The Kitchen House

Thanks to the Foxx for hosting a lovely BC. We started out with artichoke dip spread over crostini and pesto-topped hummus with sweet potato chips, courtesy of Logan's Run, followed by a fresh and delicious saute of shrimp, spinach and tomatoes, and polished off with a berry pie baked by Quakers in Idaho and lovingly transported by El Jefe 14 hours back to Cali in a cooler. An homage to our well-intentioned but ultimately futile Sun Valley BC.

The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom, cooked in at a meager 5.3. This was the story of an Irish girl named Lavinia ("Abinia" in the author's rendition of southern slave dialect) who was an indentured servant and was raised by the plantation slaves with whom she worked. On the positive side, several of us really got into this story (albeit after a slow start) and found it to be riveting enough to overcome the frankly depressing nature of the subject matter. Also, the characters were well developed and therefore interesting, even if not likeable. The detractors found the story to be overly dramatic-- the Maharani actually compared it to a telenovella-- with rape followed by beating followed by molestation followed by morphine abuse. Although these tragedies undoubtedly were all too commonplace in the sad and harsh world portrayed by The Kitchen House, our group felt that the novel was so packed with them that it dulled the effect on the reader. For example, one person mentioned that by the time Ben's ear got cut off, the gruesome incident came across as just one more violent act in a parade of horribles rather than a shocking scene that stopped the reader in her tracks. Some also simply didn't like Abinia: although she struggled with her place between the white and black worlds, she was a people pleaser and a weak character who didn't garner much sympathy. In fact, there was more discussion over Marshall, who suffered years of cruelty and molestation at the hands of his tutor and emerged a ruined and abusive man himself. The trauma of his childhood resulted in Marshall growing up to be more comfortable banding together with the diabolical slavemaster Rankin that with his own family members. Finally, Ms. K. felt that that the book was a "Roots" copycat-- not very original except for the indentured servant twist; a historically interesting theme but ultimately not enough to salvage the overall rating.

Admittedly, having real trouble figuring out what pictures to include....

Stay tuned for the recap of The Interestings! Until next time, read early and often.. xoej

Dark Places

Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn, was our August book, read in L.A. and Sun Valley, and discussed by the L.A. team over dinner at Le Zinque.

Overall the book scored an 8.4.  It was entertaining, easy to read and suspenseful. So much so that The Highlander snuggled up every night to read (wha??), dying to find out what happened. Possible pun intended. Apparently people were pretty fooled, thinking it was Diondra who was the killer. A very effective thriller, this was better liked than Gone Girl. Want to hear something weird? In going back through the blog to get that link, El Jefe noted that the Gone Girl recap was September 4, 2012-- one year to the day ago.

A Thousand Pardons

Oy, El Jefe has really slacked off this summer and is relegated to backdating the blog posts. But why call it slacking off when we can call it "being flexible?" A way belated thanks to Logan's Run for hosting July BC, with a special appearance by none other than Blondie- once in BC, always in BC: it was just like old times! Glad we proved we still hold the bar high as far as food is concerned. We shared CA and ID gossip over bruschetta with three kinds of toppings (pesto and parm, roasted beets with fresh feta, and roasted red bell peppers with chives), followed by orzo with roasted veggies and an amazing salad (maple syrup dressing from Gwenyth's cookbook, right?) and assorted French pastries and cookies. Lish!!

