Sex, political corruption, media manipulation, infidelity, money, the Mafia, drugs, family values (sort of), exotic locations, more sex and more money—why cuddle up with a novel when you can get all this by reading about the Kennedys?
Ralph Martin, who has written biographies of Lady Randolph Churchill, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, tries to focus here on self-made millionaire Joe Sr. and the effect his aggressive personality had on his children, specifically his sons, whom he taught, "What you want, you take." But this readable, if often contradictory, book doesn't bear out the harshness of its title. True, it covers incidents like JFK's bedding other women while Jackie was pregnant and Joe Sr. doling out $500,000 to the Boston Post to endorse JFK in his 1952 Senate race. But according to Martin, all the Kennedy men have had some good in them, even the tyrannical Joe Sr., who is presented as a loving, involved, demonstrative parent, in sharp contrast to selfish, often absent, always cold mother Rose.
Martin succeeds in putting individual Kennedys in the context of the larger clan, recapping their family history and offering up lots of juicy Kennedy trivia. (Did you know that JFK never even heard the song "Camelot"? That he once told a close friend that if he had his life to live over again, he would have "a different father, a different wife and a different religion"? That more people watched Ted give his 1969 TV speech after the Chappaquiddick accident than watched Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon?)
The author suggests that history will judge the Kennedys on their political failures and accomplishments, not on the sleaze. In a better world, maybe that would also be the part of the story we'd want to read. (Putnam, $37.50)
by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter
Any weight-conscious woman suffering from what New York City psychotherapists Hirschmann and Munter call "bad body fever" knows that antibiotics are no help. In fact, say the pair in this smart and innovative self-help book, the only permanent cure for those bemoaning their physical bulk is a healthy dose of self-esteem. Forget fad-dieting and start accepting your size, say Hirschmann and Munter, who last collaborated on the 1988 bestseller Overcoming Overeating.
If you must diet, they suggest a unique way to pare off pounds: Stock your pantry with cookies, your freezer with ice cream. Eat on demand until that formerly forbidden fruit (or whatever) no longer tempts you. Then make peace with the body type you won in the genetics lottery and begin listening to its hunger signals (a feeling of gnawing emptiness and light-headedness are two). No, you won't metamorphose into Kate Moss, but by losing your obsession with food, you may also lose your need to eat compulsively. That hopefully translates to lost pounds—for keeps.
Clearly this program isn't for the fainthearted or for those who feel that they must drop weight instantaneously (although Hirschmann and Munter both say they have each gone down several dress sizes by following their own advice). Beware, however: With the authors' eat-on-demand approach, you might pile on even more heft before you learn to let that box of doughnuts gather mold on the shelf. (Fawcett, $22.50)
by Frances Sherwood
I was Raggedy Ann coming apart at the seams," says Zoe, the skinny misfit teenage heroine of Green, Frances Sherwood's absorbing second novel. Perhaps that's because she lives with an unreasonably stern father and an alcoholic mother who proffers rather unhelpful advice on becoming a woman. (When Zoe first gets her period, Mom warns her, "Every month—until we're old and dried up.")
True counsel comes from her friend Margo, who facilitates Zoe's first sexual experience—rendered in hilariously horrific detail—with a lover, a "poet," who removes his dentures before sex. Zoe soon has a second affair, this time with Margo's adoptive father, a self-serving and doomed professor. But she goes on to marry Grey Cloud, an abusive, self-described "wild Indian" who eventually runs off with another woman leaving Zoe, at 19, to bear his child alone and work at odd jobs to support herself and her baby. A bleak outcome, indeed, but Green's often repugnant characters are salvaged by the author's wit, evocative imagery and ability to render tragic lives not only touching but life-affirming. (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, $23)
by Grace Mirabella
It was Grace Mirabella's great misfortune to be preceded as editor-in-chief of Vogue by the charismatic Diana Vreeland and superseded by the heat-seeking, publicity-savvy Anna Wintour. (Or as Mirabella refers to her, "a vision of skinniness in sunglasses and Chanel suits.") In and Out of Vogue seems to have been conceived as a way for Mirabella to set the record straight about her humiliating 1988 dismissal from Vogue (gossip columnist Liz Smith leaked the news on a TV broadcast before Mirabella had gotten the word herself) and about the rather quick demise of the original Mirabella, the magazine that publishing tycoon Rupert Murdoch gave her that same year to fashion like a couture suit. But whatever the book's intentions, it is at bottom the spleenish saga of a woman scorned.
