A flawed yet candid and heartfelt memoir.
A well-known book critic’s account of dealing with double depression and a family history plagued by mental illness.
For as long as she could remember, Patrick, author of The Books That Changed My Life, knew only “bad days, bad days, bad days, and some worse days.” Girlhood sadness gave way to a darker “permanent haze” in adolescence, which only increased her feelings of alienation. Despite her anguish, however, Patrick managed to lead an apparently successful life that included college, marriage to a caring man, and an editorial career. Even so, her mental health struggles intensified to the point that suicidal ideation became “normal.” It was not until her early 50s that she was correctly diagnosed with a combination of persistent depressive disorder and major depressive disorder. As she grappled with her past, Patrick came to understand that her depression was genetic (inherited from two mentally ill grandmothers) and perhaps also epigenetic (caused by inherited memories of transgenerational alcoholism and abuse). The author also realized that her suffering had been mitigated by the consistent presence of “genuine love and affection.” Yoga, the correct medication, and the courage to repair depression-damaged relationships with her daughters had also allowed her to find the wellness that eluded other family members. Her sister, for example, has lived with symptoms of bipolar syndrome and borderline personality disorder. This has made interactions difficult, but ultimately, a unique kind of love has prevailed. “That love may not look like love to someone who thinks all siblings should be close, or that all siblings should just leave each other alone save for holiday greeting cards,” writes the author. “It’s love nonetheless. It’s a bending, stretching kind of love, a love that adapts to circumstance and needs.” Though the prose is pedestrian and often repetitive, Patrick offers valuable insight into what it means to live with a debilitating mental illness.
A flawed yet candid and heartfelt memoir.Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781640091290
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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
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