Vintage Review: The Great Lenore by JM Tohline 6/29/11

JM Tohline opens The Great Lenore with a dedication: “Dear Reader, Take this book and fly.

An auspicious opening, but one setting the bar high for the writer. So the question is, does Lenore have wings?

The characters of The Great Lenore are an ensemble thrown together largely by chance, and book surrounds the wave one young woman’s existence casts on the seemingly calm surface of their lives. All who meet Lenore love her. All who meet Lenore are changed by her.

From the point of view of Richard, a successful writer trying to start his second novel, Tohline leads down a trail populated by withered souls, copious amounts of alcohol, and the fickle depths of money, love and pain. We are presented with the conflicting truths of life, and watch as they crash against each other, indifferent to the bruises left behind.

This book drips with twists, littering the roadway with broken hearts and misplaced dreams. It is about how much influence luck has on our lives, the strange paths we find ourselves on, even when we never intended to leave the well-traveled one. Characters make tiny mistakes, with huge consequences. It is a study in frustration tinged with irony.

Tohline nods to his forebears in his prose and his themes, but his characters are his own. He knows them, and portrays them to the reader with grace. His characters struggle through their emotions, fighting to survive them when they are too far-gone to be concerned with what is right.

What I admire most about Tohline’s style, something I didn’t expect, was the sense of suspension. Not only does one become lost in the plot and characters, one becomes caught in the pause. The hesitation of a breath. The ticking of a clock. You linger in the silence between words, caught and held, savoring the moment. At one point, Richard says, “In general, I am a connoisseur of silence: I seek it out and enjoy it, and in social settings I use it to my advantage.” Like his narrator, Tohline uses silence and its fellows to great effect. It is a rare trait, and one I watch for in a writer.

Lenore lingers. Days after reading it, Lenore creeps into my thoughts. A mystery surrounds her, one that is never fully resolved. Lenore, for all her remarkable qualities, remains an undefined factor in the universe, her personal truths shrouded in the aura of her presence. Despite (or because of) her obscurity, she fascinates me.

So does The Great Lenore have wings?

Yes. And she flies.

This book is a wonderful introduction to JM Tohline. I will be watching for his next work.

Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger

In Raven Girl, Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler's Wife) tells a story about the child of a raven and postman, a raven born in a girl's body who longs to fly. Written as a collaboration for a new ballet with Royal Ballet Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor (Raven Girl ran May 24-June 8), gives us a fascinating new fairytale, deep, dark, and wonderful. Niffenegger's stunning and evocative illustrations support this beautiful narrative of longing and transformation. This modern and wholly new piece delivers a quiet heroin who seeks her own fulfillment, eschewing the savior white knight to subtly twist the trope. Our Raven Girl finds her peace through her own agency, with grace and determination.

We dwell within Niffenegger's world briefly in this short novelette, but the impact proves satisfying and her characters remain memorable, long after the cover is closed. A gorgeous book and story, with the depth to hold up to multiple readings, I highly recommend you add Raven Girl to your library.

Coconutty Goodness: Toasty Macaroon Meringues

These are so delightfully edible, I had to share the recipe.

I had egg whites leftover and extra coconut from the lemon curd filling I made for the coconut cake last week, so I went looking for coconut macaroon recipes. I found one from Alton Brown which was basically meringues with toasted coconut, and thought it sounded good, but the recipe didn't have enough coconut in it as far as I was concerned, so I used the idea as a jumping off point and made my own recipe:

Toasted chips

Coconut chips

Toasty Macaroon Meringues
Makes: approx. 7 dozen (depending on size)
Oven: 350˚ F
4 large egg whites (measures about half a cup)
Pinch of salt
2/3-3/4 cup sugar (to taste)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 unsweetened coconut (half finely shredded, half coconut chips) toasted

Toast coconut in 350˚ F oven for 5-10 minutes, stirring at least once. Only toast one grate of coconut at a time so it browns evenly. Watch your pans closely as coconut goes from toasty to burnt in seconds. I used the fine shred and the bigger coconut chips because it's what I had. It would only change the texture slightly if you wanted to use all of one or the other.
                                                             

Beat egg whites and salt in stand mixer or with electric hand mixer until they begin to stiffen. I usually do almost everything by hand, but with egg whites it is considerably easier with electricity. Be careful not to over beat your whites—easy to do in the stand mixer, particularly

add half of the sugar

Add half the sugar, beat until combined, add remaining sugar and vanilla

Add vanilla

Beat until stiff and glossy

Beat until stiff and beautifully glossy. Few things are as gorgeous as the glossiness of a meringue, IMO. Keep in mind these are raw egg whites as you try to resist tasting the lovely fluffiness. (I failed in my resistance. Thus far, still alive.)

SO PRETTY

Fold in fine coconut, then coconut chips. Again, keep in mind these are still raw egg whites. (Failed once again. HOLY CRAP LIGHTLY SWEET COCONUT MARSHMALLOW YUM)

Drop teaspoons 1-2 inches apart

Drop batter by teaspoons onto parchment lined baking sheet 1-2 inches apart. Feel free to crowd these, within reason, as they don't rise or spread. You just want ample air flow. I prefer them small, with more brown edges to chewy center. You can make them larger, but keep in mind the baking time will increase and they will be slightly softer in the middle. Still scrumptious, though, I'm sure.

bake 15-20 minutes

Bake 15-20 minutes until brown and yummy (18 minutes was the sweet spot on my oven) Try not to burn your tongue. (They cool quickly.) You're an adult, you can wait.

