Savage Summit: the true stories of the first five women who climbed K2, the world’s most feared mountain

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Jennifer Jordan
Savage Summit: the true stories of the first five women who climbed K2, the world’s most feared mountain
This is a well-written group biography of the women who climbed the world’s second tallest mountain: Wanda Rutkiewicz (a Pole); Liliane Barrard and Chantal Mauduit (both of France); and Julie Tullis and Alison Hargreaves (both British). This book covers the climbers’ early lives as well as the years 1986 to 1995 which encompasses the summits.

The women climbers faced sexism, infighting, abandonment by fellow climbers, sabotage of their encampments, etc.. Hargreaves got flak for being a mother and risking her life climbing. Mauduit is accused of using her sex appeal to get men to prepare the ascent w/ fixed lines, and that porters (or sherpas) did most of the work and heavy lifting. Some even accused her of not summiting, if she could not produce photographic evidence. Barrard was accused of being passive and dependent on her husband, Maurice. Similar criticism was aimed at Tullis and her male climbing partner. Rutkiewicz suffered the accusations of not summiting the mountains she really did summit as well as fellow climbers abandoning her on the mountain. She had to become a climbing “free agent” of sorts, because her strong and opinionated personality alienated many.

This is a very suspenseful account that rivals Jon Krakauer’s classic “Into thin air”. The author’s research included interviewing scores of acquaintances, family members and friends of the women. My problem with the book is that Ms. Jordan attributed thoughts and feelings to the subjects, which she couldn’t possibly know, no matter how much research she conducted.

A glossary of climbing terms and a timeline would have been helpful.

Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley?

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Mark Fuhrman
Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley?
This is the true crime account of the murder of 15 year old Martha Moxley on her own property in the exclusive area of Belle Haven, Greenwich, CT. on October 30, 1975. Her neighbors were the Skakels, who are related to the Kennedys. From the beginning, many people suspected that someone from the Skakel household must have committed the crime, as the murder weapon was a golf club matching a set found in the house. Thomas Skakel, the 17 year old son of the widowed Rushton Skakel, emerged early as a suspect, since he was the last known person to see her alive. Ken Littleton, the 23 year old tutor who moved in that day, was a suspect for many years. Not only was the police investigation incompetent, but they tiptoed around the wealthy Skakels. It seemed the only way the crime would be solved would be a confession, because the police weren’t about to uncover anything useful themselves! Not until the existence of “the Sutton file” (a report by a private investigation firm, paid for by Rushton to clear Thomas’s name) became known did Michael Skakel (15 y/o at the time of the murder) become a suspect.

I like how Fuhrman explained how a murder investigation is supposed to be conducted, as he is a former detective with LAPD, most notable for being associated w/ the O.J. Simpson trial. A cast of characters would have been useful.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil [sound recording CD]

From  Jackie Cantwell
Author:  John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil  [sound recording CD]
This is the first time I’ve listened to a book on CD, and I’m impressed! I read the book and I saw the movie, and couldn’t get enough of this story. The narrator is Jeff Woodman and he has a mellifluous voice that carries you back to Savannah. At first, I was curious how Mr. Woodman would handle the women characters in the narrative. But he did fine renditions of the Lady Chablis, Minerva, Mrs. Williams, etc. and captured their accents beautifully. This is a nonfiction account of Mr. Berendt’s time in Savannah, with a cast of unbelievable real-life characters, including Jim Williams, a well-to-do antiques dealer. It is funny, suspenseful and engrossing, and before you know it, you will go through all 13 discs of this unabridged version.

 

The Beatles [sound recording CD] : the rock biographies : the world’s greatest music performed by top musicians

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  various performers
The Beatles [sound recording CD] : the rock biographies : the world’s greatest music performed by top musicians
One has to have audacity to produce an album of cover versions of the Beatles music. Musicians as diverse as Little River Band and Molly Hatchet to Dweezil Zappa and Air Supply tried to bring something new or different to classic Beatles tunes. I think they all failed miserably with the exception of Jackson Browne who brings an ethereal and lilting voice to the song ”Across the Universe”. Ordinarily I’m floored by the talents of Fee Waybill of The Tubes, but his version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was dull and uninspired. Some of these songs are even painful to listen to. Leave me with my memories of the Beatles!

