Fobbit - Darkly Funny War Satire

In the suburbs of Baghdad in 2005, it was hot, it was boring, and it wasn't the safest area for sight-seeing. What was a Public Affairs Officer to do while deployed there? If the PAO in question has a BA in English and an MFA in creative writing, he might just be tempted to write a diary about his experiences and turn that diary into an ironic, darkly comedic satire that he considers "one part dark horror show of the Iraq War and one part zany antics of public affairs soldiers." Enter Fobbit, the first novel by David Abrams, who retired from the Army in 2008 after 20 years of active duty.

"Fobbit," as the cover of the book clarifies, is a pejorative term for those who work in the Forward Operating Base and who avoid combat by virtue of their hobbit-like reluctance to leave their "shire." In other words, they're the people with the (relatively) cushy office jobs. Abrams was, himself, a fobbit and sticks with what he knew -- and skewers it effortlessly. The book focuses on several of the Fobbits, but the central voice belongs to Staff Sergeant Chance Gooding, Jr., a public affairs officer who spends his time at work writing and re-writing (and re-writing) press releases trying to put a positive spin on the latest round of casualties and his free time reading Catch-22 and writing a journal about his experiences in Iraq, (sound familiar?). Other characters include Lieutenant Colonel Eustace Harkleroad, an indecisive, overweight, spontaneous nose-bleeder who frequently writes to his mother imagined tales of his heroism and valor; Lt. Col Vic Duret, who is a good officer and a good man who just wants to escape images of his brother-in-law's death on 9/11 and return home to his wife; and Abe Shrinkle, a platoon Captain whose incompetence and greed do not go unpunished by karma or the US Army.

This book isn't about the total war experience, nor is it meant to be. The soldiers who are in combat roles are drawn only in comparison to those in the FOB, not as strong characters in and of themselves. But, in offering the voices of Gooding, Harkleroad, Duret, and Shrinkle, Abrams has provided a clever voice to the drudgery of war. 

National Book Awards 2012

It's the end of the year. The days have grown shorter, the shopping lines have grown longer, and the time has come to reflect on the literary contributions that have been made in the past year. Last week, the 62nd National Book Awards were announced, marking the best contributions to American literature in the past year and raising awareness and appreciation of great writing.  Each of the winners is available to check out. Let us know what you think of these great American books!

Fiction Winner - The Round House by Louise Erdrich
- In the spring of 1988, 13-year-old Joe's mother was brutally attacked, irrevocably transforming Joe's life. Despite his attempts to heal his mother, she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Frustrated with the official investigation and his own father's inability to resolve the situation, Joe and his friends attempt to find answers, beginning at the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe.

Non-Fiction Winner - Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
- A poignant examination at the personal level of the schism between the upscale resorts and the slums of India. Boo combined three years of investigative journalism and personal interviews to provide insights that have been widely applauded as the most honest portrayal of India as a culture in transition.

Poetry Winner - Bewilderment : New Poems and Translations by David Ferry
- Praised for his passion and the scope of his poems, Ferry has published a collection of original poetry, translations of classics, and poems responding to poems.

Young People's Literature Winner - Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
- Rownie is the youngest of the stray children living with a witch named Graba. Desperate to find his older brother, an actor who has disappeared after the prohibition of acting, Rownie joins a troupe of traveling goblin actors who are also eager to find his brother in the hope that he might be able to save their town. 

For more information on the National Book Award, including a complete list of nominees in 2012 and previous years' winners, check out http://nationalbook.org/

Hick-sick and other phrases

Mountains of the Moon is a masterfully written debut by new author I.J. Kay. The novel tells the story of a woman in her thirties newly released from prison after 10 years. We are introduced first to the ex-convict, Louise, but we are transported through time to when she was Lulu and Kim and Beverly and Jackie and Catherine. Many readers’ reviews have complained that the unnoted shifts in time are difficult to follow, but Kay uses the main character’s speech to clue the reader in to her age. The flashbacks provide the reader with background for the life that resulted in imprisonment and a subsequent pilgrimage to Africa that allows Louise to move forward after 30 years of being lost in a continual cycle of neglect and misunderstanding. Amidst the heartache of her childhood and the perilous entanglements of her teens and early twenties, you will find horrific pain, extreme beauty, and some humor to tie it all together.  

