the globe rover

Denver, CO

From HarperCollins

In this eagerly awaited new novel, Lionel Shriver, the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, delivers an imaginative and entertaining look at the implications, large and small, of whom we choose to love. Using a playful parallel-universe structure, The Post-Birthday World follows one woman’s future as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.

Children’s book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a quiet and settled life in London with her partner, fellow American expatriate Lawrence Trainer, a smart, loyal, disciplined intellectual at a prestigious think tank. To their small circle of friends, their relationship is rock solid. Until the night Irina unaccountably finds herself dying to kiss another man: their old friend from South London, the stylish, extravagant, passionate top-ranking snooker player Ramsey Acton. The decision to give in to temptation will have consequences for her career, her relationships with family and friends, and perhaps most importantly the texture of her daily life.

Hinging on a single kiss, this enchanting work of fiction depicts Irina’s alternating futures with two men temperamentally worlds apart yet equally honorable. With which true love Irina is better off is neither obvious nor easy to determine, but Shriver’s exploration of the two destinies is memorable and gripping. Poignant and deeply honest, written with the subtlety and wit that are the hallmarks of Shriver’s work, The Post-Birthday World appeals to the what-if in us all.

When I first started reading this book I was frustrated with Irina “straying” from what appeared to be a strong relationship. But after the first chapter I realized the book was more complicated than that simple storyline. The premise of the story is what the different outcomes could possibly be by the choices we make. And that premise is not uncovered until deep into the story.

The two stories center around Irina who is “married” (although not officially) to Lawrence who is stable and rather boring. They are friends with Ramsey who is a famous Snooker player in London. In one story, Irina chooses to leave Lawrence and ensues the life of the Snooker player’s wife. In the second story, Irina stays with Lawrence but faces trials and tribulations and eventually her “husband” leaving her.

Both stories amazingly follow the same themes and timing (each chapter has two versions). Both lead to Irina writing a children’s book and being nominated for the top award. In one she wins, in one she loses. Both stories lead to Ramsey making the Snooker championship (again). In one he wins, in one he loses. The book is brilliantly written - in the first few chapters I wanted to skip along and stay with one story to find out what was going to happen next. But then I settled in and read one version then the other.

The most facsinating thing about the book is the last chapter. It is the same for both stories. Amazing! A brilliant creation of our choices, the consequences and rewards, and outcomes. One morale of the story is that when we make choices, they are not always wrong or right; yet they lead us on different paths to potentially the same place.

Very enjoyable and thought provoking book.

Book club selection.

Denver, CO

From Publishers Weekly

This fourth effort from British writer Winterson ( Sexing the Cherry ) is a high-concept erotic novelette, a Vox for the postmarital crowd. The narrator, a lifelong philanderer (”I used to think marriage was a plate-glass window just begging for a brick”), has fallen in love with Louise, a pre-Raphaelite beauty. Louise is unhappily married to a workaholic cancer researcher, so the narrator leads her into a sexually combative affair. This scenario seems obvious enough, but Winterson never reveals whether the narrator is male or female. Rather, she teases readers out of their expectations about women and men and romance: Louise calls the narrator “the most beautiful creature male or female that I have ever seen,” and the narrator observes, “I thought difference was rated to be the largest part of sexual attraction but there are so many things about us that are the same.” When the narrator breaks off the affair after learning that Louise has cancer–only her husband can cure her–the work turns into a eulogy for lost love. Winterson manipulates gender expertly here, but her real achievement is her manipulation of genre : the capacious first-person narration, now addressed to the reader, now to the lover, enfolds aphorisms, meditations on extracts from an anatomy textbook, and essayistic riffs on science, virtual reality and the art of fiction (”I don’t want to reproduce, I want to create something entirely new”). “It’s as if Louise never existed,” the narrator observes, “like a character in a book. Did I invent her?” One wonders, as Winterson intends, and then wonders some more. For Louise–and the narrator’s love for her–never seems quite real; in this cold-hearted novel love itself, however eloquently expressed, is finally nothing more than a product of the imagination.

