Oh the Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey -- book review

Oh the Glory of it All is a memoir written by Sean Wilsey, an editor for McSweeney's. Wilsey grew up in San Francisco, the son of a society columnist mother and a self-made millionaire father. This book got tons of great press, and it does have some very interesting bits and some excellent writing along with lots and lots of detail and self-analysis.

Wilsey says that memoirs are essentially an exploration with the purpose of finding the self, and that seems to be true here, but will probably not be the main reason people buy and read this book. Because Wilsey's mother was well-known in San Francisco and his parents' divorce was apparently a lengthy gossip-fest, there are probably a lot of people who will enjoy reading it for an inside glimpse of two very public people. Because Wilsey's stepmother Dede Wilsey has graced the pages of W and other chronicles of fashion and jewels, there are probably a lot of people who will enjoy reading the book for an insider's guide to greed, glamour, and sheer malevolence all wrapped up in a small, blonde, designer-clad woman.

Because I am not congnoscenti of San Francisco society or the machination of the rich, I found the memoir about 200 pages too long. It was a little like The Devil Wears Prada with an insecure child for a victim, instead of a glam intern with an incipient book contract.

Clearly, lots of other people liked it better than me. Maybe they're right. I'd take the ShrinkLit version, if I had it to do over.

Links to Sean Wilsey stuff:

Stepmother ponders lawsuit
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/12/DDGULCN5G31.DTL&type=books

Sean writes to McSweeney's from book tour
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/wilsey/

Interview with Sean Wilsey & Francine du Plessix Gray
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/books/12035/

Nation review
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050829/siegel

Dying for Redemption by Chris Freeburn -- book review

Dying for Redemption is a mystery with a twist. The detective, Callous Demar, is dead. He runs a detective agency in Limbo. Here's the deal. The people in Limbo are there because they need to resolve a problem related to their deaths, or because they are unsure of their faith in God. The good people without problems to resolve go straight to Heaven. The truly wicked go straight to Hell. The people in Limbo could go either way. If they resolve their problem in a positive way, they can move on to Heaven. If they fail to resolve their problems, the stay in Limbo. If they cause harm while trying to resolve their problems, they could end up in Hell.

Callous helps people who were murdered, and who are stuck in Limbo because they can't accept their deaths or need to find out who murdered them and why to accept their deaths. In the course of Dying for Redemption, Callous helps a wealthy business woman, Willow, who is stuck in Limbo after her murder. While he's working on Willow's case, his great-niece Abigail is murdered, and she becomes both a client and a colleague. Since Abigail was murdered while trying to solve the mystery of her great-uncle's death, Callous ends up trying to solve his own murder while trying to help Abigail.

The premise is intriguing and the characters are mostly pretty well drawn. There are a lot of editing problems in the book--enough to be a distraction. There are also some clunky bits in the writing. Overall an interesting mystery with an unusual miss-en-scene.

Dying for Redemption was published in trade paperback by Quiet Storm Books. There is an author website here:

http://www.chrisfreeburn.com/

Gatherer of Clouds by Sean Russell -- book review

Gatherer of Clouds takes up the story of the Shonto clan, the Botahists, and the empire of Wa where The Initiate Brother left off. In this book Shonto and his allies depart from Seh, followed by the Barbarian hoard. It is Shonto's plan to lead his forces to the place where the emperor's forces are gathering, then turn to face the Barbarian army.

Meanwhile, Brother Shuyun is growing closer to the Lady Nishima at the same time he is questioning the teachings of his Botahist brothers. Shonto's son is making a dangerous trip through treacherous mountain passes in winter, when he meets the mountain people (from whose language Shuyun's name was drawn.) In fact, many threads are drawn together in this second book, such that each of the characters we have come to know has changed or grown or met his or her destiny by the final page.

The conclusion to The Initiate Brother is compelling, beautifully written, and satisfying. For me, it was not quite as enjoyable as the first book, probably because so much of it is focused on the war between the Barbarians and the empire of Wa. The surprising conclusion (to the war and to the book) is both clever and seemingly inevitable.

For more information on the series and for links to similar books, see the previous post on The Initiate Brother.

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/01/initiate-brother-by-sean-russell.html

Fox Evil by Minette Walters -- a book review

Fox Evil is the ninth book written by Minette Walters. Walters is a British mystery writer who writes standalone rather than series mysteries. Although her books share some stylistic similarities (e.g. most include breakaways from the narrative in the form of news articles and/or letters), they can be read in any order.

Fox Evil is about an old man, Col. James Lockyer-Fox. The Colonel's wife (Ailsa) has recently died in somewhat suspicious circumstances. Some of the village gossips have taken to making nasty, anonymous phone calls to the Colonel, accusing him of killing his wife and other horrors. The Colonel is aided by his lawyer Mark Ankerton.

