Open Books

How is it that the Final Opus of Leon Solomon is out of print in both hardcover and paperback?

The book's author, Jerome Badanes, died halfway through the sequel to The Final Opus of Leon Solomon. What he had written, and revised himself, was a pretty amazing 100 page novella called Change or Die which appears in Issue number #5 of Open City in its entirety.

It is always a peculiar thing when you take a piece of writing that has so much peculiar character and substance, and lump it in with all the other stuff that happens to comprise that issue of the magazine.

This issue has some absurd wild cards - when seen in the light of its central feature, "Change or Die," - such as an Irvine Welsh story he wrote shortly after completely Trainspotting, and this wonderful piece of non-sense that Delmore Schwartz wrote about T.S. Eliot's anti-Semitism. That is the one interesting thematic thread in this issue--Both Shwartz and the academic protagonist of Change or Die (a man trying to recover from Shakespeare,) have a certain lovely fatedness about them.

And Change or Die has one of my favorite short lead sentences:

"The Blik family was a dream and an education."

What a great beginning to such a great story!

(And what a concise and honest use of the short sentence, which has been bastardized and beaten up on any number of fronts, from Hemingway imitators to the cold pragmatism of news providers).

If this whole computer as a means to shop for books is to have any good side, then it is that finding a book like, "The Final Opus of Leon Solomon," or getting your hands on the novella "Change of Die" is something you MUST GET! If only to make use of the fact that you are sitting in front of a computer and perusing.

Jerome Badanes. He is coming back in the only way he can.

Open City consistently publishes great stories, poems, essays, and artwork. I look forward to each issue, because each one is so different, and because this magazine continues to be vital and relevant, esp. because many literary magazines are so staid and dull....

This is a wonderful book. As I have worked at developing a charter school in my area to create a less oppressive atmosphere for my children's learning, this book has helped me crystalize my thinking about learning in school. It advocates an organic, realistic, and less patriarchal approach to being a teacher in a public school. It accurately describes the pitfalls of trying something different and more humane in teaching, while recognizing the difficulties inherent in changing the educational system. A true, MUST READ for teachers, parents, school board members, administrators, and students.

This book shouldn't be out of print! It gives lots of practical tips, such as: How to use ed, vi, or emacs; how to write scripts in sh, sed, perl or awk; how to handle email on UNIX; basics of programming.

Put together, it's a great lesson in the history and philosophy of UNIX. Work you way through the book, and you'll have a good grasp of the UNIX way. Then, you can still use the book as a mighty handy reference.

The book is only slightly dated in spots. For example, it doesn't cover anything to do with the World Wide Web, and it doesn't mention Linux. However, these are only minor omissions. It's still an excellent book!

It seems there are a lot of YA books lately with sports themes, but tennis isn't usually the sport of choice. Carol Clippinger's OPEN COURT presents the competitive and emotional pressures of tennis.

Holloway "Hall" Braxton is just thirteen and is making her mark in the world of tennis. She has pretty much outgrown her competition in Colorado, so what is next? Both her coach and her parents think it's time to start looking at improving her world ranking, but Hall isn't sure she's ready. Competing in world class tournaments means moving on from her local coach and attending one of the private tennis academies her parents have been researching. It also means moving away from home.

Hall's life is suddenly more complicated than ever. It's not just her tennis life that is changing. She and her best friend seem to be headed in different directions. Her doubles partner recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is currently living in a mental facility. And then there's Luke, the country club, private school heartthrob who is suddenly paying Hall a lot of attention.

Every night Hall presses her ear to the heating vent between her room and the kitchen to hear her parents plot and plan her tennis future. Her father has his sights set on Bickford Tennis Academy in Florida. Her mother (Hall calls her The Weak Link) seems less sure about sending their only daughter off to swampy Florida and tennis torture. No one bothers asking Hall what she wants, and it's beginning to freak her out.

