Spicy advice from 1936! There is liquor! There are morals! There are bed jackets! (Apparently three or four different bed jackets are needed for diffeSpicy advice from 1936! There is liquor! There are morals! There are bed jackets! (Apparently three or four different bed jackets are needed for different circumstances. I had no idea. This was decades before the Snuggie.)
I don't live alone right now, but I certainly loved it when I did.
The author assumes that the reader will be able to hire a maid or other servant full-time or part-time for just a few dollars a week. No word on whether that person lives alone and likes it.
Marjorie Hillis was a Vogue employee of many years when she wrote this witty and highly opinionated guide. The book was a huge success in pop culture and financially, and Miss Hillis went on to marry (and stop living alone) three years after its initial publication....more
Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker staff writer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, conducted more than 300 in-depth interviews on the topic of . . . reality teEmily Nussbaum, New Yorker staff writer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, conducted more than 300 in-depth interviews on the topic of . . . reality television?! The title is a bit of a cheat because it comes from the movie The Truman Show. But the whole thing is written well and held my interest, even though I haven't seen some of the shows Nussbaum writes about. (But I have seen a lot of them. Even The Gong Show.) I didn't know that the whole reality vs. scripted conflict goes all the way back to radio, when people complained that writers and actors and musicians were being thrown out of work by a show called—I'm not kidding—Candid Microphone....more
Fascinating glimpses of women through the ages—everything from cave art to a specific type of vibrator. I enjoyed learning about the 100 MPH coat, desFascinating glimpses of women through the ages—everything from cave art to a specific type of vibrator. I enjoyed learning about the 100 MPH coat, designed for early motorists, and the bikini, designed for scandal. The audiobook has a stellar array of readers, including Daisy Ridley, Gillian Anderson, Margaret Atwood, and many other notables. ...more
"The money's in the basement." —Karen Carpenter, explaining why she sang in low tones despite having an impressive vocal range
"But Richard is the star"The money's in the basement." —Karen Carpenter, explaining why she sang in low tones despite having an impressive vocal range
"But Richard is the star, Karen's just the drummer." —Agnes Carpenter, blatantly favoring one of her children and completely misjudging the Carpenters' sound
Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard chased success. They wanted money and fame and popularity, and as a result they tended to choose safe, dated, or even reactionary musical styles. Even during and after the period where their sales plateaued, they strongly resisted trying new styles and forms. As a result, many music fans considered them to be awkward, sentimental, or fake. But THAT VOICE. It's one of the most distinctive and appealing in pop music history.
Karen and Richard's mother sounds appalling, blatantly favoring Richard and discouraging Karen from seeking therapy for the anorexia that killed her. Their father is meekly uncommunicative. And Richard sounds controlling and tiresome, full of bitterness and complaints whether the records are selling well or not. (The one time in the book when he seems pleased about something is in 1994, when the superb tribute album If I Were a Carpenter came out.)
Both Richard and Karen experienced severe anxiety, which they sought to control in different ways. Richard got addicted to downers, but because doctors had a better idea of how to treat his addiction, he survived. Karen became anorexic and bulimic and abused laxatives. Doctors knew very little about treating eating disorders at the time, so she did not survive.
Also, Karen dealt with a tremendous amount of sexism. Her brother and their record company made her give up the drums and front the band. They criticized her drum playing, but there was never any effort to make her better at the drums. Take a look at this clip to see how talented she was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o82d9... If you don't have time for the whole thing, just watch the drum solo at the end.
