Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Binge watching is old stuff, but podcast binging is a new all-consuming activity (for me). In under a week I listened to all 12 episodes of Serial, the This American Life production that debuted last fall.When it aired I couldn’t make a commitment to follow it. Now, with frigid temperatures and some time on my hands, I got hooked. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait for each installment, and that I could listen to as much as I wanted in one sitting. It was media gluttony and I’m not a bit repentant.The premiere season of Serial follows the case of a Baltimore teenager, Adman Syed, charged with the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend. Journalist/narrator Sarah Koening details the crime through court records, interviews with Syed, lawyers, police, friends of the victim and accused, among others. Koening’s research is exhaustive – and gripping.
Much of the evidence against Syed is circumstantial with plenty of holes in the prosecution’s case. The recurring theme from those who know Syed is that violence is not part of his character. Although he was the only suspect to be tried, Koening provides other possibilities. She repeatedly states she’s a reporter not an investigator. Actually, she’s a good investigator, but the distinction is important. It means that she acknowledges speculation when facts are missing.
Koening and her crew spent 15 months to absolutely establish Syed’s guilt or innocence. The story is compelling in the way of all good murder/mysteries, because ultimately the listener becomes completely engrossed with the question of whodunit?
Serial
Five Audio Bookmarks
2014
http://serialpodcast.org/
I’m a sucker for a good title and that’s the reason I read Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s Panic in a Suitcase. The book was included on the long list of the Tournament of Books. It didn’t make the cut to the short list, and I can see why.
Akhtiorskaya’s novel begins in 1993 with the Nasmeratovs who have settled in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach following the Soviet Union’s collapse. They are a continent away from their roots, but the new community is a little Russia where shops, restaurants and neighbors share the same language and customs. Assimilation isn’t necessary.
Pasha Nasmeratov is a poet and the one family member who remains on native soil. He visits his family in New York, but never commits to immigrating. His sister, her husband and their daughter live with Pasha’s parents in a crowded apartment. Pasha is the link to the past in many ways. Jump ahead to 2008 and Frida, his niece, is grown up. She’s intrigued by the mother land, but is rooted in an inability to embrace the future while clinging to the past, even one she doesn’t remember. Frida was young when the family left Odessa.
The problem is there’s too much jumping from one character or location to another. Still, the author’s writing is rich in clever turns of phrase and vivid imagery. Humor is a lively resident among the prose: “Frida stumbled past tidy strips of lawn, her favorite with a PLEASE CARB YOUR DOG sign…”
Panic in a Suitcase
Three-and-a-half Bookmarks
Riverhead Books, 2014
307 pages
When the hostess at the Silver Creek Diner in Lone Tree told us that once we were seated we’d still have at least another 25-minute wait for our food, I laughed and asked if she wanted us to leave. She laughed, too, and assured me that wasn’t her intent. We’d already been waiting 10 minutes for a table. We decided to hope for the best. Wrong call.
Given that we had waited so long from the time we walked in the door to when the food arrived, it’s hard to know if we were simply so famished that anything would have tasted good. It wasn’t that Silver Creek was particularly busy, but the way orders were coming out of the kitchen it seemed as if all the cooking was done by one person with his/her hand tied behind his/her back.
Breakfast is standard; lots of egg possibilities and pancakes. The latter aren’t the “ridiculously large ones that some places serve” we were told. The Blueberry Pancake Plate featured two eggs, hash browns, choice of breakfast meats (bacon, sausage or ham) and two cakes full of fresh blueberries. It was a lot of food.
The Hash Brown Mix blended crispy and creamy shredded potatoes with diced red and green peppers, onions, eggs and choice of bacon or sausage. Two size options are available, and even the smaller of the two is a substantial amount of food.
In truth, it all tasted fine, but I can’t say the time spent waiting for it was justified.
Silver Creek Diner
Three Plates
7824 Park Meadows Dr.
Lone Tree, Colo
All the Living by C. E. Morgan is one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve read; unfortunately, the story doesn’t reach the same level as the words that embrace it. It’s not bad; it just doesn’t rise to the same level as the well-crafted images. I must admit that the opening sentence immediately grabbed me with its element of intrigue: “She had never lived in a house and now, seeing the thing, she was no longer sure she wanted to.”
She is Aloma, a young woman, who spent her early years living with relatives in a trailer before being sent, at age 12, to a “mission school” – essentially an orphanage. There, she discovers a talent (and passion) for the piano. Otherwise, there is little to set her apart.
