A contemplative consideration of incorporating astrology into daily life.
Blando, a medical doctor, discusses her relationship with astrology and embracing the uncertain in this debut memoir.
The author is a Gemini with Virgo rising. In her own words, “Geminis are curious and have the ability to make connections and talk with everyone. However, the Virgo part of me discriminates with whom I wish to make connections.” Born in the Philippines but raised in the United States, Blando had a western mindset instilled early: work hard, find a steady job, and succeed. Medicine seemed a natural conduit to that end, suited to both her Gemini and Virgo sides. But soon after graduation, she realized that western medicine, and its ideology rooted in facts and data, couldn’t answer all of her questions, assuage her fear of failure, or fulfill her desire for purpose in life. Her first job out of medical school in 1991was in the Bronx as HIV decimated communities throughout New York City, and she realized that there were layers to her understanding of the world that science did not account for: “Science gained knowledge through observation of that which could be perceived and measured in the physical, material world, but what could be understood through direct perception was limited…what wasn’t grasped by the senses was both immense and immeasurable.” After moving to Miami, she took an astrology class with Iris, who would serve as Blando’s guide to reading the stars and planets, restructuring her approach to medicine and her personal life. Through astrology, the author was able to gain “another perspective to view myself beyond society’s standards.”
In the epilogue, Blando admits that her mentor, Iris, was going to be the subject of her book, but she dissuaded the author from this course and encouraged a more personal approach (however, Iris remains the most prominent character in Blando’s narrative). It’s unclear how the author’s deepening relationship with astrology impacted her relationships with her family and friends, though she does use astrological insights to come to terms with the ways she navigated situations and decisions growing up. At the heart of the book is the way the author braids the three pillars of her worldview—Catholicism, western medicine, and astrology—together over time. Each system appears to have informed her life in healthy and productive ways, as her faith gave her moral lessons and rituals, science gave her the means to investigate questions, and astrology helped her to honor her internal self and desires. This convergence is in evidence in one of the book’s strongest passages, in which Blando participates in an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. By contrast, other aspects of the narrative feel underexplored. While the author’s ruminations on harmonizing these ideologies are compelling, her prose doesn’t always rise to the challenge of persuading readers that no single school of thought has all the answers. As astrology continues to engage the mainstream imagination, Blando’s more restrained take will appeal to skeptics inclined to disparage the subject as too “woo woo”; astrology, as Iris notes, “is the map of your potential,” not an answer key.
A contemplative consideration of incorporating astrology into daily life.Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781647424701
Page Count: 232
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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