A lovely portrait of an uncommon couple.
The daughter and granddaughter of a doctor and a lawyer offer a biographical collection of letters, memories, and photographs.
This family memoir moves back and forth between different eras, detailing the beginning and end of the marriage of Emanuel “Manny” Schoenbach, a physician, and his spouse, attorney Frances Rubens Schoenbach, who were both born in New York City to immigrant parents. The book opens with a sweet account of their chance meeting in high school in 1927 and closes with the aftermath of Manny’s untimely demise at the age of 40, due to coronary thrombosis, in 1952. The story of their relationship has a sweetness to it, as it shows how Manny and Frances constantly encouraged each other to follow their dreams and pave their own way. A recurring theme is the couple’s unconventionality, which reveals itself in a variety of ways. For example, after their first meeting in high school, Manny and Frances kept in touch in college through letters, which was uncommon. After graduating from Harvard University, Manny, against his father’s wishes, attended medical school; he was driven to do so by the fact that he’d lost siblings to infectious diseases in his youth. Frances, meanwhile, was among the first women to attend law school (at Boston University in the 1930s) and pass the New York State Bar. The two wed in 1934 and built a home and family together, and throughout it all, each continued to support the other’s aspirations. According to the foreword, authors Reasenberg and Schoenbach—the couple’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively—based the book “on both research and memory,” which is not unusual for the genre; much of it is written in detailed scenes with extensive dialogue drawn from Reasenberg’s memories of her mother’s stories, rather than summarized events. This has the effect of producing an engagingly intimate, if somewhat speculative, depiction of a wonderful relationship. As it details the lives of a professional couple—at a time when such relationships were few and far between—it convincingly makes the case that the Schoenbachs were, indeed, extraordinary.
A lovely portrait of an uncommon couple.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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