A light yet thoroughly researched book that will appeal to followers of the Kennedy family and celebrity culture.
The latest book about one of America's most famous families presents a novel approach to a well-charted course.
Storey, senior features editor for Rolling Stone, creatively compiles the last century of Kennedy family history through the lens of their residence in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, purchased by Joseph P. Kennedy in the 1920s. Part of the uniqueness of this book are the insights gleaned from personal interviews with—and subsequent descriptions of—heretofore unknown Hyannis Port neighbors (friendly and otherwise) and the social evolution of the small Cape Cod village that the family put on the world stage. The text is a treasure trove of interesting, amusing, and poignant stories and anecdotes of the dynamic, tightknit, and consequential clan, yet many have been told in countless books by Kennedy family members, Laurence Leamer, Barbara Leaming, and numerous other authors. As such, much of the content will be familiar ground for Kennedyphiles. Storey does well not to overlook the well-publicized and multigenerational foibles and flaws of the family, including Joseph parading his paramour, film superstar Gloria Swanson, around Hyannis Port; the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick and the subsequent attempts at damage control; and a revealing conversation that Rose had with a local friend about her husband's unilateral decision to lobotomize their eldest daughter, Rosemary. The author presents the family's many triumphs, heartbreaks, and attempts at redemption (particularly arranging Rosemary's return visits to Hyannis Port) matter-of-factly and mostly without judgment but with a decidedly soft focus. This is perhaps best illustrated in Storey's description of the circumstances surrounding Ted Kennedy's infamous interview with Roger Mudd conducted at Hyannis Port, during which he was unable to articulate exactly why he wanted to be president. Appropriately enough, the book makes for great beach reading, as breezy as the summer air off Nantucket Sound.
A light yet thoroughly researched book that will appeal to followers of the Kennedy family and celebrity culture.Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781982159184
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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 juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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