A convoluted but highly comical take on a nation in turmoil.
Bird presents a surreal satire of modern America in a tale that includes an orange-haired despot and divisive culture wars.
The country of Amourrica Profunda was once a place where society was civil and people respected one another’s diverse views. Now, political and social chaos has torn the country apart. A main cause of this disintegration is the commitment of some to the belief that “an autocrat could save the country from a supposed cultural downward spiral.” The dictator in question goes by the name of Turmerico Inflammatorio, has orange hair, a love of nepotism, and a disdain for ordinary people. No one could accuse him of presenting a false persona, though, as there’s “no discernible difference between 9 to 5 Turmerico and Off-Hours Inflammatorio—He was depraved, deranged and demented 24-7.” Pamm Demmyck and Remmy Dessyvyr are two writing partners who aim to make a living in this world, and they hope one day to be celebrated for their “monumental contributions to the entertainment industry.” Success looks certain for Pamm and Remmy with their upcoming work, Conceal and Carry: The Musical—at least until the production runs into trouble due to some domestic terrorists. This is just the beginning of the mayhem to come in this wild, whirlwind work, which includes a cult ceremony involving Midwesterners who love latex and one character’s burning down a house with a flamethrower. Turmerico’s daughter Francka is particularly notable; she spends her workdays “screaming at people that she considered to be idiots” and burns her 8-year-old daughter Deandra’s artwork while Deandra watches. The storytelling maelstrom does yield some points of confusion, though; the long history of Amourrica Profunda and its disintegration takes several pages to lay out, and readers may find following every beat to be no simple task. In addition, a few descriptions, such as “an early twentieth century, dark brown wooden staircase,” prove to be more wordy than distinct. Still, Bird succeeds in creating a world in which seemingly anything is possible.
A convoluted but highly comical take on a nation in turmoil.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-218023911
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Hysterical Dementia
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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