An often astute account of military life during the Reagan years.
Haynes recalls his service in the U.S. Navy in the 1980s in this memoir.
Like many young adults who spent their formative years growing up in the malaise of the ’70s, the author “indulged in endless beer binges and hazy bong parties fueled by mediocre weed.” After graduating high school in Rhode Island in 1973,the author spent his early 20s as an occasionally unhoused blue-collar worker whose temporary abodes spanned from Vancouver to Florida; roaming Disney World’s “pristine grounds dressed as Goofy in a stoned state held a certain allure for me,” he writes. Then came the election of Ronald Reagan, who increased spending to the U.S. military. Despite his rocky past, Haynes joined tens of thousands of other “90-day wonders” who raced through Naval Officer Candidate School to join a revitalized Navy. The author’s memoir then surveys his decade of service, starting in 1980, blending humor with astute observations of naval life. The clash between evolving social mores and the Navy’s strict regulations plays a significant role in the book’s 60-plus chapters. There were plenty of opportunities for sailors to “blow off steam [by] drinking or having sex,” writes Haynes, but they also dealt with more serious matters. When a married second-class petty officer marched in a gay pride parade in uniform, against regulations, it prompted an intense debate among the officers that lasted for days. Later, the appearance of white supremacist graffiti carved into a ship’s bulkhead led Haynes to dress down a man under his command. Haynes, a gifted storyteller and the author of multiple memoirs, short stories, and works of historical nonfiction, paints an engaging and nuanced picture of naval life during the ’80s. Overall, the author looks back with pride on his service, but he freely admits to “mixed feelings” to his readers, particularly given his “natural dislike of authority” while in a position that required him to enforce the mandates of commanding officers. He also ably places his service in the wider context of the decade’s politics and culture.
An often astute account of military life during the Reagan years.Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781733067584
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Village Books
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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