The Recipe Box
Sandra Lee, 2013
Hyperion
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781401310837
Summary
Sandra Lee's debut novel is a heartwarming story about food, family, and forgiveness.
Grace Holm-D'Angelo is at her wit's end, trying to create a new life from broken pieces. Newly divorced, she is navigating suddenly becoming a single mother to her fourteen-year-old daughter. Emma, resentful about being uprooted from Chicago to LA and still reeling from the divorce, is generally giving her mother a hard time.
Then Grace's best friend, Leeza, succumbs to breast cancer after a long battle, and Grace realizes that you don't get a second chance at life. She returns to her hometown of New London, Wisconsin, to try to reconcile with her own mother, Lorraine, with whom she's been estranged for longer than she cares to remember.
Over the course of the summer, Grace rediscovers the healing powers of cooking, coming to terms with your past, and friendship, and learns you can go home again, and sometimes that's exactly where you belong.
The Recipe Box celebrates mothers, daughters, and friendships, and also features Sandra's delicious original recipes. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—July 3, 1966
• Where—Los Angeles, California, USA
• Raised—Onalaska, Wisoconsin
• Education—University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa, Canada
• Awards—Daytime Emmy Award
• Currently—lives in Chappaqua, New York
Sandra Lee Christiansen is an American television chef and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which Lee describes as using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items.
Early life
Sandra and her sister Cindy lived with their paternal grandmother, Lorraine, who was a formative influence on her culinary habits and whose tips are featured throughout her various cooking books. By 1972, her parents had divorced; her mother remarried, moving them to Sumner, Washington. When Sandra was 11, her mother divorced for a second time.
After her mother's divorce, Sandra took on the role of mother for her four younger siblings, which included buying groceries, preparing the meals, and handling the family finances. She graduated from Onalaska High School in Onalaska, Wisconsin. She then attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and attended Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa, Canada.
Career
In the early 1990s, Lee created a product called "Sandra Lee Kraft Kurtains," a home decorating tool that used a wire rack and sheets or other fabric samples to create decorative drapery. The product was sold via infomercials and cable shopping networks. QVC, the home-shopping network, hired her as on-air talent; in her first 18 months on the network, Lee sold $20 million worth of products.
Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee premiered on the Food Network in 2003. Each episode contains an arts and crafts element, in which Lee decorates the table setting in accordance with the theme of the meal that she just prepared. She refers to these as "tablescapes."
Her second Food Network series, Sandra's Money Saving Meals, aired in 2009. The addition of two new shows—Sandra’s Restaurant Remakes and Sandra Lee’s Taverns, Lounges & Clubs—makes four successful shows on cable TV.
In addition to television, Lee also has 25 books to her name—including Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade: Cool Kids Cooking (2006); a memoir, Made From Scratch (2006); and a novel, The Recipe Box (2013). She is editor-in-chief of the magazine Sandra Lee, launched in 2009.
In 2012, Lee won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host for Semi-Homemade Cooking.
Philanthropy
Lee's primary charity focus is on the issues of hunger, poverty and homelessness. She serves as national spokesperson for Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign and anchors their their largest annual fundraiser, The Great American Bake Sale. She also works with Food Banks across New York state and America and with Citymeals-on-Wheels.
In addition to hunger programs, Lee is involved with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Inspired by her grandmother who suffered from the disease, Lee created the "I Can With RA" program, which helps cooks living with the condition to "shop, organize their kitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way that causes the least discomfort."
Lee also works with the Elton John Aids Foundation, as well as with the Central Park Conservancy. She is a founding member of UNICEF's Board of Directors-Los Angeles chapter. In recognition of her many efforts, Lee received both the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Critical reaction
Amanda Hesser wrote in the New York Times that Lee "seems more intent on encouraging people to create excuses for not cooking than on encouraging them to cook wholesome simple foods."
The Charlotte Observer, while summarizing the criticism from food critics and nutritionists, noted that Lee has both harsh critics and adoring fans. When the Observer asked Lee about the criticism, she replied that she "was surprised by the reaction on both sides," adding "that's how you know it's meaningful, when you get a reaction."
When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a review of Lee's cookbook Semi-Homemade Cooking, which criticized both her recipe and her "Semi-Homemade" concept, the review's author received a response "that was more impassioned than I anticipated." Although most readers agreed with the article, a number took issue with it. As one reader wrote, "Lots of people who don't want to take the time to shred a cup of carrots want to cook a good meal."
