Death Hag Books

[MaxyMillions]

I'm reading My Own Country by Abraham Verghese. It's a memoir about an Indian infectious diseases physician that found himself to be the default AIDS specialist in rural Johnson City, Tennessee, in the mid to late '80's.

I went to college not far from J.C., and was fascinated to read about the response of the residents to AIDS-it was not at all what I expected. Verghese was very honest about his own perceptions and prejudices, and seemed totally willing to challenge himself.

Verghese is a beautiful writer, and I have his next book, a novel, Cutting for Stone ready and waiting!

[Jack-O-Lantern]

I'm gonna pick that one up Maxy, sounds really good.

[MaxyMillions]

I'm gonna pick that one up Maxy, sounds really good.

It is, Jack. When I was in college, around '89 or so, a big group of us used to go party in Johnson City for....a reason forgotten to me. There was a serious good ol' boy redneck bar that we patronized a few times until the night my friend and I clinked beer mugs out on the "dance floor" and they shattered, leaving us each holding a handle. The clincher though, was my very kissy friend. When she got really drunk, she liked to kiss girls, with these long, closed mouth, face grinders. Since she was a sweet, hilarious girl (who always drove, ) I was ok with it. However, that night, it incited that bar into near riot, and we barely escaped with the tattered remnants of our hymens still intact. We were chased for several miles by dudes in overalls in pickups with boners!!! ROFL!!! Those were the days.....

Sooooo....since Dr. Verghese's time there was actually a bit before mine, I was extremely curious to read about his experiences with hard-core, hard-workin', hard-partyin', Bible thumpin', country folk. It was also interesting to read about Dr. V's evolving empathy with the gay men he met. As a "foreign physician" he often felt as though he didn't totally fit in anywhere-not in the close knit groups of Indian families headed by fellow doctors, or in rural Tennessee, or even in medical practice, since his specialty, infectious diseases, was not highly lucrative or well-regarded. Dr. V began identifying with the alienation a lot of his patients felt. The way in which he writes about his patients and their families was truly respectful and caring.

I had kind of forgotten what that time was like, and how frightened of HIV people were, and how ignorant they were (and still are, to some degree, I think) about how it was transmitted. One of the cases Dr. V wrote about was a man who was infected during open-heart surgery at **gasp!!** Duke in March of 1984. His wife remembered only one friendly face during that day, the face of an intern who said, "He's gotten a lot of blood, lots and lots of blood. If he doesn't recover fully, or if afterward strange things happen, please remember what I have just told you. He's gotten a lot of blood. Tell that to any doctor he goes to." It took a long time for that patient to get better at all, and before he could be diagnosed with AIDS, he infected his wife.

Shit! You'd think I was this guy's agent! Let me know how you like it, Jack.

[hoxharding]

My apologies if this has been listed already:
'Death Becomes Them' by Alix Strauss
It is a non-fiction book about the deaths of well-known people.

[RaRaRamona]

I have a raging headache. I can't sleep so I figured I'd come on & talk about this book I just finished called The Dead Beat by Marylin Johnson. It's pretty interesting stuff - all about obit writers.

But for someone who flew overseas just to read obits she sure is a sanctimonious harpy. She really grinds on death forum posters while lurking guiltily & silently judging them. She was thoroughly disgusted hated FAG; can you imagine if she saw this place?

She seems to think she's better than people like us b/c she is satisfied by reading the obituary of a dead person. For me, an obit only makes me more curious about their life. I mistakenly thought she was a total Hag! Her loss.

[RaRaRamona]

It's okay. Actually, I rather liked it until the end when she starts trying to distance herself from common death hags. She builds herself up as some kind of death elitist who would never try to find out more about a person after she's read their obit. Obits make me more curious about the deceased & I often read more about them when I can & ask questions when it's appropriate. I agree with her that lives should be celebrated, but not only in a few hundred words & one photo. I like to learn more & I am almost always glad when I do. So many people lead incredibly full lives & sadly it's only when they pass that we learn about the wars they fought in or the books they wrote or children they lost or lives they saved. Those facts round a person out & there have been times I have felt that I knew a person better after death than when they lived. It's made me go through life more slowly & stop & look & listen.

[SheBoss]

Hear, Hear, RaRa! I think I'll be passing up THAT book - thanks for the heads up!

[RaRaRamona]

Well, I liked it up to that point - it was the last few sections of the book. The rest great. She really gets into obit styles & how hard they work to make them shine. It was good other than that.

[SheBoss]

meh - I'm not really in to a book talking about obituaries anyway. They're kinda self-explanitory.

