Tenth of December: George Saunders' Vision of the Future

If you haven't yet picked up this book, do it.  If you're a writer and you haven't yet picked up this book, really do it.  If you're a writer who reads and writes fiction and you haven't yet picked up this book: you'll be missing out if you don't read this book.

Some of the stories in Tenth of December remind me a little bit of of Kurt Vonnegut, pointing towards the absurd dilemmas of a technologically driven society.  In "Escape From Spiderhead" a convict is a lab rat for a commercial pharmaceutical company that tests emotion enhancement drugs. "In The Sempica Girls Diary" a middle class father trying to make his children happy buys into a dehumanizing practice that victimizes illegal immigrants.  And in "My Chivalrous Fiasco" an employee of a Medieval themed entertainment facility is bribed to silence by way of a mind-enhancing "upgrade" to a Pacing Guard position in the live and interactive Medieval tech show.

Saunders' terrifying scenarios are populated by glib, self-justifying morons but the stories crackle with wit.  In "My Chivalric Fiasco" the medical enhancement KnightLyfe is designed to gift its patient with verbal abilities presumedly realistic to medieval speech:  "What ho! Had charged. Up crude ladders, with manly Imprecations." (I still laugh when I read that one).  When the recently returned veteran in "Home" returns to his own haunts he walks into a store, but isn't sure if it is a store because he can't tell what they're selling.  The MiiVOXmax that he picks up looks like a tag rather than a product. When he asks what the product is, the retail clerk responds, "It's more like what it is for, is how I'd say it."  Naturally the veteran asks what it is for, the clerk replies "this is probably more the one for you," and offers him an identical item called a MiiVOXmin, and its purpose is equally obscure.

There wasn't a single story in this collection that I didn't simply devour.  In spite of the frustrating and often tragic events, the characters are each so well-intentioned, so hopeful and so full of heart that it's hard to come out of reading even the most pessimistic of these stories without coming out at the end of it with a sense of optimism for the future and elation for the general good heartedness of people.  In "Tenth of December," the collection's title story, a cancer patient resolves on committing suicide, but ends up instead involved in a rescue situation.  In "The Semplica Girls Diaries" the middel aged disgruntled father desiring status and money throws it all away without a blink to protect his children.  In "Escape from Spiderhead" it's the life-sentence convict who is able to make the most moral and the most selfless act.

These beautiful stories each glow with Saunder's imagination, his vision of a world ruled by an insensitive money-driven society tempered by the tender and altruistic instincts of its most ordinary citizens.  Every story leaves us with the sense that human nature itself has been redeemed, its thoughtless ambition in the end always overwhelmed by the simple need to connect to our loved ones, and to do what's best for others, in spite of ourselves.

Mojito Literary Society Writers Retreat WInter 2013

What are the ingredients of a top-notch writers retreat, you ask? First, start with three writers (more or less, to taste). We liked a mix of poet, historical fiction writer, and mystery novelist.

Place in secluded location (a cabin in the mountains is ideal, but beaches and some cities could be substituted -- here is the view from our front porch at Paradise Hills Resort and Spa in Blairsville, GA)

Add ice (sleet and/or snow and/or freezing rain are all acceptable forms of frozen precipitation)

Season with BACON (no substitutions)

 

Warm gently

Flavor with your favorite libation (a large and varied selection is a MUST! Quality preferred but not required.)

Write like a maniac . . . and enjoy. Here's hoping you get to join us next time.

Read It! Wrap It! Love It! -- The Cento: A Collection of Poems

I am in AWE of poets. Magicians, they are, able to distill life and experience to their often surprising essence. So maybe they're moonshiners too, stirrers of mash and sippers of elixirs. We have some poets among our Mojito sisters, so I know they'll appreciate my December must-have, and my Book Happy recommendation -- Theresa Welford's anthology The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems.(which you can order HERE).

A cento is a poem composed entirely from lines of other works in a new form or order. It means "patchwork" in Latin, and like visual collages, it includes images reworked into a new vision. ANd this collection of cento poems apparently rocks. According to no less an authority than X.J. Kennedy, “Theresa Welford’s anthology of poems in that curious form the cento is a true labor of love. In an array of patchwork poems by poets famous and poets new, The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems reveals both the dangers of the form (creating chaos) and its rich rewards when performed with wit and creativity on the part of the poet (as in R. S. Gwynn’s hilarious cannibalization of The Norton Anthology of Poetry). No one will supercede this achievement for a long time, I’d guess—maybe not for a hundred years.”

An excellent gift for YOUR favorite poet.

And the coveted Triple Mojito Salute goes to . . .

We the Mojito Literary Society are ridiculously, almost illegally, proud to share the following announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

SOLD: "Susanna Ives's WICKED LITTLE SECRETS trilogy, each featuring an aspect of Victorian society that hero and heroine defy, to Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks, by Paige Wheeler at Folio Literary Management."

In honor of her forthcoming trilogy, we are hoisting not one, not two, but THREE mojitos in her honor -- way to go!

How to Make the Perfect Mojito

A REFRESHER: In honor of our appearance on Questions that Bother Me So -- in which the ladies of The Mojito Literary Society discuss art, words, life and rum -- we are sharing once again our official mojito recipe. Please join us Friday, October 26 from 1-3 Eastern time at Kinectic Hi-Fi Radio. Cheers!

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An important aspect of the Mojito Literary Society is -- of course -- the mojito. The derivation of the name is unclear; it could refer to mojo, a lime-flavored seasoning mixture popular in Cuban cuisine, or to the word mojadito, Spanish for "a little wet." A favorite drink of Ernest Hemingway (whose graffiti praising the drink can still be seen on the walls of his favorite Cuban bar), the mojito is a deceptively simple mixture of five basic ingredients: rum, lime juice, cane sugar, club soda, and fresh mint leaves (traditionally yerba buena in Cuba, but most commonly spearmint or peppermint in the US).

