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North Buckhead Newsletter

July 2004

Roslyn McClure tells us The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is a great read.  It focuses on reality vs. faith, and has a unique style.  Kristin Engle has just finished The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser, which is a wonderful story that takes place here in Buckhead and other parts of Atlanta, in 1962. 
Larry Miller is reading The Samurai, by Shusaku Endo.  A peasant Japanese samurai is sent, along with a Spanish missionary, to institute trade between Mexico and Japan.  The samurai seeks honor, the missionary seeks converts to Christianity, and others seek profits.  This, like the films of Akira Korusawa and Hiroshi Inagaki, is "the real thing", excellent and authentic. 

Besides novels, our neighbors enjoy works of non-fiction.  These fall into several different categories.

In the how-to-get-rich-with-real-estate genre, Larry Miller recommends The Art of the Deal and How to Get Rich, both by Donald Trump.  The first recounts his youthful and brilliant rule breaking; the second, his adult rule making.  These should be read in reverse order.  The second is short sound-bite chapters, each an explicit how-to.  The first, a series of adventures in real estate,

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murder mystery:  Who has murdered his neighbor's poodle, Wellington?  Christopher describes his adventures in a very literal, numbers-oriented way, and has precise, bizarre rules to live by.  He is autistic, a term which I do not believe the book uses.  The book excels in showing us Christopher's unusual world and the extraordinary person he is. 

Kym Estis recommends two books by Ann Patchett.  The first, Bel Canto, is a wonderful tale about a botched kidnapping plot on a little island where visiting dignitaries and a guest opera star are taken hostage by a group of misguided terrorists.  The author is wonderful at revealing the intensity of emotion and developing these characters so fully that you feel you know them.  The second, Truth and Beauty,  is a story of the author and her dear friend. 

Sherri Caldwell  (a writer herself; her book The Rebel Housewife Rules:  To Heck With Domestic Bliss!  will be out in September) has enjoyed Dan Brown page-turners Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code.  She also recommends the Irish author Marian Keys:  her latest novel, The Other Side of the Story, and her non-fiction work, Under the Duvet:  Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities.  Ms. Keys' characters are sexy, funny women balancing life in all its complexity--friends, men, kids, careers, aging parents, etc.  Another book about a frazzled wife, mother, and career woman juggling life's challenges not well but hilariously, is Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It, recommended by Ashley Collins.

Debra Field is reading City of Dreams by Beverly Sherling.  It is an historical novel of the original Dutch people that settled New York and their generations from 1600 to 1800.  It depicts in graphic detail what their lives were truly like and the trials, tribulations and successes they experienced.