2011 Mini Reviews
I’m way, way behind in my reviews. I often read books that I don't write a full review about but still think that they're worth mentioning. Here are just a few of the books I've read this year that fall into that category.
Moonwalking with Einstein
By Joshua Foer
The Penguin Press
$26.95, hard cover, 307 pages, 978-1-20190-229-2 (2011)
Alabama – Montgomery.
This is a fascinating book about memory. The unusual title derives from a memory technique used by the author while competing in the US Memory Championship – a strange contest held each year in New York City where people try to remember the names of strangers, random digits, poetry, and a shuffled deck of playing cards.
Alaska – Juneau.
The author went to the event as a journalist and ended up becoming friends with some of the competitors. One thing led to another and before he knew it, he was studying both ancient and modern memory techniques and competing at the next US Memory Championship.
Arizona – Phoenix.
What I enjoyed about this book was that it told a story about memory devices, people with famous memories and the ability to recall unbelievable amounts of data (like the real life Rain Man: Kim Peek). It was interesting to learn about people with unusual abilities and how, with a little effort, everyday people could train their memories to recall many more things than you ever thought possible.
California – Sacramento.
As opposed to the dry memory books that just teach various mnemonic tricks, Moonwalking with Einstein draws you in to an absorbing story with a likable writer as the central character. In the best possible way, Foer makes exercising your memory sound – if not exciting – at least worthwhile.
Colorado – Denver.
It prompted me to try out a couple of the techniques. As a result, I now know all the US states in alphabetical order – along with their capitals.
Connecticut – Hartford.
Next stop: the US Presidents in order, including the years they served.
George Washington – 1789 – 1797.
After that – who knows? The Gettysburg Address?
Buy it on Amazon here.
The Cut
By George Pelecanos
Little, Brown and Company
$25.99, hard cover, 292 pages, 978-0-316-07842-9 (2011)
George Pelecanos is an award winning writer and is both a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series The Wire. That being the case, I expected impressive things from this novel about a returning Marine from Iraq who recovers stolen property for a cool 40 percent fee, no questions asked.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Spero Lucas is the adopted son of a Greek-American family who has returned to Washington, D.C. and lands a somewhat unsatisfying job working as an unlicensed investigator for a defense lawyer. When offered the opportunity to earn a little more money by a drug dealer doing time, Lucas puts any qualms about legality aside and agrees to do what he’s good at, recovering property for his 40 percent cut.
But what begins as a recovery of stolen marijuana soon turns into dead drug dealers, crooked cops, kidnapping, and unsavory thugs looking to outwit Lucas. Following this investigation through the eyes of Lucas as he bikes, kayaks, does calisthenics and beds beautiful women – all while taking in all the hot spots of DC – is a pleasure. It’s one I look forward to again in the next installment of this entertaining series about a flawed but likable returning vet.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Before I Go To Sleep
By S.J. Watson
Harper
$25.99, hard cover, 360 pages, 978-0-06-201955-6 (2011)
This debut novel starts out with a young woman waking up in strange bed next to an older man. She notices that he’s wearing a wedding ring and is ashamed at what she’s done. She thinks last night must have been a party where she got so drunk she doesn’t remember anything at all. She cautiously slinks out of bed, finds the bathroom, locks the door, and then looks in the mirror. That’s when things go horribly wrong.
"The face I see looking back at me is not my own. The hair has no volume and is cut much shorter than I wear it; the skin on the cheeks and under the chin sags; the lips are thin; the mouth turned down. I cry out, a wordless gasp that would turn into a shriek of shock were I to let it, and then notice the eyes. The skin around them is lined, yes, but despite everything else, I can see that they are mine. The person in the mirror is me, but I am twenty years too old. Twenty-five. More.”
Just imagine: you’re a 47 year old woman who can’t remember most of her entire adult life. Her physician, Dr. Nash, explains that she’s had amnesia for a long time. “You can't retain new memories, so you've forgotten much of what's happened to you for your entire adult life. Every day you wake up as if you are a young woman. Some days you wake as if you are a child."
Faced with this physical disability, Dr. Nash encourages her to keep a journal. She gradually remembers her name: Christine Lucas. But her inability to recall much else means she must rely heavily on the two men in her life: Dr. Nash and her husband Ben. But are they trustworthy? Are the fleeting memories she has accurate? And what about the eerie entry in her journal, just below her name, in blue ink and capital letters:
DON’T TRUST BEN.
Dennis Lehane, one of my favorite authors, describes this novel as “Momento on crystal meth.” While it doesn’t contain quite the number of twists and turns as that cult favorite movie, it still packs a wallop.
Buy it on Amazon here.
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