Review: J.D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski

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About the Author

One of the most popular and mysterious figures in American literary history, the author of the classic Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger eluded fans and journalists for most of his life. Now he is the subject of this definitive biography, which is filled with new information and revelations garnered from countless interviews, letters, and public records. Kenneth Slawenski explores Salinger’s privileged youth, long obscured by misrepresentation and rumor, revealing the brilliant, sarcastic, vulnerable son of a disapproving father and doting mother. Here too are accounts of Salinger’s first broken heart—after Eugene O’Neill’s daughter, Oona, left him—and the devastating World War II service that haunted him forever. J. D. Salinger features all the dazzle of this author’s early writing successes, his dramatic encounters with luminaries from Ernest Hemingway to Elia Kazan, his office intrigues with famous New Yorker editors and writers, and the stunning triumph of The Catcher in the Rye, which would both make him world-famous and hasten his retreat into the hills of New Hampshire. J. D. Salinger is this unique author’s unforgettable story in full—one that no lover of literature can afford to miss.

Review

Man, this book tells you everything. Absolutely all things you could ever wonder about J.D. Salinger are contained in this wonderful little biography. This book is dense, detailed, and for someone who loves a good biography, a dream. First off: J.D. stands for Jerome David, for those of you who never even considered what those letters stood for (it didn't even cross my mind). All jokes aside, this is an incredibly astute look inside a prolific American writer's life and growth through the arts.

I think folks naturally desire to know more about what really inspires a writer. Where do they get their profound talent? How do they come up with such unique ideas. This biography was especially enlightening for those of you who want to understand the background of a particularly important writer of the 20th century. Salinger's writer is filled with parallels to his own life. Characters and events are borrowed from his schooling (Valley Forge) and from his own relationships. 

One relationship in particular that I found interesting throughout was Salinger's relationship with his father. Characters and real humans alike are heavily influenced by the relationships with their parents, and Salinger was no exception. We get a both distant, yet loving relationship that's troubled and still very much one of admiration. One particular event: his father not showing up for his entrance interview for Valley Forge seems rude on the exterior, but examining the environment where a Jewish man might ruin his son's chances at getting into a promising young school reveals that this choice of absence was particularly out of love. 

Time after time we see parallels in Salinger's writing, but we also see vast differences. Salinger is no Holden Caulfield, but the two of them certainly maintain similar qualities. I believe this biography is truly enlightening for aspiring writers, and one that truly allows for the reader to traipse along with Salinger through a life of triumph and sadness. The depth that this book dives into is impressive and really allows for a full reflection on the many facets of Salinger's life as a man and as a writer. This is a truly excellent biography, dense and packed full of facts compiled by a man whose dedication to Salinger is not at all in question. 

Review by Amy Richardson

Review: Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle and Claire Dunkle

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About the Book

Seventeen-year-old Elena is vanishing. Every day means renewed determination, so every day means fewer calories. This is the story of a girl whose armor against anxiety becomes artillery against herself as she battles on both sides of a lose-lose war in a struggle with anorexia. Told entirely from Elena's perspective over a five-year period and cowritten with her mother, award-winning author Clare B. Dunkle, Elena's memoir is a fascinating and intimate look at a deadly disease, and a must read for anyone who knows someone suffering from an eating disorder.

Review

Elena Vanishing is an exceptional book. I personally have never had any sort of issue with eating disorders, so this book was a truly enlightening experience. Society's idea that eating disorders are just stubborn attempts at weight loss is both false and incredibly insensitive to the realities of those fighting these difficult battles. Elena Vanishing is one woman's telling of this battle.

Elena starts as a teenager whose perfectionism is nothing short of obsessive. She eventually finds herself in the hospital, fighting a sudden heart problem and also fighting off psychiatrists wishing to pronounce her a full on anorexic. One of the worst parts of this section is when she glorifies anorexia, saying she wishes she was to that level. It goes to show how deeply affected she is by this disorder.

