write my name.

>115 Chatterbox: Thanks for sharing the link to that NPR article about George Saunders, Suz. I'll listen to it later today.

>116 drachenbraut23: Unfortuantely we didn't practice ETT or IO placement, only infant and child 1- and 2-person CPR, and the use of AEDs in synchronized cardioversion (e.g. for SVT) and defibrillation (for PEA, pulseless VT, etc.). This did allow us to leave 1-1/2 to 2 hours ahead of the scheduled end time, though.

Oof, I'm very sleepy (as I only slept for 4 hours this morning, after I dreamt that I was in a real code and couldn't find my PALS manual). I'll catch up on posts after I take a nap.

Of course you passed, I wouldn't have expected anything less *big fat smile*. I hope your nap will relax you a little :)

>119 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca!

Congrats!

Way to go on your test Darryl! I get test anxiety, myself, and so I always do worse than I should. Which is silly, really. What's the point of anxiety if all it does is hurt you? Is that faulty evolution?

Congrats on passing your test!
Dancing Calvin and Hobbes, dancing giraffes, warm scones with clotted cream.
Best. Thread. Ever.
XD

*yawn* Passed? Of course he passed, what on earth is the fuss. Doc knows his onions. And his intraosseous thingummy-bobs.

Congrats Darryl. . . Enjoy your well earned days off!

Congrats on passing your test... We all knew you would!!!

>121 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>122 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel! This course induces a lot of stress and anxiety, for several reasons. First, it deals with the most dreaded situations that clinicians (nonetheless families and patients) find themselves in, the management of a child who is critically ill and in need of immediate, and correct, management to save her life.

Second, those of us who work on the general medical and surgical (Med/Surg) floors rarely encounter patients in cardiorespiratory arrest, unlike the doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists who work in the PICU and ED, who take care of patients like this on a far more regular basis. The star of the group I spent most of the day with was a young PICU nurse with three years of experience, who knew the material in the PALS manual cold and obviously had participated in numerous codes. The three doctors (myself, one of my partners who has been a hospitalist for 15 years and in private practice for ~10 years before that, and a good friend who has been a hematologist/oncologist for 13 years) were more cautious, uncertain and nervous in the oral practice sessions, even though each of us had far more years of clinical practice under our belt than the PICU nurse.

Third, the information in the course changes regularly, to reflect the latest research findings and the newest medical devices and medication recommendations. There were numerous changes in the use of cardiac medications for resuscitation, and in several instances a med that was recommended in 2010 in a particular scenario was not recommended in this course.

Finally, the oral sessions are done in small groups, often with other clinicians who you regularly work with (as people seemed to be grouped with or sat next to the others they knew best), and floundering in front of peers and colleagues is quite stressful in itself.

>123 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom; tea and scones for everyone (even Richard)!

>124 richardderus: Thank you, sir! Due to the extensive changes in the course in late 2011 and the updated recommendations I had to study pretty intensely this time around, even though I've taken PALS every two years since 1997.

BTW, an intraosseous line is placed in the tibia for rapid access in a critical situation in which a standard peripheral IV can't be placed. A sturdy needle is used to puncture the skin until you hit the bone, and then it's literally screwed into the bone until you feel a pop, which lets you know that it's in the bone marrow (although if you go too far you can pass the needle completely through the bone, especially in an infant or young child).



>125 brenpike:, 126 Thanks Brenda and Tina!

Congrats on the test results!

The intraosseous line - horrifying!

>128 SandDune: Thanks, Rhian!

>129 brenpike: Even though it looks gruesome, an intraosseous (IO) line can be the difference between life and death in critically ill young children. It takes only a few seconds to insert one, and it can be used like an IV line, to administer IV fluids to severely dehyrated kids, cardiac medications such as epinephrine and dopamine to children whose hearts have stopped beating or who have a heart rhythm that prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively, and antibiotics in kids who are in septic shock from an overwhelming bacterial infection. IO lines aren't placed very often and I've only put in one or two lines, both during my residency, and they are quickly removed once peripheral and/or central intravenous lines are in place after the child has been stabilized.

I'm much more awake now, after sleeping for 10 of the past 13 hours. Let the reading begin!

I just read an article in one of last month's issues of the British Medical Journal, which I can personally vouch for. The paper, entitled Pain over speed bumps in diagnosis of acute appendicitis: diagnostic accuracy study, looked at 101 individuals aged 17-76 who were referred to the on call surgical team at a hospital in the UK for suspected acute appendicitis. Of the 101, 64 had driven over a speed bump on the way to the hospital. 34 of them were diagnosed with appendicitis, and 33 (97%) reported abdominal pain when they passed over a speed bump. The article concludes that a report of pain while passing over a speed bump can be used to help determine the likelihood of acute appendicitis, or other significant intraabdominal pathology such as a ruptured ovarian cyst or acute diverticulitis.

I had appendicitis in November 1997, during my intern year. I thought I had food poisoning, several hours after I ate a bowl of Old Original Bookbinder's snapper (turtle) soup from a can. The soup looked odd as I removed it from the can, in comparison to the other times I had tried it, but it smelled and looked okay after I heated it in the microwave. So, being a hungry (and dumb) guy, I decided to eat it anyway. Early the next morning I started to vomit, and then developed moderate abdominal pain. Since I thought I had food poisioning and because it was before dawn on Sunday, I decided to drive to the hospital instead of waking up one of my fellow interns to request a ride to the hospital. I definitely remember feeling every speed bump and pothole on the drive there, which felt as if someone was sticking a knife into my abdomen as I passed over them!



When I saw the ED physician, who knew that I was a pediatric intern, I told her what I had diagnosed myself with (despite the fact that I was rocking back and forth in the waiting room in pain). She smiled respectfully at me, then examined me. Toward the end of her exam she pressed on my abdomen over McBurney's point, which is where the appendix is located. I demonstrated the "chandelier sign", in which the patient jumps off the bed in pain and hits the chandelier on the ceiling. Afterward she looked at me knowingly and sympathetically, and said "You know what this is. I'll call the surgeon." I went to the OR that afternoon, and was discharged home the following day.

> 117

Congrats on passing the PALS course! Great achievement!! Now it's time to relax, Darryl.

Oh Darryl. Suspicious turtle soup and appendicitis. Deadly combo.

Intraosseous doomaflotchie looks as bad as it sounded. I am converting to some religion or another (which one has the best track record on medical interventions, anyone know?) so that I can pray this never needs to be done to me, now or in any future incarnation, universe without end.

Gall bladder pain is as bad an abdominal pain as I've experienced. Appendicitis sounds horrible, and the people I know who've had it say it's amazing how quickly the relief sets in. I felt the same way absent gall bladder.

Speed bumps as a diagnostic tool? Far out!

#117 I can understand why you would be wary of people from small towns and rural areas, and that this could affect your choice of books.

>132 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline! I'm in full relaxation mode at the moment. :-)

>133 tiffin: Actually the snapper soup had nothing to do with my case of appendicitis, or at least I don't think it did. In acute appendicitis, a piece of fecal material known as an appendicolith blocks the opening leading from the intestine to the appendix. Infection of the lumen of the appendix follows, and ultimately leads to pain and swelling of that vestigial organ.

>134 richardderus: I hope and pray that neither you or any of the rest of us is in such bad shape that placement of an IO line is required!

Fortunately the pain I experienced from my case of acute appendicitis, easily the worst I've ever experienced, was limited to a few hours that morning, and it resolved once I was given some IV happy juice. I don't know what medication I was prescribed, but I was feeling real good after that, as I made very excited calls to my parents, one of the chief residents, and one of my fellow interns who I was supposed to visit for dinner that night.

>135 The_Hibernator: I laughed when I read the title of that article this morning, given my vivid recollection of the painful drive from my apartment to the hospital that morning! I think that Rachael (FlossieT, a former LTer who I've met several times in the UK) had a similar experience a couple of years ago when she developed acute appendicitis as well.

>136 rebeccanyc: I admit to holding unfair views about people in small towns and rural areas, as I'm certain (or at least hopeful) that the majority don't hold the regressive and racist attitudes of the people I've had negative interactions with in medical school and during other periods of my life. Oddly enough, many of my favorite and patients and families I've encountered here are white families from well outside of Atlanta, most notably Brianah, the girl with spina bifida who appears in several pictures in the member gallery of my profile page.

Congrats on passing your exam, Darryl!

I wish I had hit a few speed bumps when I took my daughter to the hospital for appendicitis. The first person who saw her, an intern, diagnosed her correctly. The doctor on call decided that she was suffering from acute menstrual cramps. (She was 12 and had just started menses.) The poor kid was walking bent over and had a high fever. Whatever tests they did (xray, if I recall correctly), they determined it was not her appendix but admitted her anyway. The next day they decided she was constipated and gave her an enema--not exactly the best treatment for appendicitis. They seemed really irritated with her that she was screaming in pain while they did it, like she was just being a big baby! Eventually they did an ultrasound and found that her appendix, which was hidden behind her uterus, had ruptured and encapsulated. She was put on antibiotics and restricted activity for a month before they finally removed it, but she suffered a scarred fallopian tube.

>139 Cariola: Argh! Since when do acute menstrual cramps cause high fever??? %^@ idiot doctor. I'm sorry that your daughter had to go through that horrific experience, Deborah.

As you described, a delay in diagnosis, especially in children, is associated with appendiceal rupture. The body usually walls off the appendix in a capsule, but sometimes it can cause a case of peritonitis, which can be life threatening.

It's considerably more difficult to diagnose appendicitis in children than it is in adults, although it seems as though your daughter had a pretty classic case of it. An abdominal ultrasound can show an inflamed appendix, but the gold standard test is a CT scan of the abdomen w/ double contrast (IV plus either oral or rectal contrast). However, there are times where even that test is inconclusive, and exploratory laparoscopic surgery is required to make the diagnosis.

Another problem with appendicitis is that the appendix doesn't always live in the right lower quadrant (RLQ) of the abdomen, where it usually resides. In some people the intestines are rotated in an opposite direction than in most others, a condition known as intestinal malrotation, and the appendix can live in the left lower quadrant instead. These individuals are also at risk for the development of volvulus, an acute intestinal obstruction, which is a surgical emergency, as it can lead to death of a large segment of the intestine if it isn't diagnosed and treated promptly.

I posted a link to the BMJ article about appendicitis and mentioned my own experience because I thought it would be interesting, but mainly for the rest of you to know about, since appendicitis is such a common problem in children and adults.

Thank you for the link Darryl! I love love love the Atlanta pictures! I am going to snag them and send them to Adam.

I have only skimmed a bit, but it looks like you had a course to take and that you passed ( of course ) and that all is pretty much well in your world just now?

The speed bump test that you posted about.. there is a similar one for tooth / facial pain. If it hurts when you go down stairs, then it is a tooth. If it doesn't then it is probably a sinus problem. Or so I was told when I worked at one of several dental offices where I worked.

