Leif Enger's "So Brave, Young, and Handsome"

I read Leif Enger's latest book over the last few days.

So Brave, Young, and Handsome is set in 1915, and it is very centrally about the closing of the frontier. It is like Lonesome Dove in that respect, although you might say Larry McMurtry's book chronicles the last breaths of the frontier whereas this book is focused more on its death rattle.

There was much to appreciate about the book. Some set pieces and scenes will stick with me for awhile. The characters--Siringo and Glendon especially--will stick. And the story is most definitely a good one.

But I wasn't swept up like I was with Peace Like A River. I'm not sure what the difference was exactly. In so many ways they are similar--the journey across a nostalgic American landscape, the firm hand of the law on the trail as well--but So Brave didn't have the same purpose and drive as his first book. In So Brave the main character was along for the ride so much the moments when he consciously chose his destiny were hard to distinguish.

The book also touched two of my "literary hot buttons." I am growing more and more weary of writers in books/movies/plays. Especially when the writer at the end of the story thinks, "Maybe I should write this down." I could make a HUGE list of these stories, but off the top of my head I can think of: So Brave Young and Handsome, Wonder Boys (the film), Avenue Q (kind of), Stones in his Pockets, Elf (although fortunately he doesn't start as an author).

It's a tired conceit. Becket, in So Brave could have just as easily been a failed singer/songwriter who finally finds himself and begins to sing or write songs again, and it would have been that much better.

And I was also annoyed by the regular end-of-chapter foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is great when the character suddenly gets a sense of dread that he's never going to see his home again. It's more frustrating when the character knows that something in advance and just hints at us. A la: "It seems strange, looking back, that I ever believed I would soon be home again." or "How could I know he was indeed to take flight, and very soon, and that it would be I, and not Redstart, who went with him?"

Ending chapters like this is annoying. It works a shade better with a third-person omniscient narrator--"Little did he know, that this simple, seemingly innocuous act, would result in his imminent death." (That's from Stranger Than Fiction if you didn't recognize it.)

But when you are in a first-person story, you don't like your narrator consciously holding out on you like this. I'm all for dramatic chapter endings (my mystery novel is full of them), but I felt like Becket or Enger was breaking a compact with the reader.

I did enjoy the book, and it was fun to see Northfield's Cannon river at the beginning. It also made me interested in picking up Peace Like A River again. And it makes me look forward to his next book, which I hope comes sooner than 6 years (the space between his first and second books).

Holy @%#$!!

There's a volcano in Chile currently erupting (one of a few actually) that brings to mind the phrase "hell on Earth."


Here's a science-y article about it. And here's a site with 35 crazy pictures of the eruption.

Why Clinton should stay in it

Marc Ambinder has7 reasons why Clinton should stay in the race, despite the fact that Obama is pretty much the nominee at this point. It's a good list, I think.

UPDATE: I didn't see it earlier, but he also has 7 reasons why she should quit.

Read About Erik!

If you just can't get enough Erik Hanberg, I've been quoted in two stories this past week. Last week I talked to the Weekly Volcano about how the Grand started the 72-Hour Film Competition way back in 2005. I'm also in Dan Voelpel's article today about Suite133, the awesome office where I get to spend my days.

Very cool.

Perception

Whether she wins or loses in Indiana, Clinton is going to have to deal with a major perception issue that she's finished. Tim Russert, other major anchors, a huge swath of liberal bloggers, Pat Buchanan, and Erica C. Barnett (one of the Slog's adamant Clinton supporters) either called the race for Obama or threw in the towel and said that their favored candidate should step down.

I'm not entirely sure she will, although ...

Her speech tonight felt like the start of a concession speech. Marc Ambinder posted an e-mail from her fundraising team that reads to me like she's dropping out (save for this last line: "Thank you so much for making this campaign possible. Let's keep making history together" although even that could be read a variety of ways.) And Politico is reporting she just canceled morning show appearances.

I'm not willing to go out on a limb and say she's dropping out, but I do know she's going to be facing some tough questions from reporters very soon.

Update: the NYT and others is calling Indiana for Clinton by 1.9%. 22,000 votes.

Also Marc Ambinder has her schedule for tomorrow:

She'll spend time meeting with senior staff, with key supporters, and with undecided superdelegates. She may make a surprise visit to her campaign headquarters in Arlington. She'll attend a fundraiser in the evening that is open to the press.

Hillary's Speech

I think she made a mis-step right from the start. It sounded like the victory speech for a primary she'd won instead of a primary that was still close to call. Someone needed to adjust the language a little bit to acknowledge what actually happened in Indiana. And then the quick mention of HillaryClinton.com and asking for money?

She just thanked the people of Indiana for their vote of confidence ... I know she still has a good chance to win, but it sounded to me like she was reading from the wrong speech.

Aaarggghh.

Pat Buchanan is driving me crazy. He just said on MSNBC that on the night of the Pennsylvania primary, Obama was up by 7 in Indiana and now he might lose the state by double digits. I can't find anything close to that on Pollster, which tracks the polls. With the exception of a few outliers, he's been trailing in Indiana for awhile.

