By Pamela Clarke Keogh
After all that's been written about the loose-hipped rock monarch from Memphis, it's near impossible to add anything new. Keogh, author of the fashion tomes Audrey Style and Jackie Style, unearths tidbits like Elvis lifting make-up tips from Tony Curtis and the future porker's waist measurement in '55: a svelte 32. She also gives often overlooked image-shaper Bernard Lansky, owner of the Memphis Tog Shop where Elvis first forged his look, his due. But Elvis's real value is visual: The book's 80-plus photos, culled from the vast collection belonging to the singer's estate, offer a seldom-seen look at the eye-candy King in his prime.
BIOGRAPHY
By David Bezmozgis
CRITIC'S CHOICE
David Bezmozgis's publishers are comparing this debut collection to those of such acclaimed contemporaries as Jhumpa Lahiri. But in fact Bezmozgis has more in common with the great writers of the past. These dazzling, hilarious and hugely compassionate narratives follow the Berman family as they emigrate from Latvia to Toronto, tracing the familiar arc of immigrant experience from near destitution to relative comfort and security. But there's nothing familiar about the freshness and precision of this writer's vision as it focuses on a neighbor's coddled pet dog, an endearing and sexually promiscuous 14-year-old girl, a champion weight lifter whose star is rapidly fading—and alchemizes their stories into art. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud, then gasping as Bezmozgis brings these fictions to the searing, startling and perfectly pitched conclusions that remind us that, as the Russian writer Isaac Babel said, "no iron can stab the heart so powerfully as a period put in exactly the right place."
STORIES
[4stars]
David Bezmozgis's publishers are comparing this debut collection to those of such acclaimed contemporaries as Jhumpa Lahiri. But in fact Bezmozgis has more in common with the great writers of the past. These dazzling, hilarious and hugely compassionate narratives follow the Berman family as they emigrate from Latvia to Toronto, tracing the familiar arc of immigrant experience from near destitution to relative comfort and security. But there's nothing familiar about the freshness and precision of this writer's vision as it focuses on a neighbor's coddled pet dog, an endearing and sexually promiscuous 14-year-old girl, a champion weight lifter whose star is rapidly fading—and alchemizes their stories into art. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud, then gasping as Bezmozgis brings these fictions to the searing, startling and perfectly pitched conclusions that remind us that, as the Russian writer Isaac Babel said, "no iron can stab the heart so powerfully as a period put in exactly the right place."
NONFICTION
By Diane Ackerman
Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman (A Natural History of the Senses) ponders personality, gender, emotion and language in this intriguing tour of the human brain. Among the lyrically described highlights: There is a half-second time lag between "perceiving something and becoming conscious of it." In Ackerman's hands, what could have been an "if it's Tuesday this must be the hippocampus blur" instead leaves readers with nuanced understanding of—and gratitude for—that "wrinkled wardrobe of selves" that makes us all tick.
NONFICTION
By Meryl Markoe and Andy Prieboy
Be sure to slather on the sunscreen if you read Psycho Ex at the beach, since its L.A.-hipster characters, tales of twisted love and whip-smart wisecracks will keep you glued to your sand chair. Lisa, a reclusive 41-year-old TV writer, and Grant, a jaded 40ish musician, meet at a nightclub where he and his statuesque "Rocker Barbie" girlfriend Winnie are performing in his underground hit show Tommy! (Lee!) The Musical. Grant and Lisa, who narrate alternate chapters, stumble into an e-mail competition to determine who has the craziest former love partner. Unbeknownst to Lisa, jealous Winnie is monitoring the action, and like a Bizarro-world Talmudic scholar she sneeringly deconstructs Lisa's most innocuous words and actions, to Grant's increasing discomfort and the reader's amusement. Hilariously disastrous complications ensue when Lisa's Psycho Ex, a big-time movie producer, wants to buy the rights to Grant's musical. In this acid-laced confection, no one of either gender understands anyone else (or themselves for that matter), and whenever someone tries to read between the lines, all hell breaks deliciously loose. Summer reading doesn't get more fun than this.
NOVEL
Donna Brazile Al Gore's '00 campaign manager and the author of a new memoir, Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics, CNN commentator Brazile weighs in on the Bush-Kerry race.
ON ATTRACTING THE YOUNG VOTE
I'd take a page from Clinton with his saxophone and tell Kerry to pull out his electric guitar. I'd tell Bush to throw baseballs—his passion. They need to talk about their passions.
ON FASHION If his wife let me in the house one day, I'd take Kerry's pink tie and throw it away. He needs a strong red power tie. Bush? Keep the jeans on. I like that down-home look.
ON DEBATING Given American Idol, I think we should cancel the debates and have a duet. Let America sing along. Perhaps more people would get involved.
BUT SERIOUSLY... Proceeds from my book are going to educate people about voting. My first check is going to Jacksonville, Fla., where 27,000 ballots were lost [in '00]. Don't get mad; get even.
- Contributors:
- Steve Dougherty,
- Francine Prose,
- Moira Bailey,
- Bella Stander.
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!