Lost and found: unexpected revelations about food and money

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Geneen  Roth
Lost and found: unexpected revelations about food and money
Well-known author Geneen Roth was another victim of Bernie Madoff’s investment scheme. What may differentiate her from other victims is her ability to lay bare her deep-seated, once subconscious beliefs about money and share these hard-earned truths with the reader. Her father’s entire family was killed in the Holocaust. Since he felt that God failed him and his family, he trusted no one and his life was dedicated to accumulating wealth and material things. As a young woman, Geneen was torn between wanting independence and depending on her father’s largesse for all her expenses. Geneen draws the parallel between our relationship with our fathers, our money, our choice of mates, and even our relationship with food. She encourages us to see if how we’re actually handling our finances jibes with our concern for the environment, our values, and our responsibilities to our families. She warns us that being willfully ignorant of our relationship with money, as she once was, can have dire consequences to our very souls.

Some girls, some hats and Hitler : a true love story rediscovered

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Trudi Kanter
Some girls, some hats and Hitler : a true love story rediscovered
This is the almost impossible-to-believe memoir of a woman who barely escaped Vienna, Austria after the Nazis took over. Trudi Kanter was an only child and successful milliner with her own shop. Her idyllic life was filled with café dining, dating eligible men, and trips to the Paris fashion shows. She paints prewar Vienna very vividly with sparkling descriptions such as: “Vienna was preparing for spring. Green shutters on white villas were painted greener. Black railings had their pointed gilt tops regilded. At the coffeehouses, newly white-painted chairs and tables were hopefully put outside. Waiters in white linen jackets carried white napkins over their arms. They welcomed the sun and invited customers to be the first ones to sit outside. The city looked crisp and polished, full of goodwill and expectation, full of romance. Even strangers greeted each other with a big smile and a bright, ‘Good morning’. ” Luckily, due to her connections, she knows earlier than most that the Nazi threat is near. The suspense is absolutely excruciating as she awaits the visas for herself, her husband Walter and her parents. You can see that she was either very lucky, or very good at reading people. On the train ride from Austria to Czechoslovakia: “A man in a navy blue suit enters our compartment, looks at us, and closes the door. ‘Passkontrolle!’ the German says. He holds out his hand to Walter. ‘Pass?’ Walter gives it to him. He scrutinizes each page and hands it back to him. He repeats this procedure with everyone in the compartment, leaving me to the last. I feel faint. He takes my passport, looks at each page, looks at me, checks each page again. Our lives depend on the whim of a single Nazi”.

Klonopin Lunch: a Memoir

From  Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Jessica Dorfman Jones
Klonopin Lunch: a Memoir
What happens when a married lawyer with a hum-drum life gets a taste of Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll? Read this well-crafted memoir to find out. Jessica, a product of New York’s Upper East Side, always played by the rules, which included excelling at the finest schools and marrying her college boyfriend. Enter a handsome guitar teacher, and at the age of thirty, she forgets the life she knew. Their flirtation becomes a full-blown affair, and she starts to take illegal drugs, gets tattooed, and fancies herself a rock star. She writes songs with the guitar teacher’s pal, becomes the lead singer of a fledgling rock band, and stays out ‘til all hours of the night, thus testing the limits of her husband’s understanding and support. This tale of sexual obsession and codependency is painfully honest. She often doesn’t come across as very likeable or sympathetic. Yes, she’s selfish, and yes, she ought to know better. There are very funny sections, including the lunch with her gay pal, where the book gets its title. It could be said that New York City is another character in the book; the evocative descriptions of Manhattan are such that you can almost smell the spilled beer and cigarette smoke in the clubs. There are graphic depictions of sexual activity and drug use, so this book is not for the squeamish or the prudish.

