Review of The Taliban Shuffle by Kim Barker

Kim Barker has a sense of humor, which is desperately needed when reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan. In her book The Taliban Shuffle, the former Chicago Tribune reporter and fellow Northwestern alum recounts her experience doing the "Taliban shuffle," moving between and reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan over the course of several years. Barker, who has worked for newspapers around the country, didn't have a passport when she offered to cover the conflicts in these two countries. She did have a thirst for adventure and a willingness to learn. And so she became a foreign correspondent, writing about the daily lives of the Afghan and Pakistani people, dissecting the politics, and navigating a world completely different from her own. Through it all, Barker tries to maintain a social life and keep things in perspective. That is not easy in a war zone. But Barker does the best she can to chase stories, acclimate to new cultures, and learn about herself. Both her sense of humor and work ethic are evident. Barker admits that she gets "addicted" to the lifestyle of a foreign correspondent, with the constant threat of danger and the always changing political landscape. But she also realizes when it's time to come home. And that is the strength of this book-- seriousness and levity in pretty equal doses. Barker reveals what's going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan in a completely understandable manner. She also lets us in on her own life over there, which is also interesting (FYI, dating in Kabul seems a bit more difficult than dating in Chicago). All in all, this was an informative, enjoyable, and funny read. Just One Pink gives The Taliban Shuffle a 9.5.

Review of Room by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue's latest novel, Room, has been getting a lot of press, and deservedly so. The book was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Room is told from the viewpoint of a five-year-old boy named Jack. This would be remarkable on its own. What makes it even more remarkable is that Jack and his mother-- known only as "Ma" throughout the book-- are hidden away in a shed. Ma was kidnapped when she was in college and has been living in one room since that time. Her kidnapper/attacker, Old Nick, regularly shows up to bring food and other necessary items-- and, of course, to rape her. Jack is the product of one such incident, but at age 5, doesn't know that.

Jack and Ma's entire world is in this one room. They are not permitted to go outside. There is no computer or phone. They are entirely dependent on Old Nick for survival, and that puts Ma in an extremely difficult position. She must appease her attacker and care for a young child. She tries to placate Old Nick. She does the best she can with Jack, establishing routines, playing games, teaching him.

Ultimately, Ma and Jack escape from the room and re-enter the outside world. It is startling to Jack, whose only contact with other human beings has been with his mother (Ma, with her strong maternal instincts, hid him away whenever Old Nick appeared). Jack has never seen the sun or ridden in a car or gone to a playground. His entire life has been spent in the confines of this room, which his mother has made as bearable as humanly possible.

Watching Ma re-enter the world is difficult. Watching Jack see the world for the first time is fascinating. How they cope and how they now see the world after such trauma is incredibly interesting.

Just One Pink gives Room a 9.

Review of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

First and foremost, Helen Simonson's novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, is a story of good manners and breeding. Major Ernest Pettigrew, the protagonist, is a proper British gentleman living in a small English village. He is a widower, a retired military man, and the father of a grown son. We meet him right when he is digesting the news of his older brother's death. And as we meet him during this difficult time, we are also introduced to Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper in the village. Mrs. Ali is a widow and has taken over her husband's shop. She and the Major strike up an unlikely friendship that we can see is careening toward love.

But there are all sorts of obstacles in the way, including the Major's greedy son, Roger; Mrs. Ali's semi-fanatic nephew, Abdul Wahid; the gossiping men and women of the small village; the Major's conniving sister-in-law and niece; and a set of highly valuable guns.

Simonson, who grew up in a small village in England, clearly knows of what she writes. She shows the gossipy side of a small town, with everyone butting in on everyone else's business. And she shows how those who are not white are never really considered English and are forever put on the sidelines.

There are some very funny moments in the novel and it is, in the end, a love story between two very different (on the outside) people.

Just One Pink gives Major Pettigrew's Last Stand an 8.

Review of Father of the Rain by Lily King

I picked up Father of the Rain because I had read a number of glowing reviews. But I was disappointed in Lily King's latest novel.

Father of the Rain follows the life of Daley, who we first meet as a young girl in the 1970s. She and her family live in fictional Ashling, Massachusetts, a ritzy town. Her parents-- a do-gooder mother and an alcoholic, WASP-y father-- are at odds and end up divorcing. Daley moves in with her mother and sees her father on weekends. I thought this portion of the book, which covered her childhood, was the best part of the book and was the reason I kept reading. Her father is a raging drunk, who is mean and inappropriate towards his children. It's hard to see any redeeming quality in him, though Daley tries. She has a fierce attachment to this man, though he is utterly unlikeable.

