Balancing the Books

Book giveaway: 'Waffle Street' by Harrisburg native James Adams

2012-02-16T13:59:00.000-05:00

I'm giving away the work of another Pennsylvania author today (yesterday was Chadds Ford's J.E. Fishman, author of "Primacy")

Harrisburg native James Adams is the author of "Waffle Street: The Confession and Rehabilitation of a Financier" (Sourced Media Books, August 2011, 288 pages)

Adams was laid off from his high-profile job as a mortgage company exec in 2009, and,
"it dawned on me that people of means shouldn’t let themselves be rewarded by the State for their participation in creating the biggest financial disaster in eighty years." he states on the book's website. He tried to get a job at McDonald's but the competition was too stiff. Adams ended up taking the graveyard shift (a grueling 9 a.m. to 7 a.m. gig) as a server at a Waffle House - a 24 hour diner chain of sorts.

The lessons he learned while slinging hash at the Waffle House were more than Adams anticipated. He wrote on a Dec. 2011 guest post for blogger Cole Jones, "I began writing Waffle Street: The Confession and Rehabilitation of a Financier with the thought that readers jaded by the financial crisis would enjoy a fish-out-of-water narrative chronicling a financier’s attempt to work at an “honest job” for a change. And indeed, serving customers after last call provided one humorous story after another. Given the venue and my assigned shift, I anticipated as much. What I didn’t expect, however, was the number of lessons about money and banking that Edward and my customers would teach me."

Read an excerpt called Friday Night at Waffle Hous e.

Watch the YouTube trailer for "Waffle Street" here.

Here's the publisher's description of "Waffle Street":

In the wake of the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression, millions of Americans have spent the past year asking how the economy actually works. Thankfully, the answers have finally arrived – in a most unconventional form.

After spending two years in the midst of the housing market hurricane, Jimmy Adams was laid off from a hedge fund in early 2009. Wearied by eight years in the bond market and disillusioned by the financial services profession, he decides to get an “honest job” for a change. Before he knows what hit him, Jimmy finds himself waiting on tables of barflies at his local Waffle House.

Many colorful characters soon emerge: man-hungry female patrons, a stonemason who carves his own teeth, and a man seeking refuge from the ghost in his apartment. Amidst the glorious chaos of the night shift, the 24-hour diner affords a bevy of comedic experiences as the author struggles to ingratiate himself with a motley crew of waiters and cooks. Unexpectedly, the restaurant also becomes a font of insight into financial markets and the human condition.

In a uniquely hilarious and thought-provoking narrative, Waffle Street unravels the enigmas of money, banking, economics, and grits once and for all. As they laugh heartily at the author’s expense, readers will develop a profound appreciation for the first principle of economics: there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

Want to WIN this book? Simply comment here with your mailing address, or, if that's too public, email it to me at mkaras@pottsmerc.com. I'll mail my new review copy out to one winner, selected at random, in the next week.

About the author:

James "Jimmy" Adams earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and an MBA in Finance. He cut his teeth in the investment management industry as an analyst at Protective Life Insurance Co., where he assisted in the credit evaluation and relative value analysis of an $8 billion corporate bond portfolio. After three years at Protective, Adams joined Jefferson-Pilot Financial. In early 2006, he entered the mortgage bond market as a vice president in the product management group of a $30 billion money management firm.

After three "harrowing years in the mortgage market maelstrom," Adams sought refuge working for a Waffle House for six months. Per his bio on the Waffle Street website, he prefers his eggs over easy and his hashbrowns “all the way.” Originally from Harrisburg, Adams resides in Durham, N.C.

Book giveaway: 'Primacy' by Delco author J.E. Fishman

2012-02-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be giving away some books. A lot of books.

You see, just today I've threatened to topple the growing tower of review copy books on my desk TWICE. And that's just so far. (Kind of gives renewed meaning to the title of my blog). Note the pile, from which I am starting with prying books from the bottom. These antics are somewhat entertaining for the folks who sit behind me.

I'm going to start by giving away a book from a local-ish author. "Primacy" by J.E. Fishman (Verbitrage, 400 pp., $24.95, September 2011) is of the relatively new eco-thriller genre. Fishman calls Chadds Ford, Delaware County, home some of the time (according to his publisher, he also has a home in New York City).

Here's a YouTube video of the author introducing his novel. He said he got the idea for the book while driving one day. Fishman said he asked himself: "What if the first ape to mutate for speech showed up in an animal testing laboratory of all places?"

Here's a description of the novel from the Verbitrage site:

Researcher Liane Vinson thinks she can handle her promotion to the primate lab at Pentalon, the world’s biggest and most secretive animal testing facility. Going along to get along, she’ll ignore both the vitriol of animal rights protestors outside the front gates and the cold calculus that her bosses use to distance themselves from their subjects behind closed doors.

But when Liane discovers that one of her favorite apes, a young bonobo called Bea, has shockingly developed the ability to speak, all her doubts awaken — doubts about right and wrong, about following the rules, and about sacrificing individuals to the supposedly greater good.

She’d spare this unique being the knife if she could, but only Axel Flickinger, Pentalon’s cold-hearted CEO, holds the power of life and death within the closely monitored laboratory. If there’s any chance of rescuing Bea, Liane will need to involve her neighbor, Mickey Ferrone, a rough-hewn veterinarian with his own grievances.

Soon, at risk of life and limb, Liane and Mickey must challenge forces almost beyond their comprehension: a malevolent corporation, a venal federal government, an animal rights movement that’s lost its way — and all of our assumptions about man’s primacy in nature.