I've had many mojitos. Some have been exquisite; others have been as limp and tasteless as salad in a glass. I make my own at home regularly, and they are quite tasty if I do say so myself (and I do). Still, when it comes to mixology, there's no greater authority than my friend Chris Milligan. He writes the blog The Sante Fe Barman and is, IMHO, a genius with all things spirited. When I asked him to explain how to make a perfect mojito, he graciously obliged.

So here it is, folks, straight from someone who knows.

The Perfect Mojito

In a 12 oz glass, muddle 10-12 Mint leaves with 3/4 oz simple syrup and 1/2 oz fresh lime juice. Add ice, 2 oz white rum, and fill with club soda. Using a long handled spoon, pull the mint from the bottom of the glass to combine. You are also mixing in the lime and simple syrup. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Important Mixology Skills and Information!

Muddling -- the idea in this drink is to extract the oils from the mint without tearing the leaves, so be gentle. Robert Hess does a great demo on muddling (find that here on Small Screen Network.)

Measure, Measure, Measure. Get a small OXO measuring cup or jigger. This is KEY.

That brings us back to the glassware. If your glasses are bigger than 12 oz, you will need to adjust.

A lime wheel is a lime cut in a circle from pole to pole.

Simple syrup -- 1 lb. BY WEIGHT of sugar and 8 oz of water (filtered) by volume. Place in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. This keeps for 3-5 days or add a shot of vodka to keep for 3 weeks.

Book Labyrinth Art

When I think of heaven, it looks like this -- with a comfy chair and mojito in the middle.

From a bird's eye view, visitors weave through the elaborate fingerprint shaped book labyrinth, which will be on display until Aug. 25 in the Southbank Centre, a large art space situated near the Waterloo Bridge.

Employee Tilly Shiner browses through books inside the aMAZEme labyrinth on July 31 at The Southbank Centre in London, England. Brazilian artists Marcos Saboya and Gualter Pupo used 250,000 books to create this literary maze for the London Festival, a 3-month-long cultural event held concurrently with the 2012 Olympics.

Review of Douglas Corleone's LAST LAWYER STANDING

Available NOW on Amazon.com

By Tina Whittle

If there’s one character I love spending time with, it’s the heroic anti-hero. Someone whose biggest triumphs come not from conquering some nefarious villain — although he does manage to get some righteous licks in — but from conquering his own tricky, confounding, paradoxical nature. To paraphrase the newest incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, just because these guys are on the side of the angels, don’t make the mistake of thinking they are angels.

Enter Kevin Corvelli, criminal defense attorney extraordinaire, hotshot protagonist of Douglas Corleone's third novel, Last Lawyer Standing. Typically fresh from some dicey shenanagin, Mr. Corvelli carries trouble in pocket. He curses, dodges, and gets knifed or hit or threatened a lot. He’s well acquainted with both pills and liquor. And he’s exactly who you’d want showing up in court for you, because whether you’re innocent or guilty, he’s there to defend you to the best of his ability.

And while one sharp attorney, he’s also a crackerjack sleuth. He has to be, especially in this, his third outing after the equally sharp One Man’s Paradise and Night on Fire, the first and second novels in this series. It’s a juggling act from the first page, and Corleone is a master at keeping those balls in the air. Judges, clients, hookers, gangsters, bad cops, good cops, assassins, politicians — they all circle like sharks as Corvelli struggles to acquit his perpetual client Turi Ahina of a murder charge while simultaneously serving as counsel to the governor of Hawaii, caught up in a scandal of mistresses, money and murder most foul. Throw in a mafia scion who needs babysitting and a gorgeous AUSA with a recent divorce, and it’s all Corvelli can do to keep the cat fed.

No fears. The cat does not go hungry. And readers will find satisfaction too. Corleone is a master plotter — the narrative never lets up, and the clues come faster than speedballs. The Hawaii that serves as a backdrop functions more as a character than setting, complete with its own tics and eccentricities — you might not want to live in Corvelli’s version of paradise, but you’ll find yourself enjoying a temporary visit with him as your guide. The voice is snarky and smart and authentic, self-aware but not the least bit self-righteous. I mean, how can you not love a character who says, “Somehow . . . I’d grown a conscience with respect to my motives in the courtroom, and it was going to kill my client. What the hell had I been thinking?”

One big theme in the Corvelli series is the moral quandary that comes from serving the ideal of truth and justice by defending the lying and guilty. Even Corvelli has his standards, and they complicate his job and his life in ways that even his clever maneuvering can’t always evade. It’s a hard profession he’s chosen — little wonder he daydreams of tending bar — but his challenges are our gain. I’ll buy a ticket to whatever ride Corleone offers as long as Kevin Corvelli is sitting in the seat next to me.

You can read more about Douglas Corleone on his website: www.douglascorleone.com.

Recommended Beverage Pairing: Anything but red wine (read the book — you'll get it). How about a nice tall beer instead, something locally brewed? A clean and hoppy IPA perhaps?

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Tina Whittle is a mystery writer living and working in the Georgia Lowcountry. The Dangerous Edge of Things, her first novel, debuted February 2011 from Poisoned Pen Press, followed in March 2012 by Darker Than Any Shadow. Described by Publisher’s Weekly as a “tight, suspenseful debut,“ this Atlanta-based series features gun shop owner Tai Randolph and corporate security agent Trey Seaver. The third book in the series —Blood, Ash and Bone —is available now for pre-order at Amazon. Visit tinawhittle.com for more information, including a schedule of appearances.