Book Review: Cocktails with George and Martha (OT)(the play, the movie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, by Philip Gefter (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024, $32, 347pp) Review by Skye Anderson

Who are George and Martha? Who is Edward Albee?

Not the Washingtons (the first president and his wife) but the very famous stars of the movie based on Edward Albee's play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

'Cocktails' refers to the play and movie which takes place over only one evening and features cocktails and knock-down, drag-out arguments - and secrets exploding into the open. 

The Fight is On!

George, an established history professor, and Martha, his wife and the college president's daughter, meet the new, young biology professor and his wife and have them over for drinks after a faculty party. George and Martha have an explosive argumentative marriage - but, is that love? And can such a marriage survive an evening (til dawn) like this? With humiliation and verbal barbs?

Author Philip Gefter has written a humungous (347 pages) story that encompasses all - the play, the movie, the differences between a play and a movie (twice), plus how the players were selected and how the they interact in real life. It is an eye-opener that you simply can't put down, full of four-letter words, innuendos, and hurting those you love.

We follow Liz Taylor and Dick Burton (both British by birth) in the play and in their real married life in public and in private.  

Virginia Wolff also changes American film as it pulls society out of the Code Era and its niceties into realism.                          

Why Read This Book?

We can imagine a college course in which the movie is shown and discussed, followed by a reading and discussion of the book. This course would appeal to movie buffs, high society in NYC, grandparents and college students who contemplate the role of reality in marriage. 

Book Review: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice (and a service dog!)

Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice, by David Tatel (Little, Brown and Company, 2024, 352pp, $32) Review by Skye Anderson

"If talking too much about my dog is a crime, . . . I plead guilty."

It's All About the Dog vs It's Not About the Dog!

A German Shepherd Dog (GSD) service dog graces the cover, along with a retired appellate judge - a cover you can't forget! 

We first heard about Vision (and Vixen, the dog) about six months ago, finally obtained a copy of the book last week and nearly read it cover to cover overnight. Of course, this reviewer is a dog trainer and wanted to read about Vixen's life with Judge Tatel, but the author acknowledges up front and sets us straight: although a dog appears in the book, this is not the dog's book primarily. Nevertheless, he mentions Vixen a few times before her chapter - at the end.

Disappointment?

Nevertheless, we had read a sample (and loved it!) so we started in and soon found an engrossing story of a man we would like to meet, along with his four children.

David Tatel is a brilliant attorney* who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, most times, to snag an exciting job opportunity. But starting at about age 15, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive type of blindness which is genetic. Tatel was embarrassed and didn't admit to being blind for many years. He learned to hide it by accommodating his condition and depending more on memory and hearing, but finally consented to using a cane.

Tatel worked to be known as a judge who happened to be blind - not to be known as a blind judge. And finally, decades later, he agreed to a service dog, Vixen, who changed his life and gave him (and his wife) more independence, even though learning to work with a service dog was the hardest thing he had ever done.

His book goes into detail, chapters of details, on the job of a federal appeals judge** (who happened to be, twice, considered for a Supreme Court Justice opening) and the decisions he made, as well as the evolution of the current Supreme Court which he does not totally agree with or approve of.

Tatel's writing style is so engrossing that you, too, may read it in nearly one sitting!

A fascinating tale of a fascinating man but if you are looking for a dog book, I just hope this last part of Tatel's book is turned into a children's book! Nevertheless, Tatel's personality and sense of humor shine through in his memoir. And on page 193, he gives advice to appeals attorneys on how to do a good job!

*educated at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago

**appointed by President Clinton to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Court

Book Revew: Dogwinks (True Godwink Stories of Dogs and the Blessings they Bring)

Dogwinks: True Godwink Stories of Dogs and the Blessings they Bring, by Squire Rushnell and Louise Duart (Howard Books, 2020, $19.99, 285pp HB) Review by Skye Anderson.

"Some of the greatest gifts. . . come in furry packages."(p. 38-9)

Dogwinks is a small pocket-sized book you can put in a pocket of your cargo pants - with 20 short stories, beginning with the famous "Rudy" which has been made into a movie* and can be found on Netflix.

Reckless is the little Pit Bull lost in Hurricane Sandy, Keller is deaf and blind like Helen Keller, and then we have a Norman Rockwell story of a golden retriever, the life-saving Bullet, his human baby. and 911. "The dog they saved, saved their son." (p. 89)

Each story is told, in part, from the dog's point of view, and ends with reflections on the meaning of the story's lesson. Could dogs really be sent down from above for a purpose?

The best thing about reading a collection of short stories is that you can read them in any order. They may also be of varying lengths and, unfortunately, of spotty quality. This one is not.

Hearts Abound

Joy and unconditional love permeate the families and their dogs as their stories are depicted with life and loss.

One dog, Faith, even has her own book, and appeared on Oprah, Montel and other TV shows and in articles. Read about her in Wikipedia, too.

To find out more about Godwinks and Dogwinks, read this book - over and over again!

