Dance with the Devil

 

I've been meaning to read this one ever since I saw the "Dear Zachary" documentary a few years ago. I'm going to spoil both movie and book, so here goes. 

In 2001, David and Kate Bagby were devastated to learn of their son, Andrew's, brutal murder. Andrew was their only child, beloved and cherished. A great guy with wonderful parents, universally loved. They had no idea who would do such a horrible thing. David was very matter of fact: they intended to go out to Pennsylvania, collect their son's ashes, find out who killed him, and then return home to California and kill themselves because they no longer had a reason to live. 

It turned out that Andrew's ex-girlfriend seemed the most likely suspect, but before the police could arrest her, she fled to her native Canada (I'm not going to mention her by name). David and Kate quit their jobs, packed up their lives, and moved to Canada, first to oversee the extradition hearings, but then later to be near their grandson. Yes, the monster that murdered their baby was having his baby. 

The strength and courage they displayed is positively remarkable. They had to be civil with this woman, knowing full well she murdered their child, in order to spend time with their only grandchild, Zachary. They sucked up their revulsion and did it, and as a result they fell in love with that sweet baby, and Zachary with them. To the point where he preferred Kate to his own mother. And why wouldn't he? Kate was a sincere, genuinely loving woman and his birth mother was a goddamn psychopath.  

Time and again, the Canadian justice system failed the Bagbys, and ultimately Zachary, by refusing to see what was right in front of them: that this woman was an evil, stone cold killer. She killed again one last time, drowning herself and Zachary. 

I cannot even begin to fathom an inch of the Bagbys pain. I frankly don't want to. They channeled it into victim advocacy, helping get laws passed in Canada so this type of thing wouldn't happen again. "Dear Zachary" was about Andrew and his wonderful parents and the horrible tragedy, David's book delved deeper into the legal aspects of the case. Even knowing what happened, it was still heartbreaking and horrifying to read it and try to contemplate what they went through. 

I hope they were able to finally find some kind of peace with life, but if they didn't I don't blame them. I don't know how anyone recovers from something like that.  

Guttenberg Bible; Box Office Poison

 

I enjoyed "Time to Thank" so much that I wanted to read Steve's first autobiography. It was a lot of fun! What chutzpah he had. 

He got to Hollywood a few days after graduating from high school, staying with his godfather, Michael. He promised his parents he'd be home in two weeks to start college. But Steve was determined to make it in show biz. He found a way to sneak onto a movie lot and set up an office in an abandoned building, furnished with things from the prop department. He spliced into the phone line and made calls all day long, trying to line up work. He went to the canteen and met a bunch of stars. He was around so much his face became familiar, everyone just assumed he worked there (it might have helped that he lied and said he was Michael Eisner's son). Eventually he started booking gigs, getting bigger and bigger jobs. He bought a house at 21 and a Ferrari. 

He comes across as very grateful and sincere for his good fortune. He reminded me more of his character from "Short Circuit", Newton Crosby, than his "Police Academy" character, loveable scamp Carey Mahoney. Very naive and not too worldly. But very charming and sweet. 

And keeping up with the movie business theme, "Box Office Poison". I don't watch a lot of movies. I hadn't seen any of the ones mentioned in this book, which was hysterical. Robey was perfectly sarcastic, just a great tone. 

Hollywood is a strange place, that's for sure. 

Miss May Does Not Exist

 

I read a book about Mike Nichols a few years ago and really enjoyed it. He and Elaine May started out doing improv together--if you look up their sketches on YouTube they are hysterical. 

I really enjoyed this one. Elaine May is still alive (in her 90s) and pretty much a hermit, which I can certainly admire. Why should she have to give interviews or see people if she doesn't want to? Good for her. 

For a long time she was known as a script doctor in Hollywood. She almost never got credit for the scripts she fixed, but she worked on *huge* movies like "Tootsie". Such a talented woman who was definitely ahead of her time. 

From Here to the Great Unknown

 

Oh gosh, this one was so sad. 

