Charlotte Rogan has delivered a wonderfully complex debut novel of intrigue and tragedy. Starting with Grace Winters on trial for a crime that is to be revealed throughout the story the novel displays a talent that I believe will go far in our current literary world. The Lifeboat is deft at keeping you guessing – what is the crime? How exactly did Grace get on the lifeboat? While looking for these answers the reader is given a wonderful ride of tension and allegories that will leave them pondering our current world and the way we make our way through it.
I cannot think of a better novel that I have read thus far in 2012. I have raved to my friends about this book and cannot wait for them to read it so that we can discuss the broader implications of the plot and narration. What a wonderful book.

Imagine a world where the most attractive movie star develops a life-altering device that affects the entire planet and then because that device was designed by a woman and not fully understood by the men in charge the product went dormant for many years. Well this is what happened in the 1940’s as Heddy Lamarr designed the systems that are now used in GPS, cell phones, cordless phones and countless other devices that we use everyday.

Lamarr was a scandalous actress in Austria because she did nude scenes on film in the 1930’s – something that did not get acceptable in the U.S. until after 1968. She became a well known name in Austria and soon married a wealthy arms maker. As time went by and the Nazi’s came to power – Heddy wanted out. She was Jewish and wanted to come to Hollywood to further her career. Her husband was not the type to let her leave so she devised a plan – she listened and learned from the Nazi Army officials that dined in her home and used the info to coerce her husband into a divorce.

Free – she immigrated to the U.S. and became a much bigger star on film. Yet not an ordinary – she was an inventor at heart. She wanted the Allies to win the war and she went about with a friend (musical writer George Antheil) to devise a radio-controlled torpedo that could not be jammed. They devised frequency hopping – the very technology that is used all around us today. Yet, it went unused because the Navy did not understand the invention or they were wont to use something developed by a female movie star…

Heddy’s Folly is a great read. The story of Lamarr’s life and inventions needed to be told and Rhodes has done it in superb fashion. I offer a whole-hearted recommendation of this wonderful book.

If you have never read Pelecanos than you have surely been missing a wonderful literary time. Pelecanos is a rare talent when it comes to making crime novels rise above the level of the mighty airport read. I have never been unhappy by the quality of the stories or action and that is doubly true with What it Was – his latest contribution to the crime genre.

Derek Strange returns as a retired cop and becomes a private detective in this noirish new work. The book is a non-stop action in the hard-boiled world that Pelecanos has created. Much like his tv work – there are no compromises in story or content – A very adult book that will please you – make sure not to miss it.

I am thoughtful at the passing of one of our great thinkers and writers, Christopher Hitchens. While I rarely agreed with him I always admired his clear argumentation and his presentation. A great essayist in a time of illiteracy, he was never as well read as he should have been.

I must say that being able to access my home desktop could not get any easier than with sharetool. I am able to work from out of the house and not take a ton of my hard drives with me just in case… I really like being able to go out and work with no worries.

Retired Justice John Paul Stevens has written a wonderful memoir of the five Chief Justices that he either worked for or served under. The book is mostly fair to the people that found themselves on the other side from Stevens. There are a few areas of cheap shots, but those are to few to even delve into.

The book first starts with a very brief history of the twelve Justices that served before Stevens went to work as a clerk at the Court. The section includes a brief bio and a discussion of the major opinions that each man wrote. He stated his opinion as to the right or wrong of those opinions, something that he does throughout the book.

I must say that I found this book to be a much lighter read than I had anticipated. The book is breezy and fun, not exactly a beach read, but enjoyable to anyone that finds the workings of the court interesting. For myself, I really enjoyed the behind the scenes look of the everyday practices of the court, from pickup games of basketball to betting pools and tennis matches. There does seem to be a friendship that develops amongst the Justices, regardless of political orientation.

Is there anyone in politics more reviled than Dick Cheney? The man seems to lack fans even on his own side of the political spectrum. Yet, that is not the Cheney that comes through in his wonderful and important autobiography that aims to tell his side of the story.

The book covers Cheney’s whole life in the political world, yet not to much on the personal, which is just as well. People are more interested in his take on the Bush administrations and his role as the media’s Darth Vader. Yet, Cheney comes off as fair and honest in his book, admitting mistakes and disagreements that he kept private with Bush and company until the release of this book.

I always laughed and the idiots that would claim that Cheney was running the Bush administration. I always would reply, I wished, if Cheney were in charge the Bushies would not be as leftist as the were, no Ted Kennedy movie night, no bs about”compassionate conservatism”.

The President is a Sick Man

This was a great book. I read this in one sitting because it was a real page-turner. The book tells the tale of President Cleveland’s secret cancer surgery while serving in the Oval Office.

The President was known as the most honest politician of his era, but as this book shows, he was the same as any politician. President Cleveland used the power of his office and the complicity of a willing and lazy press to hide this nearly fatal surgery.

In the days of Cleveland, cancer was a taboo subject. Not talked about nor was it acknowledges, but cancer was as common then as it is now. Cleveland discovered that he had a growth in his mouth that became quite uncomfortable to swallow. He consulted his doctor who determined that it was cancer and needed to be removed with much rapidity. The doctor recruited the best doctors of the day and swore them to complete secrecy. The surgery would occur at sea, to keep the press in the dark.

The surgery and cover-up were both a success. Not because all kept the secret, one doctor told all to a reporter and the story got out – but the rest of the press banded together to carry water for the administration, besmirching the fine reporter as a liar. This worked because the whole of the press were supporters of Cleveland or they were lazy, getting together to make sure that all of their reporting followed the same narrative (I do believe that this still happens to this day, as the press are still filled with prejudiced and lazy people).

The reporter was not cleared until some 25 years after the death of Cleveland, when one of the surviving doctors decided to release a book on the surgery at sea.

A few weeks ago we went to Athens Georgia for a mini-vacation. We stumbled upon Highwire, a classic spirits bar. They made tasty cocktails with panache, and the fresh ingredients made the drinks soar above any I have had before.

I did try a Rye flight, tasting of three high end Ryes and I must say it was well worth the $12! I love Athens.

I have been catching up on Netflix with this exceptional series. I cannot believe that I paid little when it first aired. Too bad that it ended so soon. This is really a great edition to the franchise and so much better than Deep Space Nine.