Mirabella, now 66, grew up in New Jersey of modest origins, a point she makes repeatedly, and after a brief career in retailing, she began ascending the Vogue masthead. Grace and the magazine weren't an obvious match. "I have never liked fashion-y games," she says several times. But she shows a remarkable fondness for cattiness, particularly about Wintour. When Mirabella is not showing her claws, she is defensive and sanctimonious (she tells of her struggles to bar cigarette ads from Vogue and Mirabella and to address the needs of the modern woman). Those in the know about publishing and its players will find nothing new here. Those outside the loop will have no reason to care about the book's contents. They may be forgiven for wondering why Mirabella wrote a book when she could have simply kept a diary. (Doubleday, $25)
edited by Linda Wertheimer
National Public Radio, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, may be the closest thing we have to hearing stories whispered round the campfire or to ambling down to the town square for gossip and a word of breaking news. So it's no surprise that this collection of stories, culled by Wertheimer, the host of NPR's All Things Considered, from the past quarter century of NPR reportage, offers a vivid, informal history of American culture. Beginning with a chaotic report from a May Day 1971 clash between police and students protesting the Vietnam War, Listening to America explores such subjects as Watergate, Patty Hearst, Jonestown, the rise of feminism, Cabbage Patch dolls, the Reagan years, AIDS and Prozac.
What makes these pieces feel fresh are the honest human responses captured at moments of crisis. For example, a woman upon hearing of John Lennon's 1980 murder says, "I feel like a friend of mine has died." Or the anguished conversations with Morton Thiokol engineers who had repeatedly warned NASA that their rocket seals could malfunction if the space shuttle Challenger tried to lift off in 30-degree weather. (Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff, killing everyone on board. NPR broke the engineers' story nearly a month later.)
But all is not tragedy, and mixed into the collection are wonderful comic reports like cartoonist Lynda Barry's discussion of love: "Cupid is a monster from hell...if a red baby flew into the room and aimed an arrow at you, you would know instantly that there is some kind of malicious intent." And how. So keep your head down but buy this wonderful book. (Houghton Mifflin, $24.95)
by David Ramus
Page-Turner of the Week
Sellars lives for the highs: the frisson from a great painting, the pale fire of China-White heroin, sex with mystery woman Marta Batista and the special thrill of bankrolling it all with impressionist canvases created by master forger Paul McHenry. But just before McHenry finishes his latest assignment he is brutally murdered. And Sellars' world starts a free fall as client Ryuichi Tanaka, a notorious Japanese gangster, demands his Monet.
As Sellars and his beautiful gallery assistant begin a race for their lives, first-time novelist Ramus—himself a former New York art dealer and ex-heroin user—builds the suspense like a high-stakes auctioneer. With knowing looks at the demimondes of art, drugs and crime, this addictive thriller full of scam artists delivers the real thing. (HarperCollins, $23)
>Corby Kummer
BREWMEISTER
"I normally just dose myself with quarts of decaf everyday," says Corby Kummer, 38, author of The Joy of Coffee (Chapters, $22), in his Boston office. "But in honor of this interview, I'm having a cup of the real stuff." Some eight years ago, The Atlantic Monthly editor and author wondered why American coffee was so "sour, watery and burned-tasting." To find the perfect cup of Joe, he has since picked beans in Costa Rica, watched decaffeination in Germany and drunk his way through the espresso bars of Italy. Although he now sticks mostly to low-voltage blends, he insists (with a smile), "better coffee can make America great!"
What's the best way to brew a cup?
Most methods give good results if you start with the freshest beans you can get at your specialty store. If their bean bins aren't dated, ask. Using the right grind for the method is important too. Most Americans use too little coffee to make a flavorful brew. Throw away those scoops that come in cans; they're too skimpy. Use¼ cup of coffee per 8 ounces of water.
Should we worry about caffeine?
Unless you're pregnant or have a medical condition, it gets a pretty clean bill of health. The really good news is that the better beans, called arabica, that you buy in specialty stores have only about half the caffeine of robusta beans, which are used in most canned brands.
What's your ultimate type of coffee?
I like it best when someone sends me beans that they've roasted themselves, and I grind and brew them in my own kitchen. It's not just the coffee; it's the experience around it.
- Contributors:
- Elaine Kahn,
- Marjorie Rosen,
- Jennifer Kornreich,
- Joanne Kaufman,
- Mark Bautz,
- Pam Lambert.
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!
