A DISTURBING FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF REALITY

I had never read anything by author T. Jefferson Parker, but while browsing the bookshelves in the public library I spotted “Iron River” and read the dust jacket. It’s description painted a scenario that was disturbingly real for me since I live on that very southern border that the book chronicles. A young man is mistakenly killed in a covert arms bust, the young man being the only son of one of the most notorious drug cartel leaders in Mexico. Honor demands retribution, and retribution cartel style involves multiple deaths and horrendous torture. Unfortunately the object of the retribution is a United States ATF agent, and the action takes place on the U.S. side of the border, an international outrage.

Also involved is the illicit manufacture and sale of firearms to those same cartels, accomplished by American citizens whose lust for money overwhelms any sense of right and wrong. These two items are the basis for the action in the book which is driven by the main character, Charlie Hood, a Los Angeles Sheriff deputy, on loan to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to participate in an operation called “Blowdown”, an attempt to control the trafficking of illegal firearms between San Diego and Arizona.

But the character who raises this story beyond a mere crime novel is Mike Finnigan. Mike is a mysterious victim of hit and run, ending up in the local Buenavista hospital and requesting the presence of our protagonist, Charlie Hood, being recommended to Mike by an associate as a man to help Mike track down his daughter. But there is more to Mike that is at first apparent, for it seems that he is privy to information about people, places and events that he has no possibility of knowing. When this knowledge infringes on the ATF’s operations, and when the lives of others are lost because of Mike’s knowledge, Charlie takes a personal interest in a man who can only be a mole for the drug cartels or something much more ominous,a man beyond time and space.

For the most part “Iron River” kept me engaged, if not entertained, but I just couldn’t get overly enthused with the author’s writing style. While most of the dialog and action is in the second person, a secondary character’s role is told in the first person, something you would expect of the main character. This curious style made me wonder who this book was really about. The cover plainly states: A Charlie Hood novel, but Charlie’s part is relayed in secondary fashion.

Also confusing, and also disappointing, was the conclusion of the story, for it had NO conclusion! Without giving it away, everything you would expect of a story such as this fails to materialize. And it is more than just a post modern ending, it is more like an interlude to a “Part Two” without proclaiming it to be so.Suffice it to say that I WASN’T impressed, and probably won’t be reading any more books by this author.

I RATE “IRON RIVER”

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A Welcome Break From Reality

In The Frozen Rabbi, a miraculously preserved 18th century rabbi reanimates in the basement of the 21st century family whose ancestors acted as his protectors for several hundred years. When I first read a review of this book in my local paper’s “Books” section I just KNEW that I had to have it. I am always on the prowl for a rousing fantasy/alternate reality/satire type of read so I immediately ran out to the local library and put in a request for Steve Stern’s latest novel and, Lo and Behold, there it was! Now, after a few weeks have past since I finished it, and well before it’s return date, I must say that it lived up to my anticipation.

“The Frozen Rabbi” is not just a fantabulist’s tale involving Jewish mysticism and social satire, it contains two separate narratives that bind the book together. Part of one track, a touching love story, concerns two Polish immigrants, Schmerle, who has a natural genius for things mechanical, and Jocheved, a woman with a natural touch for business who hides her damaged femininity in the guise of a young man’s clothing. These two end up partnering in business together, Schmerle unaware of his partner’s true gender, till Schmerel’s forbidden (he thinks) yearnings bring out the fulfillment of their true partnership. The rest of the narrative involves their descendants as they care for the object of the book’s title.

The second track, which chapters are interspersed with the first track, chronicles the exploits of one Bernie Karp, a 15 year old overweight underachiever whose chief activity is sexual self gratification, after he discovers the frozen Rabbi Eliezer, a family heirloom so to speak, who has been past down through the family for over 100 years. When Bernie discovers that the Rabbi has defrosted during a power outage he is shocked to find that he has reanimated before his eyes. They soon form a partnership of sorts, Bernie teaching the rabbi English while the rebbe teaches Bernie the spirituality of his Jewish heritage. As Bernie becomes more adept in the practice of his faith the rabbi becomes more of a religious charlatan, selling the most marketable aspects of Kabalistic practice to a new generation of moderns who are hungry for some new easy-believism.

