AUGUST 2017
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
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TINKER
DABBLE DOODLE TRY is about unfocusing your
mind to achieve goals, certainly a contrarian approach.
Culture tells us to be razor focused, “Linked
In,” and concentrated on our busy schedules.
But the mind is not a muscle, and doesn’t need
endless reps at the gym. It needs down time, day dreaming,
and awareness of our inner world in order to avoid
the traps of obsession, burnout, and anxious tension
that lead to depression and lost attention span. (Stress
being the #1 disease friendly mindset.) The author
cites Jeff Bezos of Amazon as someone who uses seemingly
contradictory methods to find solutions. He is, quote,
“Both demanding and playful, both rigorous and
relaxed, both focused and open at the same time.”
Mark Cuban is the same way. One’s drive to succeed
should not be blind or cruel, the author says. To
be more productive, you need to pay more attention
to things outside the box of your To-Do list. You
must be willing to change, and to realize that cognitive
dissonance is a tyrant that reinforces what we did
in the past (or purchased in the past) by making us
believe it is best (when it is not.) The ideal is
to learn from mistakes: others and your own. The truth
can only set you free to grow. Dr. Srini Pillay
(who narrates the book on audio) is a Harvard
trained psychiatrist and brain imaging researcher.
Recommended for anyone stuck in a rut, and seeking
a more profound purpose and joy in life by employing
imagination. It's the Prime Directive.
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The
life of an actor can be both precarious and interesting.
Just ask Jonathan Goldsmith, best
known as The Most Interesting Man in the World. His
memoir is STAY INTERESTING, about
his own interesting life as an often struggling audition
seeker in that fantasy factory often described as
“Tinsel Town.” Hollywood was arrived at
via a Volkswagen from New York, a vehicle which died
on arrival in much the same way that so many dreams
die for young people seeking fame and fortune there.
His subsequent homes included living on the bedbug
infested couch of a future Star Trek cast member,
on an unheated frog farm with the man later known
as “Coach” on Cheers, and on a yacht once
caught in a storm. Jobs too there were many, including
hauling construction trash, painting, and being a
reluctant gigolo between auditions. Westerns became
his specialty as an extra, but he was killed by many
stars, not just John Wayne, in being shot, drowned,
blown up, machine gunned, run over, electrocuted,
thrown off roofs, and hung. Memories recounted on
movies and TV series include names like Fernando Lamas
(a friend and business partner), Joseph Cotton, Leonard
Katzman, Don Siegel, and Clint Eastwood. After decades
of riding the Hollywood roller coaster, his career
break came late in the game on an audition for a Dos
Equis advertising campaign in which actors were asked
to improvise with the ending line, “And that’s
how I arm wrestled Fidel Castro.” And that’s
how he later got to improvise for Obama in the Oval
Office. Narrating the audiobook of his true
story, Goldsmith presents an honest and surprisingly
candid rumination on his life, with memories of his
father, and reflections on what it all means. Now
involved in charity work and advocacy, he lives in
a rustic cabin with his wife and dogs, far from the
“madding crowd.” As Spock would say, “fascinating.”
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Jack Black narrates MINDCRAFT: THE ISLAND
by Max Brooks, another young adult audiobook
must hear. Washed up on a beach, the lone castaway
looks around the shore. Where am I? Who am I? And
why is everything made of blocks? But there isn’t
much time to soak up the sun. It’s getting dark,
and there’s a strange new world to explore!
The top priority is finding food. The next is not
becoming food. Because there are others out there
on the island . . . like the horde of zombies that
appear after night falls. Crafting a way out of this
mess is a challenge like no other. Who could build
a home while running from exploding creepers, armed
skeletons, and an unstoppable tide of hot lava? Especially
with no help except for a few makeshift tools and
sage advice from an unlikely friend: a cow. In this
world, the rules don’t always make sense, but
courage and creativity go a long way. There are forests
to explore, hidden underground tunnels to loot, and
undead mobs to defeat. Only then will the secrets
of the island be revealed. Why Jack Black? Who better.
Not only was he in School of Rock, but Gulliver's
Travels. Max Brooks is a bigger surprise. He is author
of World War Z!
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What
if you just won the lotto, but what you really want
is to be famous? Wouldn't you be forgotten in two weeks?
