esrosedotblog

I have not been writing about my reading.

Let me catch up.

Little Failure by Barry Shteyngart, a memoir by a writer that everyone but me has heard of. A backward success story. A kid who grows up in a Russian Jewish family with all the trimmings. Very funny, heartfelt. A treat to read.

Love Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe. Another improbable choice. I read a review and decided what the hell. Well, what the hell! This is a hilarious account of the Nanny for the kids of Mary Kay Wilmers the editor of the London Review of Books. Hoi polloi. Neighbors of Alan Bennett, friends of a host of literati, most of whom are charming to watch through Ms. Stibbe's lens. I want to be Alan Bennett's neighbor. He sort of invented Beyond the Fringe a hilarious act which sent up all the best people for a long time on stage and television. He is a charming neighbor who takes Ms. Stibbe under his wing and tutors her in how to deal with the rich and famous. Amazingly enough, it is to treat them just like anyone else.

American Romantic I have read every book by Ward Just. Who I keep thinking is writing his last but he is still going strong in his eighties. A career diplomat wins, loses and retires. It is the writing that matters here. Wise and caustic. Funny and sad. Deeply respectful at the same time it recognizes the duplicity of a life spent representing the mother country abroad.

Updike by Adam Begley A thoroughly entertaining, warts and all, bio of the beloved writer. Inspiring to such an extent that I thought, briefly, about re-reading the 47 or whatever books this great writer turned out.

The Splendid Things We Planned by Blake Bailey a family chronicle that I could not finish. Too painful. A family with a problem child is a fascinating organism and this book is so touchingly real that the pain behind the pages was too much for me. Bailey's brother Scott was a bad boy from the beginning into no end of trouble and the impact on the family is devastating.

Jack of Spies by David Downing. Author of the "Station" spy books, this kicks off a new series (I hope). It is the twenties here, a British auto salesman, cover for his role in the spy service, finds himself with a shiv in his side in Shanghai, followed by a long scary trip across the US to the east where he falls for a woman he is tailing. She is the sister of some Irish Terrorists. Good read. Fun.

Prayer by Philip Kerr The author of the long lasting Bernie Gunther Nazi espionage series starts a new run with this contemporary book about atheists being gunned down by what? Religious nuts? Not so simple. Gil Martin, an FBI agent, tracks the terrorists down. Edge of seat.

Labels: books