ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13

People & Places

Books

Love and loss in ‘Breathe’ ‘People We Keep’ is a search for own family

By Donna Edwards he People We Keep’ by Allison Larkin (Gal- ‘Tlery) “The People We Keep” is not a book to pick up lightly — it will make you fall in love with the char- acters, it will break your heart, it will make you laugh and cry and feel all the emotions the characters feel through author Allison Larkin’s tremendous talent for bringing characters to life. The heroine, April, is the kind of hard worker who deserves the world but can’t see that she deserves it. A fi ght with her oft-absent father that becomes physi- cal pushes 16-year-old April to her breaking point. She dreams of performing and decides to leave Little River, the small town where a motorless motorhome served as her home for years. Ithaca promises a new life. The New York college town opens the doors for April to fi nally have the kind of deep, meaningful relationships that Little River and her parents left her devoid of. But how long can it last? “The People We Keep” is Larkin about a girl fi nding her place in the world. It’s about creating a family for your- self when your own family has failed you. It’s about learning to accept the love you never thought you deserved, and it’s worth every gut-wrenching turn along the way. Emmy Award-winning actor Leslie Jordan, (left), and award-winning singer/songwriter Travis Howard, (right), perform at the National Association of Drug Court Interspersed with lyrics, Larkin’s writing is simple Professionals’ RISE21 Opening Ceremony, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on Sunday, Aug 15, in Oxon Hill, MD. NADCP is the leading yet profound. The novel demands that readers pause justice reform organization for the establishment and training of treatment courts. (AP) to digest it in spite of the urge to keep devouring eve- ry word. April is a diffi cult character to leave behind, but “The People We Keep” gratifi es readers with a keenly satisfying ending that feels real and beautiful and worth the tears shed to get there. Music ❑ ❑ ❑ “Breathe,” by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco) Joyce Carol Oates’ novel is a story of love, loss and loneliness that opens with a wife urging, willing, ‘Pressure Machine’ is slower, more laid back album begging her dying husband to breathe. “Nothing matters except: he must not die,” the novel begins. “He must breathe. He must not stop breathing.” Killers detour into new sonic landscape Written after Oates’ husband, Charlie Gross, died NEW YORK, Aug 16, (AP): The latest some high school seniors were killed after The Killers’ last album, “Im- in 2019 and dedicated to him, “Breathe” is the highly album from The Killers started, unusu- by a train. All these years later, he was ploding the Mirage,” and means the affecting story of a woman facing the unimaginable ally, with silence — lyrics fi rst. stunned that the incident carried such band has put out two albums that they loss of her spouse. As the pandemic gripped the nation strong emotions when he began writ- haven’t been able to play live for fans. Michaela McManus, the younger second wife of in 2020, words began spilling out of ing. But “Pressure Machine” puts some distinguished Harvard science historian Gerard Mc- frontman Brandon Flowers, creating The song that emerged — “Quiet pressure on the band to fi nd a way to Manus, has relocated with him from Cambridge, little poems based on growing up dur- Town” — is like something from incorporate its slower, more introspec- Massachusetts, to Santa Tierra, New Mexico, where ing the 1990s in the tiny, remote Utah Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” in tive songs into a set list that usually he has an eight-month residency at the Institute for town of Nephi. Poems, it turns out, that its sympathetic yet clear-eyed look at features sonic bombast and sly humor. Advanced Research. were perfect for lyrics. a small town and their sorrows. The “These are much more laid back The couple’s temporary home state is strange and “I’d never had so many lyrics and fi rst line of “Quiet Town” begins with and there’s a lot of restraint on these beautiful with its “battalions of sculpted clouds” and stories come out of me the way that “A couple of kids got hit by a Union This cover image released by Gallery new songs,” said Flowers. “So we’re “dark-bruised El Greco skies that drew the eye help- they did for this record,” said Flow- Pacifi c train” and later has an image not sure exactly how that’s going to lessly upward.” The surreal quality of the place be- Books shows ‘The People We Keep’ ers. “It was a breath of fresh air, and of parents weeping at eulogies: “With by Allison Larkin. (AP) work.” comes a mirror of the uncharted path they are thrust it was a blessing for me. I don’t know their daughters and sons/Laying there The band is kicking around ideas, upon when Gerard develops a cough and falls ill with that it’s something that I’m going to be lifeless in their suits and gowns/Some- from separate concerts — “you could a mysterious disease. able to rely on for every record, but, body’s been keepin’ secrets.” do one gig at the enormo-dome and Within weeks after the couple’s arrival in New man, I took