Second City on Tour

On Saturday night, we had the fortune of seeing the comedy troupe Second City (from Chicago) at Baird Auditorium at the Natural History Museum (DC). After reading about Tina Fey’s start at Second City, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see improv and great sketches, not to mention a dear new friend who was one of the stars and who gifted us with tickets.  The show did not disappoint! Check out the schedule to see if there’s a show near you.

Image via thewesterncarolinajournalist.com

Book Report: Hold Love Strong

I had the opportunity to hear the author of Hold Love Strong, Matthew Aaron Goodman, speak at a panel, facilitated by my mother-in-law, Debby Prum, during the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. This book is the story of a young man’s growing up in Queens, NY, amidst an environment of poverty, drugs, and violence. It’s also the story of his family. Goodman’s reading and description of this book captivated me, and I could not wait to get my hands on it. Here is my book report on the newest addition to my all-time-favorite-books list.

holdlovestrong.com

Title: Hold Love Strong

Author: Matthew Aaron Goodman

Favorite Quote: “The last thing in the world, the very last thing I wanted, was to be nothing, was to know myself as nothing, as powerless. But there I was. It seemed, once again. Just like I was when I searched for my mother and could not find her. Just like I was when she left me for crack and my grandma didn’t let her come back. And just like I had been when my father left.”

Strengths: Goodman’s stringing together of words is poetic. The plot is grainy and real, yet hopeful and redemptive at moments, without a cliché effect. The story is eye-opening to a world that is far from the reality of so many of us. And, lastly, this book is a page-turner. I read it in three days.

Weaknesses: I’m not very good at describing the weaknesses of books that I love. If anything, the author may be overly descriptive, causing important moments to drag. But, as I stated, his words are poetic, and so I loved reading them.

Where I found myself reading this book: Before going to bed—for hours at a time.

Book Report: All Over but the Shoutin’

Sarah Beth and I have decided to format our book reviews as book reports. Any MBHS-ers out there remember the horrendous book reports (I think she called them something more intimidating) that Mrs. Lawrence assigned in 10th grade English? Terrible. It’s funny that we’re now voluntarily engaging in such a task. Let us know what you think of the format , if you have any suggestions for additions to it, or if you’d like to create your own book report and guest post on Idaclare!

Title: All Over but the Shoutin’

Author: Rick Bragg

How I came to pick up this book: I read it as a young teen, after my parents read and loved it. In fact, my mom reminded me yesterday that she actually gave a book talk on Bragg’s memoir to our classes when we were in junior high school. But this year, I read Bragg’s story again because it was assigned for my Human Behavior class. After reading, we had to write a paper assessing the family dynamics evident in the text.

Basic scenario: Bragg, an awarded journalist for The New York Times and other publications, writes the story of his life–including his father’s abandonment, his mother’s strength, his family’s struggle in the midst of poverty, and the culture of the small Alabama town in which he grew up.

Favorite Quote: “The first memory I have is of a tall blond woman who drags a canvas cotton sack along an undulating row of rust-colored ground, through a field that seems to reach into the back forty of forever…it is the memory of that woman, that boy and that vast field that continues to ride and ride in my mind, not only because it is a warm, safe and proud thing I carry with me like a talisman into cold, dangerous and spirit-numbing places, but beacuse it so perfectly sums up the way she carried us, with such dignity.” -from Chapter 3

Strengths: Bragg’s memoir is a moving reminder of the beauty wrapped up in a person’s story. His use of language and description is phenomenal. He paints pictures, often using repetition, imagery, and figurative language, that are realistic and moving. He seems to effortlessly weave in humor among the poignant themes of his life. He portrays the South and the people who lived there during the 60s with complexity, recognizing difficult truths of his heritage but refusing to stereotype when it would be easy to do so. He questions himself–his motives, desires, and thoughts–when it seems appropriate. His honesty makes his character and story relevant to the common human struggle of finding meaning and redemption in the difficult events of the past.

Weaknesses: It was difficult for me to pinpoint any weaknesses in the text. One that comes to mind is my difficulty in remembering the characters of Bragg’s extended family, who play minor roles in the memoir. This difficulty is very likely more related to my flawed short-term memory rather than Bragg’s writing style.

Where I found myself reading this book: In bed before sleep, on my sofa, and on my front porch, all the while my dog laying at my feet…as he is now.

*picture from borders.com

Book Review: Game Change

A few weeks ago, I attended An Evening With Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (watch the video here) at the LBJ Library here in Austin. Halperin and Heilemann (H&H) are the authors of the New York Times bestseller, Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. The book has been called “the hottest book in the country” by the Associated Press.

I finished it late last night, and I want to tell you about it.

When they spoke at LBJ, (H&H) emphasized that they see the book not as a chronicle/commentary about political campaigns, but as a story about relationships among some of the most powerful figures in our country and the world.

This relational quality makes it a hot book.

Its deconstruction of relationships 1) between candidates (most interesting: Obama and Hillary); 2) between candidates and their spouses (most interesting: John and Elizabeth Edwards) and 3) amongst campaign staffers (most interesting: Hillary’s and McCain’s) renders the account grainy in its humanity.

H&H present the candidates as storytellers would.

via nydailynews.com

They vividly recount conversations. They offer limited analysis in a way that complements character development and knits together the larger story. The means (this mode of writing) and the end (the content itself on the page) were accessible and entertaining.

When reading intimate anecdotes (for example, Michelle Obama’s initial opposition to her husband running; the fallout between Hillary Clinton and Patti Solis Doyle; Sarah Palin’s reaction to the Katie Couric interview), I began to question the journalistic integrity of the account. Who would ever tell these kinds of details to reporters? At LBJ, H&H explained the tedious, thorough journalism behind the book.

Though H&H came up with the idea to write the book during the primaries, they conducted most of the interviews after the primaries and the general election. By then, sources were more willing to talk. Each story and anecdote was detailed by several sources. If H&H did not have several sources for verification, they did not include it in the book.

H&H have gotten little pushback from figures featured in the book. In fact, No one has denied the any part of the book. The closest anyone has come to this is Elizabeth Edwards, who claimed she did not remember a certain episode featured in the book, but was sorry if the episode were true.

The video of H&H will make you curious enough to read their work in full, as they offer juicy details, reflect on the compilation process and make some predictions about 2012.