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Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason, by Jessica Warner
I picked it up in paper, and was mildly stunned to notice the other book out in hardcover that covers a lot of the same ground, right down to the comparison with modern-day efforts to regulate drugs. Warner’s analysis is nothing new, which is a pity, because she presents information that suggests other parallels I had never noticed before: drugs that cause irrational behavior on the part of users and reformers tend to be things that the government was until recently encouraging the development of in the interest of agriculture/land-owners. And a lot of what she identifies as marking a new craze could be used to describe our increasingly negative interaction with junk food/fast food/carbs/etc.
That last chapter aside, however, Warner’s prose is readable, and she did a great job of presenting the history in a gender-balanced way. She worked to tie the various and varying economic issues (correlating harvest size, for one, and revenue needs on the part of the government to wage war, for another). She presented all the information needed to present a cogent argument for how to best regulate drugs (identify the one(s) most people think are harmless, make licensing cheap to get but require licensees to keep their patrons on their best behavior, and make everything else very, very, very illegal and then assiduously enforce it all) but stopped short of laying it out in the final chapter, which I regard as admirably restrained.
Trickster’s Choice, by Tamora Pierce
Yet another Tortallan series about an appealing young woman trying to make her own way in the world in the face of disapproval on the part of various authorities and the clandestine support of others. Alianne, daughter of George and Alanna, who counts Daine among her extended family, has been groomed from childhood as a spy. Not unexpectedly, however, her parents balk at the idea of her actually going out in the field. While she doesn’t work up the guts to go out and do it on her own, when she does leave home illicitly, a god assists her in embarking on her new path by having her chosen journey interrupted by slavers.
Friends of mine who had already read this one were disappointed, setting my expectations low. I loved it, but, you never know, that might have been because my expectations were set low. Set in the Copper Isles of Tortall, Pierce explores a world in which obviously reasonable behaviors and precepts might have very bad consequences, and in which obviously unreasonable behaviors might open up a vista of new possibilities and escape from horrors and death. Adolescent rebellion on the part of girls in the book (Sarai sneaking off with Bronau, Alianne going sailing) is shown to be considered action, rather than poor impulse control. What the girls do with the results is further evidence of increasingly adult wisdom.
Consistent throughout -- whether discussing the morality of rebellion, or pretension to the throne, or Kyprioth trying to undo a previous loss to other great gods, or Sarai wanting to practice swordfighting, or Alianne wanting to be a spy, or Nawat’s fascination with humanity -- is the idea that an action in isolation cannot be judged. It must be considered both in the light of consequences (particularly new possibilities created thereby) and motives. A worthy tribute to trickery and manipulation, in all their manifold qualities.
Addendum from later in the month, after a lot of rereading: Alianne and Keladry, unlike Alanna and Daine, rely a great deal on their own internal moral compass, and less on the backing of supernatural or at least non-human powers. They take more damage, and must rely upon largely human resources to deal with that damage. They have very little available support in their struggles, of any support, and the support that have is generally from someone weaker than themselves. Alanna has the backing of the Mother, various members of the nobility, George, her magic. Daine has the backing of Numair, various members of the nobility, her animals, the Badger, and other immortals. The Trickster has very limited power, Alianne is cut off from most of the rest of her potential support and her Gift is limited. Alanna is forbidden to back Keladry openly; Kel has no Gift, and and the gods have little to do with her. Her contact with the immortals is more trouble than assistance.
I initially wanted to characterize these stories as reflecting greater maturity on the part of the author. The power fantasy has receded, leaving us with real people making hard choices, having to sacrifice and be sacrificed. Even the massively powerful characters from the earlier series have grown new limits -- Alanna is increasingly resistant to healing magic, for example, and we find she isn't as good at archery as Daine, and finds Keladry a worthy opponent. It may, however, be simply that Pierce is exploring a different style of narrative.
Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again: A Doctor’s Story, Dr. Drew Pinsky with Todd Gold
Ever since first hearing Dr. Drew plug his latest on Loveline some months ago, I have been picking this up in bookstores and then putting it back down again. I was saved the trouble of picking it up this time, as Roland picked it up and bought it. Left home with it for a couple of days, of course I read it, and I am glad I did.