Kirkus Reviews calls the book "more fun than a barrel of overgrown monkeys" and Publishers Weekly said it is "an appealing debut thriller."

Want to WIN this book? Simply comment here with your mailing address, or, if that's too public, email it to me at mkaras@pottsmerc.com. I'll mail my new review copy out to one winner, selected at random, in the next week.

J.E. FISHMAN

About the author:

J.E. Fishman is also the author of mystery novel "Cadaver Blues." He has co-authored two nonfiction books, "All I Need to Know I Learned From My Horse" and "Life is a Series of Presentations." His short story "The Dead Field" took Second Prize in Word Hustler's Page-to-Screen Short Story Contest, judged by Sara Gruen. A former Doubleday editor, literary agent, and ghostwriter, Fishman divides his time between Chadds Ford, Pa., and New York City. He is at work on "The Darkest Pool," a financial thriller with a publication date yet to be determined, but stay tuned. When not writing he serves as managing partner of Second Fiddle Enterprises LLC, a real estate holding company, and is a communications advisor to the CEO of Acorn Energy. Fishman is a graduate of Tufts University. Check out Fishman's blog. Follow him on Twitter @JEFISHMAN.

The Hunger Games Trilogy, Book 1

2012-02-13T12:30:00.001-05:00

So, just as with the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, I had to see what all the hype was about with "The Hunger Games."

Suzanne Collins' teen trilogy "The Hunger Games" (Scholastic, 2008) has captured the heart not only of my 12-year-old niece Caroline (who told me she's just re-read the whole trilogy), it's the current favorite read/discussion topic of the entire Composing department (of 30 to 40-somethings) here at my work. Which, luckily for me, means there was readily a copy of the first book, "The Hunger Games," and maybe the rest for me to borrow (thank you, Bill Coldren).

Let me preface this by saying that I can tell you with absolute certainty that if I were picked for wilderness/survival/to-the-death competition, I wouldn't make it very far. I dropped out of the Girl Scouts in 5th grade, can't conjure fire out of twigs or gut a fish, and don't have a lot of experience camping (we weren't that kind of family growing up).

But a good story, that I like. And Suzanne Collins has one here that contains elements of "The Running Man," Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," "Lord of the Flies," and "Romeo and Juliet." She has crafted a tale and a heroine, Katniss Everdeen, that captures the imaginations of pre-teens and adults alike.

I've only read the first book of "The Hunger Games" trilogy thus far. The second is called "Catching Fire" and the third "Mockingjay." Earlier today, I described it as the book-reading equivalent of watching a movie. It's a 374-page book that I read in several hours - in less than two days, rather easily (which is not the norm for me ... I'm a slow reader). The fonts are big and rather aired out. The chapters are short and, for the most part, are cliffhangers. The language is simple, the characters compelling.

I know this book is being made into a movie that's set to come out this spring. And as I read, I could picture the scenes of that movie quite clearly. In fact, as I read, I kept wishing I could come up with and idea, like Collins did, that was so money. Surely, as professional writer, I can devise something so clever ... ?

AUTHOR SUZANNE COLLINS

Katniss Everdeen is a scrappy 16-year-old who's had to support her family of three since the age of 11. The time is the future, and the future is bleak. North America has become the country of Panem, which is divided into 12 districts and a far-removed capitol city, somewhere in the Rockies. Katniss is from District 12, formerly known as Appalachia, a district known for its coal-mining and its poor classes that struggle to come up with enough to eat. Luckily, her late father has taught her how to hunt and fish in a forbidden woods near there home. That way, she's able to support her mother and 12-year-old sister, Prim.

Every year in this country, two teenagers (a boy and a girl) from each of the country's district are selected at random to participate in The Hunger Games, a sort of sadistic Olympics where the 24 teens fight to the death in a giant arena. Everything is televised, and the ultimate winner receives riches beyond belief and won't have to hurt for food for the rest of his or her life. Winning is also a giant honor for the winning district.

I don't want to give the story away to folks like me who are late comers to this trilogy. But suffice to sat that Katniss is selected to fight in The Hunger Games for her district. The insult to this injury is that she must be "made over" for the games, train with the kids who are going to try to kill her, and be interviewed on national television, all the while trying to earn sponsors that have the power to help her survive in the games.

For the parents out there, I will say that the violence is kept to a minimum in this novel. There are death scenes, of course, but they are less bloody than our desensitized to violence people might expect. They would be vivid to the 12-year-olds out there, who maybe might be inspired to learn how to light a fire without, you know, a match, and to eat pine bark to survive. (I'll do it if you will, Caroline! ... the fire thing, not the bark)

As I wrapped up the first book yesterday, I suppressed the urge to run out and buy the second one (like Katniss, I need to save my money for food! I also have a library card and am not afraid to use it). The book ended on a cliffhanger, unsurprisingly, and I wanted to know what happened next. I still do.

Now, I need to go set about borrowing that second book.

'Son of Sassamansville' pens memoir

2012-02-09T13:59:00.003-05:00

Leonard A. Swann Jr. grew up in Sassamansville, pretty much at the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, which happens to be not too far from where I sit typing this blog post.

Swann has written a memoir about his upbringing in the tiny village in Douglass Township, Montgomery County. Aptly titled "Son of Sassamansville" (AuthorHouse, August 2011, 248 pp., $15.95 paperback, $25.98 hardcover) the book may be ordered directly from the publisher at www.authorhouse.com.

