The following five-star review of To Love Mercy was posted Nov. 5 at BarnesandNoble.com by “A Voracious Reader.” I’ve never met “Voracious Reader” but I know who she is; she’s the girlhood friend of Ellen Sandler and she lives in Easton PA. I won’t identify her further; she chose not to identify herself on BarnesandNoble.com, so I don’t wish to risk embarrassing her. I’ve broken her review into paragraphs, but otherwise it appears unedited. I’m sharing it because, frankly, I choked up when I re-read it.

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“Thanks for the Memories”

“If someone hands me a book, I read it. I usually don’t go trawling for stuff to read on my own. Ordinarily I can’t remember the title or the author the day after, especially if the title is a page-turner or has been marketed (shudder) as a ‘great beach read.’ My oldest childhood friend, however, said to read To Love Mercy, and I’ve always valued her judgment. Once again, she didn’t let me down.

“Frank Joseph’s To Love Mercy has staying power for me because it evoked memories of my childhood I hadn’t thought about in years, because no matter what color you are (and I’m white) you have experiences where race has been an issue, and no matter what religion you are (I’m a Christian) you have experiences where your religion has been an issue, and no matter what age you are (I’m legally an adult), you have experiences where your age has been an issue.

“To say that Mr. Joseph’s book is about race or religion or childhood, however, is as simplistic as saying that the Bible is about a bunch of people who died a long time ago. Mr. Joseph weaves a tale in vernacular prose that jarringly evokes the commonality of our living in a country that has yet to become the smooth melting pot our founding fathers hoped to fashion because way too many of its ingredients are still roiling and burbling at cross-purposes, and it’s not a palatable mix. But then up pop the heads of Mr. Joseph’s two main characters, and you turn the last page feeling maybe this stew we live in ain’t so bad after all.

“By adding memories of real people at the conclusion of his novel, Mr. Joseph puts a concrete foundation under the story he has constructed, and you can’t read any of this without being flooded with memories of your own that touch, however lightly, upon many of the thoughts that flow from this really remarkable little book.”

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There are 11 reviews of To Love Mercy on BarnesandNoble.com and 21 on Amazon.com. Of these 32 reviews, 28 are five stars and four are four stars. Some of the others are as moving — to me, anyway — as this one. You can read them all (and post your own review) at:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780974478531&crvAll=1&crvStart=1&displayonly=CRV&z=y#CRV

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0974478539/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/102-0702894-4718547?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155

I haven’t done overmuch self-promotion on this blog or e-blast or whatever you want to call it, but I’m doing so this time. I’ve achieved my life’s dream of writing a novel and, miracle of miracles, it’s been published. Miracle added upon miracle, it’s in its second printing less than 9 months after publication date. I no longer need to work for a living. I have my health. I have marvelous friends and many of them. I have the greatest family any man could wish for. My life isn’t perfect, but whose is? As this year draws to a close, I am a very lucky guy.

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. The second printing of To Love Mercy includes a new — and marvelous — two-page map tracing the quest of Steve and Sass. It also includes a personal letter from me, in which I discuss my writing process and offer to appear at book clubs, in person or via phone.

This second printing won’t be in bookstores until the last 400-500 from the first printing are sold; but I have several hundred of them. If you haven’t yet read To Love Mercy — or are looking for a meaningful post-holiday gift — order directly from me and you’ll get an autographed copy from the second printing. Mention that you read it here (so I don’t send you a first-printing copy by mistake). Price is same as ever — $14.95 + $2 postage via Media Mail. Order via PayPal at www.tolovemercy.com/to_love_mercy_online_sales.html, or mail a check to:

Frank S. Joseph
5617 Warwick Pl.
Chevy Chase MD 20815-5503

On our previous discussion of hot dogs, now comes the erudite Bill Donovan:

“I ate a lot of dogs in my year in Chicago. Grew up on hot dogs. I have had a Coney Island Red Hot or two.

“(New York, by the way, is the Garden of Eden of U.S. hot dogs, and is also where the term ‘red hot’ comes from. Barkers for hot dogs, served at Coney Island, barked out, ‘Get your red hot wiener sausages!’)

