BOOKS THREAD

“The February streets, wind-washed by night, blow full of strange half-intermittent damps, bearing on wasted walks in shining sight wet snow plashed into gleams under the lamps, like golden oil from some divine machine, in an hour of thaw and stars. Strange damps--full of the eyes of many men, crowded with life borne in upon a lull. . . . Oh, I was young, for I could turn again to you, most finite and most beautiful, and taste the stuff of half-remembered dreams, sweet and new on your mouth. . . . There was a tanging in the midnight air--silence was dead and sound not yet awoken--Life cracked like ice!--one brilliant note and there, radiant and pale, you stood . . . and spring had broken.“ from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel. Written when he was 20 or 21 and not yet a published author.

 

I finished this last night. I've been a Go-Go's fan forEVER, so I enjoyed reading about how the band was formed, and then read how it broke up, got back together and broke up again. As one might guess, the rock-n-roll lifestyle is filled with all manner of debauchery, and Valentine doesn't gloss over anything, including her excesses, of which there were plenty.

I'm looking forward to hearing her talk about the book on her tour next month.

Joe Bob says check it out.

 

I got a review copy in advance of an upcoming interview with her.

 

Happened upon "Wide-Body: The Triumph of the 747" by Clive Irving from 1993. Terrific historic telling of the rise of Boeing and the aviation economy to the modern day. As I enjoy non-fiction, the ability to take a dry subject such as aeronautical engineering and turn it an engaging, compelling yarn is a lesson for journalists that good writing should always accompany good reporting.

 

When I was 15 I flew TWA Boston-London with a youth group via 747. We were in our seats and ordering dinner when it turned out the airline had double-booked. They put our group up for the night at the Copley Plaza, then flew us first class to London the next day. Chateaubriand carved at your seat and the flight attendants called you by your first name. I made sure to visit the upper level seats but oddly found no one there. I still have the little slipper-socks they gave us for the flight.

 

Kind of on a whim, the author gave her resume to a CIA recruiter at a college event, then ended up working there in counter terrorism, then moved on to the FBI. It was interesting reading about her experiences as being a just-out-of-college spy. There are plenty of spots throughout that the CIA wanted her to redact, and those areas are redacted, with the black bars in place. Makes one wonder what was there.

So...yeah. Joe Bob says check it out.

 

Sounds interesting. But does the book, at any point, get preachy about representation and diversity?

 

I'm not sure if preachy is the right word, but she does talk about she was treated as a female vs. how male agents were treated.

 

I really really really liked Gina Schock, rarest of the rare female rock drummer.

 

My best friend in high school was a drummer. In the video for "Vacation" there's a shot of Gina Schock where you can see her lips moving as she counted the beat to herself. That used to drive my friend insane.