An engrossing literary trek that’s full of wry humor and subtle reflection.
A Swiss retiree survives choleric innkeepers, suspicious policemen, and tantalizing temptations on a walk through Switzerland in this charming travelogue.
Sometime during the second Bush Administration,the recently retired Bodmer, who used to work in IT, hiked 300 kilometers (more than 186 miles) from Zurich to Geneva over 12 footsore days. He endured familiar travails, such as getting lost in a tangle of mountain paths, having his route blocked by freeways or a downed bridge, or weathering a cloudburst that forced him to spend the night in a shed. He suffered other hardships of his own making, including an agonizing vow to drink no beer until the journey’s end and a failure to make reservations that led to many panicky searches for lodgings and eateries—which always seemed to be closed. There were a few improbable perils, as well, such as having to dive off a road to avoid being crushed by a Leopard tank on a training exercise, and being targeted by a hotel owner who took offence at his grungy clothes and summoned police, who claimed his foot powder was heroin. Throughout his journey, Bodmer was entranced by any sign of women, whether they were leaning out a window, tending a kiosk, exiting a Rolls-Royce, or leaving their lingerie on a clothesline. He usually worshipped them from afar, but had a deeper encounter with an attractive restaurant server who turned out to be a psychologist researching how men behave when servers chat them up.
Bodmer’s narrative, related in the third person, has a relaxed mood with no urgent deadlines and plenty of time for subdued adventures, modest pleasures, and musings on the absurdities of existence. He occasionally ruminates on the world’s ills, both with other people—he and a genial fisherman named Pierre “talk about money, the world, God, and the devil” during a lunch break—and by himself as he lays out his scheme for a socialist utopia where everyone has an equal share of everything and there’s no crime or war. There’s no clear line of travel in the book, but gradually Bodmer arrived at a resonant appreciation of small kindnesses and grace notes: a country lad who lent him a cell phone, or a dotty aristocrat who dubbed him “a knight of hiking” with a silver spoon. The book is based on a work the author originally wrote in German, and its language can be awkward at times—for example, Odysseywould fit better in the title. However, he offers an evocative mix of lyrical atmospherics and clinical observation: “His footsteps echo hollowly off the old, moss-covered stone walls. The scene reminds him of the film ‘Death in Venice.’ His serotonin level is close to zero. A medium-sized doomsday mood arises.” At its best, though, the author’s matter-of-fact prose conveys a world of emotion: “The pastor smiles a bit, but his face looks sad. He…says, with a clergy member’s emphasis, that he would, despite the weather, prefer to hike than have to drive for a funeral service at Lake Neuchâtel.” Bodmer’s colorful photos make for a vibrant accompaniment.
An engrossing literary trek that’s full of wry humor and subtle reflection.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9798329887235
Page Count: 150
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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