Life's Too Short to Read Bad Books: May 2011

These are the books passed across my nightstand in May 2011.

Ravelstein
Saul Bellow

With this novel, Bellow fulfils a promise made to his friend Allan Bloom to write his biography.  The novel is autobiographical as well, with Bellow portraying himself in the character Chick.  But to dwell on the identification of the thinly disguised cast of characters and real-world circumstances is to miss the power with which Bellow presents life-as-art, the proposition that we create ourselves through a peculiar collage of eccentricities and habits and friends and personal ideals and ways of being.  This is a powerful, lyrical, metaphysical work on the honesty of friendship and the continued presence of the dead for the living.  Ravelstein was listed among the New York Times Notable Books and Library Journal's Best Books in 2000.  As for me, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.


Billy Boyle
James R. Benn

When Detective Billy Boyle takes leave of the Boston Police Department to join the war effort, his family pulls strings to secure a desk job for him.  He finds himself reporting for duty in London where he will work for his uncle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the general's personal investigator.  In this first installment of the series, Billy is befriended by a Polish nobleman, dines with the Norwegian government-in-exile, and fals in love with a gorgeous spy while he brings his limited experience as detective to bear on a suspicious death.  This engaging if clichéd mystery was short-listed for the 2006 Dilys Award.  I rated it 7 out of 10 stars.


Beautiful Dreamer
Christopher Bigsby

As near as I can narrow it down given the anecdotal mention of products and technology, this book is set in Tennessee between 1925 and 1965. Written by a British professor of American studies in the style of Faulkner and the tone of Steinbeck, the story is presented from four perspectives and seems an exercise in understanding a variety of racial sensibilities prior to the Civil Rights movement.  As a result, I was unable to sustain any emotional involvement with what should have been a moving story of redemption.  I rate this ALA Notable Book of 2007 at 3 out of 10 stars.


Christine Falls
Benjamin Black

As the body count grows throughout the pages of this atmospheric mystery, the secrets of wealthy families and powerful men unravel.  My own vision of the 1950s was never so cold, dark, and callous.  This 2007 winner of both the Anthony Award and the Edgar Award was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Mystery / Thriller category) and the 2007 Macavity Award.  In order to maintain the standardization of my rating system, I must award it an 8 out of 10, but these are elemental decisions that don't reflect being less-than-satisfied at the novel's end.


Fieldwork
Mischa Berlinski

A free-ranging exploration of a number of topics, this novel is alternately funny and heartbreaking, lyrical and suspenseful.  It is a snake eating its own tail, as the author presents the narrator's journey as an ethnological study as he attempts to understand an anthropologist whose own ethnological fieldwork leads to murder and then suicide.  His trail winds between Christian missionaries in Tibet and Thailand to Berkeley academic circles to the Dead Tour.  Okay, so I can't describe it myself.  I do rate this Library Journal Best Book of 2007 and National Book Award Finalist at 9 out of 10 stars.


The Charlemagne Pursuit
Steve Berry

What if...an ancient and advanced civilization played an advisory role in the development of other great civilizations?  This underlying premise, and subsequent attempts to maintain secrecy of its discovery, is the foundation for this thriller.  The action and suspense is maintained by a string of assassinations, ambition-fueled corruption at the highest levels of US military intelligence, and a dynastic family unable to come to terms with either its Nazi past or heirless future.  This book was named a Library Journal Best Book (thriller); solid, but not great, I rate it at 7 out of 10 stars.


Scaredy Cat
Mark Billingham

This is a well-written, well-paced police procedural with a cast of flawed characters, some so unlikeable that I was convinced several were good candidates for the at-large serial killer.  And, as I raced through the pages despite facing 2 days before I could get to the library for my next batch of books, I was surprised by the final twist.  I rate this 2002 Gold Dagger finalist at 8 out of 10 stars. 


Heart-Shaped Box
Joe Hill

It has been a long time since I had a creepy, eerie dream that I could link directly to the reading of a book, but this one did it for me.  Aging rock star Jude Coyne buys a suit from an online auction site.  It comes with a ghost.  I rate this recipient of a 2007 Bram Stoker Award at 8 out 10 stars.