The System– The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football
By: Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict
Reviewed By: Macy Walsh
The System will shock even the most casual college football fan as the reporting peels back the veneer on everything from coaching politics to sexual tension in tutoring labs, the role of recruiting hostesses, backstabbing conference realignments, super boosters and more. Even the hardcore fans will be surprised. Everyone knows this is a wild business, just not in such detail. The book also serves as a mini-recap of recent college football history, tying together the hot stories from the past five years, ranging from Ohio State to Tennessee to Texas Tech to BYU.
A thorough retelling of the Ohio State “tattoogate” scandal includes the previously unreported transcripts of NCAA interviews with Jim Tressel and athletic director Gene Smith. You can see Tressel incriminate himself as he tries to explain his cover-up of the scandal that doomed his career and led to major sanctions against the program. Meanwhile, Smith is vague on some details but claims he was forceful in multiple conversations with booster Bobby DiGeronimo, who was cited for overpaying players for work at his companies and later banned from associating with the Buckeyes for the next 10 years.
Also speaking publicly for the first time is Lacey Pearl Earps, the infamous Tennessee recruiting hostess dubbed “The Closer” by volunteer coaches for her ability to connect with top high school players. Earps details the bizarre system of the hostess business where pretty, personable, well-trained college women are used as bait to lure top talent. Even if they don’t have physical relationships with high school players (and some certainly do), they are encouraged to engage in at least pseudo-romantic relationships through social media, text and Skype for months on end. All of this happens with the approval and encouragement of athletic department officials and highly paid coaches. “Our job is to flirt with them,” Earps said. Earps insisted she never had a physical relationship with a recruit, but acknowledges purposefully leading the players on. “From the athletic department’s perspective, it didn’t matter how the recruit got there,” she said. “Whatever it took. A lot of people turned a blind eye.”
Even worse is the story of the University of Missouri student-athlete tutoring culture, which is paramount in keeping players eligible for competition. The System lays out the profoundly ill-conceived concept of college girls being paired with male football and basketball players, who are often academically disinterested and physically exhausted, for apparently “lightly” supervised one-on-one work. The result is an environment of sexually provocative conversations, rampant hook-ups, tutors doing the athlete’s schoolwork and worst of all, in the case of star running back Derrick Washington, a 2010 sexual assault of his tutor that sent him to prison.
Much time is spent on Alabama and coach Nick Saban, whose process and ensuing success has come to define this mini-era of college football. Saban grants the authors perhaps unprecedented access and there is an extensive retelling of how the Crimson Tide lured Saint Nick to Tuscaloosa.
The bottom line? It’s all about the money. And we’re not talking chump change. Big-time college football is a multi-billion dollar industry with wealthy alums ready and willing to provide whatever their star players need and/or want. Athletic departments live on the revenue generated by the football program.
This book encompasses the good, the bad and the ugly of college football, and it reads like a novel. Even if you’re not a fan, you’ll love it.
Following Atticus — Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog and an Extraordinary Friendship — By: Tom Ryan
As Reviewed by: Macy Walsh
I can’t say I’m a big fan of dog memoirs. You know, those cloying Marley and Me’s in which the author thinks his or her dog is the most important in the world; where the quirky canine teaches life lessons even though you know it really just wants some kibble, a stick and a tummy rub. That being said, when I came across Following Atticus by Tom Ryan the cover made me look twice: a miniature schnauzer standing in the snow with what looks like socks and crampons on its paws. As I would discover later, these doggie winter booties are called muttlucks.
The subtitle promised “forty-eight high peaks, one little dog and an extraordinary friendship. The “friendship” part guaranteed some stale bromides but the “high peaks” with this wee pooch made me crack it open. And right inside the cover is a hand-drawn map of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, highlighting its 4,000 foot crags. I went to college in that beautiful area (Hanover, New Hampshire) so I was immediately hooked. Turns out that the author, founder and former editor of the Newburyport alternative paper The Undertoad, set out with this tiny dog to climb up and down all 48 of these mountains, twice, in 90 days of winter. They did so to raise money for the Jimmy Fund after a friend died of cancer, and thus, a grand quest was born complete with challenges, love of nature and scattered tears along the way.
