NOVEL
CRITIC'S CHOICE
The blended family at the heart of Lily King's novel The English Teacher is a far cry from The Brady Bunch. When single mother Vida Avery marries a widower named Tom Belou and brings her 15-year-old son, Peter, to live with Tom and his three children, the problems begin as soon as the wedding is over. Peter's new siblings, especially Tom's troubled older son, are still in mourning for their lost mother. And Vida, a beloved and dedicated English instructor at a New England private school, is better equipped to teach literature than to face the unforeseen stresses of married life. Gradually, the pressure builds until newlyweds Vida and Tom are forced to confront some harsh truths about the past and their precarious present.
King does ask her readers to take a great deal on faith; there are some plot holes in the novel, and a number of details and events that don't entirely ring true. Still, we stay with her to find out where this talented writer is taking us, and the result is a satisfying interlude spent in the company of some interestingly complicated characters.
By Suzanne Marrs
BIOGRAPHY
Never underestimate the power of a telling detail. Such details made Eudora Welty's work sing, and when they crop up in this biography they do the same. No amount of analysis of Welty's politics can compete with the revelation that in the fall of 1988, "a Dukakis sticker adorned the bumper of her car." When Welty died in 2001 at 92, she had received a Pulitzer Prize, but if s her voice—particularly in numerous previously unpublished letters—that impresses. Marrs and Welty were friends for 18 years, but that friendship proves to be a double—edged sword, as Marrs's affection keeps her observations polite. She does, however, delve into Welty's quasi-romantic relationships, one with John Robinson, who proved to be gay, and the other with married Ken Millar, a.k.a. mystery writer Ross Macdonald. Long excerpts from Welty's correspondence with both make her pop off the page, just as her own prose animated her quirky characters.
By Robert Hicks
NOVEL
In his ambitious debut novel Robert Hicks re-creates a particularly gruesome moment of Civil War history: the bloody battle waged by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on land owned by Carrie McGavock in Franklin, Tenn. Hicks recounts the horrors McGavock faces when her home becomes a field hospital for a vast number of wounded soldiers and her backyard a cemetery for the more than 9,000 dead.
Despite being overwritten in places, the novel contains passages of lyrical beauty and arresting images as well as a compelling story line. The most notable weakness is the relentlessly shifting narrative voice, switching each chapter among first-person narrators, with third-person narration along the way. The continuously jumping point of view can feel distracting, creating a literary effect not unlike the misuse of a handheld camera in filmmaking, drawing attention away from the story. Still, the lasting memory is the sweep and grandeur of Hicks's historical tapestry.
BOOK-CLUB-FRIENDLY PAPERBACKS
AN EVENING OF LONG GOODBYES by Paul Murray
This witty novel from first-time author Murray follows a 24-year-old Irish heir who discovers he's not as rich as he thought and is forced to finally face the real world and get a job. Hilarity ensues.
CHAIN OF COMMAND by Seymour M. Hersh
The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist taps his secret sources to create this insider's account of America's course from 9/11 to the Iraq war.
HOW MUMBO JUMBO CONQUERED THE WORLD by Francis Wheen
Subtitled A Short History of Modern Delusions, this satirical history chronicles the incredible rise of all things bogus and bizarre—including superstition, religious cults and astrology. Memorable.
BEFORE YOU KNOW KINDNESS by Chris Bohjalian
In this powerful novel a 12-year-old girl accidentally shoots her animal-rights-activist father with a hunting rifle, throwing her family into turmoil.
Pornified by Pamela Paul
Journalist Pamela Paul focuses on the far-reaching impact of porn culture in Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships and Our Families. Her take: that porn "has a corrosive effect on men's relationship with women and plays a rising role in intimacy disorders." Here, sobering stats from her book:
CLERICAL ERROR? A survey of clergy members conducted by Christianity Today and Leadership magazines found that about 40 percent of clergy acknowledge having visited Web sites that are sexually explicit.
WOMEN'S MOVEMENT: Women report that porn is becoming a bigger part of their lives; in a 2004 poll conducted by Elle and MSNBC.com, 41 percent of women said they had intentionally viewed or downloaded erotic films or photos.
IN THEIR DREAMS: In the same poll 17 percent of men admitted that sex was less arousing when they saw porn regularly; 1 in 10 said that porn made them less satisfied with partners' bodies.
WHITE-COLLAR HIGH? Highly educated professionals are especially vulnerable to porn addiction, "perhaps because they [have] a greater capacity to fantasize," a psychologist told Paul.
WARP FACTOR: Heavy porn users tend to "overestimate the incidence of almost all sexual activities" including sodomy, group sex and sadomasochism.
- Contributors:
- Francine Prose,
- Natalie Danford,
- Katherine Mosby.
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!
