Friday, October 30, 2020

Narrative Nonfiction

     Narrative Nonfiction. Do you know that term? I first came across the term a few years ago, and, honestly, I am still not sure that I know what it means.  Book Riot defines it this way: Narrative nonfiction—also known as creative nonfiction or literary nonfiction—is usually defined as nonfiction that uses the techniques and style of fiction (characters, plot, conflict, scene-setting) to tell a true story. (Book Riot's list of fifty great narrative nonfiction books: https://bookriot.com/narrative-nonfiction-books/ ) I am still not sure what it means, and when the term "narrative nonfiction" was first used.  I have always just called such books good history. I guess it has to with popularity, referring to books that have wider appeal, books that become bestsellers and get a lot of buzz.  

    If there is a king of narrative nonfiction, it has to be Erik Larson. (See previous blog about Larson here http://thehistocratsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/03/author-spotlight-erik-lawson.html ) His books are always big sellers, and I've read and enjoyed every one. In February of 2020, Larson published The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, And Defiance During the Blitz.  I was fortunate enough to also attend his book tour appearance at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, see him talk about the book, meet him and get a signed copy.  


    This book checks a lot of boxes for me. It's a Larson book, so, of course, it is great storytelling based on thorough research at its best.  Also, the book is about one of my all-time favorite/most interesting figures in history, Winston Churchill.  The setting of the book is 1940-1941 London, during perhaps the darkest time of British history. I have always known how difficult the German blitz was, and how perilously close the fall of Britain was, but The Splendid and the Vile paints a vivid picture of life at the time. After reading the book, I admire Churchill even more. Yes, he had some pretty major faults, but would Britain have survived with any other leader? His wife Clementine comes across as an extraordinary character; I think I would like a good biography or movie about her.  Unfortunately, Winston and Clementine's son Randolph fell far from the tree. Larson also gives us a look at the other side, the behind the scenes intrigue amongst the men in Hitler's immediate circle. The story of Rudolf Hess' flight and capture is especially interesting. The Splendid and the Vile is currently my favorite Larson book. 


    If Larson is the king of narrative nonfiction, Karen Abbott is definitely a contender for queen. Abbott is a very prolific, best-selling author. I've read three of her books, and I've enjoyed and learned from each one. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy  tells the story of four women who served both the Union and Confederate sides in the Civil War. Sin in the Second City is the story of the most famous brothel in American History, Chicago's Everleigh Club, and the two sisters that operated it, arguably among the most powerful women in the city. Her most recent book is  The Ghosts of Eden Park, the story of the most successful bootlegger in Prohibition history, George Remus, the female prosecutor determined to bring him down, and his wife, determined to kill him.  If you're fascinated by the Roaring 20s, the world of The Great Gatsby, or the TV series Boardwalk Empire (Remus is portrayed in an episode.) , this is a great book for you. Abbott's stories are all stranger-than-fiction, and they all feature really larger-than-life women whose stories might not be told otherwise. I'd suggest picking up any or all of her books.



    


Friday, October 23, 2020

Reading Slump

 

    



    I never would have thought it could happen. I'm retired. I've got nothing but time on my hands. I should be reading all day. I am enjoying lots of pool and beach time. My To Be  Read (TBR) list gets longer every day.  However, I am apparently in a reading slump.  

    I'm almost always reading 2-3 books at a time, mostly history or historical fiction, with  something different thrown in once in a while, but I currently have 4 books going, for a long time. It's not that they're bad or that I am not enjoying them; I'm just not making progress.

    They're worth talking about though, and worth recommending. Maybe one of them will arouse  your interest.

