Neshama’s Choices for July 29

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Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

The eponymous robot has come a long way from a blowup sex toy. Designed to fill a man’s every romantic fantasy plus providing companionship, Annie has an enhanced component—a bit of free will.  This makes her more interesting to Doug but also leads to considerable challenges that upset their relationship radically. Annie has to feel her way through conflicting impulses—after all, Doug owns her and the company that produced her has its own rules and demands. I grew to detest Doug and was glad for the denouement that rescues Annie from her virtual enslavement. Feminist fury cloaked in entertainment—a bracing mix.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

Back in the (very) old days—432 BC—Lampo and Galon, out-of- work potters in Sicily, devise a peculiar enterprise. Captured Athenians are wasting away in their rock quarry prison. Why not use their cultural background to create a one-time production of  two of  Euripides’s plays (Medea and the Trojan Women)-- something to pass the time? It’s a crazy concept but the two are determined and enterprising and they (kind of) pull it off against all odds. Reflections on the nature of war vs common humanity shape the story. The language is contemporary—Lennon is Irish—and the book is both hilarious and heartbreaking.  Took me a while to get into it but so glad I persisted despite the initial seeming clash of the archaic setting vs up -to- the -minute modes of expression.

The Morningside by Tea Obrecht

The title refers to the tower building—once elegant, now falling apart—where Silvia lives with her aunt Ena who manages the property. They’re refugees, hoping to be accepted by a repatriation project, but it’s not going well. Lots of fantastical mysteries abound in that building, especially the penthouse dweller Bezi, an artist, who’s often seen with her three huge dogs. Silvia’s witnessed those dogs turn into men a few times. Infinitely curious, Silvia joins forces with Lewis (one of his many names), a poet with a checkered past who runs a pirate radio station. A mix of folklore and dystopia runs though the story, intriguing and haunting in turn.

How to Read A Book by Monica Wood

Harriet volunteers in a prison, bringing all manner of literature to a very mixed bag of women. Turns out they like the classics more than best sellers—they have a fine nose for hypocrisy—and also get into poetry. Violet, a member of the group, is released and things get complicated as her paths cross with Harriet and with Frank, the widower whose wife was Violet’s victim. Frank, retired and depressed, has forgiven Violet, but she’s still plagued by guilt. She gets a job with a research project on parrot communication and discovers that she loves the work, as well as the Russian professor who heads it.   I could see where this was all going early on but enjoyed the book despite. Note: the parrot material is based on a true story about a bird named Alex which I greatly enjoyed.  The setting: Portland in Maine.