Lisey's Story, by Stephen King

Completely absorbing, entertaining, beautifully done, as only Mr. King can do it.

Lisey is Lisa Landon, widow of successful writer Scott Landon. We meet her about two years after Scott's death, as she begins the work of cleaning up his study and dealing with his books and papers. Quickly it becomes evident that the Landons have had both a singularly great marriage and an extremely unusual life -- as only Mr. King could imagine.

The story of their love and their closeness of mind and spirit is worth the trip. Yes, there's plenty of otherworldliness, alternative dimensions, fantastic beings, and the kind of reality that most of us don't experience when we're awake, but I don't think it takes away from what is a beautiful story about the love between an imaginative, creative man and his extraordinary wife.

No doubt there's a little autobiography in here. In the author's statement at the end of the book, King points out some similarities between the Landons and the Kings. Lisey's Story is, still, a work of fiction, and one of fantasy.'

New York Times Sunday Book Review

Bark, by Lorrie Moore

This is an audio book, a collection of short stories.

I'm almost done listening to it, and my conclusion is that I'm going to have to get the book in print, as I think these stories are too good for commuting. That is, they require more complete attention. 

NY Times review

The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall

So, this has to have some kind of praise for a catchy title. Brady Udall is the author of  The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, which I read recently. Having enjoyed Edgar quite a bit, I was looking forward to another book by Udall, and this was not disappointing.

One one level, this is the story of a man with four wives and twenty-eight children. On another, it may be about what it's like to be human, imperfect, and unlucky. There are a lot of people here that want to be loved. Instead of being a work of propaganda in favor of or against the practice of polygamy, Udall uses this unusual life, however we feel about it, to describe how people get along, in whatever situation they find themselves.

New York Times Book Review

The Heart of the Matter, by Graham Greene

An audio book.

Ah, Graham Greene again. What a pool of calm and good sense one enters into when reading one of his books.

This is the story of Major Scoby, a policeman in West Africa during World War II. The vicissitudes of war, the clash of cultures, the threats of disease and violence, are ever present, yet Scoby presents himself as a model of reason and rectitude.

Scoby is a Catholic, which is of course the heart of many of Greene's matters, but in the course of this novel he finds himself grimly at odds with his religion, and in danger of losing his soul. In the end, we are presented with an intensely sad and difficult paradox, which left me wondering how, exactly, Greene felt about his religion.

This is such a beautifully written piece of work that I hope to acquire it on paper and read it again.

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, by Barry Udall

Edgar Mint is a young boy living on an Indian reservation in Arizona. At the beginning of this book, his head is run over by the tire of a Postal Service Jeep. As a result, he spends quite a long time in a hospital, recovering (miraculously, it would seem) from his injuries. In the hospital, he meets some people who figure prominently in his life for many years.

This story is oddly captivating. I found the book one of those that I wished would go on when it was over. Edgar's naive view of the world, the lot of his fellow Native Americans, his disabilities, the Western characters who are both cruel and kind to him in this story, are all beautifully drawn. I cared about Edgar to the last period on the last page.