An engaging and illuminative remembrance.
A writer who spent two years teaching English in Wuhan, China, offers her reflections in this debut memoir.
In 1979, Dykstra was one of the first 100 Americans recruited by the Chinese government to teach English at a variety of colleges around the country. They were considered “foreign expert teachers” and, along with their translators and high-ranking Communist Party VIPs, were accorded a wide range of privileges not available to many Chinese citizens; for example, they did not need to use ration tickets for food or other items. The author was assigned to Wuhan’s Teachers’ College, where she taught young teachers who’d been “worker-peasant-soldier students” during the Cultural Revolution and younger students who were among the first to enter college after that era. Xiao Wang, her translator, was one of the young teachers in training who’d never met a Westerner before. Unlike other teachers, Dykstra did not speak fluent Mandarin and had never studied Chinese history; Xiao Wang would be her guide and facilitator for the next two years. The revolution may have been over, but the physical and emotional scars of China’s recent violent past permeated the country’s psyche. As Dykstra puts it, “I stayed for two years and made some friends and was often baffled.” Along the way, she worked hard to understand the rigid, often unstated rules that governed every aspect of life in Wuhan. Over the course of the work, Dykstra weaves in historical summaries for context, but the heart of her narrative rests in the complicated, personal stories of the students and teachers with whom Dykstra became close. Xiao Wang is revealed as an ambitious powerhouse, and Huang Hua, one of Dykstra’s students, is shown to be a soulful young man with a bright future that’s later shattered. She makes effective use of classroom discussions and free-time conversations to illustrate a vast cultural and philosophical divide. Overall, Dykstra’s memoir will be a valuable resource for readers wishing for a better understanding of the China of four decades past. (A collection of personal photographs is included.)
An engaging and illuminative remembrance.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63988-215-1
Page Count: 412
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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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