Paama can cook. I mean, she can cook. She’s also married to Ansige, a man so gluttonous that he takes eight mules laden with food and two hunters (just in case) on a three-day journey, a man who can eat corn for 20 men and still feel dissatisfied. Ansige is, obviously, a clown–so Paama leaves him. Ansige searches for her and finds her…but embarrasses himself so thoroughly in the process that he leaves her alone afterwards. Now effectively a single woman, Paama attracts the attention […]
These Shipmates Were a Tad Too Wordy
The Wordy Shipmates is pretty true to Sarah Vowell form: chatty historical memoir. Her style in this book reminds me of the particularly engaging 10th grade American history teacher I had in 1998: lots of enthusiasm, lots of primary texts, a few personal anecdotes and musings thrown in for good measure. She focuses on one historical point in this book, telling us all about the first American Puritans and how they got this great experiment started. Winthrop, Williams, and Cotton are well-developed characters and Vowell […]
Puppy love, 80s style
I’m not so much a reader of YA, but Rowell, deservedly, gets a lot of praise and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Eleanor and Park. I liked it fine, but it’s not one that really sticks to my ribs. Summary: It’s 1986, Eleanor is a new kid in high school in Omaha. She meets Park on the school bus — Eleanor dresses weird and comes from a rough family background; Park is biracial and generally just tries to keep his head down. They bond […]
How to not do marriage.
So I finally got on the bandwagon and read Gone Girl after being the 150th person in line for the library ebook. I wanted to read it before the movie makes its way to my neck of the woods. The summary, if you haven’t heard it by now: Nick and Amy Dunne moved from NYC to Carthage, Missouri, after both lose their jobs and Nick’s parents fall into poor health. We learn about their courtship, marriage, and move to MO through Nick’s first person narration […]