AMERICAN EVE : EVELYN NESBIT, STANFORD WHITE, THE BIRTH OF THE "IT" GIRL, AND THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY
by Paula Uruburu
She was known as the "IT" girl and by the time she was sixteen she was known to millions. Her photograph appeared everywhere. She was the first supermodel in America.
Sitting in a multitude of poses, for hours on end, every day became boring, though, and Evelyn Nesbit decided to change careers and become an actress. That was the beginning of her demise.
She ended up in a love triangle between Stanford White, an architect, who designed most of the buildings of New York City and her very jealous millionaire husband, Harry K. Thaw.
White was shot by Thaw and Evelyn was in the middle of it all. It was a huge scandal and the media went wild. Her courtroom testimony was drama in and of itself.
American Eve is one hell of a story. The writing is superb. A tremendous amount of research went into this book; ten years, in fact. The author decided to write about Evelyn Nesbit after going to a postcard show and finding a picture of this young, sultry girl.
Read this book. You won't be disappointed.
Very highly recommended.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
BITTERSWEET : LESSONS FROM MY MOTHER'S KITCHEN
by Matt McAllester
His was a most idyllic childhood. Food was the main centerpiece. Heavenly meals came from a whole dearth of cookbooks, the most important ones being the Elizabeth Davids. She surfaced in 1950 long before Julia Child. Family life was sublime for many years until Matt McAllester's mother started to decline into madness. Her illness was never properly diagnosed. Before she died, the doctors had finally figured it out, but it was already too late. She lasted until the age of 60.
It is very hard for Matt to come to terms with his grief. He keeps looking for her and reads old letters trying to understand what went wrong. Then he inherits most of his mother's cookbook collection. Through these recipes, he realizes that by cooking them, himself, he can find her and bring back his good memories.
Bittersweet was an absolute joy to read. The writing is gorgeous. I didn't want the book to end. Even though it was sad, at times, it was also powerful.
There are recipes interspersed and you just salivate with his descriptions of what he prepares. Family photos appear here and there.
McAllester has crafted a winner.
Highly recommended.
by Matt McAllester
His was a most idyllic childhood. Food was the main centerpiece. Heavenly meals came from a whole dearth of cookbooks, the most important ones being the Elizabeth Davids. She surfaced in 1950 long before Julia Child. Family life was sublime for many years until Matt McAllester's mother started to decline into madness. Her illness was never properly diagnosed. Before she died, the doctors had finally figured it out, but it was already too late. She lasted until the age of 60.
It is very hard for Matt to come to terms with his grief. He keeps looking for her and reads old letters trying to understand what went wrong. Then he inherits most of his mother's cookbook collection. Through these recipes, he realizes that by cooking them, himself, he can find her and bring back his good memories.
Bittersweet was an absolute joy to read. The writing is gorgeous. I didn't want the book to end. Even though it was sad, at times, it was also powerful.
There are recipes interspersed and you just salivate with his descriptions of what he prepares. Family photos appear here and there.
McAllester has crafted a winner.
Highly recommended.
Monday, June 8, 2009
WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? : A PERSONAL HISTORY
by Danzy Senna
In 1968, two young, intelligent Americans, from totally different backgrounds, were married. She was a white woman and descended from the DeWolfes with pedigrees a mile long.
He was a black man born to a single mother and an unknown father. Both of them were writers.
Eight years later, they would divorce.
Neither parent ever divulged much information as to their respective ancestral history, so Danzy Senna decides to do her own sleuth work. She goes to the Los Angeles Public Library and finds many books on her mother's family. Her father's side is a bit murky. He is a contradiction. The more Danzy digs, the more a family mystery unfolds.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night? is an absorbing tale of race and identity. Writing is, obviously, in her genes and Danzy certainly knows how to weave a terrific story.
Highly recommended.
by Danzy Senna
In 1968, two young, intelligent Americans, from totally different backgrounds, were married. She was a white woman and descended from the DeWolfes with pedigrees a mile long.
He was a black man born to a single mother and an unknown father. Both of them were writers.
Eight years later, they would divorce.
Neither parent ever divulged much information as to their respective ancestral history, so Danzy Senna decides to do her own sleuth work. She goes to the Los Angeles Public Library and finds many books on her mother's family. Her father's side is a bit murky. He is a contradiction. The more Danzy digs, the more a family mystery unfolds.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night? is an absorbing tale of race and identity. Writing is, obviously, in her genes and Danzy certainly knows how to weave a terrific story.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
THE GOLDEN WILLOW : THE STORY OF A LIFETIME OF LOVE
by Harry Bernstein
At the ripe old age of ninety-four, Harry Bernstein wrote his first book, The Invisible Wall and two years later, his second book The Dream. (Both were reviewed in this blog.)