Kurt Soller, writing for Newsweek, compared Lee's impact upon television cooking with that of Julia Child, noting that although Lee's show "is the furthest from Child's methods," both women "filled a niche that hasn't yet been explored".
Personal life
From 2001 to 2005 Lee was married to KB Home CEO and philanthropist Bruce Karatz. In fall of 2005, she entered a relationship with Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. The two share a house in Chappaqua, New York. (Adapted from Wikipedia and the author's website. Retrieved 10/27/2014.)
Book Reviews
Lee’s writing is more tell than show and heavy-handed with moral messages, but her straightforward style and humorous dialogue allow the plot to move along at a pleasantly zippy pace.... Lee’s original recipes, scattered throughout, enhance the narrative and allow the reader to form a visceral connection to this foodcentric narrative. —Emily Roth
Booklist
Slow in some parts, and with some awkward storytelling...the book still offers a generally heartwarming tale of a mother and daughter who are facing real-life problems and show the courage and determination to confront them, along with some clever details that flesh out the story in unique, surprising ways.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
(The following questions were offered to LitLovers by Angela at Ligonier Public Library, Ligonier, IN. Thank you, Angela.)
1. Sandra Lee is famous for her television show on the Food Network, books, and magazines; all of which are non-fiction. How successful was her first voyage into fiction in the form of The Recipe Box.
2. Sandra Lee is especially known for her recipes that focus around Semi-Homemade and Keeping it Simple. What did you think of the recipes included in the book? Was there any that you wanted to make copies of? Did you find the recipe index helpful?
3. Did you agree with Ken about the secret of the recipe box, is it something to get over and leave in the past, or with Grace that it changed her whole view on the world and the connections she had?
4. Is there that much difference in Lorraine hiding the secret of Grace’s father and Grace hiding the secret of the reasons of her divorce from her daughter? Then later, the larger secret of Grace not truly knowing who the father of Emma truly is? Why does Grace not see, especially when trouble arises with Emma, that honesty may be the needed element.
5. Do you think Grace is like the recipe box—“a hard, weather shell hiding a heart-shattering truth in plain sight”?
6. What do you think of Grace’s relationships with the four men in her life: Von, Brian, Mike, and Ken?
7. Later Grace sees the real value of the recipe box. That instead of causing her pain, it instead was the source of so many good things such as history, heritage, and love. Do you have anything passed through your family that is like this?
8. The relationship between Grace and Emma dramatically changes from beginning to end. What was she failing on as a mother and what did Emma really need from her? What was the best move Grace made in dealing with Emma?
(Questions courtesy of Angela at Ligonier Public Library, Ligonier, IN. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Lady President
Linda Owen, 2014
Blue Ash Press/Bookbaby
310 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781490814001
Summary
African dictator Bantu Sibaba rules his new nation with an iron fist. Most of the countries in south and central Africa no longer exist, having been gobbled up by his troops. Regarded as a modern-day Stalin, he maintains power with bomb threats. Now he wants to rule the world. Only one person on earth can stop him: the female president of the United States.
President Stephanie Franklin knew Sibaba years ago, while she was in the Peace Corps. As she struggles to keep the peace between their two nations, Stephanie is surrounded by deception, revenge, greed, murder and corruption in Washington. An assassin shoots at her. She endures plots against her presidency and her life by a political enemy, a journalist, an unfaithful husband, and an envious identical twin.
Through it all, she is aided by the man who has silently loved her for over a decade. Even with Adam at her side, will she survive the attempts on her life long enough to save America from nuclear war?
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—San Marcos, Texas, USA
• Education—B.S., Southwest Texas University; M.Div., Perkins School of Theology
• Currently—lives in San Antonio, Texas
Linda Owen has had thousands of articles published. She is a regular writer on faith, retirement, travel, and general interest subjects for a variety of newspapers and magazines, both secular and Christian.
She received a Master of Divinity Degree from Perkins School of Theology (SMU) and served briefly as a pastor and a chaplain. Linda teaches a weekly Bible study and has written Bible Study Curriculum for the United Methodist Publishing House. For five years she edited a Christian magazine. She is also the author of Emergency Care, an inspirational suspense. She lives in San Antonio, TX, with her husband Ervin. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
See article on Linda.
