Live and Let Di

The Outsiders

I opened the book and with the first words, “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home” I was swept back to a time more than 30 years ago when The Outsiders was the book I read over and over and over again. And now my son, a 10 year old 5th grader has just read it and upon reading the last sentence came into our bedroom where we had just turned off the lights to go to sleep because he just had to tell us how much he loved the book.

How can a book that was written almost 40 years ago be so timeless? How can it touch both a 10 year old and a 44 year old (the 44 year old cried, the 10 year old claims he didn’t)? Who can ever forget Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, Two Bit, Dallas, Johnny and Cherry Valance (perhaps the best name ever)?

I had not thought about The Outsiders for years, but when I saw Rory reading it, I knew I had to read it again to see what it was that captured me all those years ago. Upon rereading it, I realized that it is so timeless and so universal because everyone feels, at one time or another, like an outsider. S. E. Hinton, who was just 15 when she started writing the book and had just graduated from high school when it was published, captured the passion, the pain and the intensity of adolescence when everyone feels alienated and misunderstood. She also saw the absurdity of gangs, class differences and violence. I think that Hinton’s descriptions of boys experiencing and expressing emotion helped generations of adolescents to release their painful and unexpressed emotions as they cried over Ponyboy’s story.

I think the most amazing part about this book, considering the youth of its author, is how vividly the characters are drawn. I have pictures in my mind of every one of those boys along with Cherry Valance. In the edition that I read, there is a letter from S. E. Hinton telling about the social situation at her high school and how it provided the idea for the story. In a surreal turn of events, Francis Ford Coppola decided to make it into a movie, so Hinton found herself hanging out with “a group of sweet, goofy, incredibly talented and at the same time incredibly normal teenage boys” including Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise (because of how deeply this book affected me, I am not including any Tom Cruise bashing….consider it a given), Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez and Ralph Macchio. After reading that, I didn’t even want to look up the movie on IMDB (I am pretty sure I have never seen it) to see which actor played which character. I didn’t want my visualization to be confused by Hollywood’s interpretation of the characters.

In her letter, Hinton is incredibly humble about the book and still blown away when she receives letters from kids who say that The Outsiders changed their lives and influenced their life choices. She is insistent that it is the message and not the messenger. But I have to believe that if it weren’t for the incredible talent of a teenager, the message would not still be reaching kids today. Even if you don’t have a kid who is reading it for school, read it (it took me about two hours) and drift back. Remember the passion you felt at the age you were when you first read it. Remember how it called for you to read it over and over again…maybe just because you needed a good cry and didn’t have anything specific to cry about.

Di

Garlic and Sapphires

If you have a voracious appetite for a delicious, yet not too filling book, then Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl is for you! For some of us, at certain times of our lives, the perfect meal with impeccable service means that they remember to put napkins in the bag at the McDonalds drive-thru. Garlic and Sapphires reminds you that there is a world of epicurean delights out there...that we might never experience, but at least can read about as sumptuously described by Ruth Reichl, who at the time about which the book was written was the food critic for the New York Times.

New York is a city that takes its food seriously from the staunch institutions like 21 or Tavern on the Green to the upstart restaurants and their flamboyant chefs melding international cuisine with classic dishes. And New Yorkers apparently feel very passionate about their expectations from the New York Times food critic and the bestowing of the elusive four star rating or the unexpected demotion of a restaurant that loses a star.

Before looking at her first wine list, Reichl's picture and every detail of her life including possible dining partners were posted in serious restaurants throughout New York. How could she get a true picture of a restaurant's food and service if her very presence elicited treatment normally reserved for heads of state? Reichl decided to don a series of disguises in order to see the treatment that the rest of us get...the timid midwesterner on her big trip to New York City, an elderly woman and a bohemian redhead to name a few. What is it like to be seated near the kitchen doors, treated with disdain by too-full-of-themselves waiters and sommeliers and being served substandard fare instead of the culinary delights you are paying the big bucks for? Reichl found out the true story dining several times at each restaurant she reviewed and her star ratings reflected her experience. Some Times readers reacted in horror while others applauded her representation of the regular people just trying to get a great meal.

