Short Takes
August 2, 2022
When We Were Bright and Beautiful: a rich, white, Ivy League athlete is accused of rape, and that’s just the start of his family’s dysfunction
In an unforgettable “Law & Order” episode, someone says, “There are two laws, one for the poor, one for the rich.” DA Jack McCoy knows better: “There are no laws for the rich.” That was then. Now, when a rich, white athlete from Princeton is accused of raping his girlfriend, we wonder if life in prison is enough punishment.
That alleged rape is the centerpiece of “When We Were Bright and Beautiful.” Or rather, that’s the start of the novel. Cassie rushes home from Yale to help in her brother’s defense. She has a problems of her own, starting with her complicated romantic history and an unwise, dangerous relationship with a detective who’s working this case. There are endless meetings in the family’s “war room” that slow the book, but Jillian Medoff is a first-class novelist — I loved her last novel,THIS COULD HURT — and the trial yields real drama and a satisfying payoff. [To buy the hardcover from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
May 6, 2022
In her 80s, Ann Medlock publishes a powerful first novel, “Silence of the Seamaid”
I became aware of Ann Medlock because of the Giraffe Heroes Project, which she started “to inspire people to stick their necks out for the common good” and to honor those who did — among the 2,000 people she’s profiled, she honored my mother. Now in her late 80s, she’s published “Silence of the Seamaid,” her first novel. It is, she says,”a roman á clef about the first half of this long life.” It covers a lot of career ground over several continents, but the real story is her awakening as an independent woman. Lee Palmer’s first marriage is to a handsome man who is, despite his exotic job, “constantly at a loss, a sweet-natured, passive man who was content with his lot, whatever it was, and with his pretty, helpful wife, whoever she was.” When she learns that “a dependent husband was not acceptable,” she moves on. But to Joe Montagna? He’s more than handsome, he’s charismatic, well on his way to massive success. How can he be interested in her? And yet he is. They marry. Then the mood swings surface. Charm can turn to violence in the blink of an eye. Marriage becomes a prison. Does she flee? Not quickly. I came to hate this man as I have rarely hated a character before — more so because this is a roman á clef. And I cheered her escape and her first steps into a great new life — into Ann Medlock’s life. [Meet her in a short video. To buy the paperback from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
April 30, 2022
THE NEW MEGATRENDS: SEEING CLEARLY IN THE AGE OF DISRUPTION
Ethics prevent me from reviewing this book — it was my honor to brainstorm with veteran trendspotter Marian Salzman in its creation, as I have on several of her previous books. I can say that trends have the lifespan of fruit flies now; it’s her genius to identify and explain ones that might affect more than this week. In these pages, she explains the most consequential shifts underway: “our warming planet, pervasive forces of chaos and uncertainty, and the evolving battle for supremacy between the world’s two 21st-century superpowers, the United States and China.” Even more valuable, she digs into the forces shaping how we live. As she writes, they include “the blurring and resetting of boundaries; the value of small in a world undergoing massive change; the new luxury of freedom and time; the massive shifts in gender norms and expectations and the move toward individualism…. While this book is intended to decode the myriad political, cultural, environmental, and technological trends that will influence our tomorrow, I regard it less as a forecast than as a call to action. Some four centuries ago, Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes declared, ‘Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.’” Marian Salzman is definitely prepared. Consider joining her. [To buy the book from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here. For the audiobook, click here.]
May 7, 2019
Head Butler’s Greatest Hits: the best-loved videos I’ve featured, lovingly preserved
— Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, dancing to Jackie Wilson’s “Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher”
— Bon Iver, with The Staves, “Heavenly Father”
— Brian Fallon, “Wonderful Life”
— Joan Osborne, “Shake Your Hips”
– Kurt Vonnegut’s “chalk talk”
– Amy Winehouse, ‘Back to Black.’ Because of the backup singers… the way they move… how she more or less abandons language…