Book Review: Maine

Many of you may remember by review of the author's first novel "Commencement". While I didn't give it that great of a review, I did mention that I was looking forward to reading her books in the future as I thought she had some potential as a writer. It is for this reason that I jumped at the chance to her new novel "Maine". This is certainly very different from her first novel and I love it!

The novel follows four women in the Kelleher family during a monumental summer at their beach house in Maine. Alice, the matriarch, is a strong willed and loose tongued woman who feels little affection for her family. She finds it difficult to relate to her children and grandchildren despite the fact that they are her blood. Her sections flash back and forth between the current summer at her house in Maine and an event from her past that still plagues her with guilt after over 60 years. Kathleen, Alice's daughter, is the misfit in the family. She is a recovering divorce with two children and a worm farm in California that she runs with her boyfriend. Her and Alice have always butted heads which was only exacerbated with Kathleen's father died. However, a momentous event causes Kathleen to uproot herself from her peaceful life in California and come east one last time to face her demons...and her mother. Anne-Marie, Alice's daughter-in-law, is the character everyone loves to hate. She was a stay at home mom who is a stickler for proper manners and etiquette. Though she was from the wrong side of the tracks, she has abandoned most of her past in hopes of becoming an upper-class socialite. Her only problem is her dysfunctional children and distant husband. Maggie, Kathleen's daughter, has always looked for love in all of the wrong places. Unfortunately, this last place left her pregnant and alone. She goes to Maine in an effort to get back to herself and plan her next move. When these four women are forced to share a house (or two), fights erupt, skeletons are unleashed from closets, and their love of family is tested.

I know this sounds like a lot of material, but Sullivan pulls it off without ever confusing the reader. Each character has her own dynamic and personality which is a feat when writing a novel that is constructed of all female narrators. Interestingly, none of the characters are likeable but I was still hooked on their every word. Perhaps the reason is that every family has an Alice, Kathleen, and Anne-Marie. The dynamics between the four women was fascinating and completely real. I would have enjoyed some insight from the men in the family, but I think that's another book as this one is all about the Kelleher matriarchy. Some reviewers were annoyed that the book didn't have more to do with Maine and wasn't really a beach read. Both of these statements are true. If you're looking for chick lit complete with a quirky main character and prince charming, this is absolutely not your book. If you're looking for a book that drops the names of various town and restaurants in Maine so if you have been to Maine you can feel like you're "in the know"...this is not it! This is a reasonably dark family drama that just happens to be set on the beach. Unfortunately, I could not give this book five stars because some of the Kathleen sections were a bit cliched or clunky. I felt that all of the other women were well developed and unique. However, I felt like I had met Kathleen before in many novels and Lifetime movies. Still, it didn't hurt my opinion of the novel which I will certainly be recommending.

-DLP

Book Review: Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me

While it is not exactly an enormous feat to read all of Chelsea's books, I feel as if I have come to know her over the years through her essays and memoirs. When this book came out, I was a bit leery. Though it's about Chelsea (who is almost always funny), it wasn't written by her and therefore I was suspect. Still, I had read all of her previous books and was in a serious Handler drought so I decided to take a chance. I was disappointed. While I chuckled a few times and smiled every couple of chapters, it lacked the side-splitting milk-coming-out-of-your-nose kind of laughter.

Basically this book is a collection of essays written by Chelsea's family, friends, and writers about the pranks that Chelsea has pulled on them ranging from attempting to ruin a co-workers honeymoon to trying to get her brother to sleep with one of her staff. Some of the essays are funny but it's really hit or miss. Interestingly, I found the sections written by her comedic writers to be the least funny and those written by her family made me giggle. Still, I think these essays made her come off as sounding mean and ungrateful. While I have a suspicion that this isn't true, it did taint my view of her a little bit.

For fans of Chelsea, I think you might find some interest in this book. But I will spend my time re-reading "Are you there vodka" instead.

