"The Art Forger" by B.A. Shapiro

"The Art Forger" by B.A. Shapiro.  Forgery is a crime, but according to some painters  "the criminal part doesn't come until a copy is put up for sale as the original. Ergo, the seller, not the painter is the crook. "
 This is how the character, Clair, a painter initially blocks the guilt from her conscious, when she takes up an art seller on his his offer to duplicate Degas' work and showcase it as an original. She tells herself "There's no crime in copying a painting."
Readers are introduced to Clair, an amateur artist, as she is sorting through her paintings deciding which decides ones she should display on Common Wealth Avenue.  Her paintings include "Woman Leaving Her Bath" and "The Tower"  Reproductions.com pays her to repaint them and sells the paintings online as "perfect replicas" unfortunately this only pays a few thousand dollars per painting.  Not nearing enough to pay for rent, painting supplies and her tab at a local bar.

Not only is Clair barely surviving on an artist' wage but she also fails to win at the Art World Trans contest to another painter.  Clair will do anything to seek revenge on this painter, and when Markel, a rich art seller, tells her that he'll get her work showcased at a One-Woman Show at Markel 6, Clair is entranced by this offer, knowing this is exactly the revenge she seeks.   She becomes even more allured when Markel offers  $50,000 to Clair, to paint for him one of Degas' original work.  Markel plans to sell it as an original, which is illegal, but he counteracts this term of illegal, by saying "there is illegal, and then there is illegal."

"The Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini

"The Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini.  Two boys living in Afghanistan are best friends at a time when war lords reign and threaten the classes.

I enjoyed the novel's great characterization of the two young boys: Amir and Hassan, and the initial love Amir shares with his servant/brother.  Amir takes the time to read to Hassan as Hassan does not know how to read, nor is he allowed to receive a proper education, as it is not extended to Hazaras.  I enjoyed this novel as it discusses the meaning of what it really takes to uphold a promise.

 The character of Amir upholds a promise by leaving America, even though he is a successful writer there, in order to save his best friends son.  He agrees to go back to a dangerous and complicated land after receiving a call that explained to him that his best friend died, and the warlords had captured his son. He must go back to a land to retrieve the son.  

How many of us would have taken such a risk like the character of  Amir does?

In my belief, most of us wouldn't.  In fact, many of us deny our own family members safety.  Even those people that are within our own communities.  Those people who don't even live hundreds of miles away are not  even granted safety and security.  Yet here is this man who goes back to a land, for which he is unfamiliar with; A land for which he only knew as a child, in order to save his best friend's child. 

The movie "Kite Runner" does great justice to the novel, in that the setting of the movie allows the audience to know the extreme conditions revalent in Afghanistan.  The setting shows the hot desserts and the women in Burqas (the arabic meaning of garment that covers a woman's body)The setting shows the remote conditions for which one must travel on unpaved roads, in rusty jeeps and cars that can barely be called "get-away-cars). 

 The setting depicts an arena in Afghanistan similar to the historical, Greek Colloseum, in that like the Greek gladiators who were thrown to fight to the death, similarly Afghans were thrown into the arena and humiliated in front of their peers and society where they would later be tried and punished for crimes.

"Intuition" By Allegra Goodman

"Intuition" By Allegra Goodman

    When a science lab is up for investigation after, Cliff Bannaker, a scientist, is said to have adjusted data in his cancer research, Bannaker must go back into his data, checking his experiment and delve into his relationship with Robin, the very person who gave him up as a faulty scientist. Robin, a scientist in the same lab will be scrutinized for her judgement for questioning Bannaker's research and she will question herself  for she becoming a traitor to the entire lab.  The lab is a small and isolating workplace, where being in good relationships with your cohorts can be the difference between you getting promoted and your research making the public eye.
 I enjoyed the scientific research involved in this novel.  Rarely do we see the insides of a scientific lab and the unique characters involved.  Rarely do novelists explore the going-ons of a lab unless it involves forensic evidence.  Goodman does an excellent job in her exploration of the scientific world, and the common repetition of scientific experiments in this novel is not mundane, in fact it sheds light on a topic that bring more and more prominence in the  public with TV stars as scientists, in sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory" and other notable movies.

Show more

"The Girl with No Shadow:A Novel" By Joanne Harris

   

 "The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel" by Joanne Harris.  This novel had a slow opening but like all things French, I thought I would give it a chance. Harris continues the story of the mother :Viane Rocher (Rosh-ay), Teenage daughter Anouk, and youngest Rossette. This is a sequel to  Harris' previous novel "Chocolat". 

