The Good Fight by Shirley Chisholm *****

Shirley Chisholm published The Good Fight in February 1973 amid the optimism of Roe v Wade being decided (7-2) in January 1973 and the pessimism of Nixon’s reelection (49 out of 50 states) in November 1972. Shirley Chisholm, a Black woman, sought the Democratic nomination for president to unite Blacks, women, youth, and other minorities. They lost to the “arrogant white intellectuals” who “were convinced that they knew what minorities, women and other groups needed. Why bring them in?” Fifty years later, little has changed except that Roe v Wade has been overturned.

Chisholm had many insights into politics in America. The observation that I found most enlightening was America is NOT a “melting pot,” as I was taught in school. The naïve conception once taught, and perhaps taught still in the public schools, was that America is a “melting pot.” It has become clear in the last two decades that this was never true, that American society is instead a “mosaic” of elements that exist side by side but have never lost their identities. The minorities—Germans, Jews, Irish, Italians, Greeks, Slavs—have not been assimilated into the population after two or three generations. Every big city politician knows this; ethnic voting blocs are a fact of life for him, and a great deal of attention is paid to ticket-balancing as a way of dealing with them. Something is provided for the Irish Catholic vote, something for the Jewish vote, and so on.

Shirley felt that sexism was worse than racism. I repeated what I have said many times, that during twenty years in local ward politics, four as a state legislator and four as a member of Congress, I had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black.

Some of the issues that Shirley Chisholm felt were important included: the Middle East, welfare reform, statutes of Confederate soldiers, campaign finance reform, political incivility, rivalry between black men and white women campaign workers, and abortion.

Shirley Chisholm was an astute observer of American politics and her book is well worth reading 50 years later.

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The Art Thief by Michael Finkel *****

The Art Thief, the true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsessionThe Art Thief, the true story of love,crime, and a dangerous obsession, by Michael Finkel, is the story of Stéphane Breitwieser who stole around 239 artworks from 172 European museums between 1995 and 2001. In 2006, I visited a small museum in rural Peru. When I heard that it was recently robbed of some valuable items, I wondered how such a poor town could defend itself. This book shows that I was right to be concerned. Breitwieser generally stayed within a day’s drive, but he still managed to hit over 170 museums in seven countries. Fast read, Breitwieser’s compulsion to steal one more object infected me as I was obsessed with reading one more chapter.

Breitwieser had problematic relationships…

He became estranged from his father after a divorce. He wanted his art collection to exceed his father’s collection. However, when he reached this goal, he did not stop.

His mother, Mireille Stengal, and grandparents enabled him with a regular allowance, forgiveness, and other support, such as a place to live, a car, and travel funds.

His girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, accompanied him and stood watch for many of his robberies.

“Protecting a museum can feel paradoxical because its mission isn’t to conceal valuables, but to share in a way that makes you feel as close to the piece as possible, unencumbered by any security apparatus.”

“Art dealers and auction houses are the worst, says Breitwieser. Every one of them lower than dirt. The historian Pliny the Elder, in the first century AD, described the dishonest tactics of art vendors in imperial Rome, and in September 2000 Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses were levied $512 million in fines for cheating buyers and sellers in a price-fixing scheme. Shady people have been peddling bright colors for 2000 years.”

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Tom Lake by Ann Pratchett *****

In Tom Lake by Anne Pratchett, Lara Kenison Nelson begins life with her grandmother in New Hampshire where she learns to sew everything from alterations to wedding dresses and ends up married with three grown daughters on a cherry farm in Michigan. In the interim, she stars in a movie, and as Emily in Thorton Wilder’s Our Town. She has a summer romance with Peter “Duke” Duke before he becomes a famous actor. The book is set during the cherry harvest where she recounts her life to her grown children. A beautiful romance of family, love, and finding your place to stay.

Literary references to Our Town and The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. The author acknowledges Thorton Wilder, but not Chekhov. I assume that means that The Cherry Orchard is no longer protected by copyright. The book follows and refers to Our Town extensively. Lara is the best Emily Webb, and she names one of her daughters Emily. Her husband, Joe Nelson, is the stage manager. Peter Duke plays Emily’s father, Mr. Webb. Throughout the book, Our Town is drawn upon for metaphors. All that aside, the book is easy enough to follow if the reader is not familiar with Our Town by Thorton Wilder.

