Sunday, February 9, 2014

What He Did For Love

 I didn't consciously select this book for a Valentine's Day post, but The Rosie Project was the ideal story to celebrate the season of love. First up--this book was funny, and I didn't see that coming. Within minutes of opening the cover--on page 10 to be exact--I laughed so hysterically that I had to lay the book down to satisfy my big, cackling, tears-in-my-eyes moment. It was aerobic laughter--out of breath, heart-poundingly good. All because of Don, my new hero.
     Don Tillman, a genetics professor, has Aspergers, which isn't funny. Yet author Graeme Simsion uses Don's challenges with social skills and awareness to create moments that just make you chuckle throughout the entire novel. Except on page 10, when I howled. Here's what Don said--and what he thought--while filling in for a colleague at a lecture:
   "A woman at the rear of the room raised her hand. I was focused on the argument now and made a minor social error, which I quickly corrected.
  "The fat woman--overweight woman--at the back?"
  Don thinks he just dodged a screaming bullet of insensitivy! Whew. Who wouldn't want to be recognized as overweight rather than fat, right? Well, that slayed me.
   Don is such a uniquely developed character. He's highly-functioning, rule-abiding and obsessively organized about his food, his exercise, his sleep, his work. And perhaps as a result, has only two friends. He had three, but his elderly neighbor is now in a nursing home and doesn't recognize him anymore. Even Don knows he's reached a time of his life where things need to change. He should find a 'female life partner."
  The hunt for a wife, via "The Wife Project," begins. His best friend Gene sends Rosie to meet Don as a joke because she was so obviously out of Don's target group. She drank moderately, declared herself a vegetarian, wore make-up and was late for their first date. So many flaws. But Rosie, a beautiful psychology student at the university where Don teaches, actually has a project of her own. She's trying to identify her biological father. Don's got the skills Rosie needs, so the two buddy-up. And before too long, Don starts to make an effort to relax a few rules and reprogram his instincts to plan and arrange and organize and obsess. Is he finding love as well? Is Rosie? You'll have to read the book to find out if "The Wife Project" and "The Father Project" find common romantic ground.
  The Push from the Book: For someone comfortable speaking to strangers and making new friends, reading about a character who struggles in the social arena made me stop to think about that particular dilemma. Friends are such a big part of my life. I cannot fathom them not being there. Simsion, I think, did a great service creating this character so we can better understand what life is like for a person with this disorder.
 

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Easy Goin'

   A few days ago I posted a link to 50 essential mysteries. I had read only a handful and wanted to check off one or two more. Within days I received Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress from Reading Public Library. Published in 1990, it's the first of a dozen books featuring Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins, who put down roots in Los Angeles after World War II and just hoped to make his mortgage payments and hang on to a steady job. But life in 1948 LA is not so simple for a Black man, and the racial divide is always on full display in this novel. Even the first sentence puts you on notice that there are stark differences between blacks and whites that are about to be exposed: "I was surprised to see a white man walk into Joppy's bar."
   Seasoned mystery readers probably know all about Mosley and his war-weary protagonist Rawlins, but this first book in the series was new--at least to me--and quickly turned addictive. I loved Mosley's writing. His descriptions of  neighborhoods brim with gritty detail, and the characters appear instantly within your mind because he's painted them with bright, vivid colors. I bolted through the book, turning the final page before I wanted to give it up. There's no doubt that I'd travel with Mosley--and Easy--again.
  But be warned. You will encounter the violent, unsavory underbelly of Watts on these pages, and Easy's got to wade through it all while hunting down the whereabouts of beautiful, blond Daphne Monet. Daphne's gone missing (along with a lot of money) and all Easy's got to do to earn $100 is locate her for the cool, pale-eyed guy who walked into the bar on the first page. Considering Easy's just been laid off and has bills to pay, it's a job too good to refuse. His search takes us  inside bars, pool halls and nightclubs, and we meet the people who inhabit Easy's world--some of them more dangerous than others. And the longer he hunts for Daphne, the more trouble he meets--both on the street and inside police interrogation rooms.
   Dead bodies keep showing up and Easy seems to be around most of them. The bad guys don't like Easy's questions and the police are convinced he's a strong suspect in several of the murders that crop up each day. Easy can't catch a break until his best friend Mouse appears to provide some much needed back-up. Despite the cute, sweet sobriquet, Mouse is always ready to rumble and kill if he has to. But he's got Easy's back and arrives in the nick of time to protect our hero. And just to insure that you won't put down the book, Mosley throws in a neat little surprise about Daphne that I never saw coming. Nifty bit of deception.
 The Push From the Book: I'm ready for another installment with Easy Rawlins, and I'm going to read them in order. Next up: A Red Death.