By S.E. PEARSON Staff Writer The Daytona Beach News-Journal
The Doc abides.
Doc (also known as Larry Sportello) -- the main man in Thomas Pynchon's often hilarious and entertaining mystery, "Inherent Vice" -- recalls the Dude from the Coens' cult classic film, "The Big Lebowski," except Doc is really a private eye, you dig? If you like doper humor, this novel should be right up your alley.
"Vice" is set in fictional Gordita Beach, Calif., during the Nixon presidency, just on the heels of the Manson Family murders, and when computer data collection/surveillance is in its early stages.
Doc gets drawn into the case of a missing Los Angeles real estate big shot through his ex-girlfriend who is in a relationship with the land mogul. Bummer. Like Philip Marlowe, Doc has to deal with a pain-in-the-butt cop -- who may or may not be on the take -- and an assortment of colorful characters and thugs.
But it's not the mystery plot that drew me in. It's Doc and his friends' painfully hip Sixties dialogue and mental journeys, often enhanced with mind-altering substances, that makes Pynchon's work such a fun trip.
Doc and his friends offer some amusing and mind-blowing social observations. Among them is Sauncho, a marine lawyer and some-time legal counsel of Doc's, who often expounds on 1960s pop culture, such as this deconstructive analysis of TV ad icon Charlie the Tuna:
"It's all supposed to be so innocent, upwardly mobile snob, designer shades, beret, so desperate to show he's got good taste, except he's also dyslexic so he gets 'good taste' mixed up with 'taste good,' but it's worse than that! Far, far worse! Charlie really has this, like obsessive death wish! Yes! he wants to be caught, processed, put in a can, not just any can, you dig, it has to be StarKist! suicidal brand loyalty, man, deep parable of consumer capitalism, they won't be happy with anything less than drift-netting us all, chopping us up and stacking us on the shelves of Supermarket America, and subconsciously the horrible thing is, is we want them to do it. . . ."
The book is filled with humorous detours like this and it's the journeys that matter -- the destination? Not so much, man.
If you've been put off by the length of Pynchon's previous works, check out "Inherent Vice," which checks in at under 400 pages. Groovy!
From the moment I picked up Deb Olin Unferth's first novel at the McSweeney's table during last year's Miami International Book Festival, I knew it was something wildly different than anything I had ever read. I would expect nothing less from McSweeney's, a publisher known for works with eccentric and whimsical themes.
Immediately I was intrigued by the unusual and quirky prose, as well as the unsettling effect of the frequently shifting point of view. "Vacation" is a witty, peculiar and existential novel that weaves tricky wordplay with multiple intertwining stories creating a mystery, of sorts, and requiring the reader to pay attention.
The book focuses on a man, named Myers, who follows his wife, never named, who is following a stranger during the first two years of their marriage. The marriage disintegrates. The stranger leaves town and Myers follows in search of answers as to why his marriage fell apart. Along the way Myers encounters various characters who all seem to be searching for something.
In an interview last year with Time Out New York, Unferth described her desire to capture the "deeply lonely" and "inherently obnoxious" feeling of being a tourist. "You go around staring at people," she said, "you feel like you're intruding, and I tried to capture that."
But the book is not really about being a tourist or even a geographical journey. Unferth's exploration is of the character's psyches. She is both disorienting and enchanting in her ability to construct and dismantle the mundane.
"In truth," she writes, "here is the story: A man leaves a place. A man leaves another place. And another . . . It is just a series of departures, of doors closing, a briefcase snapping shut. Nothing becomes clearer. Nobody changes."
Adept at capturing the intricacies of the human experience, Unferth uses every sentence as a dreamy and surreal opportunity to create a narrative of profound depth.
"You know how it is to want something," Unferth writes. "Desire builds like a little house in your head and it sits there, half constructed in your mind. Women who want children are this way. Artists are this way about pictures. It doesn't go away. You may forget for a few months but then it's back, the unfinished pieces of what you want."
As the story progresses, tiny events set off chain reactions that tangle, twist and unravel, pulling the reader along for the ride. Sometimes funny, other times disturbing, "Vacation" is a short book that will leave you scratching your head and mesmerized by the experience.
"Vacation," by Deb Olin Unferth, McSweeney's Publishing, 240 pages, $22, hardback
By DAVID W. WERSINGER ACCENT EDITOR The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Sand, surf, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll?
Yes, please.
In his irresistible page-turner of a book, "Waiting For The Sun," Barney Hoskyns chronicles the music of Southern California, a sound that embodies the area's seemingly laid-back, mellow façade. But much like an onion left too long in a California field, as the layers
are peeled away, a seamy, debauched, druggy core is revealed. And for readers, that's a good thing.
