Those with a family history of ADHD should especially enjoy these wry autobiographical writings.
Collected magazine columns convey the everyday familial and professional struggles of a man with ADHD.
All but one of these pieces first appeared in ADDitude Magazine over the course of eight years. South (Aloha Island, 2012) has worked as a television writer and producer in Hollywood and as an off-Broadway playwright. He perceives that ADHD turns his life into a roller coaster of successes and failures. Here’s how he describes his between-jobs anxiety: “Self-loathing sharks swam in and tore everything left all to pieces.” When he had a breakdown at age 49, a psychologist told him that, given his various behavioral and cognitive issues, “it’s surprising that you’re able to function at all.” On a daily basis, he gets distracted and loses concentration or becomes frustrated at his forgetfulness. For years, he self-medicated with alcohol, and two previous marriages ended in divorce. All the same, he feels that the invisibility of his disability causes people to take it less seriously: South tells how a woman in his writing group accused him of being too “normal” and exaggerating his issues. In fact, he’s just developed coping strategies, such as organizing his thoughts and rehearsing what he’s going to say. The author’s two children also have ADHD, and some of the most poignant essays express his feelings for them. In “Sixteen,” he marvels at how his daughter, Coco, has grown up, while in “Piece of My Heart,” he puts his son’s poor decisions into perspective by remembering a low point in 1968 when, as a college dropout into drugs, he was lucky to have his parents shelve everything to come check up on him. Pieces on his elderly father’s brain injury and time in a rehab center reinforce the intergenerational nature of the book. South’s father was also a problem drinker, and the author worries that his son is headed the same way. These essays are well-structured and congenial, re-creating dialogue and everyday family life in a relatable manner.
Those with a family history of ADHD should especially enjoy these wry autobiographical writings.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9994878-0-8
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Rattlesnake Publishing Inc.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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