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Archive for September, 2011

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Sep 22

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | No Comments

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

 

Trust Me. I’m a good man. “Do not trust Ben.” Or anyone by that name.

It would be all too easy to associate this novel with a movie that came out back in 2000, but I’m not going to do that. I’m pretty sure the review itself will reveal what movie I’m speaking of and if you’re unaware of it, then it’s your loss. In fact, this movie and this book really aren’t all that similar yet they share a common thread. I may have jumped the gun assuming the two would end up the same way, and for that I apologize.

Mr. Watson has written a riveting and engaging mystery/thriller novel that really stumped me from the get go. At first I was unsure if this was this really something I could get into; would the story and the characters be enough to get me to finish this book at the rate at which I have been reading (not that that really matters). In the end, it was, it was more than enough. This story is pretty f’ing badass.

I had to do a little research on Mr. Watson after finishing the book to see where he came up with the idea to write such a beautiful and telling story. Apparently, he is a British audiologist who was and maybe still is working with deaf children. He, like me, has in his time, started writing many, many different stories until “Before I Go To Sleep” fell into place and found the right publisher. Needless to say, it has sold well and has already been “optioned” for a film to be directed by Ridley Scott. Oddly enough, the book has little to do with his work in audiology, instead it centers around memory, memory loss and the individual identity.

I’m not going to pretend like I foresaw how the book would end, but it is pretty obvious and I think I realized it about halfway through. Don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil anything for you. The book is about a woman named Christine Lucas who after an accident has no memory. She wakes up every morning not knowing where she is, or who the man beside her in bed is. She wakes up thinking that she is in her twenties when in fact she is in her forties, her memories erased.

“I am an adult, but a damaged one,” is how Christine describes herself in her warped world of waking up to the unknown each day. She believes that “today is all I have,” once the man she wakes up with explains they are married to one another and that she suffers from amnesia. This all changes when she meets Dr. Nash, who encourages her to write a journal, which she can read to help her remember what has happened the days or weeks prior.

The book flows wonderfully and after getting through the first half, really keeps you on the edge of your seat. By keeping and writing in her journal, which Christine only remembers about each day when Dr. Nash calls to tell her where it is and what it is, she slowly puts the puzzle pieces together. Hell, it almost has me convinced that I should be keeping a journal, that said though, I treat this blog as a journal (minus the one year gap when it was dormant).

Without a doubt this book made me think about a lot things. I asked myself what life would be life if you had amnesia to the more mundane of what would I do if I got so drunk one night and woke up next to someone I didn’t know. I have no answers for either of these questions and with any luck, I’ll never know what either feels like. I’m kind of at a point in my life right now where I wish I could forget about the past three years of my life, I know that’s a harsh thing to say, but with what I’ve been dealing with these past couple of months, Lucas’ problem doesn’t seem like such a bad thing (even though I know, in my dark heart, that it is and I would never want to forget the years that have passed me by).

Read this one before it becomes a movie, it’s worth it.

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Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich

Sep 14

Posted by The Valet in Non-Fiction | 1 Comment

Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich

I’d give her the moon, if only I could.

Damn, people do some stupid things all in the name of love (myself included). I have to say that if I had been in Thad Roberts position, I may very well have done the exact same thing he did. Although, I think I would have done it a little bit differently. I may never have worked at NASA but I’m fairly confident that I’d make a better thief than he did.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read any non-fiction books and there’s a reason for that. Right now, at this stage in my life, I need something that I can read quickly, easily grasp and escape into. I’ve had this book on my shelf since the day it came out (admittedly it hasn’t been that long) and have been hesitant to pick it up for the reasons I just stated. But, I was pretty compelled to read about “the most audacious heist in history.” The thing is, this book didn’t read like non-fiction. It truly read like fiction, not because the story was so unbelievable that I didn’t think it could be true, but because of the way Mezrich wrote the book. And for that, I thank you Mr. Ben Mezrich. (I had no idea that Mezrich also wrote “The Accidental Billionaires” which most of us now know as the move “The Social Network.”)

