One Day My Paycheck Will Match My Dreams...

Like many people, I didn’t know that much about Pat Tillman past the much rehashed fact that he walked away from a multi-million dollar NFL contract to join the Army.  In Where Men Win Glory, Krakauer delves deep into the life and upbringing of Pat Tillman, and his decision to join the Army.  It was refreshing, and also surprising, that Tillman was not very fond of the majority of the Army.  His journal, which the Tillman family has graciously allowed Krakauer access to, paints a picture of a man trying to do the right thing, but conflicted with his personal opinions of the government from which he takes orders.  Although he is strong in his conviction of fighting for America, he is less than enthused about the politics and procedures in the Army.

The closest to the truth about the tragedy of Pat Tillman is found in this book.  The government had lied over and over again about the events that transpired that led to Pat’s untimely death.  In this book, Krakauer does excellent research to get accounts of the people who were there, reports as to what really happened, and lays out all the miscommunications and bad decisions that led to that fateful day.

Although this book is titled ‘Where Men Win Glory-the Odyssey of Pat Tillman’, it is so much more than that; readers are given a thorough history of the conflict in the Middle East.  At times I felt bogged and overwhelmed in minute detail.  The war in Afghanistan is long and complex, and the author spends a significant part of the book describing events and ideology.  Krakauer makes no attempt to hide his distaste and lack of respect for the Bush administration, and while it is easy to understand his point of view, I think he came on a little too thick, and it ended up more along the lines of angry tirades rather than thoughtful criticism. 

Ultimately, though, the disservice that the US government bestowed upon Pat Tillman and his family, and the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy make this book worth reading.  One man trying to do what he thought was right ended up being war propaganda, and the circumstances of his death led to a vast cover-up.   Krakauer does a thorough job not only describing the events, but the man who was in the center of it all.



The cover was what made me pick up this novel, and I’m glad because it was moving and compelling.  Petra, a 7 year old girl, disappears one morning, and when her parents go to the Clark household, it is discovered that Petra’s best friend, Callie, is also gone.  What makes finding them even harder is that Callie has been mute for the past 4 years.  No one really knows why; she just stopped talking one day.  Suspicion is quickly laid on Callie’s father, Griff, who works a thousand miles away in Alaska, but is known as the town alcoholic. 

Many themes emerged in the novel that made it interesting; small town feel, alcoholism, dark family secrets, first loves, regrets, and death.  The novel was woven through 6 different points of views.  It reminded me vaguely of Jodi Picolt’s ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ although not as well written.  Also, the challenges with writing with different voices are apparent.  Callie’s POV is more a third person, while her brother, Ben, actually uses ‘I’ and seems to be talking to/about Callie.  Also, although it was easy discernible which character was in focus, none of the characters were very distinct.  I expected Martin, because of his background, to talk with a more cohesive and mature voice than Antonia and Louis.

Overall though, I did enjoy the story.  It was a real page-turner, trying to figure out what happened to the little girls, and what transpired between Callie and her father to get her to stop talking for 4 years.  In all honesty, the writing itself is not as strong as Picoult, but Gudenkauf does have an interesting plotline going.  Definitely great for a rainy day or weekend read. 



Counterfeiting currency is a centuries old art, and yet not much is written in mainstream media about it.  Enter Jason Kersten, who details the life of Art Williams, Jr. , his rise to the top of the counterfeiting game, and his subsequent fall.  Williams wasn’t born into a life anyone else would want; his father, Senior, abandoned his family when Art was just a kid, and tumultuous family relationships and poverty led to gang involvement and crime.  A guy his mom was dating, da Vinci, took him under his wing, and taught Art the basics of counterfeiting, including stellar advice related to keeping himself safe. 

After leaving Chicago, Art spent a few years in Texas, where he was imprisoned for robbery.  Four years later, he is released, and the New Note is in circulation.  It was been completely redesigned to thwart counterfeiters, but difficulty has never been a reason Art has steered away from an activity.  With his current girlfriend, Natalie, the two of them embark on a challenge to replicate the New Note. 

Kersten goes into detailed account of how Art mastered making fake $100 bills, from the challenges in acquiring the materials, to the painstaking task of making each bill.  When Art finally mastered it, things really took off.  All of his old contacts wanted in, as well as family and friends.  Art’s eventual downfall comes when he the people he trusted let him down.

There were many working pieces to this tale that were expertly woven.  Although he was bright, Art was never in an environment that fully nurtured and encouraged him onto the right track.  Kersten details the sprees Art and his cohorts went on to launder the fake bills.  He’d go into a store and purchase an item under $20 with a fake bill, and come out with roughly $80 in good money.  They would do this for thousands of dollars at a time, and much of the items purchased would be donated to the Salvation Army or local churches.  Art knew that he could be caught, but never thought of providing himself and his family with a rainy day fund. 

Kersten does a fantastic job of telling Art’s story.  In the end, I wanted Art to triumph; he wasn’t a bad person, actually, he was very kind and caring.   He got dealt a bad hand in life and made the best of it that he could.  However much money he could print, though, it would never give him the childhood or the family he wanted. 

Title: Confessions of Contractor

Author: Richard Murphy

The backdrop of this novel is renovating houses. The meat of the novel is the scandal and gossip that involves the contractor, in this case, Henry Sullivan. Sullivan has two main rules that up until now he has abided by: 1) don't sleep with clients and 2) don't take on too many projects at once. Both rules he broke when he agreed to renovate Sally Stein's house and then took on Rebecca Paulson's house shortly thereafter. Both clients know each other, although they are no longer on speaking terms. Much of the book is written on Sullivan figuring out that little mystery. Not only are houses renovated in this novel, but so are families as well as relationships.

I read this book because it was suggested by one of my favorite authors. And even though I don't consider this one of my favorite books, it is good for a light summer read. My suggestion would be to read it in a couple of sittings. Because Murphy incorporates many flashbacks, its hard to keep track of events that are happening as the story progresses, or if Sullivan is referring to something that happened in the past. That and it was a bit hard to keep track of all the women (I'm not sure how men do it in real life.) Reading this book reminded me somewhat of Desperate Housewives, although I'm not sure if that's good or bad. And heck, even though I don't own a home, I can now appreciate why the hell home remodeling takes so long.