Young Man, Muddled: A Memoir
by Robert Kanigel
young man muddled (5/9/2023)
This a personal account: a life story, a memoir, a tale told through the eyes of one that rode into the world with his toes curled over the leading edge of the Babyboomer’s Generation. The story opens in Baltimore in 1966 some twenty years after his birth. We join him on his many travels and adventures throughout life, a life that granted him the fodder to peruse and accomplish a career as a renowned writer. There is love and lost love, education and ambition, happiness and loneliness, dreams and despair, religion and discovery, work and writing. But there is also the counter culture—hippies, protests, drugs, racial unrest, sex and the sexual revolution, the military draft and the Viet Nam War. His story is inimitable but it is also a story of his generation—so may tales to be had from this time—his—is just one of them.
The Critic's Daughter: A Memoir
by Priscilla Gilman
The Critics Daughter (1/14/2023)
Pricilla Gillman (Cil), the eldest daughter of Richard Gillman—famed drama and theatrical critic, has penned a memoir in tribute to her father. In the Prologue— "My father, in many ways was the quintessential intellectual and deeply cerebral man, was, nonetheless a man who thought with his heart."
Her story intertwines the parallel paths of the person. He is a critic, a professor, an idealist and yet he, as she aptly defines, as charming, charismatic, sweet adorable and endearing father. But there are epochs of emotional darkness in his/their life—infidelity, divorce, sickness, and death.
The crux of this memoir is the life story of the renowned critic, the mentoring of his children, especially his daughter Cil, and his love for his third wife and the respect he had for the second Mrs. Gillman. Of special interest is of course the narrative depicting the life of the drama/theatrical critic. A lot of famous names, personal relationships—artists, authors, politicians, educators, actors and such populate the pages. The successes and failures of many works were a direct result of his professional reviews.
This five-star saga is grounded in love.
Stealing: A Novel
by Margaret Verble
Stealing Margaret Verble (12/9/2022)
A wonderful piece of historical fiction told in the first-person format—unveils the strong and determinative voice of a nine-year-old little girl named Kit, a native American, the daughter of a Cherokee mother and a white father. Kit endures a number of tragedies: the death of her mother, the violent death of her uncle, the deceit and abuse levied by her guardian the "praise the lord" preacher, the sexual abuse administered by school's headmaster, the murder of her friend and the trial and conviction of her father. She employs her Nancy Drew mysteries, her cherished inanimate friend—a statue of a frontiersman—a wood carving crafted with love and given to by her father, her friends, uncles, aunts, neighbors and her imagination to help her navigate through the abyss of misinformation, withheld information, and blatant lies.
The story line is a bit choppy — the jumping from the past to the present and back again is a bit unnerving. The "Trail of Tears" is referenced but the narrative regarding this event has not been expanded. Also, more on the Christianization of native Americans, in particular the Cherokee, may enhance the human element to the story. For these reasons I give a 3 ½ star rating.
