1. The Way Home by George Pelecanos
2. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Tom Friedman
3. Lush Life by Richard Price
4. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
5. John Adams by David McCullough
This means that El Somnambulo and Obama have at least one book in common. The Bibliophile Who Slumbers is currently reading Richard Price’s “Lush Life”, a fascinating character study masquerading as a police procedural from NYC’s Lower East Side. ‘Bulo also highly recommends “Clockers” by Price, which focuses on the low-level drug trade and the dances that take place between the dealers and the police. Price writes some of the sharpest dialogue around and, unlike the showy David Mamet, it enriches the story rather than calling attention to its author.
Gotta have some George Pelecanos for some crime-based escapist fiction as well.
‘Bulo’s not too pleased to see the perennially-serious but terminally wrong Thomas Friedman on the list, however. El Somnambulo would substitute “Fiasco” by Thomas Ricks, brilliant reporting on how Murphy’s Law controlled the War in Iraq, but Obama’s probably already read that one. And the John Adams bio just seems too (pre-bankrupt) Reader’s Digesterish for ‘bulo.
Still, by the end of his vacation, Obama will have read more books in his time at Martha’s Vineyard than El Somnambulo has read all year.
Which brings him to this question: What are you reading this summer, and what would you recommend to DL’s readers?