    




    Three of the books are set in Georgia, my home state, and I love to read Georgia history. First is Administrations of Lunacy, the history of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. Central State was built during the asylum movement, inspired by reformer Dorothea Dix,  of the mid 1800s. Dix was involved in the planning and construction of the asylum; she served as an advisor in several states as they built their asylums.  Central State Hospital was, for a long time, the largest mental hospital in the world. Closed years ago, the buildings and grounds have become an attraction of sorts, with many claiming that it's one of the most haunted places in the world. (Article for background https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/asylum-inside-central-state-hospital-worlds-largest-mental-institution/ )  Since I lived and taught  in Milledgeville for most of the 1990s, it's of particular interest to me.  Administrations is a thorough examination of the hospital's operations, focusing on the Jim Crow segregation years.
    The second book is a novel written by former President Jimmy Carter. Carter has written several books, but this is his only novel.  It's the story of some of Georgia's first white pioneers, set before and during the American Revolution.  It's a really good historical novel; frankly, I am a little surprised that Carter's a pretty good fiction writer.  My only complaint is that he's a just a tad too pedantic sometimes, going into great detail to explain tensions and grievances that patriot rebels had against the British. It can seem a bit clunky sometimes if you know a lot going in to the novel.
    Third is Taylor Brown's Pride of Eden.  This recently published book has gotten a lot of critical acclaim and appears on many lists of recommended books.  Brown is from southeast Georgia, and several of his books are set there. I read and enjoyed his book The River of Kings. I started his Gods of Howl Mountain, but I lost interest.  His books are beautifully written; you might call his writing style lyrical or poetic. He's an excellent storyteller. However, I've run into a block on Pride. It's the story of a man who runs an animal sanctuary in coastal Georgia, rescuing abused wild animals from circuses, zoos, and private owners.  I want to finish it, but I have a problem with the book.  Every living being in the book, human or animal, is abused, damaged, troubled, or evil.  It's emotionally draining to read.
    Finally, there's The King of Confidence. This book checks a lot of boxes for me. It's about an American history topic that I'd never heard of before. It's about a charismatic religious leader/cult leader/ con man who was eventually assassinated,  and it's well written. The main character is James Strang who went from being an atheist to claiming to be the true heir to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. the Mormon Church. He was a rival of Brigham Young, and he created his own movement and community. His life and death were fodder for national newspapers.   
    So that's what I'm currently trying to read.  And I've got stacks of other books to follow.  One day. Sooner than later, I hope.
    



Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Musical Memories

     In the last year, I've read several biographies and autobiographies of some of my favorite musical performers.  

    Anyone who knows me knows that I  am a huge Prince fan, and I have been since his earliest albums in the late 70s and early 80s.  I followed every twist and turn in his career, and I was devastated by his death. I only got to see him in concert once, his last concert ever, at the Fox Theater in Atlanta the week before he died.  A few months before his death, Prince decided it was time to write his autobiography and hired Dan Piepenbring to co-write it.  With the support of the Prince estate, Piepenbring organized what they had accomplished so far, along with notes and other Prince documents to put together the posthumous The Beautiful Ones.  The book is a fantastic collection of Prince's words, from interviews and notes, including lots of pages, literally in his own handwriting.  Prince was always known for being secretive, mysterious, and inscrutable. In The Beautiful Ones,  he opens up about his life and his music more than he ever had before. Readers are immersed in Prince's world like never before.  It's a must for any Prince fans, but even people who aren't fans may be interested in getting a glimpse of one of the most highly regarded musical geniuses of the last last hundred years.

    If you know Prince, you know that he was a songwriting and producing machine, writing thousands of songs in his lifetime. He was responsible for an entire sub-genre of funk, the Minneapolis sound. He created groups and performers and shared songs with and/or produced dozens of other acts. There may be hundreds of musicians who owe their entire careers to him. The first group he created was The Time. He put the band together, wrote almost all of their songs in the beginning, played on their albums, and included them in his tours and movies.  The lead singer of The Time was/is Morris Day, a teenage friend of Prince's who became his collaborator and, in many ways, his rival.  Day's autobiography, On Time: A Princely Life in Funk, is a fast and fun read. He is open and honest about his relationship with Prince, and he details examples of how Prince's controlling perfectionism both built his career and also stifled it to a degree. He's open about the ups and downs of their personal relationship, and his personal life. The two had just begun rebuilding their relationship months before Prince's death.

