Memoir Archives — Mostly Mystery Reviews

04/25/202204/24/2022

Travels with Maurice

Check out Travels with Maurice by Gary Orleck.

“Every Woman Wanted to Be with Him Every Man Wanted to Be Him.” – Gary Orleck

A simple “thank you” led to the trip of a lifetime, along with an unbreakable friendship of two opposites. See them come of age while rubbing elbows with the rich and famous like the Shah and Queen of Iran, The Who, Paul McCartney, Brigitte Bardot, and even Shirley Temple Black. An unbelievable story, yet it’s true because nobody could make this story up. Find out things the rich and famous do not want you to know.

Meet the Author:

I grew up in Lincoln, R.I. which is a blue-collar town, went to Babson University School of Business, and graduated with a BSBA in 1966. I worked my way around the USA for six months.

Two years later, I traveled with the son of the richest man in the world – covering 19,988 miles, twelve countries, and ten weeks.

Then, I went to work at Broadway Tire Inc. Twenty years later, I bought the business. I then owned and operated it for thirty more years before retiring in 2016!

In between, I met and married my wife Ronna and had two beautiful children, and now I have five grandchildren!

The love of travel remained with me, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited 75 countries – each in a unique style – all my own way, using much of which I learned in my travels with Maurice in 1968.

Book Title: TRAVELS WITH MAURICE AN OUTRAGEOUS ADVENTURE IN EUROPE IN 1968 by Gary Orleck
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 250 pages
Genre: Travel Memoir
Publisher: TOUCHPOINT PRESS
Publication Date: April 5, 2022.
Tour dates: April 12 to May 2
Content Rating: G

Buy it here.

Giveaway:
Enter to win an ebook copy of TRAVELS WITH MAURICE AN OUTRAGEOUS ADVENTURE IN EUROPE IN 1968 (one winner) (ends May 9)

TRAVELS WITH MAURICE Book Tour Giveaway

07/27/202007/19/2020

Astrophysics and Widowhood

I never thought I would enjoy a book about astrophysics and widowhood. These are subjects mostly unfamiliar to me. In The Smallest Lights in the Universe, Sara Seager dealt with both subjects intelligently.

I enjoyed being invited into Sara Seager’s life. I especially enjoyed learning about Sara’s work on exoplanets at MIT and elsewhere. Her work on the postponed Starshade project with NASA and others was also an enlightening read.

Having helped someone close through the grief process of losing a spouse, I am glad that Sara found support in The Widows of Concord. Again and again, these women helped her through the dark period of her widowhood. As Sara remarks, “Up and down, backward and forward. There is nothing remotely linear about recovery.” I would have liked to learn a little more about Jessica, Diane, and Christine. Sara hired these women to help with housework and her sons. Sara mentions that she became close friends with them, even having Jessica live awhile with her and her sons. I also wonder if Sara ever sought professional help about where she fits on the autism spectrum.

Overall, a nicely paced read about a slice in the life of a most interesting person. As I mentioned previously, astrophysics and widowhood seem like extremely divergent subjects about which to write and talk about in the same breath. Ms. Seager does it well.

I received a free copy of The Smallest Lights in the Universe in exchange for an honest review.

To read about another unique memoir that I have reviewed: Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichel.

07/20/202007/18/2020

Book Collecting Lust and Memoir Madness

Over the past few weeks, I fed my book collecting lust and memoir madness by buying several first editions of mysteries. Plus, I read several memoirs—most notably three by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. They use a light, upbeat style to shed light on their foray into book collecting. The Goldstones’ adventure into book lust began when Nancy tried to find a nice copy of War and Peace as a birthday present for Lawrence. As they fall more in love with book hunting, their ventures take them to Boston, New York, and Chicago. The books, Used & Rare, Slightly Chipped, and Warmly Inscribed, venture into different aspects of book collecting as the Goldstones become more attuned to the language, types of dealers, and the issues and states of the books themselves.

They visit dealers whose brick-and-mortar premises are hushed shrines in which the “hot spot” wares (such as first editions of Charles Dickens or Herman Melville) cost in the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. More moderately priced first-edition books of other writers at other dealers meant the Goldstones could satisfy their book lust. The Goldstones also visit dealers who sell out of their homes, barns, and outbuildings. Trips to antiquarian book fairs in Boston and New York soon follow. As does a visit to Clarence Wolf (Nancy’s book-collecting grandfather) in Chicago to get some pointers. And in later years, they visit Printers Row Book Festival in Chicago. Also on tap is a visit to a book auction at Swann Galleries (where they were outbid). Plus, a visit to Sotheby’s New York for a chance to bid on books owned by the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson.

Technology and the New Age of Book Collecting

Technology has grown apace since the writing of the Goldstones’ memoirs, many of the dealers they frequented now offer their books online through their own websites and aggregate sites such as www.abebooks.com and www.biblio.com. (Get a chuckle from the Goldstones’ opinion of the just-burgeoning computer technology of the time sprinkled throughout their memoirs.)

I am a nascent book collector. In this age of viral pandemics, I wonder if I will have the pleasure of browsing the shelves of a used-and-rare bookstore like the Goldstones. Well, I can always have online book collecting lust and memoir madness to tide me over.