A good food critic, I suppose, would by definition be very good at writing about food and Reichl has to be in the upper echelon of food writers. Her descriptions left my mouth watering at descriptions of entrees I had never even heard of before! What was even more interesting (although I cannot stress enough how phenomenal the food descriptions are) was her self-examination of what happened to her as she donned each disguise. Her personality morphed to suit the person whe was pretending to be.

After leaving the Times in 1999, Ruth Reichl went on to become the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. She has also written Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples which I have heard from both Amy and Peggy (who tells me she doesn't have a fabulous picture of herself...but now I have her Mom's e-mail address, so I can see if she'll send me Peggy's high school graduation photo...and then we'll see how fast Peggy comes up with a picture!) that these books are even better than Garlic and Sapphires. So I am adding them to my ever-burgeoning TBR (to be read) list.

As books go, Garlic and Sapphires is perfect as an appetizer, just before you launch into reading the "serious" book your Book Group chose this month or a tasty dessert while you are still digesting one of those "dysfunctional family with alcoholic mother" memoirs. It would also be good to throw in your purse as a little snack to enjoy between innings of your son's baseball game or while waiting at the orthodontist.

Di

Book Borrowing

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be"...I could be really pretentious and tell you that I remember that Polonius said that in Hamlet, but I really remember it from the episode of Gilligan's Island where they decide to put on a musical and set Polonius's speech to this...is the internet great or what?  And as for books, borrowing and lending are very touchy subjects with some people. So I thought I would share my thoughts and see what others out there are thinking.

1. Up until about the last year, I was strictly a library reader but I have recently cultivated a dangerous book-buying habit so now I must think about the lending and borrowing of books.

2. I love choosing just the right book for the right person. This is why I have probably bought 30 copies of Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies and at least as many of her Operating Instructions which is my "go to" gift for baby showers. Since I read Gift from the Sea a year or so ago, I have easily bought 20 copies for friends and teachers.

3. Once I finish a book it goes on my mile-high bookshelves (don't believe me? Click here...all those empty shelves way high up are just taunting me to fill them) or to the next person who when I see her makes me think, "Wow she would love this book!" I am not usually a re-reader of books, so my attitude is, if I lend a book the person can take forever to get around to reading it or not read it at all. There is no pressure to get it back to me in a specific period of time. As a matter of fact, within 5 minutes of giving the book, I've probably forgotten to whom I've given it. So if a few months down the line I'm thinking, "Hmmm...didn't I have that book?" it will not occur to me that I loaned it to you and you didn't return it.

A great example is my sister Linda. Linda has complained that I haven't mentioned her on my blog. I pointed out that she has been so busy with her job that I haven't seen her and have hardly talked to her since returning from Ireland three weeks ago...her response, "I don't need to talk to you. I just read your freakin' blog!" Anyway...I do remember that several months ago I gave Linda my copy of Marley & Me (for a review by my guest blogger Shirley, click here.) I don't think she has read it yet...she has been really busy at work. But I don't care...because if she reads it and laughs and/or cries when she finally has time to read again, I'm just happy that I could be part of that.

4. If you do return a book to me, it's kind of like a fun surprise, like getting a box from Amazon on the doorstep!

5. If you finish a book I lend you and think it would be perfect for someone else, I would much rather you passed it along to that person rather than return it to me.

6. If I really care about a book, I won't lend it. Why take a chance? For example, I have a copy of A Widow for One Year signed "To Diane" by John Irving, given to me by my friend Dricka who lives in the same town as John Irving. I wouldn't lend that out because it's too special to me. Not to mention my copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Football signed by Joe Theismann with which I have pictures of me and Rory posing with Joe....that's not going anywhere! Other than those, come visit my mile-high bookshelves and borrow away.

7. The best compliment anyone can give me if I lend them a book is to say, "I loved the book. Thanks!" Or, in the case of my niece Ashley to whom I gave Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country and she has now read everything Bryson has written...that gives me incredible satisfaction.

