Dear Great Book Guru,  You mentioned a few weeks ago that you were starring in a performance of “Julius Caesar” to be performed here in Sea Cliff. When will it be since I certainly want to attend?  And,  is there a book you would recommend I read in preparation?  Smitten with Shakespeare

Dear Smitten,  Yes, the Silly Shakespeare Company under the very able direction of Elizabeth Sehring will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this summer with a performance of “Julius Caesar”  Saturday, July 21 at 7pm with a dress rehearsal on Friday also at 7pm both in Spooky (Elm) Park on Dayton and Elm Streets. While my role is small, yet meaningful, the play itself is an amazing visual  spectacle  with a very talented cast.  Definitely attend and bring a blanket or beach chair and be prepared for a evening of  great fun and much pathos! The book I recommend you read is Robert Caro’s THE PASSAGE OF POWER.   Just as Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a study in the  passage of power from one leader to another, so too is Caro’s biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson- a detailed study of the days and months that followed the assassination of JFK and how LBJ transformed the country with his power to control the minds and actions of his fellow politicians. Caro devotes much time to the bitter feud of Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy, both powerful figures with long standing grievances who are brought together by a brutal  assassination.  Julius Caesar, Brutus, Marc Antony, and Cassius all can be seen as prototypical characters in  Caro’s modern day tragedy. A chilling, informative read!

Dear Great Book Guru,  I had such a wonderful time at the Beach Palapalooza this weekend. The Beach Committee deserves a round of applause for orchestrating this great event. While listening to the beautiful music of Rich Boehm, one of the event’s many, many talented performers, I overheard someone mentioning a book she was reading for a book club; it was a mystery set in New York City in the 1850’s based on an actual murder trial. I love that time period in NYC history. Do you know this book?  Fixated on the 1850’s

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Dear Fixated,  I too enjoyed the Palapalooza tremendously. I was there off and on from morning until the 11pm closing…great fun!  The book you are interested in is a favorite of mine: 31 BOND STREET by Ellen Horan. Based on a sensational murder case,  this historical novel  explores a time of enormous wealth and crushing poverty,  the tensions brought about by the recently passed Fugitive Slave Act which seemed posed to undo the successes  of the Underground Railroad, the dubious ethics of sensational journalists, and the massive corruption of city police and politicians.  New York City is described in such detail that you quickly come to realize the city is a major character in this  novel.  While our sympathies lie with the defendant, the mysterious Emma Cunningham and her  idealistic attorney Henry Clinton,  we are still shaken by the brutality of the dentist Harvey Burdell’s murder. Although the story takes place 150 years ago, there is a strange sense of the familiar throughout. A compelling read!  

Dear Great Book Guru,   I hope you can help me- everywhere I go in the beautiful village of Sea Cliff I am assaulted by visual spam.  Our streets and sidewalks are cluttered with signs advertising services, events, real estate, politicians, garage sales….on and on and growing in number every day. Is there anything we can do to stop this scourge on our landscape and, if not, can you at least recommend a good book to distract me?    Down on Signs

Dear Down on Signs,   Oh, how I agree with you and let us hope the populace will rise up against these intrusive blemishes but until this happens, I do have a wonderfully distracting book to recommend- GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. A psychological thriller of high literary caliber, this book is the story of a marriage gone really, really bad  in an economy gone really, really bad. With lost jobs, foreclosed McMansions, failing industries and empty storefronts as  backdrop, former Brooklynites Nick and Amy Dunne prepare to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in Nick’s hometown of North Carthage, Missouri.  The day’s festivities take a dark turn when Nick returns home to find Amy missing, the house in disarray, and a life built on lies beginning to implode . The reader is cleverly manipulated throughout as the story shifts in time and perspective until a shocking but very satisfying conclusion.  A good read, indeed!

Dear Great Book Guru,  This weekend is the start of the Fourth of July week celebration here in Sea Cliff. I am so looking forward to the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Village Green  and I would very much like to read something that will be in keeping with the day's celebration. Any suggestions?                     Fan of the Fourth

Dear Fan of the Fourth, My friend Bob Haim who is a great student of history  told me about a wonderful book that might be just what you are looking for….FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis. I enjoyed it immensely and I am sure you will too. The Founding Brothers were the  intellectual and political giants  of the American Revolution.  Ellis takes six events that he sees as defining moments for the new nation. Beginning with the famous Burr/Hamilton duel, he shows the underlying tensions and tenets that bound these men together but also tore them asunder. He describes in exquisite detail the secret  dinner  hosted by Jefferson and attended by Madison and Hamilton that determined Washington, D.C. as the  nation's capital . Benjamin Franklin stars in the chapter entitled "The Silence" in which the question of slavery's place in the new nation is quietly put aside- and Franklin silenced because of his abolitionist views.  The complex relationship of Adams and Jefferson is analyzed in the final chapter  where the two are reunited after years of  brutal hostility  and see each other once again as "brothers."  Highly readable and very informative, this book is a perfect choice for the Fourth of July week.