Now that Bernstein has turned ninety-nine comes the final tale in the trilogy.
The Golden Willow is a tender tribute of his long romance married to his wife, Ruby, for almost seventy years.
They met at a dance, in New York, and instantly fell in love. After marriage, in 1935, their first abode was a tiny rented room (nowadays called a studio apartment) in the Upper West Side. A few years later, they moved to Greenwich Village. Though poor, the two of them managed. Ruby was the one doing all the supporting by working as a secretary at a bookstore. Harry did, eventually, get a job at MGM. He was a reader of books and plays that might be considered as movie material.
Children soon followed and they moved, again, to rear them in the suburbs.
Harry and Ruby shared an incredible love and went through very few bumps in their life together. Then, when Ruby was ninety-one, she contracted leukemia and passed away.
Harry was alone for the first time in his life. The only way he could get through his grief was to write.
A wonderful memoir, just like his previous two. If we're lucky, we might get another one. Bernstein is working on a new book.
Recommended.
by Harry Bernstein
At the ripe old age of ninety-four, Harry Bernstein wrote his first book, The Invisible Wall and two years later, his second book The Dream. (Both were reviewed in this blog.)
Now that Bernstein has turned ninety-nine comes the final tale in the trilogy.
The Golden Willow is a tender tribute of his long romance married to his wife, Ruby, for almost seventy years.
They met at a dance, in New York, and instantly fell in love. After marriage, in 1935, their first abode was a tiny rented room (nowadays called a studio apartment) in the Upper West Side. A few years later, they moved to Greenwich Village. Though poor, the two of them managed. Ruby was the one doing all the supporting by working as a secretary at a bookstore. Harry did, eventually, get a job at MGM. He was a reader of books and plays that might be considered as movie material.
Children soon followed and they moved, again, to rear them in the suburbs.
Harry and Ruby shared an incredible love and went through very few bumps in their life together. Then, when Ruby was ninety-one, she contracted leukemia and passed away.
Harry was alone for the first time in his life. The only way he could get through his grief was to write.
A wonderful memoir, just like his previous two. If we're lucky, we might get another one. Bernstein is working on a new book.
Recommended.
Monday, May 25, 2009
WHEN SKATEBOARDS WILL BE FREE : A MEMOIR OF A POLITICAL CHILDHOOD
by Said Sayrafiezadeh
The socialist revolution is coming. It is imminent. So believed Said's parents who were both comrades in the Socialist Workers Party. His father, Mahmoud, an Iranian and his mother, Martha, a Jewish American, were adamant that eliminating capitalism would dissolve suffering.
When Said was nine months old, his parents separated due to their desire to find that perfect socialist society. He spent his childhood growing up poor, with his mother, in a whole series of derelict apartments in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their poverty was self-inflicted. Martha, who majored in literature in college and dreamed of becoming a writer, worked for 30 years as a secretary at Carnegie Mellon. (Her brother, Mark Harris, was a novelist and best known for Bang the Drum Slowly.) Mahmoud, a mathematics professor at a university, remained absent from his son's life persuing the fight that he intended to lead.
When the hostage crisis surfaces, in Iran, Said is confronted with quite an identity complex and ends up losing friends by espousing the familiar rhetoric that has been ingrained in him.
When Skateboards Will Be Free is a fantastic memoir. The writing draws you in from the first sentence and never lets you go.
Highly recommended.
by Said Sayrafiezadeh
The socialist revolution is coming. It is imminent. So believed Said's parents who were both comrades in the Socialist Workers Party. His father, Mahmoud, an Iranian and his mother, Martha, a Jewish American, were adamant that eliminating capitalism would dissolve suffering.
When Said was nine months old, his parents separated due to their desire to find that perfect socialist society. He spent his childhood growing up poor, with his mother, in a whole series of derelict apartments in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their poverty was self-inflicted. Martha, who majored in literature in college and dreamed of becoming a writer, worked for 30 years as a secretary at Carnegie Mellon. (Her brother, Mark Harris, was a novelist and best known for Bang the Drum Slowly.) Mahmoud, a mathematics professor at a university, remained absent from his son's life persuing the fight that he intended to lead.
When the hostage crisis surfaces, in Iran, Said is confronted with quite an identity complex and ends up losing friends by espousing the familiar rhetoric that has been ingrained in him.
When Skateboards Will Be Free is a fantastic memoir. The writing draws you in from the first sentence and never lets you go.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
THE PAINTER'S CHAIR : GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN ART
by Hugh Howard
George Washington never did relish sitting for an artist. But, as he had done so for various times, he resigned himself to it. This was the only way painters could produce his likeness on canvas.
In the eighteenth century, art in America was not as popular or current as it was in Europe.