Sounds painfully treacly, yes? Suprisingly it’s not, and that’s largely thanks to Ryan himself. If Atticus seems an unlikely mountaineer, so does Ryan as a self-described “middle-aged, overweight newspaper editor” who likes poking the powers-that-be in his North Shore town. In fact, the first 50 pages or so are a great portrait of Newburyport, what it’s like to know everyone and to often be the one who publishes the things people don’t want to talk about. And when he writes about hiking these mountains, he does so with a sense of discovery any armchair reader will appreciate – you don’t have to be an Outside subscriber or John Krakauer fan to get this book.
Then there’s the way he writes about Atticus: This schnauzer sounds and looks very cute, and Ryan obviously becomes a sudden softie when he first gets this five-pound puppy, but he never tries to make Atticus more than just a dog – a very good, adventurous dog to be sure. But though he’s that proverbial best friend, his behavior is not over-analyzed. This tempered sentimentality is crucial when Atticus starts to go blind but is insistent on hiking the mountains anyway. Ryan writes plainly about it, not overstating what is clearly an emotional time for him, and the effect is more powerful for such restraint. When they finally reach the final peak of Mt. Washington, it’s truly a quiet triumph.
At the heart of this remarkable journey is an extraordinary relationship that blurs the line between man and dog, an indelible bond that began when Tom, following the advice of Atticus’s breeder, carried the pup wherever he went for the first month of their life together. Following Atticus is ultimately a story of transformation: how a five-pound puppy pierced the heart of a tough-as-nails newspaperman, opening his eyes to the world’s beauty and its possibilities. It was a change that led to a new life among the mountains; an unforgettable saga of adventure, friendship and the unlikeliest of family; and an inspiring tale of finding love and discovering your true self. A great read for the whole family!
The Expats
By Chris Pavone
Reviewed by Macy Walsh
While it’s hard for us to tear ourselves away from the authors we truly love, it’s always fun to discover a new writer, especially when it’s one as obviously talented as Chris Pavone. As a first offering, Pavone’s The Expats is an impressive thriller filled with exhilarating double-crosses.
What happens when an expert CIA agent with fifteen years in the world’s most dangerous spy game gives it all up to be a stay-at-home mom, exchanging assassinations and double dealing for playdates, coffee mornings and tennis lessons? That’s the reality of life for Kate Moore, whose husband Dexter comes home one day and announces that he’s received an extremely lucrative offer to move the family from Washington, D.C. to Luxembourg for a high profile IT job in online banking security. Kate finds herself secretly relieved, and not for the reasons you might ordinarily expect. Sure, not having to worry about money and living a posh European lifestyle are appealing to Kate, but she’s more excited about the life that she’ll be able to get away from.
Kate has a secret. A big one. Her husband has no idea that when she heads off to Atlanta or L.A. on a business trip, her ultimate destination is more often Prague or Veracruz. While she has now held a supervisory position for some time, the years of working covert ops in the field and keeping secrets for a living have taken their toll, leaving her yearning for a sense of normalcy. She’s ready to ditch her old life for good, but Kate finds that life isn’t quite finished with her yet.
Shortly after their arrival in Luxembourg, Dexter begins acting very strangely, keeping odd hours and hiding the truth. Given all the secrets she’s kept from him, however, Kate tries to give him the benefit of the doubt. Her days pass “in a cold thick fog of kitchen mopping and grocery shopping and pot scrubbing” as Kate learns about the realities of life with two small boys, which offers no escape from LEGO pieces, playgrounds and SpongeBob SquarePants. As Dexter works all hours at his mysterious new job, Kate makes friends with other mothers, joins the American Women’s Club of Luxembourg and meets an American couple, Julia and Bill Maclean. But despite the change of scenery and social circle, Kate is bored – intensely, dangerously bored. So when she decides something’s off about her new friends the Macleans, she begins to investigate.
Kate can’t tell if her suspicions are real or a delusion dreamed up to fill her empty life, “to have something to do. Anything.” But Kate notices that the Macleans keep mum about their pasts and always seem to turn up when her family is holidaying around Europe. Before long, Kate finds herself clinging to a windowsill outside Bill’s office, and “this is where she belonged, up here on this ledge. This is what had been missing from her life.” Tension builds notch by notch as Kate uncovers deception beneath deception, lies inside lies. Nothing, not even her family, is what it seems and she’s terrified that her dirty past as a CIA operative is finally catching up with her.
