Greetings. We are mid-way into February and the milder temps are holding here so far, whoopee. Groundhog Phil apparently predicted an early spring, which is good, though we are still getting occasional sprinklings of snow that look pretty outside. More importantly, I hope everyone has a very Happy Valentine’s Day on Friday — get your sweetheart a little gift. I’ll be busy officiating a junior tennis tournament then and throughout the weekend so that’ll tie me up and keep me away from the chocolates.
Speaking of which, did you see the Academy Awards show on Sunday? Parasite, Parasite, Parasite: won for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Foreign Film (now called Best International Feature Film). Wow that surprised me. We saw the South Korean film a few weeks ago. It’s sort of a crazy little movie about a poor family — the Kims— who con their way into working for a rich family … but then things turn complicated when their deception is threatened of being exposed.
The movie starts off a bit funny but then turns dark and violent … sort of like a Tarantino film. It makes some interesting observations about class divisions and is well done, though I’m not sure we really loved it. Perhaps I’m guilty of liking more heart-warming plots or redeemable characters? What about you — did you see “Parasite” and like it? The Best Actors and Best Supporting awards seemed to go to the favorites, so no real surprises there. Renee Zellweger in particular was outstanding for her role as actress and singer Judy Garland in the movie “Judy.” But I’m happy for the Koreans to make history to have the first Foreign Film to win Best Picture, Wow that was quite a night. And now, I’ll leave you with a few reviews of what I finished lately.
The Holdout by Graham Moore / Random House / 336 pages / 2020
For most of this novel, I really enjoyed it. I liked the protagonist — Maya — who gets caught up as a jurist on the murder case of a black defendant in a famous century kind-of-trial held in Los Angeles (which reminded me of a bit of O.J. Simpson’s) and is sequestered for months with her fellow jurists. Their verdict when it finally comes is controversial (there’s a lone holdout for awhile), and ten years later they are asked to do a reunion show about the trial … but after a one night get-together for the show one of their fellow jurists is found dead. Who did it, why, and is it connected to the prior case?
“The Holdout” is a very readable and fast-paced murder mystery, law thriller. It makes you think about what it’s like to be on a jury, and issues about race and what real justice is. The first half I thought was strong and compelling — with Maya becoming a lawyer after her experience on the famous case as a juror — but then the novel’s ending is sort of drawn out and becomes a bit crazy with various twists — some of which seem a bit implausible. Still I enjoyed most of the ride and liked the writing, which alternates perspectives among the various jurors and the main character Maya. The author’s previous novel “The Last Days of Night,” which was historical fiction about the titans of electric light, was quite different than this one but both were enticing reads.
A Keeper by Graham Norton / Atria Books / 320 pages / 2019
This was enjoyable light fiction about a woman divorcee (40-ish named Elizabeth) who returns to her hometown in Ireland after her mother’s passing to deal with her mother’s house … and comes to find out secrets about her parents’ past and her upbringing. While there, she also learns a secret about her 17-year-old son who she thought was staying with her divorced husband in California. So both stories about Elizabeth’s parents — the past — and the present with her son — alternate each chapter unfolding, making it an interesting cyclical generational tale of similar things that befall the characters.
The author, a well-known Irish TV host, is a good storyteller and swept me up with the main character Elizabeth and the towns in Ireland where she returns to … investigating her parents’ past. Though as the story goes on some of what happens seems a bit hard to believe and it’s tied up a bit too quickly near the end. But all and all it was enjoyable enough and it moves along and kept my attention. The plot slightly reminded me a bit of a Kate Morton kind of story if you’ve ever read her, though her tales are usually twice as long. I didn’t think “A Keeper” was as good as the author’s fun debut novel “The Holding,” which I liked quite a bit more.
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey / Penguin / 320 pages / 2019
I remember seeing books and hearing about law cases of sexual harassment in the U.S. while working in the 1990s — especially after Anita Hill — so it’s quite disturbing to me that it was still going on to such a rampant level in so many industries in the 2000s, which this book relates. “She Said” is a powerful true story that will curdle your blood but should be required reading … or in my case I listened to it as an audiobook narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who does a great job, as well as the authors who narrate the book’s preface and epilogue.
I didn’t realize when I picked up “She Said” it would be about more than just the Harvey Weinstein case … it also covers some of Donald Trump’s harassment of women as well as Christine Blasey Ford’s case against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. But by far, the Weinstein main part of the book was the most solid, riveting, and well done section.
For those who don’t already know, in the book the authors come to tell about how they were eventually able to get victims and inside sources to break their silence about film producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and abuse crimes .…and goes on to relate how they broke the story in the New York Times about him on Oct. 5, 2017. What is made clear by the book: is the landslide of evidence against Weinstein; how hush/non-disclosure settlements are usually terrible things that most often perpetuate more abuse; and how sleezy and vile (not only Weinstein was and is) but also his lawyers (David Boies, Lanny Davis and Lisa Bloom) who worked to squash his accusers in alarming ways.
The hush settlements though did provide ways for the reporters to track his abuse and find victims. Inside sources such as Irwin Reiter, an accounting executive in the Weinstein company, were key in helping the reporters with information as well as various actresses — such as Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd — and other female company employees who were harassed and had the nerve with the reporters coaxing to come forward … in the face of powerful retribution and hurtful publicity in their fields. One gets the sense by the book of why actresses and employees kept quiet under very difficult situations with such a powerful and intimidating figure. But hopefully the #MeToo movement, which this book helped sparked, will protect people to speak up and come forward more immediately.
“She Said” is a book that’s told very straightforwardly and in a no-nonsense manner about how it all unfolded. The end of the book that recounts Blasey Ford’s case didn’t seem as good because it felt like more of a recounting of events that was already pretty public knowledge, whereas with the Weinstein case the authors really go behind the scenes to tell of how they went about unlocking it all and the people who were key to making it happen. Despite that small caveat, all in all, it’s a very worthy book for our times that I hope will have a long-lasting effect so such cases across all industries won’t be tolerated again.
That’s all for now. Though I will relate that the authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are coming here to town for a dinner charity event talk on March 4 that I’m thinking about going to even though the tickets cost several hundred dollars. It goes to charitable causes I’m told and I’m sure the two award-winning journalists will have plenty of interesting things to say and perhaps divulge what they’re working on now.
What about you — have you read any of these books and if so, what did you think?