This well-written and thoughtful self-published memoir would appeal to local historians. It includes lots of facts, anecdotes and asides about the Douglass (Mont.) areas. It also mentions my paper: Apparently Swann's mother was fond of doing the crosswords in the Pottstown Mercury. Also mentioned are frequent early trips to the thriving metropolis of Pottstown (about six miles away from his modest childhood home) for weekend leisure or school shopping at the former J.C. Penney's.

Swann attended the one-room schoolhouse on Hoffmansville Road and the former East Greenville High School. He married a local girl, Judy, at 18, and went on to study at Muhlenberg college as a commuter student. He and Judy became parents during his freshman year, and a second daughter came along shortly: "Only 20 years old, married with two daughters, ages 3 and a newborn, I really couldn't take time to complain. Reality replaced romance. Responsibility forced a maturity," Swann wrote.

Despite the burden of all that responsibility, Swann had bigger plans for himself. After graduating from Muhlenberg, he packed up his family to Cambridge, Mass., and enrolled in Harvard, which he refers to as "intellectual heaven." At Harvard, he published his 420-page history thesis, "John Roach, Maritime Entrepreneur," in 1963.

Then, in short order, his wife had a baby boy and left him (they were divorced in 1963). He looked for teaching work at universities in the Philly area, and, finding none, went to work for the family business, Swann Oil, in Sassamansville. Swann served as company president for many years.

Swann found a new love, Dolores, got married and built a home in Villanova. They had children together and created a home, but Swann does a lot of complaining about Dolores over several chapters (She didn't cook or clean very well, apparently). Which may explain why the book is dedicated to a Gayle. (In the book there are lots of photos of Swann, his family members, children, and Gayle, who became Swann's wife in 1996 ... but none of his first two wives).

Swann Oil's run of success came to an end when the business was liquidated in bankruptcy in 1986 following Swann's messy divorce from Dolores. "The indignities had no limits," he wrote. Two years later he established a business in the name of his son, Tres. Then he started doing all kinds of things: promoting a band, the TFC Band and creating documentaries with Gayle on dolls. He also backed his son in record production ... ultimately producing the Dave Matthews Band.

It's kind of a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story. Swann had his ups and downs with relationships and jobs. An interesting life so far.

Book summary from the publisher:

Leonard A. Swann Jr. in his memoir, "Son of Sassamansville," traces his humble childhood in rural Pennsylvania, education in a one-room schoolhouse, graduation from Muhlenberg College and Harvard University, experiences in the petroleum industry, bankruptcy and oblivion, rebirth as a producer of documentary videos, and surviving the loneliness of old age. Learn from "Son of Sassamansville" how to recognize and incorporate the hustle gene into an energetic approach to life. Witness how rural values and family experiences in childhood become important shields for the vicissitudes of adult life. Follow one man’s journey through William Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man to reinforce your own fortitude and protect your happiness in aging.

About the author:

Leonard A. Swann Jr., a graduate of Muhlenberg College and Harvard University, is the author of "John Roach, Maritime Entrepreneur"; numerous magazine articles, and 40 scripts for documentary videos in the Sirocco Historical Doll Series and the Sirocco Master Artist Series. He resides in Norfolk, Va., with his wife. They have seven married children and 15 grandchildren.

Would you like a chance to win my review copy of "Son of Sassamansville"? If so, please comment here or email me your mailing address at mkaras@pottsmerc.com.

The easiest diet in the world is ...

2012-02-08T17:59:00.003-05:00

Well, it's not often I get a diet book to give away. OK, so this is the first one.

Author Rich Stevens has penned and self-published a book called "The Easiest Diet in the World ... and it Works!" (AuthorHouse, 2011, 96 pp.) At the time it was pitched to me, I thought to myself "Gee, I'd really like to know how that easy diet works!"

As it turns out, it really is an easy diet. Stevens is a big fan of eating organic. That is the diet. Eat only organic foods and exercise and you'll lose a ton of weight. He sums that up in 96 pages.

It could have been a magazine article, in my opinion ... or a tweet.

Stevens is a very upbeat writer - he uses lots of exclamation points and motivating examples. And, as an editor I will sadly admit that I did find some typos. His book is very simply written and easy to read in one sitting, but if you really want to try this diet, just endeavor to eat all organic stuff (if you can afford it!)

Here's the author's description of the book:

In the spring of 2007 I sought out to lose 5-15 pounds, and even harder an inch or two off my waist, and especially hard I wanted to lose my love handles! I did not take any “Before” photos of myself as I didn’t know what to expect. The results from going to my new “diet”, or as I properly call it here in this book my new “lifestyle”, were astonishing to say the least! Within four months I lost 30 pounds, 4” off my waist, and the love handles are gone! And it was so easy!! I eat anything I want: ice cream (boy do I love ice cream!), candies, cookies, cakes, sugars, starches, pasta, pizza, potatoes... You name it!! I would not change from this new lifestyle for any amount of money. It has gotten me “looks” from everyone and higher self-esteem, but also it has made my cholesterol drop from 229 to a good normal 175 and normal on both the good and bad types. Also formerly I was taking one high blood pressure pill every night and now my blood pressure is also normal. My triglycerides are an amazing 50 after being over 140! People are amazed at me and how I look, feel, and act. Usually they guess 10-20 years younger than my age! And if YOU follow all the ideas of this book, you will also make incredible improvements on your looks, health, and body and will not ever think of changing from this lifestyle. I eat anything I want and do not miss out on any type of food I enjoy! In the book I tell why it works and how it works. I have many charts you can use to help you along and the “yellow jacket” has the most important points of the book as well as the handy charts and logs to use. Now three years later my friends urged me to write a book about it all. After losing 14% of my body weight, I have found my ideal weight and am always within three pounds of it! You will see when you read it why it is... The Easiest Diet in the World...and It Works!