This book was interesting and different from most books that I read (although I read a lot of different types!). The writer never reveals whether the main character is male or female and at times has the reader wondering. The story follows the narrator through their adult life of relationships (from failed relationship to the next wacky sex driven relationship). Until they meet Louise who changes the narrators life.

Louise was married at the time to someone with whom she did not have a good relationship. And through the trials of the narrator wanting to ensure that the love is real and not an infatuation that will die with commitment, they make Louise not leave her husband. But that eventually changes and once Louise leaves, the husband comes to find the narrator to tell them that if they let Louise stay, she will die given that she has cancer and needs special care.

The remainder of the story is how the love unfolds and the decisions that are made that impact them both. This book is an easy and moderately entertaining.

Book club selection.

Denver, CO

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. During the Vietnam War, Tiger Force was the code name of an elite platoon of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry. Its pedigree was impeccable. The battalion’s executive officer, Maj. David Hackworth, organized the 45-man volunteer force in 1966, and it became one of the war’s most highly decorated units, paying for its reputation with heavy casualties. But for seven months beginning in May 1967, Tiger Force descended into a moral abyss. Operating in what was defined as enemy country, the platoon engaged in an orgy of atrocities that ranged from taking ears, scalps and teeth to the mass killing of unarmed civilians. Conservative estimates count victims in the hundreds. From 1971 to 1975, the army mounted an investigation that documented the crimes, but decided “nothing beneficial” could result from prosecuting the platoon members or their leader. And so the story remained the stuff of rumor until Toledo Blade reporters Michael Sallah, Mitch Weiss and John Mahr responded to a tip and started interviewing former Tiger Force members. The resulting newspaper series, “Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths,” won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and forms the basis of this outstanding book. In the best tradition of investigative journalism, the authors let the story speak for itself, and thus force readers to wonder: was Tiger Force’s behavior aberrant or was it part of a half-submerged pattern spanning the entire war?

Interesting story how I came about this book. I was talking to one of the leaders at the client I am working for (great beer company might I add) and we got on the topic of travel. Of course, there’s my passion and so the discussion flowed and led to Southeast Asia. The conversation then led to Vietnam and different perspectives on Vietnam. I mentioned the book I was reading at the time (”The Things They Carried“) about Vietnam, and he mentioned this book, “Tiger Force”. And so began our book exchange!

This book provided both an interesting perspective of what life was like inside of the elite Tiger Force as well as the disturbing side of how a platoon can go astray. The book intertwines the stories of several young platoon members along with their backgrounds and participation in the “activities”. It turns out that the entire book is the premise for an investigation into one of the most horrendous war crimes in US history.

I was fascinated and disgusted by the book at the same time. I enjoyed getting insight into service life. Yet I was astounded how “war” could become an excuse to murder and commit other heinous crimes.Unfortunately, the military turned their back after a multi-year investigation and closed the case. There are always two sides to every story but too much evidence points in the direction of this being a platoon of power turning mostly bad.

For anyone interested in the Vietnam war, this is an interesting read!

Denver, CO

Over the last year, I have been following the stories of several different children that have been fighting cancer…some losing the battle and some winning the battle. Their stories are amazing. These children have a wiseness and clarity well beyond their years. Their families and friends are dealing with grief that should not be felt by a family. The statistics are staggering.

One of the lives that I have been fortunate enough to have a glimpse into is AJ Piniewski. An amazing 14 year old boy that lost his battle to Burkitt’s Lymphoma. His father has shared with the public a view of the amazing son/brother/friend and is carrying forth the legacy of AJ by pushing for more funding and research for pediatric cancer. He has created a petition that we all need to sign.

Please take a few minutes to read the petition and sign it. The stories are heartbreaking. And it’s time for pediatric cancer to get some attention.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer