Though the lessons are obvious, the details of this wilderness adventure make for an engaging read.
Smith’s memoir chronicles a woman’s journey from office worker to adventurer.
In the late 1970s, the author was a staff auditor for Arthur Andersen in Boston. She found the idea of outdoorsy pursuits frightening; nevertheless, she gathered the courage to participate in a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. This trip brought her a job offer to work for a company specializing in guided adventures—by 1980, she was embarking with the company on a trip to Tanzania in Africa. The journey was planned to unfold in two parts: first, she would join fellow employees and paying clients on a rafting run through a remote area. The second part would feature a grueling (though non-technical) climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Aside from the usual dangers associated with such endeavors, the first leg of the journey also involved the constant threat of “millions of wild killer beasts,” most notably hippos. Other hazards included crocodiles, moody clients, and, of course, fear: for Smith, stepping into such a dangerous world was a constant fight against doubt. Should she really be doing this? Wouldn’t she have been better off back in New England? The memoir tracks the many harsh realities of trekking through rugged landscapes. Both the risks and the rewards are many. From an up-close look at a sleepy lioness to exploring a wilderness that, in the present day, is nowhere near what it was like in 1980, the author describes many astounding moments. The theme of overcoming fear is certainly relatable, though it gets repeated time and again. When Smith first arrives in Africa, she experiences a “jumble of excitement, fear, curiosity, and wonder.” Later she reflects how “the jumbo-sized sack of fears” she had carried most of her life had prevented her from engaging in such activities. While such sentiments may ring true, they are not as vivid as the nitty-gritty details of the perilous forays.
Though the lessons are obvious, the details of this wilderness adventure make for an engaging read.Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2023
ISBN: 9798988387817
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Eye Opener Press, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 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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