Book Review: "Gumption"by Nick Offerman

Damn you, Nick Offerman, damn you!

<sigh>

Nick Offerman, best known by some as surly local government antithetical perma-worker Ron Swanson on the most excellent television program "Parks and Recreation", and best known by others as a woodworker and proprietor of the Offerman Woodshop, is also a damned fine author.  An author who giggles quite a lot at book readings.

"Gumption",  Mr. Offerman's second book following "Paddle Your Own Canoe", is an exploration of 21 great Americans who, according to Nick, have an unshakable work ethic, a desire to succeed, and have achieved greatness through their accomplishments, either on on the grande scale end of the spectrum ala George Washington, or at the niche end, such as master tool maker Thomas Lie-Nielsen.  All of the Americans profiled are, in their own way, tough sumbitches.  Even the ladies.  Yes, even Yoko Ono.  (When you read Mr. Offerman's description of Yoko's toughness, you will look at her in a new light - guaranteed).

"Gumption" is divided into three sections "Freemasons", "Idealists", and "Makers".  The "Freemasons" section includes George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Frederick Douglass. The Douglass chapter was very educational and enlightening for me, especially the story of how Douglass taught himself to read when it was illegal for him to do so.

While "Freemasons" was good, it was in "Idealists" that Mr. Offerman really hit his stride, especially the contemporary Americans whom he was able to meet and interview in person.  There's a definite fanboy aspect to some of his selections for the book (a fact that Nick freely admits), especially author Wendell Berry.  Yes, there is a chapter about Wendell Berry, the off-the-grid Kentuckian/farmer who writes about life in fictional Port William.  There is a chapter, and then there are mentions and stories about Wendell Berry in every other chapter in the book, practically.  Mr. Offerman's obsession with the man and love of his work is apparent.

"Gumption" continues into "Makers", including the aforementioned Thomas Lie-Nielsen, founder of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fame, boatwright Nat Benjamin, American Comedic Goddess Carol Burnett, and artiste Laurie Anderson.  Mr. Offerman's passion for the works produced by these folks flows through his work.  Giddiness drips from the pages.

The chapters are not merely biographical sketches of his subjects.  Mr. Offerman offers plenty of humor, and plenty of his own opinions on topics such as religion, marriage equality, equal pay for women, and many more.  It's an amazingly readable and enjoyable book cover to cover.

So, why am I damning Nick Offerman?  Since reading "Gumption" (and getting to meet and briefly chat with him during his book signing), I have had to add several of Wendell Berry's books to my personal (overflowing) library.  And I want to go check out Wilco.  And I want to track down Laurie Anderson's work (I'm not unfamiliar - dug her back in my college days).  And I want to binge-watch Carol Burnett on Youtube (Carol was a staple of Saturday night TV in my house when I was growing up).  And, yeah, I need to binge-watch "Parks and Recreation" too.  Thanks to Nick Offerman, I'l be spending money on more books and music that will take up room in my house.  Damn.

"Gumption" is one of the best books of the year.  Superbly entertaining, and you will learn a lot about many great Americans.

Amazon link

"Gumption" was purchased by the reviewer.

Book Review: "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"Between the World and Me"by Ta-Nehisi Coates was released early, in July instead of October 2015.  The continuing string of tragic events in our country, including the death in Coates' native Baltimore of Freddie Gray and the Charleston, S.C. murders and subsequent public discourse over the Confederate Flag were likely the factors that led to the decision to the early release of the book. I personally care not why the decision was made to release early, I am simply glad that this physically small but socially and emotionally huge book is now ready for the hands and eyes of readers.

Mr. Coates, in a series of essays written for his young son, tells his story of inhabiting a black body in today's America.  This not a book of perspective, or point-of-view.  Those are observational.  "Between the World and Me" is experiential, it is the life Mt. Coates has led, with struggles, with opportunities, with successes, and with living with the seemingly daily news of racial violence.

We hear how the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and, most predominately, Prince Jones, have affected Coates.  We learn how the decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown affected his son as a flashpoint, a moment of clear understanding about the realities of life in a black body.

Coates states that race comes from racism, that racism is not the child of race.  He quotes the Confederate States Vice-President: "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid , its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition."   (Remember, this book was written prior to the Charleston murders.)  His point is clear - the roots of racism are deep, and the timeline is long.

