Michelle
Unavoidable Spoilers for this, and Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell! I would recommend both of these authors, even if you read this and know/discover some of the details. These are spoilers, but they're not, imo, SPOILERS!
“But I don't get one thing, and it's a kind of important thing,” Svetlana says, and here she finally stops and turns to face me. “Do you want to be with me, or do you want to be me?”
I recently read Guy in Real Life,* by Steve Brezenoff. I seem to have preordered it. I do that a lot, and then can't remember why. Could have been the cover. Could have been a comparison to Eleanor and Park. Could have been that they have similar covers. As I type this, that seems to job my memory. An article on cover trends!
As an unabashed fan of YA, I like a lot of things I'm seeing these days, particularly books about misfits and geeks. Another book I read about a year ago that works for this trend is The Summer I Became a Nerd. “Summer” and “Guy” are very similar in exploring the same gaming world.
Guy went to a surprising place, and did so in a way I could have never predicted. Lemme explain.
In the beginning, “Guy” reads as a simple love story. Lesh and Lana have a bit of a meet cute, and it seems like their obstacle is going to be that he's a headbanger ??? is that still the term? ??? and she's a D&D dungeon master.
Where it subtly went a different way is that Lesh, while grounded, gets pulled into World of Warcraft. (Never mentioned by name.) He doesn't find himself interested in playing an orc and gaming with his friend, but secretly creates an elf who looks a whole lot like Lana.
This decision could be chalked up to horny boy creating a hot looking female to stare at, who looks like his crush. And this is maybe what it is, or part of what it is, or how it started. As he games, he finds himself slipping into the role of Svvetlana. (Two v's because regularly Svetlana was already used in the game.) He allows other players to think he's female.
And there are repercussions. See, not spoiling more than I must for this discussion.
I will say that he learns a little of what it's like to be female, including the male gaze, and someone who crosses boundaries in a way that most women either know or fear.
Eventually Lana finds out about his character, and asks the question quoted above. And here, for me, is the biggest similarity to Eleanor and Park. Both endings, in the tradition of The Lady or the Tiger? doesn't answer all the questions, instead asking the reader to reach his or her own conclusion. Lesh answers Lana, to an extent, and is honest, but the reader will be left with questions.
Like any sane person, I have a love/hate relationship with endings like this. Eleanor and Park has me mentally begging for One More Line!
It's clear Lesh likes ??? like likes ??? Lana. It's also clear he wishes he could be more like Lana, to what extent is left unclear. Maybe the point is that he doesn't have to know that answer today.
Lana, by the way, is terrific. Intelligent, funny, creative. And even formidable.
I would recommend this book, all the books mentioned, with a recommend in capital letters for Eleanor and Park! What I think might not work for some readers of Guy in Real Life is a lot of time is spent in the various games, and those are written very realistically, with immersion in those fantasy realms. It's cool and creative, and so very relevant about who Lesh and Lana really are, but if you think nothing ever happens on Mad Men, or that there was no point to the “beetle” scene in Game of Thrones, eh.
Of “Guy” and “Summer,” I would label “Summer” the more accessible book about gaming and geek culture (and being a girl into these things) if this is foreign territory. I recommend Eleanor and Park to anyone with a soul.Still, “Guy” raises interested questions about identity and the search for self. The characters feel real, complex, and engaging. I was blow away by how Brezenoff deftly lead me into the book, and had me read a good long way, before I realized some of the issues he'd brought into play. I have to wonder if some of this is because if I, a woman, play WoW as a guy, no one will give me grief ??? in fact, I'll get less grief, and be allowed to game in piece* ??? and the exercise never raises questions about identity. My choice would be met with a shrug, a male playing as a female is looked at as dishonest, and his gender identity and sexuality are regarded with suspicion.Good choice, you, in picking this book. Allow me to pat myself on the back.Guy in Real Life becomes an acronym, G.I.R.L. This refers to men pretending to be women. Some of the “men” undoubtedly would not self-identify as such.**Okay, there are some people with souls who probably didn't like E&P, so please allow me my moment of hyperbole.But like Lesh, love playing a female blood elf. I prefer a hunter to a healer, though.
