Book Review: Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner

Thursday 16 September, 2010 By 3 Comments


Title: Blue Nude
Author: Elizabeth Rosner
Publisher: Gallery; Reprint edition
Publication Date: September 14, 2010
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN: 978-1439173084
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

Once a prominent painter, Danzig now shares his wisdom and technique with students at San Francisco’s Art Institute—yet his own canvases remain empty. When he meets Israeli-born Merav, the beautiful new model for his class, he senses she may reignite his artistic passion. Merav moved to California to escape the danger and violence of the Middle East, yet she cannot outrun her fears about the past. As the characters challenge one another, Rosner lyrically uncovers their disparate upbringings, their creative awakenings, and their similarly painful, often catastrophic, love lives to propel them toward reconciliation, redemption, and ultimately revival.

My Review:

Beautiful, poetic and written in a lyrical manner, Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner is an astonishingly brilliant novel about love, loss, and healing.  Danzig is a German-born painter struggling day-to-day teaching others to paint, while he himself cannot. Will Merav, an Israeli born model who arrives in his class to pose, become the muse he has been looking for to reconnect, heal and resume painting?  Both chose San Francisco in an attempt to move as far away from their respective memories as possible, yet can one ever escape one’s memories?  Rosner’s writing carries many themes pertaining to the arts, especially composition and how something is always being composed, a painting, a song, the self, and a delicate balance of non-verbal communication. The pure beauty of Rosner’s words will mesmerise the reader, especially as she speaks of how nothing is accidental, that balance, harmony and unity, words applicable to an art class as well as life, constantly transform everything around us.  Artist and model are each trying to escape their respective pasts, to compose themselves, to find their inner muse and to fill their canvases.  Blue Nude is a poetically sensual novel of life, memories, beauty, and redemption. Without hesitation, I recommend Blue Nude to all readers and sincerely hope book groups choose this remarkably beautiful book.  I eagerly await Rosner’s next book and intend to read her previous novel The Speed of Light.

I received a complimentary copy of Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner from Simon & Schuster to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: A Geography of Secrets by Frederick Reuss

Wednesday 15 September, 2010 By 4 Comments


Title: A Geography of Secrets
Author: Frederick Reuss
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Publication Date: September 7, 2010
Hardcover: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-1609530006
Genre: Literary Fiction, Spy Thriller

From the Publisher:

Two men: One discovers the cost of keeping secrets, of building a career within a government agency where secrets are the operational basis. Noel Leonard works for the Defense Intelligence Analysis Center, mapping coordinates for military actions halfway around the world. One morning he learns that an error in his office is responsible for the bombing of a school in Pakistan. And he knows suddenly that he is as alone as he is wrong. From his windowless office in DC to an intelligence conference in Switzerland, and back to his daughter’s college in Virginia, Noel claws his way toward a more personally honest life in which he can tell his family everything every day.

Another man learns that family secrets have kept him from who he is and from the ineluctable ways he is attached to a world he has always disdained. This unnamed narrator, a cartographer, is the son of a career diplomat whose activities in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and then in Europe during the Cold War may not have been what they were said to be. He, too, travels to Switzerland, but his quest is not to release himself from secrecy—it is to learn how deep the secrets in his own life go.

With a voice like John le Carré’s and the international sensibility of Graham Greene, Frederick Reuss examines the unavoidably covert nature of lives that make their circles through Washington, DC. A Geography of Secrets is a novel of the time from an acclaimed author who knows the lay of the land.

My Review:

A Geography of Secrets by Frederick Reuss is an exquisitely multi-layered work of literary fiction. Reuss captures the essence of human emotions and behaviors in his novel, which on the surface presents as a spy novel and an excellent one at that. Reuss goes so far as to provide the reader with coordinates that when entered into Google Earth allows the reader to geographically follow the story. With a firm look at Washington, D.C., and all that is known and unknown, the reader is shown the world through a cartographer’s eyes and the eyes of a Department of Defense analyst “bean counter”. A Geography of Secrets is a powerful, philosophical novel begging the reader to question what is seen and unseen in the world, to look at how people interact and just how many roles each person plays in any given day. At the heart of the matter is a sense of longing to belong, to find one’s center, one’s moral compass and the complex dynamics of family. Reuss reminds the reader of the fragility of life in the seemingly never-ending quest for identity. I highly recommend A Geography of Secrets to all readers and truly believe this would make a brilliant discussion group book.

About the Author:

Frederick Reuss is the acclaimed author of Horace Afoot, Henry of Atlantic City, and The Wasties. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two daughters. – Author photo by Vaughan Melzer.