I have read "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, an account of his experiences as a prisoner in a WWII concentration camp, many times, each time finding new meaning in his words.  I believe that "Between the World and Me" is such a book, one that requires multiple readings over the course of time.  Mr. Coates' words can open up powerful self-reflection and lead to a greater, deeper understanding of the times we live in, and the times we have come from.

"Between the World and Me" gets my highest recommendation.

Speigel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, provided an Advanced Reader's Edition for purposes of review.

Amazon link to "Between the World and Me"

Ta-Nehisi Coates writing in "The Atlantic" link

"Man's Search for Meaning"by Viktor Frankl Amazon link

Book Review: "Top Down" by Jim Lehrer

"Top Down" is PBS News Legend Jim Lehrer's 21st novel.  21!  In addition to being a driving force behind one of the most respected broadcast news programs in history, moderator of many presidential debates, and collector of bus-related memorabilia, Jim Lehrer is also an author of 21 novels (plus 2 autobiographies/memoirs and a non-fiction look at the presidential debates "Tension City").

"Top Down" is the story of newsman Jack Gilmore (who seems quite similar to a certain Mr. Lehrer), a reporter sent to cover President Kennedy's arrival in Dallas on the day of his assassination in 1963.  Gilmore, chatting with Secret Service Agent Van Walters, asks whether the bubble top on the presidential limousine will be on or off for the motorcade.  Agent Walters, after a check of the downtown weather, orders it taken off, as the rain has cleared.  This act sets in motion a cycle of guilt-induced physical and mental illness in Agent Walters, as he believes that his order allowed the assassination of the President.

"Top Down" is the story of Agent Walters' daughter Marti engaging Gilmore to help her father.  Together, they probe whether the order to remove the bubble top had a material impact on the tragic outcome that day in Dallas.  Would the bubble top have prevented the assassination?  Did Gilmore's question to Walters actually lead to the order?  What would have happened if the top had been in place?  An intriguing and important sub-thread throughout the novel is one of journalistic integrity.  Gilmore struggles with his job as an up-and-coming newspaperman to tell this important story with his promise to Marti Walters to stay "off the record".  Mr. Lehrer's own sense of integrity is the lifeblood of this vein of the plot.

Jim Lehrer succeeds once again in writing a very approachable and fascinating novel.  He is an outstanding story teller, with comfortable phrasing and style that make the book a complete pleasure to read.  Upping the ante with "Top Down"is the autobiographical aspect,which Mr. Lehrer describes in the Author's Note, in that he himself was in a similar position and asked a similar question about the bubble top to a Secret Service agent in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

"Top Down" is a very enjoyable book.  If you read it and like it, and it's your first Jim Lehrer novel, I encourage you to treat yourself to his other works, especially "The Special Prisoner", "The Last Debate", "The Phony Marine", and the One-Eyed Mack series.

Amazon link for "Top Down"

This book was purchased by the reviewer.

Book Review: "Hand to Mouth - Living in Bootstrap America"

Originally posted Feb. 21, 2015 here at Merry & Bright!

While reading "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America" by Linda Tirado (G.P. Putnam's Sons [Penguin]), many descriptors will come to mind.  Enlightment.  Victim.  Attitude.  Understanding.  Perspective.  Anger.  Introspective.  And, the most interesting part is that at times you will apply these to author Tirado and her chronicled experiences, and at other times you will turn the mirror on yourself.

Tirado explains in raw, clear, and unsettling terms what it's like to be poor in America.  She has an admittedly bad attitude at times, fueled by how she believes others, mainly "the rich", see the poor.  To Tirado, the rich believe that the poor are lazy, make terrible decisions, and are themselves the main reasons that they can't escape poverty.  Through her narrative about trying to hold down multiple jobs, obtain survival-level, absolute necessity-only healthcare, and find affordable transportation and clothing, not to mention feeding self and family, Tirado explains why the poor can't escape being poor.

Tirado doesn't claim to be an angel or a saint.  She has anger.  She doesn't help her own situation at times.  But, it is clear that she is far from lazy.  She shares terrible experiences of condescending attitudes while trying to get basic dental care and being presumed to be a meth addict.  Tirado does not want sympathy - she wants understanding.  "Hand to Mouth" will give the reader a vivid understanding of poverty.

And more - Tirado also gives us a glimpse of how she perceives the work routine of the rich.  She tells us about a new job in a typical office environment and how, in a meeting, she describes all the nothing that gets done.  From someone who has worked hard at multiple labor-intensive jobs, her most shocking insight is the waste of time in "rich" America.