She goes through a couple of hospital stays, eating disorder center stays, and a couple of tumultuous years in college and eventually realizes what it is that she's truly fighting back down by using an eating disorder to distract her. This novel is a trip for both readers and Elena alike, picking a part the human mind to better understand its sometimes illogical reactions to trauma. 

She makes friends throughout her story. Some are great support, others bring her down to the edge of life and death. Her relationship with her family is difficult, but most definitely filled with equal parts love and frustration. Some of those most difficult moments in this book involve the anorexic friends she makes at recovery centers and the different hands that life deals them. 

Elena is frustratingly willful and at times difficult to relate to, as she goes such extreme lengths to bar herself from eating. At other times, though, she is vulnerable and afraid and readers finally get to understand that Elena's struggle is very human and very difficult to cope with. You root for her, pleading in your head that she will just eat, just stop all of this self harm, but that does not always come. It is not a memoir for the fainthearted, but it is one for readers who wish to get one take on the damage that eating disorders can cause and what causes them.

One of the strongest aspects of this memoir is the powerful use of Elena's critical internal voice. Throughout the book you hear her tell herself "You're obese!" "They're laughing at you." "You're pathetic!" and sometimes in grosser terms. This, I imagine, is a particularly effective way of really explaining the kind of mental turmoil someone with anorexia battles with constantly. There are moments of her listening to this voice and toward the end of the novel, finally pushing them away and realizing their harm. 

If you're interested in reading a memoir that takes the reader along with smooth, easily read diction, a story of sadness and quiet triumph, and a protagonist that has you pulling out your hair in frustration and laughing at her most human moments, this is the choice for you.

Reviewed by Amy Richardson

Review: Underdays by Martin Ott

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About the Book

We encounter many voices in life: from friends and family, from media, from co-workers, from other artists. In a highly connected global world, where people and entities are electronically enmeshed, we filter these voices constantly to get to what we determine to be the truth. Taking inspiration from pop culture, politics, art, and social media, Martin Ott mines daily existence as the inspiration and driving force behind Underdays.

Underdays is a dialogue of opposing forces: life/death, love/war, the personal/the political. Ott combines global concerns with personal ones, in conversation between poems or within them, to find meaning in his search for what drives us to love and hate each other. Within many of the poems, a second voice, expressed in italic, hints at an opposing force “under” the surface, or multiple voices in conversation with his older and younger selves—his Underdays—to chart a path forward. What results is a poetic heteroglossia expressing the richness of a complex world.  

Review

Underdays, by Martin Ott, is a collection of poetry that dives deep into the depths of human experience. Ott masterfully spins poem after poem that speaks to shame, of doubt, of beauty. This book is both accessible and inspired; if you're not really already into poetry, this collection would be an excellent choice if you're interesting in exposing yourself to the metaphors and charged language that comes along with it.

The fact that Ott was once an interrogator in the military gives weight to the fact that these poems are revealing. Very revealing. The poem Refrain speaks of past dealings, of doors closed and open, and of acts that do not sit well with the subject. It's the kind of poem that speaks to the idea that everyone holds secrets never shared, feelings never expressed, acts tried to forget. Although it implies a job in some covert capacity, it's easily related to.

Another poem, Soldiers in the Dark, is especially powerful. It speaks of the closeness between soldiers in the military, joking skillfully about kissing during CPR. It then quickly paints a stark picture of two soldiers in a horrible situation, both fearful of what's to come, but showing the intimate nature of this shared fear. This poem, in particular, is short and sweet, able to convey the heaviness and fear in mere lines.

Ott's vibrant and powerful diction comes through in nearly all of his poems, giving readers an informed look into pain, fear, and the joy that comes along after suffering. His stanzas drip with inspiration and come across as genuine and not at all conflated or hokey. It is an excellent collection of poetry, one that even a poetry amateur would be able to enjoy fully.

