THE DEVIL'S TICKETS : A NIGHT OF BRIDGE, A FATAL HAND, AND A NEW AMERICAN AGE
by Gary M. Pomerantz

Contract bridge was a huge craze during the 1920s in America. Four people sat together at a small table, composed mainly of couples, spending hours with their partners hoping to score the greatest number of points to win the game.
Ely Culbertson was the perfect man (in his eyes) to promote bridge and built a phenomenal empire. He wrote books, lectured and was even on the radio. His favorite partner was his own wife, Josephine. Culbertson knew that, sometimes, the relationship between husbands and wives would be stretched or explode due to miscommunication.
Myrtle and Jack Bennett sat down one night, in 1929, to play bridge with another married couple. Passions became inflamed. Myrtle called Jack a "bum bridge player," he slapped her across her face in front of their friends and started to walk out the door. Within seconds, Jack was shot by Myrtle with his pistol and that was the end of him.
The Devil's Tickets is a mesmerizing tale. There are two parallel stories going on at the same time. The author does a terrific job in introducing each character and effortlessly weaves everything together.
If you want to know how to play contract bridge, you can find it at the end of the book along with a glossary.
It's written extremely well and is just a delight to read.
Recommended.

PORTRAIT : THE LIFE OF THOMAS EAKINS
by William S. McFeely

It was not until twelve years after his death that Thomas Eakins finally received the recognition that he so deserved. The Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired a huge amount of his paintings donated by Susan MacDowell Eakins, the largest gift a museum had ever received on one artist.
Growing up in the nineteenth century, Thomas was a true Renaissance man. He excelled at everything he put his mind to. Central High School, in Philadelphia, known as the "People's College," put that talent to work. He was fascinated with anatomy, medicine, mechanical engineering and of course drawing and gave the valedictory address at his graduation.
Eakins went off to Paris and then later, Spain, to study art. His fluency in seven languages made him easily fit in.
He returned to Philadelphia and eventually became a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
In Portrait William S. McFeely delves into homosexuality (depicted in Eakins' most famous work Swimming); depression (inherited from his mother); relationships among his wife, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, his family; the pervasive sadness that Eakins' portraits seemed to portray.
There are black-and-white drawings, photographs and sixteen pages of color plates.
In three of his paintings, Thomas Eakins is in the artwork: Max Schmitt in a Single Scull, Swimming, and The Gross Clinic.
Well-researched (the author is a historian and wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning Grant) and revealing, the book is an important work of a true realist.
Recommended.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.