Books I Read in 2022, Vol. X

 

JIMMY STEWART: The Truth Behind the Legend
Michael Munn

Many stars of the silver screen in twentieth-century Hollywood became national icons, larger-than-life figures held up as paragons of American virtues. However, the private lives of actors such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Errol Flynn rarely lived up to the idealistic roles they portrayed. James Stewart was known as the underdog fighter in many of his films and in real life. He was highly decorated for his bravery as a bomber pilot during World War II and was adored for his earnest and kindly persona. But there was much more to the man. In this New York Times bestseller, the many sides of Stewart are revealed: his explosive temper, his complex love affairs and his longstanding marriage, his service as an [unofficial] FBI agent, his innate shyness, and his passionate patriotism. Munn’s personal touch shines through his writing, as he was a friend of Stewart and his wife, Gloria, and interviewed them as well as their colleagues and friends.

I truly enjoyed this book as it described one of my favorite old-time actors. There was plenty between these covers that I had never heard before and it's all backed up with words from Stewart himself. In his earlier movies, it often seemed like Mr. Stewart was just portraying a version of himself, even though he worked very hard to appear so nonchalant. Still, the author tells the story of an incident that happened at a party that totally seemed like a scene from some romantic comedy that had perfectly cast Stewart as the leading man:

"One night a guy tried to punch Jimmy because his girl had dumped him for Jim. The guy was squaring up to him, and Jimmy just stood there, all innocent, saying, 'Look, I didn't mean to steal your girl. Look, here she is. If she wants to go with you, that's fine. But if she decides she wants to stay with me, what can I do about it?' And this guy tried to land a right punch, but Jimmy just side-stepped to the left, kept his right foot where it was, and tripped the guy up. Then Jimmy helped him up with, 'Golly, are you all right? Didn't hurt yourself, did ya?' And he seemed like he hadn't done a thing, and everyone felt it was the other guy who deserved what he got. And Jimmy got the girl."

First Line: "It's kinda hard to believe, but when I was a baby I was a good round shape," James Stewart once told me.

Page 56, Line 5: Around that time, Jim managed to get himself an audition for the key role of Sergeant O'Hara in Sidney Howard's Yellow Jack, the story of how soldiers were used as guinea pigs to test the origins of yellow fever.

Last Line: Jimmy Stewart gave us all a whole lot of little pieces of time.

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. IX

 

THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON
Henri J. M. Nouwen

In seizing the inspiration that came to him through Rembrandt's depiction of the powerful Gospel story "The Return of the Prodigal Son," Henri Nouwen probes several movements of the parable: the younger son's return, the elder son's vengefulness, and the father's compassion. In his reflection on Rembrandt in light of his own life's journey, Nouwen evokes a powerful drama of the parable in a rich, captivating way that is sure to reverberate in the hearts of seekers from all walks of life. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation will be newly discovered by all who have known loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger.

I'm pretty sure I've read one other work by Nouwen, though I can't remember what, but he has a great reputation and when I saw this book while browsing the library shelves it almost jumped into my hands. A testimony to its effect on my thought process is the fact that not one, but two Truth Is... posts have been born from it. Give this one a chance to seep into you a bit and it just might make the world a better place.

First Line: A seemingly insignificant encounter with a poster presenting a detail of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son set in motion a long spiritual adventure that brought me to a new understanding of my vocation and offered me new strength to live it.

Page 56/ Line 5: And so he says to himself: "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger!"

Final Line: As I look at my own aging hands, I know that they have been given to me to stretch out toward all who suffer, to rest upon the shoulders of all who come, and to offer the blessing that emerges from the immensity of God's love.

#ReElectNoOne

 

Yes, I am saddened by the most recent loss of school-aged lives.

Yes, I am grieved on behalf of the disrupted families.

But you know what? Posting about it on social media platforms won't change anything.

Raising a ruckus with our elected officials won't change anything. At least it hasn't during the last two decades since Columbine.

TWO DECADES!

It's time to hold those elected officials responsible for their lack of action.

While I am convinced that the ultimate solution will only take place when more and more people give up on worshipping their rights and start worshipping Jesus, I do have a suggestion that just might make an impact.

Don't re-elect anyone.

"But MY guy is in favor of my stand on issues."
     -  Your guy is also part of the partisan division that refuses to cooperate and compromise and accomplish any real change. As long as WE continue to stand in the muck of our own hatred and selfishness, the politicians will, too.

Part of what makes Jesus the ultimate solution is that he specializes in creating clean slates. This suggestion of mine is a non-religious shadow of that.

#ReElectNoOne

This is not a joke. This is the only language Washington understands.