The second portion of the book details Daley's life when she's in her late 20s, finishing up graduate school and deciding on her next steps. After hearing that her father's second wife has walked out on him, she ups and leaves her home in Michigan and stays with her father-- this derails her plan to start teaching at Berkeley and to move in with the love of her life, Jonathan. Daley tries and tries to make her father better, driving him to AA meetings, teaching him to cook. She is doing everything she can to rescue her father from himself while she re-lives much of her youth in Ashling, connecting with childhood friends.

I won't reveal how the novel ends, but I will reiterate that I was disappointed in this novel. There were a lot of interesting threads in this book, but I found that how they were handled was somewhat cliched. For example, I wasn't surprised when Daley ends up having a black boyfriend-- her father is racist and anti-Semitic and hates Democrats.

All in all, this book was slightly above average, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just One Pink gives Father of the Rain a 7.

Review of More of This World or Maybe Another by Barb Johnson

Barb Johnson's first collection of linked short stories, More of This World or Maybe Another, is good. Very good. In the nine stories, we meet several friends who live in New Orleans. How their lives meet and diverge is a large part of the collection. We see many of them in childhood or adolescence and then follow them over the course of a number of years. What these stories all have in common is a sense of sadness, desperation, and loneliness.

In the title story, we meet Delia, who figures prominently throughout the book. She is in high school, hanging out at a dance, thinking about her future, and feeling the first stirrings of attraction that she will deal with later on in the book. In "Killer Heart," we meet Dooley, Delia's younger brother, and follow him through a turbulent time in his marriage. In "Titty Baby," we meet Pudge, a friend of Delia's, who grapples with being teased for being heavy and who deals with a rough family situation.

I was blown away by this collection. It's well written, touching, and very real. Johnson worked as a carpenter for 20 years before going back to school to get her MFA. I hope she keeps writing.

Just One Pink gives More of This World or Maybe Another a 9.

Review of Open by Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi hates tennis. That's the most important piece of information we get in his autobiography, Open. The book, of course, is the story of his life-- so far. We read about his overbearing and demanding father, his tenure at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the beginning and ending of his tennis career, and his personal life.

Open is the story of a champion athlete, who never really aspired to be one. A tennis racket was put in his hand at a very young age, and he displayed amazing talent. Agassi tells us again and again how much he dislikes tennis. He hates being at the Bollettieri Academy. He doesn't like being on the road for matches.

Agassi also writes about his relationships, both personal or professional. Agassi's first wife, Brooke Shields , comes off looking like an insensitive princess. His second wife, Steffi Graf, comes across as an angel. How he goes from Shields to Graf is an interesting story in and of itself. Agassi also writes about his difficult relationship with his father, his fraught relationship with Bollettieri, and his close relationships with one of his brothers, a friend, a trainer, and a coach. And he writes about his matches. A lot of matches.

After reading Open, I got the sense that Agassi is human, something that didn't necessarily come across during his playing days. He has family issues, relationship problems, and insecurities just like the rest of us. They just happen to come in the guise of a professional athlete.

Just One Pink gives Open a 7.5.

Review of One Day by David Nicholls

One Day, the latest novel by David Nicholls, follows the friendship of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, who have met on the day of their college graduation in Edinburgh. After a semi-romantic interlude, the two go their separate ways, but promise to stay in touch. The novel checks in on them on July 15 of almost every year, beginning in 1988, when they have just graduated, and ends in 2007.

Dexter, who can come across as a bit of a cad, becomes a fairly well-known television presenter. Emma, on the other hand, toils away in a Mexican restaurant and ends up getting her teaching certificate. She's insecure and a little preachy. Each has romantic interests, but they always come back to each other. It's clear that no matter what is going on in their lives, they care deeply about each other, even if they're not entirely ready to admit it. There are many awkward moments between them, and there is an undercurrent that neither one will fully recognize.

I was a bit taken aback by the turn of the events at the end of the novel and am still not quite sure how I feel about Nicholls's choices.

I did think, though, that this was a fairly honest representation of a friendship between a man and a woman that stands up to the test of time, to lovers and spouses, to friends, to career changes, to rough patches.

Just One Pink gives One Day an 8.