I'm looking forward to getting out and about. While I've been home, I've been watching the first season of Mad Men -- a great series set in 1960's New York that follows the lives of the rather decadent men and women at the start of Madison Avenue advertising. The writing is smart, the characters are flawed, but compelling, and the costumes and production values are outstanding for a television series. It's amazing to think that this was only 40 years ago--everyone smokes everywhere (even a gynocologist who examines one of the characters), sexual harrassment in the workplace is accepted (and expected), and the psychologist who counsels the lead's wife calls the husband after each session to report in about everything she said!
I've managed to read a couple of books (now that I've cleared the Percocet haze). The best one was The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. This novel has been getting lots of press, and seems to be the new word-of-mouth "buzz" book. Although I was not blown away by it, I did enjoy it very much. The basic plot is that, after 15 years away, a Towner Whitney returns to Salem, MA from California after the drowning death of her great aunt Eva. We slowly learn why she has been avoiding this trip--she has had a traumatic upbringing and is considered unstable by the community. As the story unfolds, Barry overlaps supernatural and psychological themes, and she paints an interesting historical picture of Salem as a prosperous shipping town, the site of the infamous witch trials, and a modern-day tourist attraction. In addition, Barry weaves in a surprising plot twist at the end that will throw you for a loop. Worth reading.
That's it for now--more later!