it.” While Flowers’ portraits of hope- then next door at like Pete’s bar for the Mexico, Gerard is hospitalized at the Santa Tierra The rest of the band took on the less dreamers, morally dubious police Cancer Center. smaller songs,” said Vannucci — to challenge of turning those poems into offi cers, kids’ feet dangling in the building a smaller stage for “Pressure “In room 771,” Michaela refl ects, “it is wonderful songs and the result is the 11-track stream, dissatisfi ed husbands and de- to see how oxygen seeps silently into the husband’s Machine” songs. “Pressure Machine,” marking a new voted church-goers is very specifi c, it This is an unsure time for the con- nostrils through a translucent plastic tube. Wonderful smaller sonic direction for the band can speak to many. cert industry, with COVID-19 vac- to see the husband is alive and breathing. ” known for arena-ready rock songs like But Gerard’s condition deteriorates quickly and “Mr. Brightside” and “The Man.” Instrumentation cination rates slumping as the highly soon he is in hospice. “It was our fi rst time not being “I don’t think you have to be or even contagious delta virus variant sweeps After her husband dies, the story of marital love ashamed to say the words ‘concept know about this town to get it,” said the nation. The outlook once bright at morphs into a tale of horror as Michaela is thrust into album,’” said drummer Ronnie Van- Vannucci. “The beautiful thing about the beginning of summer is less opti- a hallucinatory world, squeezed by what she calls the Lindell Noem nucci. “This time we had a focus. We this record is that it is universal, it does mistic. “grief-vise.” had an objective. We knew what it was speak to a lot of people.” The Killers are scheduled to be part Michaela imagines receiving a voice mail on her supposed to be. And it was our job to Adding to an almost journalistic feel of the mega-concert on Aug. 21 to cell phone that says Gerard did not die, it was all Variety sort of build around that and create a is that threaded throughout the album celebrate New York City, performing a mistake. She also believes she sees Gerard in the home for it.” are recorded snippets of interviews alongside Paul Simon, Patti Smith, parking lot outside the offi ce building where she is The songs are told from the perspec- with townsfolk made for the band dur- Bruce Springsteen, LL Cool J, Elvis visiting a grief counselor. MIDDLEBURY, Vt: The town of Middle- tive of various townspeople, examin- ing a recent one-day stop in Nephi. Costello and Earth, Wind & Fire. Michaela becomes increasingly troubled by sculp- bury is celebrating the end of a four-year ing everything from “hillbilly heroin” One man talks about spirits in the hills, They’re also due to play the Firefl y tures of indigenous demon-gods in the home the in- rail-bridge construction project next week- to homophobia, strained marriages, and a woman recounts a horrifi c acci- Music Festival in Delaware and the stitute loaned them. And a persistent voice, presum- end with live music, circus arts performers failure and depression. dent to a horse. Sandjam Music Festival in Florida. ably Gerard’s, continually calls her to join him. and sidewalk sales. “Most of these are actual characters “It became just as important as the “Fingers crossed that we can keep As the book nears the end, time begins tumbling The event called Foolaroo takes place that I grew up with or experiences that instrumentation to have these inter- making advancements and people will forward in a chaotic manner. It’s hard to know what Sunday, Aug 21, from 1 pm to 5 pm, the happened during my time in Nephi,” stitials and these people speaking and get vaccinated, and we can turn a cor- is real and what is imagined as the novel rushes to- Burlington Free Press reported. said Flowers, who was infl uenced by sort of inviting you into this place,” ner,” said Flowers. “We were pretty There will also be Middlebury Money Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, said Flowers. “It was such a last- optimistic a couple of months ago. ward its shocking and ambiguous ending. giveaways, and free activities such as giant ❑ ❑ ❑ Ohio” and “Pastures of Heaven” by minute decision, and I’m really grate- And now it’s starting to darken a lit- lawn games, a tie-dye station, and dunk John Steinbeck. ful that we did it.” tle bit. But we can’t wait to get back “Unthinkable” by Brad Park (Thomas & Mer- tank. When Flowers was in eighth grade, “Pressure Machine” comes a year on stage.” Attendees are encouraged to dine at local cer) restaurants and after dinner go to the Town In the opening of “Unthinkable,” Brad Parks’s lat- Hall Theater for the comedy show at 7 pm. est thriller, lawyer turned house-husband Nate Love- (AP) South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem said last possibility of election fraud by adding, “If High School and spoke to Juan Purkey, joy awakens in an ornate bedroom hours after being ❑ ❑ ❑ month she suggested Lindell hold the event there is fraud, we should know the facts.” who told him he had ridden a school bus drugged and kidnapped. in her state. (AP) to the facility, news outlets reported, citing He is then informed that he is the guest of Vanslow SIOUX FALLS, SD: MyPillow chief ex- She said that when she heard