What I have done (one cent)

1. I finished two books. One, I enjoyed. One, I didn't.

I enjoyed David Horowitz's memoir, "Radical Son". Here goes: Horowitz has led a number of lives. First as a son of New York communists, raised in the 1940s and 1950s, he was a part of an interesting historical community. Second, as an intellectual prodigy and a would be philosopher, and published academic author. Third, as a husband and father of four. Fourth, as a California radical, involved with all the other California radicals, and especially with members of the Black Panthers. Fifth, as a left wing journalist. Sixth, with his partner Peter Collier, a mainstream biographer of the Rockefeller, Kennedy and Ford families. Seventh, as a victim of a mid-life crisis, leaving his wife and family and having a few affairs, and two more unsuccessful marriages. Finally, as a right wing author and pundit, from the time of the Reagan administration onward.

Horowitz needs ideology, it appears. He goes from Marxism to radical Conservatism with hardly a stop in between. He was equally devoted to both.

Horowitz also needs people, as he himself admits. His Marxist, his intellectual, his left-wing, his Black Panther, his biographical subject, and his right wing friends. All high powered. He was always right in the middle of everything.

None of this makes for deciding that Horowitz is an admirable character. But all of it makes for good reading. And especially interesting are the many pages devoted to the Black Panthers. For anyone interested in left wing California politics of the 1960s and 1970s, the book is essential.

The other book is a short novel called (in English) "Dreaming Jungles" by French author Michel Rio. It is just over 100 pages.

There is an article in this morning's newspaper that says that the French think too much. And that is the case with this short book (that seems like a long book). A story of two naturalists looking at chimpanzee society in Africa 100 years ago (one man, one woman; one English, one French) becomes a vehicle for discussing Darwin and natural selection, and religion and art, and science and philosophy and literature. The story line probably runs 25 of the 100 pages. The rest is all discussion.

Why is there so much of this sort of speculation in France? Is it the language, the red wine, or the cheese?

2. The new establishment. When Sirius Coffee Shop closed on Connecticut Avenue at the Van Ness Metro spot, I was concerned that it would be replaced by an establishment lacking in personality. I should not have worried. It is becoming a Starbucks. What a great thing. Now, residents of this area will not have to go four or five blocks distant to find a Starbucks. God works in wondrous ways. (Message to God: there are still three or four blocks in DC without a Starbucks. Please keep your omnipresent eyes open)

3. The plays. I saw two. First, at Forum yesterday, I saw Don DeLillo's "Valparaiso", about (apparently) a lonely, disconnected man who had to take a business trip to Valparaiso, Indiana, and concoted a story about going instead by accident to Valparaiso, Chile, so as to gether 24-7 media attention. Which he did. But which did not make him feel any more connected. An interesting premise, but I would like to see the playwright working a little harder to sharpen the play and its premise (but don't I always).

And today, I saw "Margherita" as part of the Capital Fringe festival, the story of Mussolini and his long time Jewish mistress, Margherita Sarfatti. This is a great (and important) story, but the playwright blew it by once again coming up with an unlikely situation (Mussolini paying visits to his now ex-mistress in order to retrieve fifteen years of love letters). The best part of the play was the acting of Marian Licha as the title character; the worst was Paul McLane who tried to pass muster as Benito Mussolini.