Book Review

About a week overdue at the library, I finally finished The Singer and the Song by Gene Lees.  It started to drag a little around the ninth chapter, but I am so glad I stayed with it, because the last chapter was magic.  It describes in loving detail, the development of a musical produced in the 80s, starring Sarah Vaughn singing poems written by the Pope. 

All in all, this little compilation is a bit gossipy complete with name-dropping, a bit of history and biography, and musical education.  The author, who was a lyricist, wielded his pen like an old-time storyteller slaving lovingly over flowery details on every aspect. In this day and age, I found it charming, as well as engrossing.  He explains how songs were put together, about the people who played the music and sang, and what they were like in real life. He died in 2010, but I wish I had known of him before, because I would have liked to hear his music.  He does have a Wikipedia page, so some information is accessible, but his albums aren’t at this time.  It was worth having to pay a fine to be able to finish all the chapters in this great little book.

BOOK REVIEW

BEAR by Marian Engel

WARNING:  SPOILER ALERT  

I really enjoyed the wonderful, “folksy” writing style of Ms. Engel.  She uses precision and ease in her use of reveal as the story unfolds about a spinster who takes a job on an isolated island to account for a large house and contents donated to the historical trust.  

Her back story and the way she grows from there is very well done, but I feel really strongly that Ms. Engel gratuitously describes bestiality with the residential bear when she could have stayed with the original theme and overall feeling of the book by hinting and leaving it to the reader’s imagination rather than describing it in gory and unsavory detail.  It is disturbing and provocative, which perhaps was what she was aiming to do, but again, I suggest she could have left it out and the story would have been better for it.

BOOK REVIEW

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BEFORE I FALL  by Lauren Oliver

WARNING:  SPOILER ALERT

This lengthy novel is an engaging and deeply engrossing story about a high schooler experiencing an other-worldly event that teaches her lessons about courage, loyalty, compassion and selflessness.  I loved Ms. Oliver's expert plotting and development of characters, description and mood-setting.  This is definitely a page-turner. 

The only quarrel I have with the book is the hugely unsatisfying ending. 

Spoiler alert:  Presenting suicide as a lofty conclusion is not just unhealthy, it is misleading. 

Book Review

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SCRATCH:  Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living  by Manjula Martin

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this compilation of writers’ personal accounts of how they come by their money.  If you’re new to the publishing game, then it is an eye-opener, and if you’ve been at it a long time, it still carries some surprises, but better yet, innovative ideas for getting one’s ideas into print.  Very nice read.