"West of Sunset," by Stewart O'Nan: F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood

I have read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels (some several times), many of his short stories, and several books about him and about his work; he is still one of the most well known and frequently read of American writers. I have also read several books – nonfiction and fiction – about his wife Zelda. (See, for example, my 6/1/13 post on “Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.”) So I was not particularly interested in yet another book about the couple. But when I saw that one of my most admired American writers, Stewart O’Nan, had just published a novel about them, “West of Sunset” (Viking, 2015), I couldn’t resist reading it. The novel focuses on the last three years of Fitzgerald’s life, some years after the peak of his success, and after the glamorous, if often self-destructive, early years in Europe. At the time of this novel, starting in 1937, he had left his wife Zelda in a kind of sanitarium for those with mental illness (readers probably know that Zelda dealt with mental illness for much of her life, although she was also a brilliant writer and artist in her own right, and it is even rumored that she co-wrote some of her husband’s fiction), and went west to Los Angeles to try to earn money as a screenwriter. He had some success but was mostly obstructed by the unpredictable whims of movie producers and others in the Hollywood world, at the same time that he was struggling with his own alcoholism, health issues, money problems, attempts to keep working on his serious fiction, and feelings of guilt and worry about Zelda, as well as about his daughter Scotty. He did have good company in fellow writers and old friends such as Dorothy Parker, and new friends and neighbors such as Humphrey Bogart, but they also contributed to the atmosphere of constant drinking that was so dangerous for him. Another important bright spot was his relationship with the gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, but it was a very up-and-down relationship, with much drama and many break-ups and reconciliations. She did seem to truly love him, though, and did take care of him when his health was failing. The novel portrays Fitzgerald as very flawed (especially by the alcoholism), but a basically good and sympathetic character. He tried to do right by his family, and cared passionately about his writing, even the formulaic writing he was asked to do in Hollywood. (Interestingly, some other portrayals have been less positive, implying that Fitzgerald neglected his wife, or even worse, treated her as mentally ill when she was in fact just displaying independence and artistic originality; I don’t know the truth of it, obviously, but there does seem to be evidence of some kind of mental illness.) O’Nan is, as always, a wonderful writer (see my posts about other novels by him on 5/17/11, 1/26/12, and 3/14/13). (As a side note: this novel is the first book I have posted on with a 2015 publication date.)

"Is This Tomorrow," by Caroline Leavitt

I have read Caroline Leavitt’s novel “Pictures of You,” and liked it (this was before I started this blog), so when I saw that she had a new novel out, “Is This Tomorrow” (no question mark) (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013), I checked it out. At first the theme of the missing child almost kept me from reading the novel, first because that theme seems to have appeared too often in fiction in the past few years, and second because the theme is just so sad, and hard for a parent to think about. But because I knew I liked Leavitt’s writing, I persevered and read the novel, and I am glad I did. The first important thing to know is that the story takes place in the 1950s and 1960s, and the mores of the time, especially for women, are heavy presences. For example, one of the main characters, Ava Lark, the mother of another main character, Lewis, is divorced, and therefore somewhat shunned by the neighbors and treated a little too familiarly by her male (of course, male!) boss. Ava’s ex-husband is completely out of her life and that of Lewis, who pines for his father. Their neighbor Dot is also on her own with her kids Jimmy and Rose, who become Lewis’ best friends, forming a tight triumverate. But then (and this happens very early in the novel, so my telling you is not a spoiler) young teen Jimmy goes missing. The effect of his disappearance is devastating for all four of the other characters (two mothers and two teens), and as the novel jumps a few years into the future, we see that it has long-term effects on their behaviors, choices, emotions, romantic relationships, and almost every other aspect of their lives. Dot and Rose move away, and Ava and Lewis lose contact with them. But when the novel jumps to the time when Lewis is a young man in his early and mid-twenties, something happens that brings the two families back into contact with each other. This is where telling you more about the plot would be a spoiler, so I will stop there. I will just say that there is no complete resolution, and how could there be after the terrible events of the story? But as time goes on, there is learning, there is softening, there is connection, there is love, and that is all to the good. This is a wrenching story, but it also has much to tell us about the harm done by society's prejudices, as well as about families, deep friendships, love, and connection.