Reviewed by Amy Richardson

Review: Singlehood by Wilson Awasu

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About the Book

Being Single Can Feel Frustrating… Try a Change of Perspective!

There can be many complex emotions tied up in the idea of being single. Societal pressures, self-esteem, loneliness, a sense of where you fit in the world…it can seem overwhelming or even depressing. Singlehood is a refreshing look at what it means to be single. Follow Lisa as she learns valuable lessons about herself, and challenges long-held misconceptions that hold many people back. Do you look for a potential partner with a laundry list of must-haves, ignoring your own dysfunctions? Are you more focused on what someone can give to you, rather than on what you will bring to a partnership? Are you locked into the idea that people who don’t have children aren’t fulfilling their calling in life? And do you believe that as a single person, you aren’t who you are supposed to be. Properly benefiting from singlehood can be the most powerful tool in transitioning to a successful marriage. Let Singlehood open your eyes to a new way of thinking, and learn along with Lisa how to enjoy being single, and how to learn the skills that will let you take charge of the experience of singlehood, turning it into a time for growth and blossoming, rather than bitterness and frustration

Review

Singlehood is not a particularly well-realized book. It comes across as some sort of cheap pseudo-seminar that was clearly chosen to help regurgitate the author's ideas about being Single. I think there is some intelligence in choosing this seminar structure, as it shows how futile looking for answers as to why relationships fail again and again, but at the same time Lisa, the woman at the seminar, comes across as very genuine in her search for help at this discussion.

This book is particularly dull in diction, word choice and flow becomes clunky and distracting throughout. The use of slides to get concepts and ideas for self-help across is particularly dire, as the story moves along so quickly that the reader doesn't get any sort of in-depth analysis at what the book clearly considers to be useful and insightful information.

This book focuses on a Christian perspective to Singlehood, which certainly could be useful to readers, but as it points out in text that Christianity is inherently against Singles, as marriage is a massive part of living a full life connected to God, readers are not given any sort of alternative, really, as to how being Single can be truly be seen as a full life. There's a pervasive sense of shame throughout this book when it comes to being unmarried, which, as that idea is mainstream in Christian thought already, makes the reader really wonder if this book is truly just reinforcing stale ideas and social expectations.

We're given Lisa's tragic backstory involving past romances and it is truly sad to see her so caught up in finding answers from outside sources rather than finding peace within herself. If this is what the book was about, it would do its job in giving some enlightenment to a (sometimes) difficult situation, and perhaps readers would come away with a heavier sense of peace in their hearts, but it does no such thing.

This book does have some sections that foster peace and seeming understanding of God's purpose but that does not particularly hit home very well. Readers get all of these slides of Biblical passages with hardly any interpretation to have any sort of realizing moment.

If you're willing to accept anything in a Christian context this book may actually be very good for you. Otherwise, watch some TED talks or something, because this book largely lacks any sort of factual evidence of anything it is saying.

Reviewed by Amy Richardson

Review: Joy to the Worlds: Holiday Stories of Mystery and Speculative by Maia Chance, Janine A. Southard, Raven Oak, & G. Clemans

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About the Book

What do you get when you mix mystery and speculative fiction, then toss in the holidays for good measure? A mobster Santa, genetic hanky-panky, Victorian villages, time-travelling detectives, Krampus, eerie bell spirits, and more–this collection of short cross-genre fiction is the perfect counterpoint to traditional holiday reading!

This collection stars four authors, each with their own distinct style. National bestselling author Maia Chance, who is famous for her cozy mysteries, dazzles with humor and folklore. IPPY award-winning science fiction author Janine A. Southard beguiles with unexpected time-travel science. Science fiction & fantasy bestseller Raven Oak offers a look into the gothic past. And for a whole new perspective, debut fiction author and art expert G. Clemans dives into the intersections of creativity and mystery.