---------------

*"Rescued by Ruby"

Book Review: Behind Enemy Lines: Under Fire in the Middle East (a Scholastic book)

Behind Enemy Lines: Under Fire in the Middle East, by Bill Doyle (Scholastic, 2011, $3.99, 136pp PB) Review by Skye Anderson  

Navy, Army, Air Force and civilians - men and women - human IEDs, and medics in Iraq, and running out of rice, familiar places in Afghanistan, and teachers and bribes in Pakistan (the first chapters I read were the Afghanistan stories and one even mentioned where I had been stationed!) 

You can read Behind Enemy Lines in any order - it takes place from the 90s into the 2000s and each story you read is more exciting than the last so you will read the remainder faster and faster.

You will read a short version of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell which later became the book Lone Survivor.

The last story I had the courage to read was about three dogs on a US military base in Afghanistan but I'll let you find out what happened, if you can read through your tears. Again.

The style is written for a young boy (or girl) with the words that might go through the mind of a soldier in danger - afterwards. To make the situation more dangerous and exciting and heroic, that is. But reality is as exciting as it needs to be. 

Book Review: Christian The Lion (book, movie, event)(OT)

Christian the Lion, by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall (Random House, $14.99HB, 2009, 128pp, ages 8-12) Review by Skye Anderson

I picked up Christian the Lion and devoured it, knowing it was only representative of all the books and documentaries out there about this famous lion - and even a video of the reunion two years after Christian was set free in Africa. Who has not heard of Christian or of Elsa, the star of Born Free (also a movie in 1966), Living Free and Forever Free?

But do you know the rest of the story?

In 1969, two Australians went shopping in Harrod's, a London department store, and met a lion cub. Wanting to give  him a better life, they purchased Christian and kept him for a few months, before moving to the British countryside and eventually, with the help of George Adamson (who had lived with Elsa a few years previously), transported the lion to Kenya, Africa, and helped acclimate him to the life of a wild lion.

This particular book, written for children, by the two Australians is an eye-opener and nearly a tear-jerker, relating the close bond between this animal and his two humans. They played together and eventually the men decided it would not be fair to keep a lion in any sort of captivity, so they made the hard decision.

With an adorable cover photo and ending with facts about lions, three other lions in particular (Aslan, Elsa and The Cowardly Lion) and information about the other four of the Big Five African Animals (leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape Buffalo), this book covers it all. Even though the pages of color photos of mostly Christian don't seem to relate the major events of the three friends this or any book about Christian is bound to be food for thought.

Book Review: Bloomers on Pikes Peak, The Story of Julia Archibald Holmes (Young Adult book)(OT)

Bloomers on Pikes Peak, The Story of Julia Archibald Holmes, by Clarissa Willis (Solander Press, $11.99, 2024, 42 pp, ages 6-10) Review by Skye Anderson

Did you know that women crossing the Plains in the 1800s wore long dresses with hoop skirts? Except for Julia Archibald Holmes, who word shorter skirts with bloomers that permitted ease of movement. She also offered to stand guard at night, like the men did.

The Holmes moved from Canada to Massachusetts to Kansas and eventually Julia ended up in New Mexico. Her family was ahead of its times, being abolitionists, so it is no surprise that Julia was the first woman to scale Pikes Peak!

The illustrations in Bloomers are full-page and the easy to read boldfaced text sometimes appears in washed-out parts of the illustrations, thus making it easy to read over dark colors.

However, this reviewer thought that, although a good book, the title was not representative. Either more details of the climb up Pikes Peak or a title that reflects the entirety of Julia's life would be better. 

Wherever she went, Julia kept a diary, even on her ascent of Pikes Peak. This, and so many other things made Julia, like her family, ahead of the times - she was a suffragette, helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad, traveled west, and more!

Book Review: Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust (Young Adult Nonfiction)

Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust, by Janet Singer Applefield (Cypress House Publishing, 2024, 180pp, $17.95) Review by Skye Anderson

You are a child.

Imagine being told you no longer have the name your parents gave you but another, along with a story you must memorize to stay alive - even under pressure and in fearful, dangerous situations. And finally, years later, being told to choose another name, a name that helps you fit in with your new life under freedom.

But, along the way, you have been passed from one person to another and very few of them were good people. You are just a little girl and find that the best way to survive is to fit in, to do as you are told regardless of what you are thinking inside. Do this, and you will live. Be obedient above all and try to not be a burden.

This is what happened to Janet during World War II, as her village in Poland was taken over by the Nazis and her Jewish family was split up. Janet was blond which may have saved her, along with moving every so often and being passed to another every so often. At times, in the middle of the night, she would be awakened and told to gather all her belongings, be very quiet, and follow the others.

Becoming Janet is a book young adults will not be able to put down plus they will learn that many people continued after the War to persecute the Jewish.

Infused with photos and the vocabulary and sentence structure of a young girl, Becoming Janet is a book you will not soon forget as it is told from the viewpoint of a child.