-DLP

Book Review: Lucille

I picked up this book recently because many of the reviews I read compared it to "Blankets". While I didn't adore "Blankets", it had a certain appeal to me that I still haven't been able to put my finger on. I thought that maybe this book would have that same appeal. Unfortunately, I felt that it had all of the negative aspects of "Blankets" and none of the positives. I know I shouldn't compare it to another work, but even on its own I found it lacking.

The graphic novel follows Lucille who is a troubled anorexic teen with few friends. She struggles with her relationship with her mother and often feels alone in the world. Her only confidante is an older woman in the geriatric unit of the hospital. At first, it seems that she is just your average conflicted adolescent. However, it becomes clear that she is suffering from numerous issues that are rooted in her unhappiness for herself. The second main character in the graphic novel is Arthur who is also a troubled youth. We first meet him when he is trying to convince one of his peers to sell his soul to Satan in exchange for a date with a girl and good grades. It is soon revealed to the reader that Arthur is dysfunctional because of his father's alcoholism and rage. Though Arthur loves his father, he is pained by his father's violent actions. Of course Arthur and Lucille meet and they are able to find in each other the love and acceptance that no one has shown them. That is until they journey out on their own and realize that the grown-up world may be even less forgiving than their adolescent world.

While I think the story was interesting, I feel like plots centered around misunderstood teenagers is a bit hackneyed. We have all seen it before in graphic novels, movies, TV, and literature. While I am always looking for people to put a new pin on it, "Lucille" does not do that. Additionally, I felt like the characters were beyond depressing. I love dark stories and crave unhappy characters in my novels. Yet, this went even a bit too far for me! I typically love simplistic graphics when reading a serious novel. Unfortunately, these illustrations seemed to make the story even more drab and depressing. Granted, the final page states that it is the end of part 1; therefore, one can assume that there will be multiple parts to this story. I hope that the future parts are a bit more developed than this installment and that the author turns away from the cliched plot of the poor outcast kids finding each other. Still, if there is a part two...I doubt I will pick it up.

-DLP

Book Review: Alice in Wonderland

Though I know this is a classic, I sadly have never read it until now. As an English major and voracious reader, I feel a bit guilty about this confession. Yet, I think that reason why I held off was because I was waiting for this specific edition. With it’s dark and slightly eerie illustrations, it certainly evokes the unsettling atmosphere that I think Lewis Carrol was aiming for. This is not the Disney version with bright colors and funny animals. Instead, this is a twisted dream that is far from comfortable but not exactly nightmarish.

For those of you who live under a rock, Alice is a young girl who accidentally falls dow a rabbit hole one day while in her garden at home. While falling, she sees a white rabbit with a pocket watch and begins to wonder what kind of place she has found herself in. She eventually hits the ground and must find a way to pass through a tiny door in a room with no other exits. Once she opens the door, she is faced with a myriad of complex situations from a caterpillar that smokes a hookah to a mouse that lives in a teapot. The deeper and goes into this surreal world the more she wonders if she will ever find a way home.

Being that this is my first reading of the novel, I found the characters to be a lot more sinister than I had expected. I had watched many films of the story and they all seemed bright and wholesome though odd. However, this tale is far more darker than Disney portrayed it to be. It is for this reason that I have to endorse this edition which has beautiful intricate pictures with vibrant colors but also a sinister twist that I think Lewis Carrol would appreciate.

-DLP

Book Review: Sleepaway

It’s summer and while I am too old for summer camp, there is nothing stopping me from reading about it. It is for this reason that I picked up “Sleepaway”. Though I never attended a sleep-away camp, I knew that it would make me nostalgic for summer vacations. In that regard, it hit the spot!!

As the cover shows, this collection includes numerous famous authors as well as some unknowns. The selections range from fiction, to memoir, to graphic/comics. In that aspect, the book is very well-rounded. There are eerie stories such as Margaret Atwood’s “Death by Landscape” in which two best friends attend summer camp but only one returns. There are humorous tales like Mark Oppenheimer’s remembrances of spending summer at a nudist camp only to spend the following summer at a leftist camp. If you’re looking for a story to pull at your heartstrings, Kevin Canty’s “Flipper” and Josh Lambert’s “The Brief Summer of Amir and Ariella” will do just that. “The Performance of Drowning” and “Apple Pie” had me completely captivated and I could easily have read a full novel based on both stories.

