REVIEW: 'Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World' by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

Something to know before you buy:

The friendly, cuddly-looking feline on this book jacket heartbreakingly plays second fiddle in his own story.  This book is definitely more of a memoir of Vicki Myron and the town of Spencer, Iowa than of Dewey the library cat.  If you're looking for a charming pet-and-owner love story, this is not it.  While Dewey is touted as the hero of the book, his owner's life experiences are what really take precedence in the storytelling.  Myron and Witter also make Spencer's history, as well as library politics, a main focus for the book.

Things to know before you read:

While Vicki Myron's tale could still be appealing enough to draw sufficient reader interest (the reason, I'm guessing, for why they decided to feature these details so heavily), the stories in this book do not appear transparent enough for her to keep that interest.  I imagined Bret Witter sitting for long hours with Vicki Myron trying to coax an entire book out of her.

Thus, the writing suffers. It is mediocre and stand-offish, and sounds like Witter and Myron never met.  The voice is not one of any pet owner I've known.  There are sentences about how much Dewey means to Vicki Myron, but the tone is so flat, you don't really believe them.

In this book, Dewey best functions as a common thread, a jumping-off point for Myron and Witter to write about Myron's troubled relationship with her teenage daughter; her medical history; and her messy divorce.  Add to that Spencer's own history, and you end up with so many subjects to broach, there isn't room enough for Dewey.  He became a transition and nothing else, which I don't feel was an appropriate memorial to his life, nor what the authors were looking to accomplish with their book.

I don't know for what occasion or to what audience I would suggest this book, although the publicity it's received and the fame it's earned cause me to think there are plenty of people out there who would readily have those answers.  For me, though, it's once again that age-old adage: "Never judge a book by its cover."  Dewey's sweet face is enchanting, but the story between these covers is anything but.

NEXT UP: Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (author of The Devil Wears Prada).

REVIEW: 'Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame' by Emily Herbert

OHHHH OHHHH OHHHHHHH OHH OHHHHH OHHHHH OHHHH OHHH OHHH!

That's right.  I'm caught in a bad romance with Lady Gaga.  Finding true lahve, lahve, lahve (love) with this biography by Emily Herbert, however...eh.  It's hard to relate my feelings about it.  On the one hand, it was SO GREAT having all those Lady Gaga quotes together in one place, and the professional photos placed throughout are always a bonus.  On the other hand, the writing was amateur, more of a framework for the quotes than true storytelling or journalism.  Think of your 9th grade paper on the person who most inspires you.  I came up with that analogy when I realized Herbert tries too hard to transition between her paragraphs; the work doesn't flow.  Many of her paragraphs don't even need transition, but there they are, and always at the beginning.  Much too often, her thoughts repeat.  And speaking of repetition -- just as with J. Randy Taraborrelli's The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, I again find myself wondering where Herbert's citations are, what source material she used.  I really doubt the 2-album discography she lists on the last page got her all this insight into the Lady's present life, not to mention background. Not even an About the Author blurb lines the cover to give her credibility.  You may be wondering by the end how much of this book isn't made up.  I was wondering by the end what happened to my dream of being a book editor.  It's probable that only die-hard Gaga fans will enjoy this book, but it's also probable that's how it was meant to be published. In spite of all my negativity, I am in fact a die-hard Gaga fan.  The book was marketed to me perfectly.

There were several themes giving this book its backbone.  I have self-titled them and included a short analysis of each, in order of the prevalence I perceived.

Gush, Gush, Gush
As well she should.  While objectivity would have been a plus in a biography, it is fairly well known that Gaga is becoming more and more respected in her industry and by her consumers -- all for good reason.  I recently saw her in concert, and she is one of the most honest and eager performers I've watched.  She gets so into her music, and you can tell she's extremely educated in her field.  As Herbert puts it, rather innocently, "Many pop stars can sing and dance, but few can play an instrument and almost none of them compose their own material.  Lady Gaga can do all those things..."
Gaga is also hailed as being one of the most down-to-earth pop stars around.  As evidence of this, I can tell you she took the time to actually hold a "conversation" with her audience in the middle of her show, sincerely acknowledging them and thanking them for their support.  She doesn't really put on airs.  She has a way speaking that makes you feel like you've been friends forever -- so much so, that I could have sworn I was meeting her for drinks after the performance.  Emily Herbert has obviously become as swept up as I have by Gaga's inner fame, which is completely, absolutely infectious.

