An appealingly humble and direct account of the adventures of a judicial bridge-builder.
Davis, a longtime civil servant, reflects on his life in this memoir.
In his nonfiction debut, the author tells his own story from his childhood in Hazard, Kentucky, to his Christian upbringing, his time in the Peace Corps, his marriage, his completion of law school, and his introduction both to the California Judicial Council and to a lifelong career in judicial administration. In each section of his book, he includes a chapter outlining the ongoing development of his Baha’i faith, starting with his conversion in 1974 only weeks after reading The Book of Certitude by Baha’u’llah and initially being struck by one of its central assertions: “It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” Time and again in his work with various judicial systems all over the world, he felt the truth of this assertion: “My international experiences have taught me that we live in an integrated world, a world where we are connected at many levels,” he writes. Readers follow his career as it takes him from a position as director of the administration of courts in California to head of a consulting firm undertaking missions in Pakistan, Jordan, Latin America, and elsewhere, where he was continually learning about the judicial, political, and cultural challenges of each country.
Thanks to the sheer breadth of Davis’ experiences in his career, readers are taken into many different cultures and legal systems, in which the author notes differences and similarities. In Pakistan, for instance, Davis noticed that, at a gathering, some lower court and High Court judges would barely greet one another because they were from different tribes. When he watched judges in Jordan, while advising the Judicial Council, he also saw a lack of collegiality: “Judges usually exhibit a degree of stiffness and reticence when they sit in a room with one another,” he recalls. “I can see the hidden pecking order, latent hostilities, constant jockeying for position, extreme caution by some, and a degree of solemnity.” But the main strength of his book is its unwavering humanity and decency. In every chapter, regardless of the adventure he’s having, Davis is always a quiet, observant, and respectful presence. His optimistic view of humanity permeates every page, particularly when he’s confronting the inertia or indifference of the official world, where the reflexive stance is often “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”; he expresses a clear belief that it’s possible to make any institution better. He helpfully distills much of the wisdom he’s accumulated in the “On Reflection” sections. When summarizing the characteristics that reflect institutional integrity in an organizational culture, for instance, he lists, “A management style that encourages participation, flexibility, teamwork, problem solving, and equity,” and a “sense of mission for employees.” However, the author’s overarching philosophy makes the strongest impression, rather than individual bits of wisdom.
An appealingly humble and direct account of the adventures of a judicial bridge-builder.Pub Date: March 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798891279230
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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
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