Pavone, a former book publishing editor who lived in Luxembourg for two years with his family, has created a startlingly real heroine in Kate. She’s a former spy with a talent for languages and maps, hand-to-hand combat and guns; an expert assassin, cold enough and capable enough to kill. But Kate is no cipher; she’s also a fiercely loving mother and a wife who has kept her past secret from her husband all these years, and she’s terrified when her two worlds start to collide.
Expertly and intricately plotted, with a story spiraling into disaster and a satisfyingly huge amount of twists and turns to keep any reader guessing, The Expats certainly doesn’t feel like a first novel. This is an impressively assured debut and a worthy entry into the thriller genre.
Six Years – By Harlan Coben
As Reviewed by Macy Walsh
Fans of renowned mystery and thriller writer Harlan Coben know him as the master of a particular kind of story. His enthralling tales often portray people’s lives suddenly unraveling, their pasts summoned back into a rapidly shifting present as secrets are peeled back to reveal more secrets. Coben brings us all that and more in his latest absorbing literary effort, Six Years.
As the title suggests, six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone. Six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd. After all this time, Jake is still haunted by memories and questions. Was it really just a whirlwind summer romance, a brief escape from the real world? Jake had been finishing his political science dissertation at a writer’s retreat in Vermont when he met Natalie, an artist, at the Creative Recharge Colony down the road. But when she suddenly married “an old boyfriend,” Jake complied with her request to “leave us alone.” And no matter what, he’s a man of his word… at least until he hears that Natalie’s husband has died. There’s no longer any “us” to leave alone, allowing Jake to reach out to her.
The wedding in the novel’s opening passage is quickly followed by a funeral where Jake hopes to reconnect with the freshly widowed Natalie. But things take a strange turn when Jake realizes the grieving woman in the big black hat isn’t Natalie and that the dead man’s kids are older than they should be. More complications follow. When Jake calls Natalie’s sister, she doesn’t know him. When he travels back to Vermont, none of those familiar faces remember him. And the Creative Recharge Colony isn’t there at all – never has been, according to everyone he meets.
Jake’s best friend suggests that Jake imagined the whole romance during a weak period in his life. But Jake knows better and clues suggest that something sinister is going on. It turns out that Natalie’s supposed husband was murdered. Someone seems to have followed Jake back from Vermont, after which he gets an email that might just be from Natalie herself. A little more than halfway through the book, someone finally tells our hero, “This is bigger than you can imagine.”
What’s impressive here is how tightly constructed the narrative actually is, with the plot repeatedly circling back on itself, moving ever homeward rather than farther into the unknown. And with all of that, Coben leaves nearly nothing wasted. Minor characters, seemingly incidental details, stray remarks – all of it helps serve the storytelling in some way. The beauty of his craftsmanship lies in how often he lures us into not perceiving what’s clearly right in front of us.
As a narrator, Jake is companionable enough. Even in the tensest scenes, he’s loose and friendly, not just conversational but downright chatty; my favorite example is when he’s being stalked by two groups of gunmen and pauses to reflect on how adrenaline works. His determination against all odds seems completely in character as well; his love will truly find a way. But articulating the depth of that love is a weak point in the novel. When Jake delivers a grand soliloquy about why he can’t let Natalie go, it’s all about moments that stole his breath, living for her laugh, seeing forever in her eyes, needing to listen to his heart. To Coben’s credit, he seems to know these sentiments are cliché. Reflecting on romance, Jake notes that falling in love “makes you start talking like a bad country song.” Despite this, Coben remains a master storyteller with a strong grip on what makes a compelling tale filled with tantalizing mystery. Paramount Pictures agrees as they have recently acquired film rights to Six Years with Hugh Jackman slated to play Jake.
Coben is one of the best thriller writers in the business, and he delivers another amazing novel that will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned. Don’t wait six years to read it!
The Racketeer By John Grisham
As Reviewed by Macy Walsh
The prolific and popular John Grisham has been a fixture on national bestseller lists since the publication of his breakout novel The Firm in 1991, and it’s not hard to see why. The Racketeer is Grisham’s thirtieth book, and it’s a powerhouse display of his signature strengths: imaginative plotting; a fluent, deceptively effortless prose style; and an insider’s view of our complex and flawed legal system. Still, The Racketeer is a departure for Mr. Grisham. Unlike many of his other works, he’s got no judicial soapbox to stand on here. The impetus for this book may well have come from the Innocence Project, an organization devoted to assisting falsely incarcerated prisoners, and a group on whose board of directors Mr. Grisham serves.