That was soon to change with the emergence of Charles Willson Peale, the man who was everyone's friend; John Trumbull, an aristocrat, who thought very highly of himself; Benjamin West, a mentor to all artists; and Gilbert Stuart, probably the most gifted one. (His unfinished portrait of Washington is on the one-dollar bill.)
These men produced works of their hero, who became an icon to the American republic.
Hugh Howard does an incredible job of depicting the lives of the painters and Washington's interaction with them.
There's some neat trivia, here, too. Both Robert Fulton and Samuel F.B. Morse make an appearance.
The Painter's Chair is a marvelous book, full of history and detailed descriptions of the works. There are sixteen pages of colored plates.
The author's sources for the text were the papers of Washington, the artists, scholars and books. Quite an extensive bibliography (twelve pages worth), notes and an index round out this exceptional book.
Highly recommended.
by Hugh Howard
George Washington never did relish sitting for an artist. But, as he had done so for various times, he resigned himself to it. This was the only way painters could produce his likeness on canvas.
In the eighteenth century, art in America was not as popular or current as it was in Europe.
That was soon to change with the emergence of Charles Willson Peale, the man who was everyone's friend; John Trumbull, an aristocrat, who thought very highly of himself; Benjamin West, a mentor to all artists; and Gilbert Stuart, probably the most gifted one. (His unfinished portrait of Washington is on the one-dollar bill.)
These men produced works of their hero, who became an icon to the American republic.
Hugh Howard does an incredible job of depicting the lives of the painters and Washington's interaction with them.
There's some neat trivia, here, too. Both Robert Fulton and Samuel F.B. Morse make an appearance.
The Painter's Chair is a marvelous book, full of history and detailed descriptions of the works. There are sixteen pages of colored plates.
The author's sources for the text were the papers of Washington, the artists, scholars and books. Quite an extensive bibliography (twelve pages worth), notes and an index round out this exceptional book.
Highly recommended.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
CLOSING TIME : A MEMOIR
by Joe Queenan
Joe Queenan is well-known as a humorist, critic, author, satirist, who rants and raves about everything that is not right about America.
In his latest book, his tenth, he turns to writing about himself: growing up in Philadelphia in horrible neighborhoods.
As a young child, he and his sisters lived in a housing project. They are forced to wear clothing considered off-brand (Made in Pakistan, not the label saying Made in U.S.A.) and eat food mostly out of cans. Most of the time, they are starving. Their horrendous existence is due to Joe Queenan Sr., an alcoholic that cannot keep a job for any period of time. His nightly bouts of rage, fueled by liquor, turns him into an emotional ball of terror, which he then inflicts on his children, beating them with his belt.
Joe Jr. knows that this is not the life or future he wants for himself, so he starts looking for ways to get out. When he's eight years old, his first job, at six dollars a week, is working for a man who owns a clothing store that can barely stay in business. Seven years later, he is behind the counter at a pharmacy, filling prescriptions, his boss in the back chain-smoking and cooking gourmet meals for his hungry protege. These men become both his mentors and surrogate fathers.
Joe's love of books and music sustains him and he's an excellent student at school. At one point, he desires to become a priest and enters a seminary. It's short-lived and he is told not to return.
Closing Time is a fierce, dark story about poverty and rising above it. Queenan's writing is superb and even though he's very cynical, there's much to laugh at. He's very detailed, descriptive and honest.
A terrific read.
Highly recommended.
by Joe Queenan
Joe Queenan is well-known as a humorist, critic, author, satirist, who rants and raves about everything that is not right about America.
In his latest book, his tenth, he turns to writing about himself: growing up in Philadelphia in horrible neighborhoods.
As a young child, he and his sisters lived in a housing project. They are forced to wear clothing considered off-brand (Made in Pakistan, not the label saying Made in U.S.A.) and eat food mostly out of cans. Most of the time, they are starving. Their horrendous existence is due to Joe Queenan Sr., an alcoholic that cannot keep a job for any period of time. His nightly bouts of rage, fueled by liquor, turns him into an emotional ball of terror, which he then inflicts on his children, beating them with his belt.
Joe Jr. knows that this is not the life or future he wants for himself, so he starts looking for ways to get out. When he's eight years old, his first job, at six dollars a week, is working for a man who owns a clothing store that can barely stay in business. Seven years later, he is behind the counter at a pharmacy, filling prescriptions, his boss in the back chain-smoking and cooking gourmet meals for his hungry protege. These men become both his mentors and surrogate fathers.
Joe's love of books and music sustains him and he's an excellent student at school. At one point, he desires to become a priest and enters a seminary. It's short-lived and he is told not to return.
Closing Time is a fierce, dark story about poverty and rising above it. Queenan's writing is superb and even though he's very cynical, there's much to laugh at. He's very detailed, descriptive and honest.
A terrific read.
Highly recommended.
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