Collected Miscellany

As long time readers of this site will recall, I am a sucker for imaginative young adult or children’s books

My most recent exploration of this genre was the Edie Dickens Trilogy.  The books, that began as letters written

by Ardagh to his nephew at boarding school, are over-the-top farcical romps that mix Charles Dickens and Monty Python to create a sort of British Lemony Snicket.

The series starts with A House Called Awful End .  Here is how Amazon attempts to describe the ridiculous plot:

“When Eddie Dickens was eleven years old, both his parents caught some awful disease that made them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly around the edges, and smell of old hot water bottles.” So begins author Philip Ardagh’s silly story of an ill-fated boy who, due to his parents’ jaundiced condition, is forced to take part in a quest so preposterous that it could only conclude at A House Called Awful End. Set in England, back in the days when “postage stamps were a pretty new idea,” Eddie finds himself put in the dubious care of his Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maud, who not only assault him with a stuffed stoat and make him sleep in his trunk, but carelessly turn him over to the St. Horrid’s Home for Grateful Orphans. There, he stages a breakout, smuggles himself and the other orphans out in the belly of a cow parade float, and is miraculously reunited with his newly recovered parents.

Next up is Dreadful Acts.  School Library Journal:

It all begins when an accidental explosion at Eddie’s house leads to the appearance of a renowned escapologist named The Great Zucchini. Due to this encounter, Eddie meets and is enchanted by the “camel-faced” Daniella, kidnapped by escaped convicts with names like Bonecrusher, spends a night in jail, digs up part of a graveyard, and helps to solve a mystery.

And last but not least, is Terrible Times:

In the third installment of the Eddie Dickens saga, Eddie, our steadfast hero, finds himself en route to North America aboard the sailing ship Pompous Pig along with a cargo hold full of left shoes, the world-famous Dog’s Bone Diamond, and some of the most disreputable traveling companions anyone might have the misfortune to share a berth with. A mysterious stowaway and some familiar faces from Eddie’s past only complicate matters, as does being tied up and set adrift in a leaky rowboat. Will Eddie ever reach America?

 So what to make of the series?  I have never felt I was a good judge of grade school kids will or will not like.  If you like silly oddball humor I would think you would enjoy this series.  They are clearly in the mold of Lemony Snicket as the Amazon reviewer noted:

Snicket-ites will find it impossible to ignore the similarities to their beloved series about three orphans who undergo much hardship with little hope of relief. For one thing, Ardagh, like Snicket, enjoys spinning an over-the-top Gothic tale. Also, he assumes the voice of a personable, mostly omniscient, sometimes pedantic narrator who is eager to explain the origins of the terms he uses, such as “pitch-black,” “unbridled joy,” and “nailing” as well as offering a running commentary on the development of his story as he is telling it. One big difference is that this trilogy is set “in England sometime during the reign of Queen Victoria (who sat on the throne for more than sixty-three years so let’s hope she had a cushion…).” And of course, Ardagh has a sense of humor all his own and an overriding cheerfulness that Snicket likes to snuff the moment it might surface.

For my part, while I enjoyed them and got a chuckle out of the silliness, they didn’t grab me to the point that I wanted to go out and start the next series (Unlikely Exploits).  Also worth noting are the illustrations done by David Roberts which PW describes as “hilarious pen-and-ink drawings of wide-eyed Eddie and his insane family resemble a cross between Charles Addams and Edward Gorey.”

So all in all, if you like Lemony Snicket and are looking something along the same lines but with a different sense of humor and a different setting, Phillip Ardagh might fit the bill.

As long time readers of this site will recall, I am a sucker for imaginative young adult or children’s books

My most recent exploration of this genre was the Edie Dickens Trilogy.  The books, that began as letters written

by Ardagh to his nephew at boarding school, are over-the-top farcical romps that mix Charles Dickens and Monty Python to create a sort of British Lemony Snicket.

The series starts with A House Called Awful End .  Here is how Amazon attempts to describe the ridiculous plot:

“When Eddie Dickens was eleven years old, both his parents caught some awful disease that made them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly around the edges, and smell of old hot water bottles.” So begins author Philip Ardagh’s silly story of an ill-fated boy who, due to his parents’ jaundiced condition, is forced to take part in a quest so preposterous that it could only conclude at A House Called Awful End. Set in England, back in the days when “postage stamps were a pretty new idea,” Eddie finds himself put in the dubious care of his Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maud, who not only assault him with a stuffed stoat and make him sleep in his trunk, but carelessly turn him over to the St. Horrid’s Home for Grateful Orphans. There, he stages a breakout, smuggles himself and the other orphans out in the belly of a cow parade float, and is miraculously reunited with his newly recovered parents.

