The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 9/20

Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Writer's Life 9/20 - Treasures

Born in NYC in 1915, Belva Plain was a late bloomer in the literary world. While raising three kids, she managed to place short stories in magazines such as Cosmopolitan. Her first novel, Evergreen, was published when she was 63. 22 others followed. A total of 21 were NY Times best sellers. More than 30 million copies of her books are in print, translated into 22 languages. A large part of her canon features Jewish protagonists. Evergreen was adapted into a mini-series in the '80's. Treasures, which I just finished, features three 20-something Christian siblings from a small town in Ohio. Their parents have passed away. The elder sister, the rock of the family, stays in the hometown. Her brother and sister strike out to pursue their fortunes. Both end up in NYC. The brother quickly becomes rich in the financial world. The sister marries into wealth. The narrative follows the ups and downs of the three. This is not romance fiction. It is an intelligent portrayal of the human condition. It doesn't go as deeply into psyche as the best tales about human beings, but it is damn fine storytelling, and not always predictable. Although there is a liberal bias, the author is fairer in her portrayal of businessmen, even the most ruthless, than most writers. In the end, the theme is that the greatest treasure in life is family love. I thought the writing overdone and the dialogue a bit unnatural, but still found the 304 pages a smooth read. Plain passed away in 2010 at 95. She left quite a legacy. Kudos. (Facts from Wiki)

Although I miss a couple of options, I do not regret having cut the cable chord, even though an over the air antenna suffers problems. This week the signal of the three channel fives - Fox, Movies! and Light - was weak, making them unwatchable. Last night I moved the antenna from the lower left of the window nearest the TV to the lower right. That weakened the signal for GetTV, 68. I then moved it to the middle of the lower window, a few inches from where it had been, and the system was a treasure again. I expect to be moving the antenna periodically. Maybe the satellite relaying the signal moves around.

My 2003 Hyundai has been a treasure, not perfect but very reliable. For the past two days, parked in the most favorable spot for the operation of the floating book shop, the rear doors would not unlock when I opened the front driver door to begin the unloading of wares. I wondered if I'd done something without realizing it. Forced to move the car because of tomorrow's parking regulations, it wouldn't start, dead as a doornail. I assumed it was an electrical problem, and my hunch seemed corroborated when the AAA guy hooked up to the battery and the car started immediately. I took the car to the shop, where the battery was changed and the electrical system checked out. Ralph says it was the battery. Of course, as one who suffers car paranoia, I expect it not to start tomorrow.

My thanks to Wolf, who purchased a beautiful art workbook for his grandkids, and to the woman who, just as she was about to turn away, spotted the Russian translation of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye; and to other who, despite being laden with six heavy shopping bags, bought eight books in Russian. Those three customers walked away with treasures for mere shekels.