Zero K

by Don DeLillo

Scribner     2016

288 pages     Fiction

Zero K by Don DeLillo is an uncomfortable novel about death.  I read the book, read several reviews about it, talked it over with my husband, reread parts of it, and I still am experiencing confusion. I intended to have this posting done for the book's release, which was yesterday, but I just couldn't get a handle on what I wanted to say or how I wanted to feel. 

Zero K is the coldest a temperature can get. The K stands for Kelvin. It is minus 459.67 degrees F. The novel is as cold as the temperature.  Here is a brief rundown of the plot. Jeffrey Lockhart’s father, Ross, is a billionaire in his 60s, with a younger wife, Artis Martineau, whose health is failing. Ross is the primary investor in a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely controlled, and bodies are preserved until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return them to a life of transcendent promise. Jeff joins Ross and Artis at the compound to say “an uncertain farewell” to her as she surrenders her body. It is significant that Artis is an archaeologist, because she intends to be uncovered by future archaeologists when medical science will have solved all her health issues. Jeff observes, "Anticipation, a near joy visible in her face. It didn't matter what the speaker had to say. She was eager to slip out of this life into timeless repose, leaving behind all the shaky complications of body, mind, and personal circumstances."  

It turns out that the compound, called Convergence, is part of a "technocratic cult with a single aim: to rid the world of that absolute, all-­defining force, that ultimate despotic colonizer, death." The elegant phraseology is not mine but of the New York Times reviewer. Jeff goes along with the whole cryogenic "thing," helps his father through the entire ordeal, and then returns to his rather unproductive life in New York. He and his father continue to be haunted by the experience, until at last, Ross can stand it no longer and returns to the compound to join his wife. 

Don DeLillo has had a long career pushing the boundaries of literature. The language is very spare, the narrator, Jeff, is definitely on the autism spectrum, and everything is very bleak. I was fascinated by how Jeff is an observer of life, rather than a participant in life. His observations form the backbone of his personality; we never really know him, just as we never really know the other characters who populate the novel. When he decides to take a job as a compliance officer at a small college, we totally understand. It is a job that involves no personal involvement, no passion.

Ultimately, the novel is a meditation on life but more appropriately on death. DeLillo is 79 years old, facing, like I face, his mortality. This is what he is exploring in this novel—mortality and the meaning of life. It also plays with the ideas of the soul, of the failings of our current world, and of the role of the observer of life and death. He assumes that we, like Jeff, are primarily interested in observation, and that we float in and out of participating in life.

 The promise of everlasting life is one of the great themes of philosophy and religion. DeLillo faces that head on in Zero K, where he seems to be arguing that by not dying, humans are robbed of their humanity. There apparently are 300 plus people cryogenically frozen around the world awaiting the apocalypse or resurrection, or the cure for their ailments.

Reviewers constantly referred to other DeLillo books like The Names and White Noise, but as a first-time reader, I was left to puzzle through the beautiful, but stilted writing, the deadly serious tone, and the alienation of the characters. Zero K left me uneasy and off-balance, which is exactly where I presume DeLillo wanted me to be. 

Now I move to my book club's choice for May, Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, which is probably the exact opposite of Zero K, and will have me in a puddle of emotion rather than a puddle of frustration.

LuLu's Kitchen: A Taste of the Gulf Coast Good Life

by Lucy Buffett

Grand Central     2016

264 pages     Cookbook

My husband and I were first introduced to the Alabama Gulf Coast and Orange Beach, Alabama in the winter of 2014 when we rented a condo on the beach for two weeks. Five of us (my husband and I, my sisters and a spouse) will be going back in February 2017. We have all fallen in love with Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and the food of the Gulf Coast. 

Recently, a publicist sent me Lucy Buffett's recently revised and updated cookbook, LuLu's Kitchen. I was so excited to get it. The book is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. It also tells the story of Lucy Buffett, her family, her famous brother Jimmy Buffett, her restaurant in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and the wonderful Gulf Coast from Pensacola to Mobile.

For some reason, in two winters of restaurant exploration, we didn't happen upon LuLu's restaurant in Gulf Shores. If truth be told, we got ensnared in the onion rings at Doc's Seafood Shack in Orange Beach, and we never made it to Gulf Shores. Believe me, LuLu's will be the first place we will descend upon next February. 

In a very Southern style, every recipe in LuLu's Kitchen has a story behind it. Most of the recipes are seafood based, which is why we all love the Gulf Coast, but most of the recipes are difficult to cook in seafood-deprived West Michigan. However, I was able to try two of the recipes, which went over really well with grilled steak for a birthday party. We will try the seafood recipes when we are in Orange Beach in February.

Lucy Buffett's delightful personality shines through in every story and every recipe. I would highly recommend that you add LuLu's Kitchen to your cookbook collection.

L.A. (Lower Alabama) Caviar

Ingredients

• 4 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Dressing:
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. 1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar; cover tightly and shake vigorously to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
2. 2. Rinse and drain peas well. Place in a large glass or aluminum bowl.
3. 3. Add remaining ingredients and dressing. Toss well. Transfer to plastic container, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.
4. 4. Serve with LuLu’s Cha, Cha, Cha® chips or saltines crackers.

Sweet Tomato Pie

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie crust baked at 450ᵒ for 9 or 10 minutes until lightly browned. Cool.

2 T unsalted butter.

1 T olive oil

1 large onion thinly sliced

1 T sugar

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. mayonnaise

2 T. heavy cream

1 T. sour cream

1 T. honey mustard

1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

4 green onions, cut into 2 in. pieces

 4 large red tomatoes sliced into 1/2 in. slices

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 c. fresh basil cut into ribbons

2 c. shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese.