A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee garnered a 5.7. It was a full house, and everybody voted. One or two high scores were countered by a number of votes in the 4-5 range, with a lot of consistency in the comments. To refresh memories: this was the story of the housewife, Helen, whose husband cheated with the law firm summer intern and went broke from the resulting legal battle. Helen was forced to move to NYC and take a job in crisis management PR. She runs into an old high school flame now movie star, Hamilton Barth, and subsequently "rescues" him from a drunken oblivion and hides him in her ex-husband's house while trying to locate Hamilton's one-night stand and prove she (the one-night stand) is still alive. Meanwhile, the adopted daughter is getting into all kinds of delinquency. And then at the end, um, they move back in together? That part is pretty fuzzy in El Jefe's memory which is exactly the problem people had: the first half of the book was fun and sensationalist, while the second half just kind of went nowhere, despite the high expectations that maybe there would be a murder! Maybe Helen and Hamilton would get together in a sizzling romance! Maybe the adopted daughter would do something really crazy! But, no, they all just kind of resumed their post-divorce, post-scandal, post-trouble-making-African American boyfriend lives. At the worst, Ms. K wondered why an author would even write this, setting up the reader for nothing to happen. Anopther critique was that the author treated Helen very harshly. We were all picturing her as middle aged and dowdy, loathed by her teenage daughter, struggling to get back into the workforce. But then we find out she's only like-- our age! Ouch. On the flip side, a couple of people thought that for all its hints towards celebrity and drama, the book had a streak of realiam and, going even further, the author actually was deliberate in giving the book a somewhat drab ending. That is, neither marriage nor divorce may be all that exciting, affairs don't always end in a huge dramatic flame out, and resuming commonplace lives is, well, just what happens most of the time.

Stay tuned for the next installment of The Club of Books to find out what happened to the Sun Valley book club which turned into the LA and Sun Valley book clubs which turned into just the LA book club. Funny how natural disasters can do that. See everyone tomorrow to discuss our August and September books. And happy End o' Summer! xoej

The End of Your Life Book Club

Life is good.  Book club, incredible food, beautiful and amazing friends and the beach (sigh). Does it get any better? Thanks Red for the portable feast, enjoyed from a cozy cabana overlooking the Pacific at sundown. I mean does it?! Manchego cheese canapes and homemade spicy mixed nuts, two kinds of quiche, one of which had melted leeks God bless, mixed baby greens and El Jefe's birthday cake! Deee-lishy.

The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe, scored a 6.6 Although not the feel good book of the summer, the poignancy of this story moved our group and gave rise to an emotional discussion.

As Logan's Run put it, TEOYLBC is at its core a story about a relationship and how it was affected by books. Just as reading opened up new areas in her life, the shared love of books transformed the last years the author spent with his mother while she battled pancreatic cancer. This book touched the hearts of our own little book club in many ways. Rarely in our ten-plus years together has there been such a personal and sad conversation. The trust and intimacy among us is truly special; we are lucky for this group of friends, our time together, our families, our intellect, our sense of humor. Herein lies the real value of the book. It was a reaffirmation that time spent with loved ones will never be something to regret. And it shows how there can be opportunities in all kinds of ways to give back to people who are meaningful to us. In this case, the author and his siblings took weeks out of their lives-- otherwise filled with jobs, kids, various other commitments that "busy" people have-- to stay with their mother during her chemotherapy treatments and while she was admitted to the hospital. What a big influence she must have had on her children, how much she must have given them over the years, to receive such love and respect in return. On a lighter note, it was fun to come across books that TEOYLBC had read that we have as well-- A Long Way Gone, Felicia's Journey and the Kite Runner to name a few. 

There were in fairness several points made about some of the shortcomings of TEOYLBC. Like other recent reads, this book was too long! Editor, heal thyself. The Highlander remarked that the story went on and on about the author and his mother talking about books, but left her wanting for an understanding of how books really connected them, and the feeling that the whole premise was somewhat contrived. A few people also complained that the mother's character was depicted as larger than life and as a result came across as implausible-- had she really devoted all her time and efforts to noble causes, did she really impart to her kids that many pearls of wisdom, was her attitude really always so even-keeled. And the author himself got criticized for being WASP-y and over-eager to drive home (likely out of a sense of guilt) the point that he was sooooo lucky that he never had to work. But at the end of the day, the book's flaws did not overshadow its message, which is one that our book club could stand to be reminded of every now and again.

Our next meeting is on July 10 at Logan's Run's house. The Maharani is on apps, Ms. K on dessert. We are reading A Thousand Pardons, by Jonathan Dee. Until next time, read early and often! And come with suggestions for the LOD;  methinks we need an August book. xoej 

Wool

Thanks to Ms. K for hosting our May BC.  We started out with a platter of burrata smothered in sun dried tomatoes with crostini for scooping, followed by Thyme Cafe's chicken stew with biscuits and a mixed green salad, with two kinds of cupcakes for dessert.  Lish!