For awhile Hall tries to lose herself in the world outside tennis. She hangs with her friends, especially handsome Luke and new friend, Polly. Amazed that someone as popular as Luke could be interested in her, Hall explores another side of her personality as she sneaks out for late night swims and make-out sessions. Her longtime friendship with best friend Eve is abandoned as she spends time with more rebellious Polly. But tennis continues to haunt Hall. Is it just a game or is it a much more important part of who she is?

OPEN COURT reaches into the pressures of competitive tennis. The pressure to win, to please coaches and parents, the grueling hours of practice that interfere with friendships, and the powerful love of the game are all revealed in this fast-paced novel. Even those with little knowledge of the game of tennis will still appreciate the drive and determination that pushes and yet terrifies Hall. OPEN COURT is a worthwhile addition to any collection.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

I got the book in Excellent Condition and on Time. I am very happy and satisfied.

Thlis book is for the novice Christian or someone inquiring about Christianity. It tells how Bonnie found the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour and Lord and how she grew to know Christ and his ways by walking through doors in his kingdom. This has been written to those who want to know more about the Word of God and how to live this Word in their daily lives.

Young Rose Webster has lived in the slums of London all of her life. But unlike many people, Rose wants more out of life and she knows that an education is the only to better herself. With the help of friends and the love of Bill she maybe able let that happen. But after years of remembering the past will Rose be albe to move on and will Bill be there with her?
"The Open Door" was the first book that I had read by Beryl Matthews and it was really great! Ms. Matthews gives the reader rich and real characters. I can't wait to read more by Ms. Matthews.

THE OPEN DOOR a novel by Floyd Skloot Floyd Skloot's new family study The Open Door -- his third novel of the decade -- has the tragic vitality of an old dark hunk of a bed and boxsprings abandoned in a city street. It spans two generations of distracted, thoughtless, often deliberately hurtful loving, yet towards the end devotes its most touching moments to the partial repairs that can be achieved by the victims of such homes. And while child abuse always claims the story's heart, it sets this agony within the culturally vibrant, frequently funny backdrop of mid-century Brooklyn.

The parents in question are Myron and Faye Adler, and indeed, they're spirit-addlers, plus the adders in childhood's Eden. The couple has been slap-pasted together by societal pressures, but they remain so wrong for each other they invite comparison to some of the glaring mismatches found in Dickens. Myron, a Brooklyn poultry man, at least has known a taste of love, before his own father brought his heavy hand down on Myron's passion for a shiksa. Faye lacks even heart enough to know what she's missing. Her high talk about the arts is all empty gas, laughing gas for readers -- except that we're kept as much on edge as the two tormented sons, Richard and Danny.

These boys must navigate their home like mine-sweepers, eyes and ears pitched for the first signals of adult explosions lurking everywhere. This violence limns all the neighborhoods of '50s New York, the well-swept stoops and cavernous movie houses drenched, in lesser novels, with nostalgic syrup. Skloot, on the other hand, though he's never above a fond joke at Brooklyn's expense, knows the borough too well to serve it up oversweetened; his cameos include not only Pee Wee Reese but also the Mad Bomber.

Ultimately, every child wakes to maturity, and even damaged boys like these grow up to face the inner punches and kicks of awareness -- of knowing they might still, in spite of everything, discover love. In the book's closing attempts at that discovery, Skloot never loses his wised-up, tamped-down clarity. When one of the boys cleanses some part of the family spirit by saying Kaddish for his father, the greatest moment of transcendence occurs in the front seat of a rabbi's big late-'50s sedan, in a blizzard. And the ultimate vision of family repair, of redemption takes place -- awash in sunny, sweaty promise -- in pay-to-play batting cage.

review by John Domini

I love ghost stories. I am closing in on 60 years old now, so I've read alot of them, and the Open Door by Mrs. Oliphant is my all time favorite. It makes the hair on my neck stand on end every time I read it.