kurtwombat's reviews
890 reviews

The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson

5.0

Walt Longmire, the main character of Craig Johnson's THE DARK HORSE, is very much a native of the Wyoming environs where he serves as a county Sheriff but at the same time, it is gradually revealed at a Wyoming pace that he is emerging from a place of pain and isolation. Also emerging is that the sources of his strength are also the fountainheads of his pain--family, the land and his job. The book creates a beautiful sense of place..even now a couple weeks after finishing the book I can still see the mesas and valleys and the dusty timeworn trails that join them to a degree that I can feel the grit of the land on my teeth. While the land is permanent it is not unchanging and that applies to his family as well. His parents are gone, as is his wife and soon his daughter is getting married. He is powerless against those changes so he runs to his job that with age has it's own uncertainties. The mystery at the center of this book would be entertaining in it's own right without all the marvelous textures applied throughout. The story revolves around the wife of a murdered rancher who admits that she killed her husband--Longmire thinks she is innocent and they might both be right. The term "dark horse" is described in the book as an outside or at least an unknown character that comes on as a surprise. This applies to Walt who is kind of lazily undercover throughout the book, but also many other characters who are not what they seem including some horses that are depicted vividly without making them cute or almost human. The real "dark horse" though is likely death, which hovers over the characters often in the form of loss. Eventually we lose everything and the trick is finding out what we need most and how to hold onto it as long as we can. That search pervades the book as well for many of the characters but especially for Longmire. Among the well drawn characters, the most fun is Longmire's Deputy Victoria...but don't call her that. She is also one of the highlights of the A&E TV series LONGMIRE based on this and other books in Johnson's series. Quite well done, the show created my interest in the books. Both are definitely worth a look.

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson

3.0

The storm was monumentally devastating...but it needn't have been. Eric Larson's account of the hurricane that devastated the offshore Texas town of Galveston is well done and quite readable. Like any drama, it is most appealing when the rubber hits the road, or in this case during the actual destruction of Galveston. Larson's recreations of the first person experiences of the storm are done in riveting fashion. Some of the images planted in my mind's eye will stay with me always. The blow by blow descriptions of the storm, the inhabitants of Galveston and the swirling water and debris wrench the heart. The storm is tracked across the Atlantic though when the technical structure of the storm is discussed, it bogged down the narrative. I became frustrated that I didn't understand the mechanics as well as I wanted to--a lot of information was crammed into a small space and not allowed to breath. The unfolding of the politics of weather forecasting, however, was done quite well. The mixture of insight and misinformation that informs any new field of knowledge contributed to American forecasters leaving Galveston unprepared. The title of the book refers to a regional weather man almost swallowed by the storm who should have known better but allowed his superiors to hold sway over his common sense. Exactly why it is considered his storm is only driven home at the end. What should have been a stronger central theme was played with but never driven home until the end of the book. There were some secondary characters introduced unnecessarily to heighten the tragedy of the storm--they diluted and confused the action. On the whole, quite enjoyable as history and mass tragedy but a misstep in really delivering the person of Isaac behind the title.

The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes

5.0

Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson have fantastic names but are utterly believable as is every wonderful word of Chester Himes THE REAL COOL KILLERS. Their interplay based on mutual respect and a shared understanding of the world around them makes opening any of their stories worthwhile. The patois of the streets and the bitter resignation of those who patrol a world largely outside the dominant white culture (though often subject to it's whims and desires) gives this book and much of Himes writing a pulse to pop and lungs to breath with. Even characters that appear for only a few lines beg to be followed into their own lives. Amazing that I want to know more about everyone who comes into the light of the narrative. The action moves around Harlem in such a fashion that it becomes a character too. In fact so vividly, that I printed up a map of Harlem to follow the action. Even the shadows had as much substance as the keypad I'm typing on. Contained almost entirely in one evening, the story never stops moving and the pressure steadily increases until an explosive ending is unavoidable. But there is never really a resolution--no tidy ending. Johnson and Jones are doing their job. Often they come across people who deserve to be stood up and knocked down, but it never makes those people less tragic. So much is wasted in Harlem except for Himes words that describe the tragic beauty of it all.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

