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'Chaos' is provocative

Published on Sunday, May 17, 2009

''You made your bed, now lie in it'' is what people sometimes say to mean, ''You must now bear the consequences of your immoderate actions.'' Voluntary Chaos, a novel by former Silver Lake resident Joan Jackson, is about a woman who makes her bed and finds out that lying in it isn't as comfortable as she'd hoped.

The story begins in early 1979. Sylvia Beekman is a housewife in Oregon, in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. She and her husband, Tom, have two nice young children, but his job as a salesman keeps him away a lot. A couple new to the neighborhood has been friendly, and the husband, Anthony, stops over often to use the phone during construction on his house. They're attracted, and soon begin an affair, making plans to divorce their spouses and marry.

Jackson devotes much space to the logistics of conducting an illicit relationship: Sylvia and Anthony can't afford to meet in hotels very often, so she sneaks him into her house while the kids are at school. She secures a divorce from Tom, but becomes frustrated when Anthony seems to be dragging his heels about confronting his wife.

There are other issues: Though Sylvia's family is supportive, her parents must deal with her schizophrenic brother (she and the children visit Silver Lake and Millersburg on a summer trip), and problems with money and visitation schedules are never-ending. Worse, is Anthony really the man she wanted after all?

Jackson excels at these details, and at maintaining the morals and character of the early '80s (condos and cable TV are must-haves). Voluntary Chaos is overlong at 559 pages, but this provocative soap opera will keep readers' attention. The softcover costs $21.99 from http://www.booksurge.com.
Hospice stories
reveal the sacred

The staff of Hospice of Medina County serves the terminally ill by providing medical care and companionship to those in their final days. In Sacred Stories: What Hospice Workers Know That Can Change Your Life, nurses, counselors and volunteers recall patients who made lasting impressions on them — some with their grace and humor, some with their spunk and orneriness.

One home health aide tells of a prostitute dying of AIDS who is suspicious and threatening of the people who help her; she can't understand that all patients are treated with dignity. She attains peace before her death. Another woman, who had no known relatives, was attended by hospice workers at her funeral. (Names are changed for privacy.)

The value of the book is not that the stories have memorable people in them; it's that the people are so fondly remembered by those who have contributed. Sacred Stories (181 pages, softcover) is edited by Jean R. Lindeman and costs $14.95 from the Wooster Book Co., http://www.woosterbook.com.


Events

Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Legacy Village, Lyndhurst) — Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child sign Cemetery Dance, ninth in their series about inscrutable FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, noon today; Rachel Dickinson signs Falconer on the Edge: A Man, His Birds and the Vanishing Landscape of the American West, about Utah falconer Steve Chindgren, 7 p.m. Tuesday; satiric journalist Andy Borowitz (The Borowitz Report) appears and his wife, ''real'' journalist Olivia Gentile, signs her book Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds, the true story of a 1950s housewife who was diagnosed with terminal cancer but recovered and set out to see more bird species than anyone in history, 2 p.m. Saturday.

Ernie's Bike Shop (135 Lake Ave. NW, Massillon) — Stan Purdum signs Pedaling to Lunch: Bike Rides and Bites in Northeast Ohio, 9 a.m. to noon today.

University Park Cycle Shop (160 E. Exchange St., Akron) — Stan Purdum signs Pedaling to Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Borders (6751 Strip Ave. NW, Jackson Township) — Stan Purdum signs Pedaling to Lunch, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal

Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.

''You made your bed, now lie in it'' is what people sometimes say to mean, ''You must now bear the consequences of your immoderate actions.'' Voluntary Chaos, a novel by former Silver Lake resident Joan Jackson, is about a woman who makes her bed and finds out that lying in it isn't as comfortable as she'd hoped.

Get the full article here.


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