Joy to the Worlds brings together eight short works that explore mysteries across time and space. With stories ranging from dark dystopian worlds to comedic retro-futures, four diverse writers find new ways to combine these disparate worlds into something anyone will enjoy.

Review

So an undead hunting party, a spaceship whodunnit, and a cursed family walk into a publishing house...

'Joy to the Worlds' is a collection of fiction stories that center around the holidays. The variety is impressive, which is what makes this book so difficult to pin down. There are eight stories in all, and each one showcases a different aspect of Christmas. It is as educational as it is entertaining, authors spinning yarns about Krampus, the Wild Hunt, and even the orign of wood carving, just to name a few.

The novel itself is well thought out and even more well put together. Each story earns its place between the covers: when you finish with one story and turn to the next, it feels like you have just cracked open a whole other book. Each story is followed with a brief insert by its author, which make the tales even more unique and special. It is holiday fiction for that cheer-weary someone in your life. However, this is also where the collection lacks. The only things keeping these tales together are the binding and the notions of the Christmas season. While most of the stories feature Santa Claus, gifts, or yultide tradition in some way, their central ideas were not of the Christmas variety. We did not necessarily learn about how to be more giving and open-hearted, but we did learn about how to find loopholes in witch curses and to beware of pixies.
Nevertheless, 'Joy to the Worlds' is sure to be a winner on Christmas day, whether you're giving to a friend or just to yourself. The variety is undeniable, and fans of any genre are guaranteed to find a narrative that appeals to them.

So, pour some egg nog, snuggle in beside the Christmas tree, and get lost somewhere in the wonderland that is 'Joy to the Worlds'; just keep an eye out for any rogue Christmas decorations or suspicious crew members first.

Reviewed by Catherine Mesure

Review: The Witch of Painted Sorrows by M.J. Rose

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About the About

Possession. Power. Passion. New York Times bestselling novelist M.J. Rose creates her most provocative spellbinder to date in this gothic novel set against the lavish backdrop of Belle Époque Paris.

Called an “elegant tale of rare depth and beauty, as brilliantly crafted as it is wondrously told” by the Providence Journal, The Witch of Painted Sorrows “melds the normal and paranormal in the kind of seamless fashion reserved for such classic ghost stories as Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw.”

New York socialite Sandrine Salome flees an abusive husband for her grandmother’s Paris mansion, despite warnings that the lavish family home is undergoing renovation and too dangerous to enter. There Sandrine meets Julien Duplessi, a mesmerizing architect who introduces her to the City of Lights—its art world, forbidden occult underground, nightclubs—and to her own untapped desires.

Soon Sandrine’s threatening husband tracks her down and an insidious spirit takes hold: La Lune, a witch and a legendary sixteenth-century courtesan who exposes Sandrine to a deadly darkness.

Review

A riveting novel of artful intrigue, The Witch of Painted Sorrows does not disappoint. Readers take a journey with Sandrine, a descendant of a long line of Parisian courtesans. Sandrine's life has taken a turn for the worse after the death of her father, due to financial troubles caused by her own husband. Sandrine does not wish to submit to a man she has never loved, so she leaves the country, heading to Paris to find her grandmother.

For readers with more modern sensibilities, we are given a historical fiction novel whose heroine is not simply a passive receptacle of positive and negative happenings, but a willful and intriguing one. Sandrine is knowledgeable when it comes to architecture and art, showing the reader that she is not enthralled by society or by the duties of being a wife. We are pulled along for a ride that is both mystical and mysterious, one that is painted by the beauty and secrets of Paris.

This book does have erotic themes throughout that require the reader to question their origins and whether or not it is brought about by magic or simply by the heart. Sandrine comes across a secret room in her grandmother's home that contains many passionately made, erotic paintings. Coincidence? Doubt it. Sandrine's familial line of courtesans is known for the passion and equally known for the troubles that they will have with men throughout their lives.

Reviewed by Amy Richardson