A compelling and propulsive memoir that interrogates the nature of truth and trust.
An immersive look into how lies and misconstrued truths can capture the psyches of those willing to listen.
In this philosophical follow-up to her essay collection, Mine, New York Times Magazine contributor and creative writing instructor Viren chronicles two instances when the ramifications of lies nearly derailed her life. The author begins with her high school years, writing about her teacher Dr. Whiles, who challenged his classes. Whiles was revered by his students, including the author, as an all-knowing figure, someone you desperately wished to make proud with your work. That is, until he began teaching known conspiracies as truths, planting toxic seeds into the minds of impressionable students. In reflecting on her time in class, Viren writes that she was bothered by “the sense that it’s not just the individual facts that are wrong, it’s the whole premise. Yet no one else seems to be screaming, so I feel crazy for wanting to.” As the author was compiling research for this initial topic, she learned about anonymous sexual assault accusations made against her wife, Marta, a fellow professor. Now with a future job on the line and her wife’s reputation in jeopardy, Viren worked to dismantle the lies. “One story can easily interrupt another, just as questions build one atop the next,” she writes. “The past may mirror the present but the future also casts its shadow back on us.” Ruminating on these experiences, Viren investigates the wider concept of truth. Drawing from the work of Socrates, the author aligns her memoir around the allegory of the cave and what could happen if one discovers deeper truths beyond a manufactured reality. Throughout, Viren examines a wide range of relevant questions—e.g., What is the appropriate punishment for these lies, and how can someone move forward from this state of cognitive dissonance?
A compelling and propulsive memoir that interrogates the nature of truth and trust.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781982166595
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: March 24, 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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