More Gladwell

Blink:  The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, an admirable follow-up to Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point (see August 24 entry), is an engaging analysis of human cognition.  In Blink, Gladwell presents the idea of "thin-slicers"--that is, individuals who make instantaneous judgments and decisions about other people and situations.  He provides numerous examples to demonstrate how this sort of decision making is often more intuitive and more accurate than that which which has been researched and analyzed.  For example, he presents the story of a fake Kouros (an ancient Greek sculpture) which deceived one team of art experts who'd spent months studying it; or a psychologist who can determine with 95% accuracy whether a married couple will divorce simply by watching an hour-long video of them engaging in conversation.  The engrossing examples go on and on--some of them demonstrating the positive power of thin-slicing, while others demonstrate its potential flaws.  As usual, Gladwell flawlessly connects all of these examples to build a clear argument that's socially and culturally relevant. 

A "Must-Do" Exercise DVD

When I first started this blog, I never considered that I'd make recommendations for workout videos.  But here I go:  if you like a fast-paced, motivating exercise, then you must check-out Jillian Michael's newest DVD:  Shred-It With Weights.  The DVD includes two 30 minute leveled workouts which fly by, despite their difficulty.  As with her other DVDs, Jillian creates routines in circuits that involve weights, cardio and abs.  What's different here is her incorporation of a kettlebell in place of regular hand weights (though you can easily substitute hand weights in place of the kettlebell).  There's a lot of swinging and squatting that also lend to the unique feel of this DVD (and, consequently, the unique pain my thighs felt the morning after my first use of the video!).  If you like to be challenged, this workout's for you.

Tipped On Reading Gladwell

Do you ever feel as though every one you know has read particular book except you?  This is the case for me with Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point:  How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference (2000).  Somehow, Gladwell's book slipped into conversation at various points with several of my friends throughout the past 10 years; but it wasn't until this summer when my pedicurist, of all people, shared her enthusiasm for the book that I felt compelled to pick it up.  I'm so glad I did. 

Gladwell perhaps best describes his book as an "intellectual adventure story" that uses popular examples (Hush Puppy Shoes, Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, Paul Revere, and more) to illustrate how phenomenons "tip" from insignificance to relevance and popularity.  The result is a fascinating thesis, made even better by Gladwell's strong mind and clear writing.  He's a natural at building cases and writing arguments.  Recommended for anyone who's curious about the world around them.  Highly recommended on audio book (well read by the author). 

Shanghai Girls

Anyone whose read (and loved) Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses) or Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth) will fall head over heels for Lisa See's newest novel, Shanghai Girls.  Shanghai girls begins in 1930s China, prior to Japanese invasion.  The story revolves around 2 sisters, Pearl and May, who are oblivious to the many political, social and familial changes that surround them--until they discover their father has gambled away his fortune, and must thus arrange his daughters' marriage to repay his debts.  From this point, Pearl and May's world begins to decay.  Soon after, following the bombing of Shanghai, and their father's disappearance, the story begins a sweeping journey through China en route to America, and the simultaneous horrific and heroic fates these women must endure.  Shanghai Girls is not only beautifully written, but also beautifully designed.  Like Tan, the theme of sisterhood is central to the development of the story, and the implications of being Chinese-American (at the height of the "Red Scare") move the narrative into a fascinating history lesson. 

For Enthusiastic Bakers

I recently checked out a new baking book by John Barricelli entitled, The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook: The Best Sweet & Savory Recipes for Every Occasion.  Martha Stewart fans may recognize Barricelli's name from his contributions to her EveryDay Food Magazine and EveryDay Baking TV series on PBS.

Anyone who follows the EveryDay Food line will know that the recipes are deliberately simple, using (mostly) traditional ingredients, and having consistently good taste.  Recipes in Barricelli's new book are no exception.  The Nectarine-Blueberry Buckle (which I made using fresh, local fruit from the farmer's market) is a perfect summer treat; and Barricelli's recipe for traditional white bread brims with buttery goodness just 15 minutes out of the oven.  (Unlike many store-bought breads, his recipe produces a solid bread, which held up well over a high flame when I used it to make grilled panini.)  Bakers and eaters alike will enjoy sampling from this new collection. 

Confessions

I confess:  growing up I wanted Pa (played by Michael Landon) from Little House On the Prairie to be my dad.  Didn't everyone?  He was hardworking, tender, handsome, honorable, and well-respected.   Moreover, I imagined what it would be like to live in that "little house," in Walnut Grove, attending a one-room schoolhouse.  Looking back, it's a little silly.  But like many viewers, I found myself drawn the wholesomeness of it all.   It's this nostalgia which drew me to read Alison Arngram's new book, Confessions Of A Prairie Bitch:  How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated.  It is, of course, an autobiography:  we learn of Arngram's sexual abuse as a child, and how this spurned her political activism as an adult.  These parts of the book are mildly interesting.  By comparison, what most fans of the show will look for are Arngram's "behind the scenes" stories--how the relationships developed from the Pilot episode; how Laura (played by Melissa Gilbert) and Nellie actually got along, and it was Mary (played by Melissa Anderson) who was a bit of a diva.  Readers will learn things, of course, about the show--but they'll also find themselves taking a bit of a trip down memory lane.  Arngram has a good sense of humor, and tells a good enough of a story.  But like Melissa Gilbert's Prairie Tale: A Memoir (2009), this one's for fans of the show only. 

