Andrew Roberts' "Napoleon" ....

Andrew Roberts' "Napoleon" is a huge book that will change the way you think about one of history's most controversial figures. Roberts spent almost a decade researching the book, and it shows in the meticulous research, the attention to detail; Roberts seems to have been privy to Napoleon's strategy meetings such is the depth of his reporting on various battles.

Here's my interview with Roberts.

Indie presses

I had a really hard time putting this piece together on indie presses. Not because I can't write (although some former editors might say otherwise), but because I had such a wealth of material. Unfortunately some really good information and tales had to be cut -- I'm especially chagrined there wasn't more room for Nathan Kukulski of Six Gallery Press -- but sometimes sacrifices must be made.
Nathan, I owe you a beer, at least.
I am happy, however, to be able to shed some light on these wonderful folks who do this because they love books and writers and fiction and non-fiction and poetry. If you love books, these publishers deserve your support:
Braddock Avenue Books: Six Gallery Press; Low Ghost Press; Hyacinth Girl Press; and Creative Non-Fiction.
And my apologies to all the other small presses in the area that, for reasons of time and space, I could not fit in.
Of course, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Chuck Kinder and Diane Cecily for being hosts nonpareil.

Craig Bernier's "Your Life Idyllic"

Recently, Chuck Kinder told me about a new guy in town who was publishing a short-story collection. Actually, Craig Bernier's been here more than a decade, so he's not exactly "new". But I'd not heard of him until Mr. Kinder kindly introduced us via e-mail.

When I got my copy of "Your Life Idyllic" I set it aside. I'm not keen on most short-story collections -- Alice Munro's work being a notable exception -- because I like to immerse myself in stories. It disappoints me when a story starts to gain momentum and ends. I always want more, particularly if there are compelling characters.

Craig's collection, however, is more than satisfying. The stories are vivid and well told, and the characters are compelling and realistic.

And Craig's a great guy.

Here's my interview with Craig, published today in the Tribune Review.

Steve Rushin's "The 34-Ton Bat"

The subtitle of The 34-Ton Bat is the equivalent of an 18-inning ball game: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jock Straps, Eye Black & 375 Other Strange & Unforgettable Objects.
Don't let that exhausting parcel of language deter you. The 34-Ton Bat is a book to be relished, a perfect companion for the lulls in October baseball.
Rushin, a veteran writer for Sports Illustrated, has managed to take ordinary objects -- including stadium seats, urinals, and flannel uniforms -- and explain their roles in the sport's rich tapestry.
Yes, urinals, those impersonal troughs where men used to line up next to each other to relieve themselves after quaffing a few (or more) beers. In the chapter The Decrepit Urinals of Ebbets Field Rushin traces the evolution of stadia bathrooms and also explains why the price of beer has skyrocketed over the last 40 years. The eight dollar beer, Rushin surmises, "as a barrier-to-entry of ballpark inebriation, has proved beneficial to the modern fan, though few have thanked the owners for it." (It's hard to believe that in 1974 one could buy a cup of Stroh's at Cleveland Stadium of 60 cents. Yes, 60 cents.) Inside the stadiums, the atmosphere is unquestionably safer; Rushin documents  many instances in the early 1900s when players were pelted with glass bottles from both beer and sodas. Notably Frank Chance -- he of Tinkers to Evers to Chance fame -- had cartilage in his neck severed at the Polo Grounds in 1908 from an errant pop bottle. But one does wonder if the spike in beer prices has contributed to an increase in tailgating and some of the ugly incidents outside stadiums that seem to be occurring with more frequency.
The Pirates are prominently featured in The 34-Ton Bat. Rushin thinks that five world championships aside, the Pirates' greatest contributions to the game have been "sartorial."  Fred Clarke, manager of the team from 1900-1915, invented the flip shades that allowed players to shield their eyes from the sun and later became a fashion statement in the '60s and '70s. He praises the pillbox caps of the Pirates' great teams in the late '70s, and shortstop Ronny Cedeno's use of eye black to create the illusion of a moustache during a game in 2010.
The Pirates were also the first team to make using batting helmets mandatory for players in 1953, although general manager Branch Rickey did have an ulterior motive: He owned the American Baseball Cap, Inc., which manufactured those first "industrial quality" helmets that featured a "halo of holes" on the crowns for ventilation.
Less successful was the Pirates' attempt to color the foul lines in the early 1970s, following the Oakland A's petition to used multi-colored bases. Both appeals, thankfully, were denied.
The book slightly loses focus in The Beanproof Cap of Foulproof Taylor chapter, the stories about the development of batting helmets, protective cups and jock straps tending to meander. But for most of the book, Rushin pulls off an amazing feat: He makes a reader care about the seemingly ordinary conventions of the sport, and does so with wit and verve.