8. On the flip side, if you lend me a book and you want it back, I would highly recommend writing your name in the book. I have a lot of books laying around here and I might forget. It's not that I'm disrespectful of your property...it's pure forgetfulness. Kind of like when I say, "Can I call you right back?" and you don't hear from me for several days and I call saying, "Are you mad at me? You haven't called lately."

9. Don't lend me an irreplaceable signed first edition because my dog likes books almost as much as I do. And when I say I "devour" books...Toby does it literally! So, if your name is on the inside cover and he hasn't chewed that part up, I can always order a replacement for you. I do have a signed copy of Laurie Colwin's The Lone Pilgrim that Peggy loaned me, but I know it is special, so it is carefully placed OUT of Toby's reach.

My bottom line is that books are for sharing...that's why we have those wonderful libraries that I have abandoned. We need more people to be starting their sentences with, "I read this book..." for which I have taken a ration of S*** and which I successfully eradicated from my conversational nuggets throughout dinner with Laura and Eric Saturday night. So, how do you feel about borrowing and lending books?????

We really want to know.

Di

Belligerent at Borders

Sometimes when I use a word like "belligerent" I look it up just to make sure that I have really communicated what I want to communicate and the definition said, "exhibiting assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness" and boy, is that what I want to communicate.

Tonight I was at Border's with Haley feeding my book habit and I needed help finding some of my books, so I was back and forth to the Information Desk where the employees were delighted to not only tell me where the books were, but walk me there to make sure I found what I needed. As I was standing at the info desk a woman approached the desk who looked just like Angela on The Office...and was just about as personable. She was looking for a children's book series and one of the employees went off with her to find it.

A little while later I was checking out with 10 copies of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee for our parents' book group as well as the books that Haley and I had picked out. The two employees who were helping us were really nice and so apologetic that they had to apply the volume discount to each book individually and it was taking a while. They looked at me a little strangely when I said, "That's OK. I'm not in a hurry." I'm sure they were thinking, "Everyone is in a hurry in Boca! What's wrong with this lady? Oh, she has a 13 year old daughter with her, she's clearly on heavy meds."

Then, let's call her Angela....Angela marched her little 5'0" self up to the desk, interrupted the two employees who were taking care of me and said, "I need to see a manager right away." Now given her tone, I was thinking that a bookcase had fallen on her Louis Vuitton purse or something. When the manager went to her immediate aid, she towered over him by a good 4 inches and immediately started berating him. "YOUR employee just called me Boca Rude. Now I don't know who she thinks she is. But I'm not even from here." (Just an aside, you don't have to be from Boca to be Boca Rude...and as I was listening to her verbally eviscerate this poor little man, I was starting to admire the offending employee's restraint!) I don't think I would have even blogged about this if not for her next statement. "I have more education than she will ever have."

That did it for me. First of all, who cares how much education she has or the Border's employee has keeping in mind that the Border's employee is probably making just over minimum wage for the pleasure of dealing with customers like Angela EVERY SINGLE DAY. Second of all, as a holder of a Bachelor's Degree, I resent anyone making a statement like that which might imply that with a college degree comes a really bad attitude. And third, she was YELLING at this poor manager guy who is hearing this for the first time.

Now, I sometimes berate myself for not being a good enough parent, not setting a good enough example, etc. but when I looked into my daughter's eyes at that moment and saw that she was as appalled as I was and that she GETS IT, I mean really gets it...that you have to be nice, I felt like I had achieved a minor victory.

So, I will close with this quote which I first saw as someone's signature on a newsgroup years and years ago:

Be kind.  Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.  ~Attributed to both T.H. Thompson and John Watson

Di

The Girls

Before I launch into my review, a couple of housekeeping items:

1. Amy responded to my challenge to have a picture taken immediately upon reading my blog so that we can see the "real" Amy. So with the obligatory roll of her 16 year old's eyes, the result is this. She still looks pretty good in my opinion...though we must remember that she lives in Massachusetts and the cold has a preserving effect that we don't experience in South Florida. And I have said it before and I'll say it again...every day she looks more and more like her mother...and that is a compliment.