Two Writers Evocative of the 1970s, Now Passed On

Readers of a certain age will remember two authors who were hugely successful, especially in the 1970s, although not considered “literary” writers. These two very different authors, Rod McKuen and Colleen McCullough, both died yesterday, McKuen at age 81 and McCullough at 77. McCullough, an Australian, was best known for her sentimental novel “The Thorn Birds,” about a priest torn between his vocation and his love of a woman, which was published in 1977 and sold 30 million copies, and then went on to be an extremely popular mini-series. She also wrote 24 other novels. (I learned something surprising and fascinating from her obituary: in her "other life," she had a career as a researcher in neuroscience both at Yale and in Sydney.) McKuen was a prolific poet and songwriter from the Bay Area (Oakland), who was associated with the Beat writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, and who developed his own popular New Age-influenced style. His poetry and songs were very accessible and could be found on the radio and in movies, as well as in poetry collections that were snapped up by readers, mostly young and soaked in 60s culture. I remember that in college I thought his poetry collection title “Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows” sounded very sad and romantic, although I didn’t actually read the poetry; it was just in the air around us. When I moved to San Francisco and saw the actual Stanyan Street, which runs next to the university where I teach, I have to admit that I had a starstruck moment of feeling connected to this popular writer and his work (very quickly followed by an embarrassed laugh at myself). Although I didn’t actually read or particularly admire either McKuen or McCullough’s work, their work gave much pleasure to many readers. They were each immensely popular, and each a part of the zeitgeist for many years, so reading their obituaries this morning evoked a shiver of memories of that golden yet complicated time.

"Pioneer Girl," by Bich Minh Nguyen

Last year I heard my University of San Francisco colleague (she is faculty member in the Masters in Writing Program), Bich Minh Nguyen, read from her work, and was very impressed. Now I have read her novel "Pioneer Girl" (Viking, 2014) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love a literary mystery. I usually thoroughly enjoy stories about academics. I am drawn to stories of growing up, especially those of young women. And I am interested in stories of those who grow up in multicultural settings, such as in the homes of immigrant parents. “Pioneer Girl” brings these four strands, and of course more (I don’t want to be reductive) together, so for me the novel was compelling on several levels. The main character, Lee Lien, grows up in her Vietnamese-American family in the Midwest. Her father has died fairly young, and her mother is closemouthed about various aspects of his past as well as her own past and present. She is also very critical of Lee Lien and her brother Sam, although Sam gets a pass to some extent because he is a son. Lee has earned her PhD in literature, but hasn’t been able to find an academic job. Her mother thinks a PhD in literature is useless, and wants Lee to stay at home and work in the family restaurant. The unique aspect of the main character's story is the unexpected (possible) intertwining of some of her own family history and that of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s mother Rose, this possibility initially based on a mysterious piece of jewelry. Lee becomes fascinated with the possible connections, and uses her literary and research skills to pursue the mystery in various libraries and historical sites related to the Wilders. Both the family story and the literary mystery (especially about an author whose work I know well and love, and read to my daughter when she was little) are intriguing, and combined they are more so. There is also romance, failed romance, possible romance, friendship, insights into academe, and other aspects of the novel to keep readers eagerly reading. The writing is descriptive and evocative. For example, the description of the restaurant, its tastes, smells, and sounds, is vivid. I highly recommend “Pioneer Girl.”