To me, this debut is one of the best I’ve read…ever. To be completely cliché, the book details the strength and endurance of the human spirit. However, like many people in these situations, Lulu only looks forward and keeps moving. Assuming you and Lulu have little in common, this book will make you thankful for the life you have.

Architect, Antarctica, Blackberry Bush

A good read with a blend of genres is hard to find in one book. Authors sometimes get lost with multiple narrators, attempts at humor, ill-conceived romances…you know the drill. Where’d you go, Bernadette? is the exception to this conundrum. The book received rave reviews and managed to live up to each one.

One time winner of a “genius” grant for her architectural prowess, Bernadette Fox goes into hiding in Seattle with her Microsoft entrenched husband and ramshackle house. Bernadette never really learns to adapt to her new environment and spends her time ranting about the 5-way stops, mother “gnats” from her daughter’s school, and anything else that is distinctly “Seattle.” However, the one thing in Seattle that Bernadette does love is her daughter, Bee (short for Balakrishna). The excitement kicks off when Bee requests that her graduation from middle school be commemorated with a family trip to Antarctica. Yes, Antarctica.  I can’t risk giving too much away, but rest assured that Antarctica becomes the catalyst for mudslides, an affair, anxiety, an overseas assistant, FBI involvement, and a disappearance. The multiple narrators add to the mystery as each offers his/her own perspective on the situations that lead up to Bernadette’s disappearance.

Author Maria Semple is a novelist and television comedy writer. This is her second novel. She also divulged in a NYT interview that Where’d you go, Bernadette? is semi-autobiographical, so keep that in mind as you read.

Enjoy!

"You know, truth is a nebulous thing. . . ."

 

Believe it or not, Yann Martel never intended to be a writer; rather, he aspired to be a (shudder) politician. Luckily for us, while studying at Trent University he began to write, his efforts eventually resulting in a novel, Self, and a collection of short stories, Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. If you've never heard of them, don't feel too bad; most people haven't. Frustration over the failures of his first two works led a disillusioned 34-year-old Martel to India to contemplate the unfruitfulness of his life, but serendipity won the day, for it was there that he recalled the brilliant premise to a novella he'd read about over ten years earlier, Max and the Cats by Moacyr Scliar. The rest is, as they say, history. Over the space of the next four years, Martel proceeded to write his amazing second novel, the deeply spiritual Life of Pi, in which the son of a zookeeper survives a shipwreck only to end up a castaway on board a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Yeah, just let that sink in for a bit. Life of Pi went on to win the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction as well as praise from critics around the world, and Martel established himself as the literary comeback kid. And in case you've been living under a rock lately, a film based on the book is set to open on the big screen this month. While I have no doubt the film will be brilliant in its own right, as always, do yourself a favor and read the book first (I'm actually reading it right now, and so far it's excellent). But that's not all: Martel went on to write We Ate the Children Last, Beatrice and Virgil, and What Is Stephen Harper Reading?: Yann Martel's Recommended Reading for a Prime Minister and Book Lovers of all Stripes. I can state with all certainty that Yann Martel is a writer who is worth your time.  

Help us hand out free books!

For centuries, April 23 has been an important day, literarily speaking. It is the date of Shakespeare's birth...and his death. It's also the day on which Miguel Cervantes died. Since 1923, Cervantes' death has been recognized in the Catalan region of Spain by giving a flower and a book to a loved one. Inspired by the Catalonian festival, in 1995 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared April 23 the International Day of the Book. This led to the creation of World Book Night in 2011 in the UK, and the introduction of World Book Night to the US in 2012.