2. Heather, our Good Karma, Good Books winner, contacted me and opted for The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. I have been a Joan Didion fan since The White Album, so I read her latest book earlier this year (before I started the blog) and loved it. So it is now on its way to Heather. I hope she enjoys it. And thanks AGAIN to everyone who participated.

I just finished The Girls by Lori Lansens. I started it with trepidation because Amy recommended it and I still haven't quite recovered from The Stolen Child despite her redemption with The Children's Blizzard. The Girls is the story of Ruby and Rose, the rarest of conjoined twins, joined at the head. My preconceived notion was that since this was a novel and involved conjoined twins that it would describe in minute detail the challenges one (two?) faces as a conjoined twin. I must admit that a few years back I read Chang and Eng a novel by Darin Strauss primarily because I was ghoulishly fascincated by the first "Siamese" twins (a term that at the time was PC because Chang and Eng were, in fact, Siamese). I mean who doesn't want to know how they managed to marry twin sisters and father 21 children between them. The voyeur in all of us, or at least in me, makes that a fascinating story.

However, Strauss's novel is a work of fiction based on meticulous research about Chang and Eng, enhanced with fictionalization to fill in those aspects of their lives that we cannot know. The Girls surprised me by not emphasizing their conjoinedness but rather detailing their lives which just happen to occur while conjoined. Ruby and Rose are born and abandoned and eventually adopted by a nurse in the hospital who takes them home and raises them along with her immigrant Slovak husband.

Rose is the writer of the two but insists that Ruby write the occasional chapter, giving us alternate perspectives of significant events in their lives. Each twin has her own personality, her own look, her own desires, her own interests and her own viewpoint. Because of their rare conjoinment, they experience rudeness as people stare at them and touch them in intrusive ways. They experience discrimination including the priest who refuses to baptize them and a distant relative who mindlessly serves them one bowl of soup. Throughout the story, Aunt Lovey, the nurse who adopted them, creates a world that is as "normal" as possible. The girls go to school, get punished as well as rewarded as individuals and are given little room for self-pity.

As I progressed in my reading, I thought less and less about Rose and Ruby being conjoined and more and more about them living their lives. Their differentness led to ostracism in some cases and discrimination in others...while they were just living the only life they had ever known. More and more their life became for me a metaphor for any person who is evaluated, judged or given approval or disapproval based on his/her race, looks, physical impairments.

The story is beautifully told with the alternating voices enhancing their tale rather than distracting the reader from the plot. This book will stay with me for a long time...and give Amy her permanent redemption (and thus the insertion of the glamorous picture!)

I am now reading Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl which was fittingly given to me by Peggy whose aunt is one of the most renowned food writers, Laurie Colwin.

Di

More Life in Boca

Don't worry, a book review is coming because I am currently reading The Girls by Lori Lansens recommended by Amy who is consistently redeeming herself for one bad pick early in my blog life. And by the way Amy, people are getting kind of tired of that picture...and I know it is probably you at your most fabulous...but I heard a radio thing this morning about Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and was thinking maybe Amy should send us a picture of the day-to-day Amy. I don't think Amy would get mad at me for saying that if you run into her on the street on any given day, she doesn't look like that picture...she is wearing sweaty clothes because she just finished running (or finished running two days ago and hasn't take a shower yet), is wearing no make-up, is wearing a baseball cap, is talking into her bluetooth or cursing because she just unintentionally hung up on someone with it, wandering through the grocery store apparently talking to herself (see above reference to her new technology bluetooth) and is coming from or going to one of the following:

Borders
Jeff's School
Duncan's School
Kate's School (yes, she is in mother hell...three kids in three different schools)
Yoga class
A Mountain (as in to climb it)
The gym
Book Club
Girls' Night

So, I dare you Amy...when you read this, have someone take a picture of you right this second and send it to me. And about the Dove Campaign, I really urge you to go to this website and play the brief film on there...it shows a regular looking woman and then fast forward as they transform her, photograph her and then PhotoShop her to meet our standard of beauty.

