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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Clock Dance in Books

Aug 11, 2018  
Clock Dance
Clock Dance
Anne Tyler | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
7
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Captures the spirit of Baltimore (0 more)
Clock Dance was the second pick for Barnes & Noble's nation-wide Book Club. (The first was Meg Wolitzer's The Female Persuasion, back in May.) Like the first one, it was contemporary fiction, which I'm pretty meh about. When I learned it was set mostly in Baltimore, and written by a local author, I became more interested. I'm originally from Oregon, but Baltimore has become my home, and I enjoy reading about it. We had a slightly larger group than last time, but I was the only returning attendee besides the store employee, Sam, who led the discussion.

Sam opened the discussion with the same question that she started the last one with - "Did you like the main character?" It's an interesting question because most people ask "Did you like the book?" which can have a different answer. I don't usually read books in which I don't like the main character, but that's usually because I choose my books. I'm not choosing my Book Club books, so it's a good question. Unlike last time, I did like Willa. I disagreed with her judgment when it came to husbands, but I still sympathized with her. I mentioned that I didn't like that she just floated through most of her life without any real ambition, but to be honest, I've done that too. I'm not a very ambitious person - or my ambitions are quite low. I think that, perhaps, is the difference. I find a lot of fulfillment in being, effectively, my husband's personal assistant. It's fun. Willa did not seem to find it fulfilling, she just - didn't want to rock the boat.

I like how we saw each of Willa's "defining moments" - the book opens on her as a child, her volatile mother having stormed out of the house during an argument. Her mother really does a number on her as a child. I think it's why she hates to rock the boat so much. From here, we fast forward to college, and Willa's boyfriend proposing to her after gaslighting her about an event that happened on the plane. Willa's mother disapproves. Vehemently. I think that's part of why Willa accepts. Our next view of Willa's life is the accident that takes her husband's life, and its aftermath.

Then we finally start into the real meat of the book, twenty years after the death of her first husband. Her sons have grown and moved away, she has remarried, and both of her parents have passed. Her husband is a little distant, and she seems rather untethered. Then she gets the strangest phone call. It turns out her eldest son lived with a woman (Denise) and her daughter for a little while in Baltimore; he has since moved on, but "Sean's mother" is still a phone number on Denise's emergency contact list. So when Denise is shot in the leg and put in the hospital, a neighbor lady sees it, assumes Willa is the grandmother of the child, and calls her to come take care of her. It's a little convoluted, and Willa can't even adequately explain to her husband why she's decided to fly to Baltimore to take care of a child she has no relation to, but she does so anyway.

This is where we get to Baltimore, and, in Anne Tyler's own words, "when her story changes to Technicolor."

I actually live just outside Baltimore myself, but one of my best friends lives in Charles Village, and I could SO EASILY envision Willa's neighborhood as a street of rowhomes. (Turns out it's probably based on a neighborhood in Hamilton, according to the Baltimore Sun.) I was even mapping locations in Willa's house to my friend's rowhome! Anne Tyler really captures the spirit of Baltimore, and now I want to read more of her books, even if they are contemporary fiction!

Overall I enjoyed Clock Dance; Anne Tyler is very good at subtle character growth, which is quite realistic. People don't often change all at once. Sometimes it takes a lifetime of being told what to do before finally waking up to what you WANT to do.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America in Books

Oct 26, 2017  
The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America
The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America
Dwight Watkins | 2016 | History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A vivid account of survival and growth
Dwight Watkins, a seasoned writer and teacher with indisputable talent and skills, gives a detailed account of living on the 'Other Side' of Baltimore. The Beast Side is a socio-historical examination of black lives in the United States juxtaposed against his upbringing in the area. Through his account we discover a poignant and unadulterated story about the systematic way black lives don't matter and how the challenges for African Americans are much deeper and pervasive than people will admit.

What helps the arguments in Watkins's essays hit home are the sobering and enlightening slices of life and characters he weaves throughout. By the end, you're left with an advanced understanding of this man's love for the community that formed him, and how neighbourhoods such as East Baltimore fit into the national debate for social change. A must for those who care about social equality.
  
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Anand Wilder recommended Little Criminals by Randy Newman in Music (curated)

 
Little Criminals by Randy Newman
Little Criminals by Randy Newman
1977 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Both Maxwell Kardon and I were really into 'Short People', it's just a weird hit that's skewering racism and I think also one of those funny hits that are misunderstood. It might be banned by certain radio stations for being offensive because people just didn't get it. It's sort of like Ronald Reagan used 'Born In The USA' as his anthem [but] Bruce Springsteen's like, "I hate you!" Just the idea of that song being banned is so funny to me. We were inspired by the production and arrangements of the songs. There's the song 'Baltimore' that Nina Simone also does a cover of, but I think I prefer the Randy Newman original. It was a big sonic touchstone for us, as far as the drum sound on the songs that we rip off, on 'Fathers And Brothers' at the end, that sort of piano part that we pretty much stole from 'Baltimore' and the Little Criminals album. I like the fact this guy was an off-kilter songwriter and was definitely not afraid to make a song that had a historical context and call it a pop song."

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