What I'm Reading...

I’m re-reading Dinner with Lenny by Jonathan Cott. It’s the last long interview with Leonard Bernstein, conducted in 1989 by Cott at Lenny’s request. Bernstein died less than a year later. The interview is electrically interesting and ranges from the meaning of art, how to “steal classy,” and the rediscovery of Gustav Mahler. It’s one of the greatest books about art and music I’ve ever read, and it brings back fond memories of my own time working with Bernstein when I was a student.

The Metropolitan Opera Murders by Helen Traubel caught my attention by combining two of my great loves right in the title: mysteries and opera. Traubel was a leading soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1940s, and her novel is part of the Library of Congress Crime Classic Series. It’s expertly edited by my friend and fellow Baker Street Irregular, Leslie S. Klinger.

I’m always in the middle of re-reading a novel by P.G. Wodehouse. Wodehouse is my favorite comic author of all time, and he published about 90 novels and collections of short stories during his lifetime, not to mention reams of lyrics for some of Broadway’s biggest hits. Right now, I’m enjoying Full Moon, one of the novels set at Blandings Castle and starring Lord Emsworth and his challenging son, Freddie Threepwood. Every page is packed with hilarity and joy.