I Am Charlotte Simmons--Tom Wolfe

I came to I Am Charlotte Simmons with trepidation. I had read the reviews that likened Wolfe to a voyeur and questioned his motivation in spending years "observing" typical college students fifty years his junior. It seemed creepy. But when I saw it in the bargain bin, I couldn't resist, and as it turned out, I couldn't put the thing down. Wolfe is a great writer and storyteller, and although there are some weird things about the book, like his linguistic obsessions over current uses of profanity, he presents a compelling story and a fascinating character in Charlotte. Charlotte, a brilliant student from the impoverished, rural North Carolina, earns a scholarship to the prestigious Dupont University, and dreams of intellectual stimulation unlike she has ever known. Instead, she finds a world of wealth, privilege, and debauchery. Although she wants to play the games of sexual intrigue of her classmates, she has none of the requisite accompanying hardness and cynicism, so her efforts are personally devastating. Wolfe deftly tackles big themes--purity, vanity, greed, social class. He may have gotten some of the details wrong, and if you are currently a college student I'm sure you will find much with which to quarrel, but the bigger story is superb.

About Alice--Calvin Trillin

In About Alice, Calvin Trillin pens a moving tribute to his late wife of nearly 40 years. He celebrates her passions and her quirks and their life together. Both sad and sweet, it is a true-to-life love story. Have tissues handy.

Black Swan Green--David Mitchell

**My Book Club Pick** Set in the early 1980s in a small English suburb, Mitchell navigates the treacherous waters of early adolescence, through the eyes of Jason Taylor. Jason's life is changing. His parents are fighting, his sister is leaving for university, and he works to control the "hangman" who makes him stammer. There is the usual coming of age fare here--dealing with bullies, avoiding appearing too interested in school, and sexual curiosity--but Black Swan Green's poignance and quirkiness set this one apart from similar works. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

The Birthday Party--Stanley N. Alpert

In The Birthday Party former federal prosecutor Stanley N. Alpert recounts his random kidnapping in 1998, in which he was held for 24 hours and then released; his abductors wanted only to withdraw money from his bank account. They targeted him because of his expensive-looking trench coat. He was treated well, as far as these things go, and released unharmed, but the experience was still harrowing. That much of the story is interesting. I'll give him that. But this is not a good book. It is poorly written, very poorly, and Alpert comes off as a whiny, chauvanistic, elitist snob, frequently mentioning the cost of personal items he owns and the large amount of money he made as a law-firm lawyer, neither of which were relevant to his abduction. Further, he spent a great deal of time talking about how important he was as a federal prosecutor. If I didn't work with federal judges and prosecutors on a regular basis, I might have bought that, but I do, and most of them are not as egomanical as Alpert comes off in the book. If Alpert would have stuck to the details of the crime and later the investigation without the personal details that appear only to self-aggrandize, it would have been a better book. Avoid this one.

The Mighty and the Almighty--Madeleine Albright

Full disclosure. I love Madeleine Albright. She is a hero to me--brilliant, tough, and a successful Secretary of State. It makes me love Bill Clinton more for choosing her to represent America to the world. The Mighty and the Almighty was not the most fascinating memoir I've ever read (sorry Maddy!). But its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. Albright talks about the Clinton administration's decision-making processes (which she speculates are far, far different from those of the current administration), and speaks candidly of both their foreign policy triumphs and errors. All in all, interesting thoughts of a fascinating American.

American Fascists--Chris Hedges

Last year, I read Michelle Goldberg's Kingdom Coming, about the rise of "Christian Nationalism," the political movement of evangelical Christians. I said it was the scariest book I had read in a while. Strike that, American Fascists is the scariest book I have read, possibly ever. Picking up on the same themes, but with more alarmism, Hedges describes the twenty-five year progression that began with Pat Robertson's and Jerry Falwell's early televangelism, and has led to enormous political influence over government from the local school board that mandates the teaching of creationism to the establishment of the Republican Party. Hedges makes a number of arguments, but his most paradoxical is that liberals who value a free society are harming that very ideal by tolerating the intolerant "Dominionists". He likens the movement, whose ultimate political goal is an American theocracy, to the Nazi party. Hedges--the son of a Presbyterian minister, graduate of Harvard Divinity School, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist--has the street cred to know of what he speaks. If this interests you, read it, along with Michelle Goldberg's Kingdom Coming. It will send shivers down your spine.

The Book Thief--Markus Zusak

In the interest of getting caught up on my now seven-book backlog, I'll be brief. The Book Thief is wonderful. I'd even call it delightful, except that it deals with some difficult subject matter. Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief is narrated by the very busy angel of death, who tells in detail the story of Leisel Memminger, an orphan adopted by a working-class German family in the late 1930s. Leisel's coming of age (and her intense love of books) is set against the poverty of her circumstances and the uncertainty and fear that characterized Hitler's rise to power. I highly recommend it; one of my favorites so far this year. A shout out to briefwriter for suggesting it.