[MaxyMillions]

I am guilty of being a totally nosy obit reader. I gave up having the paper delivered, and the obits are what I missed the most! I love the ones that give a lot of detail, but I am always curious about the ones where a person was relatively young and they use phrases like "died suddenly" or "died at home" without mentioning any kind of illness. I then check out where memorials can be sent for clues.

Kind of strange though-the one time a client suicided, I had read the paper that morning and never saw it, although the obit, with a photo, was in the center of the page. Someone else in the office saw it, recognized the name, and contacted the office manager, who then told me. I really believe someone was looking out for me, because I was of course, devastated by the news, and it would have been so much worse to learn about it by myself.

[RaRaRamona]

Those clues always make me curious too! I hate when they don't say how the person died.

[Jack-O-Lantern]

It is, Jack. When I was in college, around '89 or so, a big group of us used to go party in Johnson City for....a reason forgotten to me. There was a serious good ol' boy redneck bar that we patronized a few times until the night my friend and I clinked beer mugs out on the "dance floor" and they shattered, leaving us each holding a handle. The clincher though, was my very kissy friend. When she got really drunk, she liked to kiss girls, with these long, closed mouth, face grinders. Since she was a sweet, hilarious girl (who always drove, ) I was ok with it. However, that night, it incited that bar into near riot, and we barely escaped with the tattered remnants of our hymens still intact. We were chased for several miles by dudes in overalls in pickups with boners!!! ROFL!!! Those were the days.....

Sooooo....since Dr. Verghese's time there was actually a bit before mine, I was extremely curious to read about his experiences with hard-core, hard-workin', hard-partyin', Bible thumpin', country folk. It was also interesting to read about Dr. V's evolving empathy with the gay men he met. As a "foreign physician" he often felt as though he didn't totally fit in anywhere-not in the close knit groups of Indian families headed by fellow doctors, or in rural Tennessee, or even in medical practice, since his specialty, infectious diseases, was not highly lucrative or well-regarded. Dr. V began identifying with the alienation a lot of his patients felt. The way in which he writes about his patients and their families was truly respectful and caring.

I had kind of forgotten what that time was like, and how frightened of HIV people were, and how ignorant they were (and still are, to some degree, I think) about how it was transmitted. One of the cases Dr. V wrote about was a man who was infected during open-heart surgery at **gasp!!** Duke in March of 1984. His wife remembered only one friendly face during that day, the face of an intern who said, "He's gotten a lot of blood, lots and lots of blood. If he doesn't recover fully, or if afterward strange things happen, please remember what I have just told you. He's gotten a lot of blood. Tell that to any doctor he goes to." It took a long time for that patient to get better at all, and before he could be diagnosed with AIDS, he infected his wife.

Shit! You'd think I was this guy's agent! Let me know how you like it, Jack.

S*P*E*W !!!!!!! I am rolling here....

[SomeChick]

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures, by Robert K. Wittman

His Heart Is in the Art of Sleuthing

By RANDY KENNEDY

Published: June 6, 2010

There might be a few agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who could sit down at a piano and run through a Chopin Fantasie to calm their nerves, as Robert K. Wittman used to do. But there probably aren’t many who could also chat knowledgably about Cézanne’s influence on Soutine. Or who have studied formalism at the Barnes Foundation art museum outside of Philadelphia. Or who have found themselves in Hollywood, Fla., eating lunch with — and probably being targeted by — two large French assassins nicknamed Vanilla and Chocolate, while tantalizingly close to recovering paintings from the biggest art heist in American history, the 1990 robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.


Ruth Fremson
The New York Times
Robert K. Wittman, a former F.B.I. agent, hunted art thieves.


For 15 years, until his retirement in 2008, Mr. Wittman — the author of a rollicking memoir, “Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures,” released last week by Crown Publishers — was the driving force behind the F.B.I.’s efforts to pursue art thieves, a fledgling program that grew into a formal Art Crime Team under his leadership, though the team is still tiny compared with its counterparts in Europe.
To this day Mr. Wittman, now a private security consultant, has a hard time visiting the places he loves the most — art museums — without starting to case them the minute he walks in. During an interview last week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he declared it one of the few museums where he can relax, because he has known the Met’s security chief for years. “It’s one of the safe ones,” he said. But standing before Duccio’s tiny “Madonna and Child” — a work the museum is believed to have paid more than $45 million for in 2004 — he spent less time admiring the painting than studying its transparent case to see how it was secured. “It’s a habit,” he said..