Hoskyns starts the tour in the 1940s, when black jazzmen -- and heroin -- dominated the Southern California music scene. The book moves briskly through the decades: the druggy '60s, the free-love and rock royalty era of the '70s, the hard-core and anger-fueled punk of the '80s and the violent, misogynistic rap of the '90s.
Along the way, "Sun" is filled with tales of performers hitting creative, influential heights, only to come burning, comet-like, back to Earth as permanently damaged wrecks. It's a richly detailed account, filled with interviews and recollections from the people who were actually there, including members of the Byrds, the Eagles, Steely Dan, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Spector, Ice Cube, Beck and even Charles Manson, whose song, "Cease to Exist," was recorded by the Beach Boys in 1969 as "Never Learn Not To Love."
Perhaps it's this last relationship that best sums up the Southern California musical landscape: At the heart of bright, hummable pop songs for the masses, lies a very dark star indeed.
"Waiting for the Sun," by Barney Hoskyns, Backbeat Books, 420 pages, $16.99, paperback
Attention, Bruce fans
To say that Louis P. Masur is a fan of Bruce Springsteen is just about the epitome of understatement.
Masur, the William R. Kenan Jr. professor of American institutions and values at Trinity College, is so taken with Springsteen's work that he has merged his academic research with his favorite artist. The result is Masur's latest book, "Runaway Dream: 'Born to Run' and Bruce Springsteen's American Vision," which was released Sept. 1.
It's an exceedingly detailed analysis of the singer's breakthrough album: how it was created, its cultural context and what it means today.
-- Eric, R. Danton, Hartford Courant
"Runaway Dream: 'Born to Run' and Bruce Springsteen's American Vision," Bloomsbury Press, 256 pages, $23, hardback
Fitting tribute to a sacred institution
By KAREN DUFFY STAFF WRITER The Daytona Beach News-Journal
If you're reading this page, chances are good that you're a bibliophile -- and chances are equally as good that the recently published "The Library: An Illustrated History" would be a welcome addition to your reading list.
From the early clay tablets from Mesopotamia to the digital formats found in today's society, libraries were created to house these treasures for posterity.
This beautifully illustrated history of the "collections of recorded knowledge" provides a wealth of information about the written word, the buildings that house said knowledge, as well as the history of librarianship.
Of particular interest is the section titled "Libraries of the World," which takes readers on a virtual visit to several of the world's greatest libraries -- public, academic and special (for example, the Vatican Library in Rome).
As stated in the book's foreword, during today's difficult economic times, the institution of the library is very much alive and in demand -- much like it was during the days of the Great Depression, when patrons flocked to libraries in record numbers. "The Library: An Illustrated History" is a well-crafted homage to this institution.
-- Staff Writer Karen Duffy is News Research Editor for The Daytona Beach News-Journal -- and a librarian.
"The Library: An Illustrated History," by Stuart A.P. Murray, Skyhorse Publishing, 320 pages, $35, hardback
An uplifting tale of reincarnation
By J.W. FLETCHER Special to The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Reincarnation -- the idea that we have lived other lives and may live future ones. World War II history -- Naval air combat in the Pacific. These two topics come together in a very unusual way in the story of James Leininger in "Soul Survivor."
At age 2, little James began having recurring nightmares of being shot down during the battle for Iwo Jima. The nightmares continued and his parents realized, over time, that he was reliving the death of Fighter Pilot James Huston from Pennsylvania. This child had knowledge of World War II aircraft and ships that no youngster should have. He remembered names and men, living and dead, from Squadron VC81.
His parents' quest to help their son led them to the USS Natoma Bay. Eventually, they attended a reunion of the squadron and traveled to the place where Huston had died more than 50 years earlier.
The vivid previous-life memories of this young child touched the lives of many others over time, including Huston's surviving 84-year-old sister. They also brought this young child into the embrace of the aging veterans of Huston's Squadron VC81, the men who flew with him.
Whether one believes in reincarnation or not, Leininger's story is an amazing one. Life is full of unexplained coincidences, large and small. Some are more difficult to comprehend than others. Is it a coincidence that my father (VC91) flew the exact same types of planes of exactly the same type of carrier as James Huston? I have attended my dad's squadron reunions exactly as described in "Soul Survivor." Is it a coincidence that the friend who gave me this book to review is also named James Huston (of Daytona Beach) and has roots in Pennsylvania? Is it a coincidence that Books Editor Karen Gallagher knows the James Huston who passed it along to me? Is it just a coincidence that a 2-year-old child appears to have vivid memories of a life years before he was born?
If you are a skeptic when it comes to reincarnation, you will probably still be one after reading this book, but it will give you something to think about.
(Note: Authors Bruce and Andrea Leininger, James' parents, live in Louisiana with their son, who is now 11.)
"Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot," by Bruce and Andrea Leininger, Grand Central Publishing, 256 pages, $24.99, hardback
Florida Book Awards taking entries
TALLAHASSEE -- The fourth annual Florida Book Awards competition kicked off earlier this month with a call for entries in seven categories.
The contest recognizes and celebrates the year's best books penned by full-time residents of the Sunshine State (with the exception of submissions to the Florida Nonfiction category, whose authors may live elsewhere). The Florida Book Awards competition is coordinated through The Florida State University Libraries, with the support of professors and librarians across the FSU campus.
The contest categories are General Fiction, Young Adult Literature, Children's Literature, Florida Nonfiction, Poetry, Popular Fiction, and Spanish-Language Book.
Entries, which can be submitted by anyone (e.g. publisher, author or literary agent), must be professionally published and have both an original publication date between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 and an International Standard Book Number.
Although all entries must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2010 (this is not a postmark deadline), applicants are encouraged to submit their books into competition any time during the 2009 calendar year.
Three-person juries will choose up to five finalists in each of the seven categories. The 2009 winners will be announced in early March.
For information and the entry form, requirements and instructions for the competition, visit floridabookawards.lib.fsu.edu.
I thought I was pretty up-to-date in the world of vampire novels, or maybe I simply believed I'd outgrown the genre, having read most of those shown on these two pages.
But then I received an unsolicitated, pre-press manuscript of "Blood Promise" by Richelle Mead.
I was two-thirds through it before I did a quick inquiry and learned it is fourth in her Vampire Academy series. It hits bookstore shelves Aug. 25. I'm a newbie to the series.
And I have to say I really sank my teeth into it.
The story is told by Rose (or Roza), a dhampir. Hold on! What's a dhampir? Her boyfriend, Dimitri, has been turned into a Strigoi who has taken off for Russia. And what's a Strigoi? Rose and Dimitri live amid a world full of their own kinds, as well as humans and the Moroi. What, pray tell, is a Moroi? There was a brutal battle between the factions. And now she's torn about going after the love of her life in Russia, because she's also bound to her best friend, Lissa -- who's a Moroi who not only engages in magic but also specializes in spirit and is shadow-kissed -- and is slated to be her guardian for life.
What does a girl do in this situation? Well, THIS girl, Rose, aka Roza, drops out of school in the U.S., seemingly abandoning her promise to Lissa, and takes off without much of a plan to try to find her love so she can kill him with a silver stake, to save him from what she knows is his agony at being turned unwillingly into a Strigoi.
In the 512-page book, which includes a prologue that answers the questions raised above, you'll meet the friendliest and the most scheming bunch of¤ "people" you've met in a while. There's bickering and fighting, love and hate, happiness and fear, relief and worry, positive forces and evil doings that stretch your imagination until you almost bleed.
"It takes a careful balance of power between the spirit user and the shadow-kissed. ... I don't think bonding to more than one person is healthy," Rose tells a friend a mere 30 pages from the end of this story, which doesn't end the way you think it will. Or does it?
"Blood Promise," by Richelle Mead, Penguin Group, 512 pages, $16.99, hardcover, available Aug. 25
'Inception' launches Ops Populi's vision for future of U.S.
PUBLISHER REVIEW
A decade in the making, the plan for reforming the government of the United States is ready, but the members of Ops Populi know they may have only one chance to put it into action. Its leader, billionaire patriot and philanthropist, Martin Lochridge, is convinced the
country is headed for an epic collapse and can only be saved if American people take control of the government, correct its systemic flaws and restore the delicate balance of powers envisioned by the Founding Fathers
Like the Founders, the members of Ops Populi United to Save America are prepared to risk it all for the country they love. But instead of facing a king's army, they must be prepared to confront the determined resistance of their fellow citizens -- the power forces of those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
"Inception" is the fast-moving debut of the "Ops Populi" series -- the greatest American story since the Revolution itself. Almost 222 years after the Framers began the "Great experiment," Lochridge and Ops Populi want to ensure it survives and prospers, with the ideals of the Revolutionary heroes finally realized by those to whom they gave supreme power -- the sovereign people of the United States. To accomplish this, though, they will have to break the stranglehold the elite has on their government -- cut the chains that have kept their constitution out of reach for more than two centuries. Will Lochridge's billions and the patriot fervor of the movement be enough to overcome the formidable opposition?
By SHADOW MANSON Special to The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Paranormal is the new hot thing in the market. Vampires, werewolves and witches are the items chosen by the teen scene of the 21st century. So what about banshees? "My Soul to Take," the first book in Rachel Vincent's new Soul Screamers series, is bound to catch the eye of the new-age young adult.
Why banshees? you may ask. But ask your self this: Why not? Who wants to follow the crowd? Defiantly, not Vincent, in going out of her way to find something no one else would even think of to be the next great thriller -- and her love for different creatures we also have to thank. She drew much of her inspiration from the wars of the Irish banshees. But a regular little story off the tales of old would not do. So, she went out of the box to make it her own!
