I’m generally not a fan of the chick-lit genre. I tend to find whining about men by women with unrealistically successful careers pretty obnoxious and unsympathetic (there is no way a journalist in New York City can afford a huge apartment and a closet full of designer clothes no matter what TV tells me).
All my feminist issues aside, though, Pamela Ribon’s Why Moms are Weird, while classified as chick-lit, is not typical. The main character, Benny Bernstein, doesn’t moan about her glamorous job or lack of a boyfriend. Benny, an employee at a travel agency in Los Angeles, flies across the country to Virginia to be with her mom and sister after a car accident.
This trip brings out all her family issues including her mother’s promiscuity, her sister’s rebellious ways and undesirable taste in boyfriends, and Benny’s own insecurities about her place in the family. Of course, there’s the romantic subplot with Benny torn between two guys, neither of whom she will let herself be with. Unlike most of these kinds of books though, the male characters are given room to develop beyond being good-looking Prince Charmings with a better job and more money than Benny. In fact, that was one of the things I liked most—that Benny was the one with the steady job, nice apartment, and independence while the two male love interests were still trying to figure their careers out.
Benny’s a likable character and relatable protagonist and her family issues are pretty major, although Ribon uses enough of a comedic tone to keep us from pitying Benny or hating her mom. The novel isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the cover predicts, but there are some humorous parts. Ribon manages to pull off a happy ending without doing any of the characters a disservice. Overall, it’s a good beach read for the girl who doesn’t think Sex and the City was the best show ever.
I may live in LA, but I'm a Bay Area girl at heart. This weekend one of my favorite people and creator of the bennykelly page is hosting a craft party, so anyone in the Bay Area should stop by. Music will be provided by the When You Awake girls, so you know it'll be good. Necessary information can be found here. I can't make it, but I'll be there in spirit. Also, the bennykelly designs page has some awesome suggestions for things to do for Mother's Day in the Bay Area. Go check it out and say hi to Kelly for me!
I guess I'm really good at disappearing for weeks at a time. My apologies to anyone who had actually been waiting for a new review (all one of you!). I'm going to try my best to not let weeks go by between reviews, but I can't make any promises. To make it up to you, there are some awesome things to do this month.
Jack O'Connell and James Ellroy (writer of L.A. Confidential) appear together for O'Connell's latest The Resurrectionist. A can't-miss for noir fans. (nerdy fact: I wrote my senior thesis about noir)
FREE April 30, 7pm at Book Soup
8818 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
310-659-3110
One of my favorite writers, Tobias Wolff has two upcoming appearances in L.A. Check him out if you can!
First, a reading of his new short story collection Our Story Begins for Word Theatre.
$25 April 26, 8pm at M Bar
1253 Vine Street
Los Angeles, CA 90038
310-915-5150
Second, another reading as well as a discussion of Wolff's writing and teaching. This one's free so there are no excuses!
FREE April 28, 7pm at the Los Angeles Central Library
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
213-228-7000
Saving the best for last, one of the few things I truly love about L.A., the annual Festival of Books! There are over 300 exhibitors and 100 author panels and lots and lots of books.
FREE April 26 10am-6pm and April 27 10am-5pm at Royce Hall in UCLA.
340 Royce Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095
310-825-2101
Their website has specific information on what events there will be and who will be appearing. You can't miss it if you love books!
Having been a huge fan of Andrea Seigel’s debut novel Like the Red Panda, I couldn’t wait to read her second full-length work To Feel Stuff. Seigel brings the same cynical wit to her sophomore effort. The main character, Elodie Harrington, is reminiscent of Panda’s Stella Parrish. However, while Stella longs to end her life, Elodie is matter-of-factly resigned to accept a destiny she has always been skeptical of.
To fully summarize the plot of To Feel Stuff would be a disservice to potential readers because Seigel allows it to unravel so beautifully. I shall do my best without destroying the mystery that Seigel so carefully lays out. To Feel Stuff is the story of Elodie Harrington, a student at Brown University who has spent most of her college career suffering through innumerable illnesses both rare and common, although all have been temporary. When the story opens, Elodie has taken permanent residence in the university infirmary. It is here that she meets Chess Hunter, a fellow Brown student and attack victim who moves into the infirmary while his injuries heal so he can walk again. The third main player is Dr. Mark Kirschling, a physician who has been studying Elodie’s strange case.
The entire narrative is told through three devices: a letter Elodie writes to Chess, Chess’s own letter response, and Dr. Kirschling’s article on Elodie in The Journal of Parapsychology. Seigel brilliantly and effortlessly weaves between the main devices. The reader gets a sense that this is the way the story must be told; it is the only way to access the character’s thoughts and unravel the mystery of Elodie slowly. It is also an extremely telling character detail: Elodie’s inability to waste words anywhere but paper, Chess’s attempt to reach out and connect to Elodie in her own language, and Dr. Kirschling’s detached, professional skepticism and relationship with Elodie. Nobody creates female characters or writes romance like Seigel—so realistically, knowing that love may not save a person from his or herself, but it can make life a little more livable.
I won’t say more for fear of ruining this wonderful story, but To Feel Stuff is a must-read. Part ghost story, part romance, part medical mystery, it is a novel that defies genre. Seigel proves with her second effort that the praise lavished on her debut was much-deserved. I eagerly anticipate what this fresh literary voice has in store for us in the future.
Sorry I haven't come through with the new review, but last week my laptop crashed for good. As a result, I've had little internet access and I lost the 2 reviews I was working on. Good news, though, I got my fancy new Macbook running so the promised reviews should be coming soon!
Tagline: Happiness is in the well-worn creases of favorite books.
Favorite Books:
Anything by J.D. Salinger and Bret Easton Ellis, A Confederacy of Dunces, The Fountainhead, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and so much more.
