I just finished I Cannot Get You Close Enough, a compilation of three novellas (or mini-novels) by Ellen Gilchrist.

I am charmed by this collection of stories because Gilchrist uses some interesting writing tactics here–she doesn’t write in full sentences, she doesn’t fully describe the physicality of the characters, she doesn’t wholly tell a story from beginning to end but instead gives you small glimpses into the lives of her characters. It took a while to get used to this writing style, but I found I enjoyed her writing quite a lot once I got over the strange English usage and stopped the editing/proofreading that comes automatically to me.

For those who are writing and are having difficulty grappling with a whole manuscript, pick up this book and check it out. It may give you ideas on how to handle material in a new, refreshing way.

Novellas, while smaller in width, can have an impact, be memorable, and let a story shine without being weighed down by stretching itself into a Big Book.

In 1987, Sue Grafton started her “alphabetical mystery novel” series…A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar…and so on, and she has now come to the letter S. I purchased S is for Silence (the 19th book in the series; I’ve read them all) with not a little anticipation.  Nineteen books, one book a year=twenty years.

I feel I know the main character, Kinsey Millhone. I have a picture in my head of what she looks like, and I can hear her voice when I read these books.  When I spied S is for Silence in paperback at Costco, I was game.

So it was with surprise that I did not enjoy this book. What happened? Same character, basically same style.  What’s happened is that it’s twenty years later, and I’ve changed so much in those twenty years that I no longer really like this kind of writing.  The series was great when I was younger, but it is too simplistic and trite to work for me now.  What was once comfortable has become, well, too comfortable.  Yawn.

I realized this with a bit of regret.  I like being devoted to a particular author and series.  But…if the author, the author’s writing, and/or the series don’t evolve with you…if the characters don’t “grow up” as you mature, it becomes stale.

Note to my writing self: real people change, fictitious people need to change, too.

My recommendation: read it if you’re a long-time Grafton fan.  Otherwise, take a pass.

I just read House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III.  I had picked the book up with a fair amount of interest, even though a friend of mine “hated” the book.  I realized somewhere in the first 100 pages that the book had been made into a movie…a major disappointment to me as I typically avoid books that eventually become movies.

The book is set in the California Bay Area, so it was particularly interesting to me.  I recognized several of the locations in the novel and it was entertaining to read about places I’ve been.  The book centers on two main characters who both have a claim to the same house.  The house is the mechanism that the author uses to introduce conflict, as both characters fight for this house emotionally and physically.  Essentially, the fight leads two decent people into a warren of questionable actions, finally coming to a grandiose crescendo at the end that is reminiscent of Greek tragedies.  Indeed, the ending was a bit over the top…but it made it’s point.  Nobody can miss the lesson that sometimes people get in over their heads.

I have not seen the movie, nor do I want to.  I enjoyed the book on its merits, and I have yet to see a movie based on a book that lived up to the novel. 

My recommendation: pick it up at the library or borrow it from someone (a major bestseller and an Oprah pick–someone you know owns this book), but be prepared for a bit of a downer.  This story doesn’t uplift and it highlights many sad flaws in our human nature.  Not a “must-read,” but good nonetheless.

I’ve carried around Paul Fussel’s book, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, for years and through several moves.  I recently re-read the book for somewhere around the 10th time, and was as amused and intrigued as the first time I read it when I was just out of college.

Class is an entertaining expose of how the truly “out-of-sight wealthy” (this means those royalty in places like Greece, not wealthy “debutantes” like Paris Hilton–according to this book, she’d merely be rich, not upper class) live as opposed to how those of us in the mundane middle classes live.  But…which “middle class” are you?  There are, according to Fussel, several levels of middle class–upper-middle, middle-middle, and lower-middle.  He goes into detail about these and also the “proletariat” or lower classes. 

You’ll like this book if you “get” why a worn, threadbare rug is higher class than a brand spanking new rug.  Or, that a dusty room messy with books and newspapers is higher class than a sparkling clean living room with the latest t.v. set.  What bespeaks “really old money”–an old chevy that’s been kept up or the flashy Ferrari? 

It’s fun to take a glimpse at the snobbery of the upper classes and the sometimes sad yearning and pretensions of the middle classes.  A caveat: this book was written years ago, so some of the standards have changed…some of the upper class trappings are far more attainable than they used to be, so some folks can pretend to the upper classes.  Still, a very fun read.

For reviews and other info on Class:

http://www.amazon.com/Class-Through-American-Status-System/dp/0671792253/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a/002-8262244-7318437