 The novel starts starts getting interesting with the introduction of the character of Zowsie, who comes to work in Viane Rocher's chocolate shop.  Zowsie is a mystical character with witch like features, and when the daughter, Anouk confides into Zowsie about her personal life, revealing all of the intimate details of school life, and bullies, Zowsie uses the details to wrap a string around Anouk and tells her she can use powers to fend off bullies all the while becoming a confident young woman. 

 Readers are introduced to the life of a typical teenager, seems boring, (but oh, not quiet)   Zowsie connects with this teenager and tells her that being a freak is okay, because Zowsie is a freak herself.  She shows Anouk exactly what freaks can do, she triggers a rude, French waitress to spill her lemonade all over her customer, with a simple snap of Zowsie's fingers. 

 I enjoyed the mother's french lullaby to her baby daughter " Layla boom boom, Layla boom boom"(If I find the actual name for this song, I'm going to keep it for myself). A reader can walk away from this novel with a quiet innocence of a story and the easy culmination of French wrapped up into a small lullaby.

 But Harris uses a little too many metaphors in her novel.  She used the wind as a metaphor , for, foreshadowing problems that happen to this family.  It seems overdone.  In fact, when Viane Rocher  mentions "the black man"  periodically throughout the novel, as the father of Viane's illegitimate children (even though the father is not black).  This has an undertone of prejudice.  Why couldn't Harris just called this man, "the Man of Wind?"  Like her over use of the metaphor.

""Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling

  

"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

 I began reading this memoir after Kaling's face started popping up everywhere.  First it was in "The Office", than I seen her in a magazine, which expressed that she was an writer for the sitcom  and not just an actress.  Than, a friend text me about whether I had seen the "Mindy Show"  and she described it to me briefly.  (I barely watch TV). Finally, I decided to listen to Kaling's memoir  which was very enjoyable. 

 Kaling talks about her upbringing in Massachusetts and briefly describes sentiments that she lives up to and how following the crowd is something she just didn't do as an adolescence.  The introduction to the memoir was a bit too self conscious, in comparing her memoir to Tina Fey's and how she felt that she didn't have much to say in comparison to the bigger stars.  But nonetheless, I found her memoir to be something she didn't have to apologize over.

 Kaling knows how to make something more funny than it really is, like she says "my apartment was the size of a handicap bathroom" .  Here she is describing her first apartment in New York. Kaling begins screen writing at a Barnes and Noble, in the Lincoln Center, in New York. 

 How many of us writers out there, can identify with a particular space where all of our writing really got started, and I mean realllllly.

 I enjoyed when Kaling says she began to look taller when she started having friends who were 5'10 or higher.  I am short myself, so I can connect with the idea of how having tall friends makes you forget about how short you really are.

 Her biggest comedian she'd like to be like when she is famous is Conan O'Brien whom she claims is always himself on his show.  

  

Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas

   

 "Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate)" by Amy Thomas.  This is a great Paris memoir for those food lovers out there. Thomas, the author, is initially indecisive about whether she should take an opportunity to live in Paris and work at Louie Vuitton, a fashion corporation, or if she should stay in New York. When she takes the plunge and moves to France, Thomas will ponder which city is better, New York or Paris? 
She spends her time in Paris; looking at houses and eating at all the dessert shops.  She rides her bike to work, in hopes of keeping her Butt the same size as it was before.
Thomas is filled with smart quips about French culture, and she'll throw them in where she sees fit.  One that caught my attention, is when Thomas was observing a French woman who was quite attractive.  When the woman glances back at Thomas, she says that she rolled her eyes, Thomas notes that "the French don't smile at strangers, if they do, their retarded."

 I like how the author describes her indulgance in American sweets as a kid.  She said that she ate anything from Ho-Ho's to Kit Kat's to Twix to strawberry whips, to gummies, to licorice, etc.  But these treats, she says have nothing on the french desserts, she tasted. 

When she goes into a French bakery, she criss-crosses the menus in french,(with descriptions she can barely read) with what she saw in the showcases.  

 You'd think Americans were indecisive when they walked into a foreign Starbucks, just topple that with a chocolate shop containing many more options.  

 I liked when the writer describes the real sign of her becoming a Parisian, Whens someone stopped me in the street to ask for directions, (She responds in French), "I look like a Parisian?

