Nobody’s Fool: The Lives of Danny Kaye by Martin Gottfried

Now this is more like it. This is the second biography I have read of the great mid-century comedian Danny Kaye, and this book really gives me a terrific overview of his life and character. I won’t mention the author of the other book I read last month, but will only say that this book delivers on the promise implicit in all these star bios – the promise of giving the reader an inside look at a star’s life, putting some rumors to rest, and sparking others about Kaye’s sexuality, relationships, talents and deep-seated neuroses.

Unlike the other biography, Gottfried’s story doesn’t end when Kaye’s film career does. Gottfried goes from talking about Kaye’s origins and climb to fame, to talking about how Kaye did on his television show, as well as what he did when he was off screen for good. This allowed me as a reader to hear about the man not only at the peak of his fame, but to watch his behavior as his fame ebbed, and that is a truly instructional glimpse, especially as Kaye was troubled by depression which seemed only to deepen with age.

This book looks at the relationship between the great British stage actor Laurence Olivier, and the author makes a call about whether he feels the relationship between Kaye and Olivier was sexual in nature. Gottfried likewise addresses some of the female companionship Kaye enjoyed late in his life, leaving no doubt about the nature of those relationships either. This is quite a relief, as the previous biography promised dirt on the star, but was unable to deliver anything but unsubstantiated rumor. Gottfried appears to have spoken to enough people and analyzed the situations with a clear head, making what seems like the best, most sensible judgment regarding the truth of those rumors.

As a result, this biography does not treat Kaye as an unreachable star, but as a human being with great and amazing talents, who was also given over to very ugly, very human emotions like anger, pride and fear. Gottfried shows the co-dependent relationship Kaye had with his wife Sylvia, but makes no excuses about his treatment of her in later years, or about how he treated other women he loved. Gottfried also takes an unflinching look at how Kaye behaved toward his daughter, and his friends and co-workers, which was not always stellar, but at the same brings out shows his humanitarian leanings and the great personal sacrifices he made for causes like Unicef and the USO.

While it is impossible ever to know another human being completely, in this biography, Gottfried comes very close to examining every aspect of the actor Danny Kaye, and left me feeling that I knew him deeply and well.

Submitted by Gerti

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Let me first say that I wouldn’t normally read a “crime” novel, and that I had never heard about the author P.D. James before this book arrived. I’ll further stipulate that I would never have read a book in this genre had it not been that James based this novel on the characters found in the Jane Austen work “Pride and Prejudice”. With those parameters established, the reader of this review can easily imagine that this book was not my favorite of the novels I have read which are based on the Austen characters Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. But I was impressed that a writer like James, who has obviously spent her whole writing career working on crime and legal stories, was able to fashion a book about Austen’s beloved characters that somehow also involves the Old Bailey.

In “Death Comes to Pemberley,” James draws a portrait of the Darcy family a few years after their marriage, where Elizabeth is planning “Lady Anne’s Ball” based on the example of Mr. Darcy’s mother. As any reader of Austen knows, Elizabeth has a disreputable sister named Lydia who is married to a wastrel named George Wickham, who has his own connections to the Darcy family. In this book, it is in Pemberley wood that Wickham is found hovering over the dead body of his friend, Captain Denny, and as a result, is drawn into a legal fight for his own life for murder. James is skilled at bringing back the Austen characters, but her language does not even try to mimic that of the 18^th century writer, and even worse, some of the characters seem to have changed so greatly that the only resemblance they bear to the Austen characters is that they have the same name. One example is Colonel Fitzwilliam, who is awkwardly drawn into a conspiracy with Wickham to hide the latter’s illegitimate child. The Colonel fans meet in Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” would never have “polluted the shades of Pemberley” in that way.

The illegitimate son of Wickham’s ends up living with the Robert Martin family, from Austen’s novel “Emma”, and several other Austen characters from other novels are drawn in as this book draws to a close, as if to show the reader that James knows her Austen books. However, much of “Death Comes to Pemberley” is concerned with such dry matter as the inquest into the murder and Wickham’s trial, which may be James bailiwick, but which I’d venture to guess does not interest Austen readers quite as much as clever dialogue and romance. There is a brief romance, as Darcy’s sister Georgianna becomes involved with an attorney, but that coupling holds about as much charms as those chalky Valentine’s candies. In short, I believe the book, while well written, will prove unsatisfactory for true Austen fans.