Who Cares?  It's Lady Gaga!
Herbert explained many of Lady Gaga's more eye-catching public appearances and fashions with this proclamation (if in more indirect language than I've worded it here).  To her credit, she did include the many criticisms of Gaga's fashion sense, and also of what Herbert believes to be publicity stunts (like the infamous teacup).  But she counteracted every criticism with this argument.  At the end of the day, who cares? It was Lady Gaga, and she can do whatever she damn well pleases.  Herbert makes the claim that everything Gaga does is for her career (a claim Gaga herself has also made, but I wonder if that goes right down to boarding a plane, as Herbert might tend to believe).  The sense of justification gets a little obnoxious, but I think it was supposed to remind us more of the empowering "I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR" type of credo.  Herbert was trying to point out that Lady Gaga is a strong, unique individual, who made her success on her own terms.  Great concept, just bad execution.

Anything for Publicity
Several times, Herbert mentions Gaga's entertainment industry savvy, but especially draws attention to the idea that Gaga would go just about anywhere as long as it kept her name in the papers.  It was a nice parallel to the Who Cares theme.  It makes you question, however, if Herbert has actually ever interviewed Lady Gaga herself.  From what I've read, and maybe I just don't want to believe, it doesn't seem to me like Gaga is in it for the publicity.  In fact, she's admitted that she hates the paparazzi side of fame.  Herbert does not address this admission in her book, and in fact seems to want you to think the opposite.  I am not arguing that Gaga is naive to her industry; I'm sure she very well knows what will keep her famous.  I'm arguing that Gaga seems more honest in that if she's staying famous, it's because of her art, her interviews, and her fans -- not because of a cheap stunt.  Herbert's hinting at the latter makes me uncomfortable as a Gaga fan, but who knows?  She did write the book, not me.

Undercover Catholic Girl
Despite all the hype, good or bad, Herbert also sticks to the idea that underneath all the makeup and all the fame, Gaga is still the good Catholic school-girl she was back when she was still known as Stefani Germanotta.  She reminds us that Gaga's music and performances are heavily influenced by her background, which is very true.  However, she also brings to the forefront a thought that "Gaga" may be just a facade -- something that is contradicted by Lady Gaga's quotes throughout the book.  From these quotes, we are led to believe that Stefani is Gaga, Gaga is Stefani -- there is no line in between.  Herbert seems to have a bit of trouble wrapping her mind around this, though.  She views Gaga's experience and rise to fame as more of a transformation, like Superman.  Stefani turned herself into Gaga, but she occasionally melts back again during any interview that makes her feel particularly vulnerable.  In my view, Stefani and Gaga were always one being (now whose Catholic background is proving an influence?).  It's an interesting point of debate.

Trying To Find a Balance
A parallel to the transformation theme, last but not least are the subtle hints of Gaga's desire for domesticity, and her attempts to balance that with her desire for success.  Herbert believes Lady Gaga gets these cravings because of her Italian-American background and the strong sense of family instilled in her while growing up.  I think Herbert is twisting Gaga's words here.  After reading all the quotes in the book, in addition to listening to countless other interviews of hers, I don't think Gaga is quite as upset by her biological clock as Herbert makes it appear.  She has admitted to wanting love, but who doesn't when they're 24 years old and single?  Or for that matter, who doesn't when they're single?  I believe Gaga when she says she's married to her work.  She may want a family someday, but Herbert somehow contradicts all the empowering parts of Gaga by trying to untangle the mystery.  By trying to decipher the reasons why Lady Gaga may not be disclosing the details of her love life, Herbert creates a negative focus that sheds an unflattering, angsty (and most likely untrue) light on her instead.  It was like I Love Lucy up in there, all the meddling.

Overall, Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame was exactly what I expected it to be: a quick read, interesting to me because of the subject matter, but with writing that wasn't so interesting at all.  If you're a fan, I think this is the first biography, and therefore a nice addition to your collection.  If you're not a fan, but curious at all, do a good deed instead of spending your money, honey: visit your local library to pick up this read.

NEXT UP: American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld.  A New York Times bestseller, and one of my purchases from the Buy Books 4 Small Fries Book Fair.  It's been on my shelf a long time.  It deserves to come out and play.

REVIEW: 'The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe' by J. Randy Taraborrelli

Well.  If you're looking for an unbiased account of the life of Marilyn, don't look to this book.

This is not to say there isn't a whole lot of new and noteworthy information in this book, especially in the beginning chapters, which covered Marilyn's childhood.  But, I say "noteworthy" with a grain of salt, and here's why: after reading this book, it has become clear to me that we will never have a definitive answer to who Marilyn Monroe was, why she has become so special to our culture, or what her life was really like.  She will remain a mystery.

