The Hearing Trumpet

 

This is Leonora Carrington's best-known work. It's about a woman in her 90's who with a hearing trumpet discovers that her children want to put her in an institution. I like the first part of the book before she went to the institution more as I was just more involved. Leonora Carrington was also a wonderful surrealist painter. It's rare that someone can be this talented. 

Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music

 This play from the American playwright Lee Blessing was ok. It is the story of a man who has fallen for a woman who has just left the nunnery. Its subplot is about Jim, a man who has fallen for a woman who has a teenager that he finds a pain to be with. This play explores the struggles people will put up with in order to have a relationship. I thought it was good although I was hoping for more.  

The Eccentricities of a Nightingale

 This was Tennessee Williams' rewrite of Summer and Smoke, and it isn't as effective. While it's more laid back it lacks the fire of the initial play. The play is about an eccentric woman who is doomed to be a spinster and her lust after a handsome doctor. Summer and Smoke was an awesome play but it's a minor work since Tennessee Williams wrote so many great plays. This was just an ok play, read Summer and Smoke instead. 

Mr. Popper's Penguins

 

I haven't read this since I was seven. It was pretty good. Mr. Popper, a housepainter gets a penguin from a friend. Soon he is showing his penguins on the stage and there is quite a stir. It leads him to jail unfortunately but also an offer from Hollywood. I was sad to see there was no sequel as the book definitely ends on that note. It looks like his wife Florence finished the book after his death. I wish that she continued with the series. It was cute. I have no desire to see the Jim Carrey movie.