Me Talk
Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Book Review by Michele Marion
David Sedaris seems to get into the most interesting situations both
real and what he makes of them in his head.
In Me Talk Pretty One Day, we find out about his adventures in going to
speech therapy, drug fueled contemporary art, learning French and seeking
medical care while in France. I found
the stories to be funny and entertaining.
A few of them even had me laughing hard.
I would recommend listening to the audiobook as it is read by the author
and hearing him tell the stories really brings them to life.
The Great
Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David
McCullough
Book Review by Ashley Lesser
McCullough's "The Great Bridge" is an
outstandingly well-written, sweeping history of the construction of the
Brooklyn Bridge. If you don't like histories, you will find it long.
However, its many digressions are key to telling the story of the bridge.
It delves deeply into the politics of Tammany Hall and the fall of Boss
Tweed, and the discovery of caisson disease (the 'bends') during the sinking of
foundations. By the end of the book, one really appreciates the remarkable feat
of engineering and political will that the Brooklyn Bridge represents. Comparing
the scale of the Brooklyn Bridge to its predecessor, the Roebling Bridge in
Cincinnati, helps to illustrate the magnitude of the technical achievement.
That it remains a major thoroughfare after 130 years, without substantial
alteration, is a testament to its success.
To me as a civil engineer, the most unexpectedly
interesting part of the story concerned the management of the bridge
enterprise, from funding to procurement, because the challenges are not so
different today. I recommended this book for SWE, however, because of the
key role of Emily Roebling in the bridge's construction after her husband,
Chief Engineer Washington Roebling, became increasingly bedridden from caisson
disease. Emily may be considered the “first woman field engineer,” as she
relayed messages between her husband and his assistants and developed a strong
working knowledge of strength of materials and structural analysis from his
dictations. Washington Roebling monitored the bridge's progress by
telescope from his apartment for a decade, but never did visit his completed
bridge. Emily Roebling, instead, was the first to cross it on its opening
day, riding in a carriage and carrying a rooster as a sign of victory -- what a
wonderful image! Unfortunately, Emily's part in the story comes well into
the second half of the book. Few of us got that far before our book club
meeting...
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Book Review by Irina
Sullivan
Wecker’s “The Golem and The
Jinni,” hailed by numerous review lists as a must-read debut, was nevertheless
a disappointment to us as a group. Doubtless the author deserves praise
for conducting careful research into the folkloric history of the main
characters and the powers and weaknesses that determine their choices. The
setting chosen for the book, New York City at the end of the 19th century, also
seemed an intriguing place to stage an encounter between the Jewish and the
Arabic characters. However, the praise largely ends at those two points
as the author did not pursue any of the multitude of tensions this combination
creates - ethnic, gender, immigration - and instead settled for a simple love
story and a very predictable one at that. Golem, the female protagonist,
was the responsible, devoted, and loyal one and Jinni, the male character, was
having all the fun of a young, unattached man until, of course, falling in love
with Golem forced him to do some soul-searching. Neither did the other
characters bring in enough to the novel to distract from the sure happy ending
that was to follow. The general outline of the story - initial animosity
between the two characters that turns into the feelings of passion - is so
tired that indeed it hardly deserves the pages of another book. But
Wecker chose this very path of least resistance in placing her characters, who
are otherwise products of great imagination and potential, on predictable rails
of a romance.
Gallo Be
Thy Name by Jerome Tuccile
Book Review by Beth Nunning
Gallo Be Thy Name tracks the history of the Gallo Wineries family
beginning with the parents of Ernest and Julio Gallo, Joe and Susie Gallo,
through the present day. It is an interesting story of not only how one of the
largest wine producers began and built their business, but also of the
personalities of and interactions between the members of the family.
During Prohibition, Joe Gallo sold grapes and jellied “wine juice” to Al
Capone and his lieutenants, and eventually trained his oldest son, Ernest, to
be the person who accompanied the product to Chicago and collect the money. As
Ernest excelled in those dealing, Joe sent Julio to expand the business in New
Jersey, but Julio did not have the desire to deal in that side of the business.
It quickly became clear that Ernest would run the business and Julio would make
the wine.
The two brothers inherited the business upon the murder of their mother
and death of their father, the circumstances of which was never resolved. They
took care of their younger brother, but cut him out of the wine business. Julio
wanted to make great wines, but was in conflict with Ernest who wanted to
appeal to a mass market that preferred sweeter wines. The mass market direction
was the way the company went and market wines under more labels than most wine
connoisseurs are aware.
Most of the book club enjoyed the book, learning of the history of a
wine corporation and the personalities behind it, but it was commented that the
way the book jumps around in time was an issue.
South of
Superior by Ellen Airgood
Book Review by Tina Poquette
South of Superior was written by Ellen Airgood who owns a café in Grand
Marais, Michigan, on the south shore of Lake Superior next to the Pictured
Rocks National Park. She writes with
ease the fictional story of thirty-something Madeline Stone who moves from
Chicago to a small town on Lake Superior to take care of a distant
relative. She experiences the hardships
of living in a remote town on the unforgiving lake where many people now find
it difficult to make a living. The
people are tough but resilient. Over the
course of a year, some old wounds heal and she discovers something to be
passionate about to give her life purpose.
I enjoyed the book and felt the author portrayed an accurate picture of
life on the shores of Lake Superior.
You have to ask yourself if you would be as gracious as Madeline Stone
in her circumstances. I lived with the
characters in my head long after I finished the book. It’s a good fiction read by a Michigan
author.
