WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Unleashed by David Rosenfelt. I admit I needed a Silkwood shower after the OJ book (below) and so I reached for my fantasy boyfriend, Andy Carpenter. While he likes sports, he couldn't be more different from those in OJ's world. Andy is self-deprecating, true to Laurie, and dedicated to giving back. Plus Andy is funny, and there are precious few laughs in the Simpson case. 

 

This one shines a light on a supporting character in Andy's world: Sam Willis, his accountant. Sam meets an old high school rival who needs a good lawyer, and of course Sam recommends Andy. Turns out Barry is in much deeper trouble than Sam realized, and Barry's wife (Sam's first, long-ago love) is involved. I'm looking forward to lots of twists and turns.

2. What did you recently finish reading? How I Helped OJ Get Away with Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse by Mike Gilbert. I found this book compelling from a human perspective. What if someone you like, work for and depend upon does something terrible? How much loyalty do they deserve? Add to all this the white hot spotlight that came with The Trial of the Century. All that public attention just exacerbated the Us vs. Them mentality inside Simpson's inner circle and skewed Gilbert's perceptions. I get all that and, at times, understood his attitude toward OJ. After all, Simpson had for years opened the Rockingham estate to Gilbert and his family. It was "Uncle OJ" who sent a bouquet to Gilbert's daughter before a dance recital and brought an antique lamp to literally brighten the room of Gilbert's mom, who was in assisted living.

 

But here's the thing: I don't like Mike Gilbert. He began the book with an anecdote from early 1992, chastising OJ for playing golf with then-President Clinton because Gilbert doesn't approve of Bill and Hill. Say what you will about the Clintons, but Bill never donned a black cap and gloves and cut the throat of a woman while her children slept upstairs, as Gilbert admits OJ would do within months of that day on the links. He takes a gratuitous swipe against Marcia Clark, saying she mishandled a witness. He'd heard the woman had been in rehab with Clark and the prosecutor was afraid the story would come out. Gilbert can't prove this is true, but there it is in his book. Most of all, there's Christie Prody. She's the young woman who hooked up with OJ after the trial and moved with him to Florida. Gilbert seems to blame her the drugs and debauchery OJ indulged in during those years. Like a young and penniless girl had that kind of power. Then – get this – Gilbert negotiated a deal for an OJ/Christie sex tape, ready to profit from their "debauchery" even as he judged it.

 

So I'm glad I read this for the view of life inside a moral tornado. I'm just sorry our tour guide was such an asshole.

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