An often compelling mix of research data and heartfelt memoir.
In this memoir, a biologist focused on alternative medicine touts the benefits of the cannabidiol oil she created, which she says changed her son’s life.
Early on in this remembrance, Manalo-Morgan writes that she believes in miracles, and she notes that they sometimes arrive after traveling a circuitous path. She says that she was set to study medicine at Georgetown University in the late 2000s, but when her father received a terminal cancer diagnosis, she decided to forego medical school and pursue a doctorate and career in cell biology, with an aim of getting to the root of diseases and their cures. (She writes that, thanks to alternative and holistic measures, her father made a full recovery.) In 2016, Manalo-Morgan had her third child, Macario, who, shortly after his birth, experienced a stroke and severe seizures that led to the surgical removal of a significant portion of his brain; strong medications, she says, left Macario a quiet and listless child. She drew on her expertise to develop a pure CBD oil, which she gave to her 7-month-old son; he began to show improvement almost immediately, she says, and she soon took him off other prescription drugs. Macario experienced another seizure in 2019, but the author remains resolute that the cannabinoid vastly enriched her son’s life, and she’s delved deep into medical CBD research and advocacy worldwide, hoping that it can do the same for others. The author first shared Macario’s story in 2018 for Forbes magazine, and this book is a wide-ranging expansion of that article. It effectively explores the history and science behind medical CBD treatment, which remains little-researched despite increased legalization for recreational use and ubiquitous marketing of cannabinoids in everything from lotions to lattes. The author is also particularly adept at explaining CBD’s mechanics, benefits, and presence in the world, making facts and statistics palatable for a lay audience and interjecting anecdotal chapters on her own background and her family’s; along the way, she skillfully tells Macario’s story in detail as he progressed from ill infant to thriving child. Indeed, Manalo-Morgan’s vast knowledge and love for her son are evident on every page.
An often compelling mix of research data and heartfelt memoir.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781950863006
Page Count: 220
Publisher: ForbesBooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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