WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

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WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly.

1. What are you currently reading? Orson Welles by Barbara Leaming. Orson Welles was one of America's most complete Renaissance men. Actor-writer-director-painter-magician-puppeteer. He was also a mess. He could be no other way with the childhood he endured. He was so favored by his parents that they seemed to feel nothing but relief when told their other child died. His mother had an affair with a local doctor who was as obsessed by toddler Orson as he was with her. His father was business wiz with a drinking problem and wanderlust. Told by adults , almost from infancy, that he was a genius, Orson was never one of the gang, never able to relate other kids.

As I post this, he's still in high school. I can't wait till he gets to Broadway and then Hollywood.

Welles was complicated, glorious, and grotesque. Barbara Leaming is a good and sensitive storyteller. So far, this seems like a good match of author and subject.

2. What did you just finish reading? For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing. The halls of Belmont Academy are filled with unsavory people. The students are so driven to get into the right college that they will do anything -- including blackmail and bribery -- to raise their GPAs. The teachers resent their wealthy, entitled students, and they aren't crazy about their fellow educators, either. The parents never let anyone forget how rich and powerful they are. Oh yeah, and at least one of this illustrious crew is a serial killer who successfully racks up quite a body count.

The plot is filled with shocking twists and turns. The setting is insular, which ratchets up the paranoia. And yet, I liked it but didn't love it. I think the problem is that the bar was so set high by the first book I read by this author: My Lovely Wife. That had a delicious wit that's missing here. 

I'm not sorry I read it. I'm just sorry I read Downing's better book first.

3. What will you read next? I don't know.