Some people have asked me how I have time for blogging...well, I have discovered that I am constantly writing in my head. If I carried a notebook with me, I would probably have lots more to blog about, but right now I am just going to clean up the detritus of minutiae in my brain:

1. Just ran across Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads by Rosalind Wiseman who wrote Queen Bees and Wannabees while surfing Amazon and it looks like a MUST.

2. I am addicted to This American Life from NPR on my IPod. This is why if you say hello to me or start a conversation with me when I am on the treadmill, I am going to look at you blankly, not understanding why you don't sound like Ira Glass...on whose voice I secretly have a crush.

3. Andrea is a sadist. I told her I would mention her on my blog and requested that she send me a glamorous (a la Amy) picture for me to post, but she has not. I took her spin class yesterday and my quads were singing to me last night and this morning, I woke up and found that my glutes had joined the chorus.

4. When I told my son Rory that Max's Mom teaches spinning at the YMCA, he responded, "But they are Jewish." So, apparently he gets the "C" part of YMCA, but the "M" part and her non-compliance with that aspect of it doesn't phase him a bit. Or I've raised him with such tolerance that he's thinking maybe she's a female impersonator or something and that's just OK. As for the "Y", she's probably a good 10 years younger than me, so the "Y" definitely applies!!!!

5. Haley had the "first appointment of the day" at the orthodontist today, so of course I got there 7 minutes early and encountered in the waiting room the other 20 people who had the "first appointment of the day" so the following are just random observations from my 40 minutes at the orthodontist's office:

-    They have easily spent more than our first house cost on their aquariums (aquaria?)

-    Their waiting room is like a combination of an airport gate just before boarding a full plane and Boomer's, Dave & Buster's or one of those other places with all the kids and all the video games (although, to Dave & Buster's credit, I do believe they serve liquor). Neither of those places are places at which I would willingly choose to spend time.

-    Expanding on the airport gate theme, the new patients and their parents are like the "First Class and Passengers Traveling with Small Children" who get to board first, rolling their luggage on your toes as they head to the gate to leisurely board. So on that first visit you are thinking, "That wasn't too bad...I think I'll give them the several thousand dollars they are asking for just so my kid can have Stepford teeth."

-   Are there people out there who really need or want the constant drone of a TV monitor or speaker every freaking place they go? I listened to my IPod until Haley got called back to drown out the noise of the waiting room people and the TV. Then I moved outside to a park bench just outside and there was something blasting from the speakers out there, presumably put there by the people who own the shopping center. Now I ask you, would someone's life feel incomplete if on the walk from Albertson's to Toys 'R' Us they didn't have something to listen to? I had to turn up Ira Glass to full volume to drown it out.

- Does anyone else think of "George Glass", Jan's imaginary boyfriend on The Brady Bunch, when I mention Ira Glass?

6. At the mall yesterday (I know it sounds like I've been going there a lot for someone who doesn't like to shop....but I had my personal training session at the Apple Store...maybe it was that and not Frau Andrea's Sadism 101...maybe it should be Masochism 101 since I am trying desperately to rearrange my schedule tomorrow so I can go again!...class that wore me out yesterday) I saw several very thin women with very large breast implants which begs the question...why go to a D cup and still wear a size "small" leaving a big gap between buttons or an unnattractive stretching across the back? Laura told me it's hard for women with big boobs and tiny waists to find clothes that fit...I'm finding it really hard to feel sorry for anyone to whom the words "tiny waist" apply.

7. Today I went to PetSmart and asked the girl there if they had any puppy food that is high in fiber. (There is some evidence that high fiber food can help with Toby's "issue" which you can read about in a previous post....but it's really disgusting, so I don't recommend looking for it...take my word for it.) She asked me what the fiber content of his current dog food is. I was floored. I have no idea. I kind of felt the same way I felt when Sheri said to me as I was suggesting a play date, "Well, you know they have a Social Studies test tomorrow." I didn't know that either. Am I not only a bad mother but a bad pet owner? At least with the test thing I can justify it to myself that Rory should take responsibility for his own schoolwork...but I don't think Toby (please click on link for new, updated picture of Toby highlighting his mellow disposition and soulful eyes) can be expected to manage his fiber intake and obviously I'm not doing my job!