Have a great weekend!

kidzdoc, I thought you'd be interested to see this. It appeared on my FB (Rebecca Skloot's posts show up there) page this morning.

http://www.lacksfamily.net/

In the last 6 months (or less) I've known three people who've needed to have an appendectomy. My cousin, a nice grown lady who runs a dog grooming shop (her husband needed to literally pick her up off the floor - she was in so much pain), a student in one of the classes I work with (they sent her home at first) and another young girl, a friend of my boys, another young teenager. This last one was happy though, she thought the surgeon was cute and he actually took a picture of her removed appendix and sent it to her. (The picture, not the appendix itself.)

Yes. And she shared that picture with us. Lucky us!

Congratulations, Darryl!



Karen O.

>127 kidzdoc: an intraosseous line is placed in the tibia for rapid access in a critical situation in which a standard peripheral IV can't be placed.
Well, duh. Everyone knows that, Darryl.

Truly, CONGRATULATIONS on passing the oral and the written exams.

>138 kidzdoc: She may be one of your favorites, but clearly you are one of her favorites, too!

Congratulations on passing your PALS exams, Darryl. Have a good weekend!

Well done with your exam passing Darryl - as RD said never in doubt was it. What happens by the way if you don't pass?

I remember doing my TPC as a chartered surveyor many moons ago and being told that only 30% of the people pass first time and being almost surprised to be told eventually that I was one of them. Now when I am practising every day I realise how many idiots actually passed too. See Deborah's post to see that the same thing can happen in Pennsylvania with their docs too.

Have a relaxing weekend now that the stress is over.

ETA TPC = Test of Professional Competence

I didn't get much accomplished yesterday, other than catching up on sleep. However, I'm off from work for the next four days, and the weather in Atlanta will be quite nice and warmer than usual this weekend (with high temps in the upper 50s to low 60s), so I should be much more productive.

>141 mckait: I'm glad that you liked the photos of Atlanta, Kath. Did you see the link to the Atlanta Time Machine? I'll bet Adam would enjoy seeing that as well.

>142 avidmom: Thanks for the information about the Lacks Family Facebook page, avidmom. I've signed up to receive updates from their page, and Rebecca Skloot's page as well.

Hmm. Some younger members of the millenial generation do seem to enjoy sharing personal information that the rest of us would prefer to keep to ourselves. I think that a photo of my decayed appendix filled with pus and poop would probably be the last thing I would show anyone (and, no, I didn't ask to see mine after it was taken out).

>143 klobrien2: Thanks, Karen!

>144 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen! I'm glad that PALS is over for another two years, but I am always grateful to have the opportunity to refresh my knowledge of the management of the critically ill child, as I may be called upon to use it at any time at work. Actual codes on the Med/Surg units at my hospital are relatively rare compared to the ED and the three ICUs, but they do happen several times per year.

Yes, Brianah is one of my favorite kids that I've ever taken care of, even though that only happened one time for only 2-3 days. BTW, I normally would not post photos or personal information about the kids I see in the hospital in a public forum, but her mother gave me permission to do so, due to our special relationship. Fortunately she didn't have to be admitted to the hospital in 2012, after a very rough preceding year in which she nearly died after a relatively routine surgical procedure.

>145 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! I hope that you have a lovely weekend as well.

>146 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul; I'm glad that you and Richard were more confident in the likelihood of me passing the course than I was (although I've never failed PALS in the nine times that I've taken it). BTW, we are informed of our oral and written test results by the course facilitator within minutes of the completion of both parts of the examination (half take the written portion first, and the other half are in small group sessions where the oral evaluations take place).

What would happen if I failed? If I didn't pass the oral test I would get at least one chance at remediation that day. One instructor said that occasionally he has to remediate a student, but that he has never failed anyone. I'm not sure what would happen if I failed the written test, but I would guess that same day remediation would be the first step. If I failed the course, I imagine that I'd have to register for another renewal course, which is held at least several times per month at our corporate campus (a site which is equally inconveniently located from all three hospitals that comprise Children's). As long as I passed the course before my PALS license expires (which is a requirement for my position) I would be fine. However, my previous PALS license expires this coming Tuesday, so if I failed the class I would have to take the two day course instead, and I would have to pass it before I could reapply for hospital privileges. So, in an ultimate worst case scenario, if I couldn't pass PALS in sufficient time I would not be allowed to care for patients at Children's.

If anyone is interested, this new YouTube video from Children's web site shows the hospital I work at, along with at least a dozen fellow employees I know very well. It's just over 2 minutes in length.

An Inside Look: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Unfortunately the poor stuffed reindeer (moose?) at the end of the video will need to go elsewhere for management of his toddler induced injuries.

Great video Darryl. 8,000 employees is pretty big right? Am I mistaken or is your partner in the video or her twin?

Thanks, Paul. Yes, I'd say that 8,000 employees is large, but we do have three hospitals, two of which have at least 250 beds including Scottish Rite, the one I work at (which is shown at the beginning, the end, and throughout much of the video), 18 immediate care and rehabilitation centers, and a corporate center with several hundred nonclinical workers. However, I suspect that several other hospital system centered in metro Atlanta are considerably larger than we are.

I didn't see my partner or her (non-twin) sister when I looked at the video a second time.

146> Even sadder to say, this happened not in PA but at the University of Michigan Hospital.

>151 Cariola: Wow. I had assumed that this happened at a small community hospital, and not in one of the better university medical centers in the country, although screw ups happen at even the best places. That's exceptionally disappointing, though.

152> At least the first intern was on the right track. I was particularly upset by the lack of compassion from the nurses and aides, who treated Ellen like she was being a sissy. I know that there were kids there who were much more seriously ill, but she really was in extreme pain. I can only imagine what that enema must have felt like.

Glad the PALS exam is over with all the stress, though I never doubted you would pass! Lots of great book talk. I still have my appendix--don't want to look at pictures.

>153 Cariola: That lack of concern by the nurses and PCTs (patient care technicians, the new term for nurse's aides) is at least as disconcerting as the misdiagnosis by the attending physician. The nurses are supposed to be the primary advocate for the patient after the family, and an astute nurse can pick up on signs and symptoms that can lead the wayward physician to a correct diagnosis, or inform the physician of early signs that indicate that the patient may be deteriorating before she becomes seriously or critically ill. I can think of one time in particular years ago in which a subspecialist and I were completely off base in our diagnosis of a particular patient. The nurse asked the patient to (I think) walk down the hall outside of his room, and it became clear that his symptoms were due to a completely different organ system, and that led me to call in another specialist who made the correct diagnosis.

>154 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! I hope that you maintain your healthy relationship with your appendix.

No, I missed the link.. I will pass it on to him though.. Thanks Darryl :)

All this appendicitis talk and I've been reminded of a local news item from a few weeks ago that was updated in today's paper.
Magnetic toys prove perilous attraction. Did you hear about these Buckyballs and NeoCubes toys? They've been banned in the US so the
manufacturers looked for new markets rather than stopping to produce them and now they'll be banned here, but only after these casualties.

(Note: This review will be of no use to anyone except possibly Bianca. Feel free to skip past it.)

Book #5: Pediatric Advanced Life Support Provider Manual (October 2011 edition) by Leon Chameides, MD (editor), et al.



My rating:

This is the latest edition of the manual for those taking the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course, which is designed for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists and EMTs to successfully stabilize seriously and critically ill infants and children in and outside of a medical setting and permit them to be safely transported to an ED or PICU. The manual emphasizes the physiology of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and incorporates new recommendations based on the most recent clinical studies, including the updated 2010 American Heart Association Basic Life Support Infant and Child CPR techniques. It also stresses effective team dynamics; recognition and management of respiratory distress and failure, cardiovascular emergencies and shock; post-resuscitation management; and the pharmacology of the medications used in life-threatening emergencies. The appendix includes BLS competency testing; competency checklists for the skills and learning stations; and heart rhythm recognition. Also included is an invaluable pocket card which summarizes essential PALS information for reference in these emergencies.

The PALS Provider Manual is well written, and students who read it carefully and thoroughly will be well prepared for the certification and renewal courses.

Morning Darryl- Thanks for sharing the Lahiri photos! She is gorgeous and so talented. I can't wait for her next book.
Hope the weekend is going well. BTW- Mountains Beyond Mountains was excellent. I can't believe you haven't read this one. Bad Doctor!

Book #6: Communion Town: A City in Ten Chapters by Sam Thompson



My rating:

This city is Epidamnus while this story is being told: when another one is told it will become another town. — Platus

Have you noticed how each of us conjures up our own city? You have your secret haunts and private landmarks and favourite short cuts and I have mine, so as we navigate the streets each of us walks through a world of our own invention.

This strange and uneven but fascinating "novel" (using the term loosely) is set in Communion Town, a fictional modern city which is recognizable yet sinister and inscrutable. Its places and neighborhoods have strange names, such as Shambles Heath, Strangers' Market and Gorgonstown. Its streets are often filled with days old rubbish, and most homes and shops are decrepit and unkempt. On its sidewalks, tourists and workers frequently encounter packs of wild youths, the Cynics who are a constant threat to public safety, and shabbily dressed figures who lie motionless on the ground but suddenly come to life and demand attention whenever anyone gazes upon them. The nights are filled with even more dangers, as malevolent flâneurs and ghost-like figures prey upon unwary passersby.

The book consists of ten stories, in which the characters within each chapter view and describe the city from different vantage points, in the manner of individuals who describe an elephant from different angles. Unlike the stories in books such as Other Lives by André Brink and Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz, which are also set in one city, the main characters in the different chapters of Communion Town do not interact with each other, although rarely a figure who seems familiar makes an appearance at the periphery, then disappears once you gaze in his direction. Several of the chapters are hauntingly brilliant, particularly "Communion Town", which opens the book, in which a voyeuristic narrator speaks to a recent young female immigrant who he fancies, whose partner has mysteriously disappeared within the city; "Good Slaughter", based on a slaughterhouse worker who holds a deep resentment and suspicion of his new supervisor; and "The Significant City of Lazarus Glass", based on a murder mystery involving the city's most respected private investigator and his arch nemesis, who was a dear friend and trusted colleague before he became the city's most feared and elusive criminal. Other stories were well written but less captivating, and a few were trivial and overly clever.

As a whole, the stories in Communion Town had a dreamlike but dark quality to them, with an ever present sense of fear, uncertainty and menace. The book is best read as a collection of beautifully written but unrelated stories about a mysterious city the first time around, and those who wish to give it a second try can look for the apparent connections between the chapters and their characters.

I was prepared to dislike this book, after I read several lukewarm reviews in the British newspapers and negative comments by private readers. However, I was captivated by it, despite its unevenness, and unlike many I do think it deserved its inclusion in last year's Booker Prize longlist. It is a unique and unsettling debut work by a talented author who is willing to take risks and succeeds more often than he fails.

>156 mckait: You're welcome, Kath! I hope that you and Adam enjoy looking at those old and new photos of Atlanta.

