Imlana Rum Rum itibaren Chom Mok Kaeo, Mae Lao District, Chiang Rai, Thailand
David Mamet is the author of the screenplay 'Wag the Dog,' a brilliant and humorous movie about the dishonesty of modern government and the naivete of the American public. The title says it all. But here he is in a completely different genre. The book is part of a series of volumes commissioned and published by National Geographic about distinctive regions in the US. Mamet takes pen to paper and waxes eloquent about the peculiarities of the people, the history, and the geography of Vermont. I could not put this book down. The pages are filled with humorous social practices, descriptions of native Vermont architecture, and commentary on lessons learned through decades of living in this amazing state. As a warning, the book does contain some content that may be mildly offensive to younger or more sensitive readers. But Mamet also draws on his religious background to offer nuggets of wisdom from the Jewish tradition concerning childrearing, property management, etc. Humor comes easy to Mamet, and he sprinkles the pages of this book with a mixture of profound meditations and light-hearted stories. The book did not make me want to go to Vermont, but it made me feel like I had been there. For those of us with tight budgets and limited time, perhaps no higher compliment could be paid to a work in this series.
This is a pretty easy read and though it is written by an 89 year old and is partially about old age, it is something that I still felt able to relate to or at least understand. There were also moments of looking back on her life and her childhood, etc. It's a bit scattered, but for the most part it just feels like having a conversation with someone where one thing leads to another and you kind of forgot how you got on that topic in the first place. I loved the opening sentence of the last chapter, and think this is a pretty good way to sum up the book, "One doesn't necesarily have to end a book about being old with a whimper, but it is impossible to end it with a bang."
This book is just a fun read. You will recognize and identify with the different phases that women go through. This book is famous for creating the oh so true phrase "Perfecting the Martini Smile" Trust me it is a funny read and the vocabulary is outrageous funny.