How in the world do I rate this book? On one hand, there is a lot of truth in it (“They say if you just let babies cry, they will eventually cry themselves out. This is not true. Not only will babies not cry themselves out, but the act of crying actually slows down time itself—the more you let them cry, the slower time goes.”) There is also comedy (“Having a rent-controlled apartment in New York is like living in medieval Europe and having spices.”) […]
Shellfish Allergy Alert
I grew up on the south shore of Long Island, digging barefoot for clams in Moriches Bay. We’d just scoot our feet back and forth, like doing the twist, until we hit something (sometimes it was a razor clam, which, while delicious, is responsible for some bottom-of-the-foot scarring that persists to this day), grab it, grab our knife, open it, and slurp that puppy right out of the shell. So I’m clearly not raw shellfish averse (and so very glad that I’m not allergic!). But […]
Forrest Gump for the Downton Abbey Set
Lady Pamela Hicks was in the room where it happened. Frequently. The daughter of the last Viceroy of India, Hicks was born in Madrid. She was very nearly homeless during World War 1 because her mother forgot which hotel she had sent her daughters to. She was evacuated from the family manor in London lived with the Vanderbilts in New York during World War 2 while her father commanded the British naval fleet. She goofed around with cousin, Phillip, on the trip where he met and fell in […]
The Great Alaskan Memoir
Leigh Newman is hysterical, and also heartbreaking, and also insightful, and also unexpected, and so very, very human. I devoured this memoir in two days because I just kept needing to know what happened to her. “Still Points North” chronicles Newman’s life growing up between the Alaskan wilderness with her dad, and the wealthy suburbs of Maryland with her mom. Her prose is at once funny to the point of hilarity and heart wrenching as you watch her middle school self struggle with her parents’ […]