>>>This is so cool.
>>>
>>>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/books/26introbooks.html?scp=2&sq=book%20reviewers%20favorites%20keith%20richards%20best%20of%20the%20year&st=cse
>>>
>>>The are all terrific but Michiko is the royalty of the three. It's cool in itself that the lead book reviewer of our lead paper has a name like Michiko Kakutani. That she speaks in praise of Keith Richards redeems my enduring belief in the unexpectedness of life. We are indeed a melting pot and that doesn't change a thing,
>>>
>>> "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
>>> Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
>>> Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
>>> Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
>>>
>>> -- Omar Khayyam, 1048-1131
>>>
>>>I am reading "Life", among other books (sorry, Bonnie). So far,so good. He has always been the underrespected half of the duo, the musical sound that defines the Stones. Listen to iconic songs like "Satisfaction" or "Brown Sugar", tune out the singing and strutting side if you can, and make up your mind who it really was.
>>>
>>>That I always knew. What I didn't know was that he would be such a good and trustworthy autobiographer.
>>>
>>>Mike
>>
>>Funny, I agreed more with Janet's choices -
>
>Funny, I agree with you <s> - mainly because she includes Don Winslow's absolutely terrific "Savages" which I mentioned here previously when I was only about 100 pages into it an completely blown away. ( currently reading his "The Power of the Dog" )

Oh, crap.

I was just looking for a place to append to a thread from a few weeks ago and hit this post, semi-randomly. Now I realize why you didn't reply to the email I sent you yesterday saying I think you will love -- Don Winslow and "Savages." You must have figured I have finally lost it completely. The rave review I mentioned in the email, the one that inspired me to read the book, was from you. Good grief, Charlie Brown. I have seriously got to stop frying those memory units. (Which I am trying to, BTW; sober for nearly a week now).

Oddly enough, as soon as I finished "Savages" I went to the library and picked up "The Power of the Dog". Maybe you planted that idea in my head as well, "Inception" style. (That's a joke). So far, so good.

FWIW, for the benefit of others and as a further plug of the book, here is what I emailed to Charles:

Hello Charles,

“Savages” by Don Winslow.

My recommendations have not always been your cup of tea (Nirvana, anyone?) but I am almost certain you will like this one. Good story, good writer, all that. What made me think of you is I suspect some of it, including one of the three main characters, will not seem unfamiliar to you. Lots of sharp observations, especially about California. There is some great word play, some of it laugh out loud funny. Wait until you get a load of “Paqu,” the mother of another of the three main characters. The uber Southern Californian.

One thing that may strike you as strange is the chapter layout. There probably aren’t many fewer chapters than pages. I had read some of Winslow’s earlier books and a great review of this one so ordered it up from Amazon. When it arrived I flipped through the pages, as seems to be my habit, and said WTF? Once I started reading it was not an issue at all. The narrative flows right along, maybe even given an extra propulsion by the layout. It might not work for all novels but IMO works well in a suspense/adventure story. In fact by the end I was thinking this might be a better way of doing it than the traditional format of fairly uniform chapters 15, 20, or however many pages long.

Trust me! <g>

(If you take a peek on Amazon, do not read the so-called editorial reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. They give away way too much.)

And the phrase "trust me" is proven unreliable once again....


Back to my original intent, I was just catching up on New Yorker issues and smiled at this from the book review of "Life" by Keith Richards. It said that in 1973 the editors of New Musical Express put Keith Richards at the top of their annual list of rock stars most likely to die within the year. Keef made it through that year, which did not deter the NME editors from renominating him. More time passed. "NME, having kept Keith at No. 1 on its deathwatch for ten years, finally gave up and conceded his immortality."