This book chronicles the theft of one of the most precious elements on Earth, that is not actually from Earth, moon rocks. In case you didn’t already know this, possessing, owning or attempting to sell these “national treasures” is against the law. NASA and the United States government are the only agencies with the ability to study and present these precious rocks as gifts in either tribute or for the use of study. These rocks though, yeah, they’re worth a lot. And when I say “a lot” I’m talking like somewhere between $400k to $5M for a gram (compared to a gram of blow, I’d say that’s a lot). It’s shocking to me that Kim Kardashian doesn’t already own some sort of bikini made out of the stuff to cover her big, fat ass.

Thad Roberts never thought he wanted to be an astronaut until he was stumbling around the University of Utah career services files. After being expelled from his home for doing un-Mormon like things (pre-marital sex, drinking soda, beer, and who knows what else) the wheels were set in motion and like so many children who aspire to become astronauts, Roberts was well on his way when he was accepted to NASA’s prestigious co-op program. He left his life in Utah behind, including his wife, and began a new adventure in Texas that would sooner or later put him in the big house.

Thad Roberts (out of jail and about get a windfall from this book and a probable movie based on his attempted robbery)

As with so many crimes, there was a catalyst, and in my opinion, many catalysts for Thad. The most clear and most obvious of course is love, but beyond that I think there was a desire for notoriety, aspirations of wealth, greed and escaping his past that propelled him to do what he did. I can’t say that I would have acted any differently. But… I wouldn’t have gotten caught!

The story flows nicely and doesn’t jump around in time as much as so many other similar books do. It’s fairly linear, well written and definitely kept me engaged despite knowing how it all turns out in the end. Oddly enough, my favorite parts of this book were the letters interspersed throughout the book, between chapters, which Thad had written to his accomplice and love, Rebecca, while he spent his time behind bars. These letters felt, like something I would write but probably not nearly as eloquently. Here is just one of my favorites (feel free to insert another name in lieu of Rebecca, I know I do every time I read this):

“Beautiful Rebecca,
I hope you find yourself living a dream. I think of you often and send my love out into the unknown, hoping that somehow it finds you and warms you with a smile. I hope you have not let trouble convince you of impossibilities. There is no dream beyond your grasp, Rebecca. You are the rarest type of person there is and you deserve the best that emotion and experience can offer. Someday I hope to learn that every day finds you laughing, that your path matches your dreams, and that you have discovered that your fate isn’t to be an old lady with a few cats, but to live in passion to receive love, companionship, trust, and comfort to the degree that those fires live in you… the ones I knew briefly. Although it pains me to imagine you with another, it hurts more to imagine you living without love.”

I will give Thad Roberts this… he truly was the first man to ever have sex on the moon (or at least a piece of it).

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The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Sep 8

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | No Comments

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

I can’t tell you why, but I have pinning for a book or movie set in the wild west. I think it may have to do with my fantasy of being an outlaw gunslinger. You know the type that shows up in the middle of a dirt road in a ramshackle town, tumbleweeds crawling past in slow motion, women, children and men alike cowering behind barrels, shop windows and three story brothels, to square off with the man that stole a quarter from me in a game of poker (which I can’t play for shit).

“The Sisters Brothers” was more or less exactly what I was looking for. I was actually hoping for a bit more from it but that’s neither here nor there. Eli and Charlie Sisters are, obviously, brothers and are apparently infamous on the west coast for their devious, malicious and inscrutable ability to kill. Their back story isn’t really developed, so I can’t exactly say why they are “infamous” but that’s how they are portrayed. I really wish there had been a bit more back story there but you can’t always get what you want.

Charlie is a hot-head with a temper and drinking problem, while Eli is more the reserved, calm and collected type although when his temper gets the better of him “everything goes black and narrow.” Personally, I would more than likely fall into the Eli type when it comes to personality but for some reason, I found myself drawn to Charlie’s character. Where Eli would not sleep with a whore but would still leave her a handsome amount of money, Charlie would sleep with her and then leave her with nothing. Now… I’m not saying that’s anything that I would do, but right now I’m feeling brutish, but I liked the way deWitt characterized Charlie more so than Eli. Eli = a bit of a pussy with a gun and morals, while Charlie = a bit of an asshole with a gun and a bottle of brandy.

