The third volume of this series doesn’t provide the same easy, absorbing read as previous installments.
Mae (Too Cubed Unauthorized: Volume II, 2011, etc.) returns with the third installment of her fictional unauthorized biography of psychedelic rock band Too Cubed.
Like its predecessor, the story picks up immediately after the previous book ended, continuing the overly detailed saga of Too Cubed. Spanning 1991 to 1995, there’s no specific plot running through this chronicle of the life and times of these road-tested musicians. Bass players continue to come and go, although keyboardist Bert seems to have outgrown his habit of helping them exit permanently. The band continues to achieve popularity and success, although their various insecurities—especially in relation to real-life band Phish—begin to wear thin. Too much time is spent on the fans, particularly groupie Gracie. This is, after all, the story of Too Cubed. One non-band character whose story doesn’t become tiresome is Sven. His brush with the law is real—and overdue, as major problems with emotional ramifications are too often glossed over for this cast of characters. As the Too Cubed men enter their 30s, thoughts of love begin to creep in as Mae plays with the very real issue many musicians face as they age: Their rock star lifestyles begin to compete with their innate human need to settle down. Connecting with characters other than bandleaders Stan and Trip can be difficult, but that doesn’t mean these two are easy to like: Trip is besieged by a heroin habit that no one will confront (which doesn’t seem to affect him much), while Stan’s controlling nature teeters on the edge of complete obnoxiousness. At times, readers will wonder if the author even likes any of the people populating the book, despite her frequent intrusions informing readers otherwise.
The third volume of this series doesn’t provide the same easy, absorbing read as previous installments.Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0984598120
Page Count: 422
Publisher: Lonna Mae Enterprises
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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