5.0

Author Jean-Dominique Bauby died just two days after the publication of his book THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY. The reader is told this up front to erase any thoughts of a happy ending and to force the reader to appreciate the amazing achievements inherent in every carefully chosen word. Success is not calibrated by what we achieve or what we gain materially but by how much we retain of who we are when everything else is taken away. The author suffered a massive stroke that left his mind intact but took away most of his body. That body, the heavy leaden and lifeless diving bell, and his mind the beautiful butterfly in flight--one trapped inside the other and inseparable. Writing anything is difficult. Facing a blank white sheet is daunting. Imagine if your entire world was that blank sheet and you had to fill it every day with your own wit and imagination. The author's restless mind is writing all the time whether conjuring up the vivid details of meals he can no longer enjoy or recalling opportunities missed because he took so much of life for granted. Despite the awkward dictation tool of only being able to use one blinking eye, the swift beauty of his prose caresses the page like a gentle stream we know will dwindle to nothing all too soon. As I drifted with his thoughts, I remembered other books that gave me a similar feeling of beauty and isolation...John Baley's ELEGY FOR IRIS, Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, Kate Chopin's THE AWAKENING, Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, and Margaret Atwood's SURFACING. All worth your time.

Abstract City by Christoph Niemann

4.0

We all take in life as we live, it's how we let it out again that shows who we are. For Christoph Niemann, his life comes out through his graphic design influenced art work. Much of the unique work that appears in his book ABSTRACT CITY originally appeared as part of his visual blog for the New York Times. Working like visual essays accompanied by modest text, each is a treat presenting relatable moments from everyday life in formats that recall catalogs or training manuals. Often silly but always creative, Niemann's art utilizes disparate art forms to convey his ideas the elements of which usually relate specifically to what he is talking about. For example, relating his personal history with coffee through a series of drawings on coffee stained napkins or lamenting how electrical cords complicate our lives through art using actual wires. Since much of my childhood involved creating my own world while playing with Legos, I particularly appreciated Niemann's using the multi colored plastic blocks to represent what it's like to life in New York, entitled--I LEGO NY. It's tempting to breeze through the book but I found myself dipping back into previous essays. As I experienced each new art format, I appreciated the ones before even more.

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre

4.0

Contemplating the stirs and eddies of history, it's easy to assume inevitable the currents that carried events one way or another. That Hitler's reach exceeded his grasp seems obvious now but had he been afforded a little more time, advancements in his nuclear program and the implementation of his V-2 rockets might have dramatically changed the course of things. Time is largely why the D-Day landing at Normandy became the hinge upon which the history of the 20th century swung. Should it have failed, the Allied cause might have been stalled for years. Among the many factors that contributed to the ultimate success of the landings was the use of spies to pepper the German intelligence command with half-truths and outright deceit. Virtually every spy the Germans sent to England was either killed, captured or turned. It is those who were turned who are the focus Ben Macintyre's DOUBLE CROSS a very well done real life spy thriller that I enjoyed more for the spies than the thrills. The origins, motivations and dubious characters of the central group of spies is all unfolded quite well and captivated me for the first half of the book. Each uniquely skilled and monstrously flawed double agent was so self absorbed that the thought of actually being caught was unimaginable. Recreated here with a deft hand for detail, I was quite often surprised by the turns each spy's life took. The book balances the stories of the spies with their British MI5 handlers who on good days had to satisfy diva spies and on bad days had to worry about being triple crossed and all their work vanishing in a sudden flash. As much as I enjoyed the first half of the book, there is a significant portion just past midway where the book seems to be treading water--as if the author were determined to get every bit of research into the book at the expense of momentum. The pace picks up again once the D-Day landing is underway and all the double agent's efforts are aimed in the same direction. As with any spy story, it is often difficult to directly link cause A with effect B, which does make some of the payoff from the spies activities a tad tepid, but generally there seems to be enough justification to credit the double agents with at least making the D-Day landing easier and possibly with making the landing possible at all.

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar by Harvey Pekar

5.0

I was blessed to discover Harvey Pekar on LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN back in the 1980’s. He shambled out on stage, plopped into the guest seat and would not sit still. Agitated and annoyed, his intense eyes would flare and his coarse tongue flame in response to Letterman’s show biz BS. I viewed Letterman differently after that. Pekar had a way during those interviews of cutting straight to life’s bone—refusing to play along with the game of shallow presentations that most of TV is. I loved Letterman back then and still like him today, but watching Pekar fight to remain himself amidst the high show biz gloss seemed to pull back the curtain and reveal that TV was not life but a puppet show instead. And Pekar would not have his strings pulled by anyone even at the risk of damaging his career.