James and Ailsa had two children, Leo and Lizzie. Both children have been a disappointment to their parents and a continual financial drain. Lizzie bore an out of wedlock child (Nancy) who was given up for adoption at birth. Nancy has since become a soldier and stands to inherit the farm of her adoptive parent.

A short distance from Colonol Lockyer-Fox's home, a group of Traveller's has set up camp, squatting on land they hope to claim due to lack of ownership. The Traveller's include a frightening but charismatic man called Fox Evil, a warm and energetic woman named Bella, and Wolfie, a child who misses his mother and fears his father.

In Walters' capable hands, these disparate elements are woven into an intriguing mystery with the pacing of a thriller. The reader is led down one false path after another until the surprising finish. Many of Walters' books include surprisingly strong female characters, as is the case here.

To find out more about Minette Walters and her books, visit her web site:

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/

13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is among the top British mistresses of mystery, ranking alongside P.D. James, and serving as an exemplar to a younger group of British women mystery writers who include Minette Walters and Frances Fyfield. Ruth Rendell writes under her own name and also under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Her Barbara Vine books are usually psychological thrillers, while her Ruth Rendell books alternate between Inspector Wexford mysteries and standalone mysteries.

13 Steps Down is a standalone mystery, and it is as psychological as any Barbara Vine novel. It tells the stories of three interconnected people. Gwendolyn Chawcer is an elderly spinster who lives in a large, old, and neglected house in London that she inherited from her father. Mix Cellini is a 30ish man who repairs exercise equipment and has a fascination for a long-dead serial killer. Nerissa Nash is a mixed-race fashion model whose grandmother is a friend to Gwendolyn Chawcer. Nerissa Nash is also the object of Mix Cellini's unrequited affections.

13 Steps Down is more of a thriller than a mystery, since we are never in any doubt as to "whodunnit", but there is definitely more to it than is initially evident. Both Gwendolyn Chawcer and Mix Cellini harbor delusions about their love objects and more generally about their lives and stations. Nerissa Nash also harbors delusions about a love object, but she is much more of a realist than either Gwendolyn or Mix.

And then there are the others involved: the ghost of Reg Christie (a real serial killer--John Reginald Christie--on whom Mix is fixated), the charlatan fortuneteller who "accidentally" tells the truth, and the friends and acquaintances of Mix, Gwendolyn, and Nerissa.

This is a quick-to-read and very enjoyable book. If you like it, you may well like other books by Ruth Rendell:

http://www.gusworld.com.au/books/rendell/default.htm

P.D. James

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pdjames/

Minette Walters

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/

and Frances Fyfield

http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/francesfyfield.html

The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell

The Initiate Brother is the first book in a two-part series. It is a big, sprawling saga about a pseudo-China (with some Japanese characteristics) during a period in history when battles were fought using swords and on horseback.

The novel centers on the conflicts between the Emperor and one of the most powerful lords in his domain, Shonto. The Emperor is only the second in his line, and rules through fear and misdirection. Shonto is a popular and highly respected general from an old and important family. In addition to the Shonto family's importance, Shonto's adopted daughter is beautiful, accomplished, and of royal blood (from a previous dynasty.) Shonto is a Botahist and retains a Botahist spiritual advisor (Shuyun--the initiate brother.) The Emperor's head of security wants to move up in rank and is plotting the downfall of Shonto.

The action of the novel takes place in a fairly short period of time, during which Shonto is sent North to put down a possible Barbarian uprising on the desert border. The major characters: Shonto, his adopted daughter, his spiritual advisor Brother Shuyun, and the Emperor's chief guard Jakko are well-realized, as is the world in which they live. Much of this book could be straight-ahead historical fiction, but for the mystical element provided by Brother Shuyun and the Botahists.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Gatherer of Clouds.

More information about Sean Russell and his books is available on the web, at:

http://www.sfsite.com/seanrussell/theinitiatebrother.htm

Other books that might interest you, if you like The Initiate Brother are:

Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori series.

Barry Hughart's Master Li and Number 10 Ox series: The Story of the Stone, Eight Skilled gentlemenn, and Bridge of Birds. http://www.barryhughart.org/

L.G. Bass's The Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh (Sign of the Qin.)
http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com/bass_interview.html

The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman.
http://www.rambles.net/salzman_sutra.html

Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro mysteries.
http://www.laurajohrowland.com/

The Tokaido Road by Lucia St Clair Robson.
http://www.luciastclairrobson.com/TokaidoRoad.htm

The Silk Road by Jeanne Larsen.
http://dannyreviews.com/h/Silk_Road.html