Taraborrelli loses a little credibility for me in two respects.  Firstly, he does not list all of his source material in his appendices.  He says it is because there is too much of it, and it is his observation that the common reader does not even look at the notes in the back of a book after finishing it.  I say, WTF?  A common reader may not (and honestly, I often don't), but one who wants to make sure you're legit will, especially if your book is on the subject of Marilyn Monroe.  There have been so many stories about her, many of them fabricated, it seems ridiculous not to list every single material used for the creation of your own storytelling.  That said, Taraborrelli does list his primary sources, some of which are pretty impressive...or sketchy, depending on how cynical you are.  How on earth he was able to find Della Monroe's (Marilyn's grandmother) death certificate in the hands of a former neighbor was beyond me.  Many of the interviews he conducted for the first few sections of the book were with friends of neighbors, or family of neighbors, of the foster parents, orphanage management, and guardians Norma Jeane lived with in her early years.  The excerpts from these interviews are detailed, and for the most part, the stories seem to correspond with one another.  However, many of them focus not on Norma Jeane necessarily, but on her mother and grandmother.  I'm not sure if their lives were better documented, but the beginning chapters seemed to have more clout than those in the middle and end of the book, which detailed Marilyn's film career, her bout with prescription drugs, and her time with the Kennedys.  At times I wondered if he was basing whole chapters on Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates.  There were also a few minor unexplained discrepancies in the gathered information that were either missed during editing or thought too small to bother with...but that sort of thing causes me to start viewing the author as unreliable.

The second aspect of the book that made my belief in it waver had to do with Taraborrelli's thesis, if you will.  The book was billed as an account that could link Marilyn's decline with her mother's (and father's, as it turned out) mental illness.  There were many suggestions of Marilyn's "hearing voices," but no credible evidence is given to prove that, excepting one or two stories saying she hallucinated a man who was following her.  I am not discounting the possibility that Marilyn also suffered from poor mental health, but this book did better providing evidence of her drug addiction.  The end of the book doesn't make any clear-cut assertions as to the cause of her death except to rule out conspiracy theory.  Floating between accidental overdose (or more correctly, intentional overdose with the underlying aim to call for rescue at the last minute) and suicide, Taraborrelli tries to tie both theories back to Marilyn's alleged mental illness, but only succeeds in keeping her as elusive as when the story, and possibly the research, began.

All of this said, I was not at all unhappy with the book.  It was easy to follow, and the fresh angle on Marilyn's personal life and family history was appealing to me, as most of what I've read so far has been about her career, death, and love interests.  Though the absolute truth about Marilyn's life is once again far from attained, there are a lot of good nuggets in here that are at least worth comparing to the other gems in your collection.




UP NEXT: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  Another classic I have, until now, only seen on Wishbone!  And, it's the perfect prerequisite to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, which is on my list for the month of July. 

REVIEW: 'No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women' by Estelle B. Freedman

Where to begin?

I'll first say I'm using the word history instead of herstory throughout this post, for two reasons: 1) because that is the word Estelle Freedman uses in the book I'm reviewing; and 2) because that is just the word, and history wasn't really derived from the words "his story."  Fake etymologies bug me.  (Yes, I understand the social importance inherent in the statement of herstory, but to use it over and over again as if it were a word instead of a statement sounds silly to me.  So I'm sorry if I turned off any radical feminists out there, but I hope you'll read my review anyway because it was a really good book.  And sorry I got stuck on this tangent, of course we can argue about herstory later.  I'd like to hear your opinions.)

I'll start the actual review by saying this book is a great general resource to have on hand, whether you're just getting to know the intricacies of women's studies, or whether you're a seasoned scholar.  Freedman's writing is clear, and easy to follow.  There are no involved explanations of theory or feminist philosophy.  Everything is pretty blunt, actually.  There are feminist undertones, of course, but there is no sense of urgency or adamancy to make you feel uncomfortable with the subject matter.  Her tone is authoritative, but her voice definitely gives away her profession (she is a professor at Stanford).  She writes just as though she were giving an important lecture.  Her style is informative, but not invasive.  And even though I now believe this was meant to be used as a text book rather than...well, I don't really know what I expected...it was actually pleasant for me to read.  I can honestly say I was not bored.

