Alvah's Books

Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street
By Timothy Louis Baker
Strategic Book Publishing 2009
103 pages
$21.50

 Reviewed by Randall Radic

Not too long ago, Cormac McCarthy wrote The Road.  It was a great book and McCarthy is a genius.  In 2006, Vintage Books – which is a part of the Random House empire – published McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited.  The publisher described The Sunset Limited as “a novel in dramatic form.”  Translation:  it was written in dialogue as if for the theater.  Whatever one cared to call it, the technique was effective.  Especially in the hands of someone as gifted as Cormac McCarthy. 

Timothy Louis Baker did just the opposite in his new novel.  It’s called Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street.  And to all intents and purposes Baker has – in effect – taken a dramatic screenplay and turned it into a novel.  And like McCarthy, Baker is neat-handed as he weaves a story of domestic terrorists plotting to take over the government. 

The terrorists finance their conspiracy by means of a continual criminal enterprise – the manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal substances.  Drugs.  To reveal much more of the story would spoil it.  So what happens and how it all turns out won’t be mentioned.  However, the plot is tightly wrapped and rockets along to an explosive ending.

If you want something to compare it to, think Reservoir Dogs, the bloody, intricate and action-packed movie made by Tarantino some years ago.  Which means that Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street would make a hecka-good movie.  In fact, the reviewer suggests Jean Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert and Rutger Hauer would be perfect as the principal bad guys.  Ridley Scott or Tarantino or Rodriguez could direct, adding their personal chromatic touches to an already dark story.  The interplay between directorial coloration and thematic blackness would produce a subtle turbulence. 

Baker’s growth as a writer is evident in Crime and Drugs.  He’s gone from the charm of miscellaneous stream-of-consciousness to the sharper images of a more traditional style of writing.  And his ear for dialogue is skillfully displayed in this latest effort.  Which means it’s an easy book to read, because it resonates with action and a linguistic sartorial flair.  Which means it’s all dressed up and it has someplace to go.  

On the Read-O-Meter, which ranges from one star (pitiful) to five stars (startling), Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street comes in at 5 stars.

Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen
Edited by Ruth Reichl
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009
1,009 pages
$40.00

When the news broke that the magazine Gourmet Today was going kaput I was heartbroken. This was one cooking magazine that I always meant to subscribe, but never got around to it. For 2010, I vowed that I would give myself this relatively inexpensive gift and then, well, Gourmet Today is no more.

However, I was easily consoled that Ruth Reichl, the editor-in-chief, had just put out a 1000+ page cookbook and even at the pricey $40 I thought I would get it and add it to the cookbook collection. The recipes in the magazine never let me down and I doubted the cookbook would, but prior to buying it I was able to preview it thanks to my wonderful local library. As soon as I opened it and went directly to the dessert section, I knew that I had to have this book. 

Apart from the sweets section what makes this cookbook so good? Well, if you’re like me at all and wonder why a recipe calls for sea salt, table salt, and kosher salt, Reichl provides a great sidebar about the differences right from the very get-go, and now I have all three. It’s information of this nature that makes reading a cookbook fun, interesting, and, hopefully, makes one a better cook.

Typically, I like to review a cookbook after I try three recipes and then give it my stamp of approval, but so far I’ve tried only one. Here, at chez moi, we’re trying to eat less meat and more vegetables and soy products. The one recipe we’ve tried so far was Grilled Tofu Sauteed with Asian Greens. It’s a simple dish to prepare. The only labor-intensive part of the recipe is making sure that you’ve pressed all the moisture out of the firm tofu (keep a full roll of paper towels on hand, you’ll need at least half a roll).

The first time I made this, I didn’t have enough paper towels and the tofu was a little springy. The second time, I followed the directions to the letter and the tofu seemed to better absorb the marinade’s flavor, plus it had more of a consistency or bulk to it.

What’s next on the menu? Tough question. There are too many recipes and I want to try them all. Maybe sometime this week, we’ll have Wuxi Spareribs, Hunan Scallion Pancakes, and Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls.