Status Updates From The Best American Series: 1...

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I just finished Patrick Symmes’s “Bonfire of the Humanities”. Although the human cost of war is deplorable, the writer turns his (& our) attention to other casualties: written works. Hopefully, the rebels who sought to destroy these precious gems of cultural & historical insight won’t read about the smuggling(?) triumphs & try to destroy what’d been liberated & squirreled away via men’s underpants. 😆

The librarians simply grabbed books and walked out, passing with fake confidence by armed men ready to kill them. The sound of a culture surviving was the discreet rustling of men’s underpants.

I just finished Lisa Abend’s “The Sound of Silence”. I can see what she is referring to. In this age of social media formats, we can get overwhelmed by superficial/shallow chatter that passes for connection ... we may think we want radical solitude, when what we truly seek is more like one-on-one meaningful conversations and exchanges.

Here I was, drawn to the isolation, and I end up getting a stronger community than I would have had in the city.

It seems odd to be reading someone’s complaints about “incessant chatter” of folks around her and electronically. Odd just these days of “safer at home” when we are - hopefully - not subjected to such peripheral chatter. I’m guessing the writer is applauding the social distancing edict?

I just finished “Rage of the Squat King” by Rick Bass. It was an interesting story, but it ended rather abruptly. It also didn’t flow well for me ... it kept bouncing from place to place?

I just finished Jeremy Collins’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Greg Maddux”.

Poignant story abt how we may feel connected to athletes or other celebrities we idolize, but in the end, we can only ever live our own lives. Said celebrity may never know what a profound effect he/she had on our lives ... but that’s OK ‘cause we know. They have their own lives to live, too.

That’s what I got out of that story. 😁

I just finished Sarah Kokernot’s “M & L”.

I can’t even begin to imagine what Miriam is going through, upon seeing Caleb. And what Liam is also going through, knowing that Miriam saw Caleb. After what Caleb did to Miriam 15 years ago. 😢

Holy moly. I just finished Justin Bigos’ “Fingerprints” ... and it all went straight over my head. I couldn’t figure out who the characters were and how they related to each other, what motivated their actions, or even the setting. ☹️

I just finished Sofia Samatar’s “How to get Back to the Forest”. Oh, my ... is that what we’re doing to the kids? Is that what day care is doing to the kids? Supplanting parents with inanimate Parent Figures? (Certainly not bugging & drugging them to forget!) 😳

I just finished Adam-Troy Castro’s “The Thing about Shapes to Come”. A generation of non-human-shaped babies ... later rounded up and corralled in the desert(?) when human-shaped babies returned. (Oops ... spoiler?) Not sure whether I like this story or not. Maybe it’s a metaphor I’m just not understanding?

Just finished Seth Mnookin’s “One of a Kind”. Moral of the story: parents are the strongest and most effective advocate of a sick child - especially when the child’s sickness is unknown and unfamiliar.

“Some places we’ve set up camp are simply not ours to inhabit.”

“The City and the Sea” (Meeta Subramanian) focuses on one such place we’ve set up camp: the New York coastline. Specifically, the portion battered by Hurricane Sandy - the portion we’d do well to shore back up with “beaches, dunes, and salt marshes” and not reclutter with waterfront human real estate. Thought provoking.

Wetlands don’t make sense if you have a building and only a little wetland. Wetlands only make sense if they are extensive, so they can really dissipate wave energy.

Littoral (or “nearshore”): part of the sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. Extends from high water mark (which is rarely inundated) to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged.

I just finished “Staircase to the Moon” by Theresa E. Lehr.

Compelling story. I didn’t see that ending coming either.

Different setting from what I’m used to - world of South Sea pearl divers. A captain’s predilection for young Japanese girls. & 1 such girl who scarred her twin to save her. (“Shinju & I imagined skipping up those steps to escape rows @ home. Sadly, she found heaven dust a better way...”)

TIER: The Implantation/Extraction Room
Where experts inserted perfectly round plastic balls into each new batch of oysters. The balls served as cores for cultured South Sea pearls.

😲

When there’s a full moon the tides recede far from shore, exposing the mudflats in Roebuck Bay. As the moon rises, light reflects off the wet ripples in the sand, creating the illusion of glowing amber steps shimmering straight up to the moon.

😱

I just finished “The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman” by Jeffrey Deaver.

Perhaps I’m just not accustomed to Mr. Deaver’s writing, but I did NOT anticipate that twist. Very clever, Mr. Winslow. I wonder what in your upbringing, if anything, led you to take that path rather than the seemingly obvious one assumed by Dr. Levine?

It’s not eavesdropping when you make a statement loud enough for the whole place to hear.

😆

Paul owned all the various filmed versions of the Holmes adventures, though he believed the old Grenada version with Jeremy Brett was the only one that got it right.

I agree. Sure, RDJ’s version is action-packed, but Jeremy Brett is - in my opinion- Sherlock Holmes personified. Mannerisms, approach, diction ... to a tee. Not that I’ve seen many other renditions. 😆

Kelly Sundberg, “It Will Look a Sunset”

So NOT a bedtime story.

Title refers to dr’s warning when Kelly finally has foot examined, that Caleb dropped heavy earthenware item on.

She spends story bouncing btwn describing violence & reminiscing about his moments of generosity & kindness.

Can’t tell fr. ending: did she eventually go back to him? (He was arrested - had he been jailed?)

“This Old Man” - Roger Angell

Engaging, poignant, thought-provoking ... all wrapped in a small package.

“The thoughts of age are short, short thoughts.”

“Sex or death: you take your pick. [John Updike]”

I can only *hope* I’m that lucid & articulate when (if?) I’m 93. (To think, The Beatles posed questions “when I’m 64” that this essay ~answered from a perspective 30 yrs beyond that!). Kudos, Mr. Angell.