>157 avatiakh: I have heard of those magnetic toys, Kerry, and for several years I've known about the risk associated with ingestion of them by toddlers, although I haven't personally taken care of any kids who required hospitalization (as these kids would normally be admitted by the GI service). The magnets can stick together if more than one is ingested, which can lead to erosion and perforation of a portion of the wall of the stomach or intestine if it is trapped between two magnets. Needless to say this is a surgical emergency.



A couple of years ago I posted a link on my Facebook page to a YouTube news report about a child in the US that had to undergo extensive surgery to repair multiple gastrointestinal perforations, in order to save her life. I can't find that video, but here is a similar one:

Toddler nearly killed after swallowing 37 magnetic balls

That's unconscionable that the US manufacturers of these products, who know about their dangers, are looking to sell them in other countries.

>159 msf59: Good morning, Mark! I'm always glad to post photos of Jhumpa Lahiri, Sadie Jones, Zadie Smith, Madeline Miller and other attractive authors on my thread.

I hang my head in shame for not reading Mountains Beyond Mountains yet. I am prepared to accept my rightful punishment.

That was quite a punishment. I hope you are okay. LOL. Have you read Strength in what Remains? That is also terrific and Dr. Farmer makes another appearance.

I haven't read (and don't own) Strength in What Remains. I didn't know that Paul Farmer makes an appearance in it, so I'll be on the look out for it.

I do own three books by Farmer, and I've read two of them, which were both excellent: Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, and Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues. I own his latest book, Haiti After the Earthquake, another book which should have read last year but didn't.

We took care of several survivors of the Haiti earthquake that required hospital care three years ago, as I probably mentioned in my 2010 thread. They had relatively minor injuries compared to the most seriously injured ones, and all did well. They and their families were a pleasure to care for, and we were fortunate that our business operations coordinator at the time was a young Haitian-American woman who spoke Creole fluently.

Great review of Communion Town Darryl. I thought that one appealed when the Booker longlist came out and I certainly like the look of it from your review. Just have to finish reading the short list first.

Sorry, I wasn't clear...I did read that the soup wasn't the cause but it was just the combination of the two things that got me, with the soup not looking all that great anyway and you feeling ghastly.

Thanks, Rhian. I've now read eight of the 12 books from last year's Booker longlist, and five of the six shortlisted novels, all but Umbrella, which I'll probably read next month. Here's my rank order so far:

1. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (shortlist)
2. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (winner)
3. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (shortlist)
4. Communion Town by Sam Thompson (longlist)
5. Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (shortlist)
6. Philida by André Brink (longlist)
7. The Yips by Nicola Barker (longlist)
8. Swimming Home by Deborah Levy (shortlist)

>165 tiffin: Thanks for that clarification, Tui. Snapper soup, a Philadelphia delicacy, remains one of my favorite soups, despite my unfair mental association of it with my case of appendicitis. I'm sad that Old Original Bookbinder's, a legendary Philadelphia restaurant that originally opened in 1865, went out of business several years ago, as I'm no longer able to buy its soups in my local supermarket.

#157 : Kerry - I watched a segment on the news about Buckeyballs and one thing that really struck me was that the manufacturers listed the appropriate age that these magnetic balls are appropriate for ..and the toddler who died was only 3. So I don't get how it's the manufacturer's fault and why they had to ban these from the stores here, when it's the parents who don't know how to give their children age appropriate toys to play with. The box, if I remember correctly, states that Buckyballs are for age 10+ or something like that. The fact that they are dangerous to toddlers should have been clear to the parents and while it's sad that their child died after having swallowed all those magnetic ball bearings, why isn't there a bigger outcry over the stupidity of the toddler's parents?! Surely they are responsible for killing their own child?

163 It's thanks to you that I read Pathologies of Power, which I agree was excellent. I have Haiti after the Earthquake, Infections and Inequalities, and Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader on the TBR, and really should get to one or more of them. Here is an article from today's NY Times about a concierge in a Manhattan building, also a musician, who started a foundation to help a town in Haiti.

>168 cameling: Interesting comments about parental responsibility, Caroline. I do agree that there are times when an injury to a child, whether a minor one or a fatal one, is due to parental neglect or lack of reasonable foresight. I've taken care of several kids in the hospital who fit this category, and generally we refer these cases to the state's child protective services agency, even when there was no intent to harm the child, such as the toddler I took care of as a resident whose foot was severed after his grandfather allowed him to sit on a moving riding mower, and another toddler who had to be admitted after he drank antifreeze that was stored in a Gatorade bottle and placed in the family's refrigerator.

However, there are far more cases of accidental injuries in infants and young children that result from ingestion of medications or objects that, IMO, aren't the fault of the parent or caregiver. The most common one we see are kids who put pills into their mouths that they find on the floor, often under a piece of furniture, that a grandparent or older adult has dropped from a medication bottle and either didn't know that it happened or couldn't find it. There are definitely times in which a young child ingests a toy such as a set of Buckyballs that the parents know aren't appropriate for that child, but it may be that an older child, for whom the toy is appropriate, doesn't store it properly and it ends up in the hands (or, should I say, mouths) of their younger sibling. Who is at fault here? The older sibling, the parents, the manufacturer of the toy, or all three?

Even if these parents were legally or morally at fault for their child's accident, there is no punishment that any judge could sentence that would be worse than the guilt each of them feels about the death of their daughter.

>169 rebeccanyc: I'm glad that I inspired you to read Pathologies of Power, Rebecca! Thanks for posting the link to the article about the concierge in today's NYT. I subscribe to the paper, but I receive the National Edition, which doesn't include that article and most in the N.Y./Region section in the paper's City Edition. I'll read it shortly.

I am with Caroline here.. locally, some people bought a storage chest ( NOT a toy box) for their baby's toys. IT was clearly marked to monitor children near it.. Their daughter died or? was seriously hurt after having her head trapped between the lid and the chest. They sued Target.

Accidents happen, but so does stupidity and there is a prevailing attitude of it won't happen to ~me, us, etc.
As you say, the parent suffers from guilt, ( as in the case of the PGH woman who stood her son on a fence from where he fell into a pit of AfricanWild Dogs. Still, he would not have died had she not done it, and it was the Zoo that came under fire, despite signes and a design meant to keep such things from happening. Everyone wants to blame someone else.. but, when a parent is to blame, they need to be blamed. imo. Tragedy does not absolve or defer guilt. Maybe the parents should not have those magnets in the house? I believe they are sold as an office desk "toy". Gatorade people should have been fed a cocktail of the stuff. . They put in in the fridge? In a beverage bottle?

okay, never mind.. you know these things drive me crazy.

>171 mckait: Good points, Kath. I'm not in complete disagreement with Caroline (as I value my health), but I do think that responsibility in tragic incidents such as this is more often a shared one, if it exists at all. In the case of the storage chest, IMO the parents are more responsible if they used it improperly to store toys, which it seems as though it wasn't designed to do, and they are definitely responsible for ensuring that the chest was safe before they made it accessible to the child. Based on your description I don't believe that Target or the chest's manufacturer should be held liable.

The Pittsburgh woman who stood her son on the fence at the Highland Park Zoo is completely at fault IMO, and she should be held legally responsible for her action. A somewhat similar case occurred a few years ago in the San Francisco Zoo when I was on vacation there, as a group of drunken or high teenagers or young twentysomethings decided that it would be fun to daunt the lions or tigers. One of them jumped out and attacked them, mauling one of them to death; unfortunately the animal was shot and killed. If I remember correctly, the dead man's parents sued the zoo for causing his death, which is completely absurd IMO.

As you said, when a parent is to blame, they need to be held accountable. Both of the cases I mentioned (the Gatorade that wasn't, and the riding mower accident) were beyond stupid, and the responsible adults were referred to child advocacy and law enforcement officials. I lost it when the father told me about putting the antifreeze in the Gatorade bottle (as you know, automobile antifreeze is usually light green in color and could easily be mistaken for Gatorade by a toddler):



I almost never chastise a parent, especially one who is feeling stupid and guilty, but I let that moron have a piece of my mind (although it paled in comparison to his wife's comments about him when he wasn't in the room).

170, I probably shouldn't admit this, since I dutifully follow international and national news, but I love the City (excuse me, Metro) section of the New York Times the most!

>173 rebeccanyc: You don't have a thing to be ashamed of, Rebecca! I regret that the National Edition of the Sunday NYT doesn't include the N.Y./Metro section, as I love reading it as well. It's such a great resource to learn more about the city and its innumerable characters. My parents live in the NYC metropolitan area (a 75 mile radius around NYC, if I remember correctly), although they are much closer to Philadelphia (~25 miles north of Center City, and less than 10 miles from the city's NE border), so I get to read the City Edition whenever I visit them. Thanks for the reminder, as I usually forget to read the Metro section online on Sundays.

BTW, did you see this article in Friday's Metro section about Ben McFall, the longtime manager of Strand Book Store's fiction section?

At the Strand, Ask Ben McFall

I haven't read Friday's paper yet, so I'll have to see if it's in there.

It was in today's Metro section here, I think. I posted it in the Club Read Interesting Articles thread

>175 rebeccanyc: Ah, I haven't gotten there yet. I thought it would be in Friday's paper, as the article's publication date is listed as January 18th. It doesn't appear in my copies of Friday's or today's papers, though.

Adding my congratulations to everyone else's for passing your PALS, Darryl. As if there was ever any doubt that you would!

Love your review of Communion Town, Darryl. It very very nearly makes me want to read it. What that means, is that if I see it I will get it, but I wont seek it out.

Congratulations on passing your exam, I bet that was no walk in the park. Well done! (So does it come with added workload or just a huge increase in salary?)

For what it's worth, I thought that Strength in What Remains was a much stronger book than Mountains Beyond Mountains.

>177 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I and my colleagues had plenty of doubt about our ability to pass the test, though.

>178 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan. Communion Town may be difficult to find outside of the UK, and I had enough trouble finding it in central London last year.

Yes, the PALS renewal course isn't easy, especially the management of cardiorespiratory arrest and cardiac emergencies other than supraventricular tachycardia, as it's extremely rare that I care for children in these situations. The only perk I get from passing PALS is that I'm not suspended from the medical staff for not being PALS certified. :-)

>179 banjo123: Thanks for mentioning that, Rhonda. I own Mountains Beyond Mountains but not Strength in What Remains, so I'll definitely read the former book first.

Guilt schmilt, everyone needs to be accountable for their deeds, even if done out of stupidity. Even more so when children are injured or killed. I should hope they feel guilty when their decisions (eg woman at the zoo putting her child on a fence, or buying Buckyballs for their toddler) but when their poor decisions around and instead point fingers on manufacturers who have taken every precaution except ensure stores distributing their products hire sales clerks who expressly tackle stupid parents to the ground and make them sign disclaimers that they will not be giving these toys to children under the recommended age, or sue zoos who have express signage warning of the danger posed by the animals, or keep antifreeze in Gatorade bottles, that's when I think there has be a form of punishment administered. Their guilt alone is insufficient .... and I'm willing to bet there are some parents who aren't even guilty. I'm thinking now of the man who's 9 year old son was fatally shot at a gun show by his older brother when he turned his back for a few minutes after asking the vendor to allow his 11 year old a few practice shots with a semi-automatic. The man, I believe, tried to sue the organizers of the gun show for his son's death.

