Two thoughtful life stories that are often compelling despite a tendency toward excessive detail.
A mother and daughter recount challenges they faced while serving the U.S. military.
Debut author Tomas was born on an U.S. Air Force base in Champaign, Illinois, in 1954, but it never occurred to her that she’d eventually pursue a career as a soldier. However, she writes that while she was a senior in high school, she was drugged and raped by a priest, which resulted in a pregnancy; her family blamed her for the assault, she says, and compelled her to marry him. He was a heavy drinker, prone to “explosive anger,” and she had two children with him, including McNamara, the co-author of this book. Tomas fled with her two girls, she says, after discovering child pornography in their home. She then divorced her husband and battled him for years in court for full custody of their children. Tomas found both a paycheck and refuge in the military; she joined the Air Force in 1976 and, due to her self-described “propensity for everything scientific,” became a mechanic. Over the course of this book, she recounts her impressive professional career, along with the challenges of balancing its demands with those of single motherhood, with a great deal of charm and anecdotal informality. Tomas’ daughter McNamara, who co-hosts a podcast with her, joined the military in 1991 as part of the Illinois National Guard, hoping to become a combat medic, but a terrible injury necessitated brain surgery, which led to a medical discharge. Both accounts are inspirational, as neither McNamara nor Tomas had easy lives, but they both managed to surmount extraordinary hurdles, and they manage to convey their experiences cheerfully with wit and verve. Tomas’ life, in particular, was remarkably eventful; at one point, she memorably recollects her brief experience as an escort, which led to an arrest. At times, however, both tales get mired in minutiae that are unlikely to sustain the interest of a wide readership, although the book will certainly appeal to those who know the authors well.
Two thoughtful life stories that are often compelling despite a tendency toward excessive detail.Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64663-013-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Master Wings Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.
A future basketball Hall of Famer’s rosy outlook.
Curry is that rare athlete who looks like he gets joy from what he does. There’s no doubt that the Golden State Warriors point guard is a competitor—he’s led his team to four championships—but he plays the game with nonchalance and exuberance. That ease, he says, “only comes from discipline.” He practices hard enough—he’s altered the sport by mastering the three-point shot—so that he achieves a “kind of freedom.” In that “flow state,” he says, “I can let joy and creativity take over. I block out all distractions, even the person guarding me. He can wave his arms and call me every name in the book, but I just smile and wait as the solution to the problem—how to get the ball into the basket—presents itself.” Curry shares this approach to his craft in a stylish collection that mixes life lessons with sharp photographs and archival images. His dad, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years, and Curry learned much from his father and mother: “My parents were extremely strict about me and my little brother Seth not going to my pops’s games on school nights.” Curry’s mother, Sonya, who founded the Montessori elementary school that Curry attended in North Carolina, emphasized the importance not just of learning but of playing. Her influence helped Curry and his wife, Ayesha, create a nonprofit foundation: Eat. Learn. Play. He writes that “making reading fun is the key to unlocking a kid’s ability to be successful in their academic journeys.” The book also has valuable pointers for ballers—and those hoping to hit the court. “Plant those arches—knees bent behind those 10 toes pointing at the hoop, hips squared with your shoulders—and draw your power up so you explode off the ground and rise into your shot.” Sounds easy, right?
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593597293
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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