Rafe thinks it will be no big deal to keep the fact that he is gay a secret. He doesn't want his sexuality to be the only thing people see about him. He sees boarding school as a chance for others to know him in other ways. What he discovers is that you can't lie about or avoid a big chunk of how you experience the world, then think you can build a true relationship.
I once told a small lie to protect someone, but the lie grew, and lasted more years than I want to say. The initial lie was manageable, but the continuous lies to keep up the first one were what became hurtful. I had to confess to the person I'd lied to, and no matter how I tried to explain I'd no intention of hurting anyone, the person I'd deceived never quite forgave me. Several months ago, someone else tried to persuade me to tell another small lie which, older and wiser, I knew would end up too big to handle again. I apologized, and said no. Rafe got the lesson a lot quicker.
Rafe is very likable. Even when he is lying or making mistakes, it's easy to be in his corner. I find myself hoping the author will allow us to catch up with him in the future. I'll be the first person in line to buy a copy. (Okay, okay, I meant to say I'll happily preorder it for my Kindle!)
Lastly, the ending was honest, and fair. Which isn't to say it ended exactly how all readers would like, but it felt authentic.
My Wife's Story is a very old-fashioned story, suitable for a more sophisticated time. I could see this story in a magazine in the fifties or sixties, when the art of short story writing was kept in higher regard, and when a story could be told simply, but have this wonderful subtext. I could also see this, with minimal tweaking, as an Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
MWS is very much about the nature of relationships. I could say the nature of marriage, but I'd say there is some spill over into friendship and familial bonds. The story that delights us, draws us closer to someone, perhaps even makes us fall in love, becomes the thing that later on makes us grit our teeth. The words are too familiar, the teller holds no more secrets or surprises.
The wife at first glance might seem unsympathetic as we consider the people we know who bore us with a repetitive tale, but I believe this author wants you, us, to think about this more. To think about a woman who had the most interesting thing that will ever happen to her be ever increasingly a long time ago, and who just wants to feel special again. She's not the little girl on the ship, saving the day, and she's no longer the much-loved bride of an adoring groom either. She has the story, that's all, and her husband has no tolerance at all for the story, not an understanding of her need to tell it.
In the words of Springsteen:
Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight
and I'm going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing, mister, but
boring stories of glory days
This was a terrific read. Interesting, touching, and compelling. I believe it will do a lot of good in reminding us all of the repercussions for letting politic discourse cross a line, because all that anger has to go somewhere. Gabrielle Giffords has made a remarkable recovery, in great part due to her own tenacity and a terrific support system. The other part of the equation is that government employees get superior and affordable health care and this couple are aware of their good fortune in this, and that so many people with brain injuries hit a ceiling because they're without the same advantages.
The chapters merge and connect stories of their courtship and earlier lives with her recovery. How the woman she was before the accident, the man he was, allowed them to remain a team. Although, she did become quite angry with him on one occasion.
I wish this admirable couple all the best and I pray for Gabrielle Giffords's continued improvement.
Whenever I read something autobiographical I always ask myself if I'd like to have lunch with that person. I think this explains why I tend to like books by funny or gossipy women. This was a real winner for me. Humor is subjective, but I found myself either laughing or smiling a lot – and definitely wanting to do lunch! Mindy Kaling's tone was light, and funny, and clever, and I'd even say infectiously girly. I was utterly charmed and I related to a lot of her anecdotes about friendship.
One of my favorite passages:
“I've found my productive-writing-to-screwing-around ratio to be one to seven. So, for every eight-hour day of writing, there is only one good productive hour of work being done. The other seven hours are preparing for writing: pacing around the house, collapsing cardboard boxes for recycling, reading the DVD extras pamphlet from the BBC Pride and Prejudice, getting snacks lined up for writing, and YouTubing toddlers who learded the ‘Single Ladies' dance.”
(Review originally appeared at Red Adept Reviews)
Overall: 3 ?? stars
Plot/Storyline: 3 ?? stars
I'm very ambivalent about this one. I enjoyed aspects of it, perhaps even most of it, but a few moments felt false. If someone asked be about it I'd say, “yeah, it wasn't bad, you might like it.” I just find myself without enthusiasm this time around.
Maureen is a woman who secretly lived with spousal abuse for years and now finds herself a widow. While getting down the Halloween ornaments from the attic, she finds a package left for her by her husband. A Ouija GPS. Yes, really. Her husband still thinks he can tell her where to get off.