Of course, there were some duds in the collection. But these were very few and far between. I wold definitely recommend this as a summer read that fits perfectly into your beach bag.

-DLP

Book Review: Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

Before driving cross country, I made a list of audiobooks that I thought would be good to listen to in the car. The only problem is that my partner and I almost never agree on literature. It is for this reason, that I chose books that leaned more towards humor and/or memoir. This is not my favorite genre, but I was willing to endure it for a couple of days. First on my list, was “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea”. My partner is a pretty big Chelsea Handler fan so I thought I would surprise her with this audiobook. What I didn’t expect was that I would love it too! Her stories are even more hilarious than I thought and the fact that she reads the book herself just adds another fantastic layer.

Though Chelsea tells the reader many of her memories, this is far from a memoir. To say that she “tackles” issues such as sibling rivalry, incarceration, and parental discourse...is a bit of an overstatement. Her essays aren’t really about her reflection on certain events in her life as much as they are her witty assessments of situations. At the same time, they are incredibly compelling. While going cross country, we drove straight through a tornado warning and laughed the whole time because we were so caught up in Chelsea’s family antics.

Some critics have harped on her for being frivolous and offensive. While I can understand where they are coming from, I think they’re missing the point of this book. She is not writing as a way to overcome past hardships and search for herself. Instead, she is writing to be funny and most times she succeeds. Her insights and attitudes are those that anyone would have when vacationing with an annoying parent or complaining about a friend’s boyfriend.

Overall, her book is fun and funny. I will certainly pick up another of her books.

-DLP

Book Review: Liar's Kiss

Liar’s Kiss is everything you could want from a graphic novel noir. It is classic, edgy, and is filled with intrigue. I took a chance on it because I love graphic novels and I figure that even if it is bad, at least I can be amused by the illustrations. I wasn’t let down AT ALL by this novel. From the first page, I was hooked.

The plot is like that of any film noir. A private investigator, Nick, is having an affair with his client’s wife Abbey. One night, Nick gets a call from Abbey saying that her husband has been killed...and she’s the main suspect! She hires Nick to find her an alibi that will not place her at the scene of the crime. This assignment gets Nick into a bit more trouble than he had bargained for. Consequently, he finds himself facing demons from his past and putting his fate in the hands of another.

I thought this was superb. It is written in the traditional black and white “comic book” style. Where it could come off as being cliche, it actually sets the perfect tone and atmosphere for the story. When reading the book, you feel as if you’re watching an old fashioned noir. Including, the classic noir twist.

If I had to voice any complaints, it would be that the story is a little thin and the dialog is a bit stilted. Yet, I can’t really get update about it because most noir is thin on the plot and big on the intrigue. Still, as a first book I think he did a great job. I look forward to his future works.

-DLP

Book Review: The Influencing Machine

In today's society, people are inundated with media coverage. We can have it delivered to us on our cell phones and computers 24/7. From there, we can text it to each other or tweet it to the world. It bombards us to the point that we reminisce about the "good old days" when an unbiased well-written paper was thrown on our doorstep once a week. In "The Influencing Machine", Brooke Gladstone reminds us that there were no good old days. The media has been dysfunctional and in our face since the Maya (and possibly even before then).

In this graphic novel, Gladstone guides the reader through the history of the media from ancient times of tablets and stone carvings to contemporary times of texting and tweeting. In doing so, she makes the reader question what media is; if it's hurting us more than helping us; and what will become of our culture if the media continues in this way.

The book is written like you're being taught by your favorite high school teacher. At first you complain "history class again" but you soon find yourself completely engrossed. The illustrations are dead on! They are part political cartoon and part art. At times, the graphics rely the story even better than the text. There is certainly a liberal slant to the writing but it doesn't comprise the thesis of Gladstone's argument. She is even able to acknowledge and admit the flaws that exist in journalism.

