Tag Archives: Anansi

The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt #50BookPledge

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Quick confession: I’m not a fan of Westerns. So when I say it took me a while to get into Patrick DeWitt’s Sisters Brothers, I think it says a lot more about my personal preference than about the book itself. Wells Tower calls this novel “a masterful, hilarious picaresque,” and it certainly is. Eli and Charlie Sisters have been hired to kill Hermann Kermit Warm, and they travel from Oregon to California to track him down. Along the way, they meet various colourful characters, most of whom freak when they realize they’re meeting the Sisters Brothers, who have quite a reputation for brutal, efficient killing. The journey is filled with gun fights, business negotiations and a quest for gold. Eli, however, is seriously considering quitting the killing gig. While Charlie happily shoots people they meet and looks forward to killing Warm, Eli delights at discovering the benefits of dental hygiene, falls for women with kind eyes, and scouts locations where he and Charlie and settle down and become shopkeepers.

I didn’t really enjoy Part One. I loved the dentist, and laughed at a couple of spots, but mostly it felt too episodic, like TV’s villain-of-the-week turned into character-of-the-chapter. Honestly, again, I think this is because I haven’t really read a Western before; I can imagine fans of Westerns being absolutely delighted. As it was, I have to admit, I kept imagining one of my English professors commenting “This is the classic Shakespearean Fool, who appears senile but speaks the truth,” or “Tub is clearly Eli’s horsey alter ego.” Yes, I am a nerd. Publishers Weekly calls Sisters Brothers “genre-bending,” but despite the heroes being bad guys, I thought it didn’t bend the genre enough to appeal to non-genre fans.

That was Part One, and I’m glad I kept reading. Part Two, where the Sisters Brothers have somewhat settled in California and have come closer to finding Warm, delved much deeper into Eli and Charlie’s characters and their relationship, and I was drawn in. I remember Jeff Lindsay saying that the reason Dexter Morgan is so lovable, despite his psychopathic tendencies, is his sense of humour. Eli’s narration is humorous: “Just your everyday grouping of civilized gentleman, sitting in a round robin to discuss the events of the day with quivering erections.” But what ultimately makes Eli and Charlie lovable is their utter devotion to each other, which becomes progressively more palpable as the book goes on. I found myself cheering out loud when Eli and Charlie use a devious, underhanded trick to win against a group of gunmen, not because it was such a clever trick, but because it showed the brothers perfectly in sync.

There is something endearing about a bad guy who wants to be good, and it’s disturbingly humorous when that bad guy ends up doing bad things anyway and having to justify them to himself afterwards. It’s also quite sad. Eli Sisters is like a gun-toting, lumbering Michael Corleone — whenever he thinks he can escape his life, his devotion to his brother draws him back in. Charlie, while delighted enough to kill anyone else, is also fiercely devoted to his brother, a fact that gets called into question early in the novel yet becomes absolutely certain later on.

I can imagine Sisters Brothers becoming a cult classic. Even in Part One, I could see it becoming an award-winning, blockbuster Coen brothers film. I love Dan Stiles’ cover design for the book; I can totally imagine it on a movie poster, can’t you?

Love Westerns? I think you’ll love this book. Not much of a fan of Westerns? I think the wonderful relationship between Eli and Charlie will hook you, as it did me. I’ve decided to donate my copy to a very good cause. Fellow book blogger and Twitter buddy Colleen is organizing an auction to raise funds for Slave Lake, which was basically destroyed last week. She’s already gotten lots of wonderful bookish donations, and Patrick DeWitt’s Sisters Brothers will be up for bids as well. Great cause, great books… bid on Eli and Charlie’s story here. You can also see a list of all auction items here, or check out the general auction website at http://slavelakebookauction.wordpress.com/.

Book trailer from U.S. publisher Ecco Books:

Up Up Up, Julie Booker #50BookPledge

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I cannot say enough good things about Julie Booker’s debut collection of short stories Up Up Up. I’m so vain I probably think these stories are about me, but chances are, if you’re a woman, you will too. Booker writes with subtlety, humour and depth, revealing layers within the most mundane situations and grounding the most exotic adventures in reality. Her writing is, at times, laugh out loud funny, but it’s the kind of humour where it’s funny because it’s true, and you feel a pang of pain because it’s the kind of situation where all you can do is laugh.

