Teach like your hair's on fire - Rafe Esquith

A teacher, who spends most of his free time and money to coach his poor inner LA fifth-grade students to become better people and students, writes about how some of the magic happens in his classroom. Esquith's daily schedule is rigorous and he never takes vacations; however, his students learn and grow in amazing ways under his tutelage which is payment enough for him. The most amazing thing he does is the annual and complete Shakespeare play the students put on. I would love to see it! Apparently, some of his classes have toured and performed in far away places. There's got to be a video. Hm. I must check. Anyway, his writing and methods are inspiring even though he probably is insane. Or at least his wife must be by now. This man must not have a life outside of his elementary school! His job is his life, which turns out to be quite fullfilling in his case. When did he have time to write this book?

The Magician's Assistant - Ann Patchett

Sabine is a detached unlikeable 40-ish woman living alone in a large home in LA after the death of her husband Parisfal. Well. Husband is debatable. They had been married for a year by the time of his death but never had sex because he was gay. Before his death, he was in a committed relationship with a man, Phan, and the three of them lived together in Phan's house. Phan had died 5 years earlier. Parsifal was a magician and Sabine was his assistant for 20 years or so. Upon his death she discovered that Parsifal had a family she never knew about, his mother and siblings lliving in Nebraska. Anyway this book is a drag pretty much until the end. The ending almost makes up for some of the snail pace and predictable dullness of the story line as well as the numerous insufferable syrupy dream sequences. I will have to muster up some willpower to pick up one of Patchett's other books, e.g., Bel Canto which is supposed to be splendid. A weak 5.

This is not Civilization - Robert Rosenberg

Fun story following a young restless American, Jeff Hartig, as he spends a year in the Peace Corps on an Apache reservation and two years teaching English in an isolated village in Kyrgyzstan. Characters from these years later converge during an earthquake when Jeff has a job in Istanbul, Turkey. Lively descriptions of exotic customs, foods and locales fill the book. Interesting people cross his path. However, Jeff himself is a selfless aimless kind of character who is hard to like. There's no explanation or resolution of his restlessness while the other people seem to find their places. The opening line can't be beat, "The idea to use porn films to encourage the dairy cows to breed was a poor one." It's an 8.

Honeymoon in Purdah - Alison Wearing

A female Canadian travel writer goes to Iran with a male gay friend pretending to be a married couple on their honeymoon. The book came out in 2000. I think the actual trip took place in 97 or so. I particularly liked her descriptions of how she experienced being covered at all times. Her full-length black manteau is outfitted with big shoulderpads in order to fall straight down and not reveal any curves. Her headcover is a slippery scarf with a clip that she and other women struggle to keep in place sometimes with the help of their teeth. She writes about the heat and sweating profusely under all the layers of fabric but also about the freedoom of being invisible under her cloak as she is sitting in the corner of a temple or walking down a busy street. The most lasting impression of the Iranian people, as experienced and conveyed by her, is the overwhelming friendliness of the warmhearted Iranian people. Strangers invite them in, feed them, entertain them, and drive them around everywhere they go. The Iranian people's questions are always about America, "Are people bad in America?" and "Do Americans hate us?" They are always relieved to find out that Wearing and her "husband" are not American but Canadian. Hm.... Very enjoyable. 8.