A jumbled miscellany of reminiscences, theories, and stories—some captivating, most baffling.
Deep thoughts, mundane events, and esoteric tarot cards abound in this intricate memoir-cum-treatise.
Blair here conducts a tour of his ideas on many subjects. On the topic of science, he includes a brief, inconclusive discussion of the possibility that gravity might have a repulsive effect in some contexts. The author comments extensively on religion and philosophy; he’s broadly accepting of many faiths—his own journey traversed Christianity, Buddhism, and “Annihilationist Atheism”—questioning both rigid fundamentalism and a materialist view that accords life no mental or spiritual dimension. He defends his political choices, arguing that it’s not necessarily racist to vote for Donald Trump. Several chapters analyze world history, from the year 471 million B.C.E. to 1999, using tarot cards denoting abstract concepts like Unity, Duality, The Great Ultimate, and Voidness Models. Blair also revisits personal history, some of it traumatic, including his father’s death in a hospice and his own decades-long struggle with mental health problems and an involuntary commitment in 2019. The book is a digressive ramble through Blair’s many interests and memories. There are imaginative flashes in his writing, including a short story in which an extraterrestrial human-aardvark hybrid takes over Chicago’s public-access television station. His descriptions of psychiatric episodes are evocative and terrifying (“I suddenly felt physical sensations that seemed identical to what it would be like for aliens to have my brain exposed to scalpels or similar cutting instruments without anesthesia and then for the surgeons to perform extremely rapid brain surgery as part of digging for something.”) Too much space, though, is given to random, uninvolving events, like a college date with a woman who talked about USDA nutritional guidelines, and to inscrutable tarot readings. (The spread for “June 20th, 4710000000 B.C.E.” reads, “0. Nonduality &/or Plurality / Ace of Preservation / XXI. The Great Ultimate / V. Religion / 2P / 3P 4P 5P 6P 7P 4D 5D 6D / 7Cmc / H. Heartfelt / Ace of Commerce / XVII. Excavation,” with no interpretation.) Readers will find much of the book to be heavy going.
A jumbled miscellany of reminiscences, theories, and stories—some captivating, most baffling.Pub Date: July 23, 2023
ISBN: 9798988747055
Page Count: 318
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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