audrey's organizational comments, alan bennet the uncommon reader

 

greetings, reader.

  

this week i read a how-to article on blogs. i learned that i should be using sub-headings. easy to do. here i go. if i do it consistently, the use of these sub-heads should make the whodunit blog easier to read and easier to navigate. please let me know.

 

BOOKS:

the uncommon reader by alan bennett is a winner. it is charming. it is intelligent. it is sensitive. it is satirical. it is funny. and bennett knows when to stop. the novel is only 120 pages with wide margins and a large font! please take it with you on your next airplane trip. you won't mind the pushing, small seats, lack of food or any kind of service--as much.

 

the premise is simple. chasing after her corgis, the queen (the titular uncommon reader) stumbles across a bookmobile in the palace's backyard, so to speak. she begins to read, something she has never done before. at the beginning, another reader, a kitchen helper named seakins (seeking, get it?) is her guide, but she soon outgrows him. the complications of her obsession with reading are hilarious. the palace staff is horrified.the changes in her own personal understanding and her world view are beautifully handled.

 

we are privy to her written and spoken comments. one afternoon as she was reading henry james, she says out loud, 'oh, do go on.' at one time or another, hasn't everyone said this?

 

she is at another time 'in the (occasionally exasperating) company of tristam shandy.'

 

at the end, of the novella, she turns from reading to writing with even more severe consequences.

 

the book is published by picador, a division of ferrar, strauss, and giroux.

 

 

SUBMISSIONS, CONTESTS, AND SIGNINGS:

February 10, 2012 | 7-9pm Discussion + Book Signing:  at visible voice in cleveland

Regina Brett: Be the Miracle 

+ Sip to Support The Gathering Place touchedbycancer.org

Guests can opt to partake in a $15 wine tasting to benefit The Gathering Place.

Regina Brett has been a newspaper columnist for 16 years, 11 of them for Cleveland's Plain Dealer, where she was a finalist in 2008 and 2009 for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary.  Her last book, God Never Blinks, was a New York Times bestseller and has been published in 18 different countries.  Regina hosts a call-in radio show, The Regina Brett Show, on WCPN, the Cleveland NPR affiliate.  She speaks regularly to companies and not-for-profit organizations.  

 

from g.l.rocky@cox.net 

Interested in story topics for ScripType magazines, we are looking for suggestions for articles dealing with our local communities. ScripType communities are Broadview Heights, Brecksville, Independence, Hinckley, Richfield, Bath, and Sagamore Hills.

Topics of interest might be:

People with an interesting career, achievement
Someone who has done/or is doing something (hobby/work/travel) that is unique

Someone hosting a foreign exchange student
Someone who is coordinating a charitable activity
An area or property that has an interesting history

 

 the 2012 Ohioana Book Festival is coming up. For now you can find the list of some of the authors that will be attending the festival at http://www.ohioanabookfestival.org/authors/ .

 

MENTIONS/SHOUT OUTS:

 

happy birthday to grandson seth lavin and congratulations on all he has accomplished since his last birthday.

 

congratulations to grandson carter lavin on his non-militant stance and excellent understanding as shown in the san francisco chronicle in regard to its article on occupy oakland, 'Not all of the demonstrators were as militant. In keeping with the Occupy movement's brief history, the people gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza for the rally represented a wide variety of views. But they shared a concern about rising income inequality and economic struggle. And several said they were pleased that the Occupy movement had focused public attention and debate on those issues.

 

"The fact that everyone now talks about the 99 percent, the 1 percent - that shows Occupy's won," said Carter Lavin, 23, of San Francisco. "The debate was about debt, not jobs. Now it's about jobs."

i like the sub-heads. they help me organize my often scattered thoughts.

 

audreylavin.com              http://bit.ly/OhAudrey