Book Reviews
President Franklin is a woman of great compassion and integrity.... Owen skillfully shows how her Christian faith guides her decisions and provides her with the strength to face her personal and political crises.... Entertaining, romantic suspense with vivid characters and a fast-paced plot.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. How did you feel about Stephanie? Is this the story of an incompetent president or a competent one? What makes you say that?
2. How many times did Stephanie “die”? Did the author surprise you repeatedly?
3. The author reports that the epilogue was not in the original draft. Examine the novel with it missing. Which makes the better book? Are you the kind of reader who needs a happy ending?
4. What happened in the beginning of the novel that fueled the plots to kill the president?
5. Describe the main characters—personality traits, motivations, inner qualities. Why do the characters do what they do? (Lowe, Adam, Stephanie, Samantha, Cheri).
6. Several characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story. Which one was your favorite? What events trigger the changes?
7. Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way?
8. Discuss the book’s structure. Does the author use any narrative devices like flashbacks or multiple voices in telling the story?
9. Did the author lead you to a new understanding or awareness of God’s role in your life?
10. Do you believe in the healing power of God? Even if there is no healing miracle, where do you see God at work in the characters’ lives?
11. Do you think illness makes people closer to God or causes them to distance themselves from Him? What has been the pattern in your life?
12. Were you satisfied with Stephanie’s answers to Debra about God and her sinfulness? (See Chapter 46.) What else would you have told the doctor? Have you seen God working through human beings to accomplish His plan? When?
13. How do you feel about having a Christian president? Do you agree with Ken Chang’s statement that a leader’s faith is unimportant? (Chapter 26) Why do you feel that way? What are the Christian themes that thread the plot? What does the storyline reveal about love and war?
14. Do you believe that a Christian should be willing to sacrifice for others? Do you think sacrificing your life is only done by physical death?
15. How effectively does the author portray the presence of spirituality in the characters’ lives? Does the author succeed in presenting prayer in a way that feels relevant? Are there specific characters whose beliefs resonate with yours?
16. What made you want to read this book? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?
17. What do you see as the major message of the novel? Would you recommend it to a friend?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
Perfidia
James Ellroy, 2014
Knopf Doubleday
722 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307956996
Summary
It is December 6, 1941. America stands at the brink of World War II. Last hopes for peace are shattered when Japanese squadrons bomb Pearl Harbor. Los Angeles has been a haven for loyal Japanese-Americans—but now, war fever and race hate grip the city and the Japanese internment begins.
The hellish murder of a Japanese family summons three men and one woman. William H. Parker is a captain on the Los Angeles Police Department. He’s superbly gifted, corrosively ambitious, liquored-up, and consumed by dubious ideology. He is bitterly at odds with Sergeant Dudley Smith—Irish émigré, ex-IRA killer, fledgling war profiteer. Hideo Ashida is a police chemist and the only Japanese on the L.A. cop payroll.
Kay Lake is a twenty-one-year-old dilettante looking for adventure. The investigation throws them together and rips them apart. The crime becomes a political storm center that brilliantly illuminates these four driven souls—comrades, rivals, lovers, history’s pawns.
Perfidia is a novel of astonishments. It is World War II as you have never seen it, and Los Angeles as James Ellroy has never written it before. Here, he gives us the party at the edge of the abyss and the precipice of America’s ascendance.
Perfidia is that moment, spellbindingly captured. It beckons us to solve a great crime that, in its turn, explicates the crime of war itself. It is a great American novel. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 4, 1948
• Where— Los Angeles, California, USA
• Education—N/A
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black Dahlia (1987), The Big Nowhere (1988), L.A. Confidential (1990), White Jazz (1992), American Tabloid (1995), The Cold Six Thousand (2001), and Blood's a Rover (2009)
Life and career
Ellroy was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Geneva Odelia (nee Hilliker) Ellroy, a nurse, and Armand "Lee" Ellroy, an accountant and, according to Ellroy, onetime business manager of Rita Hayworth.
After his parents' divorce, Ellroy and his mother relocated to El Monte, California. In 1958, Ellroy's mother was murdered. The police never found the perpetrator, and the case remains unsolved. The murder, along with reading The Badge by Jack Webb (a book composed of sensational cases from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department, a birthday gift from his father), were important events of Ellroy's youth.