The team did a great job of getting Dr. Drew’s voice recognizably down on paper. That’s not an easy thing to do, and I heartily congratulate them all. The story Pinsky chose to tell is particularly interesting, as in classic Dr. Drew fashion, he bludgeons you to death with it so much that the reader almost misses it entirely. Here, I’ll tell it to you quick. Pinsky’s a rescuer, particularly of attractive young women, but willing to accept any package if the need is oozing out all over and there is enough submission. That need in him was so strong, that it made him vulnerable to all kinds of idiocy he should know better than to engage in. One particularly attractive, submissive and in-need-of-rescuing maiden suicided on him in so personal a fashion he was forced to confront this need and put it to rest for the most part. He is still busily rescuing, but he now has enough detachment to do a better job.
In the interstices between the attractive, submissive, desperately-in-need-of-rescuing women, are the stories of a number of other people with serious substance abuse problems, covering up all kinds of other emotional issues and generally wreaking havoc on their lives (including other people). Some of those people get better at Las Encinas, with the assistance of Dr. Pinsky and the rest of the team. Pinsky says a lot of stuff I disagree with (the geographic cure actually does work for some people, his anecdotes notwithstanding, but maybe that never was editing accident). He slams contemporary culture for creating these problems, and I suppose it gives people more rope to hang themselves with. But the emotional pain and the horrific domestic traumas that motivate it all are excessively old, and I wish Pinsky had more of a historical perspective.
Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett
Okay, we know the drill with Pratchett and Discworld. Funny historical references twisted around to fit the universe. Humanistic outlook. A more or less happy ending with comeuppance for the bad guys, but also a sense that the struggle won’t ever end, and even the good guys are really only provisionally good, and the bad guys serve a purpose as well.
In this outing, Pratchett goes after gender limitations once again, which he has explored so effectively in the witches subseries of Discworld, and touched upon in a double-minority sense in the books about the Watch of Ankh-Morpork. This time, the women are in the military. Yes, I said women. Wow. After a certain point, the reader fatalistically watches, wondering how many more disguised women could possibly be romping through this novel. It’s weirder than Shakespeare and that’s saying something.
Along the way, the usual acerbic commentary on war, politics, religion, pomposity, the foolishness of pride, the pridefulness of the foolish, and the hideous abuse heaped upon girls in cultures that severely limit the power of women. There’s a particularly great paragraph about folk songs and folk singers that I suspect will annoy some, particularly the bit where Polly says they had to get a man with a ferret in to clear them out of the lower bar of the Duchess.
Probably the most wonderful theme, however, was how several people who did not set out to remake their world were forced to do so, just to survive, or, in one case, just to find peace. This should be a lesson to all oppressors. You can get away with nearly anything, as long as you let people get on with their lives. Make that impossible, however, and all those people who were prepared to go along to get along, unable to get along, will no longer be willing to go along.
Hunting Badger, by Tony Hillerman
I read a chunk of this while on various machines at the Merrimack, NH YMCA. But then I got hooked and finished it at home. More of what we know and love from Hillerman. Great settings. An interesting puzzle. Details about the Navajo and other tribes. Jim Chee's unfortunate love life (altho his taste is improving with Bernie). Leaphorn's desultory snooping about. Great stuff, simply written.
A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance, by Jane Juska
Hard to know what to say about Jane Juska. First and foremost: go her. Second, after some doubts, I think I'm fully in favor of Dr. V, altho I still wonder if Jane's an alcoholic in need of treatment. Third, Caroline's a moron for getting on Jane's case about Graham. They're both adults, and at least Graham isn't sneaking around on some other woman, unlike some of the other men Jane sees. Who cares whether there's a future in it for either or both of them? There wasn't a future with a bunch of the other guys, and Jane wasn't looking for a future.
All that aside, Jane's obsession with vaginal orgasm, her confusion of "nice" with good, her unwillingness to set boundaries and the creepy relationships that resulted, are all frustrating to read, particularly when interlarded with alcohol. And while the whole Jewish/New York City/intellectual thing could be chalked up to her craving something that had been missing her whole life, I can't help but suspect that part of it is an attempt to avoid the intimacy she is seeking.
I'm a big believer that dating-with-sex is one of the best ways to get to know oneself and to become the best oneself one can, and I applaud Jane's courage in taking up the quest again after a long hiatus, and, further, having the guts to tell her friends and family about it along the way, and then to write an involving and entertaining book about it. I hope she continues, and I hope she publishes further memoirs.
Skinwalkers, by Tony Hillerman
I really prefer the later ones. This is just after Mary left, before things start with Janet. The twisted healer idea is interesting, but I can't say it surprised me. Then again, Hillerman's plotting is feeling more and more familiar with each novel.
