Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

A Classic

Set in 1871 and written in 1912, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic, perhaps THE classic of the Western genre.

The plot is a little more complicated than most Westerns - it features two concurrent stories. Jane Withersteen is a wealthy Mormon with no husband. Her local church leader (an Elder) wants to marry her, in fact has all but ordered her to do so even though she has no interest in him. Tull orchestrates a plot to have the local Mormons shun her as much as possible (including not working for her) and not help her as rustlers steal entire herds of cattle that are no longer tended.

Zane Grey (1872-1939)

In the meantime, a stranger named Lassiter arrives. He has a reputation as a Mormon-hater and a gunslinger and becomes a defender of Jane Withersteen. Meanwhile, one of her last employees (Venters) goes after a herd of cattle that is being rustled and discovers a secret pass and a secret valley that they have been using. The story splits at this point and largely becomes the story of Venters and the story of Withersteen and Lassiter. The stories come together from time to time until the final culmination.

The question is, of course, does this 99 year old story still hold up after all of these years? Yes, after you get used to the stilted language. Grey is wordy and given to using some phrases over and over again. But, the story is solid and entertaining. There is an exciting chase scene towards the end that is quite riveting.

If you are a fan of Westerns you should take a look at this one - it is the one that set the parameters of the genre.

Note: If you are a member of the LDS church, you will probably be offended by some of Grey's comments about the Mormon church. Grey is not dismissive of the entire church, but he is clearly not a fan of the early Mormon pioneers of Utah, especially the men. He thinks they abused the rules of the religion to manipulate others. On the other hand, Jane Withersteen is a Mormon and she is quite faithful to the ideals of the church, so it is a mixed bag.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.

Reviewed on November 23, 2011.

Ain't Nothing But A Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson

A Fascinating Investigation into American History

Published 2008 by National Geographic

Scott Reynolds Nelson went on a search to see if there was a real John Henry that inspired the songs and the legend of the man with the hammer who beat the steam drill in a contest.

First and foremost, this is a book written for children, but it was interesting to this grown up as well. The topic was interesting, the pictures are great - lots of real pictures from the past of men on railroad work crews with their equipment. Nelson goes on to explain how the songs were used by work crews not just for entertainment but to keep time while moving tracks and pounding on spikes. Lastly, he explains, step-by-step how he makes his investigation. This could have been extraordinarily boring, but Nelson keeps it interesting. He actually creates a sense of tension as he tracks down his information.

John Henry statue near Talcott, West Virginia

Nelson does come up with a potential source of the legend, provides a ton of internet resources, including websites to hear versions of the John Henry song and other similar songs, as well as other books. Aronson steps in with a easy-to-read short essay with 6 steps on "How to Be a Historian."

Nice book. Should be in every library.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ain't Nothing But A Man.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November 19, 2011.

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman by Marc Tyler Nobleman

Entertaining and an artistic homage

Published by Knopf, 2008.

Illustrated by Ross MacDonald.

Boys of Steel tells the story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two painfully shy teenagers from Cleveland who created Superman. The two met in school and discovered a common interest in science fiction and fantastic tales. One wrote stories, the other drew. Together they created story after story that never sold. Eventually created Superman and, believe it or not, no one wanted Superman either for three years.

Nobleman tells about their eventual success and their ongoing struggles with DC Comics. He tells the story well but the real star is the art of Ross MacDonald. He has illustrated the entire story in the style of those early Superman comic books and the art just leaps off of the over-sized pages. My eleven year old daughter read it and enjoyed, but probably not as much as me. This one was a winner.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Boys of Steel.

Reviewed on November 19, 2011

We All Fall Down by Michael Harvey

Not as good as the last one

Published by Knopf, July of 2011

Michael Harvey's Chicago-based series features Michael Kelly, a one-time cop turned private detective who seems to have connections all over Chicago, from the Mayor's office all the way down to the street gangs. We All Fall Down takes place immediately after the previous book, The Third Rail (which I rated 4 stars out of 5) with very little explanation to get the reader up to speed. I just barely remembered the ending of the last book - I read more than a year and a half ago.

Michael Kelly finds out about a conspiracy to defraud the government of Chicago led by Mafia types and a top man in the Mayor's office. As he looks into it, he stumbles upon a drug dealing conspiracy gone bad and eventually it all links up with the release of a biological agent and an ensuing epidemic into a very tough Chicago neighborhood.

We All Fall Down is best during its descriptions of the epidemic and its impact upon Chicago, even though I have yet to figure out how and down and out ex-cop merited the all-star access he had to the top levels of Chicago's government, the top levels of the Homeland Security's bio-weapons team and a free hand to roam anywhere and everywhere in and out of a quarantine zone. Sadly, this book may be a "jump the shark" moment in this series.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: We All Fall Down.

Reviewed on November 19, 2011.

Beautiful Boy DVD

DVD released in 2011 by Anchor Bay entertainment.

Maria Bello and Michael Sheen star as a decent, upper middle class married couple who are slowly but surely growing apart in Beautiful Boy. Their only child is off to college and they are much more interested in their careers than in each other. They do not fight, but they do not care enough to stop the drift. But, tragedy strikes in the form of their son who goes on a shooting rampage at his college and then committing suicide.

