A Few Recommendations
Books, Music and Poetry
I like to recommend things. Here, in no particular order, are some of my past and present favorite books, music and poetry.
The Women, by Kristin Hannah
I’m part-way through this book and want to spread the word. The story is about a young nurse who enlists during the Vietnam War. She finds herself operating on seriously wounded soldiers, sometimes when the lights go out, during a monsoon, or taking on enemy fire. Hannah describes the social and political issues surrounding the war. It’s some of the best writing I’ve encountered in a long while.
“Ain’t Talkin’, Just Walkin’”, Bob Dylan
This video blends moments from 38 Westerns accompanying Dylan’s song. I recognize some of the movies, such as High Noon. It’s a reminder of how important Westerns have been in movie history, especially in the 50s when I was growing up. That decade was also the period of war movies, with WWII still in our collective minds.
“Gate A-4”, Naomi Shihab-Nye
I got to know Naomi when we were living in San Antonio, and I’d invited her to read her poetry at one of our writer events at San Antonio College. I’m so proud to be her friend, for her generosity and of course for her wonderful poetry.
An Unexpected Footnote: Naomi won the 2019 Robert Creeley Award. Ironically, Robert Creeley’s poetry and prose were the subject of my dissertation at Brandeis University.
Dick Cavett with Oscar Peterson, 1979
I love this moment with Oscar Peterson demonstrating different jazz piano styles on the Dick Cavett Show. Susan and I got to see Peterson at the very smoky Lennie’s on the Turnpike back in the 60s. Here’s an article about the club and some of the many greats who performed there:
https://richardvacca.com/lennie-sogoloff-jazz-along-the-turnpike/
“Piano Lessons,” Billy Collins
Billy Collins has been one of my favorite poets for at least the last 25 years, when I first heard him read a poem on the radio while I was working in the backyard. He’s usually funny and clever, with a wonderful take on the world. From his book Sailing Alone Across the Room, here are the first and last stanzas of “Piano Lessons”:
My teacher lies on the floor with a bad back
off to the side of the piano.
I sit up straight on the stool.
He begins by telling me that every key
is like a different room
and I am a blind man who must learn
to walk through all twelve of them
without hitting the furniture.
I feel myself reach for the first doorknob.
. . .
Even when I am not playing, I think about the piano.
It is the largest, heaviest,
and most beautiful object in this house.
I pause in the doorway just to take it all in.
And late at night I picture it downstairs,
this hallucination standing on three legs,
this curious beast with its enormous moonlit smile.
Leif Enger
I recommend Leif Enger’s novels Virgil Wander and his newest book I Cheerfully Refuse. In Virgil Wander, Virgil has a concussion that changes his whole life and personality, and the townspeople accept the new him. He has a wry sense of humor, for instance describing his best friend as “a high school athlete defeated by pastry”. Virgil’s neighbors in Greenstone, Minnesota, are fond of him. His disability allows him to help or deal with people, including taking in a mysterious, kite-flying, old Norwegian.
And More Books:
I’ve been a member of a book group at our church for the last 17 years. Looking back to the many books we’ve read, I’d like to recommend some of my favorites, in no particular order:
Herb’s Pajamas, by Abigail Thomas, who has also written wonderful memoirs. You can find her here at https://substack.com/@abigailthomas?utm_source=global-search
Still Life, Sarah Winman
Plainsong, Kent Haruf
Staggerford, Jon Hassler
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Train Dreams, Denis Johnson (This is now a movie available on Netflix)
Beautiful Ruins and So Far Gone, Jess Walter
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Station Eleven, Emily St John Mandel
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
The Dreamers, Karen Thompson Walker
The Anomaly, Herve Le Tellier (What happens when two planes land in two different locations, both carrying the same pilot and the same passengers?)
And More Music:
I’ll end this list with a favorite song, Tom Waits’ ”Take It With Me,” as performed by Rachael Price:
Thanks for reading and listening to this grab-bag of some of my favorite things.