Book Review: "Far Far Away" by Tom McNeal

"It don't matter how young you are or how old you get or how brittle your bones are or how leaky your gray cells, you are still going to flat like a happy ending."

If you're a believer in happy endings, in fairy tales, enchanted spells, ghosts that have a purpose, and evil forests, than Tom McNeal's wonderfully magical Far Far Away is a book for you. But if you can't get your head around any of these concepts, this is probably not a book you'll enjoy.

In a land called (of all things) Never Better, Jeremy Johnson Johnson (that's his real name; it's not a typo) is a smart, sensitive boy who keeps to himself. You see, Jeremy hears voices—or, more accurately, one voice—the voice of Jacob Grimm, one half of the famed fairy tale-writing Brothers Grimm. For reasons neither of them can quite understand, Jacob is tasked with protecting Jeremy from the evils that lurk in this world.

But neither Jacob nor Jeremy consider beautiful, mischievous, and athletic Ginger Boultinghouse a threat, not even after she takes a bite of a cake so delicious it's supposedly enchanted with a spell, that causes you to fall in love with the first person on whom you cast your eyes after taking a bite. Naturally, Ginger sees Jeremy first, and finds herself inexplicably enchanted, even though she doesn't believe in such magic. And while Jacob isn't happy that Ginger's attentions are keeping Jeremy from his studies, or that she is somehow convincing him to sneak around late at night and play pranks on residents of their town, Jeremy enjoys the attention—until it brings him more trouble than he bargained for.

And that's just the start of Jeremy's problems. Because in addition to his fellow townspeople suddenly shunning him, there's a small problem of his father owing so much money on their small house that they're about to lose it to the bank. Plus his father hasn't left the house in years. Despite constant attention from a sheriff's deputy determined to find Jeremy and Ginger causing trouble, the kindly baker, Sten Blix, befriends the duo when no one else will.

Jacob is a helpful and trusted companion to Jeremy (although not always a welcome one). Yet as devoted as he is to protecting his charge, Jacob is helpless as an unexpected evil in the form of the dreaded Finder of Occasions takes control of Jeremy and Ginger. It is the toughest challenge the duo—and the ghost—have ever faced. Will the duo be able to outsmart their nemesis? Can a ghost who can only be heard by Jeremy actually help save him?

Far Far Away is a creative, magical, wonderful book. It's a little bit of an anachronism, in that it feels as if it is set in a place far away and a time long ago, yet there are cars and answering machines and credit cards, and Ginger in particular acts more like a modern teenager than anything else. It was a little hard to get into at first, but once I did, I quickly devoured the rest of the story. I found Ginger's manner of speaking a little grating at times, but I really loved everything else about this book.

Predictable? Sure. But that's the beauty of fairy tales: you know where the story will probably end up, but the journey is tremendously worthwhile. And the journey to Far Far Away is definitely worthwhile.

Another example of how our future is in good hands...

This is Duncan McAlpine Sennett. Last month Duncan celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at Portland's Congregation Beth Israel.

During his Bar Mitzvah speech, he explained the Torah portion he was reading from, and used it to draw a parallel to an issue he feels pretty strongly about—nationwide marriage equality.

Duncan said:

"In my Torah portion, Jacob works for seven years to earn the right to marry Laban's daughter, his love Rachel. Before marrying Rachel, Jacob is first tricked into marrying her older sister Leah. I find my parsha [Torah portion] interesting because it is a window into what was life was like back in the days of the Torah.

"Back then, this seemed to have a perfect definition of what traditional marriage meant for their time, when as time passes we have a completely different definition today. So the question is: how has the definition of traditional marriage changed since the days of the Torah? Just looking at my Torah portion as a proof text, I think it has changed a lot.

"Leah and Rachel had absolutely no say in marrying Jacob — it was like a business deal between Jacob and Laban. Today in the United States, marriage is very different. No longer do the fathers arrange marriages and women can marry whomever they want.

"While studying my Torah portion and comparing and contrasting marriage — past and present — I found it would be irresponsible to exclude the topic of gay marriage. I am a very very strong supporter of equal rights and the freedom of men and women to marry whomever they love.

"People who disagree with me like to quote the Bible and say that traditional marriage should only be between one man and one woman. But after seeing my Torah portion that I've just read, the definition of traditional marriage is nothing like what people think it is today. Jacob married two sisters who were his first cousins."

Duncan mentioned close family friends who are same-sex couples, who taught him about the importance of marriage equality. He then ended his speech by saying:

"My Torah portion taught me that the definition of traditional marriage has changed a lot since the days of Torah. So why can't it change just a little bit more so everybody can marry who they love? And now that I'm a Bar Mitzvah, I will not only continue to support but encourage other people to support equal marriage rights. Shabbat shalom."