About the author:

Rich Stevens resides in San Diego and serves as an adjunct professor of mathematics at Cuyamaca college in El Cajon., Calif. He is a graduate of The State University of New York at Albany, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in math education. He has worked as a disc jockey, coached cross country and tract and serves as a weight training advisor. He was also the public address announcer of the New Jersey Nets for seven years. He has been an avid long-distance runner and directed the Marist College Distance Running Camp for eight years.

Would you like to "win" my review copy of this book? Let me know by commenting here or sending an email with your mailing address to me at mkaras@pottsmerc.com.

Young adult authors tour to stop at Collegeville's Towne Book Center (BOOK GIVEAWAY)

2012-02-06T18:18:00.001-05:00

Penguin Young Readers Group's Breathless Reads National Panel Tour will be making a stop in Collegeville later this month. What that means for you is I have a LOT of books to give away. And by a lot, I mean EIGHT brand new Penguin young adults novels from the esteemed publisher's Breathless Reads lineup.

Four Penguin authors: Marie Lu ("Legend"), Andrea Cremer (the "nightshade" series), Beth Revis (the "Across the Universe" series) and Jessica Spotswood ("Born Wicked), will be available on Saturday, February 18, beginning at 4 p.m. for book signings, autographs and discussions at Towne Book Center & Cafe in Providence Town Center (Routes 422 and 29, across the parking lot from Wegmans)

Learn more about the Breathless Reads tour on its Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/breathlessreads or by calling the store at 610-454-0640.

But back to the free books. I have two copies each of the four authors' brand new "pulse-pounding" (according to Penguin publicity) hardcover books to give away to you, reader.

When they say young adult novels, note that these look like they're intended more for the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" audience than younger young adults. They're about werewolves, bleak future worlds and star-crossed/doomed lovers. So, while they may appeal to adults as well, likely you'll want to pass them along to the young adult reader in your life.

Enter to win one of the following books by shooting me an email with your mailing address (so I can mail a book to you) at mkaras@pottsmerc.com or posting it here as a comment. Be sure to state which book you fancy.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

1) "Legend" by Marie Lu (G.P. Putnam's Sons, November 2011, $17.99, 305 pp., no age range given)

Book summary per the Legend website:

Los Angeles, California
Republic of America
Population: 20,174,282

MARIE LU

The flooded coast of former Los Angeles. Two warring nations of North America — the Republic and the Colonies.Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, 15-year-old June is a prodigy. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country, she is being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles.Born into the slums of the Republic’s Lake Sector, 15-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths — until the day June’s brother is murdered. And Day becomes the prime suspect. Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival while June tries desperately to avenge her brother’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together and the sinister lengths their country will go to in order to keep its secrets.

Watch the "Legend" book trailer here.

About the author:

Lu, 27, is the art director at Online Alchemy, a video game company, and resides in Los Angeles.

ANDREA CREMER

2) "Bloodrose" by Andrea Cremer (Philomel Books, January 2012, $18.99, 406 pp., for ages 14 and up) The third book in the "Nightshade" series.

Book summary per the "Nightshade" series website:

Calla has always welcomed war. But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for aSll. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is. In the final installment of the Nightshade trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Andrea Cremer creates a novel with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat until its final pages. A dynamic end to this breathtaking trilogy.

Watch the "Bloodrose" book trailer here.

About the author:

Cremer teaches history at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN., and has spent much of her career studying slavery and sexuality in European and early American history.

3) "A Million Suns" by Beth Revis (Razorbill, January 2012, $18.99, 400 pages, for ages 12 and up)

Book summary from the "Across the Universe" series website:

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

BETH REVIS

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Click here to watch a YouTube video interview with author Beth Revis.

About the author:

Revis, a resident of North Carolina, is a former teacher. "A Million Suns" is her second novel.

4) "Born Wicked" by Jessica Spotswood (Putnam, February 2012, $17.99, 330 pp., ages 12 and up)

A summary of "Born Wicked from the author's website:

JESSICA SPOTSWOOD

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship — or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word ... especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood — not even from each other.

Click here to watch the "Born Wicked" book trailer.

About the author:

Spotswood is a native of Biglerville, Adams County, Pa. She refers to her hometown as a tiny one-stoplight town. She resides in Washington, D.C. "Born Wicked" is her debut novel.

Note: If you can't make it to the Collegeville Breathless Reads booksigning, there's one the next day, Sunday, February 19, at The Doylestown Bookshop, 16 S. Main St., Doylestown.

Got no plans tonight? Author Jamie Ford to present at Villanova

2012-01-31T13:46:00.002-05:00

Well, this is totally short notice for an event that's TONIGHT but there's still time to go if you're interested or maybe just hanging around the Main Line with nothing to do: Author Jamie Ford is speaking at Villanova University's Connelly Center tonight at 7:30.

Villanova has chosen Ford's novel "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" as its One Book for its community to read this year.

According to Villanova's website, One Book Villanova is a campus-wide effort spanning the academic year that presents to the university a book worthy of close reading, discussion, course adoption, and the stimulation of dialog among all members of the campus community.

The below description of the novel is entirely from the Villanova site:

JAMIE FORD

"In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice - words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart."

Sorry for the short notice. In any case, the book looks intriguing. Let me know if you go!