The house, on a tobacco farm, is Orren’s. When his mother and brother are killed in an accident he asks Aloma, whom he had recently met, to join him as he tries to maintain the homestead. A young preacher who befriends Aloma is added to the mix, which also includes the harsh, isolated landscape.
There’s no time frame but basic amenities are evident; it’s clear this is not a back-in-the-day tale. The house has an old, hopelessly out-of-tune piano. Orren has the farm and a reticence that comes from grief and the responsibilities he’s inherited.
Possessing little, but more than they realize, Aloma and Orren’s story isn’t just about being lonely even when others are present, but about love and self-awareness.
All the Living
Three-and-a-half bookmarks
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2009
199 pages
A fire truck parked outside Daisy Mint recently was cause for concern insomuch as it meant there weren’t likely to be empty tables inside. The small Thai restaurant is popular among a diverse crowd that includes students from nearby Pasadena City College and the occasional celebrity: John C. Riley. Although there may be a wait to secure a seat, it won’t be long. And once seated, service is attentive and food is brought out quickly.
My brother regularly frequents Daisy Mint and had some recommendations: Summer Rolls and curries. We started with the former which were so fresh they tasted as if most of the ingredients had come straight from the garden: mixed greens, cucumbers carrots and cilantro. The peanut sauce had a slightly sweet undercurrent we couldn’t quite place.
We opted for Crying Tiger one of the evening’s specials: marinated flank steak served with a spicy sauce of minced green pepper, garlic and shallots. The thinly sliced strips of beef were tender and absorbed the sauce well. The dish came with sticky rice, which is sweet and so glutinous it’s like a magnet for anything it comes in contact with.
Chunks of pumpkin, which were soft and potato-like, with peas, carrots and chicken swam in the Panang Curry, a velvety sauce of coconut milk and basil.
Servings are plentiful and though the Crying Tiger is not a regular menu item, I would be more than happy to repeat the exact meal at Daisy Mint on my next California visit.
Daisy Mint
Four-and-a-half Plates
1218 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, Calif.
When I worked as a writing tutor at the local community college, I saw enough rhetorical and critical analyses on Sherman Alexis’s “Superman and Me” to fill a classroom – floor to ceiling. I knew his essay inside and out. Until now I was unfamiliar with his other writings. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a fictional account (complete with cartoon illustrations by Ellen Forney) of Arnold Spirit Jr., aka Junior, aka Arnold.
Certainly, similarities exist to Alexis’s life growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation in eastern Washington, but the diary entries are fiction. They follow Junior/Arnold in his freshman year of high school. Plenty of back story is provided, beginning with Arnold/Junior’s birth defects that physically, socially and intellectually isolate him from most others on the reservation. He’s suspended on the first day of school and decides to transfer to the “white” school 22 miles away. On the reservation he’s known as Junior; at the new school he’s Arnold.
He changes schools in hopes of opening new doors while learning to accept that old ones are slammed in the process. His life is a dichotomy. He’s always struggled to fit in and expects to endure the same at the new school. It’s clear from the onset that Junior/Arnold is an underdog, so the outcome is predictable. The transformation of other characters is what’s most heartening; it shows that tribes can be of our own creation. This is evident through the diary reflecting its author’s humor, perception and emotion.
Four Bookmarks
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Little, Brown & Co., 2007
230 pages
Galesburg, Ill., is not a place often, if at all, associated with Coney Island, yet it’s been the home to Coney Island hot dogs since 1921. It’s recognized as the town’s oldest restaurant, complete with a plaque from the local historical society. Of course, restaurant may be a slight exaggeration. It’s has more of a soda fountain aura, and, after all, we’re just talking about hog dogs here.
Nonetheless, the dogs – more than a dozen variations on the theme – are available along with a handful of sandwiches and several fountain treats like floats, shakes and sodas. The focus is on the namesake: a plump dog slathered with mustard, the house sauce and topped with diced onions. The sauce is ground beef mixed with red chile powder. It’s tasty and basic, just a few beans shy of a traditional chili dog.
The décor looks like something out of a 1950s museum: lots of white script on bright red on everything from a clock to a jukebox. It’s not all Coca-Cola, though, there’s plenty of clutter advertising Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and more. There’s a lot of kitsch, but the place wouldn’t work as well with any other design scheme.