OK, I think that sufficiently empties my brain of useless, but somehow compelling, information. So now I can get to finishing The Girls so I can blog about books again.

Di

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Usually I will be blogging about books that appeal to adults, but sometimes I know that we are stymied by what to have our children read. Yesterday my son Rory who is in 5th grade came and handed me a book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, saying, “Mom, you have to read this. It's really sad.” It is a very short book, only one point on the Accelerated Reader tests for those whose kids have to get a certain number of points, but its implications go deep.

I've mentioned that my son's teacher, Ms. Root (I'm not using her alias because I think she would think it's OK to mention her on my blog) is quite unique in her approach to teaching, including yoga and breathing techniques along with the three Rs. This week, the class was discussing the bombing of Hiroshima. Instead of limiting the lesson to the dates and details (although we do now know that Enola Gay was the name of the plane that dropped the bomb), Ms. Root suggested that some of the kids read Sadako. The story takes place nine years after the bombing of Hiroshima (at which time Sadako was two) and is about her suffering as a result of the after-effects of the bombing. After I read it…and shed a tear or two at the end…I thought about how much it taught ME about Hiroshima, the effects of the bomb and made this event in history more meaningful to me on a personal level.

I also learned that Sadako was a real child and that her story became an inspiration to children throughout Japan. Eventually, people joined together to honor Sadako as a person and as a symbol of the children effected by Hiroshima and a statue was erected in her honor. To read about Sadako and her story, click here.

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

I do not usually reread books. There are so many out there and so little time! But I do make an exception for exceptional books. I reread A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry when a Book Club I was in wanted to read it...and got more out of it the second time and even more from discussing it with my Book Club cohorts. I reread Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott as well as others of her non-fiction works every year or so because every time I read them, something new speaks to me in a different way because I'm a new person every time I read them. And so it was with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, although with slightly less lofty reasons.

While Midnight languished on the New York Times Bestseller list for four years, during which the publisher wisely withheld a paperback version of the book, I worked full time, changed jobs, had a second child, quit my job, started my own business and generally lived a huge chunk of my life. Sometime before 1997 (I know this because the book does not appear on my spreadsheet, for more information, see this ) I read and loved this book. I think it was originally recommended by my friend and then coworker Paula. I found it fascinating and was unable to put it down, not even knowing that within a few years, I would end up living in "the South" and some of the eccentric characters and improbable vignettes would seem normal. Don't even waste your time renting the movie despite the stellar cast including John Cusack (who sealed his status with me in his wordless scene in Say Anything when he holds up the boombox playing "In Your Eyes"), Kevin Spacey (whose tongue-in-cheek yet realistic portrayal of Lester Burnham in American Beauty earned him his Oscar leaving other nominees in the dust...and for the record, if anyone cares, I thoroughly believe that Annette Bening was ripped off losing to Hilary Swank that year...but that issue is for another blog), Jude Law and even the Lady Chablis playing herself! Even though it was directed by my husband's favorite, Clint Eastwood, it just didn't begin to capture the charming mix of character study, true crime novel and irreverent, but  non-judgmental, commentary that makes the book unique.

What has me rereading this wonderful book in 2006 is that Amy and I are going away for a girls' weekend to Savannah at the end of October. So determined are we to get away from husbands and children that we purposefully selected a "gay friendly" B&B with a strict "no children" rule. We figured this would ensure us a weekend of interesting conversation with people other than boring middle-aged married people like us! Oh and serendipity has struck again...The Lady Chablis is performing in Savannah while we are there, so we have tickets to see her show!!!

Rereading Midnight helped to get me steeped in the Savannah that is as well as the Savannah that was. There's a part of Savannah that holds fast to its antebellum roots and a part that celebrates its current eccentricities. It's a city that dedicated itself fully to the restoration of historic homes to maintain its southern charm. As Berendt points out, quoting Mary Harty one of his first encounters in Savannah, "We're not like the rest of Georgia. We have a saying: If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, "What's your business?" In Macon they ask, "Where do you go to church?" In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is, "What would you like to drink?" Mind you, she said this as she was packing a basket of martini makings to take to a cemetary to drink!