Ellroy's inability to come to terms with the emotions surrounding his mother's murder led him to transfer them onto another murder victim, Elizabeth Short, the "Black Dahlia"; throughout his youth, Ellroy used Short as a surrogate for his conflicting emotions and desires. His confusion and trauma led to a period of intense clinical depression, from which he recovered only gradually.
Ellroy dropped out of school. He joined the army for a short while. During his teens and twenties, he drank heavily and abused Benzedrex inhalers. He was engaged in minor crimes (especially shoplifting, house-breaking, and burglary) and was often homeless.
After serving some time in jail and suffering a bout of pneumonia, during which he developed an abscess on his lung "the size of a large man's fist," Ellroy stopped drinking and began working as a golf caddy while pursuing writing. He later said, "Caddying was good tax-free cash and allowed me to get home by 2 p.m. and write books.... I caddied right up to the sale of my fifth book."
Ellroy is a self-described hermit who possesses very few technological amenities, including television, and claims never to read contemporary books by other authors, aside from Joseph Wambaugh's The Onion Field, for fear that they might influence his own. However, this does not mean that Ellroy does not read at all, as he claims in his 1996 autobiography, My Dark Places, to have read at least two books a week growing up, eventually shoplifting more to satisfy his love of reading. He says that he read works by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler accompanied by abuse of alcohol and Benzedrex inhalers.
Literary career
Ellroy published his first novel in 1981, Brown's Requiem, a detective story drawing on his experiences as a caddy. He then published two more, Clandestine and Killer on the Road, and followed with his Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy, centered on a police officer.
While his early novels earned him a cult following, Ellroy earned much greater success and critical acclaim with the L.A. Quartet—The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. The four novels represent Ellroy's change of style from classic modernist noir fiction to so-called postmodern historiographic metafiction. The Black Dahlia, for example, fused the real-life murder of Elizabeth Short with a fictional story of two police officers investigating the crime.
In 1995, Ellroy published American Tabloid, the first novel in a series informally dubbed the "Underworld USA Trilogy," which Ellroy describes as a "secret history" of the mid-to-late 20th century. Tabloid was named Time's fiction book of year for 1995. Its follow-up, The Cold Six Thousand, became a bestseller. The final novel, Blood's a Rover, was released on September 22, 2009.
Ellroy is currently writing a "Second L.A. Quartet" taking place during the Second World War, with some characters from the first L.A. Quartet and the Underworld USA Trilogy returning younger. Perfidia, the first book, iwas released in 2014. Because many fictional and real life characters appear in Perfidia, many from his prior novels, Ellroy added a Dramatis personae, which notes the previous appearances of characters and includes short summaries for some.
Writing style
Hallmarks of his work include dense plotting and a relentlessly pessimistic—albeit moral—worldview. His work has earned Ellroy the nickname "Demon dog of American crime fiction."
He writes in longhand and on legal pads, rather than on a computer, and prepares elaborate outlines for his books, most of which are several hundred pages long.
Dialog and narration in Ellroy novels often consists of a "heightened pastiche of jazz slang, cop patois, creative profanity and drug vernacular" with a particular use of period-appropriate slang. He often employs stripped-down staccato sentence structures, a style that reaches its apex in The Cold Six Thousand and which Ellroy describes as a "direct, shorter-rather-than-longer sentence style that's declarative and ugly and right there, punching you in the nards."
The signature style is not the result of a conscious experimentation but of chance and came about when he was asked by his editor to shorten his novel L.A. Confidential by more than a hundred pages. Rather than removing any subplots, Ellroy achieved this by cutting every unnecessary word from every sentence, creating a unique style of prose.
Public life and views
In media appearances, Ellroy has adopted an outsized, stylized public persona of hard-boiled nihilism and self-reflexive subversiveness. He frequently begins public appearances with a monologue such as:
Good evening peepers, prowlers, pederasts, panty-sniffers, punks and pimps. I'm James Ellroy, the demon dog, the foul owl with the death growl, the white knight of the far right, and the slick trick with the donkey dick. I'm the author of 16 books, masterpieces all; they precede all my future masterpieces. These books will leave you reamed, steamed and drycleaned, tie-dyed, swept to the side, true-blued, tattooed and bah fongooed. These are books for the whole fuckin' family, if the name of your family is Manson.