This tale opens with the eponymous racketeer, Malcolm Bannister, telling us, “I am a lawyer and I am in prison. It’s a long story.” As we begin, Bannister is halfway through a ten year sentence for money laundering; his real crime, however, was picking the wrong client. A small town lawyer with a modest practice, Bannister saw his life unravel when he agreed to handle a real estate transaction for white collar crook Barry ‘The Backhander’ Rafko. Ignorant of his client’s history and reputation, Bannister and several other unwitting participants were swept up in a tide of indictments when Rafko was arrested on multiple counts of conspiracy and financial malfeasance. Bannister received an excessive sentence, one that stripped him of his family, freedom and career, leaving him embittered and eager for revenge.
Five years later, Bannister gets his chance when a corrupt federal judge is murdered, along with his secretary/mistress, in an isolated cabin in the mountains of southwest Virginia. Stymied by a lack of witnesses and an absence of forensic evidence, the FBI investigation goes nowhere – until Bannister steps in. A jailhouse lawyer with access to a great many criminal secrets, he alone knows the killer’s motive and identity, and he offers to trade that knowledge for money, freedom and a fresh start. When the FBI accepts his offer and successfully indicts the newly identified suspect, Bannister – re-christened Max Baldwin – embarks on a new life. At this point, the real underlying story truly begins.
What follows is a cleverly orchestrated series of twists and reversals. As he shuttles his characters from Maryland to Florida to the Caribbean, Grisham transforms his straightforward tale into an elaborate caper that is ingenious and suspenseful. At times, the convoluted scheme that unfolds seems almost too elaborate and dependent on crucial events, any one of which could cause the scenario to collapse. But like his protagonist, Grisham holds it all together with a headlong narrative energy that rarely flags. The result is a satisfying, deeply engrossing thriller in which different forms of justice are ultimately served.
The Racketeer is almost nonchalant in illustrating the varied ways in which one might circumvent the FBI, violate financial regulations and prove that crime might pay after all. But the book is too cheerful to invite readers to pass judgment on Max. Mr. Grisham allows us to sympathize enough with his unfair prosecution to justify anything he does afterward. He anatomizes the drab routines of a minimum security prison, describes interrogation techniques that can lead to coerced confessions and imagines the process by which a newly released prisoner discovers the “exhilarating and indescribable” pleasures of freedom.
Throughout the novel, Grisham never loses sight of the central questions that underlie the story at every turn: How equitable – how humane – is our system of justice? How often are punishments disproportionate to crimes? In Bannister’s words, “The real tragedy of the federal criminal system is not the absurdities. It is the ruined and wasted lives.” Grisham addresses this tragedy cogently and in the way he knows best: by telling a story that is engaging and illuminating in equal measure.
Be sure to put this one on your summer reading list!
Fall Movie Preview
By Mike Sweeney
The Avengers have avenged. The Dark Knight has risen. The Expendables have… been expended. Summer movie season is now a distant memory. As we gear up for the holidays, your local cinemas will switch gears to more adult fare, turning from escapist action and popcorn munching thrills toward more epic adventure, serious drama and the race for Oscar gold.
Tough Guys
The man with the “particular set of skills” returns in Taken 2 (October 5), as former covert operative Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) takes on a cabal of Eastern Bloc bad guys out to avenge their fallen comrades from the first film. This time, it’s Brian’s wife (Famke Janssen) who’s been “taken,” triggering another adrenaline fueled rescue mission filled with outrageous stunts and deadly gunplay. Aptly named French filmmaker Olivier Megaton directs the explosive action.
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino branches out into yet another genre with Django Unchained (December 25), his tribute to the Italian “spaghetti westerns” of the 1960s. In this revisionist epic, a freed slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) teams up with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his wife from a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Fueled by his signature dark humor and edgy ultra-violence, this is vintage Tarantino with a unique historical twist.