Berendt, a writer, comes to Savannah when he realizes he can fly to Savannah for less than it would cost him to have a fine meal in New York City! He gradually moves himself to Savannah and is adopted into the city...in many cases because Savannahians were hoping to eventually appear in his book!

The main focus of the story is Jim Williams, an art and antique collector whose annual Christmas Party traditionally held the night before the Cotillion Ball is THE party and has people living in fear all year long that they will inadvertently offend Mr. Williams and be scratched from the guest list. He lives in the beautifully restored Mercer House (home to ancestors of Moon River composer Johnny Mercer) surrounded by the art and antiques he collects on his buying trips to Europe and New York. His genteel, moneyed Southern gentleman exterior is belied by his relationship with high school drop-out and volatile drifter Danny Hansford. Hansford takes up residence with Williams and has a series of violent episodes before he ends up dead, shot by Williams in his drawing room...in self-defense maintains Williams.

The story of Savannah, Williams, his trial and its impact on Savannah society is peopled with the most bizarre characters including The Lady Chablis (a black transvestite who befriends Berendt), a voodoo priestess, an attorney whose interest in Williams case wanes if there is a Georgia football game that week...and really far too many others to mention. It's a perfect example of a non-fiction book that reads like the most compelling, well-constructed novel. Rereading it reminded me of why it held and DESERVED its four year sojourn on the New York Times Bestseller List.

So, be thinking of me and Amy the last weekend in October when we will be in Savannah. It is the weeked of one of Savannah's High Holidays, the Georgia Florida game (St. Patrick's Day is the other with Savannah having the second biggest celebration of any city in the U.S....I have to assume New York City has the first). We may drink a martini in the cemetary. And we are DEFINITELY going on the Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil tour!

Di

And the book goes to...

...Heather!!!! Heather was my roommate sophomore year at St. Lawrence University 25 years ago!!! She married her college sweetheart and now has two boys and lives in Connecticut. Although I haven't seen Heather in well over 20 years, I'll bet she still has a great smile and is a wonderful Mom to her boys.

So, I have asked Heather to send me her snail mail address and the name of the book that she would like and then I will place the order, hoping that the Amazon box arrives on a day that has been gloomy or frustrating and brightens her day just a little...as those Amazon boxes do for me! I've also offered to have Heather do a guest blog when she finishes the book...please comment here if you want to help me convince Heather to do so.

The accounting firm of Haley & Hurley (my daughter and husband...Rory is at the movies with his friend and his GIRLFRIEND...OMG) helped to ensure that the contest was run completely randomly. To start with, all entrants' names were put on an Excel spreadsheet along with the author and title of the books they chose (so each person had 3 lines in the spreadsheet...those who tried to cheat and put 4 books...only the first three were entered). Hurley pronounced that the spreadsheet should then be sorted by the book title. I then entered a formula used to generate a random number. Haley pressed the enter key and the number 32 came up which led us to Heather and her favorite book, Memoirs of a Geisha.

There were a total of 26 entrants to the contest. Books with multiple votes included:

The Kite Runner               5
Pride & Prejudice             5
Memoirs of a Geisha       3
Poisonwood Bible             3
A Fine Balance                  2

I would recommend all of these (with the exception of Pride & Prejudice which I am ashamed to say I have not read, but I totally trust my blog readers and I promise to read it before the end of the year!)

A couple of my favorite moments from the contest included:
1. When my niece Ashley chose a book I gave her as one of her favorites as well as another by the same author
2. When Shirley chose Antarctic Navigation which I gave her
3. When my contest went "international" with the addition of Loredana's list (from Italy)
4. The great people I have "met" and now consider friends as well as loyal readers.

Thanks so much for participating. Please feel free to give me ideas for future contests as this makes things quite interesting and I have now been informed that there is a web site which promotes blogs with contests. I was thinking maybe top favorite movies with the winner getting a DVD, top favorite "albums" with the winner getting an ITunes gift certificate, top favorite parenting books with the winner getting a week's supply of valium or a week's supply of wine (ha ha...kidding...don't want to get busted by the DEA or something).