[Morty]

Kenneth McKenzie of Men of Mortuaries popularity has written a book: Mortuary Confidential : Undertakers Spill the Dirt. My hair stylist lady gave me the book, so I hope it's good. He was at a local shopping center mother's day weekend signing the book, but I was working Recently with one of my mortuaries I had to go around to the other local competing mortuaries to get their prices lists. I went to his and got the price list directly from him! It's funny working with the guys I do, they've all been hit on one way or another by Mr. McKenzie. No wonder I didn't get a call from him when I applied for a job there

I'll let y'all know how the book is

[seurtoFW]

So, I was at Half Price Books the other day and happen to notice the book "Psycho" by Robert Bloch. I've have had a keen interest in the book since reading "The Making of Psycho," a few years back but never could find it. Anyway, apparently it was re-released back in '97. The cover has pix from the movie on it, but it's the original 1960 book the movie is based on. Or should I say loosely based on.

Has anyone else read it? It is a good, fast read; really keeps you going. As with most books to movies, the basic outline is the same but quite a few other changes -- location, Norman's description, the murders, etc. Don't want to give anything away if y'all can find the book to read.

Anyway, about half way through and loving it!

[Sam]

So, I was at Half Price Books the other day and happen to notice the book "Psycho" by Robert Bloch. I've have had a keen interest in the book since reading "The Making of Psycho," a few years back but never could find it. Anyway, apparently it was re-released back in '97. The cover has pix from the movie on it, but it's the original 1960 book the movie is based on. Or should I say loosely based on.

Has anyone else read it? It is a good, fast read; really keeps you going. As with most books to movies, the basic outline is the same but quite a few other changes -- location, Norman's description, the murders, etc. Don't want to give anything away if y'all can find the book to read.

Anyway, about half way through and loving it!

Go ahead and tell us, what are the chances that we'll ever find that book?
I imagine you got the only copy at Half Price Books on Hulen had.

[seurtoFW]

Actually, Sam, I went to the one over past Rigmar Mall just for a change of pace; I hit the one on Hulen pretty regularly! There were actually a couple more copies if you get over that way. Great to talk to someone from the area!

Spoiler alert -

First, and you'll appreciate this, the Lowery Real Estate agency is actually in Fort Worth!!!! So Mary is one of us! I can't quite place Fairvale yet, it's past (north I think) of Tulsa.

Norman is not a young handsome man a la Tony Perkins; but a 40ish overweight man (reminds me of Ignacious from "Confederacy of Dunces"). He reads a lot of psychology, parapsychology, etc. type books. There is mention of one stuffed squirrel.

Mary and Sam met on a cruise and have not been together that much; mostly a long distance romance.

Mary traded cars at least twice on the road, and did go into the house for supper, but Mother stayed in her room.

Mother is very active in the house.

Mary is actually decapitated in the shower stall - "Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher's knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream. And her head."

Arbogast is not a Martin Balsam type guy, but a tall Texas in a Stetson. Mom just got him with a razor. That's where I stopped last night.

Anyway, I think it's a great read; I wish it was longer.

[John Trim]

Bloch wrote a follow up novel, called Phycho II, where Norman is headed to Hollywood where they are making a movie about him. Interesting concept. I can think of too movie that used the same idea. One of the Scream pictures was about them making the first one and the killer shows up. The other is one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies where Freddy goes after the cast and crew of a Nightmare picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_II_(novel)

[Sam]

Actually, Sam, I went to the one over past Rigmar Mall just for a change of pace; I hit the one on Hulen pretty regularly! There were actually a couple more copies if you get over that way. Great to talk to someone from the area!

Spoiler alert -

First, and you'll appreciate this, the Lowery Real Estate agency is actually in Fort Worth!!!! So Mary is one of us! I can't quite place Fairvale yet, it's past (north I think) of Tulsa.

Norman is not a young handsome man a la Tony Perkins; but a 40ish overweight man (reminds me of Ignacious from "Confederacy of Dunces"). He reads a lot of psychology, parapsychology, etc. type books. There is mention of one stuffed squirrel.

Mary and Sam met on a cruise and have not been together that much; mostly a long distance romance.

Mary traded cars at least twice on the road, and did go into the house for supper, but Mother stayed in her room.

Mother is very active in the house.

Mary is actually decapitated in the shower stall - "Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher's knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream. And her head."

Arbogast is not a Martin Balsam type guy, but a tall Texas in a Stetson. Mom just got him with a razor. That's where I stopped last night.

Anyway, I think it's a great read; I wish it was longer.

Cool! I was over there yesterday and drove past Rigmar TWICE!
I'll have to go back next week before I move back to Midland and get a copy.

