I live about 10 miles from where Joyce Carol Oates attended a one-room school house while she was growing up. There are other parallels. Joyce Carol Oates went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and so did I. Joyce Carol Oates had a friend who committed suicide (she writes about it in “An Unsolved Mystery: The Lost Friend) and so did I. This memoir reveals plenty about a very private person. I appreciated the essays on the books that affected Oates: Alice in Wonderland and Moby Dick. Growing up with few books in the house, Joyce Carol Oates read a lot of Edgar Allen Poe since her father had some of his books. I related to Oates in the exam for a Ph.D. at UW-Madison. I went through similar exams. All in all, this book shows how a poor little girl from Western New York grew up to become one of the most prolific and successful American writers. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Author’s Note
I
WE BEGIN
MOMMY & ME
HAPPY CHICKEN: 1942-1944
DISCOVERING ALICE
DISTRICT SCHOOL #7, NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK
PIPER CUB
AFTER BLACK ROCK
SUNDAY DRIVE
FRED’S SIGNS
“THEY ALL JUST WENT AWAY”
“WHERE HAS GOD GONE”
HEADLIGHTS: THE FIRST DEATH
“THE BRUSH”
AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY: THE LOST FRIEND
“START YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”
THE LOST SISTER: AN ELEGY
NIGHTHAWK: RECOLLECTIONS OF A LOST TIME
II
DETROIT: 1962-1968
STORY INTO FILM
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” AND SMOOTH TALK
PHOTO SHOOT: WEST ELEVENTH STREET, NYC, MARCH 6, 1970
FOOD MYSTERIES
FACTS, VISIONS, MYSTERIES: MY FATHER FREDERIC OATES, NOVEMBER 1988
A LETTER TO MY MOTHER CAROLINA ON HER 78TH BIRTHDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1994
“WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL AND MY MOTHER DIDN’T WANT ME”
III
EXCERPT: TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH MY FATHER FREDERIC OATES, MAY 1999
THE LONG ROMANCE
MY MOTHER’S QUILTS

AFTERWORD

Many people dislike politics and all the game-playing that goes on in Washington. But House of Cards turns all that political straw into dramatic gold. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright have the gravitas of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The ebbs and flows of political power, the double-dealing, the lies, and their consequences are all on display in this outstanding drama series. I really like Kevin Spacey’s cunning and ruthlessness. And the portrait of a “political marriage” is completely convincing. Television drama doesn’t get much better than this. GRADE: A

John Sutherland’s How To Be Well Read is one of those books I find irresistible. Sutherland writes 500 short essays on a variety of books. The book is organized alphabetically by the title of the book (and there is an INDEX). As you would suspect, some of the choices are quirky. Of all of Michael Moorcock’s works, I’m not sure I would have picked Evening in Byzantium but Sutherland did. And, after reading the essay, I wanted to drop everything and reread some Michael Moorcock. Classic writers rub shoulders with contemporary writers on the same page. How To Be Well Read is a browser’s delight. Dip into this book, and you’ll be making lists of books to read. I did. GRADE: A

After Tom Brady deflated the Bills last week 40-32, the Bills face another divisional opponent in Miami this afternoon. The Dolphins are 1-1 (like the Bills) but look like a better team on paper. Their QB, Ryan Tannehill, is streaky. He runs hot and cold. But, when Tannehill is hot, he can put up a lot of points (like Brady). The loser of this game will be in last place in the AFC East. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Nancy Meyers wrote and directed The Intern. From Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt in What Women Want to Meryl Streep and Steve Martin in It’s Complicated to Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in Something’s Got To Give, Meyer blends relationship problems into a money-making souffle. In The Intern Robert De Niro plays a 70-year-old retiree named Ben who becomes a “Senior” intern at an Internet start-up company owned by Anne Hathaway’s character, Jules (who comes up with these names?). Jules has a Big Decision to make and sure enough, Ben helps her. But Jules also has relationship problems. Ben helps there, too. If you’ve seen any of Nancy Meyers’ movies, you know how all of these problems will shake out. GRADE: B

I started reading Hunter S. Thompson when he was writing articles in Rolling Stone about Richard Nixon. Later, those articles were collected in Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. After that, it was Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream that fried my brain. Hunter S. Thompson’s writing style is unique. It’s hyperbolic. It’s funny. And, surprisingly, it often tells the truth. Thompson called his style of writing “Gonzo Journalism.” Picador Press has done us all a great service by publishing an inexpensive, thick volume (1000 pages!) collecting Hunter S. Thompson’s wonderful writings from The Great Shark Hunt, Generation of Swine, and Songs of the Doomed. The Gonzo Papers Anthology glitters with a brilliance that we solely lack today. Highly recommended!

Erroll Garner’s Concert By the Sea was one of those legendary jazz records. But, much of the music from that live concert wasn’t on the record. There were major problems over the rights to the music. Now, 60 years later, the complete concert has just been remastered and released in a wonderful 3-CD package. Plenty of great sounding music here! There are 11 previously unreleased tracks. If you have even a causal interest in jazz, you’ll want to hear this music. Erroll Garner is an underrated performer. This complete concert should change that. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
2. Night And Day
3. Spring Is Here
4. I’ll Remember April
5. The Nearness Of You
6. Where Or When
7. Sweet And Lovely
8. Lullaby Of Birdland
9. Mambo Carmel
10. Teach Me Tonight
11. Will You Still Be Mine
12. I Cover The Waterfront
13. Bernie’s Tune
14. How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me?
15. It’s All Right With Me
Disc: 2
1. Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
2. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
3. Autumn Leaves
4. S’Wonderful
5. Laura
6. Red Top
7. April In Paris
8. Caravan
9. Erroll’s Theme/Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
Disc: 3
1. I’ll Remember April
2. Teach Me Tonight
3. Mambo Carmel
4. Autumn Leaves
5. It’s All Right With Me
6. Red Top
7. April in Paris
8. They Can’t Take That Away From Me?
9. How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me
10. Where or When
11. Erroll’s Theme
12. Post Concert Interview: Will Thornbury with Erroll Garner, Eddie Calhoun, Denzil DaCosta Best: September 19, 1955

Mr. Woodchuck, our neighbor who lives in a maze of burrows in our back yard, showed up to eat some apples from our apple tree. Clearly, Mr. Woodchuck is loading up on carbs to get ready for hibernation. Fall will be here soon!

I picked up this DVD set at BJ’s Warehouse for $7.99. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Some Like It Hot (1959) look great on these DVDs. Marilyn Monroe dominated the decade of the Fifties. Of course, the fame took a personal toll on the actress. But these four movies show a star at the prime of her career. If you’re a Marilyn Monroe fan, pick up this bargain set! What’s your favorite Marilyn Monroe movie?

I wasn’t planning to read The Girl in the Spider’s Web because I have an aversion to Other People writing books “like” Agatha Christie, Robert Parker, Rex Stout, Robert Ludlum, and other dead writers. But The New York Times Book Review featured The Girl in the Spider’s Web on the cover so I decided to give it a try. First, David Lagercrantz writes nothing like Stieg Larsson. The novel starts off slowly. But by page 200, I was back in tune with Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic and genius computer hacker. The plot revolves around a secret criminal group led by a mysterious figure called Thanos. If you’re a fan of this series, you’ll enjoy this book. If your haven’t read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo you might want to give that a try. The movie versions of these books, especially the Swedish trilogy, are excellent. GRADE: B