This book by a young Dennis Lehane protégé socked me in the gut. It is about a small tragedy in a depressed and ramshackle corner of Brooklyn, which has reverberations that reach deep into the ethnically mixed population of Red Hook and teaches them—and us, the reader– about loss, grief, redemption and hope. It is a sultry summer night, the bars and street corners are hopping, and teen friends Valerie and June are bored and antsy. They decide to go for a midnight float […]
A poet for our times: Adrienne Rich
My first post of 2015 is also my first of a book of poetry, and I couldn’t have chosen a better one than “Tonight No Poetry Will Serve” by the renowned American poet, social activist and feminist Adrienne Rich. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read any of Rich’s poetry before, and it took my youngest daughter Adrienne to introduce her to me. She is a revelation – her language is exquisite and painful, her anger fierce and authentic, her social conscience omnipresent. As […]
Rogue Sociologist Indeed
When Sudhir Venkatesh entered Chicago’s poorer neighborhoods as a graduate sociology student with a survey in hand, he inadvertently formed a relationship with JT, a gang member of the Black Kings instead. This allowed Venkatesh to tag along with the gang on their daily activities and to learn directly about life in the Robert Taylor Homes (these projects were later torn down in the late 1990s). Six years studying the Black Kings and the residents of Robert Taylor became the basis of Venkatesh’s research as […]
This Author’s Note is the Twistiest of Twist Endings, Mind Blown
I finished this book this morning, got to the end and thought, sure, I’ll read the author’s note, and therein I found out that this story–about life and death and poverty and corruption and justice and injustice and good luck and bad luck in a Mumbai slum–is totally, COMPLETELY TRUE. It blew my mind, you guys, because it reads like fiction: the characters are so well-documented in their thoughts and dreams (and sometimes even in the listed cause of death in official records and police […]
Hope Against All Hope in Haiti
Set in a small village in Haiti, Claire of the Sea Light is a novel about loss and hope. Ville Rose has a long history of poverty and hardship. A few prominent families run the town, the school and local businesses, but the vast majority of its inhabitants are poor. The novel begins and ends with a poor widowed fisherman named Nozias and his seven-year-old daughter Claire Limye Lanme — Claire of the Sea Light. Nozias’ wife Claire died giving birth, and Nozias has struggled […]
Family Secrets and Tragedy
This debut novel by Nigerian author Adichie is a haunting story whose impact lingers long after the last page is turned. It describes the lives of two teenaged children of a wealthy and influential Nigerian newspaper editor, who is revered for his courageous stand against a corrupt and failing government, for his unswerving rectitude and broad generosity as a pillar of the Catholic community, but who behind closed doors is a violent religious tyrant and abuser of his wife and children. All this against a […]
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