[Nessa]

One of my faves! Great book!

[seurtoFW]

Well, finished "Psycho" last night. Great read. Was sorry to get to the end, could have gone on much longer. I highly recommend it to anyone!

[Sam]

I went to the Half Price Books near Ridgmar and the checkout girl was clueless!
I was lucky to find a stock girl who found "Psycho" and brought it to me, but she also found "The Gargoyle" for me and they were both $3.98.
Thanks for the tip!

[seurtoFW]

No prob! Glad you found it. I'd be interested in what you think after you read it.

Now, tell me a little about "The Gargoyle"?

Sometimes I wonder what the world would do without Half Price Books!

[amaranthaseven]

I'm on an extreme mountain climbing kick (not in person, no way) right now and just read two books on K2, the second highest mountain in the world and a far harder climb than the taller Everest:

_K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain_ by David Roberts and Ed Viesturs and

_Savage Summit_ by Jennifer Jordan

The first is basically written by Viesturs, who references his memoir _No Shortcuts to the Top_, many times. _K2_ is part update to that memoir, part editorial on mountain climbing in general, people who climb K2 specifically and other books written about K2, _and_ a history of climbing K2 woven in-between. Reading between the lines of this one is fascinating. Viesturs is himself a careful climber and successfully climbed all fourteen 8,000-plus meters mountains, including Everest several times. He topped K2 after several tries. He has plenty to say about unprepared and foolhardy climbers who take tons of risks, but given his success, I'm inclined to take his words into account, given he's alive and a lot of the people he discusses are not. If you can deal with the mixed-up structure of the book, it's a fascinating read, and might lead to reading other books. He mentions Jordan's book once, only as a "popular book" and one of several that over-use the "Savage Summit" title, a nickname for K2 that has stuck among climbers.

I read Jordan's book after one stat in Viesturs' stuck in my mind: all six of the women who first summited K2 are now dead. Four died on K2, and the other two later died on other mountains. Jordan clearly has an axe to grind about the old boys' club of mountain climbing, much of which is fair, but it gets heavy-handed in places. Jordan profiles all six women and explains how they all died, which is death hag fascinating.

Gossipy overlap of the two books: Viesturs, as previously mentioned, only mentions Jordan's book once. Jordan mentions Viesturs multiple times, and clearly read all his stuff. She also states as fact that Viesturs and the female climber Chantal Mauduit, whom he had to rescue off K2, were "fuckbuddies" during the trip, even though they were on two separate teams and their fling was causing a bit of tension amongst the climbers and their climbing partners in particular. Viesturs makes no mention of this in his book, and is in fact pretty harsh about Mauduit's tendency to pack light and rely on other climbers to save her ass, which he had to do on K2. Mauduit would later die on Dhaulagiri on 1998.

Another great Haggy stat: K2 is the second-deadliest mountain. You have a 1 in 4 chance of dying in the climbing attempt. Avalanches are common, more common than on Everest, where most climbers die of altitude-related problems like edema. Annapurna is actually the deadliest: you have basically a 50-50 chance of making it down alive! I find it really morbidly fascinating that there is a whole breed of people willing to take those kind of chances.

Extremely long-winded review. I hope someone found it worth reading!

[duchessmary]

As summer winds down, I'm curious as to what everyone has read or is reading these days. Right now I'm reading The unauthorized biography of Angeline Jolie by Andrew Morton. CRAZY stuff.

[STsFirstmate]

I am reading The Golden Age: a great historical novel by Gore Vidal. He does them like nobody else.
It is the period running up to WWII and Pearl Harbor from a White House insider's point of view.
A warts and all look at the Roosevelt government of the time.
I am also reading "Dirt Rotten Strategies" by Dr. Ian Mitroff, an expert in crisis avoidance and management on a grand scale > He was retained by Union Carbide after Bophal India and by J&J after the Tylenol poisonings among other major disasters.
He declined to assist BP. I have long been a fan and have attended his seminars and he is our keynote speaker at our client forum this year.
It is a great book. He makes the topic accessable and interesting.
Regards,
Mary

["What Tha....?"]

I am re-reading all of my Lisa Scottoline books in order. There are 16 of them. She is my favorite author. She writes books about female lawyers who live in Philadelphia and they usually stumble across a murder, or two. You don't have to read her books in order, but I figured since I have them all now, I'd do so. I'd recommend her books to any Death Hag out there. She writes with a dry, sometimes sarcastic, sense of humor, that I enjoy.

