Book Review: "A Theory of Small Earthquakes" by Meredith Maran

And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.

The Raymond Carver poem "Late Fragment" is a favorite of Alison Rose, the main character in Meredith Maran's spectacular novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes. When Alison joins a "Feminist Transformations" seminar at Oberlin College in the mid-1980s, she finds herself immediately drawn to Zoe, a free-spirited artist who awakes in Alison the desire to be loved and protected, but also brings back memories and fears that stemmed from her fractious relationship with her mother. Alison and Zoe move to Berkeley after Alison's graduation, and they build a life together.

But when the Loma Prieta earthquake occurs in 1989, it exposes many of the cracks in their relationship, which magnified as they struggled to have a child. Alison settles into a more "normal" relationship with Mark, and they quickly have a son, Corey. Several months after Corey is born, Alison encounters Zoe again, and although she feels some initial betrayal, Zoe becomes a vital part of all of their lives, helping raise Corey and serving as a "goddessmother" counterpoint to Alison and Mark. But Alison is never completely comfortable in her life—she's never sure exactly what or who she wants, she's afraid that some of her secrets will be exposed, and most of all, she fears losing those she loves, even as her behavior often pushes them away.

A Theory of Small Earthquakes is a novel about love, family, parenthood, and being comfortable in your life, but it also is a tremendously fascinating reflection on the many different forms a family can take. While at times I worried the book might veer into soap opera-esque territory, Maran deftly keeps the story together, and at times I wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen. Some may take issue with the fluidity of Alison's sexuality, but it is clear from reading the book what motivates her most. I really enjoyed the characters, even while Alison's behavior irritated me at times, and in the end, I was moved, and truly fulfilled, by this story. This is a book for those who like to read about love, relationships, and human dynamics—I don't find this to be necessarily a "gay" novel in any way, just a tremendously well-written one.

Is there anything this guy can't do?

I rarely gush over people in the public eye, but in Matthew Bomer's case, I'll make an exception.



The White Collar star is not only pretty darn flawless in the looks department, but he's a very good actor, and recently came out of the closet publicly, acknowledging his long-time partner and their children.

In tomorrow's episode of Glee, Bomer demonstrates another talent—the guy can sing, too. Playing the brother of Darren Criss' character, Blaine, Bomer and Criss break out a duet of Gotye's current hit, Somebody That I Used to Know. (Criss is exceptionally talented and quite easy on the eyes himself, but Bomer pretty much captures my attention.)

Here's evidence of Bomer's talent. I'm hoping the guy snores, or can't cook, or has some other shocking character flaw, because this guy really got the lion's share of luck otherwise.

Book Review: "The Reconstructionist" by Nick Arvin

As a child, Ellis Barstow and his older half-brother, Christopher, were obsessed with car accidents, which happened frequently near their house. Christopher's death in a car accident while he is in high school puts Ellis on an aimless course; although he gets a college degree in engineering, he drifts from one meaningless and unsatisfactory job to another. After a chance encounter with Heather, Christopher's old girlfriend, who tried to rescue him from the crash, Ellis goes to work for Heather's husband, John Boggs, as a forensic reconstructionist, investigating, analyzing, and recreating the details of fatal car accidents.

Ellis loves his job, because it allows him to try and make sense of seemingly nonsensical things, and understand how one single action can have a ripple effect on so many. But Ellis is also increasingly drawn to Heather, and when they begin an affair, Boggs disappears. As Ellis tries to find him, he revisits the scenes of accidents they reconstructed, trying to make sense of his own life, as he is driven to uncover the truth about the accident that killed his brother, knowing it may affect his relationship with Heather.

This book was fascinating, compelling, and a little off-kilter at times. I loved the story at the heart of the book, and found the work that Ellis and Boggs did to be tremendously interesting, even though there was a little more scientific detail than I needed. And as Ellis analyzed his relationships and his past, the book took a poignant turn. However, I felt that Ellis' search for Boggs dragged on far longer than it needed to. While I felt I understood Ellis' motivation to keep trying to find him, Boggs didn't really seem to be the person you thought he was, so the whole section of the book threw me off a bit. But I still found the book moving and thought-provoking, and that is a testament to Nick Arvin's exceptional story-telling ability.

Book Review: "So Cold the River" by Michael Koryta

Eric Shaw was once a promising cinematographer poised to be the next big thing in Hollywood, until his temper destroyed his career, which significantly damaged his marriage. Now, he mostly makes retrospective films about people, usually used for funerals and other special events. So when Alyssa Bradford hires him to do a biography of her 95-year-old billionaire father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, whose childhood is a mystery to their family, Eric jumps at the chance. Armed only with a vintage bottle of mineral water from Bradford's hometown of French Lick, Indiana, he gets the opportunity to visit an historic hotel that once transformed the area and has now been restored to its former grandeur.

Yet the minute Eric takes a sip of the once-famous Pluto Water, and arrives in French Lick, things start to get a little strange. He starts seeing visions which get more and more vivid, he encounters a very distant relative of Campbell Bradford who has an axe to grind, he discovers more than just a few secrets and legends about Bradford, and it appears he has unleashed a menace set on destroying the town and everyone in it. But motivated by the need to get at the truth, and the power of finding the ultimate story to film, Eric is determined to stay in French Lick—no matter what the costs.

