Dear Great Book Guru, Last week I attended an amazing production of The Nutcracker in the Children's Library. Dan DiPietro was a very yogic Drosselmeyer and the Stroppel family served as a great production team, but in the midst of this holiday treat, I realized I had some serious gift shopping ahead. Do you have any recommendations you would like to share with me? Bewildered Gift Giver

Dear Bewildered, Just this very weekend my son Daniel suggested a book that you should include on your Christmas shopping list: Garry Wills' OUTSIDE LOOKING IN. Do you remember Woody Allen's Zelig-where the character Zelig turned up in every major historical event over a thirty-year span? Well, Garry Wills is our generation's Zelig. Wills' book is an autobiographical record of his life and times, and he was everywhere, with everyone, and into everything. Each chapter is devoted to a person who played an important role in his life- from Barry Goldwater to Studs Turkel, from Ronald Reagan to Beverly Sills, from Hillary Clinton to the Berrigan brothers. Richard Nixon's chapter is particularly interesting since it was Wills' biography of him- Nixon Agonistes- that laid bare the intricacies of the Nixon psyche and predicted his tragic fall. Another featured figure is William Buckley, the archetypical conservative writer, publisher, his first employer, and long time friend; in contrast, Wills describes in detail his time in prison with fellow Vietnam War protesters. A devout Catholic, he has written on the gospels, the rosary, the saints and Jesus… but he finds himself strongly at odds with most papal directives. The book is short -less than 300 pages- but the reader comes away with a strong sense of the last fifty years- all from a man who while being the outsider, became the confidant of scores of this country's icons- conservative and liberal.

Dear Great Book Guru, I have seen flyers around town about a Christmas play written by Fred Stroppel being performed this Saturday. I am a bit of a Grinch and sentimental Christmas events are not high on my list of ways to spend the weekend. However, I have loved Fred's other works, so I am interested. Are you familiar with this play and, if so, would you recommend it? Holiday Grinch

Dear Grinch, THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT will be presented this Saturday evening at St. Luke's Church in Sea Cliff at 8pm and I strongly recommend it . Far from sentimental , this play deals with death and redempton in a darkly humorous manner. Julia Kennedy is a seventy-two year-old woman who finds herself sitting in her living room on Christmas Eve engaged in a fight for her life. The Christmas Spirit in the title is actually Death and he has come for Julia. She begs for more time and in exchange offers Death the chance to celebrate a family Christmas with all the trimmings. Her strange assortment of dysfunctional family members plus the local priest, some troubled young guests, and the Christmas Spirit- he calls himself Jack Frost- gather at Julia's invitation to celebrate the holiday. Life- altering secrets are revealed that offer hope …for a moment. Truth in advertising forces me to reveal that the Great Book Guru, after many years playing roles such as Macbeth's fourth witch, the silent Tropicana Girl, and Messenger #2, is the star of THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. . The cast has a great time performing this play; let's hope the audience enjoys it too. Call 516-214-4240 for reservations.
For those of you who prefer the more traditional- what about a reading of an abridged version of THE CHRISTMAS CAROL ? A few years ago, Fred and Liz Stroppel- yes, the same Fred of THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT-presented a great version at Sea Cliff School- but you could do this in your own living room as we have done for many years. The version we use- Stephen Krensky's- takes about an hour to read. Get out the eggnog and gather your friend and family for a great evening!

Dear Great Book Guru, I am so excited- this is such a great Sea Cliff weekend: first, we have the Holiday House Tour on Saturday, the Artists' Crafts Fair in Village Hall, and then on Sunday, the annual Tree Lighting on the Village Green. With such a busy weekend, I am going to find it hard to find time for my reading and, as you remember, I vowed to spend part of every day with a good book. Do you have something short and easy but worthwhile? Regimented Reader

Dear Regimented, I am very impressed with your disciplined approach and I do have a wonderful book to recommend which meets all your criteria. My book group has committed to reading the four novels of Philip Roth that form what he calls his Nemeses series. It includes EVERYMAN, INDIGNATION, HUMBLING, and NEMESIS. The common theme that links these books is the belief that a single choice can define an individual's life. In each of these short novels, we meet someone whose life is inalterably changed because of one decision he has made. While I recommend all four, the one I suggest you read this weekend is INDIGNATION . In it, we meet a young college student growing up in the 1950's who leaves his family home in Newark, New Jersey to attend a small college in Ohio. He leaves to escape his father's smothering love and unrelenting scrutiny. His classmates, roommates, and teachers all reveal aspects of their personalities that profoundly impact our narrator hero. At the book's midpoint we are confronted with information that colors our entire view of the novel- what we have read and what we will read. INDIGNATION can and should be completed in one sitting which will surely leave you ample time to enjoy this special Sea Cliff weekend.

