Thursday 1/9
Antarctica ice core storage cave, photo from AP, posted at the guardian.com:
Headline and photo from nypost.com: “Future is now CES 2025: Robot bartenders, flying cars, automaton cats and dogs lead way at tech fest.”
Strategy, from NYP: “Maryland lottery winner scores $500K betting on numbers of ‘rude’ driver’s license plate number.”
Fire hydrants not working? Heads should roll. Meanwhile, headline from foxnews.com: “Los Angeles wildfires: Jamie Lee Curtis donates $1 million to relief efforts as destruction continues.” Kudos.
Born in the coastal town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, Keith Ablow was magna cum laude at Brown, then earned a medical degree from Johns Hopkins. He practiced psychiatry for years. He also wrote columns for major publications, appeared on many TV programs and even hosted his own show. He resigned as a member of the American Psychiatric Association in 2011 in protest of its tacit support of transgender surgery. His medical license was suspended in 2019. Accused of sexual and unethical misconduct towards patients, he was deemed an “immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare.” He has drawn criticism for his conservative opinions. He has written twelve works of non-fiction and six novels. I just finished his first, Denial, published in ’98. Set in Lynn, Massachusetts in the mid-’90’s, it’s the story of a psychiatrist/ consultant to the police trying to track a murderer who mutilates victims. All the major characters have significant issues, most abused as children, beaten in the protagonist’s case. He seeks relief through sex, coke and booze. The mystery is standard. What sets the novel apart from others of the genre is the psychological insight. Here are examples: “Some people feel guilty because of what they think, not what they do…” “…some people hurt so much they can’t take what they need, even when someone wants to give it to them.” “…How many people would I have to hurt before I allowed myself to be hurt?” “…He avoids feeling pain by inflicting it. He turns his suffering inside out so he can feel powerful instead of weak…” “…Was I really as rageful toward women as he, just less straightforward about it?” “…the chemical equivalent of having a shoulder to cry on, without ever having to cry to anyone.” “I could still let another human being inside the maze of my existence. And that gave me hope of finding my way out.” “We are, all of us, crippled and twisted. Most of us strive to keep our grotesqueries out of sight and mind. Our suffering is transformed by an alchemy of the soul into addiction, ulcers, strokes, hatred, even war…” Denial is a grim, hardcore, uncompromising depiction of the worst of the human condition. Anyone squeamish about kinky sex, violence and substance abuse should pass. The prose and dialogue are solid, the 263 pages of the hardcover edition reading like less. The most surprising aspect, given the author’s political views, is its liberal bias. The novel champions forgiveness. Its main flaw is not stating that the many characters, despite what they have suffered, have not resorted to murder. Only one has, and I doubt I would ever be forgiving of such crimes, no matter what the person has suffered. 70 users at Amazon have rated Denial, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 3.25. The same character is the protagonist of all six of Ablow’s novels, the last published in 2005. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed Denial, but I’m glad I read it. Facts from Wiki, photos from Google Images:
Fingers crossed, hoping the wind scales back tomorrow.
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