Terror within 'The Trees'

Plus, a Dodger podcast appearance, Vida Blue, Yogi Berra and the depths of Greg Abbott ...

Well, I’m finally snapping out of my week-long illness, except for still being tired. But I’m always tired, so that’s the baseline for me anyway.

Let’s read on …

Few books generate the feeling of rolling thunder you’ll find in The Trees, written by Percival Everett and recommended by Keith Law. Opening with a small-town Mississippi murder that is played for Dukes of Hazzard-caliber laughs, Everett rolls into the next killing … and the next … and the next, each accompanied by a brewing, bloody, barbed-wire mystery that grows more foreboding.

You might have a sense of where this is going as soon as Chapter 1 ends. If not, you soon will, and you’ll realize this is a horror story striking at the deepest wounds of the U.S.

At first, Everett’s style came across as almost too jokey, playing up the ham-fisted world that births the novel. But as soon as two down-to-earth detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive on the scene — smart but far from all-knowing¹ — soon it emerges that justice is not merely to be reckoned with, but to be feared.

The scope of The Trees expands, as does the ensemble of well-drawn characters, as does Everett’s style itself, shifting gears in formidable ways. If you think you know how The Trees will end — or if you think you’ve encountered every possible take on our national sins — think again.

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Greg Abbott mocks us

In the Los Angeles Times, LZ Granderson laid into the hypocrisy of Texas governor Greg Abbott in the wake of the latest gun massacre in Texas. Want to see it boiled down into two paragraphs?

“One thing that we can observe very easily is that there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that’s taking place in America,” Abbott said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And what Texas is doing, in a big-time way, we’re working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health crisis behind it.”

In 2022, Texas was ranked last in the country in overall access to mental health care, according to data analyzed by Mental Health America. A shameful statistic, but not surprising considering that Abbott has cut $211 million from the department in charge of his state’s mental health programs.

Among the dead in Allen, Texas are the 3-year-old brother, mother and father of 6-year-old William Cho, himself hospitalized in critical condition.

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Dodger talk

Sunday afternoon, Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. was kind enough to have me as a guest on Three-Inning Save, where we spent nearly an hour talking all things Dodgers. Fun stuff — it’s always a privilege to spend time with Eric.

Also, congratulations to regular co-host Jacob Burch and family on the arrival of their second child …