Book reviewage
I love reading. Got some new library books, including one by my favorite author, Joyce Carol Oates. I love her gothic, dramatic style and I also feel a karmic bond with her since we share a birthday, albeit separated by many years.
Right now I'm in the middle of Dear Husband, a recent collection of short stories. Favorite story so far is 'Special', based on her own experiences of growing up with an autistic sibling. It illuminates how the sickness can tear a family apart and how it reveals the unflattering side of family emotions: resenting an ill relative, fearing them and even hating them for the havoc they wreak on family life.
The last book I read by Joyce was Blonde, an imagined biography of Marilyn Monroe (spoilers: she was murdered), and My Sister, My Love , an imagined retelling of the Jon Benet Ramsey murder, as of yet still unsolved. (Spoiler: Joyce thinks the mom killed "Bliss"/Jon Benet by accident, then panicked and covered it up). Joyce seems to like giving her own spin on true-crime events (the title story 'Dear Husband,' is a letter written by an Andrea Yates stand-in to her husband who doesn't yet know she's murdered their children). I wonder what JCO would make of the West Memphis Three.
Another longtime favorite of mine is
Wicked, the tale of the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's point of view. And don't be suckered in by that lousy musical, this story is far more detailed, more elegant, and more tragic than it's gaudy, inferior Broadway adaptation. It's rich and heady and complex, with excellent characterization, not only of our prickly heroine Elphaba, but of her family and friends, including her poor doomed sister. It's ambitious in it's scope and it's philisophical questioning that echoes throughout the book: What does it mean to be evil?
Another old fave that I have loved since I was a teenager is Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. It's kind of hallucinogenic and stream-of-conscious, and it's amazing. I can't really describe it. You just have to read it for yourself to understand. Only thing to keep in mind is that it was written during the 70's so it is a bit dated; there are lots of references to Nixon and Ford and the general pop culture of that time. I've read most of Tom Robbins' books, and I still think this one was his best.
Right now I'm in the middle of Dear Husband, a recent collection of short stories. Favorite story so far is 'Special', based on her own experiences of growing up with an autistic sibling. It illuminates how the sickness can tear a family apart and how it reveals the unflattering side of family emotions: resenting an ill relative, fearing them and even hating them for the havoc they wreak on family life.
The last book I read by Joyce was Blonde, an imagined biography of Marilyn Monroe (spoilers: she was murdered), and My Sister, My Love , an imagined retelling of the Jon Benet Ramsey murder, as of yet still unsolved. (Spoiler: Joyce thinks the mom killed "Bliss"/Jon Benet by accident, then panicked and covered it up). Joyce seems to like giving her own spin on true-crime events (the title story 'Dear Husband,' is a letter written by an Andrea Yates stand-in to her husband who doesn't yet know she's murdered their children). I wonder what JCO would make of the West Memphis Three.
Another longtime favorite of mine is
Wicked, the tale of the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's point of view. And don't be suckered in by that lousy musical, this story is far more detailed, more elegant, and more tragic than it's gaudy, inferior Broadway adaptation. It's rich and heady and complex, with excellent characterization, not only of our prickly heroine Elphaba, but of her family and friends, including her poor doomed sister. It's ambitious in it's scope and it's philisophical questioning that echoes throughout the book: What does it mean to be evil?
Another old fave that I have loved since I was a teenager is Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. It's kind of hallucinogenic and stream-of-conscious, and it's amazing. I can't really describe it. You just have to read it for yourself to understand. Only thing to keep in mind is that it was written during the 70's so it is a bit dated; there are lots of references to Nixon and Ford and the general pop culture of that time. I've read most of Tom Robbins' books, and I still think this one was his best.