Typically, I eat hot dogs at baseball games and am satisfied with that level of frequency. My son, a student at Knox College, just a few blocks from Coney Island suggested we check it out on our recent visit. I’m glad we did. I’m sure if I lived closer my hot dog consumption would dramatically increase.
Coney Island
Four Plates
77 S. Cherry St.
Galesburg, Ill.
The name Quick Sam’s conjures images of Quick Draw McGraw and Yosemite Sam, neither of which has anything to do with south of the border cuisine. But then the sign for this unassuming, three-table eatery is misleading, too; it boasts pizza, fried chicken and sandwiches, which aren’t even on the menu. Nothing suggests authentic Mexican food. Add to this the fact that Galesburg, Ill., is not a locale that immediately comes to mind for enchiladas, rice and beans.
In a building that stands out only because it’s next to a cemetery on one side and a row of two-story clapboard houses on the other, Quick Sam’s is an anomaly on several levels. The place is small: part tiny diner, part miniature-convenience store complete with glass coolers where much of the inventory for the diminutive kitchen. Yet, it’s muy grande when it comes to flavors.
The menu features standard Mexican fare: tacos, burritos, enchiladas and chile rellenos. Chips and fresh made salsa are the precursors of tastes to come. Quick Sam’s salsa is the kind to ruin an appetite only because it’s easy to eat too much. Self-restraint comes in handy here.
The chile rellenos combined the smokiness of roasted poblanos with creamy Jack cheese that had all been coated in an egg, flour and cornmeal mix and fried. It wasn’t greasy, but not quite as crispy as I like.
Prices are reasonable: less than $8 for a meal that includes rice and beans. All items are also available a la carte.
Quick Sam’s
Four Plates
275 S. Academy St.
Galesburg, Ill
In a way I’d love to frequent a place often enough that I’d be known, if not by name, perhaps by where I liked to sit or what I ordered. Colman Andrews recounts the numerous places around the world where this is the norm for his dining experiences. In My Usual Table: A life in Restaurants, Andrews shares his earliest recollections as a child dining in many of the landmark eating establishments in the Los Angeles area. As a kid he, with his family, was a regular at Chasen’s, the Brown Derby and Musso & Frank Grill (only the latter remains today).
Where does one go from there? Apparently, everywhere. Andrews grew up to be a wine connoisseur, dining critic and co-founder of Saveur magazine. He’s also authored several cookbooks.
My Usual Table is an eat and tell memoir with casual and not-so-casual name dropping: Wolfgang Puck, Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters, among others. Some meals are described vividly, some barely mentioned while he focuses on those associated with the meals. What’s most fun is following Andrews’ time line, which precedes, for example, the farm-to-table concept to the present.
Andrews is a fine story teller, but his voice begins to wear thin about 2/3 through. It’s difficult consuming and digesting such rich, often heavy fare for too long. I enjoy dining out, but there’s nothing like a home cooked meal or an occasional burger for basic sustenance. I’m happy, afterall, to have my usual table be in my own dining room.
My Usual Table: My Life in Restaurants
Three-and-a-half Bookmarks
Ecco, 2014
311 pages
The Boys in the Boat isn’t compelling as a title until considering the subtitle: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. That, believe it or not, provides just the amount of spark to pick up the book. Once in hand, Daniel James Brown’s account is riveting. Sure there are a few spots where it catches a crab, in rowing vernacular where an oar doesn’t completely come out of the water and slows the pace of the shell (boat). Fortunately, Brown keeps a mostly steady tempo.
The narrative follows the unlikely evolution of nine young men who find their way to the University of Washington rowing crew. Much of the story follows Joe Rantz, a particularly poor young man with a heartbreaking past: his stepmother convinced his father to essentially abandon Joe. His history, along with that of his crewmates and their coaches, provide the book’s heart, literally and figuratively. Each chapter begins with a quote from George Yeoman Pocock the boat builder who served as a mentor to Joe and others.
Interspersed with descriptions of the men’s pasts, their grueling training and the exciting races — particularly those against California – Brown describes events in Germany before the world fully understood the atrocities occurring there.
Even though the outcome of the race is known from the start, how the American crew made it to Berlin is fascinating. It’s a story of indomitable spirit that demonstrates the power of hard work, friendship and the American dream.
The Boys in the Boat
Four Bookmarks
Viking Adult, 2013
416 pages
The Blue Page Special 