Thursday, October 31, 2013

Book Beginnings: Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING



Barefoot, I've walked this path by night for nearly twenty years, most of my life it seems, the earth pressing up against the arch of my foot.

-- Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer (OSU Press), winner of the John Burroughs Medal Award for Natural History Writing.

Gathering Moss is a series of personal essays by scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, who spent years studying mosses all over the world. Drawing as much on her Native American heritage and experiences as a mother as on science, Kimmerer explains how mosses live and uses the history and interconnectedness of moss as a metaphor for living in the world.

I want to use more moss in my own garden, so am reading this for practical advice as well as inspiration.  So far, it reminds me a lot of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but without so many bugs.

Five Faves: Non-Fiction Francophile Books


There are times when a full-sized book list is just too much; when the Top 100, a Big Read, or all the Prize winners seem like too daunting an effort. That's when a short little list of books grouped by theme may be just the ticket.

Inspired by Nancy Pearl's "Companion Reads" chapter in Book Lust – themed clusters of books on subjects as diverse as Bigfoot and Vietnam – I decided to start occasionally posting lists of five books grouped by topic or theme. I call these posts my Five Faves.

Feel free to grab the button and play along.  Use today's theme or come up with your own.  If you post about it, please link back to here and leave the link to your post in a comment.  If you want to participate but don't have a blog or don't feel like posting, please share your list in a comment.

FIVE FAVE NONFICTION FRANCOPHILE BOOKS

For this, my inaugural Five Fave post, I have five of my favorite nonfiction books about France. This is a mix of classic food writing, contemporary advice, history, and memoir by non-natives who enjoy France.

What are your favorite nonfiction books celebrating France or all things French? I keep a French Connections list and am always looking for additions!

Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A.J. Liebling

Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier (reviewed here)

The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here)

My Life in France by Julia Child (reviewed here)

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle






Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: Breaking Chains by R. Gregory Nokes




After granting territorial status to Oregon, Congress followed up on September 27, 1850, by enacting the Donation Land Act that offered free land in Oregon to white settlers and so-called "half-breeds," persons with mixed blood and at least 50 percent white. It excluded blacks, Hawaiians, Native Americans, and Asians.
 
-- Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory by R. Gregory Nokes. 


In his new book, Breaking Chains, former journalist Gregory Nokes uses the 1853 civil trial of a former slave against his Oregon owner as the frame for a broader look at slavery and racism in the American West. As the above passage shows, racism was built into the framework of the Oregon Territory. Nokes examines how that legacy played out in Pacific Northwest history.

Nokes is a former journalist and the author of Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon (reviewed here), the highly readable account of 34 Chinese gold miners murdered in Hell's Canyon in1887.  There is a new documentary, also called Massacred for Gold, based on the book (watch the trailer here).




Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Mailbox Monday: Cupcakes and Party Ideas from Sasquatch Books


Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Book Dragon's Lair is hosting in October.  Please stop by this friendly blog to find reviews and recommendations for your next fantasy novel, cozy mystery, romantic suspense, or who knows . . . .

I got one fabulous new book last week, from Sasquatch Books.



Trophy Cupcakes & Parties! Deliciously Fun Party Ideas and Recipes from Seattle's Prize-Winning Cupcake Bakery by Jennifer Shea, photographs by Rena Jordan.

This lush new books shows what kind of fun you can have when you combine cupcakes with crafts, color schemes, and cocktails.  It's an adult guide to theme parties and has Perfect Girlfriend Gift written all over it.

Sasquatch Books is turning out some great books -- interesting, gorgeous, and well-made.  They are giving Chronicle Books real competition.

I am putting this up on Sunday so I can post it in Weekend Cooking.

WEEKEND COOKING



Thursday, October 24, 2013

Book Beginnings: Breaking Chains by Gregory Nokes


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader now has a Facebook page. I plan to post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it, or click the button over there in the right hand column.  I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING




There are two versions of how Robin and Polly Holmes, both Missouri slaves, came to Oregon. One, told by Robin Holmes, is that his owner, Nathaniel Ford, persuaded him to come in exchange for his freedom. The other, told by Ford descendants, is that Holmes begged to come and Ford brought Holmes – and Holmes' wife and children – against his better judgment.
 
-- Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory by R. Gregory Nokes. 