P.S. So many exciting things are happening over the next few days I am hard pressed to choose which to recommend but….  Thursday, June 28 at 7pm the beloved Sunset Serenade concerts begin and will continue every week through the summer. Sunday, July 1 at 11am is the First Annual Sea Cliff Pet Parade. Bring your pet and yourself to Memorial (Sunset) Park for a march down Sea Cliff Avenue. "Happy Birthday USA" will be celebrated Tuesday, July 3 at 6pm at the Children's Library with cake, song, and treats for all ages. And, of course, on the Fourth of July at 10am on the Village Green-outside the Library- the Reading of the Declaration of Independence with music, toys, drama,  and refreshments!

Dear Great Book Guru, Sea Cliff Beach goes into its full seven day schedule this weekend and I am thrilled. There is no more beautiful place with its blue umbrellas, new pavilion, and sparkling sands-and I plan on spending many a day there reading and enjoying the sights. Do you have an exciting book to get me started?     #1 Fan of Sea Cliff Beach

Dear #1 Fan, I agree- Sea Cliff Beach has never looked better- thanks in no small part to Ann Koppel- Beach Manager Extraordinaire and Mayor Bruce Kennedy with his enthusiastic support of all things Beach!  And, yes, I do have a suggestion for your first beach read of the season: THE EXPATS by Chris Pavone. When Kate Moore and her husband Dexter decide to change the direction of their lives, they choose Luxembourg as their new home. Kate and Dexter both have been living lives of quiet duplicity and desperation. Unbeknownst to her husband and children, Kate has been a CIA operative for the last fifteen years, and Dexter's life too is steeped in mystery.   When the  Moores become part of a community of expats, all their secrets come back to haunt them especially when they are befriended by a rather imposing couple from the States who seem to have secrets of their own and a great deal of interest in  Kate and Dexter.  The book takes us for quick, scenic forays to Paris, the Swiss Alps, Austria, London, and Amsterdam with colorful details of shops, restaurants, and delicious meals abounding. While certainly a spy novel, EXPATS with its many plot twists, clever character development, and insights into the life of Americans abroad, is so much more.

Dear Great Book Guru,  I was at the great Red, White and Brass Concert sponsored by the Sea Cliff Civic Association and the Village of Sea Cliff last Sunday in Clifton Park. It was beautiful and while I was chatting with my friends Cee Wheeler  and Dennis Buckley,  someone said the next big Village event is the First Annual  Sea Cliff Bloomsday Walk. I had also heard this mentioned while I was on the Secret Garden Tour the day before.  Do you know any of the details and is there something I can do to prepare myself?                       Bloomsday Bon Vivant

Dear Bloomsday Bon Vivant,  I agree- it was a lovely concert- Phil Como  was the visionary that made it all happen- and yes, there will be a  Sea Cliff Bloomsday celebration this Saturday, June 16 at 8:30am (details are below).  Every  year around the world, Bloomsday is celebrated to commemorate James Joyce's novel ULYSSES which recounts in minute detail the events of June 16, 1904 as experienced by three Dubliners: Stephen Daedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom.  Joyce said " I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if one day the city suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book." It is not an easy book but certainly not as difficult as many would insist.  My favorite approach is to listen to it being read; Joyce was a talented musician and his prose is truly lyrical.  You can download it from Sea Cliff Library's website or borrow it on CD. Another approach is to follow a simple guide such as THE NEW BLOOMSDAY BOOK by Harry Blamires or ULYSSES AND US by Declan Kieberd.  Of course, Saturday's walk will be very illuminating and not to be missed!

First Annual Sea Cliff Bloomsday Celebration- meet at the Sea Cliff Water Tower aka Martello Tower on Saturday, June 16 at 8:30am for a walk through the pages of James Joyce's ULYSSES. There will be brief readings at each stop along  this Joycean jaunt which will end at Sea Cliff Beach aka Dublin Bay.

Dear Great Book Guru,  While jogging through our lovely Village, my  good friend John Kenny came upon a troupe of actors rehearsing at Spooky Park.  The play was Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and John  said it looked like a fine production.  Well, I am very excited  because Julius Caesar has always been a favorite  of mine. That the populace can so easily be swayed by  powerful oratory continues to fascinate me. Can you recommend a book that analyzes this phenomenon?   Piqued by Politics

Dear Piqued, Yes, I too find the politics of persuasion most interesting and I just finished a book that delves into that very topic. It is THE CANDIDATE by Samuel Popkin and  while he broadly addresses crowd manipulation, he focuses on  three presidential candidates: George H.W.Bush Sr., Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton and why all three lost public support.  Popkin  begins by spotlighting candidates who seemed surefire winners at the outset  (Thomas Dewey, Rudy Giuliani, Gary Hart) and then stumbled badly. He contrasts them with Ronald Reagan and his  amazing ability to win  the "hearts and souls" of the electorate. He compares challengers to speedboats that can navigate quickly with little or no waves and incumbents to battleships that must proceed slowly and cautiously but produce huge waves. From incumbents, the public looks for promises fulfilled  while challengers can get by simply with  promises of a rosy future.  For me, the most interesting  chapter  was on the public's seeming inability to vote in its own best interest when confronted with powerful, conflicting rhetoric. A very good primer for the upcoming November election!

Reminder: Sunday, June 10 at 3pm is the Flag Day Concert and Picnic at Clifton Park. This event is sponsored by the Village of Sea Cliff and the Sea Cliff Civic Association. Bring blankets, chairs, and lunch for a great afternoon!