A bookend to Nick Flynn’s Another Bullshit Night In Suck City, in that Jeannette Walls neither deifies nor vilifies her parents. You can’t help but root for the elder Wallses, as they both have a unique charm. But you want to shake them for squandering opportunities to provide their children with a healthy, stable home. Haunting, painful, funny and resonant.

NOTE: i have no affiliation, connection, or financial interest in this site. i just thought i’d pass on that you can download a free e-book of this title at http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net .

hand cut fries, well done.

single cheeseburger animal style.

that’s all i’m sayin’.

the perfect way to make one, in my opinion, is to spread the outside of bread with softened butter, and then make the sandwich. wrap it in foil, and stick it in the oven at about 250 degrees. when the cheese is all melted, then open the foil and turn the oven on broil. the bread will toast in about 15 seconds, so watch it carefully. then flip it. this way, the bread will be buttery, evenly toasted and crisp, the cheese thorougly melted and gooey…YUM!

in post 9/11 America, with anthrax scares and the disturbing incredible lack of security, Michael Crichton’s scenario isn’t that implausible. i re-read it every five years or so. it’s as tense and chilling as ever.

what happened to Andraé?

i think that when a protagonist states something to the effect of, “but that was before all that happened,” the all that in question had better be thought provoking and not fairly predictable.

i liked the premise of the book—namely, that the songs that get stuck in our heads are giving us the answers to life’s challenges. but somewhere along the way (okay, about halfway through), i lost interest in all that. one of the reasons i think it didn’t resonate was that there weren’t any actual lyrics in the book (understandably because it costs dough to reproduce with permission), therefore it made it hard to see things through Mary Beth’s (the title character) eyes.

all in all, okay—not great.

i’m embarrassed to admit that it took me a while to realize that this was a concept album—that is, all of the songs are connected. duh. the life of a lovable loser, the best part of this album to me (aside from the beats and the infectious choruses) is that he’s not afraid to show his foibles.

my grandmother gave this to me. it’s illustrated by Edward Gorey, and tells the story of five children with five pennies to spend in a candy store during World War I.

this book TORE ME UP. a loving testament to the author’s uncle, it was reassuring to think that it’s possible that my recently departed grandmother had five people waiting for her arrival. a simple story that affirms that we are all connected.