I felt compassion for her during the moments recounting her abusive marriage. Those moments felt real, right down to how he manipulated her and isolated her from others, and how she learned to accept it as her lot in life. I just don't think the horror element, at least the execution of it, quite meshed. I get why it's there thematically, but I felt that the author didn't quite know how to execute it. There was an issue that was wrapped up vaguely and in a couple sentences, because I think Ms. Weiner knew the point couldn't stand up to any real scrutiny. It felt like she didn't know what to do with it and hoped no one noticed; in truth, the whole horror element felt that way. I don't know and can't know if this was the case, but this is how it felt.
I did find it to be a little bit scary, and I think that's largely due to the built up empathy for the main character, and wanted her to have a better life. I didn't know where the story was going and had a twinge of anxiety at the slight chance that it wouldn't end well. Plus, most GPS systems are very Uncanny Valley - the point at which tech stuff like computers and robots become so human that, instead of being endearing, it's just creepy.
Characters: 3 ?? stars
I obviously cared about Maureen, and I found her believable in many ways, but I can't say any of the characterization blew me away, and I'm someone who is a fan of this writer's characters, like the sisters in In Her Shoes, and Cannie in Good in Bed.
What I do appreciate here, and in her previous efforts, is her respect for characters and heroines over the age of forty.
Writing Style: 3 ?? stars
I know Jennifer Weiner can write, but I just don't think all the elements were written cohesively. While there were moments when the language was lovely and evocative, so much of the time I was just a bit underwhelmed.
(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)
Overall: 3 ?? stars.
Plot/Storyline: 3 1/2 stars.
I really like the theme of this, with the characters being connected to one another by only 1 or 2 degrees of separation, but in ways that they - for the most part - won't ever realize. Some of them won't realize it simply because they won't live that long. I think it's an interesting concept that can go on and on, and it looks like the author plans on continuing it.
A guy jumps from a building and another person sees it from a caf?? window while being courted by a man who thinks he could love her as much as he did has last wife. An ambulance shows up and almost hits a man who will soon stumble into a tattoo shop from, oh, Hell. This man's ex has a low tolerance for noise and vermin, who in turn ... well, you get it.
It is a hook that I imagine will make it easy for people to read on - at least it worked for me. I also enjoy that the author took it as an opportunity to do horror, scifi, and mystery/crime, and to mix and match genres.
I think that within individual stories that there are moments that don't work or missed opportunities. In one story, someone says some very literally true things which, in the tradition of good horror, later on take on a new and more sinister meaning. My quibble? He also lied to her once, losing a little of the macabre joy at the ending that would have happened if he'd always been twistedly honest.
A few stories don't work for me at all, with the dialogue being over the top and the plot being even beyond my willing suspension of disbelief, such as a tale called “The Interloper.”
The last portion of the book is the least enjoyable for me. The author tried to tie several storylines together with a new - or newly revealed - connecting character. It doesn't work for me at all.
Entwined is somewhat of a mixed bag for me, but I'm enthusiastic about this idea and hopeful for what the future might bring to this series.
Characters: 3 1/2 stars.
The vignettes and stories are brief and there isn't a lot of time for complex characterization. I'd consider it in the Twilight Zone range, in which characters, by necessity, are a bit broadly drawn and over-the-top. Even with this taken into consideration, some of the characters are too into the caricature column for my tastes and it felt like a line or two more - or less - would have made all the difference.
Writing style: 3 1/2 stars.
I enjoyed Mr. Armitt's writing well enough most of the time, but I must confess that there is something a bit off, a bit missing for me. It feels as if some of the stories are a couple beats off from meeting their true potential. The language is good, but it didn't delight me the way that it should. These types of stories and this format beg for a writer at his cleverest, and I felt that potential more than I saw it on the page. There were moments and revelations that I feel would have creeped me out more in other hands. This is the subjective stuff though, and if a reader likes the rest of the review, the area where perhaps our author could be given the benefit of the doubt for at least a sample.
Editing: 3 3/4 stars.