How would you prevent it? In FAME ISLAND
mega winner Howard Rosen has a secret plan to become
famous--even a hero--but in the meantime he has disappeared
and erased his own identity, escalating his mystique
overnight. When tabloid writer Jude Johnstone catches
up with him in a Miami penthouse, Howard buys his silence
by hiring him to purchase a Caribbean island. It is
the same island where a teenager claiming to be Howard's
son lives. But for Jude, there's a catch. Billy is involved
in a plot of to overthrow the corrupt regime of neighboring
Union Island. So with a million bucks from Howard as
potential payment, Jude must aid the resisting council
of Union Island to overthrow their newly elected governor
Frolonzo, confirm that Billy is Howard's son, and write
the story of the coup Howard's way. What follows is
as unpredictable as real life, though, for Frolonzo
escapes--using Billy as hostage--and is about to proceed
with his own plan in this modern adventure where the
only cameras rolling are your own, and where, if you
fail to beat the opposing tribe, you're shark food…
Yes, there is a Sandi in the book. She is Jude’s
love interest. It opens with Trump and Mark Burnett
quotes. Trump once visited the island. Narrator
Tabori directs Hallmark movies now, and was
the voice of HK-47 in Star Wars games, in addition to
acting in films and TV series from the Rockford Files
to Law & Order. I interviewed John Caldwell of Palm
Island in the Grenadines for various travel magazines,
and his true story gave me the idea. He was once attacked
by renegades and had to defend his Palm from attack.
He also let the Marines park helicopters there during
the Grenada invasion. He sailed around the world with
his family on a small boat out of Los Angeles, and ended
up in the Caribbean, where he approached the government
of St. Vincent to allow him to develop the island for
12% of future profits. He got the place for $1 a year
for 99 years. Besides Trump, Barbara Streisand was once
interested in building a home there. It is now a private
resort. The setting for the book (which is “The
Instant Celebrity” in ebook format) is also nearby
Union Island, which the renegades took over, and where
my fictional dictator Frolonzo is in control. |
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Another
flashback involving Trump is when I spoke to Nelson
DeMille briefly about Florida and his older novel
The Gate House. Several of his books became
movies. His upcoming book is THE CUBAN AFFAIR.
JONATHAN
LOWE: To what extent are Sutter and Bellarosa
based on real people you’ve known living on
Long Island, and what’s your attraction to them
as characters of fiction?
NELSON
DeMILLE: I’ve never used a single real
person as a character in my novels, but I do base
my characters on composites of people I know or have
met, or who are public figures. John Sutter is a type
that I’ve known among the old families of Long
Island, but, of course, I’ve given him some
quirks, and a self-awareness that is not all that
common in this class of people. Frank Bellarosa as
a Mafia don could have easily been a stock figure
from Central Casting, but I gave him a lot of brains,
a good eduCation, and he, too, has a self-awareness
that would be unusual in his profession. Both characters
– Sutter and Bellarosa – have a good sense
of humor, and together they are more than the sum
of their parts.
JONATHAN:
I once interviewed Ronald Kessler about his book
“The Season,” which described the social
undercurrent of billionaires living in Palm Beach,
Florida near Trump. One of your characters makes a
comment of disdain toward those “living in Florida,”
so I’m wondering what are the similarities and
differences between these playgrounds of the world’s
super wealthy. Is there a rivalry there, as between
those living in New York and Los Angeles?
NELSON:
New Yorkers take some pleasure in looking down on
other New Yorkers who move permanently to Florida.
Maybe, though, it’s jealousy. In any case, it
isn’t rivalry as it is with Los Angeles because
these “Floridians” are, for the most part,
New Yorkers who’ve chosen to leave New York.
As for Palm Beach, this is a seasonal town, and becomes
New York South from Christmas to Easter, then empties
out.
JONATHAN:
Do you listen to audiobook performances of your
novels, and if so, in what ways do you think the personalities
of the characters are illuminated by the actors? Any
which have nailed the way you perceived a character
by voicing him or her, as in films?
NELSON:
Yes, I listen to all my audiobooks, and I think that
Scott Brick has nailed down my character of John Corey
in PLUM ISLAND, THE LION’S GAME, NIGHT
FALL, WILD FIRE, and THE LION.
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(Note: I first met Scott Brick at the Audie Awards
in Los Angeles, and we did an event in Tucson once.
He is the busiest narrator in the business, and also
narrates many of Clive Cussler’s titles. If
you would like to try narrating a movie trailer based
on a book, see Good-Reads.blog for details.)
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