"In Certain Circles," by Elizabeth Harrower

I was in Sydney, Australia, a few months ago for a few days, and perhaps partly because of that visit, when I read about Elizabeth Harrower’s novel “In Certain Circles” (Text Publishing, Melbourne, Australia, 2014), I felt drawn to read it. Harrower is well known in Australia for her novels published in the 1950s and 60s, but she withdrew this particular book just before publication in 1971, and it is only now being published. I haven’t read anything about why she withdrew it, but we can guess that perhaps it was so personal that she wasn’t willing to expose it to the public. Maybe she now feels that enough time has gone past, and maybe some of the models for the main characters are no longer alive? Note that this is pure speculation on my part. In any case, it is certainly a mystery. The novel is beautifully constructed and written. It focuses on four main characters, Zoe and her brother Russell, and Stephen and his sister Anna. Starting when they are in their teens and twenties, these four characters from very unlike backgrounds connect and relate to each other in shifting ways over the years. There is deep friendship, there is romance and marriage, there are secrets, there are inescapable influences from the past, and there is betrayal. Each of the four characters has her or his positive and negative characteristics. Harrower helps us understand all four, and sympathize with if not like each one. One of the themes is how deeply we are all influenced by our pasts, especially our family lives. Another is how even great love and great friendship can shift, change, and even disappear. There is also a nuanced portrayal of how social class differences matter, even when some characters like to think that they don't. For me, in the end, the Sydney setting was attractive and an added bonus, but it was the story and the characters that gripped me. I am glad that Harrower finally, these 43 years later, decided to allow “In Certain Circles” to be published. (An added note: Today is the five-year anniversary of the day I started this blog.)

"Rainey Royal," by Dylan Landis

“Rainey Royal” (Soho, 2014) isn’t (only) “about” the creepy attentions that some men, in this case some musicians, pay to girls and teenagers, but it is certainly a major theme. The author, Dylan Landis, doesn’t spell out -- past a certain borderline point -- the extent of the “grooming” activities that young teenager Rainey Royal's father Howard’s fellow musician/best friend/housemate Gordy performs, but it clearly verges very closely on if not consists outright of child sexual molestation. Rainey, 14 years old at the beginning of the novel, lives in the chaotic household where her father, a revered jazz musician, has young musicians and others constantly visiting, playing music with, living with, and sleeping with him. Throughout the book, Rainey is constantly vigilant, finding her own ways to avoid her father and Gordy and their acolytes/victims, as well as the general craziness of their house and lifestyle. These men's attitudes and behaviors are cloaked in the rhetoric of hipness, freedom, and artistic nonconformity to what are regarded as society’s ridiculous rules that don’t apply to artists. The author delineates this self-serving way of thinking and this terrible behavior in a devastating way. But as I said, this is not the only theme of the novel; the focus is on the strong, creative, resilient young woman that Rainey is, despite everything. Her mother left her father, and she very rarely hears from her. Her father is completely unreliable in terms of protecting her. So Rainey finds a sort of alternative family among her friends, especially Tina and Leah. She is rebellious and quick to see hypocrisy and society's facades. For example, she sometimes gets in trouble at school because of her defiant attitude and unwillingness to play the acceptance game that school often requires. Her friends have their own problems, but the girls support each other. Nothing is simple, though, as Tina both supports Rainey and in a way betrays her; somehow the author convinces us that these two behaviors realistically co-exist. The author also convinces us that Rainey, despite her difficult situation, finds her own way through her friendships, her refusal to put up with certain things, and her creativity; she has an artistic gift for making tapestries that honor or memorialize people, and through a bit of entrepreneurship, gets paid for these. The book consists of 14 stories or rather episodes, and through the course of the novel, Rainey grows up to the age of about 25, gradually taking control of her own life against all the odds, and establishing herself in the world and in her own life. And gradually she is able to be a bit more vulnerable and less combative, even showing a soft spot or two. Rainey is a complex, shining character, in an edgy story, and the novel is riveting.

"Faulty Predictions: Stories," by Karin Lin-Greenberg

Karin Lin-Greenberg's “Faulty Predictions: Stories” (University of Georgia Press, 2014), a winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, was recommended to me by a friend who is a published author of short stories herself. I am glad she did recommend it, as I may not have known about it otherwise. The stories are original, unpredictable, quirky, and revealing. The characters vary widely, ranging from high school students to a talk show host to two Chinese-American grandmothers to a bus driver to a college professor to a medical student, for just some examples. Sometimes there is alcohol involved, or shoplifting, or other types of misbehavior. The characters are closely observed, and in almost every story there is a turning point, a surprise. And almost every character, whether “likeable” or not, causes readers to feel at least a moment of connection or compassion, often when we least expect to feel it. This is the author’s first book, a rewarding collection of stories, and I look forward to reading more of her fiction.