Perfectly balanced recollections, brimming with pathos leavened by sardonic humor.
Moviegoing brings a father and son closer together in this dynamic memoir by Canadian novelist Gilmour (Sparrow Nights, 2001, etc.).
While teenaged Jesse was wilting under pressure at his rigorous high school, the author was feeling every bump on the road to middle age. Having lost a lucrative gig as a TV film critic, Gilmour was professionally adrift, meandering toward bankruptcy and, as a divorced dad, convinced that his inept parenting had brought Jesse to his current predicament. When the boy announced that he was dropping drop out of high school, the author surprised himself by going along with the idea—provided that Jesse agreed to watch at least three films of Gilmour’s choosing at home with him every week. The rationale, he explains, is that by having his son sit through films of every conceivable style and genre—’40s noir, European new wave, action pictures, old comedies—he would provide at least some of the education Jesse was missing in a formal classroom setting and perhaps even some preparation for the adult world ahead. This risky, quirky home schooling and bonding scheme superbly binds together Gilmour’s heartwarming memoir. With ironic wit and self-introspection, he beautifully analyzes the slow but transforming effect the films had on his son. At first Jesse assumed that leaving school would be tantamount to a permanent vacation. Instead, he transitioned from being a confused teen to a grown-up, all the while experiencing the agony and defeat of first romance, working as a dishwasher and finding his true calling as a musician. Gilmour writes an especially poignant scene in which he sneaks out late one night to visit the club where Jesse’s struggling band has a gig.
Perfectly balanced recollections, brimming with pathos leavened by sardonic humor.Pub Date: May 6, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-446-19929-2
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Twelve
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2008
A moving, unvarnished look at living with autism and a helpful guide to action.
In this emotionally charged memoir, Hall tells the story of her first 15 years with her severely autistic son.
The author was a successful acting coach for children in feature films and television. In her mid-30s, intensely spiritual with strong ties to her Jewish religion, she also felt the pull of motherhood. When that didn’t pan out, she and her husband adopted a two-year-old boy from a Russian orphanage. When Neal started to display autistic behavior, and Hall moved past her denial, she had the good fortune of hooking up with a doctor who counseled loving engagement with Neal—not to control, but to seek understanding—something that struck a familiar note from her professional work. Here she details the process of broaching Neal’s protective sequestration. She has gainful experience—even wisdom—to impart, as well as the engrossing tales of the intense realities of living with an autistic child, including the constant search for caretakers who appreciate “that the seemingly bizarre behaviors of autism have meaning and purpose.” Hall excels in capturing the piquancy of the Russian orphanage, the explosiveness of Neal’s caustic tantrums and, most impressively, getting readers into her son’s head to recognize the profound mental energy involved in organizing each little step of activity and the excruciating pain that attends sensory sensitivity. Answering a felt need for community, she started The Miracle Project, which brings autistics and their families together in a safe, dynamic environment to foster creativity through the theater arts.
A moving, unvarnished look at living with autism and a helpful guide to action.Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-174380-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Neal Porter/Flash Point/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2010
Dreary self-serving portraits of failed marriages and their messy ends. Feifer, whose last book was on the battle for Okinawa (Tennozan, 1992), sees parallels between military combat and divorce. Twice a survivor of divorcehis own and his parents'Feifer found dozens of fellow survivors willing, in fact eager, to share their memories of the experience. Twelve divorced women and twelve divorced men, plus one man currently going through a divorce, give their versions of what happened, and two children of divorced parents tell how they felt about it. Speakers range from the freshly divorced to those for whom it is ancient history, the working poor to the affluent, those whose marriages lasted only a few years to those married for decades, but all share a common theme of pain, grief, and anger. Mixed in with these unhappy stories are the points of view of various professionals: two marriage counselors, a social worker, a social demographer, two divorce lawyers, a law professor, two judges, and a divorce mediator. The lawyers seem mostly concerned with defending their profession, but the others take a broader view of divorce as a social problem. One judge recommends that the courts be turned to only after reconciliation, therapy, and mediation have been tried. Another cautions people to look for a family lawyer with the skills of a negotiator and mediator, one who ``makes peace instead of war.'' Feifer, who makes no claims to inclusiveness or authority, does not insert himself in these conversations except for an occasional question, but his introduction and his choice of voices makes it clear that he sees divorce as a destructive, adversarial process for which alternatives are available. Slow, tedious, and devoid of fresh insights.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56584-272-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
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