Booker’s descriptions are snappy yet vivid: a character named Heather is described as having “a man body with breasts,” the blooming of an amaryllis as “disgusting… From cock to cunt in a matter of days.” I, quite literally, laughed out loud in a mall food court while reading her speed dating story “Breakup Fresh.” To that confession, Julie Booker responded, “A mall food court + speed dating have lots in common: quick turnover, a story at every table…and some who always leave a trail of garbage.” For even more samples of her writing, check out her incredibly entertaining pieces in the National Post’s Afterword.

I tried to choose a favourite story to write about, but honestly, I just liked so many of them. Booker’s stories talk about romance, friendship, body image, aging, and so many other things that were relevant to me, personally, and she handles them with such delicacy and candour that her stories felt even more real. “Geology in Motion,” for example, is about a pair of plus-sized friends taking a kayaking trip in Alaska. They go from making fun of the image of “two fat ladies in a kayak! In skintight wetsuits. Eek!” to buying supplies and going on the trip. Booker’s description of one woman’s fear and the other’s desire to keep pushing further made me want to cheer them on, and the way the story ends made me have to stop for a moment. Then, of course, I went on to the next story, eager to see what Booker had in store for me next.

“The Exchange,” about an aspiring artist and an aspiring art collector falling in love at the Art Gallery of Ontario, is more cynical than romantic. Booker begins with the (intentionally, on the author’s part) stilted dialogue of a carefully choreographed flirtation, and goes into a very matter of fact depiction of the development of the characters’ relationship. We hear the story from aspiring artist Diana’s point of view, and while she very logically interprets Henry’s actions, the violence of her emotions comes forth in Booker’s descriptions of her art work.

The best thing about Up Up Up being a collection of short stories rather than a novel is that each story offers a different type of reading pleasure, like a box of truffles instead of a single chocolate bar. There’s a wonderful feeling in treating yourself to one wonderful story at a time. Because these tales are so short, so much emotion comes from details: a line of dialogue tossed off by a character, or a singular character trait, like the clown in “Below Below” insisting on teaching in French even though she grew up in “Bumfuck-Nowhere, Ontario.”

Up Up Up is, quite possibly, the best book I’ve read all year, and I’ve read a lot of very good ones. To all women: buy this book. Read it, then pass it on to your sister, your best friend, your mother. Even better, if you’re in or near Toronto, go see Julie Booker yourself at the Harbourfront Centre, Wednesday, June 8th, 7:30 pm. The back cover of Up Up Up warns readers, “Prepare to meet your new favourite writer.” All I can say is, Ms. Booker, it’s a pleasure.

Die with Me, Elena Forbes #50BookPledge

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Elena Forbes’ Die with Me is a classic police procedural. A serial killer targets young, vulnerable women. He cultivates a relationship with them, then murders them and makes it look like suicides. The odd thing is that the killer didn’t appear to have raped the victims (at least one victim had died a virgin).

This is the first book in the DI Mark Tartaglia series, and unlike other mystery series I enjoy (e.g. Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti, Ian Rankin’s John Rebus, Robert B. Parker’s Spenser), nothing about Tartaglia really made him stand out to me from other literary detectives. He’s a fairly standard old school cop, skeptical about psychological profiling, and he has a complicated love life, with an ex-lover coroner, a new boss with whom his relationship goes from antagonistic to protective, and his partner DS Sam Donovan, with whom he has unacknowledged chemistry.

Despite it being “A Mark Tartaglia mystery”, Donovan seemed to take at least as much of a central role in the investigation. In complete honesty, I found her character to be more fleshed out, and  left the book with the sense that I saw her detective work more than I saw Tartaglia. Donovan’s definitely a very likable character, and I look forward to reading more about her in future books.

Forbes chooses to focus on the investigation, and this is a good thing, because the investigation itself is pretty compelling. The killer targets really vulnerable girls, those who are ostracized in school or aren’t physically attractive, and minor details (e.g. he can’t stand the scent of Pear soap) hint at the source of his psychosis. The red herrings are fairly easy to spot, but the ultimate solution, I admit, surprised me.

Reading Die with Me is like watching an episode of Law & Order or CSI. It’s a fast-paced, entertaining, engrossing police procedural. It’s a lot of fun to read, and I for one found myself racing through the pages to see what new clues Donovan and Tartaglia have uncovered and who the killer will ultimately turn out to be.