Random Thinking

Vanished Smile
The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa
by R. A. Scotti

It’s 1911. A hot summer’s day in Paris. The guard at the Louvre is asked where the Mona Lisa is by an avid fan of the painting who is working on a copy. The guard replies that he does not know, perhaps it is being photographed. A few hours later with the painting still missing, panic spreads through the Louvre as it is suddenly realized that the master work of Leonardo da Vinci has been stolen. Pablo Picasso would be questioned in the theft and a friend of his arrested. The Mona Lisa would remain missing for two years and its return would stir controversy and debate.

R. A. Scotti has written a light and fun history of the curious case of the stolen Mona Lisa. This isn’t a deep review of the theft but she covers enough for most people who have some interest. Along the way, she gives us a brief history of the painting including how it ended up in France and how it ended up as an icon and not just another famous painting. Her coverage of the incompetence of the investigation is rather brief but covers the main points. For example, she tells us that the thief was briefly suspected at the beginning of the investigation but his finger prints were never matched against the finger print left at the scene. The author also discusses an alternative theory to the theft that is interesting although rather far-fetched.

If you have a deep interest in the history of the Mona Lisa and her theft then perhaps you need a deeper history. But if you are looking for a quick and enjoyable read about the most famous art theft in history then I can highly recommend this book.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot
by Sarah Vowell

I first learned who Sarah Vowell is, not from her books or from her appearances on NPR, but from a short film about her and one of her books that was on the DVD of “The Incredibles.” That film interested me enough to read her books and I have been well rewarded. This book is one of her oldest and is a collection of essays that she wrote for various publications. As you might expect from an author who writes essays about current events, many of her essays have not aged well.

The essays cover various topics including trips to North Dakota to see where Teddy Roosevelt lived during his sojourn in the west, a cafeteria at the bottom of the Carlsbad Cavern, Tom Landry, Canadians, and growing up with a fraternal twin sister. Other topics include the presidential election of 2000 and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It is these essays that seem like ancient history now and reading them makes you wonder if Ms. Vowell would feel the same way eight years after writing them. And overall, there is no theme to carry the book along. These are just random essays that Ms. Vowell wrote for various publications in the period from about 1998 to 2002. They vary in quality and, after ten years, interest. Do I really care what Ms. Vowell thought about Tom Cruise ten years ago?

Anyway, there are some good hits among the misses in this group of essays and if you are a fan of Ms. Vowell’s writing, this is worth reading while you wait for her next book to come along.

On Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago, a policeman was killed when a bomb was thrown during a labor protest. The identity of the bomb thrower was never discovered but five men who had organized the rally and spoke of the need for the protesters to defend themselves were tried and executed for stirring up the crowd.

Yesterday, Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who provided abortions, was murdered while attending church. Since 2005, O’Reilly mentioned Tiller on his program 29 times, calling him “Tiller the Baby Killer,” accusing him of “Nazi stuff,” and saying “This is the kind of stuff happened in Mao’s China, Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union.” O’Reilly has said that Tiller is “a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida.” On June 12, 2007, O’Reilly said, “…if the state of Kansas doesn’t stop this man, then anybody who prevents that from happening has blood on their hands as the governor does right now, Governor Sebelius.” Obviously the man who murdered Dr. Tiller took O’Reilly very seriously.

Bill O’Reilly is at least as guilty as the men executed for the Haymarket riot. O’Reilly put Dr. Tiller in the public eye knowing full well that the anti-abortion movement is full of nuts who are willing to use violence to stop doctors. I am not saying that O’Reilly should be arrested, tried, and executed. But I am saying that he has blood on his hands and any network that lets him spout his views has blood on their hands as well. If he is not removed from the airwaves then the question is who is the next doctor O’Reilly will put a target on?