Avi Steinberg was wandering aimlessly through his young adult life. Before he went to Harvard he possessed an insatiable fervor for his religion. He quit his high school basketball team called the MCATS to dedicate his life to the study of the “Torah”. At every opportunity he would pull his copy out and study it taking the rabbinic law literally to not waste time learning his religious rites.
Avi blames it all on Harvard. He had the best of intentions. He was, “determined to pray three times a day, keep kosher, learn “Torah” for x hours a day, wear his yarmulke and tzitzis with pride, [and] stay away from girls.” It was only a matter of time, his rabbis agreed, and he would become a sinner.
His rabbis were right. “All I did was chase girls, do drugs, and write a carefully argued, typo-ridden satire of a senior thesis paper on Bugs Bunny.” After graduating he bounced around from family to friends refusing to work. It was an ad on Craig’s List that provided a light at the end of Avi’s tunnel.
He was attending yet another wedding as his classmates moved forward with their lives, when he received a little tough love. Earlier that day he was cornered in the bathroom by Rabbi Blumenthal who questioned him about his future. It was a strained talk and they both left the room bitter. During the dance sequence of the ceremony where woman dance on one side and men on the other he was struck.
The blow was hard and accurate. It landed on his jaw and sent him crashing to the floor. “I looked up. Dancing expressionlessly was Rabbi Blumenthal. I was seized by the suspicion that it was he who had popped me, in fulfillment of the rabbinic dictum for dealing with the Bad Son, ‘you strike him in the teeth…’.”
Avi arose from the Hasidic mosh pit and went to his friend Yoni. He yelled over the music, “I think I’m going to prison.” Yoni replied, “Nice, and honestly, dude? It’d probably do you some good.”
This is Avi Steinberg’s true story as related in Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian. Forget that I am a librarian suggesting a book about a fellow librarian and read it for the many interesting events that propel Avi forward.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Running the Books (copy)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (copy)
The cover art attracted me first. Not that it was out of the ordinary, many of us have seen clothing draped over a coatrack, but this art is unusual. Two wool coats, one male and one female, facing each other with a fedora towering over a red felt hat that seems to be resting in the crook of the larger overcoat’s lapel. The shading in the artwork gives the appearance of two lovers standing outdoors on a breezy sunny day.
Obviously, the cover screams romance, but then the title gives it an air of respectability. “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson sounds military in nature and one has to wonder why the male coat is civilian and not dress uniform. I praise the publishers on their choice of artwork.
Ernest Pettigrew is a retired British Army Major living a quiet life in Sussex, England near the sea. Behind his house is the rolling meadows of Lord Dagenham’s estate. In his small neighborhood he is surrounded by ivy covered homes with lush green gardens where rabbits and hedge hogs play.
One block to the west, visitors to the neighborhood become a little unnerved. After seeing the flowers in bloom, they face bright orange signs that anchor the turn declaring, “ATM HERE!” and “Lotto!” The brightness of the convenience store jars even the mildest manner of man.
A sunny Sunday morning and Major Pettigrew finds himself face to face with the owner of that quickie mart. He opens his door to find Mrs. Ali staring at him impatiently. She is there to pick up money owed for newspapers having gone a whole month without the payment. Her distasteful face suddenly turns to a smile as she realizes Major Pettigrew, a man known for his impeccable taste in clothes, stares back at her in a pink robe with bright red roses climbing his trunk.
Pettigrew grows lightheaded not sure if it was his brisk walk to open the door or the embarrassment of having been caught in his late wife’s favorite robe. Mrs. Ali suddenly finds she is shoring him on the door frame as his face losses all color. With the moves of a trained EMT, she turns and walks him down the hall to his favorite chair.
Mrs. Ali leaves him to start the kettle for tea when the Major announces he lost his younger brother this morning.
Get comfy with some tea yourself; this read is well worth the time.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit (copy)
During our big snow this winter, I felt privileged to see something. We have dogs and an excellent hunting cat and I thought I would not see this sight as long as they had reign over the yard.
At first I thought it was a clump of magnolia leaves blown to the wide open space perched atop the white snow, but then it moved. He scratched behind his ear by raising one of his front paws over his head.
It was a little brown bunny sitting atop the snow in our field. I watched mesmerized and finally it hopped at a high rate of speed to one of our Magnolias in the front yard. It was like getting to see an unexpected friend on a very cold day.
My thoughts turned to spring and the warmer weather to come. Staring, all bundled in fleece and an Ole Miss snuggie, I could not help but wish for the sun’s heat. Nothing says spring to me more than a bunny in the snow.
Maybe it reminds me of Easter time and the edge of warmth I associate with the winter to spring transition. Where I grew up Easter typically was a cold day. Back home it could be 32 degrees that Sunday, but I was not going to miss wearing my new short sleeve dress. Oh, and to hide it in a bulky wool coat was out of the question!
Speaking of bunnies, warm weather and wool coats, I found a great little book titled Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na. Our little white bunny shows us how other animals live throughout the winter. Some like the Canadian Geese fly away from the cold. Some turtles swim to warmer waters. Some sheep stay but keep their wool coats on.
The colors and illustrations, created by the author, bring a magical feel to the reader. The texture of the trees look to be scratched bark and the rabbit’s fur seems to be made of delicate lace. Our little white rabbit displays humor and curiosity, too. He sits atop a migrating turtle and peeks into the sleeping bears’ cave. At the end young readers are treated to a brown rabbit winking at them.
Il Sung Na is a Korean author/illustrator who has finally made it across the pond. She released this same book in the U.K under the title Brrrr: A Book of Winter in 2010. This book is a spring treat for anyone under five years of age.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
From Manhattan to Mississippi (copy)
I spent some time with Daisy Karam-Read yesterday. She is the author of two books, From Manhattan to Mississippi: A New Yorker Falls in Love with the South and The Love Affair Continues: From Manhattan to Mississippi, Part Two. I did not speak to her personally. Instead, I read these two books in one sitting.
Twelve years ago, Karam-Read left her high rise apartment overlooking the Hudson River in Tribeca to follow the man she loves to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. From the book jacket I can read that her friends thought her incredulous. I understand totally. We came down from Memphis and shocked every one of our Bartlett, Collierville and Germantown friends. It was like we were moving to the abyss never to be seen again.
Mississippi gets little respect around the nation. We seem to others to be a group of dim-witted fatsos who would not know a Schubert from an arugula. Obviously, we are not and it is nice to see when someone’s prejudices are exposed as incorrect. This is what readers will experience if they attempt these books.
One might get a little tired of Karam-Read’s recurring romantic view of the South. Yes, our men are chivalrous. Yes, charm exudes from all of our pores. Yes, gardening and cooking are two genetic traits. Yes, our southern drawl can be hard to decipher, but no, we do not always wear our shoes. Her comment, “Southern Ladies do not walk around barefoot!” does not take into account the beach.
It feels like Karam-Read is excited when stereotypes ring true, but is also equally shocked at the State’s beautiful architecture, scrumptious cuisine and international culture. She is slightly misguided as to her sense of place, also. She incorrectly calls Ocean Springs the Deep South. Fellow Mississippians living from Tunica to Belzoni would welcome the Gulf breezes she enjoys.
Do not worry. She is corrected in the second book by a charming Mississippi man living in Smith County. Yes, I realize. Still not in the Delta, but at least it is closer to true Deep South.
I enjoyed both books, but her second, more “Mississippian” enlightened book is better. The first book’s audience seems to be those friends who questioned her move.
