The Son Also Rises

A tip of the hat to my son, Justin.

On Sunday afternoon, while enjoying a cigar in the backyard, I finished the fifth Michael Malone novel I have read in the last year and a half. The Justin and Cuddy mysteries are quite enjoyable, but the two other novels I have read by Malone have been masterpieces.

So here is my unequivocal recommendation to buy and read Foolscap, or The Stages of Love. Initially set in the world of academia, nestled in a small North Carolina town, Theo Ryan (the half-Jewish, half-Irish son of a pair of inveterate stage troopers) is a tenured professor befriended by America's living treasure playwright, Joshua Ford Rexford. Peopled by Malone's normal cast of slightly off-plumb characters, the book is a laugh out loud (or LOL for you text messaging fools and e-mail emoticon freaks) funny romp.

While I haven't quite figured out how he wrote a very passable paper in high school on John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy without cracking the cover, I take comfort in Justin's reading habits and his recent recommendations.

Now, kid, maybe you should read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.