Tuesday, November 25, 2008

ZOO by Arleen Solomon Rotchin

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I'm very excited to announce the publication of ZOO (Shoreline) the debut novel by Arleen Solomon Rotchin who is well-known in Montreal and Palm Beach Florida as the author of a bestselling memoir titled Sam's Will (Shoreline). She's better known around my house as 'Mom' and 'Granny'. In Sam's Will, Arleen told the story of her ten year battle (personal, financial and legal) to settle the estate of her late father, Montreal garment-pioneer Sam Solomon, who was also, not coincidentally, the model of a character in my novel The Rent Collector. Sam's Will made the non-fiction bestseller lists in both Palm Beach and Montreal. Zoo is somewhat of a departure, though not really. It will be enjoyed by the same folks who loved Sam's Will (and there were plenty) because it also tells a story about money, greed, excessiveness and human failing, and does so with the same quirky, funny style and sharp observation that Arleen has become known for. In Zoo, a photographer named Chela tells the uncanny, timely story of her neighbour and friend Geena who's just been convicted of tax fraud and stock manipulation. Meanwhile, as Rome burns Nero plays; Geena throws extravagant parties for her Palm Beach cohort and they behave like the sky isn't falling. Ultimately, Geena can't avoid jailtime and from prison writes letters to Chela declaring that she has had a revelation that she is the victim of The American Dream. During the summer Chela returns to Montreal to teach a group of kids in crisis how to use cameras (the old-fashioned kind with f-stops and shutter speed settings) and the two stories begin to shed light (photography-lingo pun intended) one on the other. Highly recommended.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

FAD
by Tamar Black-Rotchin (age 9)

It was popular.
Children everywhere had it.
And later it died.

BULLY
She is a bully.
'Loser' is my new nickname.
I will get her back.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Chip off the old block

HALO
by Tamar Black-Rotchin (age 9)

What a sweet angel
A halo above her head
But then she grew up.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I don't think this is what Pink Floyd meant

by their vacation-titled album Wish You Were Here. If I'm not mistaken, a Pink Floyd themed cruise was one of Nostradamus's signs of the apocalypse. That creaking sound you hear may very well be late Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright turning over in his grave.(Thanks Beth)

Monday, November 17, 2008

He was to football what Babe Ruth was to baseball...


and Bobby Orr was to hockey: He was Benny Friedman. Who? According to a new book Friedman revolutionized the game by passing the pigskin downfield (notwithstanding his orthodox upbringing I guess he wasn't kosher) and saved the fledgling National Football League in the process.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Sobering perspective on Obama

1. He is the first US President of my generation. He's born in '61, me '64.

2. He's inheriting arguably the worst global conditions of any American President.

3. On the day of his election nothing mattered more than the fact that he's an African-American. On the day after, nothing matters less.