“(’Wiener,’ by the way, means from or of Wien, which is German for Vienna. The term ‘hot dog’ itself is credited back to the 1830s in New York, when the content of a tube steak was often … you guessed it … dog.)

“However, once one has stood in line at Pink’s on La Brea in, of all places, nouveau Los Angeles, one has not been to Hot Dog Heaven. Forget Vienna. A Pink’s chili dog with everything is the ultimate hot dog. The chili burgers are right up there. Pink’s also serves what it calls a ‘Chicago polish sausage,’ either hot or mild, with mustard, relish, onions, tomato, and no chili. It makes a nice salad course alongside a Pink’s 10-inch chili dog with nothing but chili.”

And the ineffable Ed Zuckerman:

“My brother Bob and I were driving back to Phoenix last summer after a profitable visit to Las Vegas, proceeding along a two-lane highway through some of the most awe-inspiring vistas you’ll see anywhere in the country. The road — Route 93 — running between Kingman and Wickenburg is a real timesaver, and we were speeding along when we passed through Wikieup, which is marked by a sign and is nothing more than a dusty crossroad that goes back into the mountains. (And there are a couple of roadside businesses that sell snacks and Indian jewelry to tourists.)

“As we sped through Wikieup, in the middle of nowhere and hundreds of miles from somewhere, I thought I saw something familiar and hit the brakes. It awakened Bob. ‘What’s up?’ he asked.

“‘I saw something back there. It was a sign,’ I said.

“‘Like from God or something?’

“‘Yes, a sign from God. We’ve been saved,’ I answered.

As we drove back, the sign came back into focus. Could it be? For real? Or was it a joke? A blue V with a red hot dog emblem on a yellow circle.

“There, in a dusty speck of a place, there is a Vienna hotdog stand. The owner knows how to serve up a real Chicago dog. He should know. He came here from Batavia [IL]. Said he wanted ‘to get away from it all.’”

On the tao of Chicago pizza, deposeth Dan Lauber:

“Frankly, I’ve always been disappointed by Uno, Due, Giordano, and Lou Malnati (with his alleged mob ties) — they are all tourist traps best avoided … Gino’s East used to be pretty darned good, but it just doesn’t come close to Old World Pizza’s league. The reality is that you will find all sorts of superb, tasty, deep-dish and stuffed pizzas in neighborhoods all over Chicagoland that are far better dishes than what the tourist traps offer. And there’s a plethora of great ultra-thin pizza joints appearing all over the place that come really close to replicating the ultra-thin pizzas we enjoyed in Italy. …

“Next time you’re here, you’ll have to try Old World Pizza in Elmwood Park (immediately northwest of Oak Park). This tiny treasure offers four types of pizza, one of which (the pan pizza — or deep dish — was named by the Tribune as one of the top 3 in the metro area a few years ago). …

“Bottom line, it’s a waste of time debating which pizza is best in Chicago. There’s a ton of great ones to satisfy every palate. On the other hand, this is more fun that debating the War in Iraq.”

More testimony on Chicago authors (and pizza) from Gary Goodman:

“Another terrific Chicago area writer was Steve Tesich, author of Breaking Away, a very successful movie. Although that story takes place in Bloomington IN, two of Tesich’s other novels were Summer Crossing and Four Friends (also made into a movie), both very evocative tales of life in the Calumet Region (East Chicago/Hammond/Gary). He also wrote Division Street and Other Plays … set in your home town in the early ’60s. Tesich unfortunately passed away much too prematurely.

“Giordano’s claims to have invented deep-dish, but Nancy’s also makes this claim … Most Suparossa and all Edwardo’s restaurants offer the more healthful whole-wheat-crust option.”

On Garrett’s Popcorn, witnesseth the honorable Lynn Straus:

“My daughter, who grew up in Chicago before Garrett’s (or B.G.) and would not miss a chance to grab a bagful whenever she is back in town (which in the opinion of her mother is not nearly often enough), believes that the unbelievable success of Garrett’s popcorn (after all, it’s only popcorn, for God’s sake — actually, it’s not popcorn, it’s caramel corn) is that the line out the door is so long, snaking several blocks down Michigan Avenue, that they can barely make the popcorn fast enough to keep up with their salivating customers and therefore, it’s always fresh. Obviously, someone needs to invent a faster popcorn machine.