Royersford native releases debut novel about Korea, living as an expat & finding meaning in life

2012-01-30T12:56:00.000-05:00

AUTHOR JOSHUA NEWETT IN KOREA

Joshua Lorenzo Newett, a Royersford native and author now residing in Korea, recently emailed me an electronic copy of his debut novel, "Along the Naktong" (Nov. 2011, Gentleman Tree). Hard copies of the novel are available for purchase at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other booksellers.

If you're interested in it, keep on reading til the end. An e-copy is up for grabs.

Below is an interview I did with Newett via email about his book. He kindly supplied me with the cover art and photos used here.

Q: Can you tell us more aboutyour background?

A: I am a native of Royersford. I grew up onthe corner of 4th avenue and Vaughn Road. I feel fortunate to be fromone of the last generations that grew up playing outdoors. My memories ofRoyersford are filled with camping trips, neighborhood games oftag and hide and seek, sledding, the smell of freshly cut grass, and the lastfireflies of summer lighting up the dusk as the street lights came on.I attended Temple University and studied political science, with a focus onCold War politics. After university I stayed in Philadelphia andeventually landed a job with a publishing house. I grew restless doingthe nine to five and decided I wanted to doing something adventurous and out ofthe ordinary. I narrowed it down to the French Foriegn Legion and teachingabroad. I decided on the latter and since moving to Korea four yearsago have owned a bar/restaurant, The Hemingway, and started my ownschool, People's English.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

A: I wrote this book for three reasons:

The first was to givepeople some sort of frame of reference to understand what it's like to live asan expat. I tell people I teach in Korea and they just nodtheir heads and say "oh great" or "cool" without any realunderstanding. I wanted the reader to feel what it's like to come to acompletely foreign country and have to adapt.

The second reason I wrote the bookwas to showcase Korean history and culture and clear up a fewmisunderstandings about the Korean War. Historically Korea has been overshadowed by its neighbors China and Japan. Many people know a lot moreabout Chinese and Japanese culture and history than Korean, even though Koreahas an extremely interesting culture and history of its own. Also manypeople misunderstand the Korea War. They frame it in terms of a communistNorth invading a democratic South but in order to properly understand theconflict you have to go back to the 1592 invasion of Korea by theJapanese. (Here is an article I wrote about it, which can be seenat http://www.theruggedgent.com/2011/02/27/the-last-bastion-of-the-cold-war-understanding-a-divided-korea/)

For most Korea conjures up images of war and the ongoing conflict thatresulted; video snippets showing thousands of North Korean troops goosestepping in massive parade, the Dear Leader, mass gatherings, and the DMZ. Manyrecall the harsh rhetoric unleashed by both sides in years past or, recently,the headlines full of news about the North’s rocket attack on a South Koreanfishing island and the supposed sinking of a South Korean man-of-war by aNorthern torpedo.

It’s ironic that the conflict and imagery which have so defined Korea foroutsiders are so truly misunderstood, it is alarming how little the generalpopulace knows about how and why the conflict that has shaped the present daypolitical climate in the divided country came about. The headlines are full ofcatch phrases and sound bites that conveniently roll off the tongue and areeasily and instantly committed to the memory of the news consumer, “Axis ofEvil” “Rogue State” and “communist Dictator” just to name a few. Most areaware of the conflict but don’t truly understand the roots causes or theysubscribe to the over simplified idea that it was the opening battle in the warbetween communism and democracy, or capitalism, that would shape the politicsof the world over the next fifty years, that the communist North lead anunprovoked attack against the south in order to snuff out capitalism andinstall a communist government, all the while Joseph Stalin the grand puppetmaster furiously worked the strings behind the scene.

In order to better understand the divided nation we have to go much furtherback than 1950 for it was much more than a conflict between two ideologicalsystems, it was a conflict rooted deep in the past of Korea, as far back as the1592 invasion by the Japanese, who invaded with 158,700 troops in hopes ofestablishing a base in Korea which would allow them to launch an offensiveagainst the Ming dynasty in China, and then eventually India. The Japaneseswept over the peninsula at will but were rebuffed by Admiral Yi Sun-Shin andhis Turtle Ships, the world’s first armor clad warships. The Ming dynasty sent22,000 troops to assist the Koreans and together they pushed the Japanese intoa small area up against the sea in the south eastern part of the country andforced them to terms.

Japan stalled in treaty negotiations and launched a second invasion in 1597,which was quickly rebuffed by Admiral Yi and the Ming forces, but this attackwas different from the first in goal, its aim wasn’t to gain a strong hold totake the rest of Asia but to punish Korea for defeating Japan on their firstinvasion attempt. Japanese soldiers killed, raped, and tortured civilians,bringing over ten thousand noses and ears back to Japan. The invasion left a legacy of anti Japanese sentiment among Koreans that lasted up until the 20th century.

In 1904 war broke out between Russia and Japan over their spheres ofinfluence in Korea, and Japan came out the victor. Under the peace treaty,brokered by Theodore Roosevelt, Japan gained paramount rights to Korea andestablished a protectorate at the point of a gun, taking control of Koreandiplomacy, deploying police forces and taking over industry. By 1910 Japan hadannexed the peninsula and made Korea a colony.

NEWETT

The Japanese were oppressive and put down all forms of rebellion and dissentwith blade and bullet. Over ten thousand Korean woman, known as “comfort women”were kidnapped and made sex slaves to the Japanese army. They were raped dozensof times daily by soldiers who believed the practice would make them victoriousin battle. Rebellions threatened the Japanese government in Korea several timesbefore the colonizers changed their tactics from brute force and repression toa divide and conquer mentality, taking loyal Koreans under their wing, givingthem Japanese names, and installing them in positions of power. It was mostlythe old landed class, or Yangban, that benefited while the rest of the Koreanpeople starved in misery under Japanese rule.