I, myself, (the writer of the blog) had the same experience, when I went to France, and I felt overjoyed when someone mistakened me as a Frenchy.
Throughout Thomas' stay, she'll contemplate renewing her contract in France and at one point she makes a list of her favorite things in both US vs France, which include:

 America/France

Manolo's/Rapettos

oversize sunglasses/oversize scarfs

diner/cafe

downtown/left bank

Carie Bradshaw/Charlotte Gainsbourg

NY/Paris

 Thomas has a brief scare with a cyst attached to her ovary and she questions her direction in life, and whether she is wasting her time, and aging instead of raising a family, before she's too old.  When she sees a French specialist, she is surprised by the woman's dispositions and her matter of fact attitude, Thomas says "I should have known better, I had been living there, the french and their all business demeanor, their eye rolling, shoulder shrugging, their mmm attitudes".

 Here are just some of the Dessert shops that she says exists in NY and what their famous for:

 vanilla Carmel Venice Coffee cupcake at "Spot" bakery

butterscotch pudding with bread surbee at "Grammar C Tavern"

crack pie at "Mama Fukoo" bakery

Peanut butter cookies at "City Bakeries"

Chocolate Blackout donut at "Donut Planet"a restaurant

banana creme cheese cake at "Billies" restaurant 

 Thomas dines at a resturant in France, where Hemingway, Picasso, and Fitzgerald had dined, she says, "I was thinking that Hemingway or Picasso had been in the very seat where I was;just left of the bar."

Banker to the Poor:Microlending and the battle against world Poverty by Muhammad Yunus

 

Banker to the Poor:Micro lending and the battle against world Poverty by Muhammad Yunus

    When Mohamed Yunus, founder of Grameen bank has an epiphany: he follows his instincts by going into poor villages in Bangladesh, to help the locals get out of poverty. The program requires a group of five to operate. As required by Grameen, an interested borrower must first pass an exam and also enlist others by explaining the program to them. Once they form a group, a chairman and secretary are elected. Then, two of its members requests a loan, typically for $25 each. Grameen encourages these groups to deposit 5% of each loan in a group-fund that can later be loaned out to members interest-free. After six weeks of successful repayment two more members may request a loan.( Justin Belkin )
 Yunus' bank comprises of 95% of women lenders, as its Yunus' belief that he can some how make a difference to the women who otherwise have no chance to work, and have no chance to support their children with husbands who cannot support them, because they are either dead or have a habit that consumes a lot of their money.  

The most memorable part of the memoir had to been when a young woman makes bread baskets so that she can trade them in the market, and have enough money to buy a small bowl of rice for her children.  When Yunus is told the cost of how much money she uses to buy the supplies to make the baskets, he realizes that she will never be able to make a profit and therefore she will never have enough money to buy more than a measley cup of rice for her family.  This same women would eventually join Grameen bank against her husband's wishes and later be able to support her family on more than a cup of rice a day.    

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop.
 This cooking memoir was memorable because readers are introduced to a European chef who packs her bags and moves to China. While there she will research the cooking styles of many chefs, but specifically the style of the sichuan.
Dunlop goes into many Chinese kitchens, inviting herself to the counter tops and tables of many restaurant to learn Chinese cooking and so that she'll have somewhere else to go besides her lonely apartment.  Why not?  she's in in a country with few friends and without a strong Chinese background.
I liked the books exotic foods like turtle soup and bird dishes.  Dunlop pays a Chinese one month's worth of salary for her delicious dinners and hire illegal bird hunters, so she can examine their methods of retrieving these birds and cooking them.  She'll expose the rich Chinese man's food fetishes and their extraordinary enjoyment for unique Chinese cuisine.
You'll bicycle yourself through the Chinese districts where even a European traveller can take notice to the drastic change of climate and architecture that exists in China, combined with how once desolate restaurants districts are changed into cities of multi growing high rise complexes which will later suit China's growing needs to house their population.
You'll laugh along with Dunlop, as she discusses that after a month in china, she is in need for a a friend,  and how her confidence grows after making a few Chinese welcoming friends who invite her to eat and and discuss food and calligraphy. 

Pastry Paris: Everything looks like a Desserts by Susan Hockbaum

 




Reading, Pastry Paris: In Paris, Everything looks like a Dessert, by Susan Hockbaum.