Another aspect of his public persona involves an almost comically grand assessment of his work and his place in literature. He once told the New York Times, "I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime novelist who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific what Tolstoy is to the Russian novel and what Beethoven is to music." (Adated from a longer article in Wikipedia. Retrieved 10/15/201.)
Book Reviews
In Dudley Smith, Ellroy has found the hellhound guide for his neon-noir Los Angeles underbelly…Smith casts the same shadow over Perfidia that Judge Holden cast over Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. He's writ large and writ evil, a monolith of corruption and utilitarian expediency. But unlike what Ellroy did with Smith's previous appearances, here he sets his sights, to varying degrees of success, on the devil's heart and the ways in which satanic charms often coexist with paternal benevolence. For Smith engenders loyalty as much as he does fear. In a world as sordid and chaotic as the one Ellroy depicts, the simple purity of Smith's evil attains a kind of nobility.
Denis Lehane - New york Times Book Review
Compelling.... A triumphant return to the violent fictional world where he started—1940s Los Angeles.
Andrew Neather - Evening Standard (UK)
Perfidia brings the two sides of his work together: the period crime-writing of LA Quartet, with its highlighting of police misdemeanours, and the wider politico-historical concerns of his subsequent Underworld USA trilogy.
Guardian (UK)
There has never been a writer like James Ellroy. Since the Eighties, in novels such as L.A. Confidential and The Cold Six Thousand, he has been making real a secret world behind the official history of America, where bad girls mingle with very bad men, and the designs of murderers, cops, mobsters, movie stars and politicians can be equally callous, equally deadly. He melds racial invective, street slang, hepcat jazz talk, junkie jive and scandal-rag rants into prose of controlled intensity, and to enter it is to experience a vivid eyeball rush of recognition.
Chris Harvey - Telegraph (UK)
A great read.... Perfidia is a murder mystery, a subversive historical novel, and a dark meditation on power, politics, race and justice.
Mark Lindquist - Seattle Times
If Ellroy’s bitter visions entice you, Perfidia will take you once again to the underbelly of American history.... You will dive into Perfidia with a shiver that is equal parts anticipation and fear—because you know it's going to get very dark very fast.... Ellroy’s singular style has been described as jazzlike or telegraphic; here it is insomniac, hallucinogenic, nightmarish.
Colette Bancroft - Tampa Bay Times
[The L.A. Quartet] may be the ne plus ultra of noir, grittier than Chandler, more operatic than Hammett, and more violent even than Cain.... Ellroy whittles [his characters’] thoughts and actions into sentences the way others do shivs—lean, brutalist, and intended to puncture, to penetrate.
Chris Wallace - Interview
Ellroy launches his second L.A. Quartet with a sprawling, uncompromising epic of crime and depravity, with admirable characters few and far between.... This is as good a sample of Ellroy as any for newcomers, and old hands will find new perspectives on old characters intriguing.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) A return to the scene of Ellroy’s greatest success and a triumphant return to form.... His character portrayals have never been more nuanced or—dare we say it—sympathetic.... A disturbing, unforgettable, and inflammatory vision of how the men in charge respond to the threat of war. It’s an ugly picture, but just try looking away.
Booklist
(Starred review.) [A] war novel like no other. It’s complicated, and the author wouldn’t have it any other way. There's no telling the good guys from the bad in Ellroy’s Los Angeles, because there are no good guys.... Ellroy is not only back in form—he’s raised the stakes.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader, begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the clues in this work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted only to extend the story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better, or different, ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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The Dog
Joseph O'Neill, 2014
Knopf Doubleday
256 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307378231
Summary
The author of the best-selling and award-winning Netherland now gives us his eagerly awaited, stunningly different new novel: a tale of alienation and heartbreak in Dubai.
Distraught by a breakup with his long-term girlfriend, our unnamed hero leaves New York to take an unusual job in a strange desert metropolis. In Dubai at the height of its self-invention as a futuristic Shangri-la, he struggles with his new position as the "family officer" of the capricious and very rich Batros family.
And he struggles, even more helplessly, with the "doghouse," a seemingly inescapable condition of culpability in which he feels himself constantly trapped—even if he’s just going to the bathroom, or reading e-mail, or scuba diving.
