Women -- by Charles Bukowski

 

In his own way, Charles Bukowski made Women a pretty good read. Frequent explicit sex with numerous partners, the single life in LA of the 1960s, great dialogue, fast-paced content, and fine continuity worked well together.

Bukowski was writing a spicy autobiography, certainly touching numerous emotions that many of us experienced at one time or another. It's OK if he might have made up some of it. He claimed his writing was 93% from his life experiences and some of it you would not likely share with anyone else. But it would likely be another story if such content was how you paid bills, and got through life.

Bukowski and his many ladies lived on the edge. It was the fast life with pills, booze, sex, travel, and liquored-up poetry reading that netted him a few hundred dollars, but he finally made enough from his books and other efforts to retire from that circuit. He didn't care for the readings unless it lead to another escapade and material for more adult content. He also wrote magazine articles.

The various videos about him on the internet are a good companion to Women, and anything else you care to study.

Bukowski could also make one stop to think, and likely empathize with others if not reflect on personal experiences.

"By being with young girls did I hope I wouldn't grow old, feel old? I just didn't want to age badly, simply quit, be dead before death itself arrived," he wrote on p. 74-75.

Bukowski wrote Women in his 50s, and most of his partners were considerably younger.

I could tell you more, but I don't want to spoil it. This book could certainly be good therapy for some people. It would be weird if a reader wasn't stimulated in some way here.

The Boys in the Boat -- by Daniel James Brown

 

It would be difficult to add anything to the already strong acclaim The Boys in the Boat has rightfully received. But I'll try.

Author Daniel James Brown exhibits outstanding milli-second by milli-second rowing race details rivaling and beating some of the best sportswriting ever written. His biographical work on the rowers is as good as any I have ever read, and he captured that Great Depression feeling I learned about from my grandparents extremely well. This University of Washington team in 1936 ran up incredible records on their way to the eventual Olympic Gold in front of Adolph Hitler. Now I am interested in seeing if anyone is going to write about the University of Washington's greatest rival, California, who won three national titles, which they also extended to Olympic Gold in 1928, 1932, and 1948.

If you weren't a team rowing, or crew, fan you probably will be even before finishing this book. I've seen some, including the 2002 Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge in London, but that was long before I read The Boys in the Boat.

There is a good aftertaste here. A reader learns a lot through Brown's obviously titanic effort. I appreciated all the help credits he wrote about. He interviewed one of those boys, Joe Rantz, shortly before his death in 2007, and numerous family members of the other oarsmen.

Brown's ability to capture the intensity of top-level competitive rowing, and the necessary cohesion to win really stood out for me. The wisdom of boatbuilder George Yeoman Pocock is certainly worthy of deeper focus, too. 

Brown included a quote from Pocock at the beginning of each chapter. 

"Where is the spiritual value of rowing? The losing of self entirely to the cooperative effort of the crew as a whole" was the Pocock quote going into Chapter Nineteen.

It's easy to heap praise on a really good book.

However, it was not letter-perfect. One of several videos on YouTube, this one featuring a Pocock family member, points out that George actually spelled his middle name Yeomans. Yeoman was repeated throughout the book. There were also some sentences that seemed to have escaped editing altogether. Extra words were left alone in at least three sentences...

The Last Bookshop In London -- by Madeline Martin

 

Thanks for the escape. Typically, something in a war-torn environment is not an escape from reality, but this one was to a place I once called home. And, the home was a good place to be then.

Author Madeline Martin wrote the historic fiction The Last Bookshop In London from a WWII perspective. For me, the very same neighborhood in Islington was home during graduate studies in 2001-2002 at City University. I could easily picture the scenery with streets like Clerkenwell, Farringdon, and Britton frequently referenced.

I had a bias going to London then. I grew up aware of its well-known historic strength. I was glad I got there early before registration and took several guide-led walking historic tours. 

Martin interwove the functions of books, publishing, the war, loss of life, and many people things in this very nicely done story. Strong emotional tuggings were impossible to ignore. 

It might be a good idea to keep pen and paper handy when reading. She includes a few good references to some older English literature that these fast pages won't allow you much time for. 

As a movie, it would likely be termed a Chick Flick, with a female main character, and in most supporting roles, but it reads so well that might only bother the most sensitive critic. The title bothered me a bit as it seems entirely too many titles overuse the word last. However, the word last is justified very well here.

Some quick online research also supports much of the plot. Numerous book stores on Paternoster Row, near St. Paul's Cathedral, were destroyed by German bombs. Charing Cross Road is where most of London's bookshops are concentrated now. 