Even though I say I'm reading this marvelously illustrated book of nonfiction.  Its more like I'm devouring the pages.  Hockbaum takes the French desserts and makes them her own comparing desserts like the Religieuse, a paair of cream puffs sitting on top of one another to a a military complex: Les Jnvalides, that houses Napoleon's burial ground.She mentions the following desserts:

French pastries like dolled up eclairs ,gateau caramelmacaron a l'anciennetartframboisier

everest pistachio cakefeuille d automne passionato celiacupcake de vanillesupreme fraisemousse a la menthe

"On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King

    "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King.  The  most memorable part of this memoir is when King describes his early beginnings as a writer.  King says that he began writing short stories about his teachers, at a young age, and these stories became popular in his school, and even got him into some trouble .  Later on he'd write for the school's newspaper.  (the global Dig)

 When King got his first break as a writer with  his novel "Carrie"  I was awestruck by his happiness , he drops the phone and is amazed at how writing this book would change his life.   King had been writing for a long time and it was hard work.  He wrote in between teaching jobs,  he wrote while making his family larger:getting married and having his first child. 

 He had written hundreds of query letters to publishers, with proof of those letters returning to him through rejection letters.  He posted  those rejections on his bedroom wall and counted them. 

 I liked the way King, epitomizes each rejection letter, and he counts each one as a small success.  The success comes in that he put effort in writing the letter in the first place.  

Finally, King talked about his drug addiction and how drugs put him toward the dark side:helping him to write characters like, the kidnapper character in Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in The Tommyknockers.

 The dark side would eventually eat away at King's lifestyle and his marriage, when a devastating accident happened to him on the road, King is forced to come clean from his drug habit and enjoy everyday events that change because they do not overlap with drug abuse.

"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K. Lee

"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K.Lee.The novel opens with a description of Hong Kong:dirty with people everywhere: businessmen from all parts of world, Indians, British and Philippinos, Pakistanis with Pakistani rug stores and lastly, the Chinese.

Lee describes the British and the Chinese their ability easily mingle with one another.  And how the fish mongers butcher their fish in an unsanitzed manner, how feculence can be smelled and found in the alley ways of the tallest, high rise buildings.

The plot engages readers in the tell tale story of young newly wed by the name of Clair and her exposure to a brand new culture in Hong Kong.  Clair, the piano teacher would come to teach Locket, a young Chinese girl how to play the piano.  Clair is initially baffled by the prospect that a Chinese, upper class, family in Hong Kong would be well known in the community.  She's surprised that the the family speaks immaculate English and at the parents interest in pushing their daughter, like an animal, to learn the piano.

When Clair asked the mother about whether Locket, the daughter, will be attending school in America, the Chinese mother simply retorts "I don't want to talk about Locket's education, I want to talk about yours." 

 When Clair becomes infatuated with the family's riches, she decides to take some for her own:stealing a trinket and scarf without being caught by anyone.  Unfortunately, the family servant gets fired for stealing the items instead.  Clair is once again baffled by the Chinese traits in the home, as the young pianist she teaches seems unruffled at the dispearance of the servant, exclaiming that her mother had always  taught her that "all servants steal".

This incident would stick with Clair, putting her on edge in the family's home. Clair would come to have an affair in the novel, masking her obvious unfamiliarity in China with a new sudden interest.

Lee's generalizations of Americans and their over confident zeal, in this novel ,is obvious.  But what is even more stunning is how Lee depicts the character of Clair.  How could Clair be so unconscious of up-and-coming Chinese super power?

"Dancing with Cuba" by Alma Guillermoprieto

    

"Dancing with Cuba" by Alma Guillermoprieto. Alma's story is extraordinary. 

Alma left New York to take a teaching job at Cuba’s National School of Dance. For months, she'd work in a run down studio with students who had very little interest in dance, much less Cuban dance.

She would spend her time there eating rice and beans with government issued rations.   She's stand in line with hundreds of people to be served.  She'd plea with the government; insisting that her dancers needed to eat more due to their extreme work out schedule and insisted that eating food with corn syrup was just not healthy.

 She'd get sent to pick sugar cane along with other Cubans in an involuntary draft for Cuba's Ten Million Ton Sugar Harvest . That year, Cuba conceived a plan late in 1963 that aspired to break all historic sugar production records.http://faculty.mdc.edu/tpedraza/MMF-Ten%20Million%20Ton%20Harvest.htm.

Throughout her teaching debut in Cuba Alma would come across many challenges.  One of them being, learning the specific dance moves that she'd be forced to teach.  She would write out all of her dance moves on flash cards and organize those cards on the floor repeating the moves until she got them.