Just Giblets – Page 32 – The rest is just gravy

January 6, 2015

2014, the Year in Books: A Few Honorable Mentions

There’s nothing arbitrary about the number of books I chose to spotlight for my year-end review. I stop there I feel there is a natural cut-off. This year that break does come in at #15, but even there, of the 38 books I read this year, there were a few more that I felt deserved a mention on the blog. Maybe they didn’t rise to the very top, they were still notable for one reason or another and great reads all the same. Here they are, in alphabetical order by author: the-books-that-didn’t-make-the-top-but-were-still-notable!

secret

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore – As a big comic big fan, a bigger fan of superheroines, and a long-time fan of WonderWoman, you know I wasn’t about to pass up a book that explores that character’s secret history. Add to that an author with a pedigree in feminism and history, and I was bound to find this a fascinating read. Then, I found myself sitting next to Ms. Lepore at a Random House breakfast at BookExpo America where she introduced this book to a bunch of librarians, and we bonded over my Wonder Woman cellphone cover. All that and I haven’t even mentioned what a great book this was. Lepore talks about how the Wonder Woman comic book came to be, and how it led the feminist charge through most of the previous century, but she also explores Wonder Woman’s creator, William Moulton Martson and the two women in his life, Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne, who served as inspiration and even co-creators of the Amazon Princess. Marston and his unconventional family make for fascinating subjects, and they were, but call me superheroine-centric, I just wanted a little more Wonder Woman.

liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockwood – This smash, young adult novel follows the lives of four teens as they spend summers on a private island off Martha’s Vineyard a la another famous, political family from real life. Seventeen-year-old Cady is our narrator as she looks back on the previous few summers on the island after a bizarre head injury robbed her of a season’s worth of memories. No one wants to tell her what happened, not her closest friends and cousins, not the little ones, not her mother, or aunts, and not even the boy who she thought was her boyfriend. All she knows is after the accident that robbed her of her memories, she stopped hearing from her fellow ‘liars,’ no matter how many e-mails she sent. We Were Liars is a engrossing read, with a nifty twist toward the end, but there’s only so much privilege I can read about before starting to roll my eyes. Fortunately, Lockwood is aware of this and rolls her authorial eyes in that direction as well.

arsonist

The Arsonist by Sue Miller – I’d never read Sue Miller, but she was going to be a guest at an author panel I put together, and I always try to read the book of an author I will be hosting. Plus, the premise of The Arsonist appealed to me: a series of fires plague a resort town in New Hampshire, but the houses going up in flames only seem to belong to the summer residents; the year-round residents abodes seem safe. This is the backdrop of a family story where a woman returns from years working in Africa to find her aging parents having some difficulties. What starts as a family drama, a story about aging, and a backdrop of crime, evolves a little too much into a love story for me during the second half, but Miller’s a strong writer and I’m glad I gave this one a shot.

love

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff – We lost one of our true talents in 2012, but he left us with a gift; his first novel. One that retained his sharp tongue, his sardonic wit, his discerning eye and his sympathetic heart. And the kicker? It’s entirely in verse! This is truly anoriginal and refreshing series of interconnected stories chronicling life, love and relationships throughout the 20th century. In addition to David’s poignant, acerbic, and witty storytelling skills, he has written the entire novel in verse, and included some beautiful illustrations by Seth. It’s a gorgeous design for a sweetly powerful novel by a talented writer who left us far too early.

January 5, 2015

2014, The Year in Reading: Graphic Novels

In preparation for my list of the best books I read in 2014, I wanted to call out a particular category that deserves mention, but didn’t feel right to include on the list proper, and that is the graphic novel, or more specifically, the collected editions of monthly comics. I’m a big comic book reader, and most of the reading I do in this genre is of individual issues on a monthly basis. Occasionally there is a title I’ve missed that I later catch up with when they are collected and published in bound editions. If I included these collected editions as part of this list, then Saga, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 would have made the Top 5.

The latest ongoing work by notable comic writer Brian K. Vaughan, with dynamic assistance from illustrator Fiona Staples, is a science fiction space opera cum Romeo & Juliet. A soldier and a rebel from opposite sides of two warring planets, fall in love and flee with their infant daughter with the governments of both factions, and a particularly a couple of wild bounty hunters on their tails. Saga is just that: a prose narrative of achievements and events in the history of a personage, family, etc. Sagas are all about heroism, and while there is something inherently heroic about Alana and Marko’s forbidden love and their refusal to follow the prejudiced and hateful viewpoints of their respective worlds, their heroism is shown on a much smaller scale, and that is they desire to raise their daughter despite the odds against them.