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. VIII

THE GOSPEL: A Chronological Narrative of the Life of Jesus
Kermit Zarley

This story of Jesus is like no other. It includes all details of events found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four Gospels of the New Testament...in the words of the leading Bible translation, the New International Version...told in a single narrative...readable, fast-moving., and in chronological sequence. It's truly the authentic, complete story of the greatest person who ever lived.

I would have sworn I bought this book while in Bible college, but its copyright is 1987, and I had been out of college three years by then. So I have no idea how long I've had this, but I know I'd read it before. This past weekend, I was on a silence and solitude retreat at the Pacem in Terris Hermitage Retreat Center in Isanti, Minnesota. This book, which weaves together all four Gospels into a single storyline, was my main input and it was amazing to be able to grasp the flow of Jesus' ministry and words and the building tension between him and the Jewish ruling council. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SUCH A JOURNEY.

First Line: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Page 56/Line 5: Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.

Last Line: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. VII

 

HELL IS EMPTY: A Longmire Mystery
Craig Johnson

With Hell Is Empty, Craig Johnson delivers an action-packed Western thriller, rife with evocative setting and literary allusion. This seventh novel featuring wise-cracking Sheriff Walt Longmire creeps stealthily out of the corral with an increasingly tense setup. (The Boston Globe)

Two interesting bits about this time around with Longmire:

     1)  The entire action of the book takes place in less than 48 hours. That's slightly unusual.
     2)  At one point in the sheriff's searching for an escaped prisoner, he says this: "It was about a mile up to the Battle Park cutoff, where I assumed they'd turn west and try for the Hyattville Road that led toward the tiny town and eventually to Manderson, which was situated alongside the Big Horn River. Then what  -  north to Basin or south to Worland?" That decision-making point of Manderson? That's where my brother-in-law lives...on a bluff overlooking the Big Horn River and just across the street from the fire station where he's the chief.

First Line: "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full?"

Page 56/5th Line: "I'll take a sweep between here and Boulder Park to make sure the convicts are not in a ditch."

Last Line: I held the ring up where they could all see it and then turned it sideways so that I could look through it and focus on the platinum strip of dying light at the very top of Cloud Peak.

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. VI

 

NEVER A DULL MOMENT - 1971: The Year that Rock Exploded
David Hepworth

A rollicking look at 1971, rock's golden year, the year that saw the release of the indelible recordings of Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Who, Rod Stewart, Carole King, the Rolling Stones, and others. The year that produced more classics than any other year in rock history.

I had read an excerpt of this book, and even used it in Truth Is..., but as interesting as that excerpt was, Hepworth couldn't keep it up for a whole book. In fact, the book seems like a series of magazine articles, rather than a long-form account of a pivotal year. Also "in fact," I realized about halfway through that reading the second half would be just as much of a waste of time as reading the first half was...so I stopped.

First Line: On New Year's Eve 1970, Paul McCartney instructed his lawyers to issue a writ at the High Court in London to wind up the Beatles.

Page 56/Line 5: When Led Zeppelin played the University of Kent in Canterbury on March 12, tickets were sixty pence (twelve shillings for those who hadn't yet adjusted to decimal), and they were sold out immediately to the people who queued up outside Eliot College on the appointed day.

Last Line: Now it belongs to everybody.

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. V

 

ALL FOR THE BEST: How Godspell Transferred from Stage to Screen
Andrew Martin

The Off-Broadway hit musical Godspell emerged as a worldwide cultural phenomenon in 1972 when, just over a year after its award-winning emergence on stages around the world and with the Top 20 Billboard hit "Day by Day," Columbia Pictures decided to film and release it on the silver screen across the globe. In [this book], film historian Andrew Martin has captured every step of the show's journey, from school play to an indelible part of modern culture, and depicts in glowing detail all the highs...and lows...of a production that will always live on in the hearts and minds of all who watch and enjoy.

Notwithstanding the author's overestimation of Godspell's lasting impact, this is still an interesting read. I bought it at the same time as the far-superior The Godspell Experience and I think this smaller book suffered in the comparison between the two. My biggest "complaint" would be how the author had to stretch the material to make it book-length. For instance, instead of listing the movie's production credits in an appendix, he put it in paragraph form: "They hired so-and-so to do this job and found such-and-such to fulfill these duties." And all without adding any information beyond the names and job positions. Other than that, the cast member quotes derived from Martin's interviews were revealing and sometimes even heartwarming.

First Line: The weather was warm and seasonable on the evening of May 17, 1971, and the small cul-de-sac of Commerce Street, in the western part of New York's Greenwich Village, had become suffused with the energy of a brand-new musical hit Off-Broadway, known as Godspell.

Page 56/Sentence 5: In light of the fact that different portions of New York would be the easel upon which the cast and crew would ultimately paint the picture (pardon the pun), it made perfect sense in the long run.

Last Line: Ergo, as guessed, it was all for the best.