At Armando's on Tuesday evening, I'll be proposing the following three titles for your consideration. Given the short month, we'll read the book for our meeting in February. (For our January ski weekend, we'll have to find other pursuits to entertain us.)
1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Wroblewski). This novel has three strikes against it: it's still only in hardcover, it exceeds 500 pages, and it carries Oprah's imprimatur on the cover. Despite those negatives, this coming-of-age story is on everyone's top ten list for 2008. The reason is that it's a wonderful, readable story about a boy, his dogs, and his need to vindicate his father.
2. Out Stealing Horses (Petterson). This Norwegian novel is also a coming-of-age tale, but told from the perspective of a old man, recently widowed, who has moved to the country to escape family and friends. His escape becomes a return, and the reader is taken back to World War II when the man, then age 15, is forced to grapple with his father's love and betrayal.
3. Peace Like a River (Enger). Another (you guessed it) coming-of-age story told from the perspective of an 11-year old boy in the early 1960's. Set in the Dakotas and Montana, this novel perfectly captures the voice of a boy bearing witness to his older brother's act of vengeance, his younger sister's love, and his father's greatness.
Each one of these stories is absolutely unforgettable. See you all Tuesday.
Dec 14, 2008
Book Selections for Jan/Feb
Dec 7, 2008
Mexico Now Extraditing Drug Suspects to U.S.
As I was reading about the Extraditables in "News of a Kidnapping", this article with the above headline appeared in the Dec 1st edition of the Chron.
Here is the link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/01/MNRA14EQ5K.DTL&hw=mexico+extradition&sn=001&sc=1000
-- Larry
Dec 3, 2008
Retracing Jack London's Journeys on the Bay
Reading Jack London’s Tales of the Fish Patrol was like my grandfather spending an afternoon on my boat telling me tales of fishing and other stories, with some embellishments, I am certain, and perhaps a few outright lies which could be categorized as “fiction”. The settings in the stories are part of my everyday life. I spend a lot of time with my kids at the precise spots in the bay described by Jack London and I work in Benicia. I thought that I might be able to provide the other members of the group a different view of their local world of the Bay Area, but from the Bay side.
It really is a very different world from the water. Each time I go out it is a bit of an adventure, due to the confluence of the wind and the currents, the water is always different from the day before.
Our first group was comprised of Tom, Terry, Armando, Glenn, and myself. We departed Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael and followed the Marin coast to Angel island, then across to San Francisco waterfront, down to Candlestick Point and then across to the Oyster Beds which is now the Oakland Airport. Even Asparagus Island is connected by landfill to the airport. We followed the East shore to Alameda, Oakland, Treasure Island, then to Richmond, the Brothers Islands, Point Pedro, Point Pinole, across San Pablo Bay. We viewed the asphalt cap which tries to encapsulate the slag from the Selby Smelter then up the Carquinez straits past C&H Sugar, then Port Costa and into the Benicia Harbor were we docked and walked down the street to one of my lunchtime hangouts overlooking the Benicia Bight, Captain Blyther’s. Nearly everyone followed my advice and got the Reuben sandwich once they found out that is the only thing I ever order from the menu, perhaps not so much in agreement of my good taste, but likely in fear that it is the only edible entrée on the menu.
After lunch, we went east, up the straits and entered Suisun Bay, and toured down the rows of ships which comprise the mothball fleet, a huge relic of World War II and the Navy’s vow that they will not have to retreat due to lack of shipping capacity again. There is also an environmental reason why they are anchored in Suisun Bay. America has very little capacity to dismantle ships. Most of that is done in Korea and elsewhere in Asia, but America also has a law prohibiting the export of hazardous waste, and since all those ships contain asbestos, they must remain here untll they can be scrapped.
We motored back up the straights past Vallejo, across the bay to Point Pablo, China Camp, and to the Marin Islands, and being fairly low tide, viewed the beach area adjacent the mud flats where yellow Handkerchief and his band dropped off Jack in the last story.