Falcons doing well in the 2nd quarter.

Guilt schmilt, everyone needs to be accountable for their deeds, even if done out of stupidity.

I can't argue with that comment. Americans want to blame everyone but themselves for their own mistakes, foibles and shortcomings.

Falcons doing well in the 2nd quarter.

I hate the Falcons. The 49ers have two unanswered TDs, so it's a game again. Niners, rise up!

Guilt schmilt, everyone needs to be accountable for their deeds, even if done out of stupidity.

I agree with both of you.. and I'm glad Gatorade dad got a talking to .. I bet it felt good. I have seen how a dog who ingests antifreeze suffers. Horrible.. stupid and yes.. Caro.. you are so right!

So who won the game?

No, it didn't feel good to chastise the father of the little girl that swallowed the antifreeze in the Gatorade bottle, as she was quite sick and suffered for a day or two. I suspect that every in his and his wife's family was harshly critical of him, and he was treated with disdain by the hospital staff as well.

The Falcons led 17-0 in the first half, and 24-14 at halftime. However, they didn't score in the second half, and the 49ers came back to win 28-24.

I've never liked the Falcons or any of the Atlanta professional sports teams, as their fans are very fickle and only support the teams when they are playing well. There is a huge difference between Falcons fans and Steelers fans, who always support the team loyally and passionately. I wasn't a fan of the Black and Gold before I moved there, but after a couple of years I became one.

Darryl, I will be interested to see how you like Umbrella. I wimped out after about 5 pages.

Wow don't know how I got so far behind here but interesting comparison of the prizes and the books that get nominated. I also find I don't have much interest in contemporary American life as a topic with a couple of exceptions, American Salvage and Mrs. Somebody Somebody and anything Elizabeth Strout writes about. I'm more interested in life in other countries or good historical fiction like what Mantel writes.

Oh yes...Congratulations Darryl.

The Gatorade incident that wasn't reminds me that my MIL once mistakenly drank a draught of coolant mistaking it in its proper container for a fizzy beverage. The fizz she got was not what she had bargained for - a stomach pumping and a disquieting urging by the specialist that she seek urgent counselling about non-existent marital difficulties! She was old enough to have known-better but didn't so I can understand how the kids might make similar mistakes.

>185 EBT1002: Will do, Ellen. I made it a little further than you did on my first attempt, but not by much.

>186 brenzi: Thanks for those book recommendations, Bonnie. I do want to read more contemporary American literature than I have been, and I do own several dozen books I've been meaning to read, such as The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue by Manuel Muñoz, Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon, A Free Life by Ha Jin, and Big Machine by Victor LaValle. However, none of these books call out to me as strongly as older American novels and contemporary novels written by British and Commonwealth authors (although I do want to read The Round House by Louise Erdrich soon).

I am frequently disappointed by the younger generation of American authors as compared to their British counterparts. I was very impressed with Sam Thompson's debut novel Communion Town, which I finished last night, but quite underwhelmed and disappointed with Joshua Mohr's novel Damascus, which I read today (well, yesterday, as it's just past midnight here). I'll write a review of it later today.

Thanks for the congratulations!

>187 PaulCranswick: Paul, if I remember correctly that toddler that drank the faux Gatorade required hospitalization not because she drank a large quantity of it, but because she developed a chemical pneumonitis after she aspirated some of it into her lungs.

Book #7: Damascus by Joshua Mohr



My rating:

The Mission District in San Francisco is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the city, and throughout its history it has served as one of the primary stepping stones for new immigrants to the Bay Area. Spanish missionaries and wealthy Mexican ranchers displaced the Native American population in the mid 19th century, and they were followed by immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Poland in the early 20th century, people from Mexico and Latin America in the middle of the century, and South Americans towards its end. The Mission has undergone extensive gentrification in the last 25 years, whose newest residents include a variety of artists, computer professionals left over from the dot-com boom, and young families and single professionals who desire affordable housing in the city and appreciate the vibrancy and diversity that exists there. The neighborhood does have its seamy side, with drunks, the mentally ill and homeless people on display, especially on Mission Street and close to San Francisco General Hospital on Potrero Avenue, and the gangs that operate at its edges.

However, the Mission has much to offer to its residents and visitors, with superb ethnic restaurants and stores, numerous independent bookstores, small venues which house works by new and established artists, musicians and playwrights, and the murals that define the neighborhood.



When I saw the cover of Damascus, with its portrayal of the decaying New Mission Theater on Mission Street, I picked it up immediately, in the hope that the book would describe the Mission District and its people. Wrong. What I got instead was yet another Weird Americana novel, in which the author seemingly sought out the most eccentric people he could find in real life, throw them together haphazardly and thoughtlessly in a literary pot, and see if he could construct a coherent story out of it.

Damascus is a divey bar populated by shabby men and city workers whose primary goal is to get more drunk than its proprietor, Owen, a forgettable man whose primary feature is a birthmark beneath his nose that looks like Hitler's mustache, which earns him derision from his bartender and his customers. The bar is in poor condition and is barely profitable. Its most notable regular is Shambles, a divorced woman who earns her keep—which is mainly spent on drinks—by giving hand jobs to men in the bar's bathroom. She is befriended by No Eyebrows, a man with end stage cancer who abandons his loving wife and daughter in the North Bay, as he cannot bear to die in front of them.

Owen decides to don a Santa Claus outfit purchased from a street vendor, in the hope that a change of appearance will improve his outlook on life and his perception by others. In an effort to change the bar's image he decides to host an exhibition by Syl, a local artist who happens to the best friend of his niece, Daphne. It is 2003, and the country is divided by the Iraq War. Syl decides to use her art to protest the War on Terror, and creates 12 portraits of young American soldiers killed in the line of duty. She emphasizes her work by having a member of the audience nail a live fish over the face of each soldier, in order to represent the stench of death that accompanies the immoral and illegitimate war. Her art earns her the ire of Byron, a former Marine and present drunkard and ne'er do well who served with Owen, who vows to shut down the exhibition by whatever means are necessary.

Other than the rare reference to a familiar street or location, Damascus has absolutely nothing to do with San Francisco, the Mission District or its diverse population, and it could have taken place in any medium- or large-sized American city. It is filled with bland, one dimensional characters who failed to capture my interest, and the stories about Shambles and No Eyebrows were completely irrelevant to the main story line. Not recommended.

I loved Barack Obama's inaugural address, and the inaugural poem written and read by Richard Blanco, a gay poet of Cuban descent from Miami. I've just made my first book purchase of the year, Place of Mind by Blanco, which is available as a Kindle e-book for $3.99.

I found a web page that provides links to 14 of Blanco's poems just now:

Richard Blanco Poems You Can Read Online

Here is one of the poems, the title selection from his book Looking for the Gulf Motel, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press:


Looking for The Gulf Motel

Marco Island, Florida

There should be nothing here I don't remember...

The Gulf Motel with mermaid lampposts
and ship's wheel in the lobby should still be
rising out of the sand like a cake decoration.
My brother and I should still be pretending
we don't know our parents, embarrassing us
as they roll the luggage cart past the front desk
loaded with our scruffy suitcases, two-dozen
loaves of Cuban bread, brown bags bulging
with enough mangos to last the entire week,
our espresso pot, the pressure cooker—and
a pork roast reeking garlic through the lobby.
All because we can't afford to eat out, not even
on vacation, only two hours from our home
in Miami, but far enough away to be thrilled
by whiter sands on the west coast of Florida,
where I should still be for the first time watching
the sun set instead of rise over the ocean.

There should be nothing here I don't remember...

My mother should still be in the kitchenette
of The Gulf Motel, her daisy sandals from Kmart
squeaking across the linoleum, still gorgeous
in her teal swimsuit and amber earrings
stirring a pot of arroz-con-pollo, adding sprinkles
of onion powder and dollops of tomato sauce.
My father should still be in a terrycloth jacket
smoking, clinking a glass of amber whiskey
in the sunset at the Gulf Motel, watching us
dive into the pool, two boys he'll never see
grow into men who will be proud of him.

There should be nothing here I don't remember...

My brother and I should still be playing Parcheesi,
my father should still be alive, slow dancing
with my mother on the sliding-glass balcony
of The Gulf Motel. No music, only the waves
keeping time, a song only their minds hear
ten-thousand nights back to their life in Cuba.
My mother's face should still be resting against
his bare chest like the moon resting on the sea,
the stars should still be turning around them.

There should be nothing here I don't remember...

My brother should still be thirteen, sneaking
rum in the bathroom, sculpting naked women
from sand. I should still be eight years old
dazzled by seashells and how many seconds
I hold my breath underwater—but I'm not.
I am thirty-eight, driving up Collier Boulevard,
looking for The Gulf Motel, for everything
that should still be, but isn't. I want to blame
the condos, their shadows for ruining the beach
and my past, I want to chase the snowbirds away
with their tacky mansions and yachts, I want
to turn the golf courses back into mangroves,
I want to find The Gulf Motel exactly as it was
and pretend for a moment, nothing lost is lost.

>189 kidzdoc: Well, there's always room to disagree...

>190 kidzdoc: Yes!!

>191 kidzdoc: Heartily endorsed, though I found the inaugural poem pretty much standard stuff. I'm thrilled and delighted that he got to do the job!

Love that poem, Darryl! Thanks for posting it. I'll have to read more by him, starting with the link you gave us.

Go Obama! And happy MLK Jr. Day.

Antifreeze in a Gatorade bottle?! How can that seem like a good idea to ANYONE? (Irregardless of whether they have children or not.) :(

Hi Darryl, a belated congratulations on passing your exams. I had to skim to get this far but I feel like I should "favorite" this whole thread for the discussions about the prize awards. It was kind of scary to see Altanta morph through the years and the cars and buildings take over the picture. But it was nice to see Miss Daisy's house and I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of Atlanta's nicer neighborhoods.

Hi, Darryl, I really like the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote you shared--I grabbed it for my quote collection. He was such a well-spoken man. Thanks for posting!

Karen O.

Here's the transcript of the Inaugural Poem, "One Today" by Richard Blanco.

"One Today"

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper -- bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives -- to teach geometry, or ring up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind -- our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across cafe tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me -- in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn’t give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always -- home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country -- all of us --
facing the stars
hope -- a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it -- together.

I like it a lot better read to myself than I did read aloud. Thanks, Darryl.

>192 richardderus: Yes, there is certainly room for disagreement among friends. Lois (avaland) from Club Read and I agree on most books, but there have been a couple of books that we've had vastly different opinions about. She gave 4-1/2 stars to The Testament of Jessie Lamb, whereas I only gave it 1 star (and I ranked it that high only because I reserve a 1/2 star rating for books that are completely unreadable and illegible).

>193 jnwelch: You're welcome, Joe. The e-book I bought of Blanco's poems earlier today is apparently only 20 pages long, so I'll probably read it tomorrow.

