Lock Every Door; People v Ferlinghetti

Two very different books, but both were good. "Lock Every Door" by Riley Sager is his third book, and it did not disappoint. Jules has recently been laid off from her crappy job and came home to find her boyfriend with another woman, so she moved out. Crashing on her friend Chloe's couch, she scours the want ads looking for another job and responds to one for an apartment sitter. She ends up at an exclusive New York City apartment building known as the Bartholomew. For Jules, it's the chance of a lifetime: not only will she have a beautiful place to live for three months, she'll be paid $1,000 a week to do so. Sure, the rules are a little disturbing and draconian, but she's desperate.
Right after she moves in, Jules realizes the Bartholomew isn't what it seems. For one thing, apartment sitters disappear at an alarming rate, never to be heard from again. And they're all people like her: young, single, without families, not likely to be missed right away if they disappear. Sager is great at placing red herrings, I really thought I had it figured out. I was wrong, of course, but the ending was so much worse (and so much more believable) than I had guessed.

Back in 1955, Allen Ginsberg wrote "Howl", and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, agreed to publish it under his imprint. "Howl" was unlike anything published before, and Ferlinghetti, along with one of the clerks in his store, was arrested by the police for selling obscene material. The book told the story of the publication and arrest and trial. It was very short (barely 100 pages), but interesting. The rest of the book was the judge's written decision in the case (I didn't read it, it was too full of legalese and I couldn't understand it) and a published transcript of an interview Ferlinghetti did on the 50th anniversary of the case back in 2007. The radio station wanted to play a recording of Ginsberg reading his epic poem (since Ginsberg died in 1990 he wasn't around to read it in person), but the FCC wouldn't allow it. I did read the interview, in which Ferlinghetti lamented how as a society we seemed to moving backwards instead of forwards when it comes to free speech.

I will leave you with a quote from Ginsberg: "Whoever controls the media, controls the culture".