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? Murder on a Mystery Tour by Marian Babson. The library recommended this one to me because I read so many cozy mysteries. As a Beatle fan, I saw the phrase "Mystery Tour" and snapped at it like a trout at a worm.

 

Reggie and Midge have taken possession of his family's great old English mansion. The thing is – as those of us who watch Downton Abbey know – maintaining these houses is expensive. So they turn it into an inn and are barely scraping by when an opportunity arises: they can rent the mansion out to an American company that hosts "mystery tours," aka staged murder mystery weekends for well-heeled tourists. Yeah, you know what happens next. Someone gets dead for real. Of course, there's an unexpected storm. I don't have to be especially prescient to know it's going to effect electricity and phone reception.

 

So far, this formulaic mystery is still fun, but for unexpected reasons. I'm getting a kick out of all that goes into preparing for the mystery events. They have been scheduled to promote a pair of celebrity authors' books, so we get to meet the writers. Then there are the actors who view gigs like this as a way to make incremental cash. That's a lot of creative temperament and competing interests right there.

 

I like the vibe so far.  

2. What did you recently finish reading? Richard Nixon: The Life by John A. Farrell. I'm so glad I read this long (750 page) biography. His story is so American, and its echoes are making themselves heard today.

There's evidence that Nixon committed treason in 1968, sabotaging LBJ's negotiations and prolonging the Vietnam War so he could be elected that fall. Appalling. The sins of Watergate are enumerated in numbing detail (at least for me, who followed it in real time). So it would be easy to dismiss him as evil.

But there are so many instances when he truly wanted to do good. Where he did do good. He care about the environment. He wanted world peace and worked hard to make the Soviet Union and China play nice with the US. In those ways, the world is better for his having been here. These contributions cannot be dismissed.

On a personal level, his diary notes after the Kent State Massacre touched me. He responded as the father of two girls he loved. His kindness toward Jacqueline Onassis when she returned to The White House for the unveiling of her and the President's official portraits was sincere and extraordinary. Look at Trump, who said at a memorial service that he "hates" his opponents. Can you imagine our current President mourning young people who protested against him, or extending himself for the Obamas or Bidens? 

So this book was fair and thought provoking and it touched a chord in me by presenting the man in totality. My only gripe is that Farrell devoted so little to Nixon's post-presidency. He loved power so much, he was so proud. He was so paranoid and could be batshit crazy. What was his world like after he resigned in shame? And how I wish I could find an acclaimed biography of Pat Nixon. She sounds fascinating.  

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