By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA
One of my favorite movie lines comes in the middle of High Fidelity. In the scene, John Cusack’s character, Rob Gordon, recaps a date night with a local musician he hit it off with at his record store. After explaining the finer points of flirtation, he says this line:
“I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films – these things matter.“
As much as I don’t agree with his character on several things (even if I have been told I can be grumpy and opinionated like Rob), I wholeheartedly am on board with his statement. These truly are the things that matter.
Although summer is officially over, who says you can’t bring on the new season in style? Here is a very early fall playlist on books, records, and film — all with a NOVA connection. Look at it this way – if you are part of the impending government shutdown, I’ve provided you with a few things to occupy your mind.
Part I: Books
- All the President’s Men – Carl Bernstein and Carl Woodward
Before it was the incredibly gripping 1976 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, Bernstein and Woodward published a book about their experience investigating the 1972 Watergate scandal.
Although most of the book/film takes place in Washington, D.C., the pivotal moments where “Deepthroat,” AKA Mark Felt, provided secret information occurred inside a Rosslyn garage off Wilson Boulevard that (unfortunately) no longer exists. Even if you know the story, All the President’s Men is always gripping. The New York Times called it “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.” They may be right.
2. Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris
This is another tangential one, but SOME of the book takes place at the FBI Academy in Quantico. Sure, it’s the more mundane parts of the book, but it frames Clarice’s mindset for the search for Buffalo Bill and the trips up to the psych hospital where Hannibal Lector temporarily took residence. It’s hard to say the book is better because (unfortunately) the movie was so damn good. Both are incredible – read it then watch it. Afterward, try to sleep without thinking somebody is watching you with night vision goggles on.
3. Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Patterson
The setting of this timeless YA classic takes place in the fictional town of Lark Creek, a rural locale in Virginia that can be described as “a car ride to Washington, D.C.” Some of the book is set in Washington, so one can surmise the fictional small town is somewhere in the outstretched parts of Northern Virginia. Make sure you read the book instead of watching the 2007 film. Yikes.
4. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War – Tony Horwitz
As a long-time wannabe historian and occasional museum professional, I will always flock to any book about history. That goes double for books about the American Civil War. Acclaimed war correspondent Tony Horwitz traded the battlefields of Bosnia for the make-believe bivouacs of Northern Virginia in this brilliant piece of investigative journalism.
Americans have a strange love affair with the Civil War. For me, it was more about the battles and the heroism fought on fields I could see with my own eyes and much less on the many monuments and statues that caused so much familial heartache, pain, and frustration from protest picket lines to kitchen tables at Thanksgiving as of late. Tony Horwitz nails this dichotomy, visiting and interviewing “Soldiers” from battlefield reenactments primarily in Northern Virginia (Fredericksburg, Manassas, Fairfax Courthouse, etc.). A stand-out part for me will always be the hardcore reenactor who pissed on his buttons for historical accuracy:
“My wife woke up this morning, sniffed the air and said, ‘Tim, you’ve been peeing on your buttons again.”
Confederates in the Attic
That’s hardcore. Insane — but hardcore. If you haven’t, please read this. He passed away right before the pandemic, but his indelible legacy lives on. I wouldn’t say he was prophetic, but think about how many people today still say the Civil War remains unfinished? I bet a new edition of this book would have been incredible.
5. The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story – Richard Preston
Nowadays, most people do not want to hear about the origins of infectious diseases. Disregarding that, Richard Preston’s deep dive into the antecedents to filoviruses like Ebola, Margburg, and Ravn was an early 1990s best-selling book.
Preston devoted an entire section of The Hot Zone to what he called “The Monkey House.” It described the 1989 incident where lab workers discovered a viral relative to Ebola, known as “Reston Virtus,” in a primate quarantine facility in Reston, just fifteen miles away from the nation’s capital. Eventually, the U.S. Army and the Center for Disease Control were involved. Sound familiar? Although the planned film Crisis in the Hot Zone was never made, the project’s planned director, Wolfgang Peterson, later directed Outbreak. It’s a riveting read, especially in this day in age.
Honorable Mention:
- The Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman
- Spy – David Wise
- Firestarter – Stephen King
More to come!
Next Up: 5 Favorite Songs from Northern Virginia Musicians
Offbeat NOVA 