A memorable story of intriguing people even if the author’s emotional journey doesn’t pack a big punch.
A daughter grapples with loss in this tender memoir of a troubled family.
After debut author Harkin’s father, Jack, contracted a mysterious infection that caused multiple strokes, she took a leave of absence from college in 1996 to return home to Montana and attend to him. Her family wasn’t well-equipped to deal with the sudden illness, she says; her mother, Linda, wasn’t even sure where her husband kept the family’s money. His work as an airline pilot resulted in a childhood of frequent moves and unpredictable living situations; once, the author’s sister, Erica, came home from school to find a note on the door with a new address, signed “Love, Mom.” Still, the family managed to build a treasure trove of memories, vacations, and adventures, as a family dinner ended with Linda pretending to be a lima bean. But running through it all, Harkin writes, was an undercurrent of anxiety. One time in 1983, Linda chillingly imitated the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz until the 8-year-old Harkin cried. Her father also had a longtime affair that loomed over the family and led to more secrets being revealed. As the family worried over whether to take him off life support, an even bigger loss forced the author to hold her siblings close. Harkin lovingly creates portraits of various figures in her life, from their family friend with a “Kentucky twang” to Linda, who becomes the heart of the story. The narrator does a fine job of mining her childhood for sweet stories that contrast with the sour turn that her parents’ marriage takes. The latter half of the memoir, though, comes in a rush, with some epiphanies that seem forced (as when one chapter ends, “We could choose to be a functioning family”). Readers may also wish that the author’s interior life were portrayed as vividly as her memories of others. Still, she honestly shows her family’s flaws and quirks.
A memorable story of intriguing people even if the author’s emotional journey doesn’t pack a big punch.Pub Date: June 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61296-892-6
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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