by S.J. Tagliareni ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 24, 2018
An uplifting and often engrossing testament to the power of enduring friendship through the decades.
A novel recounts six decades in the lives of two lifelong friends.
Author, motivational speaker, and former Catholic priest Tagliareni (The Cross or the Swastika, 2014, etc.) blends his own memories with fiction in this sparkling, inspirational novel about Michael McNally and Sal La Greca, who first meet in a New Jersey grade school in 1954. When plucky Sal rescues scrawny Michael from menacing seventh-grade bullies, the two boys forge a bond. The two are different in several ways; black-haired, olive-skinned Michael adheres to his Catholic faith, while blond, blue-eyed, light-skinned Sal is staunchly secular. Still, their friendship deepens and endures throughout their adolescence, and their connection is strengthened by their “abiding respect and trust” for each other, particularly when Sal acts as a pallbearer at Michael’s mother’s funeral. With pleasant assuredness and narrative dexterity, Tagliareni effortlessly builds out his central characters’ profiles through their college years as Michael sacrifices a Notre Dame scholarship to raise his two brothers and Sal embraces the expansive, urban diversity of life at New York University. As the years pass, however, the men’s lives go in very different directions. Michael gets married, loses a brother in a tragic accident, and embarks on a medical career. Sal, after much introspection, surprisingly forges ahead with an intention to enter the priesthood; the author convincingly handles this latter plot development with authenticity, as it’s drawn from Tagliareni’s own experiences as a member of the clergy. As adults, both men are successful, productive members of society and are resilient against the slings and arrows of an unjust, unpredictable world. The author proves to be masterful at filling the two main narratives with life-changing events, both good and bad, which will keep the reader in a constant state of anticipation for Michael and Sal’s inevitable reunion. Indeed, another tragedy brings them together again, and both men are grateful to have the opportunity to catch up. At the same time, the author shows how each character recognizes how far their destinies have diverged. Michael assists wounded Marines in Vietnam before returning home to his family in New York and finding out the truth about his son’s sexual orientation; Sal moves up the ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, but the wisdom of an Austrian doctor drastically alters the course of his life. Throughout the story, Tagliareni draws extensively on his own life experiences, as well as those of his friends, which gives the novel an air of verisimilitude. It’s consistently satisfying, even enchanting at times, even though, for the two main players, the sheer amount of tragedy tends to outweigh the joy. Michael and Sal are immensely memorable characters, and their personalities will make readers care about them instantly. As a result, these kindhearted men are easily able to carry the novel through to its bittersweet conclusion. At its core, this is a life-affirming story that models the most soulful aspects of love and companionship.
An uplifting and often engrossing testament to the power of enduring friendship through the decades.Pub Date: June 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-7322149-0-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Jamaica Plain Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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