In China tens of thousands of Korean rebels were engaging the Japanese armyin guerrilla style warfare, successfully enough in fact that the Japanesecreated special units, headed up by Koreans who were loyal to the Japanese, totrack and destroy these guerrilla leaders. One of the most well known andfeared guerilla fighters was none other than Kim Il Sung, the first leader ofNorth Korea.

Here can be seen the root of the conflict, it wasn’t about communism orcapitalism; it was about collaborator against nationalist. After Japansurrendered in 1945 the Soviet Union swept into Korea and then allowed theUnited States to occupy the lower half of the country. The Americansimmediately began making mistakes, they refused to turn Korea over to theKoreans instead they wanted only to create an anticommunist South Korean state,just as they would in Greece, Indochina, Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile andNicaragua. It didn’t matter that many of the Koreans supported by the UnitedStates were seen as traitors and Japanese sympathists, it mattered only thatthey called themselves “anticommunist”.

There was a government set up by Koreans for Koreans in Seoul in 1945 calledthe Korean People’s Republic. General Hodge, the commanding American officer inKorea, “declared war” on the KPR on December 12^th 1945 and latersaid, “one of our missions was to break down this communist government outsideof any directives and without the backing by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of theState Department.” Here we can see one crucial problem of American cold warpolicy, there was no differentiation between communism, nationalism, anddemocratic socialism, as would later been seen in such places as Chile andVietnam. It was a nationalistic movement in Korea, not a communist movement,Koreans wanted their country back they wanted to rule themselves aftersuffering at the hands of the Japanese for the first half of the century. Theyasked the United States for help but, instead of helping Korea achieveindependence the US installed the very people into power who had worked for theJapanese, terrorizing their own countrymen in order to keep the Japanese inpower, people who labeled everyone not in their small elite class ascommunists.

We can look at the Korean Nation Police force as an example. In 1946eighty-five percent of the police force had served in the Japanese policeforce, the Americans put into power the same people that tracked down leadersof the Korean resistance movement during the Japanese occupation. The group theUnited States chose to support was, at the time

” A numerically small class which virtually monopolizes the native wealthand education of the country…Since this class could not acquired and maintainedits favorable position under Japanese rule without a certain minimum of“collaboration”….the forced alliance of the police with the Right has beenreflected in the cooperation of the police with Rightist youth for the purposeof completely suppressing Leftist activity. This alignment has had the effectof forcing the Left to operate as an underground organization since it couldnot effectively compete in a parliamentarysense even if it should so desire.”

And in referring to the structure of the southern bureaucracy the CIA saidit was “substantially the old Japanese machinery” (National Records Center, CIA“The Current Situation in Korea,” ORE 15-48, March 18, 1948; and CIA, CommunistCapabilities in Korea,” ORE 32-48, Feb. 21, 1948.)

In late 1948 the Soviets withdrew their troops and left North Korea to theKoreans and a little over a year later the war broke out. The North didn’t justinvade the South, there were provocations on side; posturing, threats, borderskirmishes and fire fights. The South was egging the North on in hopes of aninvasion so they could call for international support and the North was waitingfor a reason to invade. After the war started the story is pretty familiar tomost but the often overlooked or ignored fact is it wasn’t a communist Northwanting to spread their ideas southward, the DKPR felt themselves, and stilldoes, to be the true Korea, a representation of the Korean people, they felttheir governement was the one picked and supported by the people , thegovernment whose members fought against the Japanese while they occupied Koreaand China, while the leaders in power in the south had fattened under Japaneserule, hunted down and killed their own countrymen who opposed the Japanese.

During the American Civil War, France and England were in favor of theSouth, while Czarist Russia favored the North. How would the United States looktoday if the British and French threw their full weight behind the Confederatesand Czarist Russia supported the North, what if a stalemate had been declaredin that war? There wasn’t a stalemate, the States were left alone to determinefor themselves what they would become. There were many lives lost and muchbloodshed but it was a process that needed to happen in order for the countryto move forward, there was a clear winner and a clear loser, the winners wrotehistory and the country moved toward repairing itself. Korea was given no suchopportunity for self determination. It wasn’t the Chinese or Russians whoinvaded the South, let us remember, it was the Koreans. The only reason theChinese later joined the war was because the U.S. had taken sides with theSouth and was advancing toward the Chinese border with MacArthur at the helm,who left to his own devices would have invaded China. China wanted to keep theU.S., with its hostile policies toward Communism and self determination forcountries of the “third world,” off of its doorstep and it owed Korea a favorfor their support in fighting the Japanese in China. As a side note it is alsointeresting that the United States supported not a democracy in South Korea, buta military dictatorship that terrorized its own citizenry right up until 1988.

Both the North and the South have been active participants in revisionisthistory,as this is how history is written by the victor and when there is noclear victor we have two opposing stories. In hopes of reconciling a dividedcountry the two Koreas, as well as the rest of the world, must to take anhonest look at the root cause of the conflict, as damning as that might be tonational pride or sense of righteousness, it needs to happen in order for thecountry to move forward. No side can claim innocence in a war that snuffed outthe lives of millions of people, in having participated in the creation of twoopposing systems that have turned brother against brother and led to theoppression and silencing of countless more millions on both sides. If oneclaims to be more just than the other there will be no way out but for one sideto be destroyed, be it by war or famine. The mistakes that have been made mustbe admitted, the South must admit the role they played in repressing themajority and welcoming yet another colonizer into their country and the Northhas to realize just because it has suffered at the hands of imperial powers andin some way been demonized it doesn’t make their behavior, or what theircountry has become, any more tolerable or acceptable.

