Book Review: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

Grade: B

In The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier explores death as a form of insomnia--that the will and memory of the living can perpetuate the lives of the dead, and vice-versa. Brockmeier's simple plot alternates between two realms--earth (home to the living) and "the City" (home to the dead). In the City, the dead continue living as long as someone on earth still remembers them. But the City's population is shrinking fast becasue a virus has killed all but one human on earth--antarctic researcher Laura Byrd. The remaining residents of the City are Byrd's acquaintances from earth. As she struggles to survive, the dead learn to live. Both rely on each other for survival. Byrd wills herself to live by remembering her family, friends, and acquaintances. City residents remain alive through her memory.

"That was what insomnia was, after all--an excess of consciousness, an excess of life. Ever since she could remember, she had treated her life as an act of will, the you-can-do-anything-you-set-your-mind-to philosophy, but she couldn't will herself to fall asleep. The only way to fall asleep was not to care whether you fell asleep or not: you had to relinquish your will. Most people seemed to think that you fell aslweep and then started dreaming, but as far as Minny could tell, the process was exactly the reverse--you started dreaming and that enabled you to fall asleep. She wasn't able to start dreaming, though, because she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she wasn't already asleep."

While I recommend this book for its discussion of death and memory, I caution readers of its failings. Brockmeier succeeds by creating a powerful image of the link between the dead and the living--that the dead remain through the memory of the living. He fails because the characters and plot do not match his theme in power or depth. I felt little connection to any of the characters, alive or dead. I did, however, like the name of the central dead character--Luka--which is similar to my son's name--Lucas (even though Lucas was unborn at the time I read this book). Similarly, I found the plot predictable and lacking depth.

Savannah Celebrity Sighting

Caveat: Don't worry, Jayme. This post will not be of the long-winded variety. (Yeah, right, I can hear him saying.) Well, at least not as long winded as yesterdays post.

I had my first bona fide celebrity sighting today. And what is better, if I could have picked any celebrity, this is the one that I would have chosen!!!

Today, I took a trolley tour of Savannah. I thought about just walking around, but the day was rumored to be hot and humid, and I never know how I am going to feel these days, so I opted for the tour. Besides, I figured that I would learn a lot more about the history of the city and its buildings if I went on the tour. The tour was actually much more informative and less cheesy than I expected.

I got off at stop "6 and a half," a new stop outside the Mansion at Forsyth Park, a "new" 5 star hotel (http://www.mansiononforsythpark.com/) in Savannah. I thought it sounded worth touring (unofficially, of course). I walked two blocks, rounded the corner, and who did I see not more than 3 or 5 feet in front of me??? Jennifer Garner. Ben Affleck. Baby Violet. I was starstruck. Seriously. It really surprised me. Sure, I enjoy People magazine while Jayme stands in the grocery checkout line as much as the next girl, but I didn't think I would ever be starstruck. I kind of gasped, stared, tried to be really inconspicous (I don't think it worked.) I had heard that Casey Affleck got married yesterday in Savannah, but didn't actually expect to see anyone famous. I would have taken a picture, except that there were only four of us out there, it would have been really obvious, I was too embarassed, and I thought that at any minute a big burly body guard would jump out of the shadows and demand my camera, so I pulled it together and went inside. They put something in their black range rover (I have since learned they have a house in Savannah--good old internet research) and then went back into the hotel--of course, I stared as they walked by.

I laughed pretty hard afterwards when I remembered exactly what I had been thinking:

• Oh my goodness, what am I wearing? Wait, they don't care what I am wearing.
• I really wanted to say hi to Jennifer Garner--because I had watched so many Alias episodes, I felt like I knew her. Duh--I had to remind myself that I actually didn't know her and that Sydney Bristow was not standing in front of me.
• Ben Affleck is cuter in person.
• Oh my gosh, she has wet hair. And dark jeans. She looks like she did exactly what I did--got up, showered, put on a little makeup, and went about her day.
• What an adorable baby!

So, there it is, my first celebrity sighting. As a side note, I also saw Liv Tyler (there for the wedding, I would assume), and her husband (his name is Royston Langdon. I had to look it up.) I guess Liv and Casey just made a movie together--Lonesome Jim. They were sitting at a table with about 7 other people, who looked slightly familiar. I kept thinking that I should probably recognize them, but I was still in shock about Jen and Ben. Oh yeah, and Liv had wet hair too. I'm sort of sad I didn't take a picture, but go to any stakkerazzi site and you will see similar ones. It was a great day! P.S. Casey Affleck married Summer Phoenix, sibling to the other famous Phoenix's. They have a son named Indiana August. Makes Violet seem like great name!

Savannah: Pecan Paradise or Haunted House?

Now, whether you pronounce them pe-cons or pee-caans, I have learned one thing in my short time here in Savannah--pecan encrusted anything tastes like heaven. Now, I'm new at this blogging thing, so I'm afraid I will not be as witty as Jayme, or as interesting as Ian, or as authoritative as Chris. However, I have had a thouroughly enjoyable, quite comical day. And besides, who can resist an ode to pecans.

