by Edwin John Wintle
CRITIC'S CHIOCE
For the first 13 years of his favorite niece's life, Edwin Wintle has been able to enjoy her from a distance. A gay film agent who lives in Greenwich Village, he jumps on the train to visit his troubled sister Megan and her two daughters in Connecticut but has no real notion of what it's like to care for a child.
That all changes when Megan—divorced from her alcoholic husband and newly sober herself—calls Wintle in 2003, sobbing that 13-year-old Tiffany (a pseudonym) is skipping school and failing classes. Wintle, then 40, finds himself saying, "We should get her down here as soon as possible." A week later, he opens his door to a pale girl in skintight jeans who's beclouded by a searing hangover.
The story of the author's transition from single guy to guardian of an aspiring rock goddess, Breakfast with Tiffany is charming without being sentimental. Wintle's dead-on wit sparks the narrative, and his neurotic but creative approach to child-rearing is bracing: Annoyed at having to stay home with the grounded Tiffany, he considers a chum's offer to drag her to a play "even longer than Wagner's Ring Cycle." In the end, both Wintle and his feisty niece learn more than they expected about the power of love—in all of its incarnations.
BIOGRAPHY
The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger
by Laurence Learner
Has there ever been a politician with a weirder career trajectory than Arnold Schwarzenegger? To hear Learner tell it in this delicious, unauthorized biography, Schwarzenegger as a teenager was already plotting the path from physical to political muscle: "I want to win the Mr. Universe many times," he reportedly told friends. "I want to go into films...and then I want to go into politics." Learner suggests that his subject has gotten where he is by being underestimated by the media, and he documents every foible—from his steroid use and admiration of Hitler to his staggering crudeness with women. Fascinating too is his courting of Maria Shriver. "People have always written that Arnold got himself a Kennedy," reflected Maria. "No. He and I fell in love. He wasn't finished growing and he saw in me someone who could grow with him and could help." And that is the mystery of Schwarzenegger: He was often wildly narcissistic and thoughtless, yet people wanted to help him. Maybe that's the definition of charisma.
NOVEL
by Betsy Carter
As 1958 draws to a close, young widow Tessie Lockhart is pondering a move to Florida; Gainesville, in particular, seems like an ideal place to make the fresh start that she and her daughter need, so that's where they go. Carter peoples her steamy little college town with memorably loopy characters who will be profoundly changed by events such as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. The result is a tender yet wickedly funny novel about people hoping for—and getting—second chances.
Memoirs
NASTY by Simon Doonan
The creative director of Barneys New York serves up a deliriously entertaining account of his boyhood in working class Britain—the perfect setting, it seems, to develop an eye for absurdity and an appreciation of camp.
MY FRIEND LEONARD by James Frey
The engrossing story of a bizarre friendship between the author and a dangerous mobster whom he meets in rehab; Frey cleverly mines both his depravity and Leonard's.
SHADOWCHILD by P.F. Thomése
Subtitled "A Meditation on Love and Loss," this is a brief, poetic and deeply moving book about the death of the author's child. A Dutch novelist, Thomése brings a fierce intellect to the wrenching topic.
THE TRICKY PART by Martin Moran
An adept storyteller who's disarmingly honest, actor Moran chronicles the complex journey of recovery that followed a sexually abusive relationship that began when he was 12.
Country Style Expert: RANDY FLORKE
In his new book Your House, Your Home Randy Florke, a Country Living contributor and interior decorator whose specialty is preserving vintage farmhouses, shares smart, affordable ways to cozy up your home. Here, Florke's suggestions for small changes that make a big impact.
WHAT ARE SOME CASUAL-CHIC TOUCHES FOR SUMMER? I love weathered lawn furniture inside the house. I also love floral arrangements where garden blooms are mixed with grasses and wildflowers.
HOW DO YOU BRING SUMMER TO ENTERTAINING? Use fruits and vegetables to give your tabletop a twist. Try tying cloth napkins with corn husk. And whenever possible, entertain outdoors. I invited my family to dinner and we put the table at the edge of my property, right where cornfields begin. It gave us a whole different perspective.
WHAT FLEA MARKET FINDS LOOK STYLISH NOW? Antique replicas of houses: Farmers used to make miniature versions of their farmhouses and put holes in them for birds. Over time, the houses took on a beautiful patina. Black or red rotary phones are good too.
OTHER SOURCES FOR TREASURES? I use vintage books as accents, and public libraries often discard collections like beautiful old encyclopedias.
- Contributors:
- Michelle Green,
- Judith Newman,
- Vick Boughton.
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!
