Readable and entertaining, though the scattering of provocative ideas never quite coheres into a satisfying whole.
An 1883 writers’ conference raises questions still roiling 21st-century America.
Frederick Olmstead Matthews, a junior lecturer at the moss-grown Auburn Collegiate Institute in upstate New York, has tried to get more contemporary American books into the tired literature curriculum, but he “could as well have suggested installing a porcupine as the Institute’s president.” Matthews manages to convince the provost who bankrolls the institute that “a public conversation about the future of America” among Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville, and Frederick Douglass will enhance the prestige of the institute, the town, and—not so incidentally—the social-climbing provost. By the time the conference begins, Matthews has reluctantly added a former Confederate general and a bestselling female author to the roster, which prompts a local journalist to invite suffragists and supporters of the Lost Cause to attend in the hopes that they will stir up trouble so the journalist’s lurid coverage can get him into the pages of a big-city newspaper. He hardly needed to bother: Hilarious scenes of the conference’s early sessions show Whitman showboating and Twain giving his standard after-dinner speech while Douglass and Melville valiantly try to raise real questions about the darker aspects of American life and Stowe rolls her eyes over the idiocy of the entire gathering. Stoked by racist comments from the former Confederate and Douglass’ angry protests, the final discussion ends in a full-scale riot. Along the way, Piazza lets the bestselling female novelist make some cogent points about the value of domestic fiction and shows Douglass to be weary of his public role as the representative of his race. The intriguing mix of humor and underlying seriousness makes this an engaging change of pace for an author better known for his writings on music and New Orleans. An overall lack of focus, however, is signaled by occasional appearances to no evident purpose of an unnamed conference attendee clearly identifiable as Emily Dickinson.
Readable and entertaining, though the scattering of provocative ideas never quite coheres into a satisfying whole.Pub Date: May 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781609388812
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Univ. of Iowa
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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
A sweet bedtime story.
A boy and his stuffed bear head into the woods.
Having captured readers’ attention with Born a Crime (2016), his bestselling memoir of growing up in South Africa, comedian and television host Noah has written a parable about decision-making. As he puts it in a brief prologue, “It’s about disagreements and difference—but it’s also about how we bridge those gaps and find what matters most, whether we’re parents or kids, neighbors, gnomes, or political adversaries. It’s a picture book, but it’s not a children’s book. Rather, it is a book for kids to share with parents and for parents to share with kids.” With plentiful illustrations by Hahn and in language aimed at young listeners, it tells the story of a small boy so impatient to start his Saturday adventures that he rebels against the rules of his household and heads out without brushing his teeth or making his bed, despite the reminders of his stuffed bear, Walter. “We can’t just run away,” protests the bear. “Your mother will miss you. And where will we sleep? And who will make us waffles?” “We’ll build our own house,” the boy responds. “And we’ll grow our own waffles!” From there, the pair go on their walkabout, encountering a garden gnome, a pair of snails, and a gang of animated coins who have lessons to offer about making choices. Though the author suggests in the introduction that adult readers might enjoy the book on their own, those looking for a follow-up to the memoir or a foray into adult fiction should be warned that this is not that book.
A sweet bedtime story.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593729960
Page Count: 128
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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