A hilarious, brilliant, cynical (and maybe even a little sad) takedown of the moral vacuum that is celebrity culture.
After a beloved chef/author/TV star dies, his reputation hangs by a thread.
They say writing is a lonely business, but the three people behind the nom de plume S.E. Boyd—journalists Kevin Alexander and Joe Keohane and book editor Alessandra Lusardi—prove with their debut that a group can write a helluva novel. Hip-deep in knowing detail from the worlds of food, media, and Hollywood, they pull off a saucy spin on the death of Anthony Bourdain—only in this version, his name is John Doe, he dies while filming in Ireland, and his asphyxiation is not the result of despair but the accidental outcome of a certain sexual practice. If your Bourdain-loving hackles go up in response to this ploy, know that the book manages to artfully defang that reaction, both because the whole thing is actually about the potential effect of a salacious detail on a posthumous reputation and because in every other way John Doe is an embodiment of everything great about Bourdain. As in life, his body is discovered by a friend who's a renowned chef: "There were three chefs in the world more famous than Paolo Cabrini, all of whom were French and two of whom were dead. Paolo had cooked for five presidents, four kings, three prime ministers, two chancellors, and One Direction, which he learned was a pop band." Unfortunately, a loutish Irish bellhop named Smilin' Charlie McCree (not the strongest character in the book but a necessary one) manages to get an embarrassing photo of Paolo with his friend's corpse. Unfortunately, a desperate content provider at a trashy website makes up a fake anecdote about Doe that goes viral. Unfortunately, Nia Greene, the agent who has devoted her whole life to Doe's career, must now devote her life to controlling these problems. Meanwhile, those details! Honey-baked ham, Substack, secret rooms within secret rooms, Asian-Irish fusion cuisine, high-end interior design as a front for contract killing. They are as good as they can possibly be. Or better.
A hilarious, brilliant, cynical (and maybe even a little sad) takedown of the moral vacuum that is celebrity culture.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-49044-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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