Reviews

In the four short stories contained in A Contract With God, Eisner examines life in the 1930’s Bronx tenements that sprung up in New York after WWI. These neighborhoods accommodated the influx of immigrants and bred a close neighborliness ripe for mining stories. Eisner does this brilliantly.

For those readers familiar with Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, Ehrenreich offers a different type book here. Rather than inserting herself into a typical working-class existence, through a series of essays she examines the current state of America and what it means for the average American. From corporate irresponsibility to prisoner abuse, Ehrenreich intensely scrutinizes the duplicity of American politics and culture. Much of what she has to say, in my humble opinion, is right on target.

After her release from prison for tax evasion, Emma Sutton, obviously modeled after Martha Stewart, finds herself disenchanted with the empire she had build from the ground up. The turning point comes at an auction, where Emma, in a moment of egotistical, cut-throat maneuvering purchases a table out from under a fellow bidder.

When two rough young ranch hands end up on Brokeback Mountain for a summer herding sheep together, they form a bond so strong that it holds across the years. Despite marriages with children, physical distance, and intolerance in the ranching community, they manage to sustain their affair until one falls victim to the hatred he had chosen to ignore.

I’ve been tricked! Don’t ask me how I could confuse Jane Green with Jennifer Weiner, but it happened. Jane Green, who wrote Jemima J., an enjoyable chick lit novel about a heavy woman who finds love (or at least gets a date) via the Internet by shaving a few pounds off her picture. It reminded me a lot of Jennifer Weiner, so when I picked The Beach House, I thought I would get something similar.

My reaction to Invisible Monsters is much the same as my great Aunt Kack’s to Northern Exposure back in the 80’s. She couldn’t believe what “they” were putting on TV, and I can’t believe what “they” are putting in print.

In a departure from her usual fiction and mystery books, Paretsky turns her pen to her childhood and the significant events that shaped her writing. It’s fascinating stuff. Her eccentric parents moved their family to a secluded part of Lawrence, Kansas and raised her conservatively, keeping her at home to take care of household tasks. Her brother had taught her to read, and she began telling stories from a very young age.

I want to start my reviews and recommendations off with what I think is the most important book regarding comics ever published: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.