    David Bowie's death impacted me as hard as Prince's. Like with Prince, I had been a long-time fan and admirer, and I saw Bowie in concert only once as well.  Dylan Jones' David Bowie: the Oral History uses interviews with dozens of friends and associates of Bowie to tell the story of his life. It is extremely thorough. Like Prince, Bowie was purposefully enigmatic and chameleon-like. In this book, we learn a lot about Bowie, his life, his personality, and his career.
     On Time, The Beautiful Ones, and David Bowie are all successful because they are so honest and revealing. Elton John's autobiography Me is just as open, honest, and revealing. Elton pulls no punches and writes honestly about his memories (or the stories that he doesn't remember personally and had to be told). Whereas Price and Bowie were always quite reluctant to reveal much about their personal lives to the world, Elton John has always been one to say what's own his mind, leading to some pretty famous media and personal feuds over the years. He doesn't hold back in his book either.  In that regard, the book is very much like the movie biopic Rocketman,  which showed Elton warts and all. That's the reason that I personally much prefer Rocketman to the more popular Bohemian Rhapsody, which was intentionally whitewashed by the surviving members of Queen - to the point that I found it to be dishonest and boring. (By the way, Elton narrates the audiobook, and I highly recommend listening to this one.)
    That leads me to Face It, by Debbie Harry, the lead singer of the group Blondie. I also listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Debbie herself.  I'm a Blondie fan, and, sadly, I was very disappointed by the book. Why? Because, she was not at all open, honest, and revealing.  Not only does she point out many times that she doesn't remember everything, thanks to drugs, but she merely scratches the surface of her live. Everything is very superficial.  For example, Blondie fans know that she had a long time relationship with Chris Stein of the band. In her book their breakup barely rates a sentence; it was like "By the way, Chris moved out that week" or something. I had learned nothing about her after reading the book.






Wednesday, October 7, 2020

A Continuing Series.... Or Several....

  



There’s something comfortable about the familiar. Everybody has that favorite television series, movie series, or book series to which they like to return. You know and like the characters, and you’re familiar with the creator’s storytelling style. It may even be like having a conversation with an old friend. Over the last year, I’ve read a few books in series that I’ve enjoyed.

What if Abraham Lincoln and his longtime friend Joshua Speed solved mysteries in their days as young law partners in Illinois?  Jonathan Putnam, a nationally renowned lawyer and a Lincoln scholar,  writes books that imagine exactly that.  A House Divided is the fourth in the series. Inspired by actual events and lots of historical research, House Divided has Lincoln and Speed attempting to save their client from being convicted of murder and finding themselves mixed up in a great financial mystery.  In the process, they find their friendship shaken by the appearance of a headstrong and forward-thinking young woman named Mary Todd.  A House Divided  is just as entertaining and interesting as the previous three entries in the series.



The Council of Twelve is the seventh book in a fictional series written by Oliver Potzsch. Potzsch wrote the first in the series, The Hangman’s Daughter, after he discovered that his family history included a long line of city executioners.  That discovery led him into deep research of the lives of medieval and Renaissance-era executioners, and he found that the job was often hereditary, and, while the job of torturing and executing prisoners was considered essential, the executioners and their families lived in a very unique social position. On one hand, they were seen as unclean and unfit to live amongst the population, but, on the other hand, they were often sought out for their knowledge of healing and medicine.  In The Council of Twelve, the hangman Jakob and his family travel to Munich for a meeting of the hangmen’s guild.  In Munich, the family discovers that a number of young women have died under mysterious circumstances, and they set out to discover why. As in the previous six books, the mystery is intriguing, the story is entertaining, and it’s fun to see the family member grow and develop.  For history lovers, there is also so much great historical detail about the time and place that you can almost picture the streets.



When Tony Hillerman died in 2008, many of his fans were afraid they had read the last of Navajo policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Hillerman had written 18 contemporary mystery novels starring Leaphorn and Chee that were full of the history, the legends, and the flavor of the Southwest and of Navajo and Pueblo culture.  No need to worry though; Hillerman’s daughter, Anne Hillerman, picked up the pen and continued where her father left off. So far, she has written three Leaphorn and Chee novels, and they stand up to her father’s work.