Starnone, Domenico. The Old Man by the Sea: A Novel. Translated by Oonagh Stransky. New York: Europa, 2024.

I’m not quite as enthusiastic about the novel as the unsigned “Briefly Noted” writer of the September 15, 2025 issue of The New Yorker seems to be. At one point, one of the principal characters, Nicola, quips, “And enjoy playing out your Old Man and the Sea fantasy; Make Hemingway roll over in his grave” (119). This seems an odd and forced comment, perhaps more from the mouth of the author than Nicola. For Starnone’s novel of a successful old writer (eighty-two) spending some time by the sea (instead of fishing for the big one as Santiago does in Hemingway’s book) is more about making amends (in his mind) with the women in his life, including his late mother whom he at one point believes, in a vision, has returned from the dead.
 
Rather, and in this way the two novels may be similar, Starnone’s old man is rethinking his life as a writer with remarks such as these: “As a young man it was deceptively easy to manipulate real facts, use them to churn out fictional stories with elements of truth, but as an old man my feeble efforts lead only to despair” (95). Or, “Practicality without imaginations is flawed. Stories are good and useful precisely because they train the brain not to be satisfied with appearances, and to look beyond” (103). But I must say, the old man does impart a bit of wisdom to another woman, when she says to him, “Don’t be clever,” and he answers, “I’m not. All I’m saying is that it’s good to imagine terrible things that can never actually come to pass. That way, when bad things do happen, we’re less frightened, and it’s easier to find consolation” (126).
 
Bingo. The old man hits the nail on the head about aging (at least it may, for some of us), and I suppose it is appropriate that this gem arrives on page 127 of 145.

Up Next:
MON 10/27: WHAT I'M THINKING ... IF ANYTHING 
TUES 10/28: A Writer's Wit | Ayad Akhtar
WEDS 10/29: A Writer's Wit | Caroline Paul
THURS 10/30: A Writer's Wit | Timothy Findley
FRI 10/31: A Writer's Wit | Julia Peterkin
      My Book World | Molly Jong-Fast, How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir

Our household utilizes at least five online services or applications on a regular basis. I’ll name them. Grubhub, for one. Ken and I began using Grubhub during the pandemic and have never stopped. Another app is . . . my gosh, they’re such a great part of our lives . . . oh, yes . . . Uber. Ken, who doesn’t drive for the moment (there’s always hope), takes an Uber I order for him to his weekly massage therapy session. 
 
As convenient as Grubhub may be, there exist some problems with the service. Whoever fulfills the order, probably a restaurant employee, doesn’t always get the order right, for one thing. Fries when we asked for chips or vice versa. One time, the participating restaurant (no longer connected with GH) cancelled our order entirely, even though they made the very best egg rolls we ever had. Probably. 
 
Moreover, we have “unmarked” the box that requests plastic (eek) utensils, but nearly every restaurant delivers little bags of white or black flatware with tiny little sacks of salt and pepper, all gratuitous, not asked for (La Madeleine being the fine exception). Maybe we’re in the minority; perhaps most people, even the Gen Zers and Millennials, who purportedly are so conscious of the environment, don’t mind stuffing the landfill with yet more material that won’t degrade for at least a hundred years.
 
I began tipping drivers 25% because why not—they can’t make that much from GH. For the most part, drivers follow our directions to a T. Come to door under CARPORT. Please ring doorbell. Thank you. Why ring the doorbell when they’re going to text me that they’ve arrived? I’m not sure. Sometimes, a driver does NOT text and our food sits there for fifteen minutes, or once, this is funny, the driver left our bag at a house across the street, a house that was empty at the time. I was already feeling lousy from being sick, but I schlepped over and retrieved the bag of life-saving gruel, whatever it was. Now that we have the app trained, so to speak, ordering food is better than it was in the beginning, but not, as the young often say . . . perfect.
 
Such problems don’t end with online (phone) apps. There is also good old American Telephone and Telegraph (nearly 150 years, that’s how old). Our Homeaglow worker unplugged the power strip that connected our TV, our ATT box, our DVD player and several other appliances to electricity (Homeaglow is another modren story, another day, if you please). The ATT receiver which was installed in 2009 (so says the info on the back), went dead. It would not reboot. Our gateway would not revive it either. I tried several times . . . stupidly thinking my will alone might make a difference.
 
I finally called ATT customer service, sensing the exchange I knew would take place. The young woman with (I believed) a Spanish accent (but turned out being Filipino) and some difficulty expressing herself by way of standard English syntax but who insisted on using the vernacular like . . . and I don’t mean as a simile . . . put me through my paces.
Have you . . .?
Yes.
Try . . .
I’ve done that already, I snapped.
Go to the other TV in your house and unplug . . .
No, I’m not doing that. I want a new receiver. This one is dead.
Finally . . . oh, and she kept putting me on hold to consult her great supervisor in the ATT sky. But yes, finally, she agreed to send us a new receiver the very next day! Yay!
 