But Obama has won "decisively" according to MSNBC in North Carolina, a state Clinton apparently hoped to put in play. Indiana hasn't been called yet.

My thoughts on "Avenue Q"

This raunchy puppet musical was surprisingly funny. I know a few "non-theater" types who greatly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to it going in.

As we've done in the past, we bought the soundtrack before going. For a show like Spring Awakening, this helps make the show clearer. Sometimes the words get muddled on stage and it's better to know a little bit in advance. With Avenue Q, however, I actually wouldn't recommend it. Some of the joy of the show is its audacious lyrics, and I think maybe I knew too much going into it.

In general, the songs were very funny, the characters and puppets were surprisingly well crafted and acted (with a few notable exceptions). And the Sesame Street style interludes on the two TV monitors were handled well.

If anything really didn't work for me it was the character Christmas Eve, the Japanese therapist. I would even go so far as to call her a failed character. I understand what the creators were going for, but it just didn't work. There are good ways to poke fun at stereotypes, but Christmas Eve was no different that Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles, and even not so far apart from Mickey Rooney's horrendous Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And it's bad when I reference a stereotype from 1961 (which was outdated even then).

It just didn't work. (And I don't think it's the actress. Her voice and songs didn't work on the soundtrack either, which was made by the original Broadway cast.)

But the show is very good and I definitely recommend it if you happen to be in NYC or London's West End. Although I hear now that it's closed at the Wynn in Vegas a national tour has started up too. Just be prepared for "full puppet nudity" and some dirty talk and you'll fine.

Last lunch in New York

At Pastis, our favorite lunch spot in the meatpacking district.

From the Ellis Island ferry ...

The weather got beautiful yesterday, and has stayed that way, as you
can tell.

Kid in a candy store ...

About the coolest candy store ever. Papabubble in Little Italy. The
hard candy is awesome.

A Big Day in New York

As you might be able to tell by the pictures below, we were all over New York today. Battery Park, Ground Zero (they're already starting to rebuild), Midtown, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, and a Yankees-Mariners game (which we lost 5-1).

Plenty more coming, including Avenue Q. tomorrow night. It's been pretty cool, and the Yankees game was downright chilly. But other than that we've managed to avoid the rain we got hit with last night.

Looking forward to a fun weekend ...

Damn Yankees

Looking toward right field from our seats at the Yankees game. This is the last year for the current Yankee Stadium. You can see the upper lip of the new stadium in the background.

Even though it looks like blue skies in the picture it was dark-ish and cloudy when I took this picture. I think that's a result of the lights. Judging by the fielders, the Mariners are up to bad. Not that we were able to do much. Although our 4 errors in the first three innings means we were worse in the field than we were on offensive. Not a great game.

Day in NYC

This is from the roof garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Central Park is in the background.

More on the gas tax summer hiatus

Ezra Klein:

"Unanimity is rare. Except on this gas tax holiday. Just about no one thinks it a good idea. Conservative economists loathe it, liberal economists loathe it, energy experts loathe it...it's shameless pandering of the worst sort."

Thanks to Don in the comments of the Friedman article for the suggestion. I don't know of any conservative economists to read to see if Ezra Klein is right on this. Anyone know a conservative economist blogger or writer on this one? And then ...

From the NYT editorial board:

"Leave aside that suspending the 18.4-cent-a-gallon excise tax would cost the deficit-burdened federal government $9 billion and that turning a tax off in May and on in September would be an administrative nightmare.

Even leave aside that nixing the gas tax would increase demand for gasoline — exactly the wrong response to global warming and rising energy prices. So wrong, in fact, that both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain support policies that would cut carbon emissions and increase the price of energy. (Talk about voting for something before they voted against it.)

The fact is that drivers would, at best, see only the briefest reduction in prices at the pump. Gas prices rise during the summer season of heavy driving as rising demand pushes refiners to produce virtually at full capacity. If a suspension in the excise tax reduced the price at the pump, it would encourage even more driving. This would simply push prices back up. Oil companies would be grateful, drivers less so."

James Fallows is even offering a one year subscription to the Atlantic if someone can come up with an example of a more "foolishly destructive" bipartisan pandering. Man this one brought a lot of people out ...

Friedman's Back!

After getting a pie in the face, Thomas Friedman is back to writing regularly for the New York Times. I'm glad to see him back, especially since he's backing up a post I made yesterday:

"Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country."

This was disheartening, however:

" ... when Congress passed the 2007 energy bill last December, it failed to extend any stimulus for wind and solar energy production. Oil and gas kept all their credits, but those for wind and solar have been left to expire this December."

Dang.

Yeah for the LID!

Very good news from Exit133 -- the Broadway LID just passed. That's good stuff for fans of the Theater District and Broadway. My window used to be on Broadway ... I sat in it and watched the tree lighting parade (I believe it was the last, actually).

I wonder how the view will change from there ...

Movie Wrapup

This weekend we did a double feature--Forgetting Sarah Marshall followed by Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay.

I enjoyed both, although H&K was a little disappointed because I'd been hoping for more. Forgetting Sarah Marshall I probably enjoyed more, but that was because I was not expecting to like it that much. Expectations are everything sometime.

But it felt really good to get into the movie theater again. And some good movies are coming soon ...