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George Ernsberger

About Books

October 01, 2021

Posted 10/1/21

The Speckled Beauty by Rick Bragg (Knopf).

Bragg, a memoirist/essayist of wit and grace, has been publishing books like this, not exactly philosophical but not exactly not, for a few decades, now. …

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George Ernsberger

About Books

October 01, 2021

Posted

The Speckled Beauty by Rick Bragg (Knopf).

Bragg, a memoirist/essayist of wit and grace, has been publishing books like this, not exactly philosophical but not exactly not, for a few decades, now. The column reviewed his very strong, journalistic biography of the briefly celebrated, unheroic but genuine hero Jessica Lynch, a book that dealt with deep ironies (and no jokes at all) in a war that was nearly all harsh irony (remember Iraq?). The prevailing tone of his series of memoirs, and this is one of those, is that of the lighter ironies (and also earnestness) of everyday life. In small-town Alabama, of all places. The speckled beauty, here, is an absolutely reprobate, untrainable, often filthy, big dog that Bragg’s whole family hates (and they don’t seem unreasonable, at all—more, just, sensible). Did I mention ugly? And Bragg can get you to see all that, with very few, mostly pleasant words; and can get you to love this beast without your ever noticing how he’s done it. I like to read just parts of most books, but you can’t put Bragg down. He isn’t jokey, but he’s funny; never sarcastic, but his irony is gentle; never hopeless, but the passage of years over the course of these books is felt, and felt by him, too, and that can’t be all jokes. Bragg knows that a life, even one that’s all put into books, will have a last page.

We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal (Harper).

Nordic noir at its best, and indeed the best crime novel I’ve read in a while. Alsterdal wins awards in Sweden; this particular book won several, and yet is the first of her books to be translated into English. I see no way to learn why that would be, but even if no other book of hers ever makes it across languages, you won’t be sorry you read this one (but this was the first of a series, over there, so there’s hope). More alive emotionally than is typical of this genre, beautifully written (and/or translated), with real depth of characters including a smart and likable police detective, a woman, to get to know. Intricately plotted—crucial events have occurred over a span of years, and must now be discovered; the final twist is irresistibly believable and yet turns all we’ve been told and understood entirely around.

A Darker Reality by Anne Perry (Ballantine).

The third book of this series, set in the 1930s in various parts of a world undergoing deep, dramatic changes. The British free-lance photographer (and secret MI-6 agent) Elena Standish has family reasons to spend time in Washington—more with her wealthy relatives than among politicians, but the Roosevelts become part of the cast, and of course deadly threats arise. Standish, at first in this series, was an unwilling agent, but she’s beginning to become more professional, and to enjoy it. Perry has been and remains an elite writer in this form.

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