Very interesting history lesson, you might be thinking about now, but what does this have to do with anything? Specifically, what's this got to do with me?  I'm so glad you asked! World Book Night relies on the kindness of volunteers who love reading. Last year, almost 80,000 people signed up to pass out books in the four different participating countries.  Givers agree to hand out 20 free copies of a book provided by the author and publisher. The books are handed out to people who might typically not read.  The toughest requirement is to choose the book to give people. World Book Night sends a box of books to a distribution point for the giver to pick up. Last April, Woodbourne Library was proud to be one of the distribution points in the first US World Book Night -- and we're excited to announce that we'll be doing it again in 2013! Will you help us by signing up to be a book giver?

The books being provided include 30 titles ranging from classics like Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Willa Cather's My Antonia to contemporary favorites like Tina Fey's Bossy Pants and Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones.  A complete list of the books is available here. 

You can sign up to be a book giver at The World Book Night website.  If you do, choose Woodbourne Library as your distribution point.  And, let us know what book you choose! 

Happy Birthday To You Too South Dakota!

November 2, 2012 was the 123rd anniversary celebrating statehood of both North Dakota and South Dakota.  We covered North Dakota on Tuesday so today we will highlight the 40th state in the Union, South Dakota.  Known as the Mount Rushmore state, the Coyote state, and Sunshine state, South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes.  Pierre is the capital and Sioux Falls is the largest city.  Notable people from South Dakota are Grammy-award-winner Shawn Colvin, wildlife artist Terry Redlin, TV journalist Tom Brokaw, 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills, and our own former Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson.  Try some of the following South Dakotan authors and writers and as the state song goes: "Hail, South Dakota".

Lori Armstrong--lives in Western South Dakota is an award-winning mystery writer.

Black Elk (1863-1950)--was a famous Medicine Man and Holy Man of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux).

Vine Deloria Jr.--was born in Martin and is a Standing Rock Sioux author, historian, and activist.

Paul Goble--this English children's author and illustrator moved to the Black Hills and was greatly influenced by Plains Indian culture.

Dan O'Brien--this wildlife biologist, rancher, falconer, and author lives west of the Badlands and north of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Glen Rounds--born in a sod house in the Dakota Badlands, he is an award-winning children's author and illustrator.

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve--this children's author was raised on the Rosebud Indian Reservation and her books focus on Native Americans.

C. M. Wendelboe--worked in South Dakotan law enforcement and writes the Spirit Road Mysteries based in Pine Ridge.

Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)--she grew up near De Smet and based her famous children's books on her life and experiences.

Never too Late

Everyday we are faced with choices.  We choose what we read, whom we vote for, what to wear, and what to eat. Yet we also choose to disagree with our children, our spouse and even our dearest friends.   I want you to think for a moment about what would happen if that was the last word you spoke to them.  Would you be happy?  These seem dreary thoughts, but recently several young people lost their lives on the way to school.  They are gone, but what I would like you to consider is that life is too short to choose not to say a kind word to one another as you part company.  What if something happened and you never got another chance to say, "I'm Sorry" or worse yet you did not get a chance to say, "I love you".

Here are a few titles filled with choices and second chances. Hopefully reading them will give you hope or at least make you consider making better life choices.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon is a book filled with choices.  What would you do if the man you loved lived a hundred years in the past, yet your child was in this time with you? If you had a chance to visit with him, would you leave your child behind to be with your true love?  Learn what Claire Randall chooses in this amazing time traveling romance. This is the fourth book in the epic saga.

Choices by Mary Lee Settle gives us glimpses of a tough lady, Melinda Kregg, who has a lot of heart and struggles to make amends for inheriting a fortune. Her father was a coal-mining mogul and when he dies she inherits what she terms "blood money". Melinda devotes her life to helping others and fights for the underdog. Melinda's life is full of choices and eventually she realizes it is time she returns home, back to the States where she now fights for civil rights.  This is an intriguing story that will take the reader through a century of tumultuous changes.

The Season of Second Chances: A Novel by Diane Meier tells a magnificent story about Joy who learns  the key to the affection of family and friends is being worthy of it, and most important, that second chances are waiting to be discovered within us all.

