New York Times Literary Treat of the Week.....

Isaacs, Susan. As Husbands Go.

The amount of gossip bouncing around Shorehaven, Long Island about the Gersten family is enough to challenge the winds coming off the Sound! Dr. Jonah Gersten, an immensely successful Park Avenue plastic surgeon, has been found stabbed in a prostitute's apartment. It is an open-and-shut case to seemingly everybody except Jonah's wife Susie, mother of their triplet sons and financially able to run a floral design business as a hobby. To Susie, Jonah was so moral he would not pursue a back door out of jury duty nor would he pay for sex with a woman who "looked like a ewe with a blond wig." To her mother-in-law, Susie put too much pressure on Jonah to maintain a lavish lifestyle. In her defense comes Susie's estranged grandmother Ethel, the two pairing up to find the real killer. Thus you have a quirky suburban whodunit laced with Isaacs's gift of creating characters one finds delightful to encounter.

Also by Susan Isaacs at Merrick Library:

Any Place I Hang My Hat
Lily White
Long Time No See
Past Perfect
Red, White and Blue

Reviewed by librarian, Bob.

Nation Readers' Summer Books

Reading lists from coast to coast poured in to The Nations web page.
The results have created an invaluable summer reading list for the rest of this season and then for about the next fifty summers after that!

As you'll see, the choices range from progressive standards like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn to obscure historical and philosophical tracts; from a strong Stieg Larsson faction to a raft of Christopher Hitchens readers; from numerous Tolstoy buffs to a passionate Issac Babel fan, the list is an eclectic litany of more intellectual currents then we can catalog.

For the full article vistit this link:
http://www.thenation.com/article/37945/nation-readers-summer-books

Books to Movies.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India
and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert


"In theatres August 13th, 2010."

Summary:

Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

NOTES ON A VOICE: GRAHAM GREENE.

In the second instalment of The Economist series on what makes distinctive writers distinctive, Nicholas Shakespeare tackles Graham Greene ...

Graham Greene has written a number of novels.

These are just a few of his novels.
"The Power and the Glory", "The Quiet American", "The Third Man", and "End of the Affair."

Visit this link for the full article.
http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/nicholas-shakespeare/notes-a-voice-graham-greene

Book Signing

GABE ROTTER

Wednesday, August 25th, 7pm at the Book Revue
Novelist GABE ROTTER will speak about and sign his new novel,
The Human Bobby.

A new baby, a loving wife, a solid career, a dream house in Beverly Hills: Dr. Bobby Flopkowski has it all. Until a complicated series of events snowball into a disaster that changes the course of his life forever.

Now, with a tent on the beach as his only home and an addiction that has cut him off from everyone he once loved, Bobby has a revelation that could put him back on track: he believes he has solved the puzzling crime that led to his downfall. But as the reality he’s always known slips farther away, will he be able to convince someone—anyone—that his suspicions aren’t merely the pleas of a desperate man?

A native of Syosset and graduate of Syosset High School, Gabe Rotter now permanently resides in Los Angeles with his wife. He graduated from the film school at The University of Southern California in 2000, and since has worked in television, produced a feature film, penned the novel Duck Duck Wally, written a comic book, and is currently Director of Development for Ten Thirteen Productions. He has several
of his own projects in development for film and television adaptation.

New Non-Fiction DVD.

The Vaccine War - Controversy surrounds vaccines for many ordinary Americans. On one side sits scientific medicine and the public health establishment, on the other a populist coalition of parents, celebrities, politicians, and activists. It's a war that increasingly takes place on the Internet with both sides using the latest social media tools, including Facebook and Twitter, to win the hearts and minds of the public.

New York Times Literary Treat of the Week.....

Kashner, Sam and Schoenberger, Nancy. Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century. Harper/Collins.

Forget the Kardashians. Any of the so-called "Real Housewives" fades in comparison. "The Hills?" That's a laugh. Taylor and Burton's romantic and working relationship was the first media reality show coming at the dawn of the paparazzi. From their open affair on the set of "Cleopatra", through two marriages and divorces every up and down of the couple was considered "newsworthy". Merrick native Sam Kashner and his wife Nancy Schoenberger utilize interviews with Elizabeth Taylor plus diaries and correspondence of Richard Burton provided by his family. Through them we see an actress used to being indulged since childhood and a gifted actor who tried to drown with alcohol a lifetime of self-loathing. One comes to question whether the now (in)famous Taj Mahal diamond Burton gave to Taylor was presented as a love OR peace offering. And one wonders if the duo were coming to terms before Burtons' 1984 death.

Also by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger at Merrick Library:

A Talent for Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant

Also by Sam Kashner:

The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties
When I Was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School

Reviewed by librarian, Bob.