I am staying in the historic district (perfect for me!) in Savannah, and will be here for about a week. The hotel is great, the view is awesome, and I am very tempted to take a trip on the Savannah River Queen (the sister riverboats are docked just outside my window). I had planned to take a nap upon arriving at the hotel, but the lure of the River Street Street Fair proved too strong, so I grabbed my camera and water bottle (our pilot informed us that humidity in Savannah hovers around 100% all summer long) and headed out to explore. The street fair had similarities to ones I have been to in Amber's Gold Street neighborhood or Eastern Market, with a few exceptions: a booth labelled "Voodoo Jewelry Design," several booths with 6 foot tall totem poles/men carved out of wood, and entire stalls devoted to peanuts: boiled peanuts, cajun peanuts, barbeque peanuts, wasabi peanuts--the list was practically never-ending. It made me wish that peaches were in season...

While wandering through the street fair, Savannah-style, I met a long lost love: pecan clusters. Any concerns about gaining too much weight were thrown out the window when I encountered the Savannah Candy Kitchen. Those 300 extra calories that pregnant women are supposed to eat--do samples of pecan clusters or key lime fudge fit into the "healthy 300 calorie" column? I think the answer to that is yes.

I ran into a friend and co-worker while on Savannah's version of the "River Walk," and we decided that we needed to find a tasty, authentic Southern restaurant. What we didn't know is that the graduation ceremonies for the Savannah College of Art and Design were today, which means an extra 10,000 people are visiting Savannah, and all of them wanted to go out to dinner at 7pm. Luckily, with a tip from my extensive research, and a call from our concierge, we were able to get reservations for a restaurant called the Pirate House. The Herb House, located inside the restaurant, was built in 1734--it is the oldest house in Georgia!!! I decided to really indulge my desire for Southern soup, and had part of a low country (slow cooked pork and collard greens) egg roll, she crab soup (soooo delicious), and honey pecan fried chicken. And lets just say, it really doesn't get any better than that! (Note: The picture was taken AFTER I had given a chicken breast to a friend. Way too much food, but soooo delicious.)

The Pirate House, it turns out, has a very interesting history, which leads me to the second part of the post's title--pecan paradise or haunted house? I have already decided, quite enthusiastically, that the term pecan paradise should be applied to Savannah. I also learned that Savannah has a reputation for being the number one "ghost town" in the U.S. But, back to the Pirate House. Let me excerpt from their "history."

"The Old Pirates' House first opened in 1753 as an inn for seafarers, and fast became a meeting point for bloodthirsty pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas. Here seamen drank and discoursed, sailor fashion, on the exotic high seas adventures from Signapore to Bombay and from London to Port Said. Stories still persist of a tunnel extending from the old rum cellar beneath the Captians Room that led to the river through which men were carried unconscious, to ships waiting in the harbor. Indeed many a sailor drinking in carefree abandon awoke to find himself at sea on a strange ship bound for a port half a world a way.

Now, who can resist a story like that one? I actually saw the tunnel that led to the river, and it is not somewhere I would have liked to end up. I also learned that in the classic Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, it says that Captain Flint, who buried the original treasure in Treasure Island, died at the Pirate's House. Yep, you guessed it, the very same. "Even now, employees and guests alike" claim that the ghost of Captain Flint haunts the Pirate House.

Apparently, ghosts are big business in Savannah. My cab driver, an older, native Savannahian, swore that his house was actually haunted, and that several people, his wife and himself not included, had seen a man in their house--a ghost--over the years. Luckily, the ghost didn't bother the man or his wife. He told me several of the more prominent stories that have hit the news over the years, most including antique furniture or Revolutionary War-era homes. He even told me that when he was the foreman of a fertilizer plant, there was a story that a man's head had been chopped off in the conveyor belt, and many of the workers swore they had seen the headless man if they happened to be at the factory at night. Ewwww. Apparently, there are some people who love the idea of ghost stories, evidenced by the 10 people I saw get out of the hearse that had pulled up in front of my hotel. The side of the hearse read: Hearse Drawn Ghost Tours (I guess as opposed to the many horse-drawn ghost tours available in the evening.)

Overall, an eventful first day here in Savannah. I prefer to think of the city as a pecan paradise, and will leave the ghost tours to someone else :)

Katie's Ravishing Radishes

Let me introduce my guest blogger--my wife Katie. She wanted to title this entry "My Garden is More Prolific than Yours." But, since this is my blog and she is my guest, this entry is called "Ravishing Radishes." Ravishing for her and Radishes for her harvest.

It all started with a trip to buy pots at Campbell & Ferrara Nursery in Alexandria, my favorite nursery (http://campbellferrara.com/). (It truly started when I protested not owning a house with a yard by trying to fill every square inch of our balcony with plants. Katie's involvement started with our trip to Campbell & Ferrara.) Katie helped me pick a bright orange pot. Then she selected some purple and yellow exotic-looking flowers for that pot. Then she bought cucumber plants, followed by radish seeds, gerber daisies, bean seeds, petunias, and a vinca. Yes, her plants now rival mine. And they're winning!!

Today Katie harvested the first fruits (vegetables, really, but the term "first fruits" sounds more authoritative, in a biblical sense)--two radishes. They aren't the biggest radishes, but they are radishes, they are ripe, they are edible, and they are the "first fruits" of our. . . er. . . Katie's labor. So, without any further ado, here's ravishing Katie (and her radishes):



Katie will be writing about food from Savannah, Georgia. She is a talented writer and promised to eat lots of first-class southern fare at places like Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons (http://www.ladyandsons.com/), and Wall's Bar B Que (http://www.rachaelraymag.com/content/20247/).

Enjoy!