The daughters are Emily, who will one day take over the family cherry farm; Maisie, who is studying to be a vet; and Nell, who hopes to be an actor, as her mother once was. Maisie is a vet student, but she is kept busy by the neighbors.

The book has a lot to say about global warming, marriage, sewing, vets, and theater.

“We weren’t particularly interesting,” I say. Good marriages are never as interesting as bad affairs.

“Ramona’s a nice dog,” Nell says. Maisie nods. “She was very good. She had seven puppies so it took a long time. I got the window open and turned on the overhead fan. You can’t believe how awful puppies smell.” “Everything you do smells,” Nell says.

We all wanted to stay, me and Pallace and Sebastian and Duke and Joe. The difference being that Joe was a Nelson, and he did the work to make sure that there would always be Nelsons.

Not having children: We’re going to have to stop putting in cherry trees.” “No,” Joe says. “I really cannot stand this,” Maisie says. “It’s not going to be cold enough for them anymore. We’re going to have to start thinking about wine grapes, strawberries, asparagus.” “So plant the grapes,” Joe says. “It doesn’t mean you don’t have children.” “It sort of does,” Nell says. “Once you think about it.” “You, too?” Joe asks. “Have the three of you signed a pact?”

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Lockdown by Laurie R King *****

“A school is a tapestry.” This metaphor appears over two dozen times in Lockdown by Laurie R King. The school is Guadalupe Middle School, and it has all the problems of a low-income, rural school. Linda McDonald is the new principal charged with building a sense of community. While the book includes a dozen point-of-view characters, each with their own well-developed story, the school is the main character. The book weaves a beautiful tapestry. I highly recommend this thrilling novel about poverty, education, and community.

Linda McDonald grew up in Ohio, but her path to California included international travel. She met her husband, Gordon Hugh-Kendrick, in Papua New Guinea. His past has left him a wanted man by Taylor Corp. – guns for hire. Many of the characters are hiding their past. Some are undocumented and avoid La Migra, but others have a variety of less typical reasons to be incognito. Linda hides her past because she had many more opportunities than most of her students who might never have left town.

One of the mysteries that runs throughout the story is the disappearance of Bee Cuomo. Her father might have abused her. She was someone who fit everywhere in a Middle School, a place where most didn’t fit anywhere. “The missing element was Bee Cuomo. Bee was a child oblivious to social expectations. An eleven-year-old who was extraordinarily—alarmingly—deaf to criticism, blind to the subtle and inexorable cues under which middle school society functioned. She’d dressed like a child, and seemed unaware that there was a wall between the grades. She would start conversations with sixth-grade losers and eighth-grade jocks alike. She’d ask the most popular girl in school where she got her hair cut (and what’s more, get an answer). Bee would share her lunch with a kid whose breath could melt plastic.”

In the discussion questions, the following is asked: “Not all the crimes discussed in the book are solved: the threats to Gordon, the question of who might be after Mina’s family, and the mystery of what happened to Bee Cuomo. Did these uncertainties bother you?” These unresolved issues lead me to identify the main character as the school, the community, and the tapestry. The community is resolved and little else. Fabulous.

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Miss Julia Takes Over (#2/23) by Ann B Ross ****

 Miss Julia has made peace with her deceased husband’s (Wesley Lloyd Springer) mistress (Hazel Marie Puckett). Miss Julia is childless, but she has taken in Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd. The estate has been split between Miss Julia and Little Lloyd. Many people would like to get their hands on Little Lloyd’s inheritance. Such as Presbyterian Paster Ledbetter and Hazel Marie’s brother (a TV evangelist) Vernon Puckett. Miss Julia is strait-laced and proper and has much to say about churches and NASCAR. A mystery of strong women, women who need men, and North Carolina.

This book discusses adultery, erectile dysfunction, gambling, alcoholism, and misbehavior by pastors.

While Miss Julia can hold her own, she hires a private investigator, J D Pickens. Miss Julia is often torn between being J D Pickens's employer/boss and her physical attraction to him. She never gives in to the attraction.

Memorable:

“Now, Lillian,” I said, smoothing on my gloves. I’d dressed with extra care that morning, wearing a fox fur hat and one of my Sunday woolens under my new winter-white cashmere coat with a fox fur collar. It was the kind of ensemble that LuAnne called a CCC—country club, church, and cemetery outfit.

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