I am hoping everyone will discover it is never too late to change. Every person in the world has said hurtful things to someone they love. Most of us fortunately have an opportunity to make it right.  My hope is that you (and I) will have a chance to bring our families and friends closer together.  Remember the next time (I'm sure there will be one) you are unhappy with your child and speak angry words please remember to hug them and love them.  It is never too late to start a new tradition.  Live each day fully and appreciate what you have.

Happy Birthday North Dakota!

November 2, 2012 was the 123rd anniversary celebrating statehood of both North Dakota and South Dakota. Today I will talk about the 39th state in the Union.  It's called The Sioux State,  The Roughrider State, and even The Flickertail State (named for a twitchy-tailed rodent called the Richardson's Ground Squirrel).  I am talking about North Dakota, the state which brought us actor Josh Duhamel, baseball great Roger Maris, bandleader Lawrence Welk, and Sakakawea (Sacajawea) the Shoshone woman of Lewis and Clark fame and the US dollar coin minted in 2000.
Native Americans have greatly influenced the culture of North Dakota along with people from Northern Europe including Norway--which is why another nickname for North Dakota is "Norse Dakota".
Try one of the following North Dakotan authors and writers and you'll see why the state motto is "legendary".

Peter Brandvold--born and raised in North Dakota, he has written over 30 western novels.
Louise Erdrich--The Roundhouse--she is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and grew up in Wahpeton.
Roxanne Henke--lives in Wishek and is a inspirational columnist for North Dakota Living Magazine.
Louis L'Amour--(1908-1988)--born in Jamestown, he is one of our most prolific and best-loved western writers.
Chuck Klosterman--Downtown Owl, Invisible Man--grew up in Wyndmere, graduated from the University of North Dakota, and is a columnist for New York Time Magazine.
Brenda K. Marshall--Mavis--born on a farm in the Red River Valley, she now lives with her partner of 26 years in Michigan. 
Susan Power--Grass Dancer--is a Standing Rock Sioux writer and storyteller who grew up in Chicago.
Larry Watson--Sundown, Yellow Moon--born in Rugby in 1947 and grew up in Bismarck.

Try back later in the week for some great South Dakotan authors!

Spending some time with an Imaginary Friend

Sometimes, I stumble upon a book that inspires to make me want to immediately go pick up any other books the author has written.  Such was the case when I recently received a copy of Matthew Dicks' newest book, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. It's because of this book that I discovered his debut novel Something Missing, which I found to be even more delightful than Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend*.  I'm not sure what prompted me to pick up Memoirs, other than the memories it brought back of a (real) friend's college band called Imaginary Friend. Once I did pick it up, though, I was delighted by what I read. The title is not representational or symbolic of anything. This book is exactly what it says it is: the memoirs of Budo, the imaginary friend of Max, an 8-year-old boy who has been labeled a "late bloomer" but is probably somewhere along the autism spectrum. Max's parents and teachers try in their own ways to help Max adjust to school, but it is Budo who helps him through each day.

Budo has existed for five years, which is a life span considerably greater than any other imaginary friend he has ever met and which has given him the ability to learn things about the real world. He's not exactly a kid and not exactly an adult. Budo exists only as long as Max imagines him as real and exists only as Max has imagined him to exist.  That is, Budo cannot do the things that Max didn't imagine him having the ability to do.  This becomes critical when Max needs Budo's help to save him.  From what he needs saved, I'm not going to say because I think it's a spoiler (and, incidentally, if you don't like spoilers, don't read the Publisher's Weekly review). Suffice it say, there is charm and warmth and a good dose of quirkiness as Budo tries to help Max while trying to balance Max's best interests with his own precarious existence.

If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime or Room, this book captures some of the same use of a child-like voice to great effect.  If you like a little whimsy and light fantasy, the inner world of an imaginary friend is charming. And, if you wonder why most imaginary friends don't have ears,  your answer lies within.

*Something Missing will be discussed at Uncorked, the book discussion group held at Rumbleseat Wine on the first Monday of each month.