by Jennifer Haigh |
People PICK
REVIEWED BY KIM HUBBARD
FICTION
The ailment alluded to in the title of Haigh's rich, enjoyable third novel is Turner Syndrome, a genetic disorder that inhibits puberty in girls. Diagnosed at 12, Gwen McKotch grows to be 4'11", is unable to have children and expects little from her life; her refined New England parents expect even less. As the years and the pages pass, though, it's clear that the "condition" Haigh has in mind isn't Gwen's alone: her brother Billy is secretly gay, her brother Scott hobbled by ADD, her father Frank a smug biologist whose crush on his luscious assistant—"I hired my midlife crisis," he says ruefully—has disastrous consequences. (We all have something, after all; it's what we do with our version of the human condition that counts.)
Haigh sets many balls in motion and drops one now and then, but the McKotch clan evolves believably, and satisfyingly. "Billy, Gwen and Scott," Frank muses at one point. "Each was a known compound that behaved in predictable ways." The book succeeds because he couldn't be more wrong.
by Jamie James |
BIOGRAPHY
Maverick herpetologist Dr. Joe Slowinski handled lethal snakes with his bare hands, wrangled for fame in documentaries and, at 38, made a fatal error: reaching into a bag while leading an expedition in Burma, he was bitten by a deadly krait snake. With skies too rainy for a helicopter rescue, Slowinski slowly succumbed to the brutal venom. A remarkable tribute and a you-are-there look at the world of herpetologists, Charmer is a hypnotic read.
by Darin Strauss |
REVIEWED BY ANDREW ABRAHAMS
FICTION
When Dori Goldin rushes her 8-month-old to the hospital after he vomited blood, a doctor wonders if this agitated mom might suffer from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, the bizarre disorder in which a parent fakes illness in a child. Chang and Eng author Strauss falls prey to clunky metaphors but deftly mines the tensions burbling beneath Dori's outwardly lovey-dovey marriage. He also wrestles informatively with the darker question: How could anyone inflict such insidious pain on her own child?
PAPERBACKS FOR YOUR BEACH BAG
THE RIDICULOUS RACE by Steve Hely & Vali Chandrasekaran
Two guys racing each other around the world—no airplanes allowed. Riotous fun.
CLAPTON by Eric Clapton
The songs, the drugs, the wife he stole from George Harrison. All here, plus anguished memories of his son's death.
ON CHESIL BEACH by Ian McEwan
From the author of Atonement, another polished gem about love and misunderstanding.
In a new cookbook, Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto, Tony Danza and son Marc share recipes and memories
WAS MARC ALWAYS A NATURAL? He's very creative. The thing you have to learn when you try to cook—or do just about anything—is you can't be afraid.
WHICH OF YOU WOULD WIN AN IRON CHEF COMPETITION? I'd beat him! But he'd out-creative me. I'd make great meatballs and he'd make mango salsa. But when we're together, we're a good combo.
ANY CHEFS INTIMIDATE YOU? Lidia Bastianich. I watch her show all the time. She's the grand dame of Italian cooking—the best.
WOULD YOU DO A COOKING SHOW? I don't think so. I'm an entertainer, not a Chef Boyardee.
In The Lolita Effect, University of Iowa professor M. Gigi Durham discusses our culture's sexualization of younger and younger girls—and what we can do to protect our daughters
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? In part, it's a marketing push to create cradle-to-grave consumers of fashion and beauty products. Girls are targeted with messages that traditionally went to much older women.
LIKE WHAT? Seventeen, which is read by 12-year-olds, has an emphasis on looking hot, that being desirable is the most important thing. Abercrombie & Fitch made thong underwear for preteens with slogans like "eye candy" on it. And then there are Bratz dolls ...
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO? Talk about how clothing sends signals. Convey that girls are multidimensional: athletic, artistic, intelligent. Sexuality is only one part.
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!