I'll let you know what book Heather chooses and if she opts to guest-blog about it.

Di

 

Last Chance!!!

This is your last chance! Please make sure you click on the following and then read my post from October 1, entitled "Good Karma, Good Books". The response has been great! I, for one, have already gotten some great ideas for books to read from the people who have commented and entered my contest! Get a free book from me...who could resist? But the thing is, the drawing is going to be held today, Sunday October 8 as soon as the Dolphins game is over (around 4:00 p.m.EST) We figure we are going to need something to cheer us up as we mourn the latest Dolphins embarrassing loss. I really hate to say that, especially since they are playing New England, so I am sure to hear about it from Amy who has no interest in football, has never watched a whole game, doesn't know the rules...but loves to gloat when the Patriots beat the Dolphins.

In my world of good karma, things happen for a reason. Those who know me know that I am not a shopper. Going to the mall on a Saturday with my daughter requires a long recovery nap when we get home. I am still praying that someone comes up with Garanimals for grown-ups. But last year I uncharacteristically leafed through the glossy Boca Raton Observer and an ad for a shop, Sage & Sky, kind of grabbed me for no good reason. So I ripped the page out and stuck it in my purse. A few days later I was in Starbucks and VERY characteristically struck up a conversation with the woman at the next table only to find out that she works at Sage & Sky. Another week or so later, I found that we had dinner plans with Cathy and Lenny. Cathy is very fashionable and works at another clothing store. So I beseeched my niece Ashley, who is 22, a senior in college and models to make extra money, to take me shopping. Because of one of my favorite stores, Mangoes in Cocoa, FL, I did happen to own a very cool pair of jeans. All I needed was a top to go with them. So off we went to Sage & Sky and found the most amazing top and I bought it.

Fast forward to this past week. A Mom I only knew by name from my son's class, Stacy, and I got together (at Starbucks of course) to talk about a parent reading group we are putting together reading The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel because it was recommended by our kids' teacher. I asked her what work she did that allowed her to meet me for coffee and not go to work until 10...she answered that she owns a women's clothing store...you guessed it...Sage & Sky!!! So I told her about this awesome top. Later on, I sent her a picture of me wearing it. Then Friday night I got dressed to wear it out to dinner with some unsuspecting friends who were among the few who had not seen me in it...it's my total go-to top, a winner every time and when I came out, my husband said, "Hey, you look just like your blog picture." So now Stacy, I have realized that in every picture of me over the last six months I'm pretty much wearing that top as evidenced by my blog photo, this, this and this. Fortunately, these three pictures were taken in Boca, Jensen Beach and Fuquay Varina, NC so there aren't tons of people whispering, "Doesn't she have anything else to wear?" In Fuquay, they would kindly add "bless her heart" which can translate to literally "bless her heart" or "her mind is clearly addled" or "we really hate her but are too nice to say it out loud."

So, this week I am due for some shopping because:

1. I lost 30 pounds in the last year and nothing fits

2. Laura ruthlessly purged my closet of all the clothes that a) no longer fit; b) are hopelessly out of style; c) showed excessive signs of wear and tear (see above to confirm my propensity to wear the same thing over and over again); or d) had been bought in the last century. She left me with three pairs of jeans (two of which don't really fit, but she felt sorry for my empty-looking closet), the top shown in all of the above pictures and a bunch of golf clothes (Laura doesn't know much about golf, so she really couldn't evaluate if my golf stuff was still in style or not).

3. I am determined to have at least three days worth of clothes to wear when Amy and I go to Savannah later this month.

So Stacy, I'll be seing you this week at Sage & Sky, accompanied by my personal shoppers Laura and Olivia. Olivia will be the one in the stroller clutching my black and white beaded necklace and a $100 bill, pointing at things and saying, "Whassat?" Laura will be the one picking out my clothes for me...she's the next best thing to Garanimals!

Di