However: this book is not formatted in a chronological sequence of events.  I assume this is because Freedman covers most of the globe in her work, and if she'd attempted to put everything in order, she would have wound up with way more than 397 pages (paperback), plus she'd really risk boring everyone.  The book is instead divided into sections that are all cornerstones of feminist(s) philosophy -- even though, I'll reiterate, it doesn't expound on very much of the theories themselves.  These are sections like: The Politics of Work and Family (including separate spheres, the rise of capitalism and industrialization, wage labor, and motherhood); The Politics of Health and Sexuality (including reproduction, gender and identity, and violence); and Feminist Visions and Strategies (including modern-day politics and the realm of creativity).  There are notes of the politics here, but I feel the book is written so that even a woman who is uncomfortable referring to herself as a feminist could be interested.  Freedman did a much better job making this work inclusive than say, Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks.

The one negative I'll discuss is the absence of personal histories.  Because Freedman covers so much global history, I felt like she didn't have enough space for individual perspective, something I know is growing in importance for the U.S. movement.  Much of the book was statement/fact (reminiscent of my gradeschool textbooks), although she did not often directly cite her sources.  Similarly, the rare quotations were often only attributed to their speakers rather than their speakers and their contexts.  In some instances endnotes or appendices were included, but every so often I would wonder where she got her info.  Several times I found myself curious about where I could find more information on certain topics, wishing she'd disclosed her resources in a particular paragraph rather than at the end of the book.  Sometimes the personal stories she did include were vague.  I think if she'd focused on only U.S. history, she might have been able to go more in-depth.  But of course, the very definition of feminism, not to mention its history, should include a global perspective, so I think her approach was the correct one to take; and Freedman did make it easy to see how progress in one country could affect the progress in another.  I think the interdependence of the movement in different countries has made it hard to write such a comprehensive history.  Ms. Freedman's is the only one of its kind I could find.  I do applaud her for taking on such an in-depth project -- and for pulling through well enough to give us such an excellent resource of feminist history.

NEXT UP: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle, by L. J. Smith. (I decided to go two at a time...I think it will be easier on all you anti-vamps out there. ;) )

REVIEW: 'The Forever War,' by Dexter Filkins

When my good friend left for the war in Iraq, I hadn’t really done any reading about the situation over there. I did not know what to expect when he left, what the climate was across the sea, or even how to approach him without making a joke. Dexter Filkins’s book, The Forever War, has finally given me some small perspective on the war…and especially on the people who live through it every day. As Filkins mentions at the end of his book, I now know enough to realize I will never be able to truly understand the war unless I have been to Iraq or Afghanistan. But Filkins’ writing has at least paved the way for a tiny beam of essential illumination.

It is still hard for me to believe that some of these things are going on in 2009. I feel like the American government has done a tremendous job of keeping the war distant from us civilians at home. Filkins’s narrative changes all of that. His reporting is honest and for the most part unbiased. Most of the narrative is taken from his published articles, but is rewritten in a different form for the book. The most enlightening realization for me seems to be that the war isn't between just American and Iraqi anymore. It's American vs. Iraqi vs. Iraqi vs. Palestinian vs...everyone. There are a thousand smaller wars, civil wars, going on over there. We just umbrella them under "The Iraq War."

Filkins is a correspondent for The New York Times, and his reports of the people are what impacted me most. The divisiveness of everyone, American and Iraqi, Iraqi and Iraqi, American and American, was astounding. In a kind of Tim O'Brien-turned-reporter style, Filkins excellently documents the sentiment of everyone he interviews. And everyone’s sentiment is so different. From the American corporal who refuses to throw Iraqis in the Tigris river; to the woman who spits at Filkins, “I voted in order to prevent my country from being destroyed by its enemies...you”; to the woman who cried, “I love you, I love you,” as she fled Baghdad; to the American soldiers who make decisions between letting women and children live, or killing the insurgents who attack them every day; to the officers who will do anything you could think of to protect their fellow soldiers from the media; to the soldiers who die playing a part in helping the media tell their story; this book is one large contradiction. But it’s not supposed to make sense. My professor, the Hemingway scholar, would say (as I believe did another soldier from the book): “It’s war.” What are you supposed to do?

Filkins made me realize that nothing is black and white, no matter how much you think it should be, or could be if we tried to make it that way. Nothing is black and white. Especially in wartime. I appreciated his recording both the stories of the American soldiers, and the Iraqi civilians, soldiers, and government officials. It certainly helped highlight the theme.

I got to see my soldier friend and his wife today before I came home. He is home for 10 days before he goes back overseas. We got to eat at Skyline, and ride in a Volkswagen. I thought about this book while I was talking to him, and whether I should bring it up or not. Maybe I’ll mention it in my next letter to him. I’m sure that any spare time he gets for reading he likes to dedicate to the letters from his family and friends anyway. He doesn’t need the book, he’s living The Forever War. But we do. We need it to remind us. And maybe to teach us something, too.

Next up: Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee