| May 31, 1998 Dream Boy
by Jim Grimsley (1995). This
is the best book I've read in months. It's the love story of Nathan and Roy, two
teenage boys. Jim Grimsley tells this story so well that you feel like you've
stepped into another world. Its dreamlike qualities almost place the action outside
of time and reality, but the emotions this story invokes are real and deep. This
book took me to a dark place that I didn't know I wanted to go - needed to go - and
brought me back safely again at the end. It was an amazing ride.
The Robber
Bride by Margaret Atwood. As my friend Liza says, nobody writes about women and how awful - and wonderful -
they can be to each other as well as Margaret Atwood does. This book is proof.
It's the story of four women who met at different times in their lives, and it
chronicles their interactions for a span of twenty years or so. It's a book about
enduring friendships - and knowing when to cut your losses. It's also one of the
most searing, realistic explorations of jealousy I've ever seen in print. When you
read it, see which of these women you identify with most. I think I identify with
Ros. Liza says she's Toni, although I had her pegged for Charis. :-) If
you're Xenia . . . I'm sorry.
Women in
their Beds by Gina Berriault.
This is a book of short stories, all by Gina Berriault. I'm about halfway through,
and I'm enjoying them immensely. Berriault has been writing for literary magazines
and journals for almost forty years, and she is a true expert at the short story, setting
the scene and revealing the characters with the brisk strokes of a master. All of
the stories are intriguing and engrossing, though two favorites so far are "A Dream
of Fair Women," about an Indian restraunteur on the night when a famous food critic
comes to dine, and "Who is it can tell me who I am?" which tells the story of a
strange, wonderful relationship between a homeless man and a librarian at the San
Francisco Public Library. |