Vincent's story is of Kaylee Cavanaugh living a not-so-normal life that everyone seems to know more about than she does herself. Living with her uncle, aunt and pretty perfect cousin isn't exactly a fairy tale. Especially since they think she is crazy. Or do they? But what about the mysterious, not to mention sexy, Nash, who comes into her life at all the right moments? What does he know about Kaylee's uncontrollable need to scream every time someone near her dies. But more importantly why is everyone around her dying? Can Kaylee figure it all out in time to stop the seemingly linked deaths -- with her as the link? More and more questions seem to pop to mind. Who has the answers and does Kaylee really won't to know? We won't have to wait long to find out because "My Soul To Take" comes out in August.
This will be Vincent's first young adult book to hit the shelf, but it will not be the last. She doesn't have anything to worry about though. With 11 novels under her belt, all paranormal, she definitely has the awesome story thing down pat.
Sequels aren't the only thing to look forward to. A prequel is set to come out not so far in the future. We find out what Kaylee is like in "My Soul To Take." But how did she become who she is now? "She knows who she is even if everyone else doesn't," says Vincent. Who is that really? Find out for yourself along with all the other Rachel Vincent fans soon.
"My Soul to Take," by Rachel Vincent, Harlequin, 228 pages, $9.99, paperback
Unless you have memorized every word in the English language, it would be helpful to keep a dictionary handy while reading Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's latest thriller "Cemetery Dance."
The writers don't truncheon readers with high-end words, but one's vocabulary accretes.
With that aside, "Dance" is a tingling tale of murder, cultism, vigilantism, greed, DNA investigations and a roaming monster tossed in the mix just to really horrify things.
Susan Jane Gilman's "Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven" documents the author's real-life backpacking trip with a friend to 1986 Communist China. What starts out as a planned post-graduation journey derails into a potentially life-threatening misadventure that shows just how resilient the two women can be.
Recent graduates, travel enthusiasts, Lifetime Television Network fans and, well, anyone who has had a vacation go wrong will appreciate this book.
The trip takes place before Tiananmen Square, and Gilman and wealthy friend "Claire Van Houten" (most names are changed) have more than one run-in with the local authorities. But not for the reasons one might expect.
The two casual friends, who graduated from prestigious Brown University, cooked up the idea for a round-the-world journey in the wee morning hours at International House of Pancakes when they noticed the "Pancakes of Many Nations!" place mats. After that, there was no going back.
A recent rash of poetry books has crossed my desk. I took home "Rainstorms & Fairies" by Carol Atkins to take a closer look at what's going on in this genre these days.
If this collection is any indication of the state of poetry, we're in for a bountiful year of verse.
What a Poem Isn't
A poem is not a guided missile honed by science into a sleek and steely heat-seeking true to target smart bomb.
A poem is more like a flare an exuberant rush to burst into light hoping someone will see and knowing that if a single heart lifts with it into the dark it is enough.
"Rainstorms & Fairies" comes alive with interpretive photography by Sharon Lemmer. It's a wonderful entertwining of Atkins' words and Lemmer's images, which are so meshed that I can't imagine one without the other.
Readers will notice in her poetry that Atkins is a feminist with determination and strength, along with high expectations of others. And evidentally she knows what a poem is: Her poetry lifted my heart -- and sped it up a bit, too.
"Rainstorms & Fairies," by Carol Atkins with illustrative photos by Sharon Lemmer, Sharol Books, 72 pages, $25, hardcover
Port Orange author Elayne Dion had a book sale and signing in Eufaula, Ala., at the annual Eufaula Pilgrimage on April 4-5.
Her book, "The Brass Button," is a historical adventure that appeals to readers age 10 and older, telling of 12-year-old Minta Russell and her family who live on a cotton plantation in Eufaula at the outbreak of the Civil War.
The episode that foreshadowed the drastic change in Minta's life was her father telling the family that the South was on the brink of war, and over the next five years, Minta evolves from a naive child into a responsible adult, suffering the deaths of her brother and her sweetheart, confronting dangerous renegades and dealing with an escaped prisoner of war. These dilemmas and her relationship with the family slaves acquaint the reader with this turbulent period and the life of a teenage girl with the courage to survive.
The book is published by Lulu Publishing, 72 pages, $9.95 in paperback.
The book is available at The Book Rack, 3818 Clyde Morris Blvd., Port Orange, and at Lulu.com. Contact the author at brassbutton@live.com.
"Vice" is set in fictional Gordita Beach, Calif., during the Nixon presidency, just on the heels of the Manson Family murders, and when computer data collection/surveillance is in its early stages. 