I was stunned when Lisa Marie Presley died so young. I had no idea she was in such bad shape, although I was shocked when I saw her at the Golden Globe awards just a few days before she died. She looked so out of it. Poor thing, she was never the same after her son, Ben, took his own life.

Lisa Marie worked on her autobiography for a long time, recording her memories on audio tape. After she died, her eldest daughter Riley listened to them and finished her story. 

It was brutally honest and very compelling. I had a hard time putting it down. 

Time to Thank

This book hit me in my feels. I cried at the end. It was really heartwarming, just sad. 

They don't make 'em like Stanley Guttenberg anymore. Hardworking, honest, a loving husband and great dad who gave everything to make sure his kids had a good life. He believed in his only son, Steve, giving him money to go out to Hollywood just days after he graduated from high school. Steve ended up achieving his dreams of movie fame, and managed to stay out of trouble. No doubt because of the solid upbringing he experienced. 

Steve adored his father. They had a great relationship. When Stanley's kidneys fail and he needs dialysis, Steve starts making the trek from California to Arizona every week to help take care of his dad. Those road trips gave him time to think about all the good times he shared with him. 

It was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man, written by his loving son. It made me so grateful for the time and the memories I have of my dad. I only had 42 years with him, and I would have loved 42 more. Steve says something similar in his book. It's never enough time. Cherish it before it's too late. 
 

Fast Charlie; Trailer Park Parable; Behind

 

I love the Hard Case Crime books. This one was great. 

Charlie Swift is out to get revenge for the murder of his boss, Stan, and their crew by a rival, Beggar. He meets some interesting characters along the way and it had a happy-ish ending for a book of this nature. I watched the movie, too, and it was really good (even if Pierce Bronson is too old to play Charlie--in the book he's 40). They changed a lot, but I still enjoyed it. 

A friend at work who rarely reads was reading this one. The books he's recommended have been pretty good, though, so I gave this one a try. It wasn't bad, but it hit a little too close to home sometimes. 

Tyler (not his real name) and his two brothers grew up with an alcoholic, abusive father. When his dad was sober, he was great and Tyler loved hanging out with him. But things come to a head one Christmas Eve when his dad nearly beats his mom to death and goes to prison. Tyler was able to pull himself up out of this bad situation, join the Air Force, and later have a stable career and get married. So many kids in situations like his end up addicts themselves, so it was great to hear that he escaped it. 

And finally, Bentley Little's latest, "Behind". I really wanted to like it. Little has been on and off over the years, and this one was definitely off. Super disappointing. Just very repetitive and boring. 

Alex sees a house behind his house one day, and it brings back a flood of bad memories about his childhood. He also saw a house behind his house back when he was a kid, and not long after that his parents disappeared, never to be heard from again. 

Throughout the book, the main characters kept saying they didn't know how it was going to end, and I felt like Little felt the same way. So he just ended it. It wasn't ambiguous or anything like that, just "I'm tired of writing it, so it's over, the end". 

Book of Lost Names

 

One of the fun things about being a librarian is when you tell people, they will often ask if you've read their favorite book. I started having a lot of unusual foot pain recently, and after all my home remedies didn't work I went to see a podiatrist. When I told her I'm a librarian, she asked if I had read "The Book of Lost Names". I admitted that although I had heard of it, I had not read it and she gushed about it. So I read it.

I really liked it. Eva and her parents are Polish Jews living in Paris. When it falls to the Nazis, her father is arrested but Eva and her mother manage to escape and head towards Switzerland. They don't quite make it, but they do land in a little town in the mountains and Eva discovers she had a talent for forging the stamps on documents. She joins an underground ring of document forgers and starts creating new identities for Jewish children to help them escape the Germans. Eva doesn't want these children's identities to be forgotten so she and her fellow forger, Remy, create a code in a book kept in the library where they work. 

It was very engaging, I had a hard time putting it down. I really liked Harmel's writing style.