A comic and philosophically profound exploration of what has become of humankind’s moral progress, The Dog is told with Joseph O’Neill’s hallmark eloquence, empathy, and storytelling mastery. It is a brilliantly original, achingly funny fable for our globalized times. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1964
• Where—Cork, Ireland
• Raised—primarily in Holland
• Awards—PEN/Faulkner Award
• Education—LL. B., Cambridge University
• Currently—New York, New York, USA
Joseph O'Neill is an Irish novelist and non-fiction writer. His 2008 novel Netherland was awarded the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and The Dog, published in 2014, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Early life
O'Neill was born in Cork Ireland, in 1964. He is of half-Irish and half-Assyrian (his mother's family belonged to the Syrian Catholic Church in Mersin) ancestry. His parents moved around much in O'Neill's youth: he spent time in Mozambique as a toddler and in Turkey until the age of four, and he also lived in Iran. From the age of six, O'Neill lived in The Netherlands, where he attended the Lycee francais de La Haye and the British School in the Netherlands.
He read law at Girton College, Cambridge, preferring it over English because "literature was too precious" and he wanted it to remain a hobby. O'Neill started off his literary career in poetry but had turned away from it by the age of 24. After a year off to write his first novel, O'Neill became a barrister at the English Bar, where he practiced for ten years at a barristers chambers in the Temple, principally in the field of business law. Since 1998 he has lived in New York City. He teaches at Bard College.
Writing
O'Neill is the author of four novels, including This Is the Life (1991), The Breezes (1996), Netherland (2008), and The Dog (2014).
His 2008 Netherland was featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, where it was called "the wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we've yet had about life in New York and London after the World Trade Center fell." It was also included in the New York Times list of the 10 Best Books of 2008.
His fourth novel The Dog, published in 2014, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.
In addition to fiction, he is also the author of a non-fiction book, Blood-Dark Track: A Family History, which was a New York Times Notable Book for 2002 and a book of the year for the Economist and the Irish Times.
Additionally, O'Neill writes literary and cultural criticism, most regularly for the Atlantic Monthly. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 10/16/2014.)
Book Reviews
With consummate elegance, The Dog turns in on itself in imitation of the dreadful circling and futility of consciousness itself. Its subplots go nowhere, as in life. But, unlike life, its wit and brio keep us temporarily more alive than we usually allow ourselves to be.
Lawrence Osborne - New York Times Book Review
An interesting moral complexity....makes [The Dog] more than a comic novel. The writing is brisk and funny, but O'Neill is also exploring deep questions about ethics and happiness in a globalized age of instant information and economic inequality. His narrator is a fascinating creation: charming and repugnant, selfless and self-absorbed, erudite and steeped in popular culture.
Nick Romeo - Chicago Tribune
We’ve been waiting six years for a new book by Joseph O’Neill, after the spectacular Netherland, and it’s finally here. The Dog takes readers on a comical and philosophical journey to Dubai.
Time Out New York
(Starred review.) As he did brilliantly in Netherland, O’Neill, in his latest, creates a character who is alienated from his home and social class, and who feels dangerously vulnerable in a country in which he lives a luxurious but precarious existence.... Clever, witty, and profoundly insightful, this is a beautifully crafted narrative about a man undone by a soulless society.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) A humorous meditation on the dialects of attention and distraction in the modern world, O’Neill’s work playfully skewers the global economy of consumption and our abstract notions of responsibility in its perpetuation. —Joshua Finnell
Library Journal
(Starred review.) O’Neill gets some much-needed comic effects from the linguistic jigsaw puzzle, although he’s also capable of outright funny moments.... [A] thoughtful modern fable of exile, a sad story that comments darkly on the human condition and refuses bravely to trade on the success of Netherland.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The protagonist of The Dog describes Dubai as a city of contradictions: hypermodern in some respects, but antiquated in others. How does this tension between modernity and tradition manifest throughout the novel? In what situations is the city’s dual nature most apparent? Most troubling?
2. Discuss the protagonist’s relationship with Ali. In light of the protagonist’s own hesitations in his role as Family Officer, how would you describe the parameters of Ali’s job? How did the protagonist react to Ali’s termination?
3. The protagonist’s interactions with Alain provide many humorous moments throughout The Dog. Describe their relationship? How does the protagonist’s understanding of wealth and privilege change based on his interactions with Alain?
4. The concept of nationality is discussed throughout The Dog, revealing social and political inequities in Dubai. Discuss the label "bidoon." How does this concept of "statelessness" render bidoons inferior in Dubai society? How did you interpret the protagonist’s reluctance to ask Ali about his status?
