Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents

By Pete Souza

Little, Brown     2018

238 pages     Nonfiction

In December, the Gallup organization asked Americans to name a living man and woman whom they admired most. Barack and Michelle Obama topped the survey; Barack for the 11^th time and Michelle for the first time. Here is the article in Vogue.  In the current political climate, I imagine this is no surprise.

Pete Souza, the official White House photographer during the Obama years has parlayed his experience into several books that have come out in the years since Obama left office. His newest book Shade compares speeches and tweets of the current president, Donald J. Trump, with pictures and text from the previous president, Barack Obama. The book is a compilation of Instagram postings Souza did over the past two years—documenting all the things that have bothered him.

Some news outlets said that Souza was throwing shade. Frankly, I had to look up what it meant to “throw shade." Webster defines it as “subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not.” And yes, indeed, Souza is throwing shade at the current presidency--brilliantly in the way he does best, with photographs.

Souza says that he took over 2 million photographs over the 8 years of the Obama presidency, so he has more than enough pictures to match anything that President Trump might say or do. One of my favorite pairings is the speech Trump made at a Boy Scout Jamboree where he just praised himself. A lot of the speech is on the Trump side of the page, while on the Obama side of the page, there is a picture of a young African American Cub Scout shaking hands with President Obama, obviously awestruck.

Actually, reading the book made me quite sad, and it is obvious the Souza was filled with sadness as he compiled the book. Of course I am prejudiced. I felt that Obama was a kind, compassionate man who put the people of this country first.

Some of my kids used to live in the neighborhood in Chicago where the Obamas lived. One evening, shortly after he was elected, I went to get supper at a neighborhood Chinese carryout. Displayed proudly on the wall was a picture of Obama with his arm around the owner—who was looking tremendously proud. Right then, I knew this would be a presidency for the ages.

People need to read Shade to get a glimmer of what we have lost. A compassionate man who will be remembered as a great president.

An Anonymous Girl

By Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

St. Martins     2019

384 pages     Thriller

Jessica Farris is a young woman trying to make it in New York. She is a makeup artist, doing in-home makeup sessions. Through deception, she gets involved in a morality study that pays $500 at the university. The researcher is a gorgeous, but rather creepy, Dr. Lydia Shields, who immediately recruits Jessica to further study and social experiments. Flattered to be considered and lured by significant money, Jess agrees to participate. Is the university study real or is it just a cover Dr. Shields is using to find a young woman to groom to do her will?

The story is told in the first person from Jess’s perspective, and in the second person by Dr. Shields, a chapter at a time. This a very clever, and disconcerting, tactic, by the way. The reader immediately realizes that Dr. Shields is up to no good and hopes that Jess will figure this out. The doctor-patient dynamic is at play, with Dr. Shields generally having the upper hand, but Jess is a good adversary, and the reader intuitively knows that Jess will be able to take care of herself. Jess is quite a believable character, scarred and flawed, but also eager for a chance at life. I’m not so sure about Dr. Shields. You will have to draw your own conclusions.

Like Hendricks and Pekkanen’s other book, The Wife Between Us, which I read last year, there is a stressful dynamic between two women—an older but wiser, and a younger and maybe vulnerable. There is also a philandering husband and a lot of secrets. There are too many twists and turns to enumerate here, but suffice it to say, it is a page turner. The reviewer in the New York Times says that “the authors know exactly how to play on their characters’ love of danger to bring them to the brink of disaster—and dare them to jump off.”

My review of The Wife Between Us discusses how these two authors work together to construct their novels. That is, in itself, a reason to read their thrillers. One of the strengths of their novels, I think, is that there are not too many characters to sort through. Additionally, the “I did, she did” format helps to make everything move very quickly.

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Lucky for me, we are in the midst of a huge winter storm (today’s high temperature is -10 degrees). So, I was able to sit and read all yesterday afternoon in front of the fireplace. I went to bed with about 85% of the book done. After tossing and turning for about 45 minutes, I finally turned on the light, retrieved my Kindle, finished it off, and then drifted immediately off to sleep. Everyone got their just desserts!

Stuck in Manistique

By Dennis Cuesta

Celestial Eyes Press     2018

360 pages     Fiction

Many people might want to be stuck in Manistique, a beautiful small town on the northern shore of Lake Michigan, which in my opinion, is the most beautiful lake in the world. It’s a great vacation spot, with a beautiful sandy beach, a great lighthouse, and a quirky downtown.

