A humorous and honest tale of a woman and her struggle as a people-pleaser.
The debut essay collection from the veteran novelist.
Leary, the author of The Foundling and Outtakes From a Marriage, begins with a relatable anecdote about her experience with a neighbor who would let her dog roam on the author’s property. The neighbor ignored Leary’s concerns regarding her volatile dog, until she had enough and stopped being nice: “At that moment I was Walter White from Breaking Bad; I was Sir from To Sir, with Love; I was young Jane Eyre. Why do we love those characters so much? Because they tried being nice. Then they stopped.” The author’s candid essays invite readers to laugh and cry along with her as she attempts to relieve herself of her people-pleasing duties. She fluidly guides us through her thought processes, while finding humor and displaying a refreshing vulnerability. She is unafraid to relate hard lessons she has learned over the years. There were times when she battled intrusive thoughts and times when she was overwhelmed by the fame of her actor husband, Denis. “My desperation to please others became even more of an issue when my husband Denis became famous,” she writes. Each chapter offers a little peek into her world: hilarious red carpet moments, struggles with alcohol, sweet cuddles with her dogs. “I’d still like to think of myself as somebody who is essentially kind,” she writes. “Or at least tries to be kind. Kindness is selfless, it doesn’t come from a fear of rejection or a desire to be admired, it comes, in its purest form, from wanting, simply, to be good to others.” Leary conveys that although pleasing people is a constant battle, the need for her to be kind and compassionate is always at the forefront of her mind.
A humorous and honest tale of a woman and her struggle as a people-pleaser.Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781982120344
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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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