Now, this transaction may sound as if it were easy, but when I checked my phone, the entire exchange took fifty-five minutes!
There were times when I had to say (taking the blame), Um, I’m old and a bit hard of hearing, could you please repeat what you said? Oh, oh. I see what you mean now (even if I wasn’t sure). 
I can’t tell you how many times I asked her to repeat herself. I know she was trying as hard as she could. Later, when I asked O Great Google where such ATT employees might be stationed, the answer that came back was the Philippines. Ahhh, that made such good sense. 
 
But there is a problem, dear American Telephone and Telegraph, with engaging employees whom customers cannot understand in the linguistic sense. Such a situation is not acceptable, especially given that last month’s bill (bundling four services) was over $700! I want to repeat, I do not blame the young woman. I thanked her for her help, profusely, I believe, and if I’d been asked to “review” our exchange, I would not have flunked her. But come on, corporate America! Why can’t you hire English speakers (of any accent) who can communicate properly with their customers? I can’t help but think of that statement that sometimes pops up on your app screen: “Oops, Something Went Wrong.”
Boy, I’ll say.

Rosenberg, Stanley. Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2017.
 
Part how-to, part anecdotal, all scientific, this book demonstrates the importance of the vagus nerve to one’s health. The author provides an entire appendix of easy-to-perform exercises (with photographs of a model to illustrate how they’re done). The vagus nerve carries messages from your brain to heart and digestive system. If it is damaged, it can cause many difficulties. A good read if you’re experiencing such problems. And as the subtitle would indicate, a healthy vagus nerve can help regulate conditions such as depression or anxiety. Check it out.

​Up Next:
MON 10/20: WHAT I'M THINKING ... IF ANYTHING 
TUES 10/21: A Writer's Wit | Ursula K. LeGuin
WEDS 10/22: A Writer's Wit | Doris Lessing
THURS 10/23: A Writer's Wit | Leszek Kolakowski
FRI 10/24: A Writer's Wit | Amor Towles
      My Book World | Domenico Starnone, The Old Man by the Sea

Lately . . . I'm not sure why . . . I've been photographing the ten cemeteries located in Lubbock County, Texas, an area of 900 square miles. I located and took shots of all except one, Estacado Cemetery. Seems I was headed down the right road, but met with a small herd (3) of horses who thought I was the vehicle that usually delivers their meals. Wish I'd caught them with my Nikon chasing me in my rear view mirror! I shall return and get that photo, horses be damned.

Not sure the caption feature is working, so I shall endeavor to label each photo, from L to R, Top to Bottom.
1-2  Becton Cemetery — 16202 North County Road 3600
3-4  Peaceful Gardens Memorial Park — 15002 S Highway 87
5-6  Englewood Cemetery — 1100 N 20th Street, Slaton, TX
7-8  Idalou Cemetery — 10802 E Highway 62-82, Idalou, TX
9-12  City of Lubbock Cemetery — 2011 E 31st Street 
13-14 Resthaven Cemetery — 5740 19th Street, Lubbock, TX
15-16 County Line Cemetery — FM 179 and FM 597
     [photograph courtesy of the Internet]
17-18 Wolfforth Cemetery — W 5th Street & Quitsna, Wolfforth
19-20 Carlisle Cemetery — 7302 19th Street, Lubbock, TX
21 Estacado Cemetery — 13202 North County Road 3900
     [photograph courtesy of the Internet]

Strout, Elizabeth. Tell Me Everything: A Novel. New York: Random, 2024.

In this nonlinear novel, as is Strout’s style, it is as if she gathers together all the characters she’s ever written into her novels and catches us up on all their doings. And she does. Within the range of several Maine towns (people are always driving from one to another to shop or see someone they know), back and forth she travels until she brings everyone’s story up-to-date.

However, there is one character who garners more attention than others, a lawyer named Bob Burgess. When speaking with a friend, it is clear that said friend is about to be accused of murdering his mother years earlier, and Bob agrees to take on his case in court. Bob has his own problems. In childhood, he apparently takes the fall for accidentally killing his father, when it is actually his older brother who’s done it (an even more likely possibility will surface). And then there’s good old Olive Kitteridge, now ninety-one, living an apartment by herself. Author Lucy Barton stops by every so often and the two women swap “stories,” usually with a whiff of sordidness or at least . . . something curiosity-making. Makes me want to re-read all nine of the author’s books I’ve read as well as the two I haven’t! I’ve sung Strout’s praises before, and I’m going to do so again here. She knows how to tell stories that are interesting and appealing to a broad range of people. Get hooked on her, like I have!

Up Next:
MON 10/06: WHAT I'M THINKING ... IF ANYTHING 
TUES 10/07: A Writer's Wit | Michelle Alexander
WEDS 10/08: A Writer's Wit | Francisque Sarcey
THURS 10/09: A Writer's Wit | Jane Cooper
FRI 10/03: A Writer's Wit | Nora Roberts
      My Book World | TBD