Submitted by Gerti

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan James

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

This book was written by a mother, son duo. You don't see that very often. I have to say they did a good job. I enjoyed this book. When I first read what this book was about I thought it sounded eerily like Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly but after reading the first few pages I was happy to see that it wasn't anything like Angel Burn.

Claire Brennan and her mother Lynn move around a lot. Claire jokes that her mom is a free spirit picking up and moving when the mood strikes but for the past two years they have held steady and Claire wants to stay put. She attends Emerson Academy, which she loves, and she has two best friends. So when she starts having psychic visions there is no way she is going to tell her mother about them. She also falls for the new boy in school, Alec. Alec MacKenzie is hiding from his past. He is fed up with his duties to watch and, when necessary, eliminate the descendants of his angelic forefathers. He chose Emerson as the ideal hiding place so could be normal for once but he didn't factor Claire into his plans.

Their love is forbidden, going against everything Alec has been taught to believe. But when Claire's life is threatened how far will Alec go to protect her? If you like books with Angels then check this one out. I didn't see anything about a second book on either of the authors websites but they leave it wide open for one. Crossing my fingers because I feel like there is more to this story.

Asleep:: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries by Molly Caldwell

This most recent book on disease by journalist Molly Caldwell Crosby
involves "Encephalitis Lethargica", the illness that plagues the patients brought to
life in the movie "Awakenings." Like the book by Oliver Sacks on which the movie
was based, this book includes several case studies of actual patients afflicted
with the disease, which the author rightly says is "one of medicine's greatest
mysteries." Unlike the book by neurologist Sacks, this book also dallies with the
history of public health in the modern world, and how doctors and scientists from
various countries dealt with this epidemic, which began a little before the end of
WWI.

Crosby also spends a good amount of time in her book discussing the
major figures in the field of neurology, including S.E. Jelliffe, Frederick Tilney,
and Josephine B. Neal. This is among the most interesting part of the book, as
she goes in depth into their lives, patterns, and what drove each of them to make
a name in this fledgling field of study, which at that time was little different than
psychology. She further discusses the benefactors to the cause of finding a cure
or vaccine for this "sleeping sickness," as it affects (and kills) the wife of
American industrialist J.P. Morgan and afflicts millionaire William Matheson.

While she does put forth several theories about what caused this disease
to sweep the planet and then all but disappear, by the end of the book, Crosby
seems to rush past her topic, as if in a hurry to be finished with it. She does not
spend enough time discussing the possible causal agents, and to my mind just
gives passing mention to the thought that this could have been caused by a
common germ that we all know, streptococcus, and little graphic evidence of
where in the world this disease had the firmest hold, from which a reader might
be able to draw their own conclusion, like that vaccination was at the heart of it
all. Yes, she touches on those theories, but unlike her exhaustive look at Tilney
and his career, Neal's lifestyle, etc., these ideas get a light touch and then the
author moves on to talk about what interested her in the topic initially.

While I understand the difficulties inherent in discussing a disease which
ravaged the globe almost a hundred year's ago, but has made few people sick
during our lifetimes. I know it is made even harder by the fact that no cure or
vaccine was ever uncovered to solve the problem. Still, my feeling on ending the
book was that I had been cheated, and that it was exhaustion and not exhaustion
of topic or resources that called a close to the book. I have read Sacks' book,
and feel that this is a good companion piece to it. I will still read the book Crosby.
has written on Yellow Fever, which some critics have said is better. But I was
always bemoan the fact that she couldn't have given this book another month of
her life to complete the story.

Submitted by Gerti

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a notoriously bad memory. My son's piano
teacher has taken to calling to remind me about his weekly lessons, just as I
have taken to writing "PIANO" on my hand in purple marker when I remember it's
Monday, the day of his piano lessons. Which is why a book that promised to
teach me how to to remember things caught my interest!

Let me start by saying that the book does deliver what it promises. Unlike several
of the other books I've recently picked up on polishing my memory skills, Joshua
Foer does so in a pleasant, narrative style, so I learned how to memorize without
actually getting that "back-to-school" classroom feeling. His book starts with the
story of Simonides, the Greek poet who came up with the concept of the memory
palace, which leads to the memory trick of placing things you need to remember
in the rooms of a place you know well, like your mom's home. Again, by telling a
story about the man and not just listing a name in textbook fashion, the story and
concept itself sticks in my mind. Good job, Foer! He goes on to detail methods
other people have developed over the ages to remember, some successfully,
others not.