Mark isn’t so sure about Manistique. When he found he had inherited his aunt Vivian’s estate, which included a house in Manistique, he decided to drive from his home in Oak Park, Illinois to see what he had inherited and to settle her affairs. He knew very little about his mother’s younger sister, but had an idealized vision of her because of her work with organizations like Doctors Without Borders. He was surprised to learn that she had retired to Manistique Michigan, and even more surprised to learn that the house he inherited was a bed and breakfast and there are guests coming to stay.

But first, Mark has to get over the Mackinac Bridge—the Mighty Mac. He has a profound fear of bridges and avoids them at all costs. In case you don’t know, the Mackinac Bridge is 5-miles long and connects the upper and lower peninsulas of the state of Michigan. By the way, is one of the only ways to get to the U.P. from the lower peninsula. What Mark found, and what I didn’t know, is that you can get a state-employed driver to get you over the bridge if you have a fear like Mark’s. (There is your useless bit of knowledge for the day unless, of course, you need to get over the bridge and you have a fear of bridges!)

Over the next few days, a lot of comedy ensues. The middle part of the book is much like the play Noises Off, with all kinds of people coming in and out of the house and all kinds of ridiculous things happening. It is very slapstick and funny. One of the people coming through the door is Emily, a young doctor, and over the span of the novel, Mark and Emily find they have a common need for care and nurture. One of the things I liked about the book  is that Emily and Mark find themselves not romantically attached but more like close relatives.  In the closing chapters, there are several poignant moments as Mark and Emily each come to better understand their place in the world and a way to move forward in their lives.

Stuck in Manistique has been on my TBR list for several months. The opening chapters of the book give a lovely picture of northern Michigan, and because I had been in the U.P. twice in 2018, I recognized many of the scenes Cuesta identified. I drove over the bridge three times, and could almost understand Mark’s intense anxiety about driving over it.

This is not a serious book; it is the kind of book you close and say, “Well, that was fun!” The reader has a moment to ponder the concept of fate, and its place in our lives. It also has a message about love and care, and I liked that deep friendship was more the message than romantic love. Stuck in Manistique is Cuesta’s first novel, and it appears to be self-published. It’s a good book to read sitting on the beach on Lake Michigan or sitting in the living room with the fireplace blazing during a winter storm, as I did. Enjoy the book. We deserve a break!

Radiant Shimmering Light

By Sarah Selecky

Bloomsbury     2018

422 pages     Literary/Satire

Sarah Selecky’s debut novel, Radiant Shimmering Light, is a delicious send-up of the online self-care movement that aligns itself with social media and self-promotion. The book is extremely funny and extremely sad, all at the same time. Lilian Quick, age 40, is a self-absorbed, self-doubting animal-portrait artist. She lives in Toronto, has little money, but she does have a few good friends. Her major gift is that she sees the auras of the dogs she paints, including the auras in the backgrounds of her paintings much to the delight of the dog owners. She also has a penchant for taking Instagram photos of everything that happens to her and keeping a running Twitter feed going. Of course, this involves compulsive checking to see how many responses she gets to her posts. Her self-doubt extends into every moment of her life as well. Here is an example: “I hate winter. No! Replace that thought with something positive. . .On my way out, I take off a mitten and try a selfie again. My clothes look cute and hygge, but my face looks lopsided and I have bags under my eyes. I delete the pic.” She even took an Instagram picture of her finger after she cut herself, immediately checking to see how many people posted sympathy responses.

One of Lilian’s friends keeps a great blog that makes her look like her life is perfect; another friend is a successful realtor; and another goes by the name of Yumi but his/her preferred prefix is “they.” (This I particularly liked.) She also has a cousin named Florence Novak, who is a self-help guru, calling herself “Eleven.” After many years, Lilian and Eleven reconnect at a self-actualization rally that Eleven’s organization is sponsoring in Toronto. Following that event, Eleven convinces Lilian to attend her six-month empowerment program called “Ascendency” but also to come and work with her at her headquarters in New York. She promises that Lilian will become both empowered and wealthy as her online business takes off and she loses her self-doubt and gains power. After this setup, the novel proceeds to watch, among other things, Lilian’s ability to see the aura of dogs extend to the people around her. As a consequence, her business booms—but not so much her personal life.

As frustrated as I got with Lilian, I sympathized with her journey toward authentication. She is a very real character as are Eleven and the other women in the movement. I do have to say, as much fun as I had with Lilian’s journey with Eleven, I got a little bored. The book is perhaps 50 pages too long. One can only self-actualize for so long! The reviewer in the Minneapolis Star Tribune remarks: “Selecky masterfully mimics the marketing-speak of “gurus” like [the character] Eleven: an endless cycle of metaphor and hyperbole, pet names for her followers (“petals,” “darlings”) and a cultish adaptation of language for her own purposes.”