Lindell ❑ ❑ ❑ an arrest report from the Grainger County DeGrange, leader of a secret society known as the ecutive Mike Lindell says he was aggres- was looking for a place to hold the sympo- Sheriff’s Department. RUTLEDGE, Tenn: A 29-year-old Ten- Praesidium. It seems that DeGrange is able to catch sively poked by someone seeking a selfi e sium, she told him: “Why don’t you do that Purkey had been standing on the side of in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this week, in South Dakota? We would love to host nessee man who rode on a school bus and the road with papers and a binder when a occasional glimpses of the future and has dedicated walked into a high school with students his life to using that power to prevent major disasters. which led him to say he was attacked. guests.’” substitute bus driver saw him and thought Lindell, who hosted an election fraud Noem did not attend the event. She has been charged with trespassing, offi cials he was a student and picked him up, The latest threat DeGrange has detected is embod- symposium in the city this week, told the acknowledged last month that Biden is the said. Grainger County School District Superin- ied in the person of an ambitious yet idealistic at- conservative talk show FlashPoint that he “duly elected president,” but raised the A deputy was called to Grainger County tendent James Atkins said in a statement. torney who is suing a coal-fi red plant responsible for was approached by a man who wanted a “It is not uncommon for the substitute large numbers of lung cancer cases. If she succeeds, photo on Wednesday night. not to know any of the students,” Atkins power companies around the world will turn to a new “He put his arm around and stuck his said. “It was the most unique situation we anti-pollution technology that will inadvertently trig- fi nger, it was so much pressure, I just knew have ever seen.” ger an environmental catastrophe and kill a billion if I did anything something more was After he walked into the high school people. coming,” Lindell said, gesturing to his side. with other students, a teacher stopped him The only way this can be averted, DeGrange has “He jammed it in where it was just piercing and took him to the offi ce and police were divined, is if Nate, and only Nate, shoots her to death. pain.” called, Atkins said. The lawyer in question is Jenny Welker — Nate’s Lindell had told the crowd at the election He said school offi cials followed all wife. fraud symposium that said he was still in safety protocols but that a safety team Initially, Nate suspects this is an elaborate plot by pain and wanted everyone to know about would be meeting to address additional the power company and demands that Lorton Rog- the evil in the world, the Sioux Falls Argus security protocols. ers, the man who kidnapped him, provide proof of Leader reported. It wasn’t immediately clear whether DeGrange’s powers. But when he gets it — in the The Sioux Falls Police Department said Purkey has an attorney. (AP) it is investigating a report of an assault at a ❑ ❑ ❑ form of several accurate predictions including the hotel near the symposium. Police spokes- precise time and date of a tornado — Nate is con- man Sam Clemens has declined to identify RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif: Traffi c vinced. the victim, citing Marsy’s Law, a state was halted on a Southern California high- So what will he do? Will he let a billion people constitutional amendment that protects way when a bull that was grazing along the die, or will he shoot the mother of his two children? crime victims. shoulder wandered into lanes. Parks has taken a risk with this novel. It works Lindell announced the symposium in Video aired by ABC 7 showed the large only if readers can suspend their disbelief enough July, saying he hoped hundreds of “cyber- bull meandering on northbound Interstate to swallow its central premise. Rather than present forensics experts” would attend and back 15 in Rancho Cucamonga with two DeGrange’s power as paranormal, the author offers up his claims that voting machines were California Highway Patrol vehicles in slow a pseudo-scientifi c rational for it that may not satisfy hacked to fl ip votes for former president pursuit. some readers. Those who can accept it are in for a Donald Trump to President Joe Biden in Highway patrol offi cers stopped traffi c treat. 2020. and eventually corralled the animal off the The story is inventive, well written, fast-paced, Almost all of the legal challenges casting highway northeast of Los Angeles. doubt on the outcome of the election have About an hour later Caltrans tweeted that and fi lled with twists. And chapters alternating be- been dismissed or withdrawn and many the bull had been “safely recovered .... And tween Nate’s and Jenny’s points of view add depth claims of fraud debunked. State and federal Irish musician Bono and his wife Alison Hewson walk up the red carpet as they fed.” All lanes were reopened. and tension. (AP) election offi cials have said there’s no arrive at the National Theatre, during the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival in Sara- It wasn’t clear where the bull had come evidence of widespread fraud. jevo, Bosnia, Sunday, Aug. 15. (AP) from or how it had gotten loose. (AP)