None of the issues are severe enough to ruin the book, but this could have used another pair of eyes or a careful read through to catch some issues, such as a tendency to change tenses mid-sentence (Apart from me and this big woman sat at the window, the caf?? was empty.) typos such as “though” instead of “thought,” missing punctuation, and issues with capitalization. I deem it beyond the pesky 1 or 2 mistakes that get through even a diligent edit.
Note: With anthologies, I love when they're set up so that I can use my 5 way controller to shuffle between stories. (Heck, I love it even in non-anthologies so that I can move between chapters.) Needless to say, I would have enjoyed that here, particularly because the stories are connected and reference one another. There is no Table of Contents either, which would have been second best. (Both would be ideal.)
At 3 1/2 stars, I had to either round up or down for the Amazon rating. I didn't feel comfortable with 3 stars, but I felt less comfortable with 4 stars, so there you have it.
(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)
Overall: 4 1/2 stars (I'm rounding down when choosing stars, because I expect a lot from this author!)
Plot/Storyline: 4 1/4 stars
This is a short story, and so it's also straightforward. There's not much to complain about here. This reminded me a little of the Twilight Zone episode in which the kid wishes people into the cornfield - only with a way more sympathetic kid. I didn't fully buy a scene where the father had a friend over to drink and talk about the athletic prowess of the visitor's son. I can see this coming up in the natural course of things, but the way it was presented seemed ham-fisted.
Other than that, good tale, appropriately told for a length that doesn't lend itself to too much complexity. There are no big surprises here, but this was the sort of story where the pleasure is in knowing what is coming and waiting for that pay off.
If you want those surprises, you won't be as happy with this as I was - and you should read Sugar Daddy. If you aren't a fan of short stories, you won't like it as much either, which seems obvious, but often when I read reviews of short stories folks are punishing them for being short.
Characterization: 4 1/2 stars
There isn't a lot of depth or nuance here. Because of the length of the story and because of the tradition that this story is a part of, the style is broad, with the little boy being very good and his father being very bad, but that works. This is a horror story that wants the reader to see matters in simple terms and to see punishment doled out accordingly.
Writing style: 4 1/4 stars
I find the author to be ridiculously talented. If the writing isn't as effortlessly good as it seems, and when is it really as effortlessly good as it seems, then he can keep it his little secret. Still, I did feel like one more pass to tighten it all up a little would have aided the story.
I do want to ding Mr. Menapace for one thing. Without spoilers, let me say he explained something at the very end, perhaps because he very much wanted the reader to “get” the meaning/play on words. If you spell it out, you have to lose cool points. (Or a quarter of a point.) Not getting it wouldn't change the story in any real way and knowing it makes the reader feel all smarty-pants - until you EXPLAIN it. In all seriousness, it felt clumsy and took away some of the power of the ending.
Personal Enjoyment: 4 1/2 stars
This is an optional category for when we average it all out and the score just doesn't feel right. This is what we use to acknowledge that a story can be more - or less - than the sum of its parts. I had a little extra enjoyment reading this simply because when I read his earlier story, the often mentioned in this review, Sugar Daddy, I was so very impressed. In reading this, while I didn't enjoy it quite as much, I still saw all that talented that makes me think/hope Mr. Menapace has a long career ahead of him. It's cool to read an author you like and imagine you might get to say, “Yeah, well, I knew him way back when!”
(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)
Overall: 4 1/4 stars
Plot/Storyline: 4 1/4 stars
I genuinely liked it, but Bedbugs is definitely a slow burn, er, itch. There are no really big scary moments to be had, at least not for the vast majority of the book, and Mr. Winters took his time in ratcheting up the psychological tensions as opposed to the showy terror.
What we have is the story of a woman who, like most people, has reasonable fears and flickering moments of paranoia. As the book goes on, the reasonable fears grow and what was a flicker - the babysitter is probably a bit of a skank - becomes a steady light - the babysitter's skankiness makes her dirty and a danger to my home, the babysitter's skankiness makes her dirty and a danger to my home.
The question becomes if Susan is a reliable narrator and what, if anything, she observes is the truth, and what is her descent into madness? This is the level at which Bedbugs succeeds. Is she the sane? Is she insane? In either case, what will her beliefs make her do next?
Verdict: Don't read if you want big time scares, but if you like your horrors to build slowly, this bedbug should bite.