The other thing that gets me is how (male) colleagues assumed they understood her without asking her about anything. The parents considered Richard a musical prodigy from the age of three. They moved the family from Connecticut to southern California when the kids were teenagers so that Richard would have a better chance of professional success. Karen watched and listened all the time. She tried different instruments without much success. She became obsessed with jazz drumming as a young teenager. She worked with a choral teacher for years, both before and after she got famous. She joined the high school marching band and became the first girl on the drum line there, working her way up to co-leading the band. She experimented with singing in a higher and a lower register. And then she goes to an audition with Richard when she's sixteen and these guys insist "she was born with that voice, it just came out of her." What absolute bullshit. She worked and researched and strategized to get that sound....more
Gorgeous art, confusing plot. I'm still not sure what happened. Feel free to explain it to me if you've read it.Gorgeous art, confusing plot. I'm still not sure what happened. Feel free to explain it to me if you've read it....more
Leslie Jones once got so enraged at a Saturday Night Live colleague that she called up a murderer she knew and offered to fly him out to New York so hLeslie Jones once got so enraged at a Saturday Night Live colleague that she called up a murderer she knew and offered to fly him out to New York so he could kill this person. The murderer's response? "Les, it's Christmas. I just had a baby." The murderer suggested that Leslie simply stop communicating with this person "because it's cold in your shadow." Leslie tried this option and it worked! No homicide necessary! This audiobook is a wild, freewheeling, often teary account of the author's life, career, and philosophy. I enjoyed it very much, and I felt especially sympathetic to her when she revealed that she was unable to attend either of her parents' funerals because she was away making money to pay for those funerals. (One of her most strongly worded pieces of advice is to buy insurance so you don't burden others with those costs.) Today Leslie Jones lives in a 4,000-square-foot home in California with a swimming pool and a beauty salon and a pantry that is stocked like a 7-Eleven. And I'm so happy for her. She deserves all of that....more
Read for work. I'm so happy that this book is available so that young children can learn about some vital events in U.S. history. I enjoyed the text, Read for work. I'm so happy that this book is available so that young children can learn about some vital events in U.S. history. I enjoyed the text, but the art didn't do anything for me. Your mileage may vary....more
Informative but mostly lighthearted account of how Black and Brown people have been portrayed in English-language horror movies. Things have gotten beInformative but mostly lighthearted account of how Black and Brown people have been portrayed in English-language horror movies. Things have gotten better but there are still double standards and omissions. The author explains that Black people deserve portrayals in all genres of movies doing all types of things, just as characters of other races do. I burst out laughing when the author brought home this point by saying, "Black people like Etsy too."...more
Intriguing accounts of speculative bubbles and collapses throughout history. My favorite parts were about the South Sea Bubble and the Gilded Age. ThiIntriguing accounts of speculative bubbles and collapses throughout history. My favorite parts were about the South Sea Bubble and the Gilded Age. This is the 1999 edition, made into an audiobook in 2019. So there are parts that a major publisher would never allow into print today, such as the assertion that White people discovered Australia (there were plenty of other people there already) and that women were granted the right to vote (they won it themselves, of course). The last event the book covers is the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management....more
This is a fun story with some toilet jokes and just a little hint of scariness. The art is full of surprises, my favorite ofGet the flock out of here!
This is a fun story with some toilet jokes and just a little hint of scariness. The art is full of surprises, my favorite of which is a large soft drink labeled BLADDER BUSTER.
I can't wait for the sequel, Van Full of Toucans....more
Delightful and well-acted poems from the points of view of various insects. I'm listing this as fiction, but there's a lot of science-related content Delightful and well-acted poems from the points of view of various insects. I'm listing this as fiction, but there's a lot of science-related content here. I learned about the life cycle of the mayfly....more
Disappointing. I've enjoyed Biskind's earlier books, and I was hoping that he would select a dozen or so "peak television" shows and explain what madeDisappointing. I've enjoyed Biskind's earlier books, and I was hoping that he would select a dozen or so "peak television" shows and explain what made them successful, unusual, memorable, or otherwise worthwhile. Instead, this is a mostly business-focused account of scores of TV shows. We ping-pong around in time, so it's hard to get a sense of trends or sea changes. And there's a lot about harassment, humiliation, and general misery on the set. I did get one memorable image out of this book, though: David Chase, at the top of his Sopranos success, a multimillionaire, with his teeth rotting out of his head because he was so phobic about going to the dentist. What a shame for him and for the people around him....more
Appealing, well-sourced account of how all those Marvel movies got made and why some of the ones at the start were bad but some of the ones in the midAppealing, well-sourced account of how all those Marvel movies got made and why some of the ones at the start were bad but some of the ones in the middle were good and some of the more recent ones were bad but maybe the next ones will be good again. When Disney bought Marvel, the mouse people did their due diligence and found out how many characters they were getting. Do you want to guess how many?
s p o i l e r
s p a c e
SEVEN THOUSAND. That's a lot of intellectual property. And they're not all going to be winners. ...more
I was delighted to see this biography of Jackie Ormes, whose work I have seen exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center. I had no idea that the FBI amaI was delighted to see this biography of Jackie Ormes, whose work I have seen exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center. I had no idea that the FBI amassed a 287-page file on her. Shannon Wright's art is vivid and full of action. The ending is a bit somber for a children's picture book, so you may want to preread before sharing with young children....more
This is a series of essays about how people who are greatly admired can have some bizarre ideas that don't pan out. For example:
• Thomas Edison tried This is a series of essays about how people who are greatly admired can have some bizarre ideas that don't pan out. For example:
• Thomas Edison tried to invent a telephone that would allow the living to communicate with the dead. • Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, not only fell for a silly hoax but also tried to convince the public that fairies are real. • Albert Einstein was constantly being rescued because he was a terrible sailor who frequently capsized and couldn't swim. He loved sailing, though. • NASA built a space capsule but didn't include a toilet. Also they thought one of the first women in space would need 100 tampons. For a six-day trip. All tied together. (Marcia Belsky set this story to music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmyBy... )
Cups of tea, pears, a bottomless pit, a headless skeleton. Comforting yet creepy. I don't know if young kids would like this, but I did.Cups of tea, pears, a bottomless pit, a headless skeleton. Comforting yet creepy. I don't know if young kids would like this, but I did....more
Based on the cover, I thought this was going to be an oral history of the movie Airplane! It's actually an oral history of the origins of Zucker, AbraBased on the cover, I thought this was going to be an oral history of the movie Airplane! It's actually an oral history of the origins of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker plus Kentucky Fried Theater plus Kentucky Fried Movie plus Airplane! So there might be stuff in here that doesn't interest you, especially if you've never seen KFM. Lots of celebrities stop by (Sarah Silverman, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Jimmy Kimmel, Trey Parker, Matt Stone), as do many cast members.