“And by the way, it’s Gino’s, not Geno’s.”

And finally, from Richard Foster, a-freezin’ in the North north of Milwaukee yet yearning for the equable equanimity of the Equinox, comes this solipsistic solicitation of the Solstice:

“If one of your Chicago correspondents can tell me the name of the Chicago Cub who wore uniform jersey #14 before Ernie Banks, I would be most grateful. No guesses, e.g., Preston Ward. Just the fact. The name, please.”

Merry X ‘n’ Happy N!

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. Last-minute gift idea — a copy of To Love Mercy, signed by Yours Truly, with a personal message of your choice to best friend or relation. Mailed via Priority Mail for Saturday arrival (hope so, anyway). They’re $16.95 each including postage. Click here to order: http://tolovemercy.com/to_love_mercy_online_sales.html

Vienna Kosher hot dogs are not kosher. All my illusions are shattered.

In my last posting, I raved about Vienna Kosher as being among the
quintessential Chicago delicacies, and it is; but it ain’t kosher. It
ain’t even “Vienna Kosher” — it’s “Vienna Beef” (see below). From the
Vienna Beef website:

Q. Are Vienna Beef products kosher?

A. Historically, kosher products have a flavor profile which duplicates
Vienna’s flavor. [In other words, they make ‘em with garlic. “Flavor
profile” indeed! -ed.] However, while Vienna Beef products are beef,
they are not produced with koshered meat. Kosher refers to the ritual
beef slaughter and the salting of the meat [and blessing by a rabbi
-ed.]. Like kosher meat products, Vienna Beef products are manufactured
under the supervision of the United States Dept. of Agriculture.

Jesus. (So to speak.)

One of my intrepid correspondents, Dina Weinstein, points out (a) that
Best Kosher hot dogs — the other brand you see all around Chicago –
ARE in fact kosher (the Best Kosher website backs Dina up on this), and
(b) that I’m wrong from the get-go, because the Vienna signs do NOT EVEN
SAY “Vienna Kosher” — they say “Vienna Beef.” Dina is right again. I am
not quite humiliated, but definitely humbled.

All that said, Vienna hot dogs (or “red-hots,” as they used to be called
before certain red food dyes were identified as known carcinogens) may
be treyf, but they taste great. Here is the recipe for the authentic
Chicago hot dog, again from the almost-but-not-quite-discredited Vienna
Beef website:

Q. What is an authentic Chicago style hot dog?

A. A true Chicago style hot dog is a steamed Vienna® Beef hot dog topped
with yellow mustard, bright green relish, onions, tomato wedges, pickle
spear, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt served in a steamed
poppyseed bun.

Celery salt. Don’cha love it?

On other matters involving Frank’s fallibility:

• The Time Traveler’s Wife was written by Audrey Niffenegger, not Sena
Jeter Naslund. Sena Jeter Naslund wrote Ahab’s Wife, which is why I
mixed the two up. (And it’s “Sena,” not “Seena,” dummy.) I am in debt to
Margaret Blair, Karen Noel and Josh Stevens for this correction of the
record. “She (Niffenegger) teaches at Columbia College,” Josh says. “The
book (which I’m in the process of reading) is incredible.” But Karen
disagrees: “I was halfway through that molasses when To Love Mercy
came in at Barnes & Noble, so I put Time Travelers Wife aside and
haven’t felt compelled to pick it up again. [Yay Karen! -ed.] … After
you’ve admired the author’s ability to meticulously juggle her
chronology, as far as I’m concerned you’ve given the book about all the
kudos it deserves. Life is tedious enough without immersing yourself in
novels that are.” Oh … and Margaret adds that Ahab’s Wife is
“wonderful.”

• Undeservedly missing from our list of great Chicago fiction are the
novels of Harry Mark Petrakis, set in Greektown. Thanks to the
almost-always-right Marilyn Hollman for this. But Marilyn, in a rare
lapse, also nominated Ed McBain, the nom de police procedural of Evan
Hunter. Hunter (b. Salvatore Lombino), the very successful author of
The Blackboard Jungle and many other novels, “virtually invented the
American police procedural with his gritty 87th Precinct series” writing
as Ed McBain. But Lombino/Hunter/McBain set his stories in “a New
York-like metropolis named Isola” (again NYT), not Chicago.