Breaking Chains is the story of Robin Holmes' 1853 trial against his former owner Nathaniel Ford for breaking his promise to free him and his family in exchange for getting Ford's Oregon farm up and running.  Nokes uses the story of the Holmes family to explore how the issues of slavery and racism played out in the American West.

Nokes is a former journalist and the author of Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon (reviewed here), the highly readable account of 34 Chinese gold miners murdered in Hell's Canyon in1887.  There is a new documentary, also called Massacred for Gold, based on the book (watch the trailer here).

Rose City Reader Jumps on the Facebook Bandwagon!


Rose City Reader finally has a Facebook fan page!

You can now find this blog on Facebook as Rose City Reader Book Blog. Please "Like" the page, either by visiting it here and clicking the Like link, or by clicking the Like box over there in the right hand column.

I have had a Facebook professional page (Gilion Dumas, Attorney) for a while now, but put off making a fan page for my blog because it felt like one more social media obligation.  But I use Facebook myself, way more than twitter or google+, so I figured I would actually use my Facebook page to connect with my own favorite book bloggers.

OTHER BLOGGERS:  If you have a Facebook fan page of your own, please let me know. I am happy to Like you back!  I'll do the same for your business or professional pages if you Like my attorney page. Let's connect!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Review Re-Run: Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger

NOTE

Reading The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese by Kathe Lison got me thinking about this Au Revoir book.  This is a re-posting of a review I first posted back in September 2009.



For years, wine writer and ardent Francophile Michael Steinberger ignored the doomsayers trying to hang crepe on France’s gastronomic culture. He dismissed out of hand a 1997 New Yorker article with the interrogatory headline, “Is There a Crisis in French Cooking?” He refused to consider the emergence of super star Spanish chefs and their la Nueva Cucina as a real threat to France’s dominance in the kitchen. And he discounted his own sub-par dining experiences as well as the accelerating death rate of France’s restaurants, closing by the hundreds each year.

But, eventually, the totality of the evidence overwhelmed his denial. The “snails fell from [his] eyes,” he explains, after a particularly bad lunch at his favorite Parisian restaurant. His “adored institution” had changed, replacing its classic dishes with a dumbed-down menu and the equally classic waitresses with “bumbling androids.” The experience forced him to consider the unthinkable idea that French cuisine might really be in trouble. He decided to find out for himself.

In Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France, Steinberger opens the cupboards of France’s culinary heritage and makes a compelling case for how and why the situation looks so bleak. Topics he examines include chefs who leave the kitchen and toque behind for the boardroom and business suit; the economic and bureaucratic quagmire sucking down French restaurants and associated businesses; competition from innovative Spanish, British, and American chefs; France’s wholehearted embrace of fast food and willing abandonment of culinary tradition; the mess of the Michelin star system; the mess of the wine appellation system; the demise of handcrafted cheese and lack of support for other artisan producers; and the general malaise of the French public who seem not to notice or care that their fabled cuisine may soon be a thing of the past.

Steinberger did his research. He interviewed star chefs, rising stars, falling stars, restaurateurs, wine makers, wine merchants, cheese makers, and PR flaks. He visited restaurants, wineries, and farms; eating, drinking, and listening his way through the French culinary scene. He amassed a staggering mountain of statistics. And then he turned these raw ingredients into captivating vignettes that tell a story so much bigger than the sum of all these parts.

For instance, it is interesting to learn that 90 percent of the Camembert cheese made in France is made from pasteurized milk by industrialized producers. But it is absolutely fascinating to read Steinberger’s story about visiting François Durand at his dairy farm outside the virtually extinct hamlet of Camembert. Here in Normandy, in the legendary birthplace of France’s most famous cheese, there are only seven producers left who make raw-milk Camembert. Of these, Durand is the last one who makes cheese by hand, using only milk produced from his own cows. The only one? How can that be? Stories like this one of a lonely cheese maker ladling milk in his barn put a face on the problems Steinberger seeks to explain.

