March Reads: Two Fiction, Three Nonfiction

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Fiction

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

By Jesse Q. Sutanto
Read it if you’re into: Uplifting murder mysteries; A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman; dramedies

An elderly Asian widow running a dusty old teashop in San Francisco’s Chinatown has but a single customer for whom she opens her store each and every day. Undaunted by life’s bludgeoning—an ungrateful son, a dead husband, and a business on its last whispered breath—she nevertheless makes it her mission to rise early and live well, grabbing life by the balls every day. But her strict routine is thrown into chaos when she awakens to discover a dead body on the floor of her shop. And the body seems to be trailing a group of misfits in its wake: a group in which Vera will soon play a key role, whether they like it or not.

As a character Vera Wong is domineering, obstinate and nosy—and damn near impossible not to love. This ordinary woman and her seemingly mundane life shine like a ray of sunlight, thanks in no small part to the author’s craftsmanship. A lesson from Vera: There’s no other way to tackle life than to live it. Surrounded by depressed and out of sorts young people, she quickly becomes the grandmother they (and the reader) so desperately need. This is an hopeful, entertaining and laugh out loud funny slice of joy best consumed when life seems to be beating you up. It’s not that nothing bad ever happens to Vera Wong—it’s that in Vera Wong’s world, you never let the bastards get you down.

Under the Wave at Waimea

By Paul Theroux
Read it if you’re into: Surf culture and the ocean’s pull; Hawaiian culture without the tourist lens; dark introspective journeys

This is the story of Joe Sharkey, a washed up old surfer living off memories of the glory days.

There is much to love in this dense, meandering and sometimes repetitive book, despite its need for a hefty dose of editing. Joe Sharkey is a character that’ll stay with you for quite some time, whether that’s a good thing or not. The second character that looms largest is Hawaii itself, the lush and gritty underbelly not familiar to the tourist. At the center of this character study in its captivating, almost tangible island setting is an underlying mystery: At its very start, numbed by beer and weed, Sharkey strikes and kills an anonymous man with his car, and the threads of his life begin to unravel as the mystery of the man’s identity deepens. My first Theroux, but certainly not my last.

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Nonfiction

The Other Side of Prospect: A Story of Violence, Injustice and the American City

by Nicholas Davidoff
Read it if you’re into: Deep, immersive journalism; nonfiction that reads like a novel; stories about inequality in America

In New Haven, Connecticut, a once thriving factory town now beset by urban blight, a beloved community figure is shot and killed while sitting in his car on the street. An innocent 16-year-old is quickly arrested and sentenced to 38 years in prison, despite all the evidence pointing elsewhere. Eight years of reporting by a man who grew up in New Haven, complete with firsthand accounts from all the key people, make for an unflinching and enthralling narrative.

I’ve read a lot of books with similar premises; that is, I’m extremely interested in sociology in urban America and investigations into why people end up with the lives they do. Of all of them, this did the best job I’ve yet come across of explaining the why behind seemingly inexplicable actions and outcomes, how one’s upbringing can impact every corner of one’s life and the lives of those around them, rippling outwards like the waves from a stone thrown into a pond.

Dense and long and with a writing style that requires deep concentration, this book is meant to be read closely and with meaning. But the payoff is big. It’s completely honest and fair as can only come from an author that has spent years studying his subjects and is familiar with their very darkest corners. The true nuances of human behavior are exposed in a remarkable way, and what the author has managed here is a profound feat of narrative storytelling with no stone left unturned. The human capacity for evil is on full display here, outshone only by our capacity for hope, for resilience, and to overcome.

The Library Book

By Susan Orlean
Read it if you’re into: Books about books; character-driven nonfiction; Los Angeles history and culture

A catastrophic fire at the Los Angeles Public Library in the late 1980s serves as the lynchpin of this mystery-cum-memory-cum-historical investigation. Orlean writes for the book lover, the strange few among us who revel in the smell of an old copy, who find magic in getting lost in the shelves. Her own experiences being entranced on trips to the local library growing up mirrored by own, and I imagine, that of other bibliophiles out there.

This is really more of a series of essays, woven through with an investigation into the arson. The mysterious blaze serves as a through line to a tribute to libraries, books and readers. It bounces through various topics including the inner workings of a library, the ancient and modern histories of these revered institutions, and the characters who made them what they are today. Orlean reaches back into history to look at the creation of the LAPL and libraries more generally, the purpose they serve and the undying, almost religious love some of us feel for them. It’s also, perhaps most interestingly, the strange story of Harry Peak, a blonde-haired tale-teller and part time actor who was arrested for the fire but never charged. Ultimately, this is a book for readers, for anyone who was ever opened a book and sniffed.

The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest For Freedom

By Shari Franke
Read it if you’re into: True crime; bizarre family vloggers; cautionary tales of social media stardom

This is the insane but true story of Ruby Franke, the star mommy-blogger turned convicted felon, as told by her oldest daughter.

For the uninitiated, Mormon mom Ruby Franke’s uber popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers at one point racked up millions of subscribers showcasing her seemingly perfect family, complete with six towheaded children and adoring husband. Until one day, shocking the world, she was arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse.

Shari Franke documents what it was like to be at the forefront of the first generation of children marketed as a commodity, growing up with a camera in her face at all times. From early childhood, her most personal moments are revealed to millions before she can really comprehend what that means. I believe she’s merely the first of many who we’ll hear from as these kids come of age, and she certainly has a story to tell. In the interest of privacy for her youngest siblings, Shari sort of skirts around the actual abuse, and focuses more on the lead-up and deterioration of her once tight-knit family unit. We never really find out some of the most dramatic details (for that you’ll have to watch the Hulu doc), but what she does delve into is compelling, shocking and powerful, a girl taking back a life over which she had so little control.