Apr 4 2010

Between Two Kingdoms by Joe Boyd

Allegory – or even symbolism for that matter – is a tricky thing. Too obvious and people ask why fiction? Not clear enough and you risk confusion and readers missing the point. I wrestled with this fine line as I was reading Between Two Kingdoms by Joe Boyd.

Here is the synopsis from the publisher:

There is a land of two kingdoms, but only one true King. A living land, where foundations grow in trees and rivers sing and breathe. A dying land, where the darkness of a false prince threatens to swallow everything in its shadow.

Enter Between Two Kingdoms with Tommy, an eternally seven-year-old child of the Great King, as he and his friends accept the challenge of the Good Prince to live as grown men and women in the Lower Kingdom—where hope is hidden, vision is clouded, and pride twists truth into a beautiful yet deadly deception.

As the synopsis eludes to above, the basic story line follows Tommy as he accepts a mission into the lower kingdom. Setting out he knows very little about what lies ahead. Once there, however, it is revealed that the assignment involves stopping a plot to cover the entire lower kingdom in darkness and smoke in order to control and enslave the frightened  population. Tommy and his friends must protect as many people as they can and then find a way to destroy the machine that is creating the smog like smoke that begins to cover the kingdom.

You can get an idea of what the author was trying to portray and flush out in this short video.

To me the book felt either too simple or incomplete. It had the feel of a story you might write to experiment with ideas and symbols (and characters) – a sort of thought experiment in the form of a novella. And in this way it had some interesting aspects.

But as a work of literature taken as a whole it fell flat for me.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Apr 4 2010

In the Mail: 31 Bond Street

31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

Kirkus Reviews

Horan brings to life a sensational 19th-century New York City murder trial in which a woman is accused of viciously killing her husband. Emma Cunningham, a widow with two daughters, has recently settled at 31 Bond St. as head housekeeper to the mysterious Dr. Harvey Burdell, a dental surgeon with a penchant for making crooked real-estate deals. Her “housekeeping” duties are fairly light and disguise the fact that Burdell occasionally summons her to his bed and that he intends to marry her, or so he says. When one morning a young lad-of-all-work discovers Burdell’s body, with numerous gashes and an almost-severed head, District Attorney Oakey Hall, hoping to grandstand his way to the mayor’s mansion, wastes little time in accusing Emma. Motive is supplied by a recently discovered wedding license testifying to Harvey and Emma’s marriage some two weeks before the murder, so it looks as though his land holdings will go to his wife rather than to his venal siblings. Emma, however, is just as startled as anyone about the existence of this document, which seems an obvious forgery, especially since the minister who performed the ceremony has a hazy memory of the bride and groom. (Perhaps Harvey has done this to give himself legal custody of the dowry of Emma’s 18-year-old daughter Augusta and thus to consummate a large and illegal transaction involving potentially valuable swampland in New Jersey.) To the rescue comes Henry Clinton, an up-and-coming defense lawyer, a kind of 19th-century Atticus Finch. He’s convinced of Emma’s innocence and disgusted with Hall’s smarmy and politically motivated prosecution. Another mystery involves the disappearance of Samuel, Burdell’s black servant, and theappearance of Katuma, a Native American who feels resentful that his tribe’s land has been appropriated by whites. An engaging mix of fact and fiction, with a juicy trial, sensationalistic reporters and lots of local urban color.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Apr 2 2010

In the Mail: That’s No Angry Mob, That’s My Mom

That’s No Angry Mob, That’s My Mom: Team Obama’s Assault on Tea-Party, Talk-Radio Americans

Synopsis

Responsible. Independent. Hard-working. These are qualities which used to define Americans. But now we’re a nation of whiners, blamers, and excuse-makers. So says Michael Graham—radio talk show host, former GOP campaign consultant, and journalist—in his new book, That’s No Angry Mob, That’s My Mom. That’s No Angry Mob, That’s My Mom taps into the frustration and anxiety felt by hundreds of thousands of taxpayers at Tea Parties nationwide. Frustration that the government is taking over our lives; punishing success while rewarding failure; and fostering a society of Americans who don’t take responsibility for their actions and then expect the government—and their fellow citizens—to pick up the bill. Graham, known for his searing wit and controversial comments, also explains who the tea party “activists” really are: ordinary, everyday citizens pushed into action by the threat of higher taxes and increased government intrusion. Tackling everything from the economy and education to health care and the housing market, Graham argues that it’s up to us to take control back from the government bureaucrats and to restore the home-spun values of hard work, fair play, and individual responsibility. That’s No Angry Mob, That’s My Mom shows us how.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Apr 1 2010

In the Mail: Animal Factory

Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment

Library Journal

Kirby (Evidence of Harm) turns his investigative reporting skills to the human and environmental consequences of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The first section details how three concerned citizens—a North Carolina fisherman, a mother in a small Illinois town, and a Washington State grandmother—became activists after seeing firsthand how CAFOs negatively altered the environment around them. The second section frames the public health and ecological issues surrounding CAFOs by looking at how they have been treated nationally. VERDICT Unlike recent books on this topic that advocate for a vegetarian lifestyle (e.g., Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals or Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s The Face on Your Plate), Kirby focuses on the negative impacts CAFOs are having on not only those who live near these operations but also those who may be affected by polluted water originating from waste lagoon spills at these sites. His narrative is immensely readable and should be required reading for anybody concerned with how CAFOs are changing the nature of livestock farming in the United States.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , ,

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