>194 The_Hibernator: The antifreeze in the Gatorade bottle story was so disturbing and unbelievable that several of us thought that it might have been an intentional effort to cause harm to someone, hopefully not to the little girl. We did make a referral to the state's child advocacy department and to the law enforcement division in the county that the family lived in, but I don't know what came of their investigations.

>195 phebj: Thanks, Pat, both for your compliments and for the reminder for me to post more appealing pictures of Atlanta's nicest neighborhoods. I'll do that later today or tomorrow.

>196 klobrien2: You're welcome, Karen!

>198 richardderus: I enjoyed listening to the inaugural poem, and I thought it fit well with the inauguration speech. I'm glad that you liked the transcript of it, Richard.

I was very moved by the inaugural, but have to confess that I didn't much like the poem. I will be interested to see how you like Place of Mind. I find that reading poetry on the kindle really works well, because it's so easy to highlight and look back.

The music was great, however, and my daughter was amused that Beyonce and the First Lady appeared to be BFF's.

>180 kidzdoc: The only perk I get from passing PALS is that I'm not suspended from the medical staff for not being PALS certified.
huh. Not much of a perk then really is it. :|

I havent heard Obamas speech yet, but I hope to catch some on the news tonight. Ill just have to remember to watch the news though, as I usually try to avoid it, especially as the kids are up at that time.

I thought the President did a beautiful job with his second inaugural speech! I felt both proud and hopeful.

Thanks for posting the poem, Darryl! My first "internet errand" of the morning, post librarything, was going to be to find it online :)

Well, it's been an exciting morning so far, as I decided to channel my inner Caroline (or Megan). I got up from a sitting position in the bathroom, and noticed that my right leg was numb due to a temporary lack of blood flow (it "fell asleep"). It buckled during my first step, and on my second step it gave way completely which led to a face plant, as I landed heavily on my left arm and right cheek, as my glasses and iPad went flying. I was woozy for about a minute, but my head is fine. My left shoulder is very sore, but I don't seem to have done any damage to it. I was going to go out early this morning, but I think I'll take it easy for a bit and go out early this afternoon, before the evening rush hour hits.

I finished The Walls of Delhi by Uday Prakash late last night, the last of the six novels that were shortlisted for this year's DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which has quickly become a favorite award of mine. Here's my final ranking of the shortlist, which as a whole was outstanding:

1. The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam
2. River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
3. The Walls of Delhi by Uday Prakash
4. Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
5. The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad
6. Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif

The Hanif was the only one of the six I didn't like; all of the others were at least 4 star reads.

The winner will be announced on Friday, during the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Yoicks, Darryl! Not fun. Hope you really are ok and nothing shows up later. That used to happen to me when I was a kid, as a result of some spectacular sleeping positions.

Oh no, Darryl, don't do that anymore! Does your shoulder still improve? Is anything else sore?

I'm supposed to have stopped walking due to MS and to use my wheelchair all the time. I do stand up though and get a numb leg quite unexpectly, so I'm falling all the time. Always adventurous here :)

Please be careful Darryl.

>201 banjo123: I liked "One Day" as an inaugural poem, as it was simple and straightforward, which IMO makes it more accessible and memorable to the general public than a more profound or challenging one.

I haven't read many (any?) poetry collections on the Kindle, so I'm interested to give Place of Mind a try, probably later today.

>202 LovingLit: No, passing PALS isn't a perk at all. There are several requirements that I have to meet in order to remain an active member of the Children's medical staff. In addition to being PALS certified I have to maintain a valid Georgia medical license, which must be renewed every two years (my license expires at the end of March). As part of that process, I have to accrue 40 hours of continuing medical education (CME) credits every two years to be eligible for renewal; I think I mentioned last month that I was taking self assessment questions for a CME activity that expired at the end of December, and that was in preparation for my license renewal.

In order to write prescriptions, particularly for narcotic medications such as Lortab and Percocet, I need a Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) license, which expires every three years, I think. Medicaid requires me to have a National Provider Identification (NPI) number, and many pharmacies ask for this information before they will fill a prescription.

I'm not sure if I have to maintain my status as a active Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (abbreviated FAAP, which those of you in the US with children may have seen listed after "MD" in your pediatrician's title), but most of us maintain our membership, which must be renewed annually.

All of us have to achieve initial certification by the American Board of Pediatrics after residency, by taking a rather difficult examination and demonstrating proficiency in other areas. You may have seen the abbreviation "BC/BE", which stands for Board Certified/Board Eligible. All US physicians, regardless of their specialty, are expected to achieve board certification in their respective field(s), and all have to engage in Maintenance of Certification activity to maintain that status. I've recertified once, and I think I'm up for renewal again in 2016. I cannot remain a member of the active staff at Children's if I am not board certified by the ABP.

All patients should ensure that their physicians are board certified (or at least board eligible, for those who have just completed residency), as it is an important assessment of both their medical competency and their personal integrity. The American Board of Medical Specialties web site allows consumers to check on the certification status of any physician in the US free of charge, although a simple registration process is required.

In Georgia and I think all other states, physicians are required to register with the state's board of medical examiners, which has the power to suspend or revoke the license of any physician who practices in the state (at least two physicians I've worked with in the past have had their licenses revoked after being accused of criminal activity). I and other Georgia physicians must complete an online form which includes our practice information, hospital affiliation, education and training, list of publications and awards, malpractice history (including lawsuits and settlements), and any personal arrests or convictions, except for minor traffic offenses. Again, anyone from anywhere can view this information in Georgia for free via the state's government web site, and I assume this holds true in other states as well. BTW, there are also numerous web sites, such as vitals.com, healthgrades.com, and wellness.com, which provide much of this information free of charge, and allow consumers to rate and make comments about their physicians.

What else...oh, we're all required to maintain malpractice insurance, which my group gets through Children's, and we must be approved by all of the health insurance companies for the patients we care for. We don't turn away anyone regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay (unlike, for example, the children's hospital at Stanford, who will send patients with Medi-Cal to the public hospital in San Jose for routine hospitalizations), so we have to maintain eligibility for all plans, within and outside of Georgia (and for me, 2-3 times per year, outside of the US).

I also have to meet other requirements to maintain my active status at Children's, which aren't required of courtesy and affiliate staff members. I think that's it, though.

>202 LovingLit: Do watch the inauguration speech, which I assume will be easily to find on most online news outlets. It was an inspiring and unforgettable address, and it was in the spirit of yesterday's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

>203 EBT1002: I agree completely, Ellen. There aren't many inaugural speeches I've seen that are as memorable or inspiring as that one, with JFK's 1961 speech being the one that I (and I suspect, most of us) can readily quote, whether we saw it or (in my case, as I was a third trimester fetus at the time) not: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." I watched the PBS NewsHour last night, which was almost completely dedicated to coverage and analysis of the inauguration, and I was just as stirred by the excerpts of the speech as I was when I watched it live.

>204 whitewavedarling: You're welcome, Jennifer. I assume that the inauguration speech should also be available online by this time. Let's see (getting up slowly and carefully this time)...the print National Edition of today's NYT only has excerpts from the speech, but the official White House web site has the speech in its entirety:

Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

>206 tiffin: Thanks, Tui. My shoulder is still very sore, even after two naproxen tablets, but I have full range of motion of it in all directions. That is my bad shoulder, though, as I injured it playing volleyball at work years ago, and even on my best days it hurts when I rotate it fully.

>207 wilkiec: My left wrist is mildly sore, but this is trivial compared to my shoulder.

I didn't know that you have MS, Diana. I'm sorry to hear that.

Oh dear Darryl! That sounds like an exciting morning - but I'm sure your shoulder will feel better soon. I've done that too, but not for years!

Okay, enough of this falling over, fainting, hurting oneself, etc. Sheesh, we're a dangerous bunch.
I hope your shoulder and cheek are not too badly hurt, Darryl, and that you don't have a repeat of this.

>210 The_Hibernator: I haven't done anything like that in a long time, although I'll occasionally stumble mildly over air if I'm not paying attention. I did suffer a partial tear of my right Achilles' tendon four or five years ago, as I ran down a flight of stairs to catch a subway in Brooklyn. Fortunately this only led to a temporary case of calcific tendinitis, due to deposition of calcium during the healing process, and I didn't need surgery and was only on crutches for a few days.

>211 EBT1002: This group occasionally resembles either a MASH unit or a TB ward. I blame Caroline and Megan for the unit, and I'll take credit for the sanatorium.

Darryl, I feel badly about your face plant. So badly, in fact, that I am resisting the temptation to rib you about being in possession of your iPad while getting "up from a sitting position in the bathroom." Seriously, I'm glad you weren't injured.

I need to watch Obama's speech. Yesterday I walked past one of the TVs in our office building and caught a snippet when he was in Full Preacher Mode. It gave me goosebumps!

>213 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura, although you don't have to resist giving me a well deserved ribbing. Unfortunately my shoulder is much more sore than it was this morning, as nearly any movement of it is mildly to moderately painful. I still think that it's not a serious injury, as I can still move it in all directions. If it gets worse I'll talk with one of the orthopaedic surgeons at Children's this week (I go back to work tomorrow), or, if need be, make an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon I saw for my Achilles' tendon injury, whose office is very close to where I work.

Yes, please do watch the inaugural address; it was truly one for the ages.

Darryl, hope there's nothing too seriously wrong with your shoulder!

Ouch! Quit trying to out-Caro Caro!

Book #8: The Walls of Delhi by Uday Prakash, translated by Jason Grunebaum



Shortlist, 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

My rating:

You ought to know the truth: there are only two reasons lives like ours are stamped out. One: our lives are left over as proof of past and present sins and crimes against castes, races, cultures; they always want to keep this as hidden as they can. Two: our lives get in the way of the enterprising city, or act as a road bump in the master plan of a country that thinks of itself as a big player on the world stage. Our very humanity threatens to reveal the wicked culture of money and means as something suspect and unlovely. That's why whenever civilizations once developing, now on the brink of prosperity, decide to embark on a program of 'beautification', they try to root out such lives, the same way the mess on the floor is swept outside.

Uday Prakash is one of India's most highly respected writers, due to his rich stories of modern life and his willingness to describe the corruption and caste prejudice that exists there. However, his career has been marked by harassment by government officials, which has caused him to be fired from numerous jobs and to become a jack of many trades in order to feed his family. He was born in the state of Madhya Pradesh in 1951, to a family of village landlords. After the premature deaths of his parents he obtained a university degree in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, and taught comparative literature and Hindi at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where he has resided since 1975.

In the words of Jason Grunebaum, the narrator of this book, "In many of his stories, Uday Prakash shows how those who dare to dissent against a suffocating system are punished. But with his biting satire and delightful narrative detours he also demonstrates how humor and compassion ultimately provide the best means to fight back and escape."