5. Class divisions are readily apparent throughout The Dog, and often generate moral conflict. Discuss the protagonist’s guilt in regards to his esteemed position in society. What interactions cause him the most anguish? How does this relate to his feeling of being in "the doghouse"? In what ways is his privilege more pronounced in Dubai than it was in the United States?
6. Names bear an important symbolic weight throughout The Dog. How did you interpret the protagonist’s hesitation to reveal his name? Jenn’s aversion to her own? What connections can be made between names and power?
7. The Dog is a novel that explores the thin line between morality and immorality. How does the protagonist define morality? Would you consider him to be a moral person? In what areas of life is his moral compass most greatly challenged?
8. Discuss the scene that starts on page 162, wherein the protagonist reveals how he and Jenn ended their relationship. How does referring to her as "un-Jenn" during this scene help you to understand her character? Based on earlier descriptions of Jenn, were you surprised by her actions? Did you have any sympathy for her? For the protagonist?
9. The protagonist was a New York attorney. How does legalistic thinking and interpretation of events come into play throughout The Dog? How does he use logic to process business and personal affairs? Discuss the instances in which he breaks down social situations and interprets them within the scope of legality.
10. The reader is led to believe that the protagonist’s hesitation to commit to Jenn is based on his indifference toward having children, but in his fantasy about running off with the stranger in Union Square, he mentions that he "always wanted daughters." (page 159) Do you think this is a genuine statement, or is it borne out of his fantasy?
11. On page 197, the protagonist asserts that he is "fully aware that country branding is as old as Genesis." How do you interpret that statement? Why is branding so crucial to Dubai? Do the protagonist’s observations about life in the city give credence to the branding put forth by the country? In what ways are these ads misleading?
12. The protagonist’s sexual fantasies are laid out plainly throughout the novel. Why do you think he chose to use a pseudonym while patronizing prostitutes? How did these liaisons help to shape your understanding of him? His guilt?
13. The protagonist specifically states that Ollie is one of his only friends in Dubai. What makes their friendship unique? What does the protagonist value most in his friendships?
14. Social media—and the choice to participate in it—is discussed throughout The Dog. How does this manifest during the Ted Wilson incident? What complications arise when the presentation of "self" in social media does not match the presentation of "self" in real life?
15. The protagonist identifies himself as both half Swiss and an American. How does his status as an ex-pat align him more closely with the latter? Does he express a greater allegiance to either nationality—and if so, why?
16. How has the modern world challenged our understanding of nationality? How is it possible to do good when we are aware of the plight of everyone everywhere? Is Dubai really any different from the United States?
17. The Ted Wilson plotline carries throughout The Dog, revealing information about the protagonist and the social environment of Dubai as it unfolds. Given that we never meet Ted, why is he important to the plot? How does his absence open up opportunities for the protagonist to explore himself and his own feelings toward marriage, relationships, and identity?
18. Throughout the novel, the protagonist’s internal monologues reveal his inclination toward self-debasement. Did you think his actions justify his self-image? Did you consider him a likable character? A sympathetic one? Did your feelings toward him shift or change throughout your reading experience?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
A Hunka Hunka Nursing Love
Kathryn Maeglin, 2013
Soul Mate Publishing
276 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781619352476
Summary
Imagine a visiting-nurse service with hot young guys as caregivers. What golden girl wouldn’t dig that?
Valerie Palka is a savvy businesswoman who is obsessed with keeping her elderly mom, Helen, safe from all the lethal disasters that can befall widows living alone. Helen thinks the workaholic Valerie should focus on having as much luck in the bedroom as she does in the boardroom.
But when Helen takes a spill and is rushed to the ER, a handsome male nurse, Keith Nuber, strikes her fancy, and she tells her daughter, "If you could get a handsome devil like that to take care of me, I’d be willing to consider it." So Valerie creates a care agency, Home Health Hunks, staffed by attractive younger men.
Valerie’s idea is filled with potential . . . and potholes. As she navigates the tricky road to satisfying her mom as well as her own ambition, she finds herself falling for one of her employees—Keith—and is forced to examine her beliefs about the true meaning of success.