Dear Great Book Guru, I was having breakfast at B Brown's yesterday, and a group of us started talking about our Brooklyn connections. Apparently, many Sea Cliff families either once lived in Brooklyn, have children who now live in Brooklyn, or wish to live in Brooklyn themselves ( leave Sea Cliff? temporary insanity, I know…) . I would love to read a book, preferably a novel, about present day Brooklyn. Any recommendations? Baffled by Brooklyn

Dear Baffled, I was just in Brooklyn this weekend visiting our daughter who has moved into a beautiful apartment in Fort Greene by the Manhattan Bridge. Later in the day, I read a new novel by Paul Auster - SUNSET PARK. Sunset Park is a section of Brooklyn pretty much untouched by the gentrification that has swept over large areas of the borough . The book opens in Florida where a twenty-eight year-old New Yorker is scrapping out a living cleaning foreclosed and abandoned homes. Miles Heller has dropped out of an Ivy League college and left his affluent Manhattan lifestyle for a number of tortured reasons we learn about gradually. In the midst of a new crisis, he receives an offer from an school chum offering him a share in an abandoned house in Sunset Park . In effect, he would join a small community of squatters who are awaiting eviction by the city marshalls, but are living day to day in hopes that "things will turn around." Each of the tenants narrates part of the overall story, and we soon realize that the faltering economy with its sagging real estate market, widespread unemployment, and pitifully low wages is the demonic anti-hero of this novel. For those of us used to the sparkle of Cobble Hill, the grandeur of Brooklyn Heights, the allure of Carroll Gardens, this is a sobering read.

Dear Great Book Guru,
Thanksgiving will be here next week- it's one of my favorite holidays- but November is also the anniversary of another event- the JFK assassination in Dallas, Texas-47 years ago. Texas has always held a strange fascination for me so when I heard that there is a new book out about the Lone Star State, I was immediately interested ,but I can't remember the title. Any idea? Fascinated by Texas

Dear Fascinated, Yes, I love Thanksgiving too. We celebrate the whole weekend. On Friday the Calzonettis, the Gordons, the Kennedy-Hansmanns, and all the DiPietros join up to share stories and leftovers and follow up the next day with a tree- decorating party. But back to your Texas fixation: THE BIG RICH by Bryan Burrough is the book for you . Burrough grew up in Texas , moved East as a teenager, but retained a great interest in his native state. He focuses on four men whose oil fortunes created modern day Texas. He identifies them as "a good old boy, a scold, a genius, and a bigamist." The story opens in 1901 in Spindletop, a small town in southeast Texas where "black gold" is discovered. For the next forty years- until the world turned to the Middle East for its oil fix- Texas produced billions of gallons and consequently, billions of dollars. These men, their families, and most importantly, their money created the conservative movement that so colors the politics of present day America. Each man's story reads like fiction and one is left wondering -is it the immense size of the state that creates such larger than life figures? For many years, Texas succeeded in maintaining its sovereignty before becoming part of the union. The question is- would we all - Texans and the rest of us- have been better off if it had continued to go it alone?

Dear Great Book Guru, I was on the boardwalk down by lovely Sea Cliff Beach last weekend when I met my friend Beth walking her dog Chester. Now Beth is a voracious reader and (I hate to admit this character flaw) I really wanted to impress her. Well, guess what ? I couldn't think of a single book I had read in the last six months. Obviously, I need your guidance- please suggest something: fast-moving, current, and worthwhile. Reluctant Reader

Dear Reluctant,I don't think there is a more beautiful place than Sea Cliff any time of the year, and its beauty can be distracting, so I completely understand your desire/need to set up a reading regimen . I have a wonderful book to start you off - ROOM by Emma Donoghue. The premise is troubling yet intriguing. The narrator, Jack, a five-year-old boy, has lived his entire life in an 11 x 11 foot room. Room is his universe and he finds it totally satisfying . He has never been aside this confined area, but his days are busy and productive thanks to Ma. She has developed a schedule of activities, readings, exercises, art projects and TV watching that fills their days. When they are finally able to leave, the adjustment of mother and child to the outside world is difficult at best - for the child who has known no other life and for the mother who struggled mightily to create for her child as good a life as possible. The story is told completely from the perspective of young Jack, using only his vocabulary, his interpretation of events, and his observations of life during and after the "room."

Dear Great Book Guru,
This year I have decided to be very brave and host at the Sea Cliff Civic Association's annual Progressive Dinner. I'm not afraid of the meal- I have a reputation as a good cook- but I am afraid of awkward silences at the dinner table with six strangers waiting for me to move the conversation along. Can you think of a book I could bring up that would get everyone talking? Fledgling Host

Dear Fledgling,
How generous you are to open your home to six mystery guests and what fun you will have! My husband and I have been hosting the Progressive Dinner for many years and we always enjoy the evening tremendously. And, yes, I think I have just the book for you. We (joys of a family Kindle account) just finished THE HELLHOUND OF WALL STREET by Michael Perino, who teaches at St. John's University Law School; guaranteed there will be a graduate of St. John's at your dinner. The hellhound is Ferdinand Pecora, a Sicilian immigrant , a former New York City assistant district attorney, and yes, a summer resident of the lovely village of Sea Cliff. The story opens on a cold March day in 1933- the inauguration day of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The country was at its lowest point- unemployment was over 25%, thirty-eight states had closed their banks, malnourished children and adults filled the streets, and tents were all about, the only homes many of these people knew. Pecora as special counsel to the Congressional banking committee just days before had revealed the causes of the Great Crash of 1929. The scandals he unearthed and the reforms he was able to put in place were to change everything. The author does a masterful job describing the power for good that this one man wielded. Much to talk about, much to think about!