[*sarah*]

I'm almost done reading Mary Higgins Clark "Two Little Girls in Blue" I got it at the town library's book sale. Got 23 books for $3.25! And most are in excellent condition. But over the summer I've read House by Thomas Dekker and Frank Peretti, the whole Pretty Little Liars series, some Jodi Piccoult. Probably done a book a week I guess.

[TrueBlueAngel]

Im reading 'Bronson'. Its about Charles Bronson, UK's most violent criminal. Really good read.

[cindyt]

Family Ties by Danielle Steel.

[shipmatekate]

Bloodshot - by Stuart MacBride.
It's listed as "Tartan Noir"

It's the 3rd one of his I've read and I love it!

[Littleroben]

I'm reading Jasper Fforde's 'Lost in a Good Book'. I love his writing as I think it's so clever, taking elements of reality and mixing them with total fantasy.

[duchessmary]

Family Ties by Danielle Steel.

Is it worth picking up?

[cash]

'Hellhound on His Trail' by Hampton Sides - great book on the MLK assassination.

[Crazy Cat Lady]

'Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History' by John R. Hall

[jaylene]

"Victoria" by Stanley Weintraub

[cindyt]

Is it worth picking up?

I just started it. The only reason I am reading it is because my baby sister brought it to me. She also brought I Need You by Giovanni Brusch, whom she attends church with; and The Shack by William P. Young. I doubt I'll read either one of those two. I want next read Not My Will by Francina Arnold, but I have to get hubs to fetch it from behind the desk next to my computer station. I've read that book at least 12 times and bawl like a baby every time.

[opheliahardin]

I am reading The Golden Age: a great historical novel by Gore Vidal. He does them like nobody else.

Yeah, he does and it's been ages since I read any of them. Bet they're pretty cheap on the Kindle, too. Thanks for the lead.

I'm doing the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Pretty good, but could use some editing.

[John Trim]

As summer winds down, I'm curious as to what everyone has read or is reading these days. Right now I'm reading The unauthorized biography of Angeline Jolie by Andrew Morton. CRAZY stuff.

I just finished "The Cat In The Hat", by Dr. Suess. I usually don't go in for such heavy reading but this was a real page turnner. I'm about to start Suess's "Green Eggs and Ham". From the looks of it, this one may take me the rest of the summer to get through.

[Giada]

Finished reading Revolutionary Road, and have two books on Brokeback Mtn, screenplay and original story, (small, quick reads) and Brightsided.

[amaranthaseven]

I'm reading Jasper Fforde's 'Lost in a Good Book'. I love his writing as I think it's so clever, taking elements of reality and mixing them with total fantasy.

I love Jasper Fforde. I do feel like if I was a wee bit more clever, I'd have an even deeper appreciation for all the clever references. I've read both his Tuesday Next series and his Nursery Crimes series (up to _The Fourth Bear_ which is in my reading queue).

[neilmpenny]

The Pol Pot Regime. A look inside the machine between 1975 to 1979

[duchessmary]

I just finished "The Cat In The Hat", by Dr. Suess. I usually don't go in for such heavy reading but this was a real page turnner. I'm about to start Suess's "Green Eggs and Ham". From the looks of it, this one may take me the rest of the summer to get through.

R O F L...I'll add "Charlotte's Web" to that. Always a great one.

[neilmpenny]

I usually don't go in for such heavy reading but this was a real page turnner.

I suggest the next book you purchase is a dick 'n harry

[slw]

I just finished "The Cat In The Hat", by Dr. Suess. I usually don't go in for such heavy reading but this was a real page turnner. I'm about to start Suess's "Green Eggs and Ham". From the looks of it, this one may take me the rest of the summer to get through.

I do not like them sam-I-am!

[Littleroben]

I love Jasper Fforde. I do feel like if I was a wee bit more clever, I'd have an even deeper appreciation for all the clever references. I've read both his Tuesday Next series and his Nursery Crimes series (up to _The Fourth Bear_ which is in my reading queue).

I'm picking them up cheap where I can and as a result am reading them out of order (my own fault for being tight!! ). But I love that in this one Tuesday is in the book with the Nursery Crimes team. Have read Shades of Grey too, which I think I need to re-read at some point. If you're interested and haven't seen it, have a look at his website - it's very entertaining and I think a lot of efforts been put in

[duchessmary]

A bit off-topic, but do any of you have a Kindle? I'm thinking about getting one, although my daughter is pestering me to get an IPad.

[TrueBlueAngel]

Never heard of it. Is it as good as an iPad??

[opheliahardin]

Luvs my Kindle!

[Leasie]

In Cold Blood.

I'm obsessed with that case.

I also like Red Dragon.