For further reading: The Two Koreas by Don Oberdorfer, KoreasPlace in the Sun: A Modern History by Bruce Cummings. *These two books area great place to start and they include a long list of other books for furtherreading. I would like to include a small cautionary warning about any book,especially first hand accounts of events such as The Aquariums of Pyongyang,published by a South or North Korean. I’m not suggesting that they aren’t greatresources but you have to remember the citizens of both countries have beenshielded from anything that isn’t state approved history, the South does havefreedom but with the spectre of a repressive miltary dictatorship looming inthe recent past. The point is have your propaganda filters tuned to a highpitch.

The third reason was to make a commentary on the existential crisis the postmodern individual finds themselves in. It is about something we allfeel even if we don't admit it, a deep disconnect with the world that surroundsus. Post modern man is adrift in a sea of rules, norms, and ideas on what weshould, must, or must never do; the proper and the improper, winners andlosers, the beautiful and the damned,the saved and the lost, the us and thethem. We're born into a world created by others, told who and what we are fromthe time we take out first breath many never realizing the choices they madewere never really choices at all. The characters in this book represent thestruggles of the intrepid few who took a fleeting day dream and turned it intoa reality, who garnered the courage to turn a feeling of vague dissatisfactioninto a quest for meaning. It is a story of consciousness becoming aware ofitself, the realization that our existence precedes our essence, a place fromwhich all great journeys must begin. (Here is an article I wrote onexistentialism: http://www.theruggedgent.com/2011/04/11/sartre-and-sheen-3/)

Q: Would you sum up the plot/what it’s about for our readers?

A: The characters in the book are all on a genuine search formeaning. For one reason or another they all feel disenfranchised by the societiesin which they live and make decisions to live life as they trulywant, or at least figure out what they truly want. The storyunfolds on three continents and showcases some of the more interestingthings I have seen in my travels, like an industrial town in China that lookedas though it were out of the USSR in the 1950's.

Q: What sort of publicity have you pursued?

A: The book was just recently released but so far I have had a book release partyin Royersford, and (had one in mid January) in Busan Korea. I haveadvertised online and will have ads coming out in The New Yorker in thespring. I am also in the process of hiring a publicity agent.

Q: What advice might you offer toother first-time novelists in the areas of writing … and publishing?

A: Forme the first step in writing anything, be it a novel or an article,takes place inside my head over the course of time. It starts with abasic mental outline that my brain sort of builds up automatically. For instanceI'll be riding on the train and see a woman with a parka and think"character x would wear that when they met character y." For meit is also about setting aside time everyday to write. When I feel thestory is developed enough to put down on paper I set a time frame in which Iwant to finish the first draft and then write x amount of words aday. I usually set my bottom limit at 1,500 words a day.

NEWETT IN KOREA WITH FRIENDS

For me writing is a hobby and a form of expression. Itis a way to destress and, if I am successful, bring others into a world I'vecreated in my mind. It used to be that publishing was considered agentlemanly endeavor undertaken by men of leisure who published books forpassion not profit. It was known as a gentleman’s profession meaning theyusually didn't make any money and that's how I like to think of writing, apassion and a hobby. If I can make a living doing it then great if notthat is great too.

Q: Do you have another novel in the works?

A: Mysecond novel, Saving Bill Murray, should be out late summer 2012. It'sabout two Evangelical Christians who believe God has asked them to save thesoul of Bill Murray . Eventually they kidnap him and he makes them adeal, if they can last as his personal assists he will accept God at theirchurch on national TV. I am also working on The Manifesto of the UnlandedGentry; Becoming a Rugged Gentleman, which is a non-fiction field manual tohelp people reach what I call escape velocity, aka going after yourdreams. I also write for a website called The Rugged Gent www.theruggedgent.com

If you'd like to take a look at Newett's "Along the Nanktong," with his permission I'm giving away ONE electronic copy of his book to a reader. If you'd like to win it, simply comment on this blog post with your email address; or, for more privacy, email it to me at mkaras@pottsmerc.com.

Admission as a double entendre

2012-01-27T12:07:00.002-05:00

It's been way too long since I posted. You see, we got this fancy new website at The Mercury and at first it didn't support Blogger, the program I've been instructed to use while blogging for the paper. So blah, blah, blah and three weeks later, here I am finally writing a post that I hope will successfully be posted on my blog/to the website.

It actually took me the last three weeks to finish my latest book, so you see how it all worked out perfectly.

Over the holidays, my sister Jennifer and I exchanged the books that we'd just finished reading. I gave her the stellar, romantic, nostalgic "Rules of Civility" - the debut novel by Amor Towles, which I loved and burned through in just a few days. She gave me "Admission" by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Grand Central Publishing, 2009, 449 pp., $14.99 paperback), praising the author's use of a clever device: Using excerpts from seemingly real college admissions essays at the start of each chapter.

The novel follows Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan, 38, through a few months (the time of year during which she reads hundreds of admissions essays and makes recommendations for students to be admitted - or not - to the famed Ivy League institution). While making her rounds of several New England private schools, rather prissily making pro-Princeton speeches and ducking overambitious students, Portia runs smack dab into her past.

We are treated to flashbacks of Portia's fatherless childhood, growing up the only child of a feminist in New Hampshire; of her college days at Dartmouth, which were dominated by a boundless love for a boy who treated her like the flavor of the moment; and of her early career, as an admissions officer for her alma mater, which she kind of fell into but ended up having an affinity for.

