Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412230060
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Ross Thomas. Mysterious Press. $21.95.
In "Ah, Treachery!" Ross Thomas reworks familiar ground, with a distinct contemporary spin. As the title suggests, it's a novel of betrayals - personal, political and sexual.
The first of those betrayals takes place in El Salvador, and leads to the end of Edd "Twodees" Partain's career in Army intelligence. Three years later, in 1992, the dirty dealings he was involved in there threaten to resurface. Partain finds himself working for Millicent Altford, a Democratic party fundraiser who's missing $1.2 million.
On the other side are Partain's ex-superiors, Col. Millwed and Gen. Hudson. They are two of the most delightfully (and shockingly) wicked villains the imaginative Thomas has ever conceived. The main settings are Los Angeles and Washington, locales that Thomas has used often before and knows well. The supporting cast is filled with sharply drawn characters from semi-employed California actors to the members of VOMIT, Victims of Military Intelligence Treachery.
Though this is a relatively short (274 page) novel, it's jammed with enough twists, surprises and reversals to keep any reader guessing. And longtime fans will catch cameo appearances by characters from "Voodoo, Ltd." and "The Eighth Dwarf."
More important, the convoluted story is driven by the jaded skepticism and dry humor that Thomas handles so well. Like all of his fiction, "Ah, Treachery!" is meant to entertain. But Ross Thomas writes entertainment that makes serious, pointed comments on the bizarre times in which we find ourselves.
- MIKE MAYO, Book page editor
Bring in the Arts: Lessons in dramatics, art and story writing for elementary and middle school classrooms.
By Pam Prince Walker. Heinemann. $17.50.
Pam Prince Walker has outlined 20 lessons that teachers can use to guide students in creating characters, scenes and situations. The lessons build upon each other, emphasizing drama, writing and illustration.
In Lesson One, children concentrate on real and imaginary objects to get in touch with their senses. As part of this lesson they might imagine the sizzle of a soft drink or the feel of velvet or the taste of a lemon. Moving into Lesson Four, all of their senses are again used and taken into a new dimension as each child chooses to be an animal. To go even further with this activity, the children act out being in a bus station as their person-animal. They buy their tickets using "paws" or sell tickets as a "haughty peacock."
The lessons can be applied to any subject so do not let the word "arts" deter history, math or science teachers. The book is recommended for teachers with extensive art and drama experience and for teachers with not an artistic bone in their bodies and no concept of "exit, stage left." It would also be an excellent choice for Odyssey of the Mind coaches to get those creative minds in peak form.
- LYNN ERWIN
A Part of the Sky.
By Robert Newton Peck. Knopf. $18.
Robert Newton Peck once offered us "A Day No Pigs Would Die," a wise novel based on experiences with his own father.
Twenty-two years later, he presents a sequel. "A Part of the Sky" follows 13-year-old Rob for eight months as he struggles to maintain, and ultimately loses the family farm after his father's death. The ox and cow die of old age, and the crops fail in drought. The bank is ready to foreclose on the mortgage. But these gradual defeats are mitigated by the family's "silent acceptance" of anything and everything that happens.
Peck's writing can be achingly lyrical. The book takes its title from one of its many graceful passages: "The resting of death becomes a part of the land, as clouds are a part of the sky." Contrasting the earthy lyricism is Peck's deadpan, side-splitting (or, in one instance, seam-splitting) humor.
Don't bother to mark passages memorable for their grace of their humor - just set the book on your shelf and come back to the whole again and again.
- WENDY MORRIS
Lynn Erwin is a librarian at Hollins College.
Wendy Morris lives in Blacksburg and works in Roanoke.
by CNB