So as things slow down for me, I'm going to be spending the next month catching up on some of the books I'd wanted to read from this year but hadn't had the time to. Because I know there are a lot of readers on the boards, I'd also be interested in hearing what your picks/thoughts are for/on the year's best (and worst) books.
Here are some brief thoughts on a few of the books I've read from this year so far, some of them adapted from the current reading thread:
The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow (Knopf)
This may be my favorite book by Don Winslow yet, and I didn’t think it was possible to be more fun than The Winter of Frankie Machine. Winslow hasn’t had the big breakthrough hit that’s put him at the level of a James Patterson or a Harlan Coben or any of the other airport writers he’s way more talented than. Dawn Patrol should have been it. He’ll go on these semi-long digressions about San Diego and California cultural history, but it always has a point and it never goes on too long, always bringing it back to the action. Most modern crime novels (and really, most genre novels) are like jazz and variations on a theme. The same basic form is there, the themes are repeated, and in order to set yourself apart, it’s how you riff on those themes. It’s the singer, not the song. The same’s true for private investigator/detective novels — the girl will always go missing, and there’s always someone who wants to find her. Winslow is one of the best guys riffing today. Even more than that, Winslow understands that the best P.I. novels, whether it’s a single novel or a series that goes on for thirty years, are wish-fulfillment at their core. They can be violent and disturbing at times, but they’re supposed to be fun. And Dawn Patrol is a lot of fun, a great book for the summer season. My only hope is that we don’t have to wait five years for the next one.
Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America by Richard Zoglin (Bloomsbury USA)
This book serves as a nice compliment to Peter Biskind’s book about the seventies film generation Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, which I reread a week before starting this one. It’s not quite as gossipy and doesn’t have as strong a through-line as Biskind, but it’s still very entertaining. Each chapter devotes itself to either one comedian or aspect of stand-up (like the Improv/Catch a Rising Star rivalry) from roughly 1966 to the early 1980s as a way to illustrate how that time period not just changed stand-up (starting with, believe it or not, Carlin), but changed how we think about comedy in America. I’m about halfway through it and really enjoying it so far. A book like this you read for the stories and hope that there’s some cultural commentary as well. And there are some great stories, including one about the mob beating up Joe Piscipo.
The Last Campaign: Robert Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America by Thurston Clarke (Henry Holt)
Relevant, inspiring, and depressing, all at the same time. I can see why he calls it “the last campaign,” as it presents Kennedy as a passionate, principled man who deeply cared about the issues, and was willing to sacrifice political ground if it meant educating Americans about them. It’s a little too fawning at times for my taste, but I came away with it with a greater respect for Kennedy, and a desire to learn more about the man. (Evan Thomas's bio is in my pile.) And it is very well-written, full of detail, and great stories, although it kind of shoots its wad early when it covers the MLK assassination and Kennedy’s reaction to that. Of course, any book about Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign has this giant cloud of doom hanging over it from page one, because we all know how it ends, so it’s hard to get too excited over his triumphs. But I think that’s kind of the point.
Here are some brief thoughts on a few of the books I've read from this year so far, some of them adapted from the current reading thread:
The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow (Knopf)
This may be my favorite book by Don Winslow yet, and I didn’t think it was possible to be more fun than The Winter of Frankie Machine. Winslow hasn’t had the big breakthrough hit that’s put him at the level of a James Patterson or a Harlan Coben or any of the other airport writers he’s way more talented than. Dawn Patrol should have been it. He’ll go on these semi-long digressions about San Diego and California cultural history, but it always has a point and it never goes on too long, always bringing it back to the action. Most modern crime novels (and really, most genre novels) are like jazz and variations on a theme. The same basic form is there, the themes are repeated, and in order to set yourself apart, it’s how you riff on those themes. It’s the singer, not the song. The same’s true for private investigator/detective novels — the girl will always go missing, and there’s always someone who wants to find her. Winslow is one of the best guys riffing today. Even more than that, Winslow understands that the best P.I. novels, whether it’s a single novel or a series that goes on for thirty years, are wish-fulfillment at their core. They can be violent and disturbing at times, but they’re supposed to be fun. And Dawn Patrol is a lot of fun, a great book for the summer season. My only hope is that we don’t have to wait five years for the next one.
Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America by Richard Zoglin (Bloomsbury USA)
This book serves as a nice compliment to Peter Biskind’s book about the seventies film generation Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, which I reread a week before starting this one. It’s not quite as gossipy and doesn’t have as strong a through-line as Biskind, but it’s still very entertaining. Each chapter devotes itself to either one comedian or aspect of stand-up (like the Improv/Catch a Rising Star rivalry) from roughly 1966 to the early 1980s as a way to illustrate how that time period not just changed stand-up (starting with, believe it or not, Carlin), but changed how we think about comedy in America. I’m about halfway through it and really enjoying it so far. A book like this you read for the stories and hope that there’s some cultural commentary as well. And there are some great stories, including one about the mob beating up Joe Piscipo.
The Last Campaign: Robert Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America by Thurston Clarke (Henry Holt)
Relevant, inspiring, and depressing, all at the same time. I can see why he calls it “the last campaign,” as it presents Kennedy as a passionate, principled man who deeply cared about the issues, and was willing to sacrifice political ground if it meant educating Americans about them. It’s a little too fawning at times for my taste, but I came away with it with a greater respect for Kennedy, and a desire to learn more about the man. (Evan Thomas's bio is in my pile.) And it is very well-written, full of detail, and great stories, although it kind of shoots its wad early when it covers the MLK assassination and Kennedy’s reaction to that. Of course, any book about Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign has this giant cloud of doom hanging over it from page one, because we all know how it ends, so it’s hard to get too excited over his triumphs. But I think that’s kind of the point.