The Walls of Delhi consists of three short stories, all set in Delhi at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, about a person struggling against poverty and corruption, each one told through the eyes of a narrator that knows him well. In "The Walls of Delhi", Ramnivas Pasiya is a lower caste emigrant to Delhi who is barely able to support his young family as a part-time sanitation worker, in a neighborhood filled with street vendors, prostitutes and smackheads. One of his jobs is to clean a fitness club where wealthy Hindis go to lose weight, while the poor that surround them are engaged in a daily struggle to find sufficient food for the day. "Mohandas" describes the life of Mohandas Viswakarma, who becomes the first person from his village to obtain a university degree and graduates second in his class, yet finds that the expected pathways to success are closed to him, as less educated and talented men with personal connections or the ability to bribe officials obtain employment ahead of him. Finally, "Mangosil" is about a young boy from a poor family cursed with seven prior miscarriages, whose is born healthy but experiences massive and painful enlargement of his head in proportion to his body, while simultaneously developing unusual wisdom and intelligence. Doctors are willing to diagnose and treat him, but their fees are beyond the means of his parents.

These three stories are all suffused with both tragedy and humor, which prevents this book from being an overly depressing one, though it isn't a light or frivolous read. The narrator or characters make frequent and poignant comments about Indian society and its caste prejudice and rampant corruption that flow smoothly within each story. I could not put this book down once I started it, and I finished it in one sitting. The Walls of Delhi is a masterful book about modern India, which is a far better book than The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize winning novel, and it deserves to be widely read and appreciated.

What Rhian said, Darryl. Amazing the unexpected things that can happen at home. A co-worker recently dropped a carving knife point down on her foot and severed a tendon. She'll be fine (they reattached it), but she has had weeks of using a little wheeled cart to keep her leg raised, and will have weeks of PT. Anyway, I hope yours turns out to be an annoyance that goes away, although you've got that lingering problem from the volleyball.

I thought Obama's speech was exceptionally good, too, and I've been urging others to watch it if they didn't see it.

The Walls of Delhi is, to my surprise, listed as "on order" at my liberry. Go know.

>215 SandDune: Thanks, Rhian. My shoulder will certainly be sore for a couple of days, but as long as I can continue to have full range of motion in it, I think I'll be fine.

>216 richardderus: Trying to outdo Caroline or Megan, LT's self described masters of the face plant, is something I have no desire to do!

>218 jnwelch: Ouch! I did a similar thing when I was in graduate school; I used a sharp knife to cut open the wrapping of a large sandwich for a colleague's going away party. Instead of using common sense, I cut the plastic wrap with the knife blade toward the ceiling instead of down to the floor. It slipped, and cut deeply into my right second finger just past (distal to) the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint. I almost fainted when I saw how deep it was, and my boss turned as white as a ghost and nearly did the same thing. Fortunately the lab was in University Hospital at NYU Medical Center, so I only had to take the elevator to reach the NYUMC ED. I didn't do any damage to vital nerves, tendons or the joint, and I only required several sutures from a resident physician.

>219 richardderus: Does that mean that your library will get The Walls of Delhi soon? I hope that you're able to get it and read it.

ETA: I posted a link to my review on the January short story thread.

This is just not fair, Darryl. You write such good reviews that I can not resist ordering the book!! And lo and behold, when I get over to Amazon, the only review of the book is yours!! - so there isn't even a competing "voice" to talk me out of it.

Yikes! Sorry about the face plant. Take care of the shoulder--rotator cuff injuries can be a bear. I hurt my shoulder in a face plant when skiing, and went on and on--until a month later had the sense to get it checked. (THen it healed quickly with exercise and naproxen.)

I have added the Walls of Delhi to my WL. I liked the White Tiger, so if this is better, it must be really good.

Sorry to hear about your face plant Darryl, one does have to ask though, exactly how long were you on the loo for your leg to go dead? ;)
I hope one of your colleagues can sort you out so that shoulder doesnt cause you trouble.
For the record, you did a Caro, as my incapacitation was bought about by planned surgery ;)

>222 catarina1: LOL! That isn't too unusual for me, as I'll occasionally read and review books that almost no one else has heard of. I did find a review on Goodreads (other than the one I just posted there):

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/460107331

The Walls of Delhi is a perfect example of why I like to follow literary awards. I wouldn't have heard about this book or its author if it hadn't been shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and it will probably end up being one of my favorite novels of the year.

>223 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda. I think I should know by Thursday or Friday if this is a more serious injury than it appears to be.

I wasn't a big fan of The White Tiger. It was good, but it pales in comparison to some of the better books I've read about India the past few years.

>224 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan. How long was I on there? Waaaayyy too long (not sure how many minutes, though)!

Does the gene for sitting on the loo for inordinate amounts of time reading reside on the Y (male sex chromosome), adjacent to the gene that makes us guys change the channel on the remote control every 15 seconds? Or is this gene product expressed equally by both sexes?

I have a good relationship with the orthopods I work with (attendings, residents and nurse practitioner), and they and other specialists will occasionally ask me for advice about their own kids, so I have no problem asking them for a personal assessment if things don't improve by Friday.

My apologies for unfairly lumping you with Caroline. She is clearly the LT queen of face plants.

As soon as it's delivered, they'll call me. Interesting sounding book.

Boo on the face planting Darryl! I hope you're not too sore :(

Thanks for sharing both poems.... they were beautiful! I especially loved "Looking for the Gulf Motel".

Lovely Dr. King picture and quote in 191. What an amazing man he was!

Speaking of reading about India, have you read Behind the Beautiful Forevers yet? It was one of my first finshed books this year and I gave it 5 stars. Oddly, it was cataloged in biography.

Uhm....be careful in the bathroom...it can be a dangerous place! Maybe a padded seat is in order? We'll hold off on the grab bar for now.

Thanks for posting all those wonderful lists!

217> Definitely sounds like my kind of book. On to the wish list it goes. Thanks for the insigihtful review, Darryl.

And I'm glad your fall didn't do any serious damage.

>226 kidzdoc: Or is this gene product expressed equally by both sexes?
I think I am expert enough in this matter to report that all the bad genes (even if present in the female) originate from the male side of the species, and vice versa for the good genes. :)
Its really quite simple when you think about it, right?

Crap. It now seems to me that I have done some damage to my rotator cuff after this morning's face plant (although I hope I'm wrong!). I went out to get a hair cut earlier this afternoon, and while I was trying to close my car door my left shoulder became stuck in a very painful position. I had to grab my left arm with my right hand to pull it out of that position, which made me cry out in pain. I couldn't close my car door or put on my seat belt using my left arm, and even getting into and out of my car was difficult. It hurts with almost every movement now, and I can no longer comfortably rotate my shoulder (not even gonna try until I have to tomorrow).

I'll go into work a little early tomorrow, and ask one of the ED doctors to take a quick look at it. I'll see if I can get a shoulder splint, either from the ED or a nearby specialty store, and try to see my orthopaedic surgeon later this week.

If anyone has any personal experience with rotator cuff injuries please let me know!

>227 richardderus: Good news, Richard. I look forward to your comments about The Walls of Delhi.

>228 TinaV95: Thanks, Tina; unfortunately I've become progressively more sore and less able to use my shoulder as the day has gone on. Fortunately I have access to doctors who can assess my injury early tomorrow, at Scottish Rite and at Resurgens Orthopaedics, which has an office in one of the buildings on the campus of nearby St. Joseph's Hospital. The orthopaedic surgeon I use is someone I've known since we were both residents at Emory, so I should be able to see him pretty soon. I'm hopeful that rest, and perhaps a shoulder splint and PT, is all that will be required.

>229 tangledthread: I own Behind the Beautiful Forevers, but I haven't read it yet. It's on my list of books to read this year.

I think I'd be better off padding me than the seat, similar to a toddler in a massive snowsuit who can't move or injure himself.

>230 Whisper1: You're welcome, Linda!

>231 Cariola: You're welcome, Deborah. I think you would like The Walls of Delhi.

I'm now far less optimistic that I escaped serious damage after my face plant this morning. I did have similar pain to this after I tweaked my left rotator cuff years ago, so I originally thought I had stretched some of the tendons that support it again. However, I don't remember it becoming frozen in one spot, as it did this afternoon, so I'm much more concerned now than I was then. Fortunately I have access to several online resources through Children's, so I'll read up on the signs and symptoms that distinguish a serious from a minor rotator cuff injury shortly.

>232 LovingLit: all the bad genes (even if present in the female) originate from the male side of the species, and vice versa for the good genes. :)

Hmph. Evil woman. Worse than Caroline. Evilness clearly resides on the X chromosome, since women (XX) are twice as evil as men (XY).

Hmph. Evil woman. Worse than Caroline. Evilness clearly resides on the X chromosome, since women (XX) are twice as evil as men (XY).

I testify! Witness over here!

233> Well, drat! I'm sorry to hear that it seems to be getting worse.. At least you have a good support system. Not that it helps much with the pain. All I've got to offer is the typical mom advice: try ice or a heating pad. Hope you get some rest tonight.

Darryl, I'm really sorry to hear about your shoulder injury. It sounds quite painful. I hope you can get some decent sleep tonight.

I loved your review of The Walls of Delhi and as soon as my library's website is back up I'm going to see if they have it. So what are your favorite books about India? I also liked The White Tiger so was happy to see you thought TWoD was better.

>234 richardderus: Preach it, Brother Richard!

>235 Cariola: Thanks, Deborah. Mum advice is always welcome, and rarely incorrect.

>236 phebj: Thanks, Pat. My shoulder doesn't hurt now, as long as I don't move it. My biggest concern is that I'll have dificulty sleeping, as I do tend to flop on the bed like a beached fish. However, I have Advil PM handy, which includes diphenhydramine (Benadryl) as a sleep aid, so I'll take 1-2 tablets just before I go to sleep.

So what are your favorite books about India?

Ooh, good question! Let's see...in no particular order:

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
The
The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhuri
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
The Walls of Delhi by Uday Prakash
Animal's People by Indra Sinha
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
Chowringhee by Sankar
The Collaborator by Mirza Waheed
The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan by Yasmin Khan
Partitions: A Novel by Amit Majmudar
The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai
India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India by Akash Kapur

I'm sure that there are other books that belong here, but I'm drawing a blank on them at the moment.

Darryl ..oh dear ... so sorry to hear about your spill ... would you like to borrow my Guardian Angel? I hope your bumps are recovering. When you wake with a dead leg, it's usually best not to put your full weight on it immediately. Do you put a heat patch on your shoulder before going to bed? I find when I've strained a muscle, those IcyHot patches work wonders if I put them on the sore muscle before I go to sleep. That, if you're beaching about in your sleep, perhaps you should sleep in an arm chair for a night or two?

Oh dear, poor Darryl. I'm sorry about your shoulder. I hope you were able to get a decent night's sleep.

Oh, nasty about that shoulder. We all await full diagnosis and plan of remediation asap!

Love the poetry Darryl - accessible and evocative.

I thought to myself yesterday that it was a good day to be American nodding as I was to my screen at the rhetoric from a well intentioned President. But of course I'm not American but he is so much better for the world we live in but the well-intentioned but inept and generally wrong President he replaced together with the faceless bigots and morally corrupt reactionaries that advised him.