It's the Portia of the past that held my small interest in this novel, as the Portia of the present seems to be devoid of any interesting detail (in contrast to the people who surround her, who seem to be more fully developed characters: Her activist 68-year-old mother Susannah who chops her own wood and thinks nothing of helping a friend raise an infant "at her age"; her caring friend Rachel who tells Portia quite directly that she looks awful and needs help when she does and shows up at Portia's house when she hasn't heard from her for days; and her cowardly ex-boyfriend of 13 years who gets someone else pregnant and moves out overnight).

The "Admission" in the title I think refers more to an admission that Portia must make to herself, not an entrance to a prestigious university. USA Today reviewer Bob Minzesheimer has another theory, "The title, which has a double meaning, is purposely singular, not plural, as in Princeton's Office of Admission."

While being confronted with her past, details of which we learn about in dribs and drabs, Portia has a relationship crisis which quickly turns into a career crisis which evolves into a very personal upheaval. I'm not going to reveal what the catalyst for her ultimate breakdown is, but let's just say the reader will see it coming.

Not to worry, though, the novel wraps up with the tidiest of endings. A little too tidy.

I think a former (like my sister, who once worked in admissions for an arts school) or current admissions officer or college faculty member might enjoy this novel, with its insider information on the college admissions process, and the clever use of admissions essays at each chapter's start. After I finished the novel, my sister admitted she didn't like it at all - in fact, she most enjoyed those clever essay excerpts!

There are hints to the other side of the admissions process: Applicants/parents sending tons of baked goods along with their college applications, as well as myriad phone calls, letters and emails pleading their cases, stalking admissions officers, pummeling them with questions about how to get in and accusations when their kids doesn't. There are the legacies - students whose parents or grandparents attended a university - who demand their kin get in on principal. There are some light moments, some revelations to this novel.

And they are real revelations: The author spent two years as an outside reader of applications at Princeton as research for her novel. Very cool. And perhaps not that difficult to arrange, as she is married to a Princeton professor.

Click here to read the first chapter of "Admission," compliments of Oprah.com. (It was printed in the July 2009 issue of Oprah magazine).

But for me, it was too long, kind of arduous, not a story I loved but one I endured. I'm off to find something that captures my attention and my heart, wills me to stay up just another 20 minutes or hour or two, and leaves me wanting in the end. This book was not it.

About the author:

Jean Hanff Korelitz was raised in New York City and graduated from Dartmouth College and Clare College, Cambridge. She is the author of novels A Jury of Her Peers (1996), The Sabbathday River (1999), The White Rose (2005), and Admission (2009), as well as a children’s novel, Interference Powder (2003) and a book of poems, The Properties of Breath (1988). Admission is reportedly being made into a film starring Tina Fey (Read more about that on this January 2011 Word&Film.com story ... Note: I will be going to see this film if Fey is in it). Korelitz resides in New Jersey with her husband, Princeton professor Paul Muldoon, and their children. In 2006 and 2007 she worked for Princeton's Office of Admission as an outside reader.

Best of Best Books of 2011, per Publisher's Weekly

2012-01-03T17:55:00.001-05:00

Publisher's Weekly released this list of "Best of the Best Books of 2011" today: (sad to say I've read none of them so far, though Eugenides and Patchett are on my list, and I've heard great things about Tina Fey's book)

Do you recommend any of these, or perhaps have some other 2011 book suggestions? Post a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

The Best of the Best Books of2011: Overall Top 10

1.The Tiger's Wife,Tea Obreht
2. The Marriage Plot,Jeffrey Eugenides
3. 1Q84,Haruki Murakami
4. State of Wonder,Ann Patchett
5. The Art of Fielding,Chad Harbach
In TheGarden Of Beasts, Erik Larson
7. Blood, Bones &Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton
8. Steve Jobs,Walter Isaacson

The following 6 books tied in 9th:

The Sisters Brothers,Patrick DeWitt

The Tragedy of Arthur,Arthur Phillips
The Sense of an Ending,Julian Barnes
Open City,Teju Cole
The Stranger's Child,Alan Hollinghurst
Bossypants,Tina Fey

Per PW:

Fiction dominates the overall top 10 this year,with novels claiming the first four spots, and Tea Obreht's THE TIGER'S WIFE asthe clear "book of the year."

In addition to the overall top 10list, Publisher's Weekly offers a full version, which you must log on to see, that includes separate breakoutsfor the top 10 novels and works of nonfiction, along with complete credits forthe editors and agents associated with those books.

On the topic of resolutions

2012-01-02T13:41:00.001-05:00

Happy federal-holiday New Year's, readers.

Today at my paper Diane Hoffman, community engagement editor, blogged about keeping it real when making New Year's resolutions: By ensuring they're fun and taking them slow (read that blog here).

One of my New Year's "resolutions" is to read Gretchen Rubin's bestseller, "The Happiness Project." In fact, it's already on my nightstand (among others).

GRETCHEN RUBIN

On her blog, Rubin has posted 6 questions to ask yourself when making New Year's resolutions.
I thought it apropos to post the link here.

"I’m more inclined to make resolutions than ever, in fact, because if my happiness project has convinced me of anything, it has convinced me that resolutions — made right — can make a huge difference in boosting happiness," Rubin writes in her blog.

Rubin is currently tidying up the details on her next book, "Happier at Home."

She is now accepting pledges for the 2012 Happiness Challenge.
Sign up by clicking here. I just did.

Do you have any reading resolutions for 2012?