Directions

·  In a cast iron, or heavy skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until it begins to sizzle. Add onions and sugar. Saute until onions are very brown and caramelized.

·  Add garlic and stir constantly for another 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic is cooked through and tender. Remove onions and garlic from skillet and set aside to cool.

·  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, heavy cream, sour cream, honey mustard, Parmesan cheese and green onions. Process until well mixed. transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

·  In the cooled pie crust, layer half of the following ingredients: sauteed onions, cream cheese mixture, sliced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, basil and Gruyere cheese. Repeat layering using all ingredients.

·  Bake 35 minutes or until pie is bubbling and top is browned.

Excerpted from LuLu’s Kitchen: A Taste of The Gulf Coast Good Life (Grand Central Life & Style; April 2016) by Lucy Buffett.  Photos by Sara Essex.

The Un-Prescription for Autism

by Janet Lintala with Martha W. Murphy

American Management Association     2016

288 pages     Nonfiction

The Shortlist

My second year of teaching was a disaster. I was pregnant, but more importantly, I had a combination room of fourth and fifth graders.  Among the 30 children in my class was a boy whose parents had just been arrested for murder, four students whose parents were being divorced, and one boy who would not speak to anyone or look them in the eye. He is the child I remember the most from that year, because I could do little for him. He could do more complex math problems than anyone in the class, but he could not tie his shoes. Everything, including all his knowledge, was shut up inside him. At first, he wouldn't let me hug him, but eventually he became my friend. Today we would say that he was on the Autism spectrum. Then, he was just a strange and different little boy.

We didn't have a name for Autism until about 100 years ago, and the public didn't have much understanding of it until Dustin Hoffman appeared as an autistic savant in the movie Rain Man. This movie was a major breakthrough in public awareness. Special services in public schools began to be offered in the early 1990s, until now autism and a large spectrum of disorders have come to be recognized, understood, and appreciated. 

The author of The Un-Prescription for Autism, Janet Lintala, is a Chiropractor, the mother of a child on the spectrum, and has a practice devoted to integrative health and autistic health. She believes that autism and all its variants can be faced head-on with therapies and protocols that are prescription free. She suggests that many of the imbalances in the lives of individuals on the spectrum are caused by irregularities in the gastrointestinal system. Her premise is that if you get the gastrointestinal system regulated, life will improve for the autistic child. She doesn't say that the autistic child will be "cured" but that life will be better, the child will be calmer, happier and more focused. It may also break the cycle of prescription drugs (particularly antibiotics) that are endlessly given to those on the spectrum.

She also offers chapter after chapter of suggestion from her own life experience and from the experience in her chiropractic practice. There is plenty of research that backs up her practices, and useful diagrams and examples create plausibility for her assertions. The format is outstanding, the examples are pertinent, and the charts and diagrams are very helpful. 

From my own life experience, I know that parents constantly search for help for their children having life adjustment problems. This book offers many helpful suggestions—although perhaps no major solutions. Any parent who reads The Un-Prescription for Autism will be intrigued with Lintala's assertions about probiotics and gastrointestinal imbalances and find lots of valuable information to incorporate into their child's therapies. 

This book came from the publicist. Share it with friends and family who will find it beneficial.

This is a good review from a website called Geek Dad.  

The Facebook page for The Un-Prescription for Autism.

Online Marketing for Busy Authors: A Step-by-Step Guide

by Fauzia Burke

Berrett-Koehler     2016

150 pages     Nonfiction

 There has never been a better time for authors to get the word out about their books. Online marketing reaches into nearly every Facebook page and Twitter account. But online marketing can be confusing, frustrating, and time consuming for authors who don't have time, or interest in promoting themselves beyond a book tour and a few television talk shows.  

Fauzia Burke runs FSB Associates, a marketing firm for authors, and in this brief and to the point book, Online Marketing for Busy Authors, she offers advice for authors who are realizing that online marketing is the best way to get the word out about their books.

As a blogger, I have been aware of the steps that Burke outlines, but in her book, I was able to equate the process with my experience with authors I have encountered. I have seen authors who are good marketers and authors who ignore the whole process. One local author, Bonnie Jo Campbell, has a terrific Facebook presence, and for her spring book tour, she took a large cardboard cutout of the author Flannery O'Conner with her everywhere. Flannery showed up at every reading, and Bonnie Jo recorded every visit on Facebook. Another author, Brad Parks, has a newsletter that comes to me because I am on his mailing list. His newsletter is written by his "interns." The interns are constantly doing stupid stuff, and it is all very funny—that is his brand. 

Burke takes the scariness out of marketing. She acknowledges that the most important component of marketing for authors is to know who their readers are and come up with a plan to market to them. Burke calls this building a brand and creating a community.

Burke divides her book into three parts: getting organized; turning thinking into action; and staying the course. Publishers, of course, do a lot of community building for books, but much of the work that needs to be done has to be done by the authors themselves. She assures authors, however, that they don't have to do everything—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, website, mailing lists, or blogs, but she recommends that authors pick some of these online tools and stay with them. She advises all authors to have a website. The author has total control over his/her website. It is the author's chief online presence. She does recommend hiring a digital marketing advisor to help with the creation of the brand and the design of the website.

I am not an author—I am a blogger—but I learned a great deal from reading Online Marketing for Busy Authors. My time has been very limited, but I realized, as I read, that there is more that I can do to promote myself and my blog. 

Online Marketing for Busy Authors is a must read for anyone who has written a book or is interested in writing a book. Burke's company, FSB Associates, frequently sends me books to review on my blog, and I have enjoyed a good relationship with them for several years. 

Here is advice from Burke on the Book Designer website.