I read this entire 500+-page book on a flight from Paris to the U.S., and it kept me riveted the entire time. Clearly this book isn't based in reality, but it's a terrific paranormal thriller with enough character and plot development to hook you. And it's a little creepy, too, once the characters make some realizations about what's in the water. I picked this book up a while ago because I remember Stephen King saying it was one of his favorite books; it's definitely a book worthy of a read. (Note: This review is kind of vague because I don't want to spoil anything for you.)

Book Review: "The Beginner's Goodbye" by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler is back to fighting form with her bittersweet, charming new book about love, loss, and coming to terms with reality in relationships. Thirty-six-year-old Aaron Woolcott is a publisher and editor of his family's vanity press. Crippled at a young age by a weakness in his right side, he has spent most of his life fending off efforts of his mother and sister to take care of him. So when he meets Dorothy Rosales, a plain-spoken, independent oncologist who seems to have missed the caregiver gene, it's almost no wonder that they fall in love and get married. Aaron likes the fact that Dorothy doesn't try to take care of him, likes the simplicity of their lives together.

When a tree crashes into their house and kills Dorothy, Aaron is devastated, and unsure of just how to go on. Yet the more he thinks about all of the things he loved about Dorothy, the more he relives many of the tensions they had during their marriage. And when she suddenly starts reappearing to him—in their backyard, at the farmers' market, in a shopping mall—he realizes that dwelling on all of the "might have beens" won't help him to move on with his life, and he should cherish the memories they had.

Anne Tyler is one of the best writers around when it comes to creating quirky, flawed characters, yet she is at her best when she balances her characters' foibles with their stronger qualities. I found The Beginner's Goodbye tremendously heart-warming and enjoyable; although the characters aren't completely sympathetic, you can understand their motivations and why they react the way they do. The one thing I found interesting (and slightly off-putting from time to time) is that Aaron seemed much, much older than he was; I had to keep reminding myself he was only in his mid-30s through most of this book. But that fact didn't diminish my enjoyment of Tyler's latest.

Book Review: "The Might Have Been" by Joe Schuster

I'll admit I was a little wary of reading another baseball novel just a few months after reading Chad Harbach's fantastic The Art of Fielding, but I needn't have worried. Joe Schuster's debut novel, The Might Have Been, has baseball more at its core than Harbach's book, but it is captivating and affecting in its own quiet way.

When the book starts in the mid-1970s, Edward Everett Yates is a baseball player who has been in the minor leagues for 10 years, but still believes he will one day get called up to the majors. And one day he does, to play (at least temporarily) for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is determined to show the team all he can do—and in the midst of a spectacular game, he sustains a severe knee injury that affects him for the rest of his life. This moment haunts him and is the catalyst for a number of questionable opportunities he sacrifices throughout his life—relationships with women he loves, the chance for a family, a lucrative job, and security. The book then follows him 40 years later, as the manager of a failing minor league team in Perabo City, Iowa. Edward Everett struggles with players both destined for future success and those for whom success in baseball is not in the cards, and he wonders if a life in baseball was really worth all of his energy.

This is a book in which nothing tremendously earth-shattering happens, but it is a beautifully written, affecting one all the same. Anyone whom has ever chased a dream, sacrificing everything that got in the way of that singular focus, can identify with Edward Everett and his struggles. While at times the decisions he makes are frustrating, you can understand why he does the things he does, and you find yourself hoping that perhaps this time, things will go his way. This is a book about baseball and a book about a life lived in its shadow, and it is a great read.

Book Review: "The Great Night" by Chris Adrian

Sometimes a book has a beautiful story at its core, but the thread tends to get lost in overcomplication. That's the way I felt about Chris Adrian's The Great Night, a well-written book that meshes the emotional, relationship-driven crises of three San Franciscans with characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream, with mixed results.

It's Midsummer Eve in 2008. Three strangers, each dealing with the wreckage of a relationship, enter Balboa Park, headed to the same party. But unbeknownst to them, Titania, Oberon, and their court call the park their home as well. That night, deep in the throes of sadness over the end of her marriage, which dissolved following the death of her adopted son, Titania releases an ancient menace, which threatens the lives of the immortals, and the mortals alike. The three strangers, along with a group of homeless people rehearsing a musical version of Soylent Green, are sealed in the park—and forced to confront their emotionally turbulent pasts, with bizarre results.

I loved when Adrian spun the stories of the three strangers: Henry, a neurotic, gay oncologist dealing with the breakup of his most long-term relationship, and memories of being kidnapped as a child; Molly, suffering from the sudden suicide of her boyfriend; and Will, an arborist in love with one woman yet compulsively drawn to affairs with others. But sadly, he spent far too much time on the strange world of Titania and her minions, and the kaleidoscopic adventures that ensue were far more jarring than fulfilling. I'd love it if I could learn what actually happened to the characters in this story, because that would be a book truly well worth reading.