I’ll mature when I’m dead : Dave Barry’s amazing tales of adulthood

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Dave Barry
I’ll mature when I’m dead : Dave Barry’s amazing tales of adulthood
This is another laugh-out-loud book from my favorite funny man. With chapters covering topics such as fatherhood, technology, dog ownership, Dave’s Hollywood career and visiting Miami, you’re sure to find a favorite. Two chapters are hilarious parodies of the recent popular phenomena: The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and “24” the television show starring Kiefer Sutherland. My favorite is  “Tips for visiting Miami: No. 1: Are you insane?” This had me in stitches: “We also have a growing population of unwelcome out-of-town wildlife species that have come here and clearly intend to stay. Two invasive species in particular have caused serious concern: Burmese pythons, and New Yorkers. The New Yorkers have been coming for years, which is weird because pretty much all they do once they get to Florida is bitch about how everything here sucks compared to the earthly paradise that is New York. They continue to root, loudly, for the Jets, the Knicks, the Mets, and the Yankees; they never stop declaring, loudly, that in New York the restaurants are better, the stores are nicer, the people are smarter, the public transportation is free of sharks, etc.” Dave has a most unique suggestion for handling the python problem once and for all.

The other side of suffering : the father of JonBenet Ramsey tells the story of his journey from grief to grace

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  John Ramsey 
The other side of suffering : the father of JonBenet Ramsey tells the story of his journey from grief to grace
John Ramsey has suffered more loss in his life than most could bear.  You may know him as the father of the murdered child, JonBenet Ramsey. You may not know that he also lost his oldest daughter from his first marriage, Beth, in a car accident.  He also lost JonBenet’s mother, Patsy, to cancer in 2006. He shares the real story of the aftermath of JonBenet’s murder and why he “lawyered up” quickly. He tells of the nightmare of living under suspicion by the Boulder, CO police and of the paparazzi chasing him, his son Burke, and his wife. He also found kindness in unlikely places, when strangers would approach him with comforting words. He also had a supporter in the detective Lou Smit, who posited the intruder theory, and later became friends with John.

 This is a heartbreaking memoir as well as a spiritual biography.  John regrets that he had practically no relationship with God when his life was going well. He went to India recently as part of his spiritual quest, which was life-changing. He shares the mistakes he has made: “Our ability to make good decisions is damaged after tragedy, because we are not thinking clearly. The best thing I could have done was to put my life in park for a while. I was eager to start climbing again and didn’t realize I hadn’t stopped the fall yet. Here are some suggestions for stopping the fall, the first being, and if you get no other point of advice from this book, please hear this one: After you have suffered a tragic circumstance in your life, press the pause button and put your life on hold. Do not make any big decisions or moves. Focus on stopping the fall first. Realize also that this ‘life hold’ will be necessary for longer than you think.”

 A friend of John’s told him that “Hope is the belief that your best days lie ahead of you”. After grieving for 15 years, John finally has hope.

To Selena, With Love

From Jackie Cantwell
Author:  Chris Perez
To Selena, With Love
Chris wants you to know that he is more than “the widower of the Queen of Tejano music ,Selena Quintanilla Perez.” Chris was the guitarist for Selena’s band. This is a loving tribute to the Latin music superstar who was gunned down by her fan club president in 1995. Selena won Grammy awards and was poised to be a crossover artist in the same way as Gloria Estefan when she died. But her fans loved her not just because of her music. She gave so much of herself in each concert. She spent lots of time signing autographs after her concerts and made a special effort to reach out to her young fans and those who were sick or disadvantaged. She also adopted animals, including several dogs. Chris tells of her adventurous and daredevil side, where she learned how to ride a motorcycle, went bungee jumping, and loved to drive her cars fast.  She also loved celebrating Christmas and the simpler things like cooking and cleaning the house.  As a child of divorce, Chris never thought much of marriage. But Selena broke down his defenses and taught him how to love.  She had the most exuberant spirit and loved to try new things. He says her laughter was contagious. Chris’s first love was rock and roll and heavy metal music, which he has returned to since Selena’s death. This book is a rare glimpse into the life of a multi-faceted performer.