I Love You, Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, & Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker

This is a bit of a cheat. I read this book years ago when it first came out and I still worked in books (2003ish?). I loved the book. I was disturbed by the book. Steve McVicker is in no way a sympathetic character. The movie confirmed this.

The movie, for me, brought up a variety of questions that the book did not. Perhaps it's the portrayals (by Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor) of actors well-known, but I didn't buy into their relationship as a gay couple. I didn't suspend disbelief of their actual personas long enough to think that either man was actually gay. That said, I did find myself wondering if I would be more sympathetic to these characters if they were straight.Which was weird for me, as I've always been completely supportive of the gay community and, more specifically, my plethora of gay friends.

All in all, this is a bizarre story. Worth reading, worth watching. Even for the discomfort it causes.

This is a Book by Demetri Martin

If you're not familiar with Demetri Martin, watch Person (it's available for streaming on Netflix).

If you are familiar with Demetri Martin, then this book is everything you could expect. Charts, drawings, crossword puzzles, stories and lists. My favorites include bits about palindromes, fortune cookies and beards. So great.

Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett

"Your feelings. I mean if they're intense enough, they have consequences, right?...Do you really think our feelings are important enough to write books about?"
After reading a few positive reviews and seeing it featured at the Tattered Cover, I picked this up with great expectation. While Haslett has been forecasted to be a Fitzgerald for this generation, I was disappointed by how uneven the characters were. Some drawn with a completeness (even those on the periphery) and a few main characters left rather sterile and rudimentary.

"You ask me what's going on but you don't actually want to know. Not unless you already understand it. There's a lot of that going around at the moment--your kind of certainty."
The first half of the book escaped my usual guidelines, as it seemed to alternate every 30 pages in keeping my interest. Loosely centered on the financial climate, specifically the rise and fall of a large securities company, I was easily bored with the specifics of the markets. I was, however, initially piqued by the more broadly focused and consuming loneliness of Doug Fanning and Charlotte Graves, neighbors in the smalltown of Finden, Massachusetts.

"People pay for what they do, and more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply with the lives they lead."
As a soldier on the Vincennes, responsible for shooting down an Iranian jet over Bahrain, killing nearly 200 civilians, Fanning has spent his life reliving his part in the tragedy. He's gone on to gain tremendous success in the business world. He has recently built an offensively large mansion next door to Graves. Charlotte is a high-minded retired history teacher whose grandfather owned the land upon which Fanning's monstrosity now sits. A legal battle ensues, as we watch their interactions and reactions to the world around them.

"How insupportable, he thought, to remember in the way she did. The present didn't stand a chance against such a perfectly recollected world."
Torn relationships and severed connections eventually become the focus of all storylines, leaving this reader wanting more for these people. A melancholy satisfaction.

Room by Emma Donoghue

"Stories are a different kind of true." Jack has been told stories for the entirety of his 5 years by his mother, whom he lives with in Room. Everything that he knows is within the context of Room, an 11' x 11' space that contains his world. Jack starts asking questions and discovers that there is an Outside, and that the things he sees on TV (and has previously thought were all imaginary) actually exist.

This is a book that really can't be summarized easily without giving away pivotal plot elements. I was immediately drawn in, wondering what this room was and how they came to be living there. Eventually, these questions are answered, all in the voice of 5-year-old Jack.

Disturbing and heartbreaking while at once being hopeful and awe-filled, this is a story that sticks.

The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams

I own a hardback collector's edition of Williams' collected plays. I happened upon a this newer edition in a thrift store, saw that it was edited by John Patrick Shanley and pondered buying it, then put it back on the shelf. Seconds later, I picked up a copy of Sula by Toni Morrison. The quote on the flyleaf is from The Rose Tatoo. I bought them both.

This is typical Tennessee stuff, with an Italian twist. Strong overbearing female lead, in a bit of an emotional shambles, bearing her soul to anyone who happens by. The first scene opens with children playing in the front yard, while Serafina explains the magnificence of the love she shares with her husband (including a few otherworldly details of the conception of their daughter, Rosa). The scene closes with the announcement of the husbands' accidental death. While Serafina withdraws from the world and any emotion other than grief, she expects the same of her daughter. Enter hypocracy and a charming stranger driving a fruit truck. Like I said, quintessential Williams.

The whole time I was reading, Serafina reminded me of an amalgamation of characters. As I type, I realize that I heard the same voice that I hear when I read Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs or any Tomie dePaola book. That makes me laugh.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

Rachel has brown skin and blue eyes. At 11-years old, she's taking the bus with her grandmother in Portland the first time she realizes the significance of this. It's different. Heidi Durrow draws on her own experience (raised by a Danish mother and an African-American father) to explore how Rachel comes to grips with her racial identity.

The multi-layered story opens slowly. Pieces come together and we figure out that Rachel was involved in some sort of accident in Chicago before being sent to live with her old-fashioned and grass-rootsy grandmother. A boy named Brick, an aunt named Loretta, and a job at a community center all help shape Rachel's ideas of who she is.

As the story unfolds, I loved that Rachel spoke like a young girl too smart for the world around her. Unknowingly, like every smart girl does. Durrow has already been compared to classics like Harper Lee and Carson McCullers. While I'm not ready to profess that, I will eagerly anticipate her next protagonist and hope she has half the heart that her young Rachel does.