But Steinberger does more than string together individual snapshots. He uses stories like Durand’s to illustrate the larger problems -- including French social attitudes and politics -- threatening French cooking. For example, sticking with the cheese theme, Steinberger questions why there is not greater demand for products made by masters like Durand; why the French seem content with industrialized, bland, plastic-like cheese. He compares Durand’s constant struggle to make a living selling hand crafted cheese at the same price of supermarket, machine-made cheese with artisanal cheese makers in America. Why, he wonders, do Paris chefs not drive two hours to buy Durand’s superior product, like New York chefs are wont to do? Why do rich French yuppies not retire to the French countryside and start making their own fancy cheese, like so many urban refugees in America have done? The answer, he decides, is in the French outlook:

[T]hat sort of thing wasn’t likely to happen here in France; here, your chosen career, your métier, was considered your station for life, and you definitely did not give up a well-paying job in Paris to go milk cows in Normandy.
Steinberger blames the French government as much as societal ennui for the culinary crisis. He offers example after example of how politics and excessive regulation are crushing France’s food industry. These examples range from irritating regulatory details, such as a new rule prohibiting wine merchants from displaying “AOC” (premium) wines next to more ordinary vins de pays wines; to onerous laws such as the 19.6% value added tax on restaurant meals; to the biggest political issue of all, the economic legacy of François Mitterand’s socialist policies, which eroded the standard of living for ordinary citizens (left with shorter work weeks and more vacation, but stagnant wages and high inflation) and bled the country of talent as hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs (including chefs) left for more promising markets.

Steinberger is no libertarian zealot. His political conclusions are based, not on partisan ideology, but on his first-hand observations and discussions with the people trying cook and run culinary businesses in France. It does him credit that he does not shy away from these bigger issues. His clear-eyed approach allows him to provide a comprehensive picture of his subject matter.

Which is not to say that his chosen subject matter is comprehensive. Where the book falls short is in not providing a fuller picture of the current state of French cooking. With the exception of Durand’s cheese making, Steinberger limits his scope to restaurants and, to a lesser extent, wine makers. Discussion of other parts of the French gastronomic scene is missing, such as the state of home cooking in France, the condition of farmers (other than grape growers), and the popularity of food trends like “eating local,” farmers markets, and cooking shows. But this is small criticism, based mostly on wanting more of Steinberger’s keen observation and lively writing.

With luck, and hard work, maybe France can reinvigorate its culinary reputation and Steinberger will write another terrific book about the comeback.





Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: Elegy for April by Benjamin Black



He was smiling now but there was a glitter to his smile and the sharp tip of an eyetooth showed for a second at the side. He was jealous of Patrick Ojukwu; all the men in their circle were jealous of Patrick, nicknamed the Prince.

-- Elegy for April by Benjamin Black (aka John Banville).  This is the third book in Black's Quirke series, set in the damp and gritty Dublin of the 1950s, featuring the moody and hard drinking Quirke, a consulting pathologist, amateur sleuth, and tortured soul.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Mailbox Monday: Breaking Chains and Gathering Moss


Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Book Dragon's Lair is hosting in October.  Please stop by this friendly blog to find reviews and recommendations for your next fantasy novel, cozy mystery, romantic suspense, or who knows . . . .

I got two books from OSU Press last week:



Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory by R. Gregory Nokes.  Nokes is a former journalist and the author of Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon (reviewed here), the highly readable account of 34 Chinese gold miners murdered in Hell's Canyon in1887.  There is a new documentary, also called Massacred for Gold, based on the book (watch the trailer here).

Now, in Breaking Chains, Nokes turns his attention to a little-remembered 1853 trial brought by a former black slave against his Oregon owner for breaching his promise to release the man, his wife, and their two children.  Nokes uses the pre-Civil War trial to examine the historical context for racism in the West.  The book is already generating buzz and looks terrific.



Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  This may not be as rip-roaring a read as accounts of slave trials or gold-mining murders, but I've had my eye on it for a long time and am very excited to get a copy.  The author won the John Burroughs Medal Award for Natural History Writing for Gathering Moss.

I plan to read it for inspiration and practical guidance in making my own moss garden.  Moss is the rule in Portland, not the exception, but every time I visit the Japanese Garden (below), I am motivated to be more deliberate in my use of moss as an intentional part of my landscaping.



Thursday, October 17, 2013

Book Beginnings: The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING





“Five hundred guineas!” said Mor’s wife. “Well I never!”


-- The Sandcastle (1957) by Iris Murdoch.  This is Murdoch's third novel.  It is the story of an unhappily married schoolteacher whose life is disrupted when a young artist comes to paint a portrait of the former headmaster.  It doesn't really matter what the story is, I always love Murdoch' s novels.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: Cold by Stella Cameron



He took that bag from a manila envelope and gave it to Leonard who took it as he might a grenade minus its pin.  O'Reilly sat on the edge of a chair that brought their knees close.
-- Cold by Stella Cameron Cold introduces amateur sleuth Alex Duggins in what will hopefully be a long series.  Alex has returned to her Cotswold village after her high-flying London marriage fell apart.  She bought the local pub and a big stone house in the hills.  But she also found a dead body half-frozen in the woods . . .