There are so many fantastic writers in Western Pennsylvania. Almost all of them owe a debt of gratitude to Chuck Kinder, who has opened up his home to students, novelists, poets, "fictioneers" and mere readers for more than three decades. Chuck is releasing two volumes of poetry this week, with a reading at ModernFormations Gallery on Friday. If you've not read Chuck's work, by all means go. If you have -- well, I don't have to tell you how special Friday is going to be.
Here's my story about the man who first called Pittsburgh the Paris of Appalachia.

Simon Winchester interview

Had the good fortune to interview Simon Winchester, the author The Men Who United the States, The Professor and the Madman, and Krakatoa, for the Tribune-Review last week.  I made a promise to him that I would visit the Point of Beginning in East Liverpool, Ohio, soon. For those that don't know what the Point of Beginning is -- I had no idea until I read The Men Who United the States -- it's the first westward baseline of the Land Ordinance of 1875 which set the stage for the settlement of the lands west of Pennsylvania. Winchester thinks it's one of the more important historical markers in the US, and after reading his book, I agree.

As is the nature of most interviews, I didn't have space to use all of the nuggets of information Winchester gave me. In particular, Winchester states that most of the great developments in the US were advanced because the government backed and financed them. From the Transcontinental Railroad to the Interstate Highway System to the internet, America's infrastructure was created via federal programs. Something to think about when you're driving cross-country or using the web.

James McBride's in town tonight

Most writers are very good interviewees. A few, like James McBride, are outstanding. Throw him an ordinary question and he just riffs on it like the jazz musician he is.

I had so much good material, but alas, space in the newspaper is limited.

Here's my story on Mr. McBride and his wonderful -- actually it's great -- novel, The Good Lord Bird.

http://triblive.com/aande/books/6736144-74/mcbride-brown-henrietta#axzz3E40ySeli

Annette Dashofy ....

Here's the link to my recent interview with Annette Dashofy, from Washington County, a mystery writer of great promise:

http://triblive.com/aande/books/6681353-74/dashofy-mystery-book#axzz3DldF78dl

And more good news for indie booksellers ...

Slate has a good article about how indie booksellers have outlasted Borders and other large retailers:

More good news for indie booksellerfs

In Pittsburgh, we have Amazing Books in Squirrel Hill and Downtown, the East End Book Exchange in Bloomfield, Caliban Books in Oakland, and Penguin Books in Sewickley. If love books, please support these folks. They work hard and are book lovers.

East End Book Exchange story

I've not yet been to the East End Book Exchange, but have heard a lot of good things.

USA Today featured the store in an article today. It's worth reading.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/edmunds/2014/09/09/bookseller-gladys-edmunds-small-business/15343915/

James McBride's "The Good Lord Bird"

Over the weekend I finally finished James McBride's "The Good Lord Bird," which won a National Book Award for fiction in 2013. It's the closest book I've ever read to "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," which might be my favorite novel. The story -- about a young male slave who takes up with abolitionist John Brown by posing as a girl -- might superficially seem absurd. But the voice of the character -- Henry/Henrietta, or Onion as Brown calls him -- is alternately sage, knowing, silly, humorous, immature, stubborn and frightened. All the things young people are between the ages of 12-14.
I interviewed Mr. McBride today for a story that will be published later this month in the Tribune-Review. Look for it before his appearance on Sept. 22 as a guest of Pittsburgh Arts &  Lectures.

James Lee Burke compares audiobooks to the oral tradition

I never considered this connection. It's hard to argue with one of America's great writers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmxcBCUWXmY&feature=youtu.be

Chuck Kinder's poetry event

Chuck Kinder is releasing two books of poetry in October. Yes, the famed author of Honeymooners and Last Mountain Dancer is writing poetry these days, and from what I've read it's quite good.
The collections, All That Yellow and Imagination Hotel will be given their due at a reading October 10 at Modern Formations Gallery. If you have never heard Chuck read, I strongly encourage you to attend this affair, as he and his lovely wife Diane are heading to Key Largo soon.

