Pre-vacation Reading

Therapist and I are going on vacation at the end of this month, and we are (of course) taking quite a few books. Keep an eye out for a blog post about what we'll be taking to read on the trip!

While there has been planning for vacation reading, there has also been pre-vacation reading. I'm reading books I don't want to take on our trip, mostly because of weight, which means hardcovers or audio books. (And yes, I know I can digitally take audio books on vacation, but I really don't prefer those when I want to just read.)

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
This is the first novel by Portland, Oregon native Hobbs, and is a delicious debut. Five years after being involved in a bank robbery gone bad, the Ghostman is called in for a casino heist. I really enjoyed this crime thriller.

Rodeo in Joliet: A Cancer Memoir by Glenn Roskowitz
Reviewed in 2010 by Therapist (read the - excellent - full review here: http://notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2010/11/rodeo-in-joliet.html), Rodeo in Joliet: A Cancer Memoir is Glenn Roskowitz's memoir chronicling his journey with cancer. Glenn is not the most likable person, cancer or not, but his memoir is honest and real. Worth a look.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Weird black and white photographs are sprinkled throughout the book and inform the story. Before I read the book the photographs were both intriguing and off-putting, maybe even a little creepy. I enjoyed the story and loved how Riggs used the photographs as part of the story, making them more engaging and less creepy. Keep an eye out for the second in the series of Miss Peregrine in 2014!

The Dinner by Herman Koch
Translated from the Dutch and set in Amsterdam, The Dinner is told by Paul, who attends dinner with his wife Claire. When I first saw that this book was about a dinner, I thought of the movie, My Dinner With Andre. The only similarities between this book and that movie is that there is a dinner. Reading The Dinner evoked a similar feeling I got from reading We Need to Talk about Kevin (P.S.). In this book, Paul makes observations about their dinner companions, and gradually life complications emerge as the dinner progresses. Dark, compelling and oh so excellent.
This book will be out in paperback on October 29. The Dinner would be a great book for a book group!

Spontaneous Happiness: A New Path to Emotional Well-Being by Andrew Weil (audio, read by the author)
I enjoyed listening to Weil read his book, and I will take away a few ideas for raising my own emotional setpoint. One of the ideas, which my friend Jacki has been using even as she's been battling cancer is the Three Positives (http://jackikane.com/blog/). My Three Positives for today are:
1) The sun is shining. Again. The sun and the fall colors are spectacular.
2) One of my co-workers made me laugh really hard last night. I'm still happy about that.
3) I get to pick up my bike from the shop today. It's getting a tune-up after sitting in the garage for, um, a long time. I'm going to go for a little bike ride (see #1).

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma
After the dedication, and after the page with two literary quotations, and after the table of contents, there is a page that says "If you believe that you are the author of this book, please contact Haslett and Grouse Publishers at your first convenience." That was the hook that got me interested in this book. Even though I've just started reading this, I am enjoying it. A young man talks about becoming a writer, starting in Terminal B of an airport, where he spent his days waiting for his mother who was a flight attendant.

                   

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RODEO in JOLIET

Bibliophile and I ventured to Wordstock in Portland this year. A plethora of books, authors, and book accoutrements that would make you drool. (Ok, maybe that's just me...but I do run my hands over hundreds of books that have not crossed my path before)
And so it was with Rodeo in Joliet, a memoir by Glann Rockowitz. I saw the smooth white cover lying on a table at Wordstock and the book DEMANDED that I open it. I am one of those people who read the first line of a book and know if I want to read it or just keep looking. I don't read dust jackets and I don't turn the book over to see what someone ELSE thought of the book. I read the first sentence to see what I think. After all...if you sit down to write a whole gosh darn book it seems like you could write a first sentence that just might make someone want to keep reading.
And so I open the book and read:

Voices are underwater, faces are Vaseline, smells are electric, words are paint spills and I can't feel a goddamn thing.

I turn to Bibliophile and say, "I want this one". And that is how I came to read the memoir by Glenn Rockowitz, a book I had never heard of.

Glenn has just gotten a diagnosis of terminal cancer in the beginning of the book. Cancer that has advanced and left him with an estimated three months to live. Glenn has a wife who is then seven months pregnant with his son. Glenn begins the wild ride of how one spends the last three months of their life and what their priorities are.

Glenn is not necessarily a likable character and I found myself as angry at his behavior as he was at his disease. He does not sugarcoat his experience and he seems to think that good manners boil down to a waste of time and time is something he has just about run out of.

Glenn's writing style reminds me of James Frey, (A Million Little Pieces), and that is a compliment...I couldn't care less whether James fudged or changed or downright lied about things...I found his writing brilliant.

Glenn writes in the same clean honest style which is shown brilliantly in a passage about not wanting to be a "cancer patient" anymore.


I don't want to be on Oprah.
I don't want to be a feature in People Magazine and have a picture of My Family on the Beach, and a picture of My Son jumping on the Bed.
I don't want to be a story.
I don't want to be part of a support group.
I don't want to have a good cry.
I don't want ME time.
I don't want to TALK to Others Like Me.
I don't want a Coffee Klatch.
I don't want to Keep a Diary.
I don't want to do a Fun Run.
I don't want to Wear a Ribbon.
I don't want to Wear a Bonnet or a T-Shirt.
I don't want people to clap when I cross the Finish Line at some Fucking Fundraiser.
I don't want to start a Website of my Battle.
I don't want a website with a Flower Patterned Background.
I don't want to write Updates.
I don't want a Guest Book where Friends can Wish Me Well.
I don't want people to cook for me.
I don't want to write Thank You Notes.
I don't want people to be Concerned.
I don't want people to look at me THAT WAY.
I don't want my picture on the front of some Brochure.
I don't want a Foundation in My Name.
I don't want an Engraved Stone in some Goddamn Park.
I don't want to Battle Cancer with Courage.
FUCK THAT.
"Battling" is Vietnam.
"Courage" is Normandy.
Cancer is just fucking unfortunate.



He maintains this sort of pragmatism throughout his memoir while he is fortunate enough to know someone who can gain him purchase into an experimental clinical trial in the UK. Glenn manages to alienate people in the US, Canada, and the UK while he obtains treatment that many are unable to receive.

I like the clean, crisp Dragnet style of prose that is "Just the facts, Ma'am" and is absent of fluff and weighty descriptions.

One of the things I love about books in general is discovering why the Author chose the title. Some are straightforward: The House at Pooh Corner, Under the Dome, or The Time Traveler's Wife...We are not left wondering what it means. With Rodeo in Joliet we have not a hint of where that might come from but are drawn to the play on words just the same. I am not going to reveal why Glenn chose this title but I think the title in itself deserves to be lauded.

Love Glenn or hate him...it doesn't matter...I think you'll appreciate his story and walk away with more of an understanding of everyone you know who doesn't want to be a cancer patient anymore.