Characters: 4 stars
Susan is an interesting character and we spend a lot of time in her head, but other characters - like her husband - remain rather unformed. Some of this is probably about Susan's growing suspicions, but I still was left ambivalent toward him, and feeling like he was more a vaguely drawn figure than a fully realized person.
I never had any great warmth for Susan, but the author did a wonderful job of showing who she was at the beginning and then slowly taking her to a dark place. I enjoyed how a few thoughts that seemed so fleeting came back to become obsessions, as if the initial thoughts had deeper roots than first imagined.
Verdict: While I felt that some of the characters were given too little detail, the author did such a beautiful job with the main character and so I have to rate this pretty high.
Writing style: 4 ?? stars
Nicely done. Smart and capable! I felt like this writer knew what he wanted to do and just how to do it. While I wasn't dazzled, I was impressed. More than anything else, I want to feel the storyteller knows what the hell he's doing!
(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)
Overall: 4 1/2 stars
Plot/Storyline: 4 1/4 stars
This is simply a very rich retelling of Cinderella, with many of the well-known details intact, and a few changes and additions. If you are a fan of the Celtic style of fairy tale/folklore - with fairies as a magical race that humans stumbled across at their own peril - I believe this will be extra pleasing. Ash interacts with the fairy race throughout the story and this adds a level of suspense and danger since it's not all bibbity bobbity boo, and there are stories throughout to remind us of how dangerous these interactions can be.
The love story - Ash and the huntress - is not treated as controversial. In this world, people don't seem to give a thought to it as a forbidden thing, and the treatment is matter of fact. People fall in love and this one girl, Ash, almost without realizing it falls in love with the Royal Huntress. There is more controversy in the class difference between someone who looks and acts like a scullery maid and a person who is part of the royal court. Their relationship is only overtly romantic well into the book, and this aspect is quite G-rated.
(It's worth noting that the author comments on her blog that “in Ash's world, there is no homosexuality or heterosexuality; there is only love. The story is about her falling in love. It's not about her being gay.”)
The novel length is of benefit to the story, allowing Lo to give more time to Ash's profound grief over the loss of her parents, particularly her mother, as well as to show our heroine as a tough character, and to wed this tale, with the most popular tellings of French or German derivation, with the storytelling traditions of the British Isles.
One of my complaints is that the author downplays Ash's dilemma between a life with the fairies and love in the real world. I think it could make her feelings seem shallower than had been intended, and her transition perhaps seemed less than completely explained.
The other complaint is the ending. It ends happily, as it should! However, the resolution was simply too easy, as if the writer couldn't think of a more complex way to get the same result. To say more would be to spoil, but there was definitely some missing conflict.
Characters: 4 1/4 stars
Ash is a likable character, with courage and spirit. Whether or not you'll consider her intelligent is a matter of how you perceive her interactions with the fairy world since pretty much every story she'd read and her mother and everyone who believed in fairies told you they don't play! However, in the beginning she was longing to be with her dead mother and felt she had nothing left for her, and so it makes some sense to me.
I would have liked at least one more scene where we get to see what's in the love interest's heart, but - as is often the case with romantic stories - it's enough that a sympathetic character found love.
Lo made one of the stepsisters awful, but still with a hint of girlish hopes for herself, and one on the brink of likable. The stepmother seemed to have a justification for her actions, or at least she was able to justify it in her own mind. For the most part, I cannot say the secondary characters were fully fleshed out, but fairytales do tend to be told in broad strokes.
Writing style: 4 1/2 stars
Lo does a nice job of making the story feel both traditional and new - honoring folktales and traditions while seamlessly including a message of acceptance. By having it not matter to these people, in Once Upon A Time Land, that a girl's heart is given to another girl, it points out pretty sharply that it's odd that it bothers so many people in this world.
As someone who enjoys fairytales, and folktales, and the reimagining of them, I found the author's choices and treatment of this story to be quite satisfactory.
(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)
I purchased (W)hole, by Ruth Madison, after seeing a discussion about disabled heroes on an Amazon discussion board.
