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FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN

A TRUE TALE OF MODERN MEDICINE, MYSTERY, AND MAGIC

A touching consideration of the frighteningly precarious nature of good health.

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Debut author Ford presents a memoir of illness and death.

In 1990, the author developed a strange malady. Her symptoms included regular fevers, lethargy, a rash, and digestive problems. She was eventually given the diagnosis of adult-onset Still’s disease. As Ford puts it, “Being this sick was as novel to me as a trek in the Himalayas would have been.” The constant fevers left her in a fog, and her digestive problems made a subclavian line necessary for feeding. The author was in no condition to attend to her work as a psychotherapist, and she worried about money. Her doctor warned that they might need to remove her colon. Eventually, however, with the help of modern medicine and a spiritually minded friend, she started to get better. Later in the book, she relates the declining health of both of her parents: Years after the author’s own onset of illness, her mother had a stroke that left her looking like “a person caught halfway between life and decay, still undecided about which way she was heading.” Her father passed away in a “thrashing, panicked fight for breath.” Without question, the author tackles difficult topics here—whether describing a severe, incapacitating illness or dealing with the endless complications of dying loved ones, the text is tough, realistic, and relatable. When the author’s ailing father insists that he doesn’t “need any goddamn nursing home,” any reader who has gone through a similar experience will recognize the struggle. While overall the book progresses at a steady pace, some later portions do meander. Still, the work stands up as an unabashedly personal investigation of life’s darkest moments.

A touching consideration of the frighteningly precarious nature of good health.

Pub Date: June 8, 2022

ISBN: 9781666738384

Page Count: 286

Publisher: Resource Publications

Review Posted Online: April 28, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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TANQUERAY

A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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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WAR

An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.

Documenting perilous times.

In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”

An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024

ISBN: 9781668052273

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024

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