For me these two stories are what makes “The Frozen Rabbi” worth reading. But for those who are of a more practical mind this book may be a bit disconcerting, for rather than presenting characters with whom they can identify, Stern uses his characters to puncture our preconceived ideas of who we are as a society, while lampooning much of what our American culture considers to be “spiritual”. A rollicking good read!

Author Stern was born in 1947 and currently lives in Balston Spa, New York, and teaches at Skidmore College. Despite the heavy Jewish mystical themes in his books Stern say that he had no such influence while growing up in the American south. He says:

“I grew up in the South in a Reform synagogue. My joke is that I thought I was a Methodist until I was 35. It was so completely stripped of the accouterments of the Jewish tradition.”
“I came to the Jewish tradition through books. I’d been writing stories, most of which remained unpublished. They had these Jewish elements — characters with Jewish names. That came as a surprise to me. I did not think of myself as particularly Jewish. I had few Jewish friends. My whole frame of reference was the South. I still like to be thought of as a Southern writer though it doesn’t happen very often.”

For a revealing a lengthly look at the author check out this interview with Steve Stern

FOR PURE ENTERTAINMENT I RATE “THE FROZEN RABBI” WITH

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Lauper Singing The Blues? Yes, And Quite Well, Thank You!

Most music these days is purchased by people in their teens and early twenties, so what chance is there that they have even heard of Cyndi Lauper or could identify any of her past hits? “True Colors” comes immediately to mind, as does “Time After Time”, and who can forget her iconic “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”? But despite her invisible presence in popular music today Cyndi has always shown that she has a voice that is capable of producing some very good performances, so maybe her latest attempt, “Memphis Blues”, is just a logical progression in her career to prove that she still has the stuff to make people want to listen.

For those of us who are fans of the genre “Memphis Blues” will not cause us to jump online and purchase it, but it DOES have some very fine moments worth the time to listen to. Part of what makes this recording is the guest artists that lend their talents, AND their cred, to the overall collection. The great B.B. King on guitar and vocals, Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, Johnny Lang on guitar, Allen Toussaint playing blues piano, and Memphis soul singer Ann Peebles. As I said earlier, this is not a “must have” for Blues fans, but there are definitely three cuts that induced me to spend a few bucks to purchase.

The set begins with a barroom classic in Little Walter Jacobs’ “Just Your Fool” with Musselwhite’s muscular harmonica juxtaposed against her vocal The song is playful and energetic with Lauper using her personality to carry her through till the end. A few months ago she performed this song on “Celebrity Apprentice”, and here’s the vid of that broadcast: As you can see, she has not changed much performance-wise, but her looks and her voice make me think of a demented Dolly Parton on a “bad hair” day. I just loved her brashness and her playfulness in front of The Donald. What a hoot!

On a much slower note there is “Romance in the Dark”, one of three cuts by Lauper and her band, without any cameos, which works wonderfully. Its slow, nocturnal, languidly sexy feel underscores her strengths as a singer in both phrasing and tone. She definitely won’t remind you of Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington, but she does well enough to sell the song’s credibility.

Probably the best of the set is Louis Jordan’s “Early in the Morning”, with King and Toussaint. The interplay between the latter’s rumbling New Orleans R&B piano and the former’s sparse but mean lead guitar works well with Lauper’s vocal, especially with the tune’s humorous lyrics; it really jumps. Again, if you have heard other versions of this song done by veteran Bluesmen then you won’t be impressed, but taken on its own this cut is worth having.

Of the remaining offerings “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” begins with promise featuring just Cyndi’s voice accompanied by a single droning guitar note, but then breaks the haunting spell by breaking out into a full band performance that quickly devolves into a generic performance. Equally disappointing is a redoing of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”, a song that should be put on a “DO NOT RECORD” list for the next dozen years till someone can re-imagine it in some new way. Cyndi seems to be trying to emulate a female singer from the forties but the overall vibe of the arrangement just isn’t consistent enough to ring true.

For a quick review of the cuts check out this vid:

ALL IN ALL, A DECENT OFFERING, BUT I RATE IT ONLY

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