Drapetomania: Or The Narrative of Cyrus Tyler and Abednego Tyler, lovers

GR review
Drapetomania: Or, The Narrative of Cyrus Tyler & Abednego Tyler, lovers

Drapetomania: Or, The Narrative of Cyrus Tyler & Abednego Tyler, lovers by John R. Gordon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


4.9 Stars

Why not 5 stars? See the last paragraph.

This was without a doubt one of the most emotional and moving books I have read in a long, long time. John Gordon’s writing is stunningly beautiful, intimate, and powerful. The story is dramatic, sensitive, almost unbearably cold in its realistic descriptions of human misery, and yet it is also uplifting and hopeful.

If you can get past the first few pages and prepare yourself emotionally for what’s to come in the next 500, you will be rewarded with writing that is, quite simply, superb. Whether it’s a description of abject poverty, hunger, and inequality among men; or the magnificent colors and obstacles in nature; or the feelings of pain a person probably experiences at the doorstep of death either through freezing, hunger, overwork, or inflicted pain; or even the intimate love between Cyrus and Abednego, you will feel like you are there, having those experiences.

The author’s descriptions of cruelty, terror, and inhumanity inflicted upon slaves by their owners and overseers are excruciating to read. I can’t imagine putting those words on paper because I would feel like I was personally committing those crimes, and twice, when I could tell what was going to happen in the upcoming scene, I had to jump to the next paragraph. It was just too much for me.

Yet I couldn’t put this book down. The pace of the story is very fast, and close calls kept my heart thumping. Gordon is a master wordsmith. At times a single paragraph takes up a full page but it’s never daunting. Gordon uses erudite, seldom-used words such as architraves, chiaroscuro, chthonic, coffle, despoliation, desuetude, encomium, gnomon, incarnadine, manumission, ormolu, scotopic, and susurrus, which when juxtaposed against the basics of survival add to the beauty and drama occurring on the page.

This is one hell of a story, and I loved it! Here’s my single complaint. The book could have used another proofread before it was published. I found a few mistakes such as a zero used for an oh letter in one place; at least one instance of run-in words; and too many uses of further and brake when the words farther and break, respectively, were meant. Words are currently styled for a British audience (amidst, amongst, afterwards, backwards, cauterised, crystalised, southwards, towards), whereas American readers are more accustomed to amid, among, afterward, backward, cauterized, crystalized, southward, toward, and the like. But my pet peeve was the constant, unnecessary hyphenation of adverbial phrases (brightly-lit, gaily-painted), which after a while became like a bad tic in writing. If the book had gone through another proofread to catch some of those errors, I would have given it 5 stars. I’m a picky reader, but still, this book is a smashing success!



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The Handyman’s History

GR review
The Handyman's History (The Handyman Series Book 4)

The Handyman’s History by Nick Poff

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


3.5 Stars
I read Nick Poff’s first three books in the Handyman’s series, but that was quite a few years ago. When I started reading The Handyman’s History I realized I had forgotten who these characters were, so I stopped halfway through and went back to re-read the first book, The Handyman’s Dream, so I could re-familiarize myself with Ed Stephens and his handsome husband, Rick Benton.

Nick Poff is a good writer. The story moves along nicely. It’s set primarily in 1985, with occasional flashbacks to the mid and late 1970s when Ed was coming to terms with his sexuality and trying to understand and accept who he was. I love that in the intervening years Ed and Rick have carved out good, happy lives for themselves in a small Indiana town where many people would not have been open to accepting people who are different, especially gay men, when nearly everyone in the world was scared thinking they would catch HIV just by touching a homosexual. If I hadn’t moved away from my small town I would never have met my fabulous husband, a man I’ve now known and been in love with for 35 years. Still, it made me wonder what my life would have been like in a quiet town had I stayed put.

An interesting difference between the first and last books in the series is Poff’s language. As I re-read Poff’s first book, I think the only profanity might have been an occasional “damn,” but the fourth book is much more adult, with quite a few swear words. It didn’t turn me off, but I found it interesting to see how Poff’s writing style had changed. It’s bolder, stronger, and better. If you lived through the 1970s and 1980s, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the number of references to popular music and TV shows that may bring you happy memories.

Too many fictional stories about gay men start and end with a single romance, and that’s the end of the story: a young man meets another man, they do the dance of “is he or isn’t he”, and when they eventually fall in love, the story ends. Nick Poff’s Handyman series takes a similar story and stretches it well into the years beyond the lovers’ first meeting. I’ve always wanted an author to tell me what happened to his or her characters rather than just leave me wondering whether their love lasts, and Poff does this well.

Ed Stephens and Rick Benton are nothing but likeable. Ed’s mother is loving but obnoxious. The other characters are mostly supportive of Ed and Rick, although the occasional bully and mean broad show up, which underscores the reality that gay men faced in the 1980s.

Thank you, Nick Poff. I really liked this book.



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The Four R’s: Unlocking Your Divine Potential

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40021215-the-four-r-s

A caveat and a disclaimer: I’ve met the author.