Overall: 2 ?? stars
Plot/Storyline: 3 ?? stars
I knew going in, based on the description, that the heroine is what is called a “devotee,” meaning she has a specific attraction to men who are wheelchair bound or physically impaired in some way. While I don't share this particular fascination, I don't think I need to share it in order to enjoy the book. I also enjoy a romance that is more Beauty and The Beast (with the Beast being anyone society labels different and fears without reason) than Cinderella. Love is predicated on more than prom king or queen looks and attraction that is about more than the bluest eye. So, while I realized going in that I was not the ideal reader, I felt I'd be open to the story.
The plot was fine, really, but the execution felt a little flat. The devotee angle didn't bother me, and it added an extra dimension. However, there were a couple uncomfortable moments. For instance, Elizabeth and Stewart go on a date, and she touched her foot to his foot, knowing he was unaware that she is touching him, and seeming to be excited by it. I can't say that I was comfortable with this, because I think a person has the right to know if you're making physical contact.
The other uncomfortable moment was more of a mixed bag for me. She realizes that she doesn't regret his accident, doesn't wish it didn't happen, because it's what makes him attractive to her. I understand that logically - the heart (and choice parts) wants what the heart (and choice other parts) wants, but it was still one of the few moments that stopped me short. I'm not taking anything away from the rating for his, however, because I think it's an honest feeling this character had, and a brave thing to write.
I acknowledge that, while I think I'm a good audience for this, I'm not the perfect reader, and that this might be an important book for other people to read and know that they're not alone. I know that at some point, past the half-way mark, I began to skim more, because my interest wasn't being sustained.
When I think of plot and storyline, I think of how I would summarize the story for someone who hadn't read it. When I do that with (W)hole, I think it sounds like an interesting story, and so the rest falls to the other categories.
Characters: 2 ?? stars
I think that the author does a pretty good job explaining Elizabeth to the reader. I like her, I get how she swoons over Long John Silver the way some of us swoon over ... (Michelle pauses to consider the name she will type. It is not an unpleasant way to spend some time) ...Tim McGraw in a cowboy hat and a pair of tight jeans, I want her to be happy. However, when I say that I like her, it's a mild “like,” with a period at the end, not an exclamation point. She is a good person, and so I'm on her side. I don't passionately root for her though, and I don't passionately root for the hero either - although I like him too. I should care about both of them a lot - she's had to keep her true self a secret, he's obviously suffered adversity.
I think I know them and understand them, but I don't feel for them. I didn't feel invested in their relationship. I read the end and thought, “Well, that's good.” Because, you know, they're good people.
I understood that she was quite attracted to him, because the author wrote that it was so, but I didn't feel chemistry between the characters. We're told a number of times, that she likes him for more than his paraplegia, but I never felt a true draw between them, not even when he begins to accept her - I'll call it a fetish, since the author does so a number of times. He's the first guy in a wheelchair she got close to, the first man she got close to, and she's the first young woman to show interest since his accident.
Elizabeth is deceptive about her interest in Stewart's disability, but I have to say I see it as an understandable thing, and most people wouldn't have the courage to reveal that, particularly not a shy girl in her first romance.
I don't fault him his reaction either. Perhaps this is where these characters seemed most real for me.
Writing Style: 2 stars
This is the great stumbling block for me. When I question why I didn't care more, why I wasn't invested, it all comes back to the language not moving me, the words not drawing me closer to the characters. I'd read a sentence here and there and feel something, the seed of interest or enthusiasm, but none of it germinated. The language felt repetitious.
For example: “She looked at him with such trusting eyes, so clear and unclouded, with a trust that he ke knew he couldn't live up to.”
While I didn't feel the passion, I felt the passion in the author. This is clearly a very important theme for her. And perhaps that's one of the problems - I felt like she was so busy sending out a beacon to other devotees, so busy trying to make the reader understand, that it felt a bit like an Afterschool Special, if it could be rated PG 13.
Editing/Formatting: 2 1/4 stars
Formatting was off, with paragraphs aligning wrong, correcting, and then repeating the pattern. Punctuation, particularly concerning dialogue, was also problematic. Assorted other errors. While none of the issues were major, they were ubiquitous. Any way that I look at this, I have to label it beneath professional standards, even though the issues would be easily remedied, because it was constantly undermining my experience. (If I had to guess on the wonky formatting, single line paragraphs seemed to set it off, making everything justify too far to the right for a number of paragraphs, and then re-align.)