This same battle can be seen on every page of AMERICAN SPLENDOR. It would be very easy to read a story or two of Pekar’s and come away unimpressed. Often sparsely worded and little action to speak of, most of the stories feel like overheard conversations or those thoughts that make us pause a moment before stepping back into the usual rhythms. These are moments that question who we are and what we really want or how much our day to day lives are costing us. There is humor in his work, not all irritated gloom. Though I can’t say I laughed, I did quite often smile recognizing the truth of the life sprawled out before me. Even when the stories are gloomy and seemingly lacking in hope, there is a tough minded perseverance by the author that rarely fails to inspire. During his career, Pekar’s work was illustrated by several different artists—most famously by R. Crumb. The switching up of artists from story to story adds to the power of the work, giving the sense of jumping around inside Pekar’s mind—denying any quality of linear thinking having a singular illustrator might imply. As I mentioned, one or two stories might not impress you but each story adds wattage to the bulb so that by the time you reach the end there is a bright light indeed.

Swag by Elmore Leonard

4.0

Sharp, taut and deceptive describe Elmore Leonard’s SWAG. The story follows a pair of seemingly mismatched hold up men who convince themselves that a cool hand and a businesslike approach to robbing liquor stores and supermarkets, complete with idiot proof guidelines, can lead to a steady influx of cash and the good life. And throughout much of the book, life makes nice and their strategy pays off handsomely. Leonard follows the characters but does not really reveal them. They settle into their new lifestyle without much reflection. Along with the characters, the reader is lulled into that same comfort zone. At one point I realized that I too had stopped looking beyond the next robbery. Then the opportunity for something bigger comes along. This is when the business façade falls away and Leonard pumps blood into his characters. The main characters break from their relative safe path stepping up among people they only think they know. The supporting characters stop floating about the periphery and land with heavy feet. Everyone becomes more alive. More threatening. And certainly a whole lot more interesting. The last third of the book, after Leonard deftly shifts gears, leaps almost out of the readers hands.

Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas

3.0

I have wanted to try a selection from the HARD CASE CRIME pulp novel series for most of the decade that they have been around. For the uninitiated, this imprint created in 2004 prints new (including the most recent entry by Stephen King) and reprints classic examples of crime thrillers ( so far including Lawrence Block, Earl Stanley Gardner, Donald Westlake, Ed McBain & Harlan Ellison. My first foray into the series was LITTLE GIRL LOST by Richard Aleas who created the imprint. The story moves well and is fairly well populated with interesting characters. The main character is of course a detective but unlike most novels of this genre where virtually everyone is world weary, Aleas’ PI John Blake is still wet behind the ears. His lack of experience is why he takes on a case that more than likely will just lead to heartache. His relative youth allows for the reader and the detective to learn certain life lessons together as the plot unspools. This was played with at first but was not followed up with very successfully the rest of the way. The plot has sufficient twists and turns to keep the pages turning but about half way through I knew who the killer was. Was kinda waiting around to see how the situation would be wrapped up. Some similarity to a classic, THE MALTESE FALCON. On the whole it was a solid read but it wasn’t always the story that drew me back. Sometimes it was just the feel of the book and the lurid quality to the cover. The HARD CASE CRIME series creates original pulp inspired art for the covers…art work that I relish. Even the shape of the book seems smaller on the whole than other paperbacks…a reminder of the basic blue collar ready to discard nature of the books the series wishes to emulate. I will be collecting new covers.

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

4.0

I am delighted that KENNY & THE DRAGON by Tony Diterlizzi happened to fall into my lap. Not in the habit of reading fantasy aimed at a younger market, there is certainly something in the cover illustration that catches the eye and the heart just a little bit. A definite childish glee inhabits the features of Kenny Rabbit and Grahame Dragon as they race along a country road. The illustrations that pepper the length of the book capture the characters comfortably living their lives and are more like etchings that give the book an elegant timeless quality. While aimed at children, there is a classical allusion to St. George & the dragon as well as Grahame dropping Elizabethan bon mots here and there encouraging children just a little to think beyond what they might be used to. The story involves the classic children’s story trope of the importance of friendship, but does so in a fresh way. Kenny is a bit of a loner and really only has two friends—both of whom he bonds with through reading. When during the course of events his two friends are forced to face each other on the field of battle, one friend being a dragon and the other a retired knight, Kenny uses his love of reading to imagine a way out of their predicament. It is a slight tale but one told with a warm and gentle touch.