I was enamored with Radiant Shimmering Light from the very first pages. I saw people I knew in the self-actualization movement. I have a peripheral relationship with a woman who wishes to have a similar lifestyle guru status in the world and is on a tour right now to make her place in the movement. Every time I read about Eleven, I thought “I know this woman.” I also have a 7-year-old granddaughter who recently told me that she can tell how someone is feeling by just touching them. (Frankly, that freaked me out a bit.)

The Booklist reviewer suggests that the novel is “an insider look at the intersection between the sincerity of belief and the commodification of aspiration.” Selecky pokes fun at the culture of online empowerment that attracts women in particular — that strange mix of spirituality, philosophy and self-help with a healthy dash of capitalism — without mocking or dismissing it.” (From the Toronto Star review.)

I think Selecky did a marvelous job of understanding the female-empowerment movement and its online stimulus to create wealth. By the way, she probably used her own experiences as fodder for the novel; she runs an online writing school that “approaches writing as an art and also as a contemplative practice.”

What Could Go Wrong?

By Brett Grayson

Panman Press     2018

279 pages     Humor/Essays

Last summer I took two grandchildren to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek Michigan. It was a beautiful day, and we were having a great time. We arrived in the African Safari area of the zoo. My 7-year-old granddaughter walked beside me while my 5-year-old grandson ran on down the walkway to the African animal exhibits. I hollered to him, “Stop at the giraffes, Davick!” Adela and I arrived at the giraffes, and no Davick. I told my granddaughter to run on to the next site, the antelope, and see if he was there. She arrived back—no Davick. We rushed on and found the education area where there were several attendants. I reported that my grandson had run on ahead, and we couldn’t find him. Panic ensued. People started rushing around, sending messages about a missing little boy; Adela collapsed in a heap on the ground sobbing her heart out. I really was quite sure that he wasn’t in the fields with the antelope and tigers—he was much too cautious; but he loved dogs—maybe he was in the wild dog den! After about 5 anxious minutes, Davick came running back to me shouting at the top of his voice, “Grandma! Adela! I found the lions! I found the lions!”

These type of heart-throbbing occurrences with children form the basis of What Could Go Wrong, a series of humorous essays about the pitfalls and foibles of parenting. The book is aptly named, because indeed, if anything can go wrong in parenting, it certainly can and will.

The first chapter is very funny about their little girl walking in on her parents during an intimate moment. Almost every set of parents can relate to that. I can, but that would be another whole story. The first chapter sets the tone for the entire book. Funny and relatable, but also poignant. Every marriage, every family has its marvelous moments, its horrific moments, its touching moments, its bizarre moments, and its loving moments. Grayson explores them all. You will laugh and cry all at the same time. As it says on the cover “My mostly comedic journey through marriage, parenting, and depression.” I am not sure that I would put the book in the hands of a couple exploring the possibilities of parenthood, but every new parent—and every old parent—can certainly relate and laugh until they cry!

Grayson is a new author. It will be interesting to look for more of his work. His publicist sent me the book. Here is his website.

As I was reading the book, I came across a cartoon website that deals with many of the same parenting issues that Grayson addresses in his book. Check out Lunarbaboon. They go together well.

Barons of the Sea: And Their Race to Build the World's Fastest Clipper Ship

By Steven Ujifusa

Simon and Schuster     2018

427 pages     Nonfiction

The Shortlist

Steven Ujifusa is a shipping historian, an expert in the history of clipper ships. Primarily, he is a lover of the ship, its design, and its speed, which Barons of the Sea describes in great detail. He also tells the stories about the captains of the shipping industry, including Warren Delano II and the Forbes brothers, who amassed such great fortunes in the years following the Revolution that they became the pillars of the American establishment for decades to come. Delano, for example, was the grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

These men believed that speed was of utmost importance in getting tea from China and later, goods to California. Thus they designed and built “the fastest, finest, most profitable clipper ships to carry their precious cargoes to American shores.” They also nefariously transported opium from India to China, where it was against the law.

While Ujifusa is a meticulous historian, he is also a great teller of tales. Before the book is over, we know all the details of the brief moment in American history when clipper ships ruled the seas. The moment, according to Ujifusa, was brief because it was soon eclipsed by steamships, railroads, and the telegraph. For their moment, however, the US clipper ships were the “most revolutionary machines in the world.”

History and shipping buffs will love Barons of the Sea. I received this from the publicist, and my copy will go to my history-loving brother.

Steven Ujifusa’s website.