Next up is Dreadful Acts.  School Library Journal:

It all begins when an accidental explosion at Eddie’s house leads to the appearance of a renowned escapologist named The Great Zucchini. Due to this encounter, Eddie meets and is enchanted by the “camel-faced” Daniella, kidnapped by escaped convicts with names like Bonecrusher, spends a night in jail, digs up part of a graveyard, and helps to solve a mystery.

And last but not least, is Terrible Times:

In the third installment of the Eddie Dickens saga, Eddie, our steadfast hero, finds himself en route to North America aboard the sailing ship Pompous Pig along with a cargo hold full of left shoes, the world-famous Dog’s Bone Diamond, and some of the most disreputable traveling companions anyone might have the misfortune to share a berth with. A mysterious stowaway and some familiar faces from Eddie’s past only complicate matters, as does being tied up and set adrift in a leaky rowboat. Will Eddie ever reach America?

 So what to make of the series?  I have never felt I was a good judge of grade school kids will or will not like.  If you like silly oddball humor I would think you would enjoy this series.  They are clearly in the mold of Lemony Snicket as the Amazon reviewer noted:

Snicket-ites will find it impossible to ignore the similarities to their beloved series about three orphans who undergo much hardship with little hope of relief. For one thing, Ardagh, like Snicket, enjoys spinning an over-the-top Gothic tale. Also, he assumes the voice of a personable, mostly omniscient, sometimes pedantic narrator who is eager to explain the origins of the terms he uses, such as “pitch-black,” “unbridled joy,” and “nailing” as well as offering a running commentary on the development of his story as he is telling it. One big difference is that this trilogy is set “in England sometime during the reign of Queen Victoria (who sat on the throne for more than sixty-three years so let’s hope she had a cushion…).” And of course, Ardagh has a sense of humor all his own and an overriding cheerfulness that Snicket likes to snuff the moment it might surface.

For my part, while I enjoyed them and got a chuckle out of the silliness, they didn’t grab me to the point that I wanted to go out and start the next series (Unlikely Exploits).  Also worth noting are the illustrations done by David Roberts which PW describes as “hilarious pen-and-ink drawings of wide-eyed Eddie and his insane family resemble a cross between Charles Addams and Edward Gorey.”

So all in all, if you like Lemony Snicket and are looking something along the same lines but with a different sense of humor and a different setting, Phillip Ardagh might fit the bill.

I just want to take a moment to brag on myself.  I actually accomplished one of my goals in 2007.  In 2006 I pledged to attempt to read 75 books but came up one book short.  I renewed my pledge in 2007 and rededicated myself to the challenge.  And I succeeded in reading 80 books last year!

So that is one goal I can cross off as having met.  Who says no one achieves their New Year’s Resolutions?

I am not going to make such a pledge this year, however, as it is already clear that my time and focus are going to be severely challenged.  Things might change, but right now I can’t set that as a goal and be realistic.

Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers or those interested in the history of the NFL will want to be sure and check out Dan Rooney’s autobiography My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL recently released by Da Cappo.

The publishers description of the book reveals why this is such an interesting book:

For the first time, Dan Rooney, chairman of one of the greatest NFL dynasties ever, the Pittsburgh Steelers–winner of five Super Bowls–tells his compelling life story.

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers will turn seventy-five years old. So will Dan Rooney. In Dan Rooney, the owner talks about growing up on Pittsburgh’s North Side, competing with Johnny Unitas for top high school quarterback honors in western Pennsylvania, learning the ropes of big-time sports from his father and mentor, Art Rooney (“the Chief”), helping to shape the modern NFL into America’s all-consuming passion, and forging the Steelers into a Super Bowl-winning dynasty. He also speaks frankly about winning and losing, and discusses his relationships with family, coaches, players, owners, NFL commissioners, the media, and the fans–“Steeler Nation.”

It’s all here: the difficult contract negotiations, controversial decisions, memorable teams, and many behind-the-scenes stories of the growth of America’s favorite game. A dedicated family man and proud native of Pittsburgh, this chairman of one of the most successful franchises ever reveals the dynamics that have made him such a respected owner in the NFL.

Dan saw the rise of one of the great sports franchises from the ground up. As a result he has a vast knowledge of the history of not only the Steelers but of Pittsburgh, the NFL, and sports in America.

An added bonus is that the author is clearly a man of great character; a man devoted to his family, his faith, his city, and his team. If you want to know why the Steelers are the class of the NFL you need look no farther than the Rooney family.

If there is a drawback to the book it is that it is an autobiography – co-authored by the President and Director of Library & Archives of Pittsburgh’s Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. This allows Rooney’s personality to come through but it sometimes lacks the drama that a professional writer might have brought to the project. The story of the Steelers rise from perennial doormat to dynasty is a fascinating and dramatic one. A writer with a little more polish could have turned it into a powerful read.

