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An uncommon friendship
The Roosevelts, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War – these are fascinating topics of fairly recent history that have been dealt with extensively in books, movies and TV documentaries. Susan Quinn, coming at them from a different angle, has written a fascinating book that sheds new light even on stories we’ve heard…
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A secret hero
Before there was James Bond, before there was John le Carré, there was Baroness Orczy. Paul O’Connor reviews her inventive and rewarding classic. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. By Baroness Orczy. Barnes & Noble Classics. Softcover. 252 pages. $8.05. It’s 1792, and the Reign of Terror is well under way in Paris. The…
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Flavia, unbanished
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THRICE THE BRINDED CAT HATH MEW’D. By Alan Bradley. Read by Jayne Entwistle. Random House Audio. 9 hours; 7 CDs. Hardback print edition form Delacorte Press. 331 pages. $26. It’s happy days for the many fans of Flavia DeLuce, the 12-year-old sleuth and chemist. After a brief “banishment” to a…
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FDR and the huddled masses
Our references to history can be as selective as our use of current “facts.” Paul O’Connor takes a look at a recent book that tells the uncomfortable story of the Roosevelt administration’s dealings with Jews and other refugees before the U.S. entered World War II. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor 1944: FDR And The Year…
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Absurdity, meet reality
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson RAZOR GIRL. By Carl Hiaasen. Read by John Rubinstein. Random House Audio. 12 ½ hours; 10 CDs. $54. In hardback from Knopf: 333 pages. $27.95. Razor Girl is Carl Hiaasen at his hilarious best, and that is very, very good. It’s wacky fiction that’s somehow crazily connected to reality. It’s…
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Short but tasty
Bob Moyer sent this review of from Germany. How can he read this book when so close to France and not go there? It’s a mystery to me. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer FATAL PURSUIT. By Martin Walker. Alfred A. Knopf. 320 pages. $25.95 Stuffed neck of duck. That’s the solution for a minor mystery…
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Prepare to be charmed
Also a big fan of Lee Smith, I reviewed this book earlier for the Greensboro News & Record: http://www.greensboro.com/go_triad/arts/books/review-dimestore-a-writer-s-life/article_f691fad4-cd46-5b96-9c54-3269b6c73c98.html Not to be outdone, Bob Moyer has reviewed it for Briar Patch Books. Such a fine book merits a lot of attention. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DIMESTORE. By Lee Smith. Algonquin Books. 202 pages. $24.95.…
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A wild tale, well told
The 1970s were crazy times, but enough time has elapsed to allow a good researcher and writer to make sense of the senseless. Paul O’Connor says Jeffrey Toobin has done just that. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor AMERICAN HEIRESS: THE WILD SAGA OF THE KIDNAPPING, CRIMES AND TRIALS OF PATTY HEARST. By Jeffrey Toobin. Doubleday.…
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A writer’s own stories
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PIGEON TUNNEL: STORIES FROM MY LIFE. By John le Carre. Read by the author. Penguin Audio. 10 CDs; 11 ½ hours. $40. Also available in hardcover from Viking. Imagine that you could visit John le Carre, the highly successful author of British spy novels, who will turn 85 in…
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Where’s the gold?
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson CURIOUS MINDS. By Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 7 hours; 6 CDs. $47. Also available in print from Bantam Books. For just plain fun, I adore Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, and I’ve also enjoyed some of Evanovich’s forays into other series, sometimes…