Tom Cruise returns to the two fisted style of action he does so well, taking on the title role in Jack Reacher (December 21), based on the best selling novel One Shot by Lee Child. The character represents a slightly darker turn for Cruise, who takes on the role of a drifter and former MP who finds himself entwined in the case of a sniper who’s got civilians in his sights. Robert Duvall, Rosamund Pike and noted German film director Werner Herzog co-star.
Spies and Soldiers
Ben Affleck returns to the director’s chair for the third time with Argo (October 12), the riveting true story of a recently declassified operation that took place during the Iranian hostage crisis of the 1970s. Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA officer posing as a Canadian film producer. Under the guise of scouting locations for a fake science fiction B-movie called Argo, Mendez and his team infiltrate the dangerous and volatile streets of Tehran to free American captives.
“Bond. James Bond.” Those immortal words will be spoken once more by Daniel Craig in Skyfall (November 9), the twenty-third entry in cinema’s most enduring franchise. Following a botched job in Istanbul and an attack on the MI6 agency, Bond faces off against the sinister Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a villain whose personal connection to both 007 and his superior M (Judi Dench) exposes dark secrets that threaten to destroy British Intelligence.
The death of Osama bin Laden made headlines around the globe last summer. Zero Dark Thirty (December 19) tells the dramatized story of the intelligence operatives and military personnel who waged a decade-long secret war that brought down the most feared terrorist of our time. Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) takes charge of yet another suspenseful thriller with a cast that includes Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain and Kyle Chandler.
Worlds of Wonder
Classic horror gets a family friendly spin in Frankenweenie (October 5), another triumph of stop motion animation from the eccentric mind of director Tim Burton. When his beloved dog passes away, young mad scientist Victor (Charlie Tahan) brings him back to life, only to find the loveable resurrected pooch turning his suburban world upside down. Shot in gorgeous black and white, this tribute to old time movie monsters scares up plenty of spooky fun for all ages.
Return to Middle Earth as another three-film saga begins with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 14), director Peter Jackson’s latest adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic mythology. Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) teams up with Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and a company of twelve dwarves on a quest to reclaim a vast treasure. With dazzling special effects and scenic New Zealand vistas, the legend of the One Ring returns to the big screen.
You’ve never seen a movie quite like Cloud Atlas (October 26), and you probably never will. Based on David Mitchell’s sprawling novel, the film spans hundreds of years and chronicles everything from a Pacific voyage in the 1800s to an uprising against a totalitarian state in the distant future. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving and many others play multiple roles in interweaving storylines that shape an ambitious tale of fate, courage, love and humanity.
The Oscar Goes To…
Tolstoy’s classic gets another lavish cinematic production with Anna Karenina (November 16), which finds Keira Knightley playing the title role once portrayed by Vivien Leigh and Greta Garbo. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Russian socialite Anna embarks on an affair with the dashing Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson), challenging social mores and the hypocrisy of high society. Joe Wright (Atonement) directs from a script by playwright Tom Stoppard.
The agony and triumph of the French Revolution comes to life in Les Misérables (December 25), a new adaptation of the Broadway musical. Hugh Jackman stars as convicted thief Jean Valjean, who violates his parole and spends the next two decades on the run from the relentless Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Anne Hathaway co-stars as Fantine, a factory worker and prostitute who places her illegitimate daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfreid) in Valjean’s care.
No stranger to the Oscar spotlight, director Steven Spielberg digs back into history for Lincoln (November 9), a biopic chronicling the last several months of Honest Abe’s life. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, the film chronicles Lincoln’s battles with his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War. Two-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis dons the stovepipe hat for what is sure to be a nuanced and human portrait of an American icon.
The Swan Thieves
Elizabeth Kostova
Review by Macy Walsh
Elizabeth Kostova made a splash in modern literature with The Historian, her best-selling debut novel about the legend of Dracula. The Swan Thieves, her much-anticipated second novel, wanders into Dan Brown thriller territory, but lacks the body count found in The Da Vinci Code. Instead, she offers an understated, beautifully written tale of art, love and obsession that’s filled with the same meticulous research and attention to detail that made The Historian so gripping.
Kostova is an old school novelist, offering a hefty volume that spans time and space, from 19th century France to contemporary America. Artists are transfixed by visions and obsess over muses. Psychiatrists puzzle over mysteries of the heart. Forbidden passions build amid barely suppressed desire. There are numerous blind alleys and red herrings along the way, but the plot finally comes together in a manner that Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot would himself admire.
The novel follows Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist at a private hospital outside Washington, DC. His new patient, Robert Oliver, is a well known artist who has been committed after attempting to slash a painting in the National Gallery of Art. Robert utters a few cryptic words, then retreats into silence. While hospitalized, he continues his artwork, obsessively drawing the same woman over and over. A clue to his obsession may lie in the letters found among his things. Dating from 1878, the letters detail a correspondence between art student and bureaucrat’s wife Beatrice Vignot and the Impressionist painter Oliver Vignot, her husband’s uncle. Through these letters, Beatrice becomes the second narrator as Marlow attempts to uncover her significance to his patient. “I did it for her,” Robert says, but who is the mysterious “her”? Why did Robert slash that particular painting, a work by a contemporary of Vignot’s known as Leda and the Swan?
As the tale progresses, we also meet Robert’s ex-wife, Kate Oliver, along with Mary Bertison, the woman with whom Robert lived after his divorce. Marlow tracks these mysterious women down and both tell him about Robert’s past and their parts in it, thus becoming the third and fourth narrators. This could have easily become an unwieldy plot device, and it’s to Kostova’s credit that she handles all the disparate voices well, keeping the plot moving at a brisk pace and deftly weaving the narrative threads together so they’re relatively easy to follow. Marlow’s quest takes him from New York to Acapulco to Paris as he seeks to learn more about Beatrice and Robert’s obsession with her, an obsession that destroyed his marriage and his teaching career.
The story is cinematic in scope, though I must admit I was disappointed in the development of the two principal characters. Marlow is more psychiatrist than living person and a self-satisfied prig to boot. Here are his words about an ex-girlfriend whom he hires to translate Oliver’s letters: “We’ve remained good friends, especially since I didn’t feel strongly enough about her to regret her terminating our relationship.” Likewise, Oliver is depicted as a renowned artist whose paintings are sought after by museums, but famous contemporary artists don’t speak of their work in the way Robert does. His paintings, as Kostova describes them, would be far too outdated to appeal to contemporary art curators; he’s a 19th century artist in 21st century clothes.
Still, none of these flaws detract from the story. As Marlow assembles the pieces of his puzzle, he uncovers a secret more than a century old, one that promises to rewrite art history, and the resolution does not disappoint. To paraphrase T.S. Eliot’s comments on a Wilkie Collins book, it has no merit beyond melodrama, but it has every possible merit that melodrama can have.
Summer Reading Recommendations
By Macy Walsh
The long, hot days of summer are here, and for those of you who insist on frying yourselves to that perfect shade of golden brown at the beach or by the pool, don’t forget to pack a good book or two in that beach bag. If you need help, here are some recommendations that I’ve enjoyed:
At the top of my list is a trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The story takes place in Panem, a nation built on the ruins of North America, where the wealthy and cruel capital city keeps the 12 outlying districts in line by forcing them to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen believes that her fate is sealed when she’s forced to represent her own District 12 in the Games. But Katniss knows how to hunt and survive – and soon learns how to fight back against the tyrannical government.
In the ‘Believe It or Not’ category, we have the New York Times bestseller Escape From Camp 14 by Blaine Harden, the shocking story of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only person born in a North Korean prison labor camp to have escaped and survived. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence; he viewed his mother as a competitor for food and witnessed the execution of his brother and sister when their escape plan was discovered. Don’t read this one if you have a weak stomach. Through the lens of Shin’s life, Harden unlocks the secrets of the world’s most repressive totalitarian state.
For those who prefer a more action packed read, check out The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army by Marc Ambinder & D.B. Grady. The U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has proven to be the most lethal weapon in the President’s arsenal. Shrouded in secrecy, the Command has done more to fight the terrorist threat than any other single entity. Because of such high profile missions as Operation Neptune’s Spear, which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, JSOC has attracted much attention, but most only know a fraction of the real story.
For the sports enthusiast, my top pick is The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods by Hank Haney. Hank’s tenure with the gifted golfer began in 2004, and this is a candid and surprisingly insightful account of a celebrated journey during which Tiger collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the few people allowed behind the curtain, spending countless days with Tiger, often staying at his home and accompanying him at golf tournaments. The result is an intimate portrait of one of the sport’s enduring legends.
