Jeff Engel

A window into "the job"

Revisado: 10-30-21

I expected this to be interesting, and it sure was. I didn't really expect it to be written or read particularly well, but it was both of those too.

At times it reminded me of the Jack Reacher novels – not the action parts, but the parts where Reacher or the narrator tell us something about how people are liable to behave in a given situation – the smart ways, the foolish ways, and where the latter can lead. Also, where Reacher has his pretended disdain for Marines, Plantinga doesn't miss an opportunity to rib firefighters.

Anyway, this book goes all over the map, and it's both fascinating and illuminating. I'm sure the intended audience is us civilians, but a lot of it is couched as advice to a rookie cop, so that makes you feel like an insider, which is cool.

I feel like I understand better how physically and emotionally demanding police work is, thanks to this book. A lot of people seem to be in one camp or the other about law enforcement – they can do no wrong, they can do no right – and this shows that the reality is more nuanced and more human than either of those extremes.

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More than I expected

Revisado: 10-30-21

This would have been interesting if it had only been an account of some of the more gruesome or unusual cases of a nineteenth-century coroner, but it is much more. Inquest records are just the starting point for fascinating examinations of medical practices, social mores, living conditions, hazards of life, civic history, and crime and law of that era, all deftly knit together. The author starts with murders, moves on to other crimes (including the sometime crime of suicide), work hazards, bad food, perilous childhood, poverty, domestic violence, botched abortions and the social conditions that made them seem necessary, and more – all connected by the thread of death (because of the coroner's involvement). It was unexpectedly absorbing and satisfying.

The reader, Emma Grant Williams (not Catie Gilchrist), was perfect for this book. As a bonus, I learned the right way to say "Bondi Beach" and the world's cutest place name, Woolloomooloo.

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A stark picture of cancer

Revisado: 10-30-21

Hitchens' frank account of his experiences with cancer depressed me. Of course that's not his fault. In fact, good job, Hitch.

It's also not a completely satisfying book, with an unfinished feel, even closing with a double handful of jottings from his notebook that he didn't get the chance to flesh out.

For all that, it was entertaining (even when depressing) and worth the listen.

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Eye-opening and inspiring

Revisado: 10-02-21

Esther Perel's book has two premises: that domestic intimacy is intrinsically at odds with eroticism in a long-term relationship; and that nevertheless, it is not too much to ask for both. The first premise was, for me, a new way of understanding what is probably self-evident to most people (at least as a generalization, even a cliche): sexual ardor cools even as love deepens. The author's analysis of the roots of that incompatibility lead directly to the second premise. Every inch of this book is about helping people find more happiness in their marriage or committed relationship. Defining the dilemma is interesting in itself, but it is really most important to Perel as a basis for exploring ways to solve it.

It is not surprising for a book of this type to be larded with the stories of pseudonymous clients, but Perel does this especially well, using each person's example (and often their words) as an integral part of her argument, and in the process letting us get to know them. I'm not sure I can convey how enjoyable that aspect of the book was.

On top of everything, it is a beautifully written book, literate and witty, and the author reads it very well.

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Yes, it's that bad

Revisado: 06-06-21

I do want to read more by this author, because the best part of this book was its exposition of minutia in everyday settings and in the rituals and implications related to the protagonist's ability to stop time. I've heard that this is characteristic of Baker's writing, and I really enjoyed it. The unfolding story was also interesting enough to keep me engaged.

The erotic potential of the time-stop ability is front and center, and while its nearest real-life correlates might be voyeurism or molesting someone who is unconscious, the fact that this is not only fantasy but also completely impossible in real life may give the reader leave to explore that aspect. The protagonist understands there are questions of morality but prefers not to face them square on. If nobody – including the object of his manipulations – ever knows anything happened, then there is no victim. He is a jerk (and not just for those reasons), but a novel about a jerk can still be worthwhile.

What sinks this book is the protagonist's own chapter-length attempts to write erotica (or describe a fantasy or an actual encounter). So tedious. He admits to us that he's not a very good writer (and even that is too generous), but the author must have disagreed with his character's own self-assessment, because these awful stories must take up at least half the book. It's especially bad in an audio book where you can't skim through the dreck.

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A mixed bag

Revisado: 04-25-21

I was primed to love this after hearing two of the stories featured on the reader's podcast, "The Kiss Me Quick's Erotica." You should check those out to get a taste of what is in this book. "Calyx" is such a nice story, and "Cooling Off" deserves to be heard with the podcast's added music and ambient sound effects that turn a pretty good story into something special. That great sound design is not on the Audible version.

I really liked about a third of the stories, thought another third were fine, and found the remaining third just tedious. This collection was definitely worth the price, but I wasn't always sure it was worth the time it took to wade through the duds to get to the good ones. And needless to say, one person's dud may be another person's delight. I guess a mixed bag is par for the course for an anthology. It's a good way to get introduced to some good authors.

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The Story of Olivia

Revisado: 03-14-21

I would give this five stars all day long for the voice of Olivia - how she was written and how she was read. Innocent and sheltered, open-minded and adventurous, and unmistakably a product of the Fifties. The unfolding of her relationship with Mr. Stevenson was handled beautifully.

The rest of the story was fine. I put up with Tess and what’s-his-name (let’s just call him Mr. Perfect) to get to the next installment of Olivia. But I may be selling the contemporary story short. I did like how the parallel stories illuminated a more symmetrically negotiated DS relationship in the present day to contrast with Olivia's relationship with Mr. Stevenson.

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Not great

Revisado: 03-10-21

This was fine if you just want to spend a half hour with Watson and Holmes, but the case was slight and the story was mundane. On another note, I found the violin theme really irritating after a little while.

I've listened to many hours of golden-age radio Sherlock Holmes (check out a podcast such as "The Great Detectives of Old-Time Radio"), and compared to the better episodes of those, this is weak sauce.

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Meh

Revisado: 03-06-21

Imagine a story that unfolds over a series of exotic dinners, described meticulously and read well, but they never really whet your appetite. That's how I felt about the erotic content of this novel. The point is as much Mona's submission as the actual sex, but neither aspect really connected with me. It felt overwritten and sometimes ponderous. The one scene I did love was more sparely written, and by the way, Mona was in charge. The whiff of aristocracy, boundless means and stiffly framed perversity had a dismally old-fashioned feel.

The premise was inventive and I liked the characters, and I listened until the end to see how it would turn out and frankly because I had paid for it. That's about it.

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The Old Man and the Tree?

Revisado: 02-08-21

As a sixty-year-old who's had parents in their eighties (as the protagonist is), I'm getting to the point in life where I can imagine being this guy, feeling the ways he feels and making the choices he makes. So I was struck by the genuineness of everything about this story, including Kevin Bacon's performance, but of course excluding the one fantastic element, the old man's out-of-this-world vegetative adversary. This was two hours very well spent.

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