You may or may not like Linda Tirado or her message after reading her powerful book.  But you will never view the working poor the same way again.

Penguin Books provided an advance reading copy of "Hand to Mouth" for review.

Book Review: "Descent" by Tim Johnston

Originally posted Feb 14, 2015 here on Merry & Bright!

On the surface, "Descent" by Tim Johnston (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) is a mystery/thriller novel.  Set in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains, "Descent" tells the story of the abduction of Caitlin Courtland, an 18-year old out for a run in the mountains with her younger brother Sean, while marriage-reconciling parents Grant and Angela remain in their vacation cabin.  Sean is struck and injured by a driver of a modified sport utility vehicle, causing Caitlin to face the choice of staying with her brother or riding with the stranger down the mountain to where her cell phone will regain service.  Caitlin ultimately chooses to ride, and then becomes imprisoned by the driver.  Her family then must endure the ordeal of a lost child and sibling, as they spend months and years in a futile search.

"Descent" is much more than a typical mystery.  Guilt abounds through the Courtland family, each feeling that Caitlin's abduction and disappearance is somehow their own fault.  Author Johnston wraps the reader into the guilt with an intense subtlety.  Through the actions of Grant, Angela, and especially Sean, we feel their guilt rather than being told about it.  Sean is referred to as "the boy", telling us about his self-image, never allowing himself to truly grow from his 15 year old self.  Grant never leaves Colorado, even long after the official searches have ended, staying with the father of the local sheriff, Joe.  Joe's brother Billy, a black sheep character, is a conflict for the Courtlands.  Billy has run-ins with both Grant and Sean, and is a "bad man", described by Grant in a particularly tense standoff.

Mr. Johnston's skill at bringing depth to "Descent" is very admirable.  At times the cost of the depth is a story that moves at a deliberate pace,but it is well worth it.  When the story picks up the pace, you will not want to put the book down.

Many mystery stories have a point of plot convenience, where the reader must suspend disbelief momentarily and go along with an unlikely event that is there to progress the story.  There is a slight moment like this in "Descent", but Mr. Johnston addresses this with great skill.  The story flows amazingly from that point forward, and any "Oh, really?" thoughts a reader may have are quickly erased.

"Descent" is a fine, gripping, and involved novel, and an excellent choice for a Wintertime read.

Book Review: "Cattle Kate"

Originally posted on November 12, 2014 here on Merry & Bright!

Chapter 10 of "Cattle Kate" by Jana Bommersbach, published by Poisoned Pen Press, is titled "I Wanted a Nice Christmas".  Homesteader Ella Watson relates the story of the Winter of 1886 in Wyoming Territory, one of the harshest that anyone in the W.T, as it's called by Ella, can remember.  The chapter begins with "We didn't get much of a Christmas in '86", and then tells the story of the lonely cold Christmas that year.  Ella's gift to her husband Jim is a shirt, homemade from saved fabric, and a dinner of jerky stew and a pie from "the last of my sugar...and apples I had canned".  Jim's gift to Ella - "a book of poetry printed year ago in England - it even has a royal seal, which looks very important".  Ella and Jim spend Christmas eve on the Wyoming prairie reading "The Raven", by Poe, and singing "Auld Lang Syne", a tradition carried forward from Ella's Scottish father.  How different, and pure, this life seems.

"Cattle Kate" is the story of Ella Watson, who was the only woman ever lynched for cattle rustling.  Author Jana Bommersbach has re-told this true story from the too-wild West, and gives new life to Ella Watson, whose tragic end is truly heartbreaking.  Ellen Watson was born into a Scottish-Irish family in Canada in the late 1800's.  Her father Tom led the family to re-settle as homesteaders near Lebanon, KS, traveling in a covered wagon and, basically, walking from Ontario to Kansas.  In Bommersbach's very talented hands, we hear in Ellen's voice the hardships of life as homesteaders.  Ellen, the oldest Watson child, meets, marries, and ultimately divorces in Kansas, and then sets out alone to Wyoming Territory, where 160 acres of homestead land are there for the hard-working and determined.  She drops an 'n' and is Ella Watson when she arrives in Wyoming, where she stakes a claim, meets and marries her husband Jim, and feuds with the cattlemen over land and water, with ultimately tragic results.