The only possible negative for some readers might be the 'It's A Wonderful Life'-type ending. I love that movie and its sentimentality. Obviously, Martin appears to, too. It was difficult to decide where to start a review of The Last Bookshop In London. It covers a lot of ground and could have started a series, or rivaled War And Peace for Length.

That would have been fine with me, said the man who usually advocates the virtues of brevity.

Fair Ball -- by Derek Jeter and Paul Mantell

 

A good fast read in two sittings with plenty of food for thought.

I enjoyed the book, which was a quick dip of nostalgia, reminding me of my Little League days many years ago, and very far away. Time travel is nice.

It was also a seriously interesting look into former Yankee star Derek Jeter's life growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His team won the city LL title one year, and he was a dominant player, much like in his 20 years with the Yankees.

Jeter and writer Paul Mantell teamed up to streamline that early championship year, and his life at school, with friends, and cultural understanding. His parents were racially mixed, which also added some perspective to his largely first-person page-turning story. Much of the story's tension wrapped around Jeter's friendship with the starting pitcher, and their misconceptions.

I wasn't bored, but I found only a couple of words that raised an eyebrow. Only a slight eyebrow raise. I saw plenty of unusual words in my sports writing days, and even though this was Little League baseball it found a little bit of wordplay.

Fair Ball is physically a middle-grade product of Jeter Publishing. 

"Jeter Publishing encompasses adult nonfiction, children's picture books, middle-grade fiction, ready-to-read children's books, and children's books."

Sometimes, it's a good idea to keep reading after the last content page. There is always something to learn.

Behind Nazi Lines -- by Andrew Gerow Hodges, Jr. and Denise George

 

That was a fast run. Behind Nazi Lines is speed reading. Short chapters, flawless writing and editing, and well-spaced content keep the pages turning. Lately, I see a lot more of this. Was Gabo An Irishman? moved along at a similar pace.

Yeah, this was essentially, a war book, but very refreshing in that the focus was on saving lives. Not taking them. 

At first, I thought this book was about 75 percent fact and the rest fiction. The acknowledgments, index, and notes say otherwise. They are worth reading. 

Several of the book's characters held a reunion in Alabama in 2002. Just in time to get interviews with several of the former POWs before they left us for good. There is also a 47-minute documentary -- For One English Officer -- with those interviews. I saw it on YouTube after reading the book. As usual, the book gives you more, but both work well together, too. I read the book in four sittings.

Apparently, prisoner exchanges were not a common practice, or idea, before American Red Cross representative Andrew Gerow Hodges got it going in France in 1944. He was behind three other exchanges before the war ended.

I found this gem almost by accident, or instinct, turning into the books aisle at Walmart. I had some preconceived ideas about it, and almost didn't read it, but decided not to totally waste my $9.24. It was no waste at all. I learned some things both in content, and book production. I might ask about similar production if and when my works in progress become full-fledged books. 

My journalism days taught me the value of word efficiency and Behind Nazi Lines re-emphasized it. I'm in my 60s and believe my college days are behind me, but if it were possible to take a writing or publishing course from co-author Denise George I would seriously look at it.

Diamond -- Baseball Writings of Mark Harris

 

Diamond -- Baseball Writings of Mark Harris is a very good, entertaining, and thought-provoking anthology of his in-depth feature writing over the years. Harris was both a journalist and academic until his passing in 2007. He also worked as a screenwriter, giving us Bang The Drum Slowly, starring Robert DiNiro in the movie adaptation. That screenplay is included here in Diamond.

Harris was never the daily beat reporter, chasing Major League teams all over the country. His writing could be compared to a specialist or a marksman. His stories, several of which appeared in Sports Illustrated, went past what the average fan would see from a stadium seat or television.

His stories here take you back to the early days of the Pete Rose gambling scandal eyeing the various sides of the issues. He also wrote about the tragic death of Cleveland Indians player Ray Chapman from a pitch from Yankee pitcher Carl Mays in 1920. Chapman died after the game in a Cleveland hospital. His pregnant wife died a few years later from suicide. Their daughter died at age 8 from measles.

Another cheerier story revolved around fictitious San Francisco Giants fans in various well-known parts of the city offering their opinions on the team after a 10-11 road trip while trying to hang onto a chance to win their division. You would seriously appreciate it you've ever spent any time there.

I didn't read it straight through. I skipped around, seeking to rekindle some of the writing I learned years ago when SI was counting on a large group of freelancers for top, and on deadline, great stories. Some readers would consider books like this a collector's item. I do.