This blog is basically about how good books are nice and bad books are the pits. And then I get grumpy.













Sunday, April 27, 2008

One woman's quest to meet her love - Is it a touching story or just a bit touched?

If you've read 'Someday My Prince Will Come, True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess'by Miss Jerramy Fine, you know what I'm referring to. This little book is a confection like cotton candy. It's yummy, pretty to look at, as girly as the color pink, and so light and ethereal that once you've consumed it, you question its ever having really been there...except that you now have a stomachache. Well, not a bad, bad stomachache, just a little gnawing at your gut making you wonder, Could this be true?

Fine tells her tale of growing up on the American side of the Atlantic knowing full well that her fate was on British shores and his name was Peter Phillips, the Queen's grandson. She finally escapes from her rural upbringing in 1980s Colorado by hippies who never let the age of aquarius end and gets herself into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts financing her honors degree at the London School of Economics, and just perhaps, her partying. Because the good times really do roll in this author-described true story, but they aren't the most interesting part of 'Someday.'

That anyone would believe from the age of six to adulthood that they were destined for a particular well-known, royal man and would fixate on him, making their lives and life decisions mold to the plan of getting him seems, to me at least, a little, oh, unusual. But Fine says it's true and whether it is or isn't doesn't really matter. It's a good story all the same. That she told people of her plan along the way to meeting him is even more unbelievable. Wouldn't most people have suggested therapy? Wasn't she afraid she'd get kicked out of England?

I discovered this book around Valentine's Day, shelled out the $25 to get it and don't really regret it. It's expensive cotton candy, but I'm quite fond of cotton candy. A word of advice, though: you may want to mooch off your friend the public library's bag of candy before you buy it. Taste test. But I found it yummy. Quite yummy.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Edith Wharton facing foreclosure?

Looks like the economy has gotten so bad it's starting to reach back in time and to foreclose on history and culture. The Mount is the name of Edith Wharton's gorgeous and historic house in western Massachusetts. Like so many others today its caretakers are facing foreclosure and then that's the end of strolls through those fantastic gardens and the rooms this particular author (House of Mirth, The Buccaneers, The Age of Innocence) called home. To get an idea of what lit lovers are potentially losing, check out the last couple of paragraphs of this Boston.com article from February 27, 2008.
To get more info on how you can help visit The Mount's website here. A total of $3 million is needed apparently by May 31st.

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