The Night Circus

The Night Circus (2011) by Erin Morgenstern. One of the most beautiful, and beautifully written, books I have read. The Night Circus depicts a world in which there are two kinds of magicians -- illusionists and real magicians. Morgenstern's descriptions of magic being performed by true magicians are multiplistic and filled with color and movement. When two rival magicians choose two proteges to compete with each other, they set in motion forces which even they cannot control. The two proteges fall in love, and the marvelous circus which they have created and maintained is preserved. This work reminds me a little of Steven Millhauser, a little of Ray Bradbury. It is certainly a worthwhile read. Grade: A-

Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark

Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark (2011) by Brian Kellow. The author has done a thorough, not to mention exhaustive, job of researching Kael and her life as a film critic. For the most part, the book is very interesting, but it really gets going in the '60s and '70s, when I started attending movies and thus have an opinion about the movies Kael reviewed. She was never one to follow the popular tide, but always went her own way and thought her own thoughts about the movies she saw. Even though I don't always agree with her opinions about a given movie, I always respect the weight of knowledge and experience that she brought to the critique. This is really a good book. Grade: A

Then Again

Then Again (2011) by Diane Keaton. Keaton has chosen to write about herself, and equally about her mother. She seems to think that a knowledge of her mother is essential to a knowledge of herself. And maybe it is. What is missing from this book is any good dish about Woody Allen, Warren Beatty and Al Pacino, three famous film-world personalities whom Keaton had relationships with at some times during her adult life. I'd like to have heard more about them and less about Diane's mother. But that's not what she chose to write. What she did write is pretty entertaining in its own way, but is not top-notch autobiography. Grade: B

There but for the

There but for the (2011) by Ali Smith. Yes, that is the title. It's a clever play on words, with each word in the title leading off a major section of the book. The book is a charming, off-beat novel in which, to start things off, a dinner guest goes upstairs and locks himself into a bedroom, refusing to come out for many months. But that is only the jumping-off point for a book that is full of word-play, most of it revolving around a young girl named Brook. I am tempted to read this book again, to take a second pass at it and enjoy it all over again. Maybe I will. Grade: A-

To End All Wars

To End All Wars (2011) by Adam Hochschild. A truly astonishing book that takes a fresh look at World War I. Hochschild explores not only the carnage on the battlefield, but the arguments for and against the war that took place on the home front (mostly in England). Fittingly, the book's cover features a photograph of mounted cavalrymen with their lances -- little did they know that horses and lances would prove useless in the face of modern defensive weapons such as the machine gun and barbed wire. Meanwhile, back in England, there were those, sometimes quite prominent, persons who opposed the war on moral grounds. Hochschild tells their story too, and the story of how a few brave souls stood fast against the senseless slaughter that was taking place all along the Western Front. This is a fascinating, well written book that has historical sweep and doesn't shrink from the conclusion that the First World War was the greatest calamity of the twentieth century -- not that it was avoidable, but that it was dreadfully inevitable. Grade: A

Raylan

Raylan (2012) by Elmore Leonard. This book is less a mystery than a showcase for lawman Raylan Givens, Leonard's creation who is known mainly for his willingness to shoot people. Givens never shoots anyone who doesn't deserve it, so that is some comfort. This story is made up of an interesting trio of interlocking tales, each involving a different bad guy (or gal), and each finding quick resolution from the barrel of Givens' gun. Leonard is a master of real-sounding dialogue, and he creates vivid and memorable characters in settings of drug dealing, horse racing, and organ theft -- not to mention bank robbing. This was an enjoyable book and a quick read. Not great literature, but certainly diverting. Grade: B+

And So It Goes

And So It Goes (Kurt Vonnegut: A Life) (2011) by Charles J. Shields. Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five, makes for an interesting subject for biography. Shields has researched his subject well, and we see, through the eyes of Vonnegut's family, friends and professional associates, a bit of the man he really was. Not surprisingly, the private Vonnegut was not the warm, kind and loving narrator of his books. He was a serial womanizer and something of a tyrant to his own family. He had, perhaps, been ruined by his war experiences. Shields also traces the writing of each Vonnegut book and offers up a summary of each of Vonnegut's novels. This biography did not make me want to run out and read all of Vonnegut's books again, but it did make me feel that I knew the real Kurt Vonnegut just a little better. Grade: A

Ninety Days

Ninety Days (2012) by Bill Clegg. Ninety days, it turns out, is a landmark date of sobriety for alcoholics and drug addicts. In this book, Clegg tells of his own struggle to stay sober after years of drinking and smoking crack. I missed his earlier book, Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, but this one still resonated. Clegg lays it all out there, his homosexuality, the relapses, the battle to attend meetings and avoid places that are "triggers" for him. This book seems to be an honest, revealing story of addiction and recovery, and it's a worthwhile read. Grade: B+