A Beautiful Equation

Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper & the Professor (otherwise entitled in Japan as The Professor's Beautiful Equation) is an original, simple, lovely story about the relevance of memory and the redefinition of family.  As the title references, the story involves an uneducated single mother who keeps house for a former Professor and math genius whose memory stops in 1975 and whose new memories last an exact 80 minutes.  As one might imagine, this creates for an interesting, if not redundant, relationship between the two.  Each morning when the housekeeper arrives, the two engage in similar, if not identical, conversations and series of events.  And after every 80 minute period of time passes, everything begins anew.  Fortunately, the Professor keeps post-it notes attached to his suit to help act as his memory.  (The housekeeper need only point to the note with her image--a stick figure-like sketch--with the words "the new housekeeper".)  What the title fails to mention is a third, crucial character:  the housekeeper's son, whom the Professor grows to teach and protect and share his love of baseball.  What develops is an ironic relationship between the three:  a family of strangers without the potential to develop their relationship.

Plot-wise, not much happens in The Housekeeper & the Professor, but that doesn't matter:  what's paramount are the characters themselves, whose unusual relationship easily maintains the readers' interest on its own.

Summer In the South

Summer always puts me in the mood for Southern literature. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's because, like the South, life feels slower in the Summer than during other times of the year. Whatever it is, the season calls for revising some favorites, which just happen to have equally delightful film adaptations:

Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
When Cleo Threadgood and Evelyn Couch meet in the visitors lounge of an Alabama nursing home, they find themselves exchanging the sort of confidences that are sometimes only safe to reveal to strangers. At 48, Evelyn is falling apart: none of the middle-class values she grew up with seem to signify in today's world. On the other hand, 86-year-old Cleo is still being nurtured by memories of a lifetime spent in Whistle Stop, a pocket-sized town outside of Birmingham, which flourished in the days of the Great Depression. Most of the town's life centered around its one cafe, whose owners, gentle Ruth and tomboyish Idgie, served up grits (both true and hominy) to anyone who passed by. How their love for each other and just about everyone else survived visits from the sheriff, the Ku Klux Klan, a host of hungry hoboes, a murder and the rigors of the Depression makes lively reading -- the kind that eventually nourishes Evelyn and the reader as well. Though Flagg's characters tend to be sweet as candied yams or mean clear through, she manages to infuse their story with enough tartness to avoid sentimentality. Admirers of the wise child in Flagg's first novel, Coming Attractions, will find her grown-up successor, Idgie, equally appealing. The book's best character, perhaps, is the town of Whistle Stop itself. Too bad the trains don't stop there anymore. (Publisher's Weekly)

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
This sweeping debut novel, excerpts of which have appeared in Best American Short Stories, tells the tale of a 14-year-old white girl named Lily Owen who is raised by the elderly African American Rosaleen after the accidental death of Lily's mother. Following a racial brawl in 1960s Tiburon, SC, Lily and Rosaleen find shelter in a distant town with three black bee-keeping sisters. The sisters and their close-knit community of women live within the confines of racial and gender bondage and yet have an unmistakable strength and serenity associated with the worship of a black Madonna and the healing power of honey. In a series of unforgettable events, Lily discovers the truth about her mother's past and the certainty that "the hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." The stunning metaphors and realistic characters are so poignant that they will bring tears to your eyes. (David A. Berone, Library Journal)

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
 When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, get into a savage fight over a New York Times article that refers to Vivi as a 'tap-dancing child abuser,' the Ya-Yas, sashay in and conspire to bring everyone back together. In 1932, Vivi and the Ya-Yas were disqualified from a Shirley Temple Look-Alike Contest for unladylike behavior. Sixty years later, they're 'bucking 70' and still making waves. With passion and a rare gift for language, Rebecca Wells moves from present to past, unraveling Vivi's life, her enduring friendships with the Ya-Yas, and the reverberations on Siddalee. The collective power of the Ya-Yas, each of them totally individual and authentic, permeates this story of a tribe of Louisiana wild women who are impossible to tame.  (Publisher's Review)

Readers Abroad

While recently traveling in Madrid, Spain, I stumbled upon an outdoor book fair in Madrid's famous 300 acre park, Parque del Retiro (the former garden of Felipe IV). The book fair featured over 300 independent book vendors who sold everything from local authors, to those we might find in our very own libraries and book stores. In fact, there was a lot of popular American literature available (in Spanish), for children and adult readers alike. Based on what the vendors of juvenile literature were featuring, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid is just as popular with Europeans as it is here in the States.  Check out some of these photos and see if you spot anything familiar...

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For Mystics & Romantics

If you like Daphne Du Maurier (author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn), you'll love Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife.  Like the novel Rebecca, A Reliable Wife is written in the tradition of Gothic Romance:  it features an old (haunted) house, darkness, death, revenge and lust.  Unlike Rebecca, these characteristics take on more contemporary forms:  the ghosts aren't apparitions, they're psychological; further, the romance takes on a much sexier description.  It's because of these contemporary features, which Goolrick utilizes to progress the storyline, that the novel reads in a quick, gripping fashion (I began and finished it in about 7 hours while on a flight).

The premise of the story revolves around an older single (and very wealthy) man's desire for companionship.  He thus puts an ad in the newspaper calling for "a reliable wife".  The woman who answers his ad, Catherine Land, has various motives for entering into the relationship--but none are so devious as the slow and methodical arsenic poisoning of her new husband.  The catch:  Ralph knows full well of her acts and the motives behind them.  The joy for the reader is that we do not; in fact, Goolrick leads us to the end of the novel with unexpected twists and turns that I'm not about to reveal here.  A Reliable Wife is a juicy good read, perfect for independent reading or a book club.