There will be another trip this Friday after Thanksgiving and possibly even another if we still haven’t taken all those who wish to go on this excursion. I was very pleased with the company on the trip and I must admit that I am much more comfortable in smaller groups like this where you can get to know each other better – because we are forced together on a small boat for hours and we need to pass the time getting to know one another. I know the ostensible purpose of the group is the intellectual stimulation provided by the engaging minds of the authors, but we had a good time together - without any help from those brilliant minds. It was a very good day on the bay.
Nov 16, 2008
Dean's Delicious Fish Tale
As our host on Friday, Dean was inspired by Jack London to create a meal that casually mixed seafood and ethnicity. We learned that Dean’s excellent grilled halibut and spinach lasagna reflected his own mixed Croatian and Italian roots. While London might have sneered (given his animus towards immigrants), we were delighted that the legacy of Tadich’s fine cuisine—and even finer wait staff—lives on in Dean’s household.
We should also acknowledge Roy, in absentia. With ingredients from Tom, and with a nod to London’s enterprising Greek and Italian fishermen, he supplied us with unmarked bottles of ouzo and grappa. But Roy did more than lubricate our discussions. He also generously offered to take us on his boat through the Carquinez Straits to Benicia and down to the old oyster beds in Oakland. Larry and I can’t make it next weekend, so instead we’ll wave our yellow handkerchiefs as you come around Point Pedro.
Finally, thanks to the men in our group who, along with their wives, appeared last night to support Chris’ fine work at the helm of the Diabetic Youth Foundation. What a beautiful evening at the Claremont Resort in Oakland. And how striking to see our men sporting ties and starched collars!
The Book
Jack London delivered exactly what our 14 in attendance were expecting: a series of short, readable tales of San Francisco Bay, circa 1900. His stories got us talking about the local geography, and our neighborhood’s proximity to many of London’s own adventures. From the Marin Islands to McNear’s Landing to the San Rafael Slough (which we now know extended as far as Davidson Middle School), London's tales of the bay are littered with local landmarks. And so we happily digressed into topics as varied as the nearby egret colony, the disappearance of native shell mounds, the massive Gold Rush-era sediment flows into the bay, and more. We thank Armando, our naturalist, for his wealth of detail and Stan for his perpetual willingness to share on a more, ahem, personal level. (His real estate holdings aside, did he really stalk those egrets in his birthday suit?)
Tales of the Fish Patrol was just one collection of many short stories Jack London turned out during his abbreviated career. Tom surprised us by explaining that London never actually worked the fish patrol, but instead took his details from others. Regardless, the writing was engaging and fast-paced and would have produced universal acclaim had not one of us spoiled the party by revealing that London’s short stories predominantly targeted the adolescent reader (Tales of the Fish Patrol, for example, was serialized in 1905 in Youth Companion) and that London was typically paid by the word for his stories (at his peak, he commanded up to 20 cents).
Our attempt to rate Tales of the Fish Patrol (it eventually received a 6.7) was complicated by the insubordination of a few. Once Dan proclaimed that London deserved a 10, Stan engaged in a petty act of vote cancellation with his 1. Thereafter, Glenn, claiming inspiration from This is Spinal Tap’ s Nigel Hufnel, raised the ante with an 11, which was later canceled by yours truly. Shame on us all for these antics! But congratulations on one collective accomplishment: this is the first book that everyone finished before the meeting.
Next Up
Armando offered us a fine set of choices for our next gathering: Robert Laxalt’s Sweet Promised Land (a paean to our fathers), V.S. Naipaul’s A Way in the World (his fictionalized autobiographical essays), and two titles by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping and Of Love and Other Demons. (Note to MBC philistines: 2 of the 3 writers selected by Armando won the Nobel Prize for Literature; the third received two Pulitzer nominations. It can be done.)
Oct 27, 2008
Chris explains the financial crisis
If you were convinced that Chris' only expertise was The Godfather and its progeny, you'll be forgiven for choking on your corn flakes last Wednesday. Chris was quoted on the first page of the business section of the San Francisco Chronicle (above the fold, of course). Read beyond the initial quote so you don't miss the real gem, wherein Chris offers an analogy that the masses (and the Centers for Disease Control) can understand. Chris, we salute your mastery of all things financial. Won't you supervise our investments for us?
If your edition is already lining the birdcage, here's a link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/22/BUGO13LRFS.DTL&hw=christopher+browne&sn=001&sc=1000