Here's Duncan's speech:

I'm so blown away by Duncan's maturity and empathy, and his decision to make his Bar Mitzvah more than just a celebration of religious maturity. Clearly, living in a community like Portland and having the opportunity to get to know same-sex couples has helped broaden his understanding and acceptance, but this is still an impressive action, as he paralleled what he learned for his Bar Mitzvah with his awareness of the world around him. (I think my Bar Mitzvah speech rhymed, but that about sums it up, although it was 30 years ago.)

It's so easy to get cynical and pessimistic with so many people in power trying to hold back the tides of equality and choosing to discriminate, but when you see an example like Duncan's, it helps make you feel a little more hopeful about the next generation.

Cool cover song of the week...

While Sinéad O'Connor first hit the U.S. music scene in the late 1980s with her album, The Lion and the Cobra (which earned her a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy nomination), it wasn't until she recorded a version of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U that she achieved stardom.

O'Connor's version of the song, released in 1990, became a worldwide hit, topping charts in 13 countries, including her native Ireland and the United States, where it spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It became the third best-selling single of 1990 and the 82nd best-selling single of the 1990s. Rolling Stone ranked it at number 162 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which contains only two songs of the 1990s ranked higher, and Billboard ranked the song at number 77 on its list of the Greatest Songs of All Time.

Amazingly enough, the song was originally recorded by Prince's funk band The Family in 1985 but it was not released as a single. Following O'Connor's success with the song, Prince performed the song as a live duet with Rosie Gaines, and subsequently released it on his 1993 compilations The Hits/The B-Sides and The Hits 1. Prince also recorded a solo version of the song for his concert film, Rave Un2 the Year 2000, as well as for his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone...Live! (All of that, and I can't find a YouTube video of it.)

The pop duo Capital Cities, which recently topped the Billboard charts with their hit Safe and Sound, recorded a version of Nothing Compares 2 U for their YouTube channel, and its more upbeat twist has received raves.

Here's Capital Cities' version:

And here's Sinéad O'Connor's version:

Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and The Banshees

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm

Who Wants to Live Forever by Breaking Benjamin

Redemption Song by Chris Cornell and Audioslave

Love Me Tender by Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile

All You Need is Love by The Flaming Lips

Lovesong by Adele

I Love It by Robin Thicke

Billie Jean by The Civil Wars

Across the Universe by The Scorpions

Can't Hold Us by Pentatonix

Wicked Game by James Vincent McMorrow

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) by The Postal Service

Jolene by The White Stripes

Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) by Justin Timberlake

More Than This by Norah Jones

Royals by Mayer Hawthorne

I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) by The Bird and The Bee

Ain't No Sunshine by Silent Rider

Crazy by Ray Lamontagne

Stairway to Heaven by Heart

Movie Review: "Philomena"

The emotional and powerfully acted Philomena is based on the true story of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), an Irish woman who gave birth to a baby out of wedlock as a teenager while living in a convent, and then had her child given up for adoption by the nuns. (Unwed teenage girls were essentially indentured slaves to the convent, forced to work for four years to repay their "sins," and were forced to sign away any rights they had to their babies.) The baby was a secret to everyone in Philomena's life, although she thought about her son (whom she named Anthony) every day and wondered what became of him.

On Anthony's 50th birthday, the pressure of keeping him a secret grew too great for Philomena to bear. (She explained that she was torn between the guilt of having a child out of wedlock and the guilt of not telling anyone about him.) Enter cynical journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), who resigned from his job as a political spokesperson amidst scandal not of his own making, and was struggling with depression and a lack of direction for his future. Although initially the idea of a human interest story is utterly odious to Martin, the more he learns about Philomena's situation, and is charmed by her utter lack of guile and pretense (something he's not quite used to), the more determined he is to help her find out what happened to her son.

The two embark on a journey to uncover the truth, and as you can imagine, both learn some important lessons from the other. (Martin, of course, learns more from Philomena than the reverse, but that's life Hollywood style, isn't it?) The truth is far different than either expected, and more than anything, Philomena is desperate to know whether her son ever thought about her. A devout Catholic, she can't quite reconcile her feelings about what happened to her son and how she was treated by the convent with the fact that she committed a sin in the church's eyes, which Martin cannot understand.

This is a funny, moving film, with two tremendously effective performances from Dench and Coogan. At this point, if you've wondered if there's anything Dame Judi Dench can't do, the answer, as far as I'm concerned, is a resounding no. Her Philomena is both cheery and conflicted, determined to see the best in everything and everyone despite her tribulations, which have affected her life for more than 50 years. (Martin laughs during the film that Philomena has told four different people they're one in a million.) While she may be naive to the world around her, she understands far more than one would expect someone with her background to. While Dench is mentioned as an Oscar contender nearly every year she appears in a film, a nomination is definitely deserved for this film.

I'll admit that I've never really been a Steve Coogan fan, as the few times I've seen him onscreen his performances have grated on me and come across as too smarmy. But he does a terrific job in this film—the egotistical manner many of his characters tend to have really worked in his portrayal of Martin, and he demonstrated great sensitivity and empathy in addition to his world-weariness. I really enjoyed his character, and was even surprised by him a few times.

I really enjoyed Philomena—it was charming and tugged at my emotions without being mawkish. And like Philomena herself, there's more to this film than meets the eye. Definitely one worth seeing.

Movie Review: "Nebraska"

To quote Lady Gaga (and one of my favorite Miss Nebraskas, Kayla Batt), Nebraska, Nebraska, I love you.

Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants, Election) has directed one of his finest films to date with this black-and-white tale of an old man on a road trip chasing down what might be his last dream.

Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is a somewhat addled alcoholic without much to live for. He no longer can drive and his wife, Kate (June Squibb), is constantly nagging him and harping on how useless he is. So imagine his pleasure when he receives a letter from a sweepstakes marketing company telling him he won $1 million, and he can claim his prize if he brings the letter to the company's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.

No one in his family believes this windfall to be true, but the thought of winning this money becomes Woody's obsession (much as the thought of appearing on television obsessed Ellen Burstyn's character in Requiem for a Dream). Despite his family's lack of support, Woody constantly leaves his home in Billings, Montana, determined to walk all the way to Lincoln if he has to, much to the chagrin of his wife and older son, television news reporter Ross (Bob Odenkirk).

Finally, Woody's determination gets to his younger son, David (a surprisingly low-key Will Forte, of Saturday Night Live fame). To humor his father, escape his own dead-end life for a while, and perhaps get the opportunity to spend a little time with a man who gave him little when he was growing up, David agrees to drive Woody to Lincoln. But as you might imagine, the trip doesn't quite go as smoothly as David thought it would, and it includes rescuing his father from a few drunken incidents, one which results in Woody's being hospitalized briefly.

The pair takes a detour to the depressed hamlet of Hawthorne, Nebraska, where Woody grew up, and he and his family lived until they moved to Billings when David and Ross were young. Woody's brothers still live in town, as does his old friend, business partner, and sometime nemesis Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach). Despite David's advice to the contrary, news of Woody's million-dollar windfall spreads quickly—he becomes somewhat of a celebrity in the small town, and more than one person comes looking for a little bit of his winnings as "repayment" of old debts.

Bruce Dern gives the performance of his career as Woody, a cantankerous man who knows his life is near its end and wants one more chance for something special. With his shaggy gray hair completely askew, he appears to be completely unaware of what is going on around him, but he's more tuned in than anyone realizes. Dern is funny, truthful, and moving; it's a performance you think you can figure out but he has some surprises up his sleeve. With only one Oscar nomination to his credit (for Coming Home in 1978), it's ironic that one of Dern's chief competitors for an Oscar this year will be another legendary actor with one Oscar nomination for acting to date, Robert Redford.

June Squibb, as Woody's long-suffering wife (although she clearly bestows as much suffering as she gets), is the sharp-tongued comic foil of this film. She has an opinion about absolutely everyone and everything, and isn't afraid to share them. While she likes to remind everyone how put upon she has been as Woody's wife for so many years, it's clear that behind her bluster she truly loves her husband. Squibb is absolutely spot-on fantastic, and I hope to see her on the list of Best Supporting Actress nominees at this year's Oscars.

Will Forte gives an understated yet powerful performance as a man whose life doesn't appear to be going anywhere, mainly because he isn't interested in taking control of it. But his time with his father awakens some protective instincts in him that one would guess might propel him in the right direction after the film ended. I was really impressed with his dramatic ability, as I've only seen him in SNL skits to this point.

This is a funnier film than I expected, with some bittersweet tones to it. At times I wasn't sure if Payne was paying homage to his Nebraska roots or mocking them in his portrayal of some of Woody's relatives, but that uncertainty didn't take away from the film's appeal. I really enjoyed this movie, and hope that people see it, both for the terrifically resonant performances and Alexander Payne's completely assured direction.

Book Review: "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" by Ann Patchett

Many people ask me how I select the books I read. Sometimes they've been recommended by someone else whose preferences are similar to mine, or I've read enthusiastic reviews about them. In other cases, I've been intrigued by the title or even the cover. (Never underestimate the power of a stroll through a bookstore when you can find one.) But quite often, I choose books written by authors whose books I've come to love. There is a growing list of authors I'm constantly looking up on Amazon to see when their next book will be released, authors whose books I read sight unseen, unless they're a major departure from their usual work.