"If the Lies Don't Kill You, the Truth Will."  

Whoa, now that's deep.  The self-published novel Wool, by Hugh Howey, came in just shy of a 7.  Surprisingly, an almost identical score to The Hunger Games, our last pop culture sci-fi sensation, but with different player haters. While Ms. K. excoriated Hunger Games, she bestowed upon this book a solid 7.5.  By contrast, El Jefe was a big time HG fan but found this book to be "meh."  After all, Wool isn't really such a unique piece.  As the Maharani pointed out, it sticks pretty close to sci-fi 101:  post-apocalyptic world, only vague understanding of why, population control, Big Brother suppressing the innate sexual urges of lusty young adults, to no avail. Talk about lish!  This stuff is gratuitous, entertaining and campy; just right for a Hollywood movie. What's not to like? How about 500+ pages, for starters. Wool turned out to be a veritable tome (and wait, there's more-- rumor has it a prequel is in the works).  Logan's Run just couldn't slog through it (truly a sign of not enough editing--where's censorship when we need it?) and Red thought the story was fine but way too drawn out. Other criticisms were that the book came across as overly masculine (int, since there was a female lead), the reveals were obvious, and it made the reader claustrophobic. This latter point, however, seems to be a compliment to the author, whose highly visual writing rendered life in the silos with such detail that it actually caused discomfort in the real world. And, let's give credit that despite all the pulp, there was food for discussion. Of course the most vexing question being the one that the characters in the story couldn't answer themselves:  Why do people clean? Was it out of a sense of euphoria from going outside and (falsely) discovering that the world was alive and full of color? Was it to try and clear the lenses so that others could view the same miracle? Or was it simply out of respect for the tradition, regardless of whether the cleaners knew or suspected the truth? After all, if the lies don't kill you, then, you know.

So, who would we cast?  Because the world in which El Jefe might be able to answer that question is indeed a fictional one, here's the opinion of someone else who knows better:

Rhona Mitra-- as Juliette

Liam Neeson-- as Holsten

Helen Mirren-- as Mayor Jahns

Paul Giamatti-- as Bernard

Andrew Garfield-- as Lukas

Our next meeting is Wednesday night, in Cabana 173 by the Sea. Bring a sweater. Can't wait.  xoej

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief

Thanks to the Foxx for hosting BC. It was such a lovely evening that we will even forgive her for being an SP (see below). We started out with Salsa di Parmigiano, a ridiculously savory blend of chunks of parmesan and Asiago pureed in olive oil with scallions, garlic and red pepper flakes, to be slathered atop crostini (it was almost embarrassing how many of these El Jefe inhaled in the first two minutes upon arrival). Next, a hearty, healthy and delicious stew of kale, cannellini beans and turkey sausage with cornbread to dunk, and brownies with salted caramel sauce a la' mode.  Deee lish.

Michael Chiarellos' Salsa di Parmigiano

On to Lawrence Wright's Going Clear, which garnered a 7.4 rating. In the Scientology world, this is a truly impressive score. After all, OT VII is the second highest level on the Bridge to Total Freedom--well beyond Preclear, and rapidly progressing from Clear to Operating Thetan.  

