A deep dive into human-canine friendship, by turns funny and heartfelt.
A man celebrates his love for his dogs in this doting memoir.
Frisbie looks back on his relationships with several pooches, focusing on Boo, an Australian shepherd, white with black patches, whom he picked out at a shelter because she had “sinuous muscles” and a sleek physique that seemed “like a vessel designed to contain a strong spirit.” Frisbie and Boo trained and competed together in dog agility meets, in which canines run obstacle courses under their handlers’ command, near their Denver home. But mostly they just provided each other with companionship, especially on long walks around the neighborhood and in nearby state parks. The book unfolds as a series of essays about the doggy things Boo did, including chasing squirrels, floundering into ponds, hogging the bed, fidgeting incessantly while riding shotgun in Frisbie’s pickup, getting stung on the snout by yellow jackets, and carrying on a ceaseless crusade against any coyote whose scent crossed her nose. (“A coyote-tinged miasma drifted from a heavily vegetated swale….Within seconds, a riot of shrieks and screams erupted from the swamp,” the author writes of one encounter.) Other adventures erupted on fishing trips to Montana and Idaho, including Boo’s brave, suicidal, bristling stand-off with a grizzly and her two cubs. Nosing in occasionally are Frisbie’s mother’s canines Koko, Sachi, and Yoshi, all of them shiba inus, who looked like small, reddish huskies and contributed their own feisty antics. Frisbie gives an unusually fine-grained, intense portrait of the deep emotional bond that can develop between a human and a dog. (“Boo was my child,” he writes, describing his panic when she was almost swept away in a river.) His prose is colorful and droll and captures the delightful strangeness of the dog universe in evocative detail. (“To execute a perfect stinky roll,” he observes of the canine habit of wallowing in manure or carrion, “the dog must remain in an inverted position over the target area while aggressively kicking their legs with spasms of joy. This technique, if performed properly, grinds the foul odor deep into the fur on their backs. It’s a difficult maneuver and can require multiple attempts until the dog is satisfied with the results.”) Dog lovers will embrace this resonant account.
A deep dive into human-canine friendship, by turns funny and heartfelt.Pub Date: April 11, 2022
ISBN: 9798886274257
Page Count: 200
Publisher: TFL Stories
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 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
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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