Books on India - your list as usual is thought provoking - I couldn't conceive a list of Indian fiction without RK Narayan on it. A Fine Balance I also found the single best novel written about India with, as you stated, Midnight's Children closely alongside.

What Judy (240) said!

Darryl, so sorry to hear you've injured yourself. A rotator cuff injury is so painful, at least in my experience. I was hurt a few years ago and remember that it was horribly painful raising my arm above my head; made getting dressed and undressed a new experience. I know you'll get the care you need, and I hope you feel much better soon.

The Walls of Delhi just went plop, right onto the WL.

>237 kidzdoc: What, no Rohinton Mistry!!? A Fine Balance

Hope that shoulder has been looked at by now and a treatment plan in place?

Rotator cuff problem- yes! First my doctor assessed it ( no surgery required) and then I went to my physiotherapist for 6 weekly sessions- she gave me exercises to do at home and I had some sort of treatment at her office. Your injury sounds worse than mine- I couldn't raise my right arm withour pain but not sharp pain.
My advice- deal with it right away.
I was much better after the 6 weeks of physio-

Walls of Delhi has gone on my wish list. I hope you have a treatment plan in place for your injury soon Darryl!

>233 kidzdoc: Evil? Little old ME?
hehe, truth hurts huh?

>237 kidzdoc: great Indian literature list! I am on the look out for a positive, uplifting book featuring India. Do any of these qualify? Im talking beauty and wonder, as opposed to depressing and bleak.

Sorry to hear your shoulder has taken a turn for the worse. I hope you are one of those medical practitioners that can take the Drs orders! Make sure you dont over do it. What an irritation an injury is.

My post-face plant problem was rotator cuff tendonitis. I think that I had some tendonitis before the face-plant, from wear and tear, and it was worsened with the fall.
Would agree with the advise of getting treatment right away, and don't wait a month, like I did. Once I got to doing the range of motion exercises and taking anti-inflammatories, it got better.
I hope you don't need surgery, because I've had several friends go through shoulder surgery and it's a long, painful recovery.
But your ortho buddies will be all over this.

I am reading Midnight's Children now and really like it. I had some reservations about Behind the Beautiful Forevers. I also read The Beautiful and the Damned by Siddhartha Deb, which is not as well written, but still good. I was glad that I did because it gives a broader and more Indian perspective of modern India.

Thanks for that list of books on India, Darryl. I "favorited" it so I can refer to it later. The only one I've read is Midnight's Children but you reminded me that I have Partitions: A Novel somewhere around here.

I hope your shoulder is better today and that you've had a chance to see the doctor about it.

I enjoyed Breathless in Bombay by Murzban F. Schroff. It is worth the read in my opinion.

Hey Darryl... Just checking in on you post-accident. What did your doctor friend say? Hoping you are only sore now and haven't done real damage :(

Just peaking in to echo all the well-wishers; I hope the shoulder's improved!

>217 kidzdoc:: excellent review, Darryl. BEEG thumbola!
I had a frozen shoulder after a bad fall, Darryl. Physio couldn't budge it, it had to be "ripped" by an orthopaedic surgeon. Two years of misery. Hope you aren't headed in that direction, m'dear. Sleeping was only achieved propped up on 3 pillows. Concerned about you now.

Darryl?

I'm worried about the lack of Darryl here!!

:(

Hoping you're ok!

Shoulder update: um, nothing new, really. As soon as I arrived at the hospital this morning I walked into the ED and had one of the doctors there check my shoulder. He agreed that I had good range of motion, and that this was a reassuring sign. I still had moderate pain with abduction of the arm, with a clunking sensation. He recommended using a shoulder brace (I bought one at CVS on the way to work), taking an anti-inflammatory medication around the clock for the next few days, and a visit to an orthopaedic surgeon if the shoulder wasn't better in one week.

I had a long day at work, both because we were busy and because I had to recount my story to nearly everyone I encountered. I also spent 2 hours updating my parents, brother, cousin and aunts after I arrived home from work at 8 pm.

I can barely keep my eyes open, so I'll go to bed and catch up on messages tomorrow.

Thanks for your concern and well wishes, everyone!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the anti-inflammatory meds and the shoulder brace will do the trick and that you won't have to see the orthopaedic guy next week. I can imagine your day WAS exhausting - sorry about that. Hope you are able to rest well tonight. . .

Glad to hear you are still functioning Darryl. Hope you rest well tonight with the anti inflammatories. Keep us posted on your progress!

Anti-inflammatories can be magic. Feel better!

Darryl, I have a list with finalists of the Man Booker International Prize 2013 in my thread, if you're interested :)

Hi Darryl, just stopping by to see how you're doing and send my good wishes as well.

ouch, ouch, ouch. I send healing rays your way.

Shoulder update (post-injury day #2): It's still very painful when I perform abduction of the shoulder (upward movement of the arm to the side, away from the body). The biggest concern is that today I couldn't abduct my arm to 90°, as shown in the left panel of this two part diagram:



Inability to fully abduct the shoulder is a sign of a rotator cuff tear, either partial or complete, so this fits with my self diagnosis.

I did run into one of the rehab (physical medicine & rehabilitation) docs today; PM&R docs know the musculoskeletal system almost as well as the orthopaedic surgeons do (I haven't seen any of the orthopods the past two days; they must know that I'm looking for them and are hiding from me). He has also had three rotator cuff tears. He suspects that I have a severe sprain or a partial tear of the rotator cuff, especially since I could not abduct my shoulder to at least a 90° angle. A couple of other docs who saw me with my arm sling and talked with me had the same opinion, although all felt that it was too early after the injury to know the exact extent of it, due to the inflammation within the rotator cuff.

One good thing is that I've been able to sleep well the past two nights without pain, and both nights when I woke up I was sleeping with my left shoulder down, which should have been painful but wasn't. The limitation of abduction could be due to stiffening of the joint following the injury, so it isn't completely diagnostic yet.

I'll make an appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon I know sometime next week, unless I can abduct my shoulder without pain or limitation by this coming weekend.

>238 cameling: Thanks for the guardian angel offer, Caroline. However, I think it's too late for him, although a higher power would be useful. I'm generally not in pain, fortunately, unless I make any movements that lead to partial abduction. I did try to abduct my arm after I finished rounding on patients this evening, and after several attempts it did start throbbing (which is now better after I took two naproxen tablets). I don't have any musculoskeletal pain, so I don't believe that a heat pack would be all that helpful at the moment.

>239 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I took Advil PM on Tuesday night and slept well (although I was groggy all morning yesterday, probably due to the effects of Benadryl), and yesterday I slept fine without taking any medications.

>240 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy. I'll call Resurgens Orthopaedics tomorrow to make an appointment for next week. I'm off Tuesday through Thursday, so hopefully I can get seen on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

>241 PaulCranswick: I'm glad that you liked the poems, Paul. I haven't read the e-book of Richard Blanco's poems that I downloaded on Monday, but I'll definitely read them this weekend.

Most people in this group would agree with your comments about Obama and his predecessor, as would the majority of the world's citizens outside of the US. Fortunately a majority of Americans also support him, but it's a tiny majority compared to those who live outside of the country.

I think you're right in saying that R.K. Narayan and Rohinton Mistry deserve to be on any list of best novels written about India. I haven't read anything by Mistry yet, although I own two of his novels, and I've only read A Tiger for Malgudi by Narayan so far.

>242 brenpike: Thanks, Brenda!

I hope the rotator cuff situation is rectified soon, Darryl. I can empathize - my right shoulder has had a partial tear for a while now.

>243 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. Yes, this is one of the more painful injuries I've ever had, save for a severe "ankle sprain" that I suffered in the mid-1980s. When I had an X-ray of my Achilles' tendon several years ago, it showed a residual bone fragment of the lateral malleolus (the prominent bony protrusion on the outer aspect of the ankle); so, I probably broke my ankle after I sprained it.

>244 EBT1002: I hope that you read and enjoy The Walls of Delhi, Ellen.

>245 tangledthread: A Fine Balance is relatively high on my wish list, but I haven't read it yet. I own Family Matters and Such a Long Journey, and I'll probably read both books later this year.

>246 torontoc: Thanks for that information, Cyrel. I'm hopeful that this injury is just a severe sprain or a partial tear, never of which should not require surgery, and that I can improve with rest and anti-inflammatory medications followed by PT.

>247 markon: Thanks, Ardene.

>248 LovingLit: Megan, I'll have to think to see if I 've read a largely uplifting story about India that I've liked. I'm battling sleep as I'm typing these messages now...

>249 banjo123: Thanks for the information and advice, Rhonda. I probably had rotator cuff tendonitis in my left shoulder prior to Tuesday, as I have had mild pain on full extension of it for many years.

I'll catch up with the remaining posts tomorrow or Saturday.

Read Rohinton Mistry. That's an order.

Darryl- no pressure on that Indian book rec, I can see you are swamped! I hereby grant you a dispensation from responding to this (this #269) message, not from my original (#248) message though, I still want to hear from you on that one :)
Take care of that shoulder!

>268 tiffin:: I second that! A Fine Balance is amazing.

Darryl, your injury coincided with my exposure to what was on last night's news here, a stomach flu norovirus that has had my husband and me down all week. But let me add my best wishes for your recovery for your shoulder!

The news also reported a spike in RSV (I think) in young children, as well as California finally joining the rest of the nation in its incidence of the regular flu. Are you seeing respiratory difficulties or stomach flu there in addition to the flu? Or would you see those type of cases?

I hope a bit of rest over the weekend will do your shoulder good Darryl. I normally find that alcohol help ease the pain!

Darryl, since I've been trying to managed Achilles tendonitis since last October, you have my sympathies.

Hi Darryl! I hope your shoulder problems work themselves out! I had a small tear in my rotator cuff the year before last, but that problem cleared up after a couple months of physical therapy - but it sure was painful!

Yohoho and a bottle of aspirin, Darryl!

I must third (or fourth?) the recommendation on Mistry's A Fine Balance. Superb!

And I can recommend Such a Long Journey. You have some great reading ahead of you Darryl.

> 197

Thank you for posting Blanco's beautiful poem, Darryl. I was at the inauguration, but the jumbotron near the Washington Monument was broken so we could neither hear nor see exactly what was going on. Well, make that me and about half a million other people! :(

The first half million people were on the mall either seeing the president in person or watching him on working jumbotrons!

Just popping over to check out your thread and say CONGRATS on your HOT REVIEW for The Walls of Delhi. Well done and good luck with that shoulder.

Just checked to see who won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature . . . Jeet Thayil for Narcopolis was named the winner.

Woo! My three day, 40+ hour week week is over after another busy long call. Influenza and RSV infections continue to be very prevalent; I admitted two babies who tested positive for influenza A, and three more with RSV.

Shoulder update: It feels much better today, despite my decision to not wear the arm brace today. My ability to abduct my shoulder is still limited by stiffness and pain, and especially by the clunk that I still feel whenever it passes over the inflamed or (as I suspect) partially torn rotator cuff. I made an appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon I've known since residency on Tuesday morning, so I'll get a definitive diagnosis then.