Though the book was engaging, far more so than a textbook on the subject, at times I felt like a student waiting for the bell to ring so I could be dismissed. I think that it is a fantastic book from those interested in political science, journalism or communication. For laypeople, it feels a bit too rushed on the history and yet sluggish at the same time. I completely understand her thesis that "we get the media we deserve" and I think that it is an incredibly poignant statement. However, at times I felt like she was beating me over the head with it. Still, I would certainly recommend this graphic novel!

-DLP

Book Review: Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors

“Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors” accurately advertises itself as five fairy tales in one graphic novel. In this installment, the reader will find Rapunzel, Thumbelina, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Beauty and the Beast, and the Princess and the Pea. Be forewarned, these are the (semi) original versions of the fairy tales and not the watered down Disney adaptations that people are so fond of. Personally, I love these oldies just the way that they are. The illustrations are beautiful while a little eerie, just like the tone of a good fairy tale. It is a slim volume of under 200 but little is left out of these stories. Personally, I think it is a great collection.

Each of the stories is illustrated by a different author and therefore has a bit of a different tone. This ensures that the reader never gets bored and there is something for everyone here. With stories as tried and true as these, it is hard to find new and interesting adaptations. While these are traditional tellings, the illustrations are very different from any previous collections I have seen. Even though each story is crafted by a different artist, the design remains similar and therefore unifies the collection.

What is special about this edition, is that following each story there is a one page history of the story and/or its author. For example, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is thought to be based on the real life of Margaret von Waldeck. There are other fascinating tidbits on each of these stories that will make you question if you really know your fairy tales.

Personally, I was a bit disappointed by the illustrations for “Snow White” as it looked computer generated and not as inventive as the other stories in the collection. Still, I would recommend this to lovers of fairy tales and graphic novels alike. I will certainly be picking up the other books in the series.

-DLP

Book Review: This Beautiful Life

My favorite kinds of books are those that focus on a family during a trying time that stresses their family dynamics. While it seems simplistic, this is a lot harder than it appears. Many authors find themselves stuck in a story with no way out and rely on cliches or unrealistic endings. True authors place their characters in emotional crisis and watch them work their way out. This is the tactic that Helen Schulman takes in her new novel "This Beautiful Life".

Lizzie is a happy housewife of two children living in New York City in 2003. She holds a PhD in art history and yearns to return her family to Ithaca, New York where they lived before coming to NYC. However, her husband Richard was offered a job that he simply could not refuse which cause the family to be uprooted. They seem to be living an idyllic life until her son, Jake, is caught in the middle of a sex scandal. Suddenly all of their lives are turned upside down as Lizzie begins to question her role as an effective parent and stay at home mom. Richard takes on the notion that he must do anything to save his family, while Jake is guilt-ridden and confused. Together, they try to overcome this event and continue on as a family. Unfortunately, some situations put even the most stable family at risk.

This plot has certainly be done before, most recently by Anita Shreve in her novel "Testimony". It is for this reason that I wanted to read Schulman's book as I was interested in her take on such a traumatic event. I have to say that in just about 200 pages, she outdoes on previous novels written on the topic. Her characters are dynamic, every changing, and real. The setting is the perfect backdrop for such an event and the constant yearning that the characters have to return to their previous life in upstate New York is almost palatable. The dichotomy between the two "kinds" of New York is extremely interesting and well developed in the novel.

Though the book is physically slim, it packs in quite a punch. Ever family member is given time to be heard and understood by the reader. The third person narrative gives the audience a front row view of the story while allowing the reader to remain objective. It is clear that Schulman constructed the novel this way to prove that there is no winner in situations such as this. Overall, this is a fantastic read that I recommend to all. It shows the lows that people can hit without even knowing and the repercussions that can ripple for decades.

-DLP

*This novel comes out in August, so pre-order yours NOW!