Among the Missing by Morag Joss

A bridge in Scotland collapses and three people, a pregnant woman running away from her husband, a man just out of prison for causing the death of children in an auto accident, and a woman in the country illegally are all thrown together. The chapters alternate, each written from the perspective of each characters thoughts, and their history is disclosed gradually. The sense the reader has of being in their mind was almost claustrophobic since the characters are so disconnected from everyone and everything and try to pass through life without being noticed. Joss is a good writer and her descriptions of the setting and the characters are very vivid. But the characters are so depressed and without hope that she almost writes herself into a corner with no good way to end it. I had to read the ending twice to figure out what happened and then still wasn't sure. It was an interesting read but left me unsatisfied.

Robert Altman The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff

This was given to me by a friend who is a real film aficianado and with whom I share a love of Altman films. Zuckoff interviewed family, friends, co-workers, agents, and actors who had worked with Altman. Each described events from their own, and sometimes contradictory, perspectives and gradually a picture is built up of a very complex, very talented man. It reminded me very much of the structure of one of his films. The books starts with his youth in Kansas City and then follows his career, film by film. There were many films and TV shows he made that I had never heard of. I recently re-watched Nashville and McCabe and Mrs. Miller and was struck again by the amazing way he could capture the reality of the moment and avoid cliches. If you are interested in his films, this is a must read.