Thanks for your concern and good wishes, everyone! I've been getting quite a bit of grief and ribbing at work, particularly from the nurses. One of them was snickering off and on for a good 10 minutes after I told her what happened. She would look over at me every couple of minutes, and start guffawing all over again. Even one of the mothers of a kid I saw this week was laughing at me. Most everyone thought that I should embellish my story, so I began to tell people that I was injured in a bar fight. Unfortunately no one believed a word of it, and it just led to more laughter and (good natured) derision. Sigh...

It's just after midnight, and I'm just getting in from work. I'll catch up on as many posts as I can before sleepiness hits, and create a new thread if I can stay awake long enough.

>249 banjo123: I'm glad that you're enjoying Midnight's Children. I would like to re-read it in the near future, but there are several novels by Rushdie that I haven't read, particularly The Satanic Verses, which I still hope to finish this month. Behind the Beautiful Forevers is high on my list of planned reads for the year, but I probably won't read The Beautiful and the Damned. One book I own about India that I do want to read this year is The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity by Amartya Sen, which I've owned for several years.

>250 phebj: You're welcome, Pat. That list of favorite books about India will be a work in progress for awhile, as I'm sure I have at least two dozen unread books that are high on my list of ones to read soon.

>251 Oberon: Thanks for recommending Breathless in Bombay; I'll look out for it. The title of that book at reminds me of yet another one that I've owned for awhile and would like to read soon, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta.

>254 tiffin: Physio couldn't budge it, it had to be "ripped" by an orthopaedic surgeon. Two years of misery.

Yikes. Tui, your shoulder surgery was fairly recent (within the past 2-3 years), right? Or am I thinking of someone else? I don't think I'm going to need surgery, but I'll know more next week.

>261 wilkiec: Darryl, I have a list with finalists of the Man Booker International Prize 2013 in my thread, if you're interested :)

I briefly glanced at that list yesterday, but I was too tired to post the list or look at it more thoroughly last night. I'm definitely interested in it, so I'll head over to your thread tomorrow (actually today, since it's nearly 1 am here).

>268 tiffin: Read Rohinton Mistry. That's an order.

Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am.

(Sheesh. Canadian women are so pushy.)

>269 LovingLit: I hereby grant you a dispensation from responding to this (this #269) message, not from my original (#248) message though, I still want to hear from you on that one :)

I haven't read them yet, but I do have two NYRB titles that are comedic novels which might fit your request: All About H. Hatterr by G.V. Desani, and English, August: An Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee. I'll think about other books I own, read and unread, that would also count.

Take care of that shoulder!

Yes, ma'am. I will, ma'am.

(Sheesh. Women from New Zealand are so pushy.)

>270 lauralkeet: I do want to read A Fine Balance, so I'm glad to hear that you liked it too, Laura. Did I mention on this thread that Rohinton Mistry, the winner of this year's Neustadt Prize for International Literature, was the primary subject of the January/February issue of World Literature Today? I subscribe to that magazine, and I'll read Mistry's address at the prize ceremony, and the accompanying articles about his work by other authors, this coming week.

(I don't dare comment about the pushiness of Pennsylvania women.)

>271 ronincats: I'm sorry to hear that you and your husband were sick with viral gastroenteritis this week, Roni. We don't have a rapid test for norovirus, but I have taken care of several kids who were hospitalized with this illness, which I suspect is due to this pathogen.

I sent home an adorable 8 year old girl this morning who was in for three days with what I suspect was norovirus gastroenteritis. She was quite ill when she came in, as she was very dehydrated, hypotensive, and pale as a ghost. She required several IV fluid boluses to correct her fluid deficit on Wednesday, but by Thursday she looked much better. When I told her she could eat regular food yesterday morning she had some of her father's French toast, and the look of sheer bliss on her face after the first bite was priceless. She looked even better today, and was thrilled to be able to go home. She gave me a knitted potholder that she made herself as a thank you gift, which is now hanging in my office, along with my collection of cards, posters and stuffed or painted animals from former patients.

Yes, we continue to have a lot of young infants who require hospital admission for management of RSV broncholitis, a lower respiratory tract infection that affects the bronchioles, or the small airways in the lungs. It's a deeper infection than bronchitis, but not as deep as pneumonia. It's a worse infection than bacterial pneumonia, as viral LRTIs (lower respiratory tract infections) generally affect all of the areas in both lungs, whereas pneumonia usually affect one or two segments (lobes) of one lung.

The CDC has a useful page on RSV, for medical professionals and families:

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV)

I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Off to bed...

Well, in order to avoid any perceived pushiness (which I know you would never, ever attribute to Seattle women), I will just say that I liked A Fine Balance very much.
Now if only I could lay my hands on a copy of The Walls of Delhi. Fear not; I shall not give up. At the very least, I predict I can get a copy at the Portland, Oregon meet-up, coming soon to a Paul World Tour near you (or, at least, near me).

Rest up, Darryl. You had quite a week in just three days.

#280 Jeet Thayil for Narcopolis was named the winner. I don't think I would have voted for that one, but I think you liked it a lot more than me, Darryl?

Hope you get good news about your shoulder on Tuesday.

#237 Thanks for the list. I haven't read most of the titles on it, but no list of great Indian novels could be complete, in my opinion, without A Suitable Boy by vikram Seth and Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra.

#284 I liked Narcopolis, but I haven't read any of the other titles on the short list.

Oh no... I did the faceplant/ rotator cuff injury some years ago. It took two years for it to sort out.
Ouch! I reinjured it more than once though, trying to catch fleeing 3-5 year olds, and falling again a time or two..

Hope you have a better outcome..

Good morning (or evening), everyone! I continue to have more mobility in my shoulder with less pain, so I remain optimistic that surgery won't be necessary.

>272 PaulCranswick: Paul, vodka is the cure for all ills. No, actually that would be a quiet day spent reading a good book.

>273 Cariola: Thanks, Deborah. The calcific Achilles tendonitis I had was self limited, as it apparently was only a small tear. When I made the appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon yesterday the scheduler informed me that my last visit there was in 2009, which was when I would have had the injury (actually, it was probably in December 2008, around Christmastime). I haven't had any problems with the tendon since that year.

>274 The_Hibernator: I'm glad to hear about your successful recovery, Rachel. I expect that my outcome will be similar to yours.

>275 richardderus: Aspirin is the wonder drug, but naproxen is my anti-inflammatory of choice.

>276 lit_chick: Thanks for recommending A Fine Balance, Nancy. Every additional positive comment about it will make it that much more likely that I'll buy and read it soon.

>277 phebj: Thanks, Pat. I'll almost certainly read Such a Long Journey this year. My personal library is filled with books that I'm very eager to read, so it doesn't make much sense to buy as many new books as I have the past few years.

>278 SqueakyChu: You're welcome, Madeline. I'm very sorry to hear that you weren't able to hear or see the inauguration ceremony from your location, though. I imagine that it was still a worthwhile experience to be there in person.

Looking out at the scene reminded me of the 1963 March on Washington, and my late maternal grandmother, who attend the event and heard MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. If I remember correctly she wanted to take me and my older cousin, but our parents nixed the idea. I wish that she and my other grandparents were still alive to see Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration ceremony, but unfortunately all of them died many years ago.

>279 rainpebble: Thanks, Belva!

>280 brenpike: Right, Brenda; I saw that yesterday morning, when I checked my Twitter feed on my cell phone. I was disappointed that The Good Muslim didn't win, but I've found that I often don't agree with the judges' choice of the winning book for several of the literary awards that I follow. That's one reason why I prefer to read the shortlist or list of finalists for these awards, as there are usually books that I like better than the chosen ones.

>283 EBT1002: Nope. Seattle women aren't pushy, from what I understand, except for the ones who move there from elsewhere. ;-)

You're having problems finding The Walls of Delhi? I have to assume that you don't have an e-reader. I have the Kindle version, which costs $9.99 on Amazon. I quickly checked my usual online sources (Amazon, AbeBooks, and the Book Depository), and most are offering the print edition in the $25-30+ range, which is more than I would be willing to pay for it.

The Cranswicks 2013 US Tour won't make a stop in Atlanta (per my suggestion), but I plan to see the show live in New Orleans or elsewhere. I only hope that I can afford a ticket and avoid the groupies.

I'm off from work for at least five of the next six days, so I'll have plenty of time to rest up and read. The weather will be nice here the next few days, with seasonable temperatures (low 50s) this weekend, and highs in the upper 60s on Tuesday and Wednesday.

>284 SandDune: I don't think I would have voted for that one (Narcopolis), but I think you liked it a lot more than me, Darryl?

I think so, Rhian, but I think I ranked it in the lower half of the DSC Prize shortlist. Checking...yes, I ranked it fourth, after The Good Muslim, River of Smoke and The Walls of Delhi, and ahead of The Wandering Falcon and Our Lady of Alice Bhatti.

>285 rebeccanyc: You're welcome, Rebecca. I would tend to agree with your choice of A Suitable Boy and Sacred Games for a list of outstanding Indian literature, but I haven't read either book yet.

I think that literature from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh), or books written by authors who are descended from the region, is what I prefer the most. Literature from the UK would be no worse than a close second, though. American literature, unfortunately, would fall toward the bottom of a list of preferred regional literature, although it would rank ahead of Eastern European literature, at least the works written by the most notable current authors from the region (Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller, Ismail Kadare, et al.).

The DSC Prize shortlist is outstanding IMO, with three fabulous books and two very good ones. Given my enjoyment of South Asian literature I'll follow this prize closely from now on.

>286 mckait: Thanks, Kath. I'm sorry that you experienced the same problem, and it sounds as though your injury was considerably worse than mine. Has your shoulder fully healed?

> 288


Looking out at the scene reminded me of the 1963 March on Washington, and my late maternal grandmother, who attend the event and heard MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Wow!

I *loved* being part of inauguration day even though I didn't get to see a thing. I was just proud to be part of the million people who were in attendance in support of our president.

Even when we got to the parade route, I found it impossible to see anything. After waiting one hour to clear security, the entire parade route was already lined up with people 5 to 10 deep. I thought I had a good place to stand except that, every time some official-looking vehicle went by, up went the arms with cameras and I-pads, and my vision of everything in front of me was totally obstructed, save for coat sleeves and electronic gadgets. Once we knew we missed the presidential limousine, my friend and I gave up and went home. She, however, did see the presidential limousine.

That day was good for my weight loss program as I must have walked about three miles. By the following morning, my scale recorded a two-pound weight loss!

One of the things I most loved about the inauguration was seeing the many expressive black faces in the crowd. I remember so many political gatherings in Washington and always wondered why a "black city" should have so little representation in our political marches. Most of them were anti-war marches. I guess people who feel disenfranchised feel as if they lack power. Civil right marches were always a thrill. Jews always took pride in the fact that they marched alongside blacks in standing up for civil rights.

I'll post some inauguration pictures on my thread in a bit, then point you to them.