Julie acknowledges she has a potty mouth, which I could have done without, but I liked the book rather much. I felt ashamed of myself for judging Julia Child (and others) so superficially on looks and, in Julia's case, her raucous laughter. I hereby acknowledge that I am an ass, and I know it.
"To San Rasario in the fall, the ganja came down from the mountains in two-hundred-poiund bales. Even covered with ripe bananas in the backs of the trucks, it sweetened the dusty air with the autumnal aroma of marijuana."
BONUS QUOTE:
"Ought to learn some Spanish, he thought. No, to hell with that. If he got out of this, he wasn't even going to Taco Bell anymore."
Tiller Galloway is hired to find a nazi submarine.
QUOTE:
"To San Rasario in the fall the ganja came down from the mountains in two-hundred-poiund bales. Even covered with ripe bananas in the backs of the trucks it sweetened the dusty air along the roads with the autumnal aroma of marijuana."
Old timer C.T. Halverson finds corruption in oil-country Pennsylvania.
QUOTE:
"That was the worst part of getting old. You got so goddamned setimental. Nobody cared about the stuff he remembered. It wasn't important, just people who worked and had kids and got old and died. So why did it feel important, precious and irreplaceable, and as if somehow it must mean something?"
Dan Lenson goes into Baghdad during the Gulf War looking for Saddam's ultimate weapon. The Laws Of Patrolling 1. Look cool. 2. Don't get lost. 3. If you get lost, remember to look cool.
Dan Lenson ends up you-know-where on the TAG Bravo team evaluating a joint naval exercise. Then the North Koreans get all cranky.
Words I Had To Look Up:
the tallest, strackest Korean (pg. 131) -- Squared-away, ready, looking-good soldier. Or sailor, in this case. eductor (pg. 256) -- Some sort of fancy device for pumping flooded compartments in a ship, in this case.
Dan Lehman is, detached?, from the Navy, working in Washington D.C. as head of a drug interdiction team for the White House. Through the book he pretty much ends up doing everything ELSE, however!
Words I Had To Look Up:
encaustic tile (pg. 31) -- Ceramic tiles with a decoration made of different colors of clay inlaid into their surface. Voda gazifie (pg. 115) -- First word is "water", can't find definition for the second word. Scrum (pg. 287) -- The formation used in the setplay restarting play after a knock-on or forward pass.
Quote:
Dan tries out his French -- Fevier made a half-concealed grimace, as if tasting a bad peanut. "You will excuse me, but perhaps we should conduct our business in English." (pg. 146)
Quote:
Is this the correct word, "deserts? "We have been fortunate beyond our deserts." (pg. 112)
Dan Lenson travels off to Moscow, goes for a swim in the Moskva, a little pirate action in Asia, then a another swim, or something, in and around the Persian Gulf. He gets a pretty bauble from the Frenchies, but not much recognition from his own.
Read:
6/2009
Words I Had To Look Up:
natatorium (pg. 81) -- A structurally separate building containing a swimming pool.
W.T. Halversen is involved in a strike at Thunder Oil in 1936. A prequel to the others in the Hemlock County series.
QUOTE:
Remembering that, he head-faked, waited till the other had his haymaker on the rails, and ducked under it and hammered him in the face, left, left, right to the ribs. hard, because he wasn't going to let anybody get away with that kind of talk about his girl.