If you’re a political junkie like me, don’t miss The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibs and Michael Duffy, a candid history of the private relationships, secret alliances and enduring rivalries of modern American presidents. Established by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover at Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration, the club is a complicated place where its members share the Oval Office experience but remain rivals for history’s favor. You’ll read about how JFK tried to blame Ike for the Bay of Pigs, how Eisenhower helped Reagan win his first race in 1966, the letter from Nixon that Bill Clinton rereads every year and the rivalry between Clinton and Obama. Fascinating stuff!
Whether your tastes run to fiction or non-fiction, history or sports or something in between, having your favorite book by your side helps provide a great escape from the sweltering heat. Pick one that suits your fancy and dive into a captivating story before you take a dive into the swimming pool this summer.
Summer Movie Preview
By Mike Sweeney
Summertime is almost here again. That means outrageous temperatures, family vacations and more movies than you can shake a stick at. So hit up Fandango for tickets and grab your popcorn as we run down some of the best summerentertainment your local multiplex has to offer.
Hero Worship
You know the world’s in big trouble when it needs a full squad of superheroes to save the day. Marvel’s greatest icons come together for an unprecedented team up in The Avengers (May 4) as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk join forces to take down an army of otherworldly baddies led by Thor’s brother, Loki. Geek legend Joss Whedon directs this comic book dream project starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo.
When a diabolical mastermind known as Bane threatens to destroy Gotham City, Batman answers the call in The Dark Knight Rises (July 20), director Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to his epic trilogy. Christian Bale dons the cape and cowl for the final time, facing off against Inception’s Tom Hardy as the ominous villain. Anne Hathaway co-stars as Catwoman, here a mysterious associate of Bane’s who may be both friend and foe to Batman.
Your friendly neighborhood web slinger gets a reboot in The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3) with The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield taking on the role of high school nerd turned wall crawler Peter Parker. We’ll see a new version of Spidey’s origin story, including his romance with first love Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and his battle with scaly green bad guy the Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Martin Sheen and Sally Field co-star as Peter’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
To Be Continued…
It wouldn’t be summer without a bumper crop of sequels, and one of the most anticipated this year is Men in Black 3 (May 25) with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprising their roles as agents of the alien police force. When Agent K (Jones) mysteriously disappears, Agent J (Smith) travels back to 1969 to stop a young K (Josh Brolin) from being murdered. Chaos ensues with the fate of the world in the balance – all in a day’s work for the MIB.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis join the fight for freedom in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (June 29). When most of their team is wiped out in a sneak attack, the real American heroes strike back against the insidious terrorists of Cobra. This sequel looks to up the ante on the original and breathe new life into the action saga, continuing toy maker Hasbro’s domination of the summer movie season alongside their blockbuster Transformers franchise.
Matt Damon may be gone from the lead role, but the identity of “Jason Bourne” lives on in The Bourne Legacy (August 3) with Jeremy Renner taking over the mysterious alias used by Damon in the smash hit film series. This action packed spy thriller, directed by the original trilogy’s writer Tony Gilroy, examines the consequences of the original Bourne’s actions while pitting Renner’s Aaron Cross up against yet another far reaching CIA conspiracy.
Other Worlds and Alternate Realities
A classic fairy tale gets a new spin in Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1) as the legendary princess (Kristen Stewart) and the hatchet wielding hero (Chris Hemsworth) team up with some resourceful dwarves to start a rebellion and bring down the evil queen (Charlize Theron). With epic battle scenes and sinister villains, this dark fantasy mixes a dose of the Brothers Grimm with a modern action sensibility to give us a new perspective on “the fairest of them all.”
Decades after the success of his sci-fi masterpiece Alien, director Ridley Scott returns to the same universe with Prometheus (June 8), which follows a spaceship crew that sets out to explore an advanced extraterrestrial civilization and uncovers a terrifying mystery. Long in development, with plot details still shrouded in secrecy, this has been one of the most talked about films of the summer with a cast that features Michael Fassbender and Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
Who else but producer Tim Burton would take on a tale that imagines our 16th president doing battle with hideous monsters? Based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s satirical novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (June 22) follows Honest Abe (Benjamin Walker) through a double life of political upheaval and vampire slaying as he fights to save the Union from an undead plot for dark supremacy and avenge his mother’s death at the hands of blood sucking fiends.
