People whose pain appears as bright light, David Cassidy fanatics, a 60-year-old failure and Ernest Hemingway's first wife — these are some of the topics in this selective list of books published from last week through the end of February.
A Stranger on the Planet, by Adam Schwartz (Soho Press, 330 pages, Jan. 25)
A debut novel about growing up in the '60s with the effects of a divorce and an emotionally needy, awkward mother.
Noah's Compass, by Anne Tyler (Ballantine reprint of the Jan. 2010 hardcover, 300 pages, Jan. 25)
Twice divorced, remote from his daughters, and now fired from his less-than-ideal prep school teaching job, plain and unassuming Liam now hopes to rejuvenate his life with an eccentric woman half his age.
The Illumination, by Kevin Brockmeier (Pantheon, 270 pages, Feb. 1)
Suddenly, beams of light start shooting out of people's bodies — it's their pain, made visible. In six interconnected stories that add up to a novel — a husband's love notes to his dying wife are passed among all the main characters — Brockmeier questions whether suffering can be beautiful.
Journal of a UFO Investigator, by David Helperin (Viking, 300 pages, Feb. 3)
A coming-of-age novel about Danny, whose investigations everyone laughs at until someone breaks into his house and steals his diary about his encounter with Three Men in Black.
I Think I Love You, by Allison Peason (Knopf, 330 pages, Feb. 8)
Teenage girls in 1970s Wales worship David Cassidy. A generation later, after disappointments and a failed marriage, one of them gets to travel to the States and meet a Cassidy expert. Will the celebrity worship that she used back then to help her work out her relationships with boys do her any good now? As an afterword-bonus, you get a 2004 interview with Cassidy himself, then 54.
West of Here, by Jonathan Evison (Algonquin, Books, 500 pages, Feb. 15)
A Widow’s Story, by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco Press, 430 pages, Feb. 15)
You've been married to him for 47 years. He goes into the hospital, but you're both sure that he'll be out in just a few days. And then, suddenly, he's dead. The famous novelist escapes through work, laughs at herself, analyzes grief in brutally frank ways. A Widow's Story (pictured near top) is nearly a companion piece to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (2005)
Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America, by John McMillian (Oxford UP, 300 pages, Feb. 17)
Today we blog; in the '60s, radicals used photo-offset printing to spread the word of social change through clandestine rags of a few thousand copies each. But the principles — among Tea Partiers, among Obama's young voters — are the same: communication among rabble-rousers by non-traditional means.
When the Killing’s Done, by T. C. Boyle (Viking, 380 pages, Feb. 22)
In Boyle's 13th novel, set in the Channel Islands (west of Santa Barbara), biologists and activists duke it out over invasive species. Boyle knows his biology and the various motives of his protagonists, resulting in "a piercing vision of our needy, confused and destructive species thrashing about in the great web of life."
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain (Ballantine, 330 pages, Feb. 22)
We think we know Papa Hemingway — old and bearded and suicidal. But in the Roaring '20s, he was young and idealistic and very much in love. A novel told from the point of view of his first wife, Hadley.
Townie: A Memoir, by Andre Dubus III (W.W. Norton, 400 pages, Feb. 28)
A distant but famous father (also a writer); a working-class, single-mother upbringing in a Massachusetts mill town where drugs were readily available; and a mix of rage (lots of fights) and sensitivity (lots of storywriting) combine to enliven the memories of Dubus (rhymes with "excuse").
The White Stripes have "officially ended and will make no further records or perform live," according to their website.
This is bad news, even if many people expected this to happen a while ago, considering Jack White's many other endeavors and Meg White's continued aversion to playing music.
Anyway, in honor of one of the most successful rock band in recent memory, we offer a few videos.
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Housing Bust — Even lakefront houses in Coeur d'Alene are showing signs of the recession. Real estate agents say some properties have dropped in price up to 35 percent with many new properties up for sale. (KXLY)
Violence in Egypt — Mubarak says he won't run in September elections but pro-democracy still want to him to step down immediately. Pro-Mubarak groups were bussed in Tahir Square on Tuesday and the demonstrations gave way to some violence. Stones and other small things were thrown, resulting in injuries. (Washington Post)
Unleash the Megaload — Environmentalists fears are finally coming true on U.S. Highway 12. The first truck carrying a 300-ton coke drum bound for Billings left Tuesday night. This is the first of four truckloads supposed to take the route in the next three months. (SR)
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Parking — Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan's plan to raise parking fines from $15 to $25 was shot down last night by other council members, who wanted to wait until the parking study, which cost $46,000, is complete before making any changes. This summer, you will be able to feed parking meters with your credit card as part of the study's experiments. (SR)
No More Mubarak — In a private meeting yesterday White House officials determined there is no way that Mubarak can stay in power in Egypt. Over a million protesters flooded the streets in Tuesday's demonstrations, showing that Mubarak's negotiations to overhaul the constitution are not enough. (WSJ)
Drug Bust — A EWU student was caught with two other Cheney residents selling pot and laundering money. One of the Cheney residents, Brandon Collins, is believed to be the major supplier for EWU. Cops found 2 1/2 pounds of weed and say that the group laundered almost $400,000 through Northern Quest Casino. (KXLY)
Guard Killing — On Saturday, the body of a female corrections officer in western Washington was found in the correctional facility chapel. Now authorities suspect a violent offender from Spokane, who has a history of violence against women and was serving a life sentence according to the state's three-strike rule. (KXLY)
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Parking Fines — Tonight the Spokane City Council will vote on whether to raise parking meter fines from $15 to $25, a measure that Council President Joe Shogan supports. If it passes, it is estimated to raise another $400,000 in revenue per year from parking tickets. (SR)
Mass Foreign Policy Summit — After the uprising in Tunisia and protests in Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is holding an unprecedented mass meeting of almost all the 260 U.S. ambassadors. Beginning today, the ambassadors will discuss U.S. foreign policy for 2011. (AP)
Bomb Hoax — Another bomb scare turns out to be a fake. The suspicious package found near the Kootenai County Jail was investigated by the bomb squad and visitors had to be evacuated for several hours. The bomb was actually a cell phone and battery attached to a road flare. (KXLY)
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Tags: I Saw You