Straight Man

Straight Man (1997) by Richard Russo. An early book by the author of "Empire Falls." William Henry Devereaux Jr. is the unlikely chairman of the English Department of an obscure state university in Pennsylvania. Around him Russo builds a portrait of life in academe, with all its attendant absurdities and even hilarities. This is a most amusing book, with engaging characters and funny, sometimes poignant situations. Grade: A-

The Alienist

The Alienist (1994) by Caleb Carr. I have to confess that I have tried to read this book twice, but I just can't get through it. Most recently, I read 118 pages and then set it aside, thinking I might get back to it. But when I picked it up again it was just to remove my bookmark and consign it to the unread books stack. So it goes.

A Patchwork Planet

A Patchwork Planet (1998) by Anne Tyler. Barnaby, a reformed delinquent, has reached the age of 30 and works for a company called Rent-a-Back, doing odd jobs for the elderly. He lives in Baltimore but must frequently travel to Philadelphia to visit his daughter, Opal, who lives with her mother and stepfather. One day, traveling by train because his car is in the shop, he meets Sophia, a plump, never-married 36-year-old. Gradually, he falls in love with Sophia. But complications ensue when Sophia's aunt accuses Barnaby of stealing money from her flour bin, where she has kept it hidden. Somehow Barnaby ends up having a one-night stand with Martine, a fellow Rent-a-Back worker. Somehow it seems he gradually falls out of love with Sophia. I think I missed something here because his motives weren't always clear to me. Still, a good read. Grade: B

Gone for Good

Gone for Good (2002) by Harlan Coben. Will Klein is searching for his brother, Ken. Eleven years ago, Ken was implicated in a murder, and then disappeared. His family has chosen to believe him dead, but recent evidence has surfaced proving that he is still alive and in hiding. Will, playing amateur sleuth, is caught up in machinations which he has no chance of understanding -- until the end of the book, when everything becomes more-or-less clear. Whether the reader will buy the explanation, or even care, is another question altogether. There are so many switches and double-switchbacks in the plot that I felt entirely lost by the time I got to the end. Although it was a pretty good read, it was not a very rewarding one. Grade: C+

Liars and Saints

Liars and Saints (2003) by Maile Meloy. Starting with the marriage of Yvette and Teddy during World War II, "Liars and Saints" covers the fortunes of the Santerre clan through the year 2000. Children grow up, marry, have children of their own, and change partners during the course of Meloy's first novel, which is at times slightly shocking, at times touching. At 260 pages, this book is a quick read, but it also seems at times to skim over details that we want to know about the lives of the characters. I wanted to see them explored in just a little more depth. Grade: B

Of Rice and Men

Of Rice and Men (2006) by Richard Galli. This book is reminiscent of nothing so much as "M*A*S*H." Galli has tried to do for the Vietnam War what "M*A*S*H" did for the Korean War. As a remf (rear-echelon motherfucker) in the war himself -- he served as an interpreter -- Galli witnessed and took part in many of the adventures described in his book. The title comes from one of the book's central conceits -- that it was ridiculous on the face of it for the U. S. to send "experts" to teach the Vietnamese how to grow rice, when they already knew how. America tried to get our Vietnamese allies to grow newly developed varieties of "super" rice, which yielded up to three times the crop as their traditional rice. Only problem was, the new rice tasted lousy to Vietnamese palates. These and other absurdities of the time and place are played out in Galli's mostly comic novel. Grade: B+