While I like the other point of the book - that journalist Joshua can, with a few
simple tricks and a few hours of practice, go into the national memory
championships and do an award-winning job - my husband did not. He thought
that it ruined the effect of the book. But just as I liked Oliver Sacks' books on how
he discovered chemistry as a child and thus went into medicine, I like learning
how this author turned the tips he gets from a few drinking buddies (who happen
to be memory champions) and puts them to the test.

Is it the best book on memory every written? Probably not. But is it the most
entertaining? Undoubtedly. I would recommend this book to anyone with an
interest in improving their ability to remember "To Do" or grocery lists, or to
students who just want a better way to whip their minds into shape for academic
success. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's journey into the world of the memory
champions, as well as his discussion of the history and purpose of memory itself.
His glances into the lives of those who remember too much or not enough is also
fascinating. This book is so good I had to buy one for myself, and while I did not
memorize it, it is filled with dog-eared pages and yellow highlighting. And no, I
haven't missed a piano lesson since I bought it!

Submitted by Gertie

The Secret Life of Danny Kaye by Michael Freedland

This is the 1 st book I have ever read about Danny Kaye, the old-timey entertainer
who starred in such musical classics of my youth as "Hans Christian Andersen"
and "White Christmas," so I'm not sure how accurate are the facts presented in
this biography. However, I can tell you that the title is misleading and the writing
is often annoying.

With a title like "The Secret Life of Danny Kaye," I was expecting to find out
something scandalous about the now-deceased comic star of stage and screen.
But it wasn't until I had read almost % of the book that I realized the title made
reference to a television show Kaye was in. There is therefore no motive for the
title (Freedland could just as easily have called the work "Wonder Man" - a Kaye
movie - and been more accurate) besides the author wanting to sell more books
with a salacious-sounding title. I found that quite annoying, like buying a book
called "Strip Tease" and finding out it's about something innocuous like stripping
furniture!

Also annoying in this Michael Freedland biography was the writing style. The
author frequently traps the reader in labyrinthine sentences which end up
meaning the opposite of the point he intends to convey. As a result, reading the
book is more like reading the first draft essay of a college student who thinks he
needs to use multi-syllabic words in order to impress his professor without
knowing what those words mean. I'm surprised this author has other books under
his biographical belt, and am curious whether they also contain such convoluted
language. However, not curious enough to pick up another book he has written!

Ultimately, however, this book is a biography about Danny Kaye, and I did learn
things I didn't know about Kaye'slife, which means the book does accomplish its
purpose. However, like the mouse who is forced to endure a maze before
getting a piece a cheese, I wonder if the infonnation gleaned is worth the hassle
of the journey. I think I'd have been happier just to rent a few Danny Kaye movies
and draw my own conclusions about the man starring in them.

Submitted by Gerti

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I anxiously awaited for this book to come in for me at the library. When I saw it at Walmart I wanted to just find a cozy spot to sit and read it but my husband didn't want to wait around for me and I didn't want to be abandoned at Walmart. If I bought every book I wanted to read I would be broke. Well more broke then I am now because after paying bills I'm pretty broke but I digress.

Anyhoo I really enjoyed this Nightshade trilogy. Ms. Cremer has a great voice. I love her characters, the story, and she writes some great action scenes. What I love about this series is the love triangle is believable. You almost wish Calla could be with both Shay and Ren. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes having to choose which one to be with. But I wouldn't mind having some fun with them before choosing :). You are only that age once.

Anyway Bloodrose sucks you in from page one and doesn't let go until the end. The ending was a total shocker. I didn't see it coming at all and since I read so much it's hard to shock me. For a minute I thought I was going to have to write some unhappy fan mail to Ms. Cremer but she gave me a happy ending. Not exactly an ending I loved but it was happy and everything was pretty much tied in bow. Which is how I like my series to end. If you are interested in reading about how this world got started the first chapter of the prequel Rift is available on Ms. Cremer's website www.Nightshadebook.com.