I received a complimentary copy of A Geography of Secrets by Frederick Reuss from Unbridled Books. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Now’s The Time by Larry Strauss

Saturday 31 July, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Now’s the Time
Author: Larry Strauss
Publisher: Kearney Street Books; First edition
Publication Date: December 1, 2009
Paperback: 175 pages
ISBN: 978-0972370677
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

Part mystery, part journey, completely heart-felt, “Now’s the Time” follows jazz trumpeter Didi Heron as she searches for the lost tape of her father’s last gig before he tragically died. A celebration of family ties and musical legacies, “Now’s the Time” is a meditation on jazz and jazz players. Drawing inspiration from a potpourri of stories from the American jazz tradition, notably those of trumpeter Clifford Brown, Strauss has created a fictional work rooted in historical fact.

My Review:

Blending historical fact and fiction, Now’s the Time by Larry Strauss is a beautiful and lyrical novel about a young woman’s coming into her own in the jazz industry. In February 1956, Pianist Billy Heron and three other band members were in a fatal car accident. Twenty years later Didi Heron learns that a tape recording was made of the last performance given by the LB Quintet. A trumpet player herself and blues aficionado, Didi makes it her mission to discover what has happened to the last recording of her father’s music. Now’s the Time creates the tone of the dying out blues-jazz movement, mentioning the greatest names throughout the history of jazz and the evolution and progression of jazz music over time. Strauss writes with a deep emotion, evoking in the reader a passion for jazz music whether the reader has ever heard of the greats or not. Now’s the Time is a beautiful look at history with the added bonus of a mystery and a young woman coming into her own in the jazz world. Steeped in the history of jazz, I would recommend this novel to any music aficionado.

I received a complimentary copy of Now’s the Time by Larry Strauss from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari

Tuesday 6 July, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Taroko Gorge
Author: Jacob Ritari
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Publication Date: July 6, 2010
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-1936071654
Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery

From the Publisher:

A disillusioned and raggedy American reporter and his drunken photojournalist partner are the last to see three Japanese schoolgirls who disappear into Taroko Gorge, Taiwan’s largest national park. The journalists—who are themselves suspects—investigate the disappearance along with the girls’ homeroom teacher, their bickering classmates, and a seasoned and wary Taiwanese detective. The conflicts between them—complicated by the outrageousness of the photographer and the raging hormones of the young—raise questions of personal responsibility, truthfulness, and guarded self-interest.
The world and its dangers—both natural and interpersonal—are real, changing, and violently pressing. And the emotions that churn in dark rooms overnight as the players gather in the park visitors’ center are as intense as in any closet drama. There’s enough action and furor here to keep readers turning the pages, and the cultural revelations of the story suggest that the human need for mystery outweighs the desire for answers.

My Review:

A mystery, cultural differences, religious differences, a delightful debate on Occam’s razor (spelled Ockam’s in the book), and humanity are just a few words to describe what comprises Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari. His debut novel is a beautifully written, insightful, and deeply philosophical look at life, through the eyes of an American Journalist, two Japanese students, and a Taiwanese Homicide Detective, without appearing on the surface to be too philosophical.
The story develops around the disappearance of three Japanese schoolgirls in Taroko Gorge, Taiwan. The last known people to speak to the girls are two Americans, Peter Neils and Josh Pickett. The story is told from four perspectives; Peter Neils, American Journalist, Michiko Kamakiri, a confused teen who is hoping this graduation trip to Taiwan will bring about a love connection, Toru Maruyama, the Class Rep, which means he has been responsible for his classmates for three years and believes there is a lesson to be learned in the disappearance of his three classmates, and Hsien Chao the Taiwanese Homicide Detective who has a fondness for tea eggs and an extreme dislike for the Japanese. Taroko Gorge is an exceptionally well-written mystery with the added twist of deeply philosophical undertones. The writing style did not take me long to grow accustomed to and the character development is brilliantly created through the use of the various points of view and language throughout the book.
The mystery of three schoolgirls suddenly disappearing without a sound, only their shoes and neatly rolled-up socks are left behind, is compelling and keeps the reader trying to piece together clues through the different narratives. Ritari has created a brilliant debut book which is an exceptionally well written, intellectual mystery intertwining various cultures and the delightful undertones of philosophy. I highly recommend Taroko Gorge to anyone who enjoys a challenging book.

About the Author:

Jacob Ritari has studied with the Fo Guang shan buddhist organization in Taiwan and studied Japanese language and literature at Japan’s Sophia University. He lives near new York City.

For more information please visit the author’s website.

I received a complimentary copy of Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari from Unbridled Books. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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