Vaughan, whose work in such comic titles as Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways and the stand-alone graphic novel, Pride of Baghdad, is known for this thoughtful explorations into the human condition, while telling a compelling adventure story, whether in the context of a dystopian society, a world of super-heroes, or against the backdrop of war. His partner and co-owner of Saga is talented illustrator Fiona Staples, whose imaginative designs of alien races and starships lends both a whimsical fantasy and hard science fiction element to her work. Her gorgeous, hand-painted covers, and hand-worked lettering are also widely-praised by critics and fans alike.

If you’re a fan of high adventure, fantasy or science fiction, but not a comic reader, I would recommend you give Saga a try. If you’re a comic fan, but not so hot on the science fiction/fantasy elements, i would also suggest you pick up Saga, Volume 1. This is top notch work, and worthy of a place in my list of Top Reads of 2014. I only gave it a category all its own to make room for more books to spotlight.

May 11, 2014

Little Seen Film of the Day – Last Life in the Universe

Surreal and dreamlike, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE features strikingly memorable imagery and strong performances by leads Tadanobu Asano, Sinitta Boonyasak, and Laila Boonyasak. Asano is our central character, a librarian named Kenji, who is trying to commit suicide but is continuously interrupted until he ends up bonding with Noi, whose twin sister Nid is killed in a horrific car accident. Kenji’s self-absorbed brother Yukio is yakuza — a Japanese gangster, has slept with his employer’s daughter and now has an assassin on his tail. All this action also involves Noi and Nid, but when Nid is killed in the accident, Noi and Kenji spend time in Noi’s disastrously unkempt beach house. Kenji spends his time cleaning the house, which Noi perceives as the house cleaning itself, but the two gradually fall in love until life, in form of the yakuza, intrude in their pseudo-idyllic fantasies.

I had seen Ratanaruang’s previous film, MONRAK TRANSISTOR, which was a wild, surreal musical, but he pulls it all together for LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, which, while difficult to follow the plot, and decipher what is real and what is fantasy, comes together visually and emotionally as a powerful, and satisfying film. Both Asano and Sinitta Boonyasak were nominated for Chlotrudis Awards for their roles, as was the film and the director, but on the whole, the American public missed this bizarre film completely. Highly recommended.

May 10, 2014

Little Seen Film of the Day – Kitchen Party

Revolving around two very different yet linked parties, Gary Burns’ sophomore film, KITCHEN PARTY cannily depicts the behaviors of suburban teens, and the more bitter and biting actions of their parents. Scott decides to throw a party while his parents are out at a party of their own. The problem is, Scott’s compulsive mother, whose discrete vacuum pattern on the carpeting is deliberate, and would be telling if the party spread any further than the kitchen, hence the film’s title. The party includes Scott’s friends, hanging out, drinking, and the usual teen antics, and his girlfriend, Tammy, who plays a dangerous adolescent game flirting openly with Scott’s arch-nemesis, his brother Steve, who spends hours in the basement listening to loud rick & roll music.

Across town, several of the kids’ parents get together, get a little drunker than their kids, and things get even messier. Their party runs a fine balance between the inadvertent, and yet pop-culture symbolism of over-sharing, and the sad fact that these people have very little to say to each other. Instead, a fight ensues when Scott’ father suggests that another’s parent’s child is gay. Naturally events at both parties spiral out of control, and it all wraps up with a terrifically absurd finale that seems somehow fitting.

KITCHEN PARTY features a young Scott Speedman in the lead role, who has gone on to enjoy a busy career in indie and Hollywood films, and television as well. Girlfriend Tammy is played by Laura Harris, who also gained steady work including a lengthy stint on the television show “24.”

May 9, 2014

Little Seen Film of the Day – Hollow Reed

HOLLOW REED is a tough, British, family drama from 1996 about child abuse. Oliver lives with his mother Hannah, and her boyfriend Frank. He still spends time with his father, Martyn, a general practitioner, who becomes suspicious of Frank after Oliver suffers a series of mysterious injuries which he cannot adequately explain. Eventually, Martyn is convinced of Frank’s abuse, despite Oliver’s silence, and Hannah’s refusal to believe such a thing, and he begins legal proceedings to obtain sole custody. At this point, Hannah’s lawyer brings up Martyn’s gay relationship with Tom to prove that he is an unsuitable father figure.

Director Angela Pope brings up a lot of tough and frustrating issues in this well-constructed film written by Neville Bolt and Paula Milne. Hal Hartley alum, Martin Donovan, is remarkable, British accent and all, as Martyn, a role quite unlike what he’d played to that point. The rest of the cast, including Joley Richardson, Ian Hart and Jason Flemyng are all outstanding, especially young Sam Bould as Oliver, whose stoic, silence is powerfully offset by the hurt, fear, and confusion in his eyes. It’s unfortunate that Pope’s filmmaking career didn’t go much further than this powerful film.