The first part of the book is written in Ella's voice, and paints a beautiful and descriptive picture of life in this era.  The details, like the unforgettable smells of a chicken butchering, bring this story to life.  The tragedies Ella experiences are heart-wrenching, and the ever-escalating battle with the cattlemen bring a sense of anxiety to the reader  You find yourself wanting to warn Ella and tell her to take this conflict more seriously.

The second part of the book, the aftermath of Ella's lynching, tells us how she became to be known as "Cattle Kate", a despicable cattle-rustling prostitute, all fabricated by the protective press, in the service of the cattlemen.  We learn the fate of the boys Ella was raising, the witnesses to the lynching, and the six cattle ranchers that were responsible for the crime.  While Ella's story in the first section is a historical novel, what follows is enhanced factual story-telling, and adds to the tragic injustice of the story.  "Cattle Kate", we learn, was far, far removed from the real Ella Watson.

The third and final part of the book describes the author's discovery of the facts of Ella Watson's story, and her extensive research notes.

"Cattle Kate" is a marvelous book.  The upbeat, positive nature of Ella Watson shines through in her voice, which makes her horrific end all the more emotionally burning.  My compliments to the author for being able to take us on this journey.  

On a personal note, my mother will be 95 in December, and grew up in depression-era Kansas.  Many of her experiences on the plains are similar to what Ms. Bommersbach describes, although they came 60 years later.  I'm going to pass the book on to Mom to read - I know she will enjoy it.  "Cattle Kate" is a darned good book, a perfectly executed engaging and ultimately tragic true story.  If you're looking for a Christmas present for a lover of mystery, Western, or historical fiction, "Cattle Kate" would be a great gift selection.

Poisoned Pen Press is an independent publishing company based in Scottsdale, AZ, that publishes new mystery books each month. If you're a mystery book lover, or are ready to give mystery novels a shot, check out their website.

"Cattle Kate" on Amazon

Poisoned Pen Press website

Poisoned Pen Press on Facebook

Author Website

A copy of "Cattle Kate" was provided by Poisoned Pen Press for purposes of promotion and review.

Book Review: "Sons of Sparta"

Originally posted December 2, 2014 here at Merry & Bright!

Have a mystery book lover on your Christmas list?  If you do, "Sons of Sparta" by Jeffery Siger is sure to satisfy.  Set in the semi-anarchy zone of The Mani region of Greece, "Sons of Sparta" features wild and crazy Greeks, murders, age old vendettas, deeply serious family bonds, Ukrainians, and a hot, sexy, and desperate illegal immigrant waitress.  All of this is wrapped into a murder story involving the family of the main character, Detective Yiannis Kouros.  After Yiannis' uncle is murdered right before making a business deal to sell off part of the family's land, a move not popular with the entire family, Detective Kouros and Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis must move quickly to solve the crime.

"Sons of Sparta" has all the elements of a rapid-firing murder mystery - multiple bodies, suspects and motives galore, red herrings, hot trails, cold finishes, and an absolutely splendid ending.  This is author Siger's sixth book in his mystery series featuring Inspector Kaldis.  He paints a vivid picture of Greek living and dying, with history and culture throughout.  The Greek spin on the classic mystery genre is a welcome addition to the mystery canon.  

"Sons of Sparta" is published by Poisoned Pen Press.  Please visit their website for more information about their many other splendid mystery books.

Poisoned Pen Press provided a preview copy of "Sons of Sparta" for promotional and review consideration.

Poisoned Pen Press website

"Sons of Sparta" on Amazon

Welcome to Der Bingle Books!

Hello!  Welcome to Der Bingle Books!  This blog is a spin-off from Merry and Bright!, my Christmas Music blog, which also serves as a place to review and (occasionally) share non-Christmas music.  In mid-2014 I started posting a few book reviews to Merry and Bright!, but I have decided to bring this blog space to life as a place for the book reviews.  Here, you'll find reviews of everything I've read.  Some long, full reviews and others may be short summaries and impressions.  The books that I review may be old or they may be new.  A good book lasts a long time, and a great book lasts forever, so you'll see some of each out here.

You may also see contributions from the friends of Der Bingle.  I'm hoping I can convince some dear friends to submit their thoughts for posting.

The first few posts here will be cross-posts from earlier reviews on Merry and Bright, just to get things started.

Thanks for visiting!