Cool on wire rack for at least an hour before storing in air-tight container, making sure to put parchment between each layer of cookies. These stick together rather well after a few days

cool on rack for an hour

Fabulous warm or room temperature, these are best when still crispy from the oven, though they remain toothsome and wonderful for several days. Keep in mind these are basically meringues, so moisture is the enemy. They will soften up a little, but I made them on two wet days, and they still retained some of their crispness around the edges. It really doesn't matter, they are toasty chewy coconutty deliciousness, through and through. Don't expect them to last long though. I had to make a second batch because there were only six left from the day before. Everyone I've tested them on is enthusiastic, particularly the coconut lovers. Plus they are gluten-free, relatively low in sugar and fat, but taste quite decadent.

Also, if you were so inclined, I'd be willing to wager they'd be lovely with a 1 to 1 ½ cups of toasted sliced almonds folded in with the coconut. Or dipped in chocolate. Or both.

Having Your Cake

My mom fell drastically ill in April, as I've mentioned on Twitter, and I'm her day-to-day caregiver so blogging has had to take a backseat. She is well on the road to recovery and we're counting our blessings at this point. Life is still really stressful, busy and tiring, but we're beginning to find some stability, and I hope to return to reviewing soon. In the meantime have pics of the gluten-free Coconut Cake with Lemon Curd Filling I made for my mom and grandfather's birthdays. <3

Vintage Review: Shock Totem #4 - September 4, 2011

The glossy cover of Shock Totem #4 is striking. More like a high-quality paperback or graphic novel than a magazine, it holds its place on the shelf with confidence. This publication will never be found in the recycle bin, nor filed away for later reference as market research, like some of my other fiction magazines. The art design and layout is to be applauded; inside, creepy black-and-white images accent the text.

But content is what counts in a publication, and thankfully Shock Totem #4 is brimming. With approximately one-hundred and thirty pages, there are nine short stories, two interviews and a number of non-fiction pieces. They are worth the time.

I was looking forward to Lee Thompson’s story Beneath the Weeping Willow, and wasn’t disappointed. Told in second-person POV, it is the experiences of a twelve-year-old autistic boy as his family tries to handle his condition. The piece is beautiful and moving, and I cannot recall a better use of second-person POV. I can't put it better than K. Allen Wood, Shock Totem's editor-in-chief did in the Editor's Note: "as you read it, you will realize it is the only way it could have been told." This is the first work of fiction in the issue, and sets the bar high.

Other stories which stood out were Rennie Sparks's Web of Gold, the tale of a sociopathic temp; Full Dental by Tom Bordonaro, a hilarious look at what happens to office workers and the Demons of Hell under the influence of today's PC-panicked HR departments; and, The Many Ghosts of Annie Orens by A. C Wise, about how chronic visitations by ghosts influence a woman through her life.

The interviews by Mercedes M. Yardley and Nick Contor, of Rennie Sparks and Kathe Koja respectively, are insightful and amusing. Shock Totem's crew also review a number of books, movies and albums in the section Strange Goods and Other Oddities. The writing is vibrant, and though reviews of Doom Metal and Power Metal albums are not usually my thing, the two by K. Allen Wood and Alex Mull were both of interest, and Mull actually raised a chuckle from my skeptical self. The book and film reviews were well-presented, enthusiastic and often amusing, irrespective of their subject--particularly Ryan Bridger's idiosyncratic look at the graphic novel Harbor Moon.

K. Allen Wood's essay Living Dead: A Personal Apocalypse reads like fiction. Good fiction. A gripping piece about his father, it is poignant, grim and redemptive. I've read it several times now, and it still holds my attention.

My favorite section is Howling through the Keyhole, in which the writers featured in the issue present "The stories behind the stories". As a writer, it is both fascinating and educational to read what writer thinks about their work, to hear the inspiration for an individual piece. The fact that several columns are lovely to read, or outright funny doesn't hurt.

Overall, I am well pleased with Shock Totem #4, and will be saving my pennies for the both the next issue and the three previous.

Spring!

 

Big Dog and Littler Dog say "Happy Spring-related Holiday-of-your-choosing!"

Vintage Reviews: Amazon and Goodreads

No doubt you've heard about Amazon's acquisition of Goodreads.

I mostly use Goodreads for reviews (reading and posting) and as a giant book list. I've tried to be more involved with the communities there, but just never found the time. But I visit the site every few days (at least once a week), and appreciated it, in large part because it wasn't attached to a site like Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It was nice to go to place that was about the books, not making the sale.

My view: Monopolies are not good things. Amazon is damn close to one now, and shows no interest in halting its growth, particularly in regards to the publishing industry. I also don't like the language they've used in regards to user data and potential changes at Goodreads. I hear a lot of "in the short term", for my comfort.

So, what to do?

Well, every few weeks I'll be posting one of my old Goodreads reviews here. I'll pull most of the text on each Goodreads review, leaving a paragraph on the site and adding a link to the post here. I'll be heading them under Vintage Reviews, with the original post date. I started posting links on Goodreads for new reviews this year, but with this merger, I decided to go do my 2011-2012 reviews as well. This way, my Reviews page here will no longer link to Goodreads, I get a little traffic to my blog rather than simply giving Amazon/Goodreads content and hits and I'm still not removing reviews for books I want to support.

I don't shop at Amazon because I don't like their business practices. (Now with more Nazis!) I think they are more-than-averagely mercenary in their pursuit of profit and are too opaque about their operations. YMMV (Seriously, I don't hold it against anyone who uses Amazon's services, particularly self-pub authors. Things are hard enough without cutting out a giant chunk of your potential audience.) My stance on Goodreads is slightly less stringent and I'll continue to post links to my new reviews to help support the books and industry, but I won't be using it with the easiness I did before.

So you'll see a Vintage Review go up now and then until I've minimized my presence on Goodreads.

UPDATE: A couple of links, one regarding Amazon/Goodreads and one about Amazon's business practices.