Here's a link with more information.

https://www.facebook.com/events/367826426706549/

Also, here's a link to a story I wrote about Chuck's retirement from the University of Pittsburgh:

http://triblive.com/aande/books/6141233-74/kinder-chuck-says#axzz3CMf72SX9

Speaking of Murakami ...

He's releasing a new book at the end of the year. I love the title -- The Strange Library -- and the concept is interesting, especially given that it's an illustrated short work (96 pages). Here's the catalog description from Knopf:

An illustrated short novel about a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man and their plot to escape from a nightmarish library.

The Strange Library is due out December 3.

A friend's review of the new Murakami

Here's a link to a good friend's review of Haruki Murakami's new novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Knopf). I agree with Ms. Murphy that this isn't the great Japanese writer's best work, but it's still better than 95 percent of what passes for fiction these days.


http://insomniacwithbooks.blogspot.com/

The Noble Hustle/Colson Whitehead

The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky and Death (Doubleday), Colson Whitehead

Borne from an assignment to cover the World Series of Poker's Main Event for Grantland magazine in 2011, Colson Whitehead's "The Noble Hustle" is not quite an epic tale. Whitehead is best known for his novels  (The Intuitionist, Sag Harbor, Zone One) and his fans will enjoy his ruminations on poker, from tales of  cheap home games to Atlantic City's card rooms to the larger-than-life WSOP. (Whitehead accepted the $10,000 entry fee to the tournament as payment for his work).

Whitehead's prose, as usual, is malleable, at times graceful, at other points rough-hewn and simple. He's so good at his craft he gets away with dashing off lines like "Because I was in AC [Atlantic City], Vegas's little cousin ... ". But when he's on, he's inimitable. His descriptions of the New Jersey casinos are often brilliant, particularly this take on the soon-to-be defunct Showboat:

The '50s-themed Johnny Rockets burger joint reminded boomers of sock hops, roller-skating waitstaff, the first backseat gropings. The House of Blues served up rootsy sentimentality, reminiscences of swell nights in blues franchises in New Orleans, Houston, San Diego. (Remember those two sloppy German matrons? Too bad we had to get up early the next day for the ConAgra convention). ... The piped in Nirvana and Pixes -- now officially oldies bands -- welcomed middle-aged, Gen X lumps like me. The sights and sounds of bygone days told us everything was still possible, the way the snap of a dealer cutting cards and the maddening chimes of loose slots assured us we could be winners. That sure, gambling sound of promise.

Whitehead also nails the players, from the middle-aged men seeking a diversion while their wives are playing roulette to the new breed of cards sharps. According to one observer these newbies are  "` ... young players four-betting, with nothing. Five betting.' He said young players the way World War II grunts used to say Hun bastards."

At one point in the narrative Whitehead jumps forward in time by a year to the 2012 WSOP Main Event. This smacks a little of desperation, as if his own story wasn't enough, and it wrecks the momentum of the narrative.

But only a little. It's not spoiling anything to say Whitehead doesn't win the whole thing. Very few players ever cash out. For those poker players who have harbored grandiose dreams but fell short, "The Noble Hustle" is a worthy companion.

Nancy Martin

I've  never had a writer admit her books aren't for everyone. But Pittsburgh's Nancy Martin told me men aren't likely to enjoy her books, nor does she go out of her way to seek them.

I admire her honesty, but guys, really, she's quite good.

Here's a link to a recent interview with Nancy:

http://triblive.com/aande/books/6507088-74/martin-blackbird-says#axzz3CAYAFsIR

Tawni O'Dell interview

Tawni O'Dell is a very good novelist, but what she does best is bring a keen eye to her characters. The descriptions in her new novel, "One of Us" (Gallery Books) are at times jaw-dropping.
Plus, she's a darn good storyteller who is from my old stomping grounds of Indiana, PA. Sigh. College seems so long ago.

Nevertheless ... Here's the link to my interview with Tawni.

http://triblive.com/aande/books/6649438-74/dell-book-town#axzz3CAYAFsIR

I'm back for good (I hope)

Yeah, I know. Been away for a long time.
But I'm determined to not only restart this blog, but keep at it. I've lots of material, so expect at least 3-4 post per week, if not more.
Later today I'll provide links to recent interviews with Tawni O'Dell and Nancy Martin that appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Plus, I'll have a short review of Colson Whitehead's "The Noble Hustle."

Thanks for reading.

Rege