Tons of rereading, mostly Tamora Pierce. Books 1-4 of the Alanna, Daine, The Magic Circle and The Circle Opens. Then E. E. "Doc" Smith. Books 3-6 of the Lensman Series. Subspace Explorers Then Schmitz, The Tale of Two Clocks aka Legacy. Then James White, the first two Sector General Omnibuses (Omnibi?) and the first book of the third. Also Death in Grand Canyon and Death in Yellowstone.
Strange Bedpersons, by Jennifer Crusie
Another Mira reprint from the days that Crusie wrote series romance.
Unlike most Crusie books, the main couple isn't lying to each other, and isn't criminal. That's limited to the man in the secondary couple, and the stray guy -- and even there, the confidence-game aspect is minimal. Clever dialogue, as always. Interesting take on neocon politics. I wonder if she rewrote any of that for this reprint; it looks as if she left it as it was.
Sabriel, by Garth Nix
There was this bad moment partway through the book where the Paperwing is first introduced. I knew, I just knew, to the core of my being, that the title character was going to fly this thing, violate the few rules she'd been given, and crack up utterly, destroying this lovely artefact. Guess what she did.
Not only did she do that, but she apparently compounded that error, by releasing the Free Magic being that when held by its collar is known as Mogget. Looked bad for a bit, but that turned out okay. And I should have seen the next bit when the ring rolled back to her and she put it back on. But I did not, and that made the showdown at the end of the book surprisingly pleasant.
Nix writes overwrought and angsty characters (come on -- his adolescent audience must lap this stuff up with a spoon, hunh?), but I can't accuse him of bad plotting. Both devices return and furthermore, his universe is sufficiently well developed that not only did the Abhorsen weather-mage who designed the Paperwing build more than one. She actually taught other people how to make them. That's darned rare in fantasy novels. Go Nix.
Ancelstierre/Angelstierre/Angleterre/Angle-Land/England. Okay, that was obvious. But a lot of the other names I never did figure out. If you know, drop me a line, and explain them all (to horse? or one who abhors, one who chases away?). And while you're at it, find me a novel in which Duke Roger isn't a bad guy. It's like some weird, pervasive rule of fantasy-land. Any nobility named Roger is evil and will sink the kingdom and possibly several layers of the gods/immortals while he's at it, if allowed to run amok.
Nix has enough narrative momentum to get me to finish this book even after the Paperwing disaster and in spite of the largely humorless tone. The interaction between Abhorsen-pere and Abhorsen-fille, in which pop says he did love her all along, really and truly, is nice, a healthy-pop-psych-moment in a book overwhelmingly short on touch and interactive affection. People may love each other and do amazing things motivated by that love, but the day-to-day mechanicms of love, of touch, of conversation, are largely missing. Again, the adolescent audience (one I suspect that tends very much towards Fortress of Solitude mentality) must lap this up with a spoon. . .
Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America's Obesity Crises, and What We Can Do About It, by Kelly Brownell and Katherine Battle HOrgen
I thought the authors missed a bet by failing to discuss food subsidy issues, and how current government food policy is responsible for pricing a lot of unhealthy stuff a lot cheaper than it should be priced. It turns out that they started the ball rolling on getting the public health community looking into US food subsidy politics, but it was too complex to understand the implications prior to the book going to press. That had to wait. In the mean time, however, they could and did hit the usual high points: how the current food and exercise environment is toxic given our genetics, the high access food companies have to a captive market in schools both for advertising and sales and why, the importance of reintegrating physical activity into daily life for kids and adults, the dangers of allowing food companies to participate in policy making.
The authors did a nice job of cataloging a lot of efforts currently underway, by governments and ngos, and how readers can get involved. They are, not unexpectedly, in favor of consolidating the various regulatory agencies that give nutrition advice and separating them from the USDA, but don't seem very optimistic about it happening soon. They are hopeful about labelling, and about selective litigation to motivate legislation and awareness and consumer activism. Worth reading, and keeping around as a resource.
The Thing About Men, by Elizabeth Bevarly
Another one of those authors who writes about people who are dishonest about who they are in some fundamental way that comes back to haunt them. In this case, the lifestyle expert from the south (so the Martha Stewart assumption is Not Quite Right -- maybe think Lynette) is a front for her excessively shy friend. Then of course the male protagonist isn't really a drug dealer. Duh. Who do you think reads these books anyway? Suburban moms who vote Republican a good chunk of the time are NOT going to go for a bad boy who is that bad. The kid never comes across as a person, just as a force of nature, which strikes me as relatively realistic.
Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie
Crusie, on the other hand, is moving away from dishonesty. Well, sort of. The dishonesty in this case is about a bet. Crusie's entry in the well-worn-subgenre of amazing-man-dates-frumpy-woman-for-a-bet is better than average, largely because the man has an extremely appealing nephew, and the families are, as always with Crusie, more important than the details of the nominally main romance. Then think Jennifer Weiner-lite, since Min has issues about her weight and an amazing shoe wardrobe. Fluffily pleasant read. The big win here is, get this, Min is an actuary. Yes, the lead chick in a romance novel is an actuary. And good at her job. Even slightly plausible. Wow.
Daisy's Back in Town, by Rachel Gibson
It could be a warning about teen pregnancy, except it isn't, really. Set in Lovett, TX (which I think does not exist, but am not sure), our heroine has returned after her husband dies, to tell her baby-daddy that he is. Her son's (now fifteen) biological father. Interesting moral dilemma. Unlike most impediments to lovers uniting, this one struck me as truly hard to work through/with/on. A bunch of New Country references. Some reality-TV style altercations. Serious muscle-car obsession. The photography bits for the heroine did not work for me at all, but I'm hardly an expert. All in all, an interesting exercise in semi-serious pastiche that, read carefully, constitutes a fascinating commentary on current media trends.
A Woman's Touch
Sweet Fortune
The Private Eye, by Jayne Ann Krentz
That last also included a couple of short stories, one by Dani Sinclair and the other by Julie Miller, neither of them worth the time. Turns out I've read Sweet before, but not the first or third. None are particularly wonderful, altho the third one works nicely as a reworking of Christie cozies through a typically Krentz lens.
Ill Wind, by Rachel Caine
Like the Jim Butcher novels Renee sent me, Joanne is an immensely powerful, young person who doesn't quite fit in with the supernatural authorities. After killing her superior in self-defense, she's on the run from a number of powerful people. And not unlike the Buffyverse, betrayal is everywhere. The magical system is four elements, and the major non-demons, non-humans are djinn. Kinda neat. There should be sequels. I will be reading at least one more of these. Joanne likes fast cars and hot guys (or hot cars and fast guys -- it's not always clear which it is) and the prose style reflects it.
Alien Taste, by Wen Spencer
Female author is always good. I was a little disappointed that reading from the beginning meant I started with male protagonists, but the novel itself is a joy. Twists galore (so many a summary sounds like a bad joke), but they work well, and they all fit together. Even better, this is a book in which the conflict and suspense at times appears to be driven by lack of information/miscommunication/misunderstanding, but all the good guys consistently behave reasonably, and, for that matter, so do the bad guys. The actual conflict turns on the question of diversity vs. conformity. In addition to being the central conflict between the aliens, it shows up time and again in the people surrounding Our Hero: his mothers, his coworkers, the art he buys, the woman he dates. . . Great stuff, and I'm looking forward to more of it.
Ms. Simon Says, by Mary McBride
I keep reading these books about women who leave the big city they know and love and live right in the middle of, and move out to some tiny little nowheresville town where they spend a lot of time with a man they love, and at least part of the time wind up staying there. Huh. Go figure.
In this case, it's an advice columnist running from a crazed mailbomber. Saw the perp from a long ways off, so as a mystery, it's definitely a disappointment. But the characters were entertaining, and the whole retired dad/entrepreneur mom conflict was entertaining. I'll probably read the sequel about the sister.
After Glow, by Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Another book set on Harmony, a sequel to After Dark. These continue to be pleasant little bits of fluff, with amusing dialogue, extremely sketchy sf background, some para-whatever stuff and extremely transparent, but sexy, bad guys. Maybe some day, Krentz will minimally renovate one of these bad guys and make him the protagonist of a sequel. That'd be kinda cool.
The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why, by Dalton Conley
I hate books about the oldest kid is like this, unless they're the opposite, the middle kids are like this and the youngest kid is like this unless they're the opposite. For one thing, they map poorly to my experience of reality. Conley draws a more nuanced picture in which family size matters, as do traumas and how old one is when they hit, and how (and when) they get resolved. Great stuff. Worth rereading.
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Copyright Rebecca Allen, 2004.
Created: January 6, 2004 Modified: March 17, 2004