BOOK REVIEW

Title: Mighty Fitz: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Author: Michael Schumacher

In ten words or less: Gripping tale of the legendary Lake Superior shipwreck.

Review: Twenty nine men died when the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Schumacher, who has written biographies of Allen Ginsberg, Eric Clapton, and Francis Ford Coppola, retells the story of the days leading up to the disappearance of the big ship. The official reports from the Coast Guard and other sources are at odds, and with no eyewitnesses to the sinking, the cause of the accident is still unknown. Gordon Lightfoot’s song kept the public interested in the Edmund Fitzgerald, and there were battles afterwards about recovering relics and taking photographs of the sunken wreck.

Why bother? Lots of local interest for readers in the Great Lakes area. Examines a mystery that has not been solved to this day. Young adults who don’t like fiction might be interested in this story.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Liberal in City Government: My Experiences as Mayor of Milwaukee

Author: Frank P. Zeidler

In ten words or less: Zeidler recalls his 12 years as Milwaukee's socialist mayor.

Review: Milwaukee has a long tradition of democratic socialism, and Frank P. Zeidler was elected mayor in 1948, as the socialists were on their last legs. He recounts the elections and the red baiting by opponents and the local media. Most of the book tells of the problems of the city versus the suburbs, during a time of economic growth. Suburbs fought annexation, though city services such as water and sewer were demanded.
Zeidler tells how the long hours and demands of the office took a toll on his health. He ran for president in 1976 on the Socialist Party USA ticket.

Why bother? Interesting to readers looking for an insider's view on Milwaukee politics and to those seeking a practical look at the effect a lone outsider can have in government.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Kenny Salwey's Tales of a River Rat: Tales of Trapping and Living on the Upper Mississippi River

In ten words or less: Thoughtful stories of life near the Mississippi river.

Review: Kenny Salwey was born in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. The rural county abuts the Mississippi River, and is a maze of swamp, bluffs, and backwater sloughs. Salwey combines poetry with tales of hunting and trapping in the river wetlands. His childhood memories include trying to avoid school whenever possible and learning about skunk cabbage from his father. Trout fishing, canoe paddling, and morel mushroom picking are the subjects of some of Kenny's stories. His stories are thoughtful and well written, and respectful of nature.

Why bother? For readers who love stories of nature and wildlife.

FILM REVIEW

The Whole Wide World

"To make life worth living a man or a woman has to have a great love or a great cause...I have neither."--Robert E. Howard

A film festival favorite of 1996, "The Whole Wide World" is the story of Robert E. Howard, pulp fiction writer, and school teacher Novalyne Price. Howard (Vincent D'Onofrio) was the author of the Conan, Kull, and Red Sonja stories that ran in such magazines as "Weird Stories." As the film opens, he is living with his parents--his father is a physician and his mother is sickly, possibly from tuberculosis. Robert spends his time writing and attending to his mother's needs.
Novalyne (Renee Zellweger) is a feisty young teacher who dreams of becoming a writer. When she hears that a published writer, Robert Howard, lives in town, she phones him, but he doesn't return her calls. She gathers up the courage to call on him, and so begins a complicated relationship. Though only a couple of kisses are exchanged on screen, it is a relationship filled with passion, humor, pain, and regret. The dusty 1930s Texas landscape adds to the visual setting.
Zellweger and D'Onofrio are terriffic! This is a gem of a film.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Multitude of Mercies

Author: Fay Freimuth

In ten words or less: Portrait of how a schizophrenic woman's disease affects her family.

Review: Freimuth's novel is dedicated to her sister, who suffered from schizophrenia. It is the story, simply told, of two sisters--Nancy and Laura. Nancy is married, mother of two, and is expecting her third child. Laura, who has been hospitalized for schizophrenia, is struggling to support herself and get a college degree. Laura's illness affects her entire family--her parents, her grandmother--and leads her to get involved with a series of abusive men.
I don't know how much of this book is based on the author's real life experience, but it reads as if it was a journal kept to record all the painful moments of this part of her life.

Why bother? A worthwhile read--no gimmicks here--just pain, disappointment, and hope.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Venom Beneath the Skin: a Romilia Chacon Novel

Author: Marcos M. Villatoro

In ten words or less: FRI agent Romilia investigates the death of a fellow agent.

Review: FBI agent Chip Pierce is bludgeoned to death with his own prosthetic leg, only hours after fellow agent Romilia Chacon turns down his marriage proposal. The Los Angeles police and the FBI believe the killer is the elusive drug lord Tekun Uman. Only Romilia believes another is responsible, but the Bureau discounts her theory. The Feds accuse her of being personally involved with the Uman.

Several other books have featured female law enforcement officers, involved with criminals, including Elmore Leonard's "Out of Sight," and Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs." Romilia's family life is what makes this book different; her mother Celia and Uncle Chepe came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. Sergio, her son, read books and plays soccer.
Third in a series.
Why bother? A latina protagonist sets this mystery apart.

BIRDS IN THE YARD

This has been a wet, rainy weekend. For most of yesterday, a morning dove sat on my deck, no doubt eyeing my flower pots as a place to put a nest. This morning a pair of goldfinches were flying around the lilac bushes. I've got seven different lilacs in my relatively small yard, and I love this time of year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read."--Abraham Lincoln

CRANBERRY BEANS (RECIPE)

1 can New England style baked beans (19oz)
1 6oz. can cranberry jelly, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 medium onion, chopped

Mix together and put in a casserole dish. Bake uncovered 46-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

FILM REVIEW

Title: Salton Sea

Thoroughly repellent film about meth dealers. Danny Parker, a jazz trumpeter, loses his wife in a violent murder. Danny then becomes a meth freak and is dealing for a large amount of meth, but is he also ratting out the dealers to the cops? Don’t know, don’t care.
I should have known there was no where to go but down when I saw that Val Kilmer was starring. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him do justice to a role—“Red Planet” was okay, but anyone associated with “The Island of Dr. Moreau” should have their Equity card ripped to shreds. I got the film because Vincent D’Onofrio was in it, but he played an even more repellent character than Kilmer. But in D’Onofrio’s case, I think it was the physically nastiness of the part that put me off, not his acting. The lowlight of the film was when the meth dealer (D’Onofrio) was going to torture Parker (Kilmer). The henchmen pulled down Parker’s pants and shoved a cage with a hungry badger (wolverine?) against his crotch. When you’re on the side of the badger, you know it’s time to call it quits

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Why buy a book when you can join a library?--Ricky Gervais

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Endless forms most beautiful: the new science of evo devo

Author: Sean B. Carroll

In ten words or less: Evolutionary biology explained for the masses.

Review: Evo devo--evolutionary developmental biology--explores how form and pattern emerge in empryos, and begins to explain how primitive forms of millions of years ago developed into today's diverse animal kingdom.
Although Carroll, who teaches genetics at the University of Wisconsin, has presented a great deal of technical information, even readers who have only a casual knowledge of genetics and evolution can appreciate this book. Typical chapter titles are: "From e.coli to elephants." "Monsters, mutants, and master genes," and "Making babies: 25,000 genes, some assembly required."
Readers of Stephen Jay Gould will find this a fascinating explanation of genetic evolution.

Why bother? Readers interested in nature and natural history will find much to delight and ponder.