Summer Reading

Well, I am writing this the Wednesday before the holiday, since I am sure I will be too lazy to actually do it on the day and will have two days worth of work to return to on Tuesday. Well, “work” I should say. I am hardly digging ditches or performing brain surgery.

In any case, Memorial Day was, where I grew up, somewhat about going to the beach. Now, you would think that in Southern California that it would be mandatory, punishable by 30 days picking up trash by the 405 or giving tofu to the needy for those who don’t comply.

You would however be wrong.

In SoCal we have this thing called “May Grey” followed closely by “June Gloom” which means that the coast at least will be socked in most if not all of the day, and for that matter that can be the case as far inland as Hollywood. So no beach. I do have a pool in my building so I suppose I could go and sit by that and read instead of just composing pictures like I did. I did have a moment where I thought I’d stunt up a photo of me a la Faye Dunaway by the pool with books instead of copies of the papers and a bottle of iced tea instead of an Oscar, but that was just way too much work. Feel free to picture it in your head.

So beach usually means beach reading. That used to be some disposable paperback you would buy at a rack at the drugstore or in the gift shop of your motel (do they have those? Racks? Gift Shops? Motels?) usually by Jackie Collins or Harrold Robbins and something that you left on the beach or the plane for the next person who might need something to do.

So I have some beach reading all set up- new stuff and old.

Young Pammy

The first of the new is Life of the Party, the Bio of Pamela Harriman, who was an adjunct to Capote’s Swans. She was apparently quite the gal- marrying Winston Churchill’s son then poaching (according to his then-wife Slim {“Feud”} Keith) Leland Hayward before settling on being Mrs. W Averill Harriman. I am sure it will be juicy.

Castro Street: “Tales of” central

The second of the new is a bit of a throwback: the Armisted Maupin “Tales of the City” novel Mona of the Manor, which returns us to the 90’s re revisit original character Mona Ramsey, now happily married and equally happily estranged from her gay husband Titled Englishman Teddy Roughton. Teddy loathes life in the countryside playing lord of the Manor. preferring San Francisco while Mona loves the country life. And while they love each other, that love isn’t physical. I am looking forward to this in the way I would look forward to hearing from old friends, if with some trepidation since Maupin doesn’t shy away from the realities of life- just ask him about how much blow-back he got for killing off Jon Fielding..

Elsie de Wolfe’s The House in Good Taste is also in the pile- a 1913 era reference book with tips on gracious living. I love these books and not just for their throwback charm. There are also some pretty decent tips in there usually even if you have to get through some dated (but fun) stuff about choosing plovers eggs or the correct haircut to keep the bird dogs from getting gout or mange or Dutch Elm disease out on the moors.

Sidney Kirkpatrick’s A Cast of Killers is there as insurance- I’ve already read it but haven’t in a long time. It’s a fascinating true story of director King Vidor (“The Fountainhead”, “Duel in the Sun”) who, in the 60’s delved into the murder of director William Desmond Taylor in 1922 and the various cover-ups the studios and other interested parties indulged in to keep the various secrets of those involved. It’s fascinating reading with a sad ending that shows Taylor wasn’t the only victim in the case.

Is that supposed to be Lee Remick?

Then as classic beach reading I have a copy of Arthur Hailey’s Wheels at the ready. A thinly disguised story of either John DeLorean at GM or Lee Iacocca at Ford (both claimed it) although the actual car manufacturer seems more like plucky American Motors, it has soap and sex and motor oil and was a best-seller in the early 70’s. I’ve only seen the mini-series with Lee Remick and Rock Hudson so I am looking forward to seeing what differences there are, and just how much cheap sex the miniseries left out.

Oh, and one nice thing- I got a thank you package from KCRW for donating my old car. A nice tote and a mug. Perfect for toting all the reading, sunblock and iced tea.

So what are you planning on reading over the summer? I’m sure I’m going to need more than these so any tips would be appreciated. Let me know in the comments.

Images: my iPhone, Amazon, and Wikimedia Commons