Make ‘Em Laugh
Would you trust some of the biggest names in comedy to keep your subdivision safe? Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill lead the Neighborhood Watch (July 27) as a group of suburban dudes just looking to escape from their hectic family obligations. But when they uncover an alien plot to take over the planet, these slackers are the only ones who can stop it. With a script from the writers of Superbad, this one’s sure to be out of this world.
Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the farcical style he made famous in Borat with his new comedy The Dictator (May 11). This faux documentary follows Admiral General Alladeen, a military dictator from the fictional Republic of Wadiya, whose visit to the U.S. turns into one hilarious disaster after another. Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris co-star in this irreverent romp that highlights Cohen’s flair for improvisation, not to mention his fondness for controversy.
For those that enjoy a little melody with their comedy, Rock of Ages (June 15) adapts the popular Broadway musical about a waitress and a busboy who fall in love during the big hair music era of the 1980s, all set to the tunes of Def Leppard, Foreigner, Posion, Twisted Sister and more. Tom Cruise steps into the black leather pants of rocker Stacee Jaxx, lead singer of Arsenal, with a supporting cast that includes Catherine Zeta Jones, Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti.
Unbroken – A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
By: Laura Hillenbrand
As Reviewed by: Macy Walsh
“If I knew I had to go through those experiences again,” Louis Zamperini once said of his years as an Army bombardier in World War II, “I’d kill myself.” After reading Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand’s powerful new book about this extraordinary man’s life, few are likely to doubt him. Hillenbrand, whose previous book was Seabiscuit: An American Legend, seems drawn to underdogs who struggle against adversity, and her subject here is no exception. It’s hard to say what’s more remarkable, the story or she who tells it. In the case of Unbroken, the two combine to paint an engaging portrait of heroism, endurance and the triumph of the human spirit.
A bad kid from a good working class family, Zamperini showed defiance as a child, consistently at odds with his father and the police. After seeing that some “bad kids” were ending up in institutions for the feeble-minded and criminally incorrigible, he decided to reform himself. Louis worked on his schooling and soon took up running, eventually qualifying for the 1936 Olympic team. While he didn’t win a gold medal, the star athlete came from way behind, making up 50 yards in one lap. This underdog moral victory turned him into a worldwide celebrity, and many believed he was on target to take the gold in the 1940 games. But life had other plans.
The world was at war and Louis decided to join the military. Despite a fear of flying, he ended up in the Army Air Corps as a bombardier. While on a mission to find a downed plane, his aircraft crashed in the Pacific Ocean, beginning one of the most horrific and amazing stories to come out of the war. Louis extricated himself and two companions from the wreckage onto a pair of pitifully equipped life rafts. Under harsh circumstances, the three men collected rainwater, shared lessons from school and recited old family recipes to keep themselves sane. As time passed, they finally learned how to catch and eat the sharks that constantly surrounded them and even survived a strafing from a Japanese plane that tore one of the rafts to shreds. Still, after 46 grueling days on the ocean (a survival record), the most horrific trial of all was yet to come.
Soon captured by the Japanese, Zamperini endured a long stay at a POW camp run by a sadistic soldier known to the other prisoners as the Bird. He dubbed Louis “prisoner number one” and singled him out for regular beatings. Many prisoners died from such systematic abuse, disease or starvation, but Zamperini endured despite cruel treatment and humiliation. Many of these scenes are difficult to read, especially when you consider that nearly 40 percent of POWs in Japan died while in captivity, not counting the thousands whose names were never recorded. It’s almost inconceivable that any human being could withstand the tortures these men were faced with. Despite the odds, Louis survived and returned to his family. How he came back from the brink of self-destruction and emerged as an unbroken man is just one part of his amazing tale.
Unbroken is a riveting read. Once you pick it up, be prepared for a long weekend living inside the mind of Louis Zamperini and his companions, not to mention many of his Japanese captors. Taken from extensive personal interviews, diaries, letters and archives, Hillenbrand’s attention to detail is superb. Her research was aided by the fact that Louis, now in his 90s, is a “superlative pack rat.” That sense of authenticity adds to the human drama of this compelling saga that helps us remember and respect the men and women who served so valiantly, and I’m sure they’re proud to have Louis Zamperini represent them. Laura Hillenbrand has hit another home run.
