Something got lost (Chicago and Memphis)

I originally posted this on Saturday, February 4, 2006. But sometimes unexpected things happen in cyberspace. I don't know why and it would take to much energy to figure out why - so I'll just re-post my musings on Chicago and Memphis:

I've been in Chicago twice this week. First only as a jumping off place for Fannie Flagg's latest feel-good novel - Redbird Christmas. Most of the book takes place, as usual for FF, in the south - Lost River, Alabama. Not much to say, but it did make me feel good. Sometimes reading the predictable is soothing. The next visit to Chicago is in "Fire Sale" by Sara Paretsky. Pretty much just another in the long series about V.I. Warshawski. They are always a good read, but don't always leave a lasting impression. The contrast between the two books is naturally great, the violence in Paretsky's novel is sometimes excessive.
The stop in Memphis was not a literary trip, but a musical sojourn. Went to see Louise Hoffsten on Thursday evening. Enjoyed it a great deal. I always forget how great live music, being able to feel the rhythm. The local newspaper wasn't impressed - but that's not why most of us go to a concert. The sub-optimal part was the sorry attempt to make like a music pub. A concert set-up would probably have been better for all - but all those middle aged people could feel like they were at the rock concerts of their youth (or that they wish they had been at). That was catty. I enjoyed the evening and I thought the best part after the music was drinking beer after the crowd had left.