Before the war, they had names. Identities. They had neighbors, friends, teachers, classmates. But as soon as Japan rained bombs down on Pearl Harbor, everything about these people was stripped away. Only their ethnicity remained. Japanese. Traitor. Other. Nameless, they were crowded onto trains, clutching their suitcases, trying to convince themselves they’d be home again soon. They were on their best behavior in the camps, trying to convince the guards they were “good Americans.” And they waited. Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine follows […]
A Tale of Love, Loss and Hawks
I’m not sure how to review this book. I’m not even sure how to categorize it. Is it about a woman’s depression following the unexpected death of her father? About an intense relationship between woman and hawk? About the seemingly impossible projects we like to focus on when confronted with an unbearable reality? I guess those descriptions are all close, but they don’t seem like enough when trying to explain Helen MacDonald’s stellar H is for Hawk. Here’s the inadequate summary: After her photographer father’s […]
Finally, a celebrity autobiography that isn’t a total waste of time!
Usually, celebrity autobiographies are pretty boring. Even if you like the actor, it’s tedious to listen to them blather on about their craft and how lucky they are and blah blah blah (the obvious exceptions are the WW2 celebrities, who made movies and punched Nazis). Neil Patrick Harris gets this-not enough to resist the urge of writing an autobiography-and makes his book pleasant and clever-and surprisingly heartfelt. Framed as a Choose Your Own Adventure book, the reader is an active participant in the book, flipping […]
The True American Horror Story
Stephen King is considered to be the master of modern American horror, but with all due respect, that’s not true. Haunted hotels, telekinetic prom queens and evil clowns (or just, you know clowns) got nothing on human depravity. Pet Semetary may have freaked me out, but it’s Toni Morrison’s story of the dead child coming back to life that’s going to keep me up at night. Sethe was born a slave but escaped to the free state of Ohio before the Civil War. Haunted for 18 years […]