A couple years ago I was seeking some touch therapy. I wanted more than a massage—I wanted healing. I wanted someone to push my lymph around and realign my chi. I wanted a man to touch me in a way my husband does not. Not necessarily in a sexual way, but in a therapeutic way. I searched the Internet for hours until I found Tim. He was expensive. The minute I walked into his studio I was charmed. He had an aura about him—a glow of love and contentedness. And he turned out to be a touch genius. I left his studio relaxed, aligned, happy, content, and more in touch with my inner spirit and the divine. And that glow lasted for weeks. I realized it was this guy’s physical touch by which I, in turn, had been spiritually touched. I saved my money and went back for another session. His touch and demeanor were so loving and caring that once again, it made me practically melt. So, I was nosey and asked about his background. That’s when he said he wrote a book. This man with magical hands wrote a book? I was intrigued. I had to prod Tim to give me a link to his website so I could order the book.

“The Four R’s: Unlocking Your Divine Potential” is divided into four parts. In Part 1, Tim tells an engaging story of his life. And he had quite a life—given up for adoption, he lived a comfortable, albeit stiff British upbringing. Like many men, Tim realized he was gay when he was a teenager, but like many young gay men, he was afraid to admit it, and spent the first twenty years of his life in a continual state of social paralysis. But then came his third and fourth decades. And what decades! His story is profound, amusing, exciting, and perhaps disturbing to some. At times I wanted to yell at him for making some poor decisions, yet as I read, I felt sorry for this gentle soul who was quite obviously adrift in life. After all, I too have made some pretty bad decisions over the years, so I couldn’t be too harsh on the guy.

In Part 2, Tim explains his inner journey of how he brought his chaotic life into calm through the four Rs. I won’t reveal them here, and they will make much more sense if you read his story first. But here too, Tim has a powerful story to tell. Tim offers a cogent, logical explanation of how he has made a peaceful, fulfilling, quiet life out of what once chaos and describes how he came to know God. Tim explains his spiritual practice in detail, but it’s easy to understand. His approach is simple and can be practiced in 10 seconds once mastered. Tim’s suggested daily chants, waking routines, and spiritual practices are practical and joyful. His Daily Intention & Request for Assistance would help anyone become mindful and aware, and to live a life “in alignment with love, joy, and gratitude.”

Part 3 of Tim’s book is devoted to applying a spiritual practice to life’s daily routines. Tim covers a lot of territory and explores his answers to life’s big questions, such as what our purpose is, how to apply Tim’s suggested daily practice to money, health, relationships, and world problems. Part 4 contains Tim’s parting words.

I admit I didn’t expect much from this little book when I first started reading it. But it’s a good read. Tim’s story is engaging, and he explains his beliefs in cogent, thoughtful prose. He offers dozens of profound quotes from great philosophers and writers to support his beliefs, and his recommendations for establishing a daily spiritual practice are spot on. No wonder Tim has an aura about him. He’s embodies the joyful spirit that swirls through the universe. Tim’s story is interesting, he’s a beautifully spiritual man, and here he shares how we all can learn and practice how to behave with love and wisdom.

Think of England

GR review
Think of England

Think of England by K.J. Charles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Andrew Curtis has no money worries, but he was injured in the Boer Wars in South Africa in the first few years of the 20th century. Daniel DaSilva is a flamboyant man of Mediterranean descent. He’s also a British agent. For odd reasons, Andrew and Daniel meet when they are separately invited to stay 2 weeks at a country estate. DaSilva is as gay as anyone could get in those years; Andrew is disengaged from his sexuality. Until they meet. The story and plot are both good; the writing is good, and the character of Andrew is fairly well developed, although I wanted to crack him on the head when he was submitting to oral sex and all he could think about was his reputation. And I was especially ticked off when it took several more chapters before Andrew would even think about going down on another man. I was difficult to be gay any time before the 1980s; author K.J. Charles makes this clear, which only makes you want to root more for Andrew and Daniel.


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Quantum Theory

GR review
Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction

Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction by John C. Polkinghorne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book is just as the title says: A Very Short Introduction to Quantum Theory. Why in heaven’s name did I choose to read such a thing? One, I love the word quantum. Two, I’m a biologist and tried to avoid physics and math most of my life (despite having taught physics and math while I was a teacher for 2 years in the Peace Corps), so I figured it was time I tried wrapping my head around something as complex as this. Three, it was on one of those shelves on which the librarians place books they think passing perusers might find interesting. In my case, their advertisement worked.

This is a tight little book. Along the way you’ll be reunited with familiar people such as Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, George Thompson, Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck, David Bohm, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, and Paul Dirac. And you’ll meet terms you may or may not have had reason to use in normal, pleasant, everyday conversation such as quarks, gluons, fractals, decoherence, eigenvectors and eigenvalues, vector spaces, matrix mechanics, and wave mechanics. You’ll have no choice but to learn about the GRW Theory, positivism and realism, γ-rays, the uncertainty principle, and the superposition principle.

This is an engaging, well-written, interesting little book. By reading it, in just a couple hours you’ll be smarter than all your neighbors. At least when it comes to quantum theory and the history of physics.



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Predatory Journals

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Every once in a while, the people on my editing listservs become animated about something important. This time, I am glad to participate in their awareness-raising efforts.

The topic is predatory journals. It used to be (e.g., in the 1960s and 1970s) that there were fewer than, perhaps 5,000 reputable journals in the sciences and humanities. You could browse the contents by reading the spines of most of them during an afternoon’s stroll through a major university library.

Now there are literally thousands of journals out there, ready to publish your results. For a fee. And many of them are not very good. This article (link below), by Ray Hunziker, published by the American Medical Writers Association, explains Open Access and what predatory publishing is, and how to determine whether or not a journal publisher is legitimate.

http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.amwa.org/resource/resmgr/journal/Spotlight/2017v32n3_AvoidingPredatoryP.pdf

 

Margaret Sanger: Savior of Women

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I haven’t updated my website in more than 3 years. Once I got it set up, I didn’t want to be bothered with maintaining it. Yet, I do write. I write in a journal almost every day. Not on the computer, but in a paper journal, with a pen. Some people take naturally to writing a blog, others don’t. I’m in the latter group. I just feel funny sharing what’s on my mind with other people. I have several volumes of journals on my bookshelves. Most of what’s in them is pretty tepid, but I think I’ll leave instructions that they be burned when I die.

But I digress.

Thanks to Garrison Keillor, who spoke about Margaret Sanger on today’s episode of the The Writer’s Almanac.

Margaret Sanger was born on this day (September 14th) in 1879. Margaret coined the term “birth control” and founded the American Birth Control League, which eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Margaret was trained as a nurse and no doubt became an activist for birth control in her early years after seeing what her own mother went through. Margaret’s mother was pregnant an astounding 18 times over 22 years before dying at age 49 or 50. Margaret was the sixth of 11 surviving children.

So, here’s to Margaret Sanger, who saved the lives of millions of women through the simple and logical practices of birth control.

God and Evolution

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I studied biology in college, where I learned about evolution and Darwin’s theories. I was also raised in a religious household and went to church almost every Sunday. When I became a young adult I pretty much left the church and its trappings far behind and didn’t look back for many years. About 10 years ago, I started attending church again, and one day had an epiphany that God really did exist, at least in my life. Of course it helped that I was attending Washington National Cathedral where, in such a grand edifice, it’s difficult not to feel the presence of God.

Coming to terms with my belief in both evolution and God came, surprisingly, rather easily. Both require faith. One can’t see or feel or touch evolution, although we can discern its existence through archeology and paleontology. Nor can one see or touch God in a corporeal sense. But let me go out on a limb here: I can feel God. I feel God’s presence in the sky, the wind, the sea, in other people, and in myself.

Both the science of evolution and the spirituality of knowing that God exists both take faith. Faith is fidelity—a quality or state of being faithful. It’s a belief in traditions and tenets that one cannot prove or disprove. Faith is trust in something. I trust that both evolution and God exist.

I am a docent at the Smithsonian Institution. I used to give tours of the National Museum of Natural History. On my tours I spoke about evolution and how we know that it exists. But I was also honest with visitors in saying that I also believed in God. After all, as a good scientist, if I closed myself off to the possible existence of God, then I wouldn’t be a very good scientist because scientists are supposed to keep an open mind about everything.

The wonderful author Arthur Conan Doyle gave interesting words to his character Sherlock Holmes when he said (paraphrasing here): “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

It is nearly impossible not to believe in evolution, so what remains—the existence of God, however improbable, must be the truth. By the same token, it is nearly impossible not to believe in God, so what remains—the existence of evolution, however improbable, must also be the truth.

I’m not naïve. I usually reject offers that are too good to be true. But I have to believe in something, and for me, a belief in the existence of both God and evolution are not mutually exclusive. I believe that both exist. I can’t touch or see or feel either one, but I know they both exist.

A Joan Rivers Tribute

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How sad I was when I learned that Joan Rivers had died. My husband and I were faithful viewers of her television show, Fashion Police. She kept us in the know about modern entertainers. Her observations about what they were wearing and how they were presenting themselves to the public were usually spot on. Invariably, we would bust out laughing at something she said.

In 2010, I had the unexpected pleasure of sitting behind Ms. Rivers on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. I had been working in East Timor, had become sick, needed to return home, and cashed in frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class to be more comfortable. Before takeoff, Ms. Rivers happily posed with me while another passenger took a photo with my camera. In Los Angeles, I stood next to her in the immigration queue. She was gracious, down to earth, funny, and interested in what I did. I was star-struck and tongue-tied, even though 4 days before I had no problem leading a meeting with the Timorese Minister of Health.

Joan said things that made me uncomfortable. She was sarcastic; sometimes biting and mean. But she also made me laugh out loud, which for my money, is the sign of a great comedian.