by Michael Lewis |
People PICK
REVIEWED BY KYLE SMITH
MEMOIR
Moms who suspect that Dad has been intentionally evading diaper duty, here's your proof. In this memoir, based on his Slate diary about aiming to be a hands-off parent to his three kids with former MTV host Tabitha Soren, Moneyball author Lewis allows that he changed only seven of his son's first 600 diapers, downed a yummy dessert in front of his hungry girls as a punishment and was tipsy when his first child was born. In part, Lewis is simply coping with being second-string parent (in the delivery room, he tells dads, "never underestimate your own insignificance"). His failings amuse more than irritate, and he captures serious moments with a warmth that shows he's a pretty good dad after all. Not that those darn kids appreciate it. "We're poor, Daddy," daughter Quinn scolds. "And you didn't tell us." If parents couldn't laugh at such moments, the human race would have long since died off.
by Elizabeth Berg |
REVIEWED BY SUE CORBETT
NOVEL
A year after her husband, Dan, dies, novelist Helen Ames still can't write—and can't do much else, either, since Dan took care of everything. She hovers over her grown daughter until the accountant stirs her from her stupor: Where, he asks, is the $850,000 Dan borrowed from their savings? The mystery resolves quickly, but Berg's insights into the human condition—upper-middle-class division—make this a charming read.
by Sarah Waters |
REVIEWED BY JOHN DOUGLAS MARSHALL
NOVEL
Struggling to keep their threadbare country estate after World War II, the Ayres family becomes enmeshed with a local doctor of humble origins. Malevolent threats proliferate inside Hundreds Hall, followed by tragedies. With its subtly orchestrated suspense and spot-on portrayal of English class divisions, Waters' literary ghost story delights.
'If you remembered what new parenthood was actually like ... you certainly wouldn't ever do it twice'
>NEW IN PAPERBACK
TESTIMONY by Anita Shreve A boarding school sex scandal and its aftermath propel this hypnotic novel by the crowd-pleasing author of The Pilot's Wife.
APPLES AND ORANGES by Marie Brenner They were as different as ... well, you know. But when Brenner's brother was dying, it all changed. A moving memoir.
NETHERLAND by Joseph O'Neill Displacement and longing, expertly wrought. (Thank Obama, who said he was reading it, for the paperback's fast-tracking.)
>Elephant Reflections pairs Karl Ammann's intimate photos with insights by author Dale Peterson:
1 THEY'RE INTO TOOLS They've been seen using sticks as back-scratchers, "stripping away leaves to improve effectiveness."
2 THEY USE INFRASOUND, carrying on long "conversations" below the range of human hearing.
3 THEY AREN'T SEXIST OR AGEIST They live in matriarchies led by the oldest, most knowledgeable female.
4 THEY GET EMOTIONAL They "spin around, while roaring and trumpeting," when reunited with old friends.
5 THEY'RE SELF-CONSCIOUS They study themselves in mirrors. In one experiment, a zoo elephant "used the mirror to examine the back of her ear."
>• Convinced kids' allergies are connected to food additives, mom Robyn O'Brien wrote The Unhealthy Truth—and set out to kick chemicals.
WHAT'S A SIMPLE WAY TO AVOID ADDITIVES? Read labels. If you can't pronounce it, chances are it was engineered in a laboratory.
IS THIS MORE OF A PROBLEM IN THE U.S.? There are higher standards on food regulation in other developed countries. They don't allow things on the market until they're proven safe.
WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE AT HOME? Instead of blue yogurt, we went to white and put sprinkles on top. The kids aren't getting as big a load of coloring.
ARE YOU ALWAYS VIGILANT? I have an 80-20 rule. Do the best you can. And then accept that we do live in a real world where these kids go to birthday parties and they get blue cupcakes.
>• In a new memoir, Larry King, 75, and his son Larry Jr., 47, open up about meeting—for the very first time—when Jr. was 33.
HOW DID YOU LEARN OF EACH OTHER'S EXISTENCE? In 1994 when my ex-wife Annette was dying, she called out of the blue to tell me I had a son named Larry Jr. and that she wanted me to know him. I hadn't spoken to her in about 30 years.
WERE YOU SHOCKED? What could be more of a surprise than that? When we broke up, Annette told me she might be pregnant, but I dismissed it from my mind. She never contacted me about it. I should have followed up with her, but I didn't.
LARRY JR., DID YOU GROW UP KNOWING WHO YOUR DAD WAS? My mom told me and said, "Your dad will be there for you one day." She did whatever it took to make me feel good.
YOU TWO ARE CLOSE NOW—ANY REGRETS? Jr.: Really what my mom told me all along came true. My father loves me. It worked out for us. Sr.: I'm sad I didn't get to know him sooner. But having him in my life is my best break ever.
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!