I got excited when I realized that Julie Hagerty contributed audio. "Great!" I thought. "I'll finally find out what her real voice is like!" But it turns out that she really talks like that. And she insists that she had no idea about the sexual connotations of blowing the autopilot, no matter what Shelley Long thinks. (Long was angry about being turned down for the part.)
And yes, ZAZ do mention working with OJ Simpson. One of them says something along the lines of, "He got a little better with every movie, but overall, his acting technique was similar to his murdering technique: He got away with it, but nobody really believed him."
Airplane! contains the standard FBI warning with a couple of extra words at the end: "This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition may result in civil liability or criminal prosecution. So there." Did the FBI like that? No. ZAZ got a scolding. At the end of the credits of this book, the narrator says, "So there."
This was a fun book to listen to while my spouse and I are stuck at home over Thanksgiving week because he has Covid....more
Dolly Parton fan: How long does it take to style your hair? Dolly Parton: I don't know. I'm never there.
Who sometimes wears three wigs at once, one on Dolly Parton fan: How long does it take to style your hair? Dolly Parton: I don't know. I'm never there.
Who sometimes wears three wigs at once, one on top of the other? Who is still exploring new-to-her musical genres and striving to be a better person every day? Who had an illiterate father and yet is now a juggernaut in business and philanthropy? Dolly Parton, of course.
In this coffee-table-sized book, Dolly reflects on her career, personal growth, clothes, and accessories. (One chapter is called, "I Will Always Love . . . Shoes.") As always, she radiates lovingkindness and is generous and specific when giving credit to others. No wonder some of her employees have worked for her for 30 years. And she's funny!
While Dolly has always had her own style rather than following fashion trends, I think this book would be interesting to anyone who is into fashion, textiles, or fame. This book is intelligently written and thoughtfully curated. And on the cover, has Dolly's dress been subtly stippled so that it shimmers and glimmers as you open the book? Well, of course it has....more
What's it like growing up in a household where your family members dislike you? The Scottish comedian Fern Brady knows. Brady has autism, but it wasn'What's it like growing up in a household where your family members dislike you? The Scottish comedian Fern Brady knows. Brady has autism, but it wasn't diagnosed until adulthood. She also grew up poor. She had advantages too—including intelligence, musical ability, and beauty—but her family's bafflement with her and her feelings of not-wantedness were corrosive. To be fair, if someone in my household had meltdowns regularly and scowled when spoken to and scratched their own skin when anyone touched them, I would probably dislike them too.
Brady is a comedian, but I wouldn't call this memoir funny at all. It's heartfelt and smart and useful and sometimes bizarre (the chapters on working in strip clubs are something else). I learned a lot about autistics, allistics (people who aren't on the autism spectrum), Scotland, and finding a way to win. Also she reads the audiobook, and I could listen to her voice all day....more
Awful title, fun novel. The action starts at a funeral, and then there's a flashback from decades previously, and then we're off to the races (figuratAwful title, fun novel. The action starts at a funeral, and then there's a flashback from decades previously, and then we're off to the races (figuratively speaking). There's a lot about feminism and women's intelligence/drive and how girls and women get a raw deal. This surprised me, as the author is a man and he published this book in 1960. There was lots more social commentary than I expected. I laughed when I noticed that one of the newspapers is called the Daily Prole. Overall, this is a bit talky in places, and there are some things that the author doesn't explain adequately, but I enjoyed it tremendously. This is the third Wyndham novel I've read, and I'm eager to see which of his other books are still in print.
Fun fact: In real life, the author had a relationship with a teacher. When they got together in 1932, there was a law that female teachers had to leave the profession when they married. So the two of them lived in separate rooms in the same boarding-house-type-thing and kept their relationship quiet. The government lifted the ban in 1935, but the couple didn't get married until the 1960s.
[Minor SPOILER ahead]
[more spoiler space] Minus one star because the subplot with the daughter-in-law got dropped with no explanation. Who dug the implant out of her arm? What became of it (the implant, not her arm)? Did the son divorce her? How stupid must you be if you openly speculate on when you will inherit from your father-in-law, whom your husband adores? (Maybe I don't understand that last part because I'm American and my parents never owned very much.)...more
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