An insightful, compelling book.
A collection of individual stories that could alter perception of addiction, mental health, and treatment in the U.S.
Kennedy, a mental health advocate and former member of Congress, and journalist Fried, co-authors of A Common Struggle, model their latest collaboration on the classic Profiles in Courage, written by Kennedy's uncle, John F. Kennedy. The authors seek to amplify the experiences of a dozen individuals who struggle with mental illness and/or addiction. Kennedy and Fried present a wide array of stories that are compelling, heartbreaking, and inspiring, including those of a bipolar Hollywood actor and crack addict turned addiction counselor. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Kennedy's adroit faculty for interviewing. Likely borne of empathy and knowledge from personal and familial experiences and difficulties with addiction and mental illness to which he often refers in the text, Kennedy's intelligent questions elicit poignant and blunt answers from his subjects. Their testimonies illuminate all aspects of their addictions and diseases, successes and failures, in addition to those of medical professionals and family and friends. His experience in crafting public policy and his knowledge about the significant deficiencies of mental health care add unique perspective. Readers will gain a better understanding and perhaps become less dismissive, disdainful, or fearful of family members, patients, clients, and strangers who are in the clutches of addiction and mental illness and need help. “We often quote the statistic that…at least a quarter of all Americans struggle with mental illness, substance use disorder, or both,” writes Kennedy. “And while these are still sometimes viewed as two separate illnesses—because two distinct worlds developed to address them—I can tell you as someone who has them both that they are best understood and treated together as one complex continuum of diseases of the brain and mind.”
An insightful, compelling book.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593471760
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
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
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