I haven't read Cameron's other books, but this one is terrific.  I am almost finished and hate to put it down.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

You can't outrun the past... ...and tripping over a frosted corpse is a complication that could destroy Alex Duggins' attempt to restart her life. The discovery of a murder victim threatens to unearth some old secrets, including her own. As the tiny town of Folly-on-Weir braces for a chilling winter and snow blankets Britain's Cotswold Hills, a killer faces a deadline. A terrible crime was believed to be safely hidden, but time and conscience can wear on a secret. The clock ticks and with the police breathing down her neck, Alex knows she's at the top of the suspect list. Desperate to clear her name and find the real murderer she begins to peel back the layers of deception that have long-concealed one of the town's darkest secrets. But time is also running out for a killer who has nothing left to lose. What's one more murder? Someone intends that Alex will be the next snow-covered body found in the beautiful hills above the town.




Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Mailbox Monday


Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Book Dragon's Lair is hosting in October.  Please stop by this friendly blog to find reviews and recommendations for your next fantasy novel, cozy mystery, romantic suspense, or who knows . . . .

One of the best things about living in Portland is Powell's Books and I am particularly lucky in that my office is a short 15 minute walk away.  On a lunchtime walk the other day, I did a quick swing through the famous City of Books and found a few, no surprise.



Without My Cloak by Kate O'Brien.  This won the James Tait Black Prize back in 1931.  I'm working my way through this list, so was excited to find a reprint.



Venusberg and Agents & Patients.  Anthony Powell (no relation to Powell's City of Books) is a favorite author of mine. I already have a copy of Venusberg, but loved the cover on this duel edition (the first American edition of both).



Faces in My Time, Vol. III of the memoirs of Anthony Powell.  I have the first two volumes and have been looking for these last two.



The Strangers Are All Gone, Vo. IV of the memoirs of Anthony Powell. 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Book Beginnings: Cold by Stella Cameron


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING



How long had it taken to change a life forever?

-- Cold by Stella Cameron.  This is the first book in a new series of English mysteries featuring Alex Duggins. I haven't read Cameron's other books, but this one looks right up my alley. I can't wait to dive into it.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

You can't outrun the past... ...and tripping over a frosted corpse is a complication that could destroy Alex Duggins' attempt to restart her life. The discovery of a murder victim threatens to unearth some old secrets, including her own. As the tiny town of Folly-on-Weir braces for a chilling winter and snow blankets Britain's Cotswold Hills, a killer faces a deadline. A terrible crime was believed to be safely hidden, but time and conscience can wear on a secret. The clock ticks and with the police breathing down her neck, Alex knows she's at the top of the suspect list. Desperate to clear her name and find the real murderer she begins to peel back the layers of deception that have long-concealed one of the town's darkest secrets. But time is also running out for a killer who has nothing left to lose. What's one more murder? Someone intends that Alex will be the next snow-covered body found in the beautiful hills above the town.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: The Great Leader by Jim Harrison




They quickly loaded her small tacklebox, two spinning rods, and the picnic hamper. She was so effervescent that it verged on playacting and he cautioned himself in his haze against looking for something wrong rather than right.

-- The Great Leader by Jim Harrison.  This is a good example of Harrison's prose, because it touches on his favorite themes -- fishing, eating, and sex -- and uses words that are out of the ordinary enough to catch your attention (effervescent and playacting) without being pretentious. 

I'm a big Jim Harrison fan and always enjoy his novels, novellas, essays, and memoirs.  His latest books, The Farmer's Daughter (reviewed here) and The English Major (reviewed here) didn't light me up the way his earlier books did.  I don't know if it is because I'm getting older or Harrison is.  But I still enjoy reading whatever he writes.






Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Mailbox Monday


Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Book Dragon's Lair is hosting in October.  Please stop by this friendly blog to find reviews and recommendations for your next fantasy novel, cozy mystery, romantic suspense, or who knows . . . .

One book came into my house last week.  It is a new mystery set in the Cotswolds in England.  It looks terrific and I plan to get right to it, even though I normally let books percolate on my TBRF shelves for years.