Ann Patchett is definitely one of those authors. I first became familiar with her after reading the marvelous Bel Canto, then read her earlier books and have devoured all of the books she has written since then, fiction and nonfiction. So I was intrigued to read This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a collection of articles and other writings she has published in a wide variety of media, from The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times to Gourmet and Granta, even her introduction to the volume she edited for The Best American Short Stories collection.

Contrary to the title, this isn't just a book about marriage, although several of the articles touch on different aspects of her relationship with her husband Karl through the years. But many of the articles touch on other relationships—her brief, disastrous first marriage; her friendship with the late poet Lucy Grealy (which Patchett so lovingly recounted in her book Truth & Beauty; her grandmother; her dog; one of the nuns that taught her in Catholic school; even her relationship with her work. And still other articles talk about her need for and love of the occasional solitary vacation; her experiences trying out for the LAPD and getting to understand the RV culture; becoming the co-owner of an independent bookstore in Nashville; and her love of short stories.

"Many of the essays I'm proudest of were made from the things that were at hand—writing and love, work and loss. I may have roamed in my fiction, but this work tends to reflect a life lived close to home."

As always, Patchett's writing is thought-provoking, humorous, and, at times, tremendously moving. The articles aren't arranged in chronological order in the book, and they're written for different purposes, so it may take a minute to get your bearings for you to realize where in Patchett's life a particular essay is taking place. (In some she's married, in others she's dating her future husband; in some her dog is a puppy and in some her dog is elderly.) But Patchett always provides context for what she's talking about so it's interesting to get so many different perspectives.

There were so many instances in which I marveled at what Patchett had to say. Her use of language is so dazzling at times I had to re-read paragraphs or sentences to get the full extent of their power. In the title essay, for example, when she recounts the tumultuous relationship she and her husband had in the years before they were married: "I try to study our happiness so that I will be able to remember it in the future, just in case something happens and we find ourselves in need. These moments are the foundation upon which we build the house that will shelter us into our final years, so that when love calls out, 'How far would you go for me?' you can look it in the eye and say truthfully, 'Farther than you would ever have thought was possible.'"

And one other example, from "Dog Without End," a beautiful tribute to her dog: "Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It's everything in between we live for."

I loved this book as much as I've loved Patchett's fiction. I feel tremendously fortunate to have gotten so much insight into her life, her mind, and her heart, and I think this will help enhance my enjoyment of her future work even more. If you like her writing, definitely pick this up. It's tremendously captivating, even if you choose to read it a little at a time rather than all at once. Don't miss out.

Book Review: "We Are Water" by Wally Lamb

Certain authors have a talent to fully occupy their characters and immerse themselves in their voices, a mighty feat when creating characters completely different from their own lives. Wally Lamb has demonstrated that ability quite impressively since his first novel, She's Come Undone, where his portrayal of an overweight woman was so spot-on, I had to flip back and forth to his picture on the back cover of the book more than a few times.

He once again demonstrates that talent in his latest novel, the melodramatic but thought-provoking We Are Water. Told from the perspectives of eight different characters, sometimes the concept moves the story forward and sometimes it disconnects you from it, but there's no doubt that each of the voices Lamb created are unique and affecting, if not a bit stereotypical at times.

Annie Oh didn't decide to pursue a career as an artist until her children were grown, but she found notoriety and success with her controversial shadowboxes. However, this success created great upheaval in her life, as it led to the end of her marriage to psychologist Orion, and her relationship with her art dealer, gallery owner Viveca. Annie and Viveca plan to marry in Annie's Connecticut hometown of Three Rivers.

A new, later-in-life marriage nearly always brings drama, especially when it is a same-sex marriage. For Orion, Annie's upcoming wedding causes him to reflect on the successes and failures of their relationship, and at the same time, he is forced to dwell on the premature end of his career.

Annie and Orion's three children—Andrew, the former rebel, now in the military and a born-again Christian; his twin sister Ariane, the bookish, "good" child; and free-spirited Marissa, the baby of the family—each have their own crises to deal with as well as their feelings about the end of their parents' marriage and Annie's new relationship. And just like other times when family members gather together, the upcoming wedding is an opportunity to revisit old hurts and hidden secrets, and confront issues that provoke anger and hurt.

If We Are Water had concentrated mainly on Annie, Orion, and their three children, the book would have been stronger. But in trying to explore latent issues regarding racism, prejudice, and psychological issues, Lamb brought in peripheral characters that really pulled the book off track, even when you realized the coincidences of their inclusion. And having to read several chapters written from the perspective of a pedophile, as well as one chapter that depicted a conversation between Andrew's Christian fiancée and conservative radio personality Dr. Laura, was very difficult and jarring.

In the end, I felt as if this book had tremendous potential and a compelling story at its core, but Lamb packed it a little too full of melodrama. (One criminal act, in particular, was utterly unnecessary.) However, Lamb's storytelling ability still makes this book worthwhile to read, because the characters he created are vivid, if not entirely appealing.