Not that a suppressive person such as the Foxx would appreciate that.  She described this book as "creepy," "crazy" and "nutty"-- stark evidence of antisocial pathology. Logan's Run, also an SP, compared the devout souls depicted in this book to the real nut jobs in The 19th Wife and Under the Banner of Heaven. Red--another SP--simply put it:  "cray cray!" Finally, the Doctor, in a kind of paranoid twist on the SP, became afraid of getting snatched off her bed while reading the book. Ok, so there was an across the board consensus that Scientology is a cult:  the terminology, the way it sucked in the vulnerable and destroyed their lives, the all-absorbing focus on a single charismatic individual... the way people get snatched off their beds? But let's turn to the book itself. Clearly (ha ha) the author researched this book to the nitty gritty end, as attested to by the dozens of pages of footnotes. However, as is often the case with non-fiction, it's difficult to walk that line between thoroughness and, well, boring your reader to tears. Despite the wacky theology and the star-studded cast of characters, Going Clear could be painfully boring at times, with one person commenting that the subject matter could have been adequately covered in half the pages. After all, this book is being marketed to the public for their reading pleasure, not as a scholarly treatise. Even the Highlander thought there was too much detail on the celebrities. (Wait, surely that sequence of words has never before been typed together, nor will it ever be in the future.) Yet this book raised some interesting questions for discussion. Such as, how could LRH, who was a wife beater and overall horrible man, become the central figure of a worldwide movement whose followers adored and emulated him? How and why is Scientology different from established religions, particularly Catholicism, which is all about mysteries, hierarchy and awesome outfits? To this last question, our group gave a lot of weight to the fact that Catholicism (and Judaism and Islam, etc.) is old (not to mention the Pope-- he is always old, too). Those religions pre-date modern means of communication, or really, almost any means of communication other than oral storytelling and writing on scrolls, and thus it's understandable that the religions' adherents could have accepted the religions' "truths"--whereas today it seems preposterous for some guy to try and convince people that he can multiply loaves and fishes. In any event, the IRS does not agree with our book club, and El Jefe's not going to argue with that.

See you mañana at Ms. K's house to discuss Wool!  xoej

A Passage to India

Thanks to the Maharani for hosting a marvelous BC last month, and a full house to boot (no surprise, given the culinary expectations!). We dove right into the theme with samosas and two kinds of chutney for dipping, followed by the Maharani's family recipe for chicken curry, saag paneer, naan-- plus, some sort of gluten-free options (how trendy that will seem by next year) and it was all lish! (And re-created last week in Sun Valley--still lish!) Then, thanks to a minor scheduling snafu, we feasted on two kinds of dessert, never a bad thing... cheesecake and homemade ginger cookies.  So excited for another feast tomorrow.

A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster, is such a venerable classic that El Jefe almost-- with an emphasis on "almost"-- hesitates to post a rating. But in the interest of not pulling a J.P., let's fess up and admit that the book scored a 6. Cringe! In a truly surprising display of cultural disloyalty, the Maharani led the charge with a "5," soon to be followed by a cascade of other "5s" by Ms. K., Logan's Run, and Red. El Jefe and the Doctor (rarely do they break ranks) salvaged a bit of dignity for Mr. Forster's masterpiece by bringing the rating up a notch. Lying at the heart of these lackluster numbers is the simple truth that A Passage to India was written in another time and place, with the pacing and languor of another time and place. It just couldn't keep readers' interest in (so cliche El Jefe can barely type) "today's fast paced world," where attention spans are short(er), there are a lot of entertaining books to choose from (funny we can't seem to find any lately) and people expect more easily accessible content. This book took patience. You had to suspend your skepticism and initial boredom and just roll with it. Very hard to do when, 150 pages in, still nothing has happened, it's unclear who the main characters are, and the whole thing is just, well, all narrative and no plot. Yet clearly this novel would not have found a place in the pantheon of literature if that were the end of it. The alternative viewpoint is that this is a poignant, colorful and beautifully-rendered story about nothing less than humanity itself. Yes, it portrays Anglo-India in a particular moment in history, yes it provides an insider's view on another culture, but beyond (or maybe underneath) all that, this was a story about individuals striving to figure out their existence relative to each other. It's too bad the Maharani's mom couldn't be there, as it would have been interesting to get her take on Forster's portrayal of English colonization and, as was pointed out, its lasting effects on Indian culture and behavior (such as a tendency to be overly deferential or purposefully simplistic). We saw some of these traits in Aziz, who alternatively came across as inadvertently bumbling and intentionally deceitful (such as inviting people to his home when he had no intention of hosting them, or telling lies regarding things he knew weren't true just because he wished they were). But overall, the group thought Aziz was a worthy character and El Jefe would defend the worthiness of this book as well, despite the poor rating. Patience, dear readers!  

Our next meeting is, ahem, later today at Chez Fox. Until next time, read early and often. xoej

 Movie adaptation directed by David Lean (1984), L to R: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft (a.k.a. Esmiss Esmoor), James Fox

 The Marabar Caves

This is what we're used to nowadays