Author Bio
• Birth—December 23, 1958
• Where—Moline, Illinois, USA
• Education— A.A. Black Hawk College; B.S., Arizona State
• Currently—lives in Indianapolis, Indiana
In her words
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a nurse. I quickly discovered this was not a wise choice, since I couldn’t stand the sight of blood. Next I wanted to be an actress. Unfortunately, my only talent onstage was that I could be heard in the back row.
Finally I decided to become a journalist. My original goal was to be Jane Pauley’s replacement on the "Today" show. Alas, I didn’t have Jane’s looks, poise, confidence, skill or wisdom. In fact, the only thing we had in common was that we were both corn-fed blondes from the Midwest. In my case, much more corn had been consumed.
So I ended up being a print journalist for 24 years. I worked for daily newspapers in Rock Island, Ill., and Madison, Wis.; for a Chicago-based trade journal that covered the radio and TV industry; and as special projects editor for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I started a couple of special sections for women, one of which won two state awards, while the other won a national award.
I began writing fiction several years ago, driven primarily by the desire to create and entertain. But I also try to share something of value by spinning tales that remind us we're all in this crazy mess called "life" together. I hope you can relate to my writing, even if it's just to share a laugh.
I’m happily married and have two overfed, underemployed cats.
Ten percent of my net royalties will be donated to two charities that serve people dealing with cancer: Cancer Support Community and Pink Ribbon Connection.
Visit the author's website.
Follow Kathryn on Facebook.
Book Reviews
A clever concept and comical cougars give readers a hot dose of humor as well as A Hunka Hunka Nursing Love. Don't miss Kathryn Maeglin's delightful debut.
Pamela Morsi, USA Today Bestselling Author
Kathryn Maeglin enchants as she weaves through the vagaries of life while dating and caring for an older parent. Ms. Maeglin addresses issues of aging some of us wish to ignore, but does it in such a way that we grow to love her endearing characters. Well done. From the beginning scene to the end, this book is about passion and compassion, which we all need in our lives. Excellent and entertaining!
Emma Wildes, Author of Ruined by Moonlight and Twice Fallen
Surprisingly layered with deeply realistic characters and situations that many are facing, Maeglin's debut offering is clever, heartwarming and full of situations that range from laugh out loud funny to tear-inducing—5 Stars.
I Am, Indeed: the Place to Find Your Next Read
This story had a lot of fun and interesting elements in it (cougar, senior-citizen and same-sex love stories), yet...the author knows how to tie them together seamlessly and make it sweet and heartwarming. I really enjoyed this story and even admit that I wouldn't mind reading it again.
The Reading Cafe
[A] well-crafted love story that sensitively addresses the issues of caring for aging parents. I also thought the author did a good job with character development.
Manic Readers
4.5 Stars
Chick Lit Plus
Discussion Questions
1. When Valerie decides to create Home Health Hunks, she takes a risk that moves her out of her normal comfort zone. Think of a time when you took a large risk and describe how that turned out. What did you learn from the process?
2. At one point, Valerie bemoans: "I finally get to be a mom, but my child is my own mother." Have you ever found yourself in the position of having to "parent" one of your own parents? If so, what was that experience like?
3. There were times when Helen clearly felt Valerie was overstepping her bounds as an adult child. Do you think children have a responsibility to care for their aging parents? If so, at what point would you say the child has gone too far?
4. Many successful businesspeople, particularly entrepreneurs, say they have to work sixty to eighty hours a week or they won’t be successful. Can you sympathize with these people, or do you think they’re making an unwise choice? How do you handle the work-life balance challenge?
5. If someone actually started a business such as Home Health Hunks, they would probably come under fire for "objectifying" men. Do you think there’s a double standard when it comes to objectifying men vs. objectifying women? Why or why not?
6. Some would say Valerie’s decision to get involved with an employee was unethical. Would you agree with that? Why or why not?
7. Valerie had serious concerns about the age difference between herself and Keith. Do you think her concerns were valid? Why or why not? Have your ever dated/married someone considerably older or younger than yourself? If so, how would you describe that experience?
8. Mother-daughter relationships can range from very close to very contentious. What could Valerie and/or Helen have done to make their relationship less adversarial?
9. Helen knows Valerie’s workaholism has caused her daughter great pain, and at one point, she tells Valerie: "Sometimes your greatest strength can also be your worst enemy." Can you think of an example of this in your own life? Please elaborate.
10. The main theme of this book is: If you’re always worried about the future, you can’t enjoy the present. Do you strive to make the most of the present, and if so, how?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)