But even in its more laid back structure it is still and insightful and interesting look at sports and cultural history. As a Steeler fan who has never lived in Pittsburgh, and who came of age during the dynasty, I found it deepened my understanding of the Rooney family, the Steelers organization, and the history of the NFL. As a fan of both football and history I found it compelling reading.

Steeler fans and fans of the NFL will want to have this contribution to history of the sport on their shelf.

Readers might be getting a little tired of my focus on Liberal Fascism but such is the nature of blogs.  There has a been a great deal of pixels spilled over this book and the left side of the blogosphere has been particularly up in arms about the very existence of such a book.

For those out there that still might have an open mind, I think Jonah captured the impetus for the book very well over at the NRO blog about the book:

Correcting arguably the biggest and most slanderous spin of the 20th century – that fascism and national socialism are somehow related to classical liberalism — strikes me as a pretty worthwhile subject for a
book.

How is it that every allegedly racist sin committed by any Republican going back 50 years is relevant to today’s politics (so says Paul Krugman et al), but the eugenic and fascistic foundation of American progressivism – and hence American liberalism – amounts to intellectually unserious and uninteresting “trivia”?

Why is it relevant? One answer might be that because people such as yourself are
constantly looking in the wrong direction for the fascist peril, you won’t spot it when it arrives.

I will get into the details when I post my review, but I think this gets to the heart of Jonah’s project.  Those on the left love to label their opponents as fascists so why not explore the origins of this controversial political philosophy and movement; and note its historical connection to American progressives?  Why not force the left to defend some of its history for once?

You may not agree with Jonah’s argument(s) or his style but I think if the left could get over the outrage that liberal and fascism would be in any way connected, they might find the book interesting.

I also continue to find it annoying that many simply refuse to get past the title or cover art.  It is as if you have to forgo marketing and controversy if your argument is to be taken seriously.  Only dry and boring academic tomes – that cost a fortune and will never sell more than a few hundred copies –  will be considered worthy of engagement.  If the title or cover art are a little too provocative suddenly your allowed to ignore the book’s thesis or insult its author without having read it.

This is particularly rich given that a former New York Times foreign correspondent recently wrote a book explicitly calling Christian conservatives fascist.

a large chunk of the responses to the book are simple not worth even reading.  They are merely insults and non sequiters dressed up as cutting criticism.  This is the part of the web that I really could do without – all the vulgarity, name calling, and general lack of civility.  It happens across the political spectrum and I find it tiresome and boring.

Sorry for the lack of content on my part (Jeff and Moe have picked up the slack).  I have still not really gotten a handle on my schedule or my time management (babies and jobs are both quite demanding).  While I put together some review and discussion posts, below are some interesting books that have come my way.

– Swimming in a Sea of Death by David Rieff

Publishers Weekly:

At age 70, Susan Sontag was diagnosed with a virulent form of blood cancer, her third bout with cancer over the course of 30 years and one she would not win. Her son, journalist Rieff (At the Point of a Gun), accompanied her through her final illness and death, and offers an extraordinarily open, moving account of the trial and journey. Sontag’s ‘avidity’ for life had prompted her to beat the advanced breast cancer that devastated her in 1975; she now resolved to fight the statistical odds of dying from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), despite the pessimistic prognosis from doctors. Rieff, who admits he was not close to his mother over the preceding decade, is silenced by Sontag’s refusal to reconcile herself to dying and unable to console her. Both mother and son are by turns angered by doctors’ infantilizing treatment of terminally ill patients and by their squelching of hope. Anxious, chronically unhappy and obsessed with gathering information about her disease, Sontag was unable to be alone, and Rieff becomes one in a circle of devotees who rotate staying with her at her New York City apartment. A doctor is found who does not believe her case is hopeless, and in Seattle she undergoes a bone-marrow transplant. In this sea of death, Sontag took her son with her — conflicted, wracked, but wrenchingly candid, Rieff attempts to swim out.

At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches by Susan Sontag

The New York Times:

The amplified note of despair and loss in “At the Same Time” makes Sontag resemble one of the European “last” intellectuals she often wrote about, “that Saturnine hero of modern culture” standing alone in the ruins of history. This anguish may seem exaggerated, part of her frequently noted self-regard. But, in her later weariness with modern civilization, Sontag fulfilled a particularly American destiny. Gertrude Stein once claimed that America was the oldest country in the world, since it was the “mother of the 20th-century civilization.” Sontag, who had a tragic sense of history rarely found among her peers, never failed to absorb the lessons of her country’s old age and accumulated experience of modernity. It is why the melancholy and occasional bitter wisdom of her last writings appear to be of a mature and passionately engaged American rather than of a marginal and jaded European sensibility — one that has not only learned from the past but, by grappling vigorously with the present, can also divine, if gloomily, the future.