REVIEWED BY SUE CORBETT
CRITIC'S CHOICE
MEMOIR
Of the demons afflicting the well-heeled Montgomery family of Framingham, Mass., the most obvious is cancer, ravaging the body of the author's beloved father, Bob. Equally insidious is alcohol: "Of all the years I live with my parents, my mother is sober for only one," and even at age 78, Barbara Montgomery begins the day with a cocktail. But the evil the author seems most interested in exorcising with this wrenching, unsentimental memoir of her engineer father's death from stomach cancer in 1999 is denial, the organizing principle of the family's life. Lee, a book and magazine editor, and her two siblings move away to avoid the train wreck that is their mother's existence. Bob fixes Barb's gin and tonics without comment or complaint. Nobody has the courage to tell him what he clearly doesn't want to know: He is dying. "The truth leaks into our hearts slowly but surely as we see Dad grow smaller and smaller.... We pretend it's not happening, and the doctors let us," Montgomery writes. In confronting the truth, she charts the swirling emotions of anger, fear, regret and love that mortality stirs in her. Montgomery's portrait of modern death is harrowing, but it's uplifting, too. In helping her father die, she elicits the thing she wants most when he finally sets aside his Yankee stoicism to say, "I love you, too, Lee. I do."
By Megan Kelso
GRAPHIC FICTION
Kelso's second collection of graphic short stories shows her impressive range, from the title story about the unfulfilled dreams of two mothers (one human, one squirrel) to the longest, an incisive rewrite of American history that pits Alexander Hamilton against Thomas Jefferson rather than the duelist he actually faced, Aaron Burr. Kelso has sharp powers of observation, and many of her characters have a blank-eyed innocence that serves as a counterpunch to the acuity of the narratives. Perhaps the most haunting entry is "Meow Face," which chronicles a young girl's history with an aunt who "meows" in public. Aunt Kate has strong opinions about fashion—and Chanel and Dior knockoffs in her closet—making for a great dress-up party with Molly one evening. But Kate refuses to venture out in her finery and, when Molly goes out, refuses to let her niece back in. Kelso never spells out Kate's disorder—it confounds the reader as much as it does the now-adult Molly—leaving a puzzle that, like this book, lingers in the mind long after the last panel.
By F.X. Toole
REVIEWED BY NATALIE DANFORD
FICTION
The author of the stories that inspired the film Million Dollar Baby, Toole didn't live to see publication of this gripping novel, edited after his death. The narrative switches between crusty former boxer Dan Cooley and up-and-comer Eduardo "Chicky" Garzay Duffy. In scenes set in boxing rings and gyms, the two wend toward each other. At the start, Chicky is training with his grandfather, a onetime pro with a drug problem. Dan runs an auto body shop and is getting over the deaths of several relatives. The tough-guys-with-hearts theme gets hit a little hard, but the gritty dialogue and moral dilemmas satisfy. Toole's children report that his last words were, "Doc, get me just a little more time, I gotta finish my book." He can rest easy—the task has been aced.
By Randy Taraborrelli
REVIEWED BY JUDITH NEWMAN
BIOGRAPHY
If seasoned celeb biographer Taraborrelli has it right—and he did interview countless friends and at least one ex for this unauthorized bio—Elizabeth Taylor is a pill. A stunning one, but still: crass, whiny, self-dramatizing. Make the features a bit more pedestrian, and it's hard to imagine anyone putting up with her, let alone showering her with diamonds. And if he's wrong, well, Taraborrelli does spin a good yarn. It's all here: the stage mother, the movie moments (those eyes made more exquisite by double eyelashes—a mutation, it turns out), and the marriage-prone, illness-plagued life. Despite the glamour, the wealth and the years with the glorious, monstrous Richard Burton, you'll be grateful she's Elizabeth Taylor and you're not.
Nonfiction
Grayson by Lynne Cox: Don't believe in interspecies communication? Swimming to Antarctica, author Cox's moving, mystical memoir about the lost baby whale she encountered when she was 17, just might change your mind.
Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son by Kevin Jennings: Growing up poor, gay and Southern Baptist, Jennings crosses many Rubicons in this inspiring, power-packed memoir. He goes to Harvard, becomes a high school teacher, then a gay-rights activist—and has to "come out" again every time.
The Human Voice by Anne Karpf: Exploring the way accents define status, female voices have gotten lower as women have entered the working world, and cell phones are making private conversations loudly public, Karpf gives us a captivating new sense of the power of the spoken word.
Throwing Bullets by Roy Rowan: Following a season in the lives of two pitchers in the Minnesota Twins' farm system vying for a single open spot in the Twins' rotation, Rowan offers a lively portrait of the circus atmosphere of minor-league baseball. The characters in his story are vivid and the emotional pull strong.
"People haven't stopped thinking about you. They won't forget," writes Josh Hartnett, one of 75 stars who contributed words and sat for photos for this tribute to Hurricane Katrina's survivors. The brainchild of Toronto publicist Naomi Strasser, the book hits stores in time for the disaster's first anniversary. A portion of proceeds will go to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.
Not just for pimply stoners anymore, air guitar now has an annual World Championship. Dan Crane (stage name: Björn Türoque), New York regional champ in '05, takes us backstage in a new memoir.
HOW DO PROS DIFFER FROM AMATEURS? You have to train like you're in the NBA. You turn up the music, disturb the neighbors and imagine you're 14, in your bedroom.
WHAT DO JUDGES LOOK FOR? The criteria are technical prowess, stage presence and "airness," meaning people forget you're not holding a guitar.
IS AIR GUITAR FOR GUYS ONLY? More and more women are getting involved. I'm happy—nothing is sexier than seeing a female go onstage and let loose.
ANY FAMOUS ROCKERS WHO BEGAN AS AIR GUITARISTS? Jimi Hendrix; he couldn't afford a guitar so he practiced on a broom.
ANY FAVORITE AIR TUNES? "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," by Air Supply, because that's what air guitar is—making something out of nothing.
THE WORST SONGS? I've heard "Dueling Banjos." Not good.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