And then we get to the story itself: What happens to those families who are left behind by these spree shooters? Of course, the denial, the shock and the horror at what their son has done overwhelms the couple. Soon enough, the national media follows them everywhere and camps on their doorstep hoping for a quote or a bit of telling video.

Bello and Sheen both shine as they take the viewers through the amazing array of emotions and behaviors that this shell-shocked couple experience. There are no fakey moments. No contrived scenes. Instead, this battered couple do their best to deal with the feelings of loss, shame and failure as they try to start over again. Interestingly, their shared loss pulls them closer to one another.

I rate this film 5 stars out of 5.

This DVD can be found on Amazon.com here: Beautiful Boy.

Reviewed on November 6, 2011.

Two Nero Wolfe Mysteries: The Golden Spiders & Murder by the Book by Rex Stout

Read by Michael Prichard
Duration: 13 hours, 5 minutes
Published August 23, 2011 by AudioGo

As an avid reader of mysteries, I am sorry to say that I waited so long to check out Nero Wolfe and all of his valuable and useful assistants. If you are not familiar with Nero Wolfe, let me introduce you. Nero Wolfe is an obese genius who solves mysteries but rarely leaves his New York City Brownstone home. His true passions are meticulously prepared meals, orchids and keeping to his routine. Instead of leaving his home and doing the legwork himself, he has several trusted and talented investigators who serve as his eyes and ears. The Nero Wolfe stories are told by Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's number one employee.

Goodwin is an interesting character himself. He is Wolfe's employee, but not a toady. He speaks his mind, sometimes too freely. He is flippant, clever, tough and quite the ladies man. When I heard these stories, I realized how much a debt the late Robert B. Parker owes to Rex Stout - Parker's Spenser character is Archie Goodwin with his own detective agency.

This audiobook contains two short Nero Wolfe novels. The Golden Spiders was first published in 1953. The story starts when a 12 year old who makes a little extra money cleaning car windows at stop lights comes to Nero Wolfe with the story of a woman in a Cadillac who mouthed to him through the windshield that he should get a policeman to help her. She is wearing earrings shaped like golden spiders. The kid finds Nero Wolfe instead. Wolfe takes his story and starts to look into it. The next day, the boy is run down by a Cadillac. Soon, two more people are run over by a car and all of the deaths seem related and Wolfe is on the case...

Rex Stout (1886-1975)

First published in 1951, Murder by the Book is the stronger of the two stories. Wolfe is hired by a Peoria grocer to find out what really happened to his daughter. She died in a New York City park, but her father thinks she was murdered rather than accidentally killed in a hit-and-run incident. As Goodwin starts to dig they discover links to even more deaths and it all seems to be tied to an unpublished novel. Goodwin shines as he comes up with one clever way after another to pull the information from a variety of sources.

Veteran reader Michael Prichard captures the voice of Archie Goodwin perfectly  - he shows just the right amount of respect and sass for his boss, Nero Wolfe.

I rate this audiobook set 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Two Nero Wolfe Stories.

Reviewed on November 18, 2011.

The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein

Creepy Change of Pace for Heinlein

Originally published in 1942 in "Unknown Worlds" magazine.
Published by Blackstone Audio in 2009.

Read by Tom Weiner

Duration: 3 hours, 54 minutes.

Unabridged

Multiple Hugo Award winning author Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) changes his tone with the novella The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag.

This audiobook seems much more like a Philip K. Dick story than a Heinlein story since it features none of the themes that Heinlein is well known for, like space travel, alien contact or time travel. Instead, we get an extra helping of creepy with a surprise ending that truly demonstrates Heinlein’s ability to master a variety of styles.

First published under a pseudonym in the now-defunct magazine Unknown Worlds in 1942, The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag features Ted and Cynthia Randall, a husband and wife private detective team based in Chicago. They are approached by a fastidious little man with a topcoat and silk gloves named Jonathan Hoag. He has an odd proposition – he offers them a preposterously large retainer to help him figure out what he does for a living. Mr. Hoag knows that he has a well-paying job that pays him cash, but he does not have the faintest idea what that job is. The crisis began while he was at a dinner party and another guest commented on the reddish stains under his fingernails and asked what he did for a living to leave such a residue behind. He was very bothered to find that he did not know.

Ted and Cynthia agree to help him and find that this may not be as easy as they thought.  They find that everything about Mr. Hoag seems to be a mystery and the more they interact with him, the more they doubt their own eyes and ears. Soon enough they discover that “the whole world might be just a fraud and an illusion.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

The story suffers a bit from age, which is to be expected. After all, this story is nearly 70 years old. Some of the expressions that are used may have been very hip and stylish in 1942 but they sound a bit clunky to the ear nowadays. Also, some aspects of the story such as elevator operators and doctors making house calls may be totally foreign concepts to some listeners. That being said, the underlying story overcomes all of that window dressing. Rumor has it that a movie version of this story is in the works as well.

Award-winning narrator Tom Weiner skillfully handles a variety of different voices throughout. He voices Mr. Hoag perfectly, catching his prissy, fussy nature throughout, but adding a different tone once we discover his true profession. His characterization of the story’s bad guys (I am intentionally not describing them so as not to ruin their scenes) has the perfect amount of menace and mystery.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag.

Note: I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed on September 3, 2011.