I saw Ten last night. It was an interesting look at a divorced woman's life in Iran. I liked that it was a very personal view, focused most intently on her relationship with her son. It seemed a bit forced at times, unlike Taste of Cherry, and also unlike that film, you're more aware of how the film drags at times. Compared to Abbas Kiarostami's other films, its hard to recommend, but still not bad, and another reminder that the situation in Iran is not as cut-and-dried as the U.S. media portrays it.

I also finished Devil in the White City last night. The story is interesting enough to make me marginally recommend it despite the sometimes horrendous writing. Erik Larson seems to think he has to punch up the story with purple prose and forced suspense. Which is especially unfortunate since the forced suspense falls flat. By the time he reveals the shocking news that the man who proposes to build an engineering marvel in the midway is named Ferris, I doubt many readers are surprised. And perhaps at times some more suspense would have been nice. A bit of mystery as to the role of Pendergast, for instance, could have ratched up the tension a bit. But the two main stories, of the building of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition and the serial killer who prowled Chicago at the time is compelling enough to overcome any shortcomings of the author. And Larson does do a good job of telling the story of Holmes, the killer, and his reconstruction of the crimes, with limited source material, is one time when he seems up to the task of writing non-fiction that reads like fiction, without forcing the issue. So with some misgivings about the style, I do recommend it. I always scoff at the the notion, but I suppose this might be what is called "Summer Reading."