Hot Mahogany

Stuart Woods’ latest book is entitled Hot Mahogany, a really clever title as the book deals with stolen antique furniture. I have to tell you that whenever one of Woods’ books is released, I usually show up at Barnes and Noble and spend about 4 hours total over 2 or 3 days reading the book for free. The reason for my frugality is that Woods has a contract to publish three books a year now, versus the two he was contracted for previously. They add up quick. The books are not what I would call literature, but they are a nice, quick escape full of fun and a mystery solved.

Two summers ago, a friend lent me about five of Woods’ paperbacks. They were some of his older material and I quickly read them and enjoyed them. I then found out Woods was the author of Chiefs, which was made into a miniseries in the 1980’s. I didn’t see the miniseries when it was on TV, but I do remember it starred one of my favorite actors, Charlton Heston. It also starred Keith Carradine and Billy Dee Williams. I really need to rent the video and see how it compares to the book.

The book Chiefs is actually Woods’ first novel, and I believe it to be his very best work. I would classify it as a piece of literature. After reading Chiefs and being very impressed by it, I finally did an internet search on Woods. It turns out that Woods, at the time, had written about 27 books.

Woods’ most popular character is Stone Barrington, an ex-New York City policeman, detective, and private eye. Stone is now a lawyer as the series has progressed. He is good looking, fit, funny, and all the women love him (including me). Stone’s ex-partner, Dino Bachetti, helps him solve the murders he gets mixed up in and Dino still works for New York’s finest and has been promoted through the series. Woods has a few other detectives, lawyers, businessmen, and politicians as his main characters. Sometimes these characters are alone in their own mysteries, but many times they interact with each other in the different series. He does have a female lead named Holly Barker who started out as a small town police chief and now works for the CIA.

Most of the action in the novels takes place in New York, Florida, Santa Fe, or Los Angeles, places in which Woods is very familiar. Hot Mahogany has Stone trying to solve a very old mystery dealing with some Vietnam War vets and profiteers, as well as the New England rich and what happens to the early American-crafted furniture they own as the years pass. Woods has a sub-plot about double-eagle coins, which is based on a true story. I enjoyed the book as a fun, quick read to divert me from my usual readings. Woods actually had to do more than his normal research for this novel.

A couple of weeks after I read the book (I read it a day or two after it was released), I noticed that the book was on the New York Times bestsellers list. Most of Woods’ books are on the list for a few weeks. So, if you like mysteries and are looking for a new author to read, try reading some of Stuart Woods’ 39 novels. He started writing very impressively with Chiefs, but now churns out three quick, fun, but formulaic reads a year. As you can read on his website, he lives a good life. Even though I realize he had great potential for above average literature, I can’t blame him for choosing his path and I enjoy his work immensely. I will read his next one as soon as it is released.

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

Last night I watched a documentary/movie on cable that was called 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. I had never seen this documentary by Rick Ray and when I saw it listed, I knew I had to watch it. In May of 2007, I took a short day trip to Houston by myself to go hear the Dalai Lama speak at Rice University. It was a day I will never forget. I wished I had seen this documentary before I went, because it would have provided even more insight on the Dalai Lama and his life.

Ray has traveled the world making films about different cultures and different people. In 2006, he got the opportunity to spend 45 minutes with the Dalai Lama and ask him 10 questions. According to Ray, to better prepare for his interview, he traveled around India to learn what he could about Buddhism and the Tibetan people in exile. He did not want to be regarded by His Holiness as uninterested and insincere as to the plight of the Tibetans. With only 45 minutes, which 10 questions should he ask? What a decision to have to make!

Ray called the Dalai Lama a “rock star of peace.” He also stated that the Dalai Lama rates with Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He also stated that the Dalai Lama is really a “refugee” and has become a “citizen of the world.” During the first part of the film and throughout, Mr. Ray intertwined footage of the Dalai Lama through the years and presented a biography of this great man. Ray started with the history of the Buddha and the story of Siddhartha Gautama.

Ray’s questions were very well thought and not very easy questions. But the Dalai Lama’s answers were all very inspiring and thought provoking. I don’t remember the first question exactly, but it had to do with the number one problem with society today. Immediately, the Dalai Lama answered, “Too much greed.”

Some anecdotes about His Holiness that I gathered from the film are that the Dalai Lama stresses again and again that he will tolerate no violence whatsoever in his name. How hard this must be for his fellow Tibetans as they are massacred by the Chinese? Gandhi is the Dalai Lama’s personal hero. Again, the theme of non-violence is accented. The Dalai Lama did say that in these times it is much harder to rebel, however, with guns in your face versus what was going on in Gandhi’s time. No matter what, however, the Dalai Lama thinks the world would be a much better place if everyone tried to take the middle way and try to find solutions that benefit both sides mutually.

From my own experience and from this documentary, the thing I remember about the Dalai Lama the most is his infectious laugh and sense of humor and fun.

Pictures from Idaho

Here are some various pictures of the beautiful scenery from the Wood River Valley in Idaho. The river is the Big Wood River that runs through the valley . . .