• Undeservedly missing from great Chicago delicacies: Garrett’s Popcorn,
says Pat Denson. Garrett’s is on Michigan near Huron near a Starbucks
(like everything else in the world). New one on me, Pat, but I’m trying
a bagful of Garrett’s Popcorn next time I’m in Chi Town.

• Finally, the age-old Chicago controversy. Who makes the best deep-dish
pizza? Uno’s? Geno’s? Who knows?

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. My presentations at Chicago Sinai Congregation, where I went to
Sunday School, and the Washington Ethical Society, where my son Sam
went to Sunday School, were well received. The WES presentation was
recorded but I haven’t gotten a copy so it’s not posted on the website
yet. You can read both presentations as Word files though. Sinai is
posted at http://www.tolovemercy.com/sinai_presentation_1.doc and
WES is posted at http://www.tolovemercy.com/WES_presentation_2.doc.

It’s cold in Chicago. I like that. It keeps me alert and humble; it reminds me not to take things for granted.

Chicago has great buildings, everyone knows that; but not just the old and famous ones. Visit and discover a shimmering forest of glass and steel rising west and northwest of the Loop, new towers rising over squalid old streets; and to the east on what used to be lake. On an icy clear night, the Loop sparkles and glows.

Chicago’s library system is arguably the best of any big American city and the new Harold Washington central library is its crown jewel. I chuckle with pleasure ogling the bronze gargoyle dragons flapping at the roofline. But my soft spot is for the Blackstone Branch, a Greek temple in Hyde Park, the first branch library built (in 1904) and still going strong. Its high-vaulted children’s reading room looks the same today as when I first cracked a book for pleasure in that very space (ca. 1946).

Chicago cuisine? Deep-dish pizza is wonderful, but the real deal is a Vienna Kosher red-hot with yellow mustard, raw onions, piccalilly and sport peppers — rare fruits that grow only in jars, only in Chicago. And Polish sausage slathered with grilled onions. But the Chicago delicacy without peer is the Italian beef sandwich, thin slices of roast beef on an Italian roll soaked – drenched – in “au jus”. Get ‘em wherever you see a red-and-yellow sign that says “Vienna Kosher.”

One can always hear jazz in Chicago. WDCB-FM, College of DuPage, a newcomer to me, lays down great sounds with a solid signal you can get in many parts of town. Radio in general is more refreshing and original in Chicago than in D.C. On this trip I discovered WLUW-FM, out of Loyola University, a free-form Pacifica-sounding voice that kept me on my toes.

Chicago under Da Mare was a repressive place. Restaurants, for example, could not put tables on the sidewalks because of a Fire Marshal rule (can’t block the hydrants, y’know). Da Mare liked things neat, tidy and under control; if you wanted to have fun, you could do it in the privacy of your own home like they do in Bridgeport. But Richie Daley, Da Mare’s son, is cut from different cloth. Go to the new Millenium Park on a warm June night and join the tens of thousands of Chicagoans enjoying the free concerts under the spectacular Frank Gehry bandshell, and wander in and around “The Bean,” world’s largest funhouse mirror. Downright subversive.

Chicagoans are nicer than Easterners. Easterners know that and make fun of it, but secretly they’re envious.

And finally, Chicago is a reading town. Always was. Still is.

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. Washingtonians-Baltimoreans alert! This Sunday I’ll be at the Washington Ethical Society (WES), 7750 16th St. NW (at Jonquil). I’m the Platform speaker. Platform starts at 11 a.m. Following Platform at 1 p.m., I’ll be addressing a WES “FunRaiser,” discussing To Love Mercy. The FunRaiser is $15 but Platform is free and open to the public. Hope you’ll come!

P.P.S. My just-ended Chicago trip was heart-warming (if nose-chilling). Thanks again to my gracious hosts – three Chicago Public Library branches, the public libraries of Evanston and Chicago Ridge, the Newberry Library, Wheeling High School, Barnes & Noble-Old Orchard, Borders-Oak Park, and Centuries & Sleuths-Forest Park.