An impressive journey of self-help and growth that nevertheless fails to engage the reader.
Fischler’s memoir details a family tragedy and his struggle to find peace and purpose in the aftermath.
In the years leading up to the author’s marriage to Barbara Weiden Schwartz Fischler, things couldn’t have been better for him. He had made a success of himself in the elite circles of New York City and had begun dating Barbara, who hailed from one of New York’s most venerable old-money families. After a courtship replete with name-dropping and jet-setting, they had an opulent wedding; it was only then that Fischler began to understand the depth of mental illness in his stepsons. Though the couple devoted both money and genuine emotional investment to the issue—they stayed on top of their sons (Barbara’s children from a previous relationship), planned outings, and hired experts—tragedy struck on two fronts: One son, Kenneth, committed suicide, and the other, Jonathan, fatally stabbed Barbara. Fischler details his arduous journey to healing and self-improvement, through which he discovered spirituality and mindfulness and a desire to help others struggling through devastating tragedies (hence this work). While possessing wealth is not a crime, the author’s insistence on its disadvantages (valid or otherwise) will be a roadblock to sympathy for many readers, especially when Fischler describes the litany of expensive possessions and luxe experiences that failed to mitigate his stepchildren’s myriad psychological and addiction issues. No doubt the author has experienced genuine tragedy, which no one deserves, but misfortune is not enough to carry a book. Readers who stick through the early sections will be rewarded with more introspection later on, such as when Fischler describes the curative powers of rediscovering awe, both for the world and for his hard-earned recovery: “Tragedy makes us brutally aware that our existence is a miracle…tragedy devastates, humbles, awakens, and overwhelms us.” Unfortunately, this inward turn comes after a surfeit of socialite braggadocio.
An impressive journey of self-help and growth that nevertheless fails to engage the reader.Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798218464790
Page Count: -
Publisher: Be Better Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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