The story centers around the brothers’ trip from Oregon City to California where they are to find and kill a man for the Commodore, their employer and a tycoon with quite a bit of wealth. Their trip to California is long and is interspersed with side stories about the people they run into along the way and the fights they pick. While the writing style was pretty amazing, written to make the reader truly feel as though he was in the old West, the story kind of dragged for me until they finally started to pursue the man they were after. A hunt which eventually begins when they arrive in San Francisco. A San Francisco aptly described as a place where “the tradition of thrift and sensible spending has vanished…” and “a town peopled in morons exclusively.” Not too much unlike the San Francisco I live in today, minus the “morons” bit.

Eli Sisters is the narrator throughout the novel and his melancholic tone demonstrates his tiredness of the life which he has chosen. You can feel from his narrative that this adventure has changed his tune and that after this mission, he will do his best to change his life for the better. Charlie, on the other hand, doesn’t want that and can’t foresee himself from not causing havoc and smearing blood wherever he can.

One of the more entertaining or funny bits of the book is the moment when Eli discovers the beauty of using a toothbrush for the first time. He has to undergo some surgery on his mouth and the dentist he visits leaves him with a toothbrush and “brushing powder.” It’s kind of an ongoing thing throughout the novel in that he eventually convinces his ass of a brother to give the toothbrush a go and he thoroughly enjoys it. At another point in the story he also has a conversation with a woman, who he instantly falls for, surrounding the use of the brush.

Artwork by Sean Szeles

Overall, the story seemed like it was a bit rushed to me, I think it could have been much longer and delved more into Charlie and Eli’s past. But, like I said, I did enjoy it and did fill the void of my desire for a western novel.

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This Weeks Book Events (9/5/11) Bay Area Edition

Sep 5

Posted by The Valet in Events | No Comments

So it may be Labor Day but that doesn’t mean I take a break from posting. Sure, not many of you will see this since you won’t be sitting at your desk at work looking for some sort of distraction. But, perhaps come Tuesday you’ll find this and say “gee, what a great way to start off a shortened work week.”

My long weekend has been pretty nice, considering that it’s not even over yet. I saw a good friend and his wife whom I haven’t seen since last November, listened to Wilco’s newest album “The Whole Love” (which is f’ing incredible and is being released on 9/27), visited San Diego/Orange County yesterday to see my grandfather and spend some time with my parents and sister which was great and today, well, it’s just starting so who knows.

As for this week’s events, here you go.

Tuesday, September 6th
@ 6pm (Book Passage, San Francisco Ferry Building)
- Laurie R. King will be discussing her book “Pirate King” which follows Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, as they battle pirates or something like that. I think the coolest thing about this signing is that it’s actually being presented as a pirate theme party where attendees are encouraged to dress up as pirates and will get “booty” (not that kind of “booty” kids). The event is being put on in conjunction with Dave Egger’s 826 Valencia, which just happens to have a rather amazing pirate store here in San Francisco.

Thursday, September 8th
@7pm Books, Inc. (Burlingame)
- Ok, so I told you about a reading group/book club in last weeks events post and here I am giving you another one. I have no intention of attending this, because I’m not a big fan of these things and this club meets in Burlingame. This group calls themselves the “Manly Man Man Man Book Club,” a pretty manly name if you ask me. This week they’ll be discussing Michael Chabon’s “Gentleman of the Road” which I particularly enjoyed.

Saturday, September 10th
@ 930am CUESA Kitchen (San Francisco Ferry Building)
- I’ve actually never attended an event at the CUESA Kitchen at the Ferry Building but they are notorious for having some amazing food related events. This one however is on the early side and therefore I don’t really think I’ll make it. Regardless, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame will be there with Patricia Curtan discussing Water’s book “40 Years of Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering.” All you die hard foodies should get there and hear Ms. Water’s talk and then buy a copy of her book.

Saturday, September 10th
@5pm Books, Inc. (Berkeley)
- Ah yes, another food related event for all you foodies. This time it’s Anthony Myint and his wife Karen Leobowitz discussing their book “Mission Street Food.” Myint has created quite the name for himself in the past couple years by opening “Mission Chinese Food” and “Commonwealth” to name a few. I’ve been to both and enjoyed my meals although not as much as most do (apparently). Most locals are pretty familiar with these establishments and unfortunately I missed the book release party a few weeks back. If you’re in the East Bay, like good food and good causes, get there.

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