Cold by Stella Cameron.  This is the first book in a new series of English mysteries featuring Alex Duggins. I haven't read Cameron's other books, but the description of this one has everything I like.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

You can't outrun the past... ...and tripping over a frosted corpse is a complication that could destroy Alex Duggins' attempt to restart her life. The discovery of a murder victim threatens to unearth some old secrets, including her own. As the tiny town of Folly-on-Weir braces for a chilling winter and snow blankets Britain's Cotswold Hills, a killer faces a deadline. A terrible crime was believed to be safely hidden, but time and conscience can wear on a secret. The clock ticks and with the police breathing down her neck, Alex knows she's at the top of the suspect list. Desperate to clear her name and find the real murderer she begins to peel back the layers of deception that have long-concealed one of the town's darkest secrets. But time is also running out for a killer who has nothing left to lose. What's one more murder? Someone intends that Alex will be the next snow-covered body found in the beautiful hills above the town.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Book Beginnings on Friday: The Great Leader by Jim Harrison


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING



Detective Sunderson walked backward on the beach glancing around now and then to make sure he wasn't going to trip over a piece of driftwood.

-- The Great Leader by Jim Harrison.  This is Harrison's latest novel, the story of a retired (just) Michigan State Police detective tracking a cult leader on the lam for child abuse charges.  The "mystery" plot is secondary to typical Harrison musings on age, sex, and the natural world.  

I'm a big Jim Harrison fan and always enjoy his prose -- novels, novellas, essay, and memoir.  His latest books, The Farmer's Daughter (reviewed here) and The English Major (reviewed here) didn't light me up the way his earlier books did.  I don't know if it is because I'm getting older or Harrison is.  But I still enjoy reading whatever he writes.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Review: Parachutes & Kisses by Erica Jong





Parachutes & Kisses is the third book in Erica Jong's Isadora Wing trilogy that started with the terrifically good Fear of Flying (noted here) and How to Save Your Own Life (reviewed here).  I ate up the first one, really liked the second one, and am cool on this third one.  The writing is magnificent, but Isadora as an emotionally whirling divorcee is a less likeable and occasionally tedious, as she juggles multiple lovers, grieves the death of her marriage, and tries to talk her ex-husband into returning.

The best thing going in this book is Jong’s unabashed homage to her literary heroes, including Cheever, Roth, Bellow, Updike, Keats, Henry Miller, and Colette.  I was struck by the idea that this was her “Updike” book the way Fear of Flying was a “Roth” book and How to Save Your Own Life was a “Miller” book.  This story of bed hopping in the Connecticut suburbs is the female version of so many John Updike novels.  She even ends with an (acknowledged) appropriation of Henry Bech’s cultural exchange trip to Soviet Russia.

Although crowded with sex scenes (one that actually nauseated me), Jong’s literary reflections and several exemplary passages redeemed the book, but just.  For example:

Isadora’s generation is middle-aged. . . . They have reached the age where they meet their new lovers at A.A.; the age where some of their friends are addicts, some of the friends are bankrupt, and some other friends are dead; where their children want real horses, not toy ones, and where they no longer worry about their own pregnancies but about their daughters’.

That kind of dense summing up that crams together so many details and ideas is why I read Erica Jong.  At her best, she is right up there in the American fiction pantheon.  I would not recommend Parachutes & Kisses as a standalone novel, but for readers who loved Isadora Wing in the earlier books, there is something to be gained by finishing the trilogy.

OTHER REVIEWS

My review of How to Save Your Own Life
My review of Bech: A Book by John Updike
My review of Serenissima by Erica Jong

If you would like your review of Parachutes & Kisses or any other Erica Jong book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: Pacific Northwest Cheese: A History by Tami Parr



Although many artisan cheesemakers of this era learned to make cheese by trial and error, Pierre Kolisch, a former attorney, learned to make cheese by studying cheesemaking in France for two years . . . .  Kolisch then returned to his native Oregon, purchased five acres in the central Oregon town of Redmond, acquired goats, and started Juniper Grove Farm in 1987.
-- Pacific Northwest Cheese: A History by Tami Parr.  Mmmmmmm . . . Juniper Grove is one of my favorites.

Pacific Northwest Cheese is an entertaining new history of regional cheesemaking.  Tami Parr uses the stories of local cheesemakers and industry innovations to describe the early days and development of the cheese business in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Parr is the author of Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest and the creator of the Pacific Northwest cheese project.





Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.