A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles, 2016
Penguin Publishing
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780670026197
Summary
With his breakout debut novel, Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late 1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. Readers and critics were enchanted.
A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov.
When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin.
Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.(From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1964
• Where—near Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Education—B.A., Yale University; M.A., Stanford University
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Amor Towles was born and raised just outside Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University and received an MA in English from Stanford University, where he was a Scowcroft Fellow. For his M.A. thesis, he wrote a series of five related stories that was published in the Paris Review in 1989.
Towles spent the next 20 years in the financial industry as director of research for Select Equity Group, an $18 billion hedge fund. During that time, he never gave up the dream of becoming an author. A decade into his financial career, he began work on a novel set in the Russian countryside, only to toss the manuscript after seven years. Finally, in 2006, he made another effort, this time succeeding with what would become his 2011 debut novel, Rules of Civility.
In 2013, Towles retired so he devote himself to full-time writing. His second book, A Gentleman in Moscow came out in 2016. According to Towles, the book was inspired by a business trip two years earlier as he mused about guests at Le Richemond hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. He had noticed the same people on a previous trip, and he began to wonder what it would be like to be trapped, for decades, inside a hotel. Towles wrote his thoughts down on Le Richemond hotel stationery, notes which he has kept to this day. (Adapted from the publisher and Wall Street Journal.)
Book Reviews
In Amor Towles’ sparkling new novel, the dreary landscape of the former Soviet Union is transformed into a fairy tale land of candlelit dinners, hidden treasures, love struck movie stars, and precocious little girls. It all takes place within the walls of Moscow’s famed Metropol, one of the world’s grand luxury hotels. There, in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. And what a life it turns out to be! READ MORE.
Molly Lundquist - LitLovers
The novel buzzes with the energy of numerous adventures, love affairs, twists of fate and silly antics.... And there is some beautiful writing.... [But while] the author’s light, waggish style suited the cafe society of Rules of Civility,... Stalin’s Soviet Union is another matter, and this is where his novel fails. "Let us concede," he remarks, "that the early thirties in Russia were unkind." Over four million people perished from famine in the U.S.S.R. in the early 1930s.... To flippantly refer to this moment as "unkind"...speaks to a disturbing lack of empathy and even moral imagination.
Douglas Smith - Wall Street Journal
Count Rostov is a memorable character you come to care about and root for.... Towles introduces his character slowly, offering glimpses of the man and his past as the story proceeds. But from the start, Rostov is quite the Renaissance man. He can taste the nettles tucked under the Ukrainian ham of a saltimbocca "fashioned from necessity"; seat a banquet's worth of Soviet bigwigs with a diplomat's dexterity; memorably bed an actress; befriend practically everyone; and quietly outwit dogmatic apparatchiks.... "Marvelous" is a word I'd use for this book..., [which] left me with conflicting emotions. I was happy for a good, engaging read. And I was sad that it was over and I had to bid Count Rostov adieu.
Bill Daley - Chicago Tribune
Rostov passes the decades making a whole world out of a hotel and the people in it....[living] a full and rich life according to the principle that, "If one did not master one's circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them." A Gentleman in Moscow is a novel that aims to charm, not be the axe for the frozen sea within us. And the result is a winning, stylish novel that keeps things easy. Flair is always the goal Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when they could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand. winning, stylish novel.
NPR.org
Enjoyable, elegant.... As years pass, Rostov finds that his confinement has conversely broadened his personal horizons.... There are two surprises at the end of the novel; you’ll nod at one, and raise your eyebrows at the other. Even greater delights, though, are found in Towles’ glorious turns of phrase.
Melissa Davis - Seattle Times
Irresistible.... In his second elegant period piece investment banker turned novelist Amor Towles continues to explore the question of how a person can lead an authentic life in a time when mere survival is a feat in itself.... Towles’s tale, as lavishly filigreed as a Faberge egg, gleams with nostalgia for the golden age of Tolstoy and Turgenev...reminding the reader that though Putin may be having a moment, it’s Pushkin who’s eternal.
Oprah Magazine
The book moves briskly from one crisp scene to the next, and ultimately casts a spell as encompassing as Rules of Civility, a book that inhales you into its seductively Gatsby-esque universe.
Town & Country
[A]n engaging 30-year saga set almost entirely inside the Metropol, Moscow’s most luxurious hotel.... Episodic, empathetic, and entertaining, Count Rostov’s long transformation occurs against a lightly sketched background of upheaval, repression, and war. Gently but dauntlessly, like his protagonist, Towles is determined to chart the course of the individual.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Towles grandly unfolds the life of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov in Soviet-era Moscow.... As urbane, cultured, and honey-smooth as the count himself, even as his situation inevitably creates suspense, this enthralling work is highly recommended. —Barbara Hoffert
Library Journal
In his remarkable first novel, the bestselling Rules of Civility, Towles etched 1930s New York in crystalline relief.... His latest polished literary foray into a bygone era is just as impressive...an imaginative and unforgettable historical portrait.
Booklist
(Starred review.) Count Alexander Rostov...lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity..... A masterly encapsulation of modern Russian history, this book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility (2011).
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for The Gentleman in Moscow...then take off on your own:
1. Start with the Count. How would you describe him? Do you find him an appealing, even memorable character?
2. In what way does his gilded cage, his "prison" for decades, transform Count Rostov? How do you see him changing during the course of the novel? What incidents have the most profound effect on him? Consider the incident with the beehive and the honey.
3. The Metropol serves literally and symbolically as a window on the world. What picture does Amor Towles paint of the Soviet Union—the brutality, its Kafka-esque bureaucracy, and the fear it inspires among its citizens? What are the pressures, for instance, faced by those who both live in and visit the Metropol? Does Towles's dark portrait overwhelm the story's narrative?
4. Talk about Nina, who even Towles considers the Eloise of the Metropol. Nina helps the Count unlock the hotel (again, literally and symbolically), revealing a much richer place than the it first seemed. What do we, along with the Count, discover?
5. What might Casablanca be the Count's favorite film? What does it suggest about his situation?
6. Talk about the other characters, aside from Nina, who play an important part in this novel the handyman, the actress, his friend Mishka, and even Osip Glebnikov. Consider the incident with the honey.
7. The Count was imprisoned for writing the poem, "where is it now?", which questioned the purpose of the new Soviet Union. Care to make any comparisons now with Russia under Putin, 70-some years later?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Matthew Desmond, 2016
Crown Publishing
432 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553447439
Summary
Winner, 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award
Winner, 2017 Pulitizer Prize
From Harvard sociologist and MacArthur "Genius" Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and reportage that will forever change the way we look at poverty in America
In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge.
Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind.
The fates of these families are in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former schoolteacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs one of the worst trailer parks in Milwaukee. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, "Love don’t pay the bills." She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas.
Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers.
In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America’s vast inequality—and to people’s determination and intelligence in the face of hardship.
Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem.
Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.(From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1980
• Raised—Winslow, Arizona,USA
• Education—B.A., Arizona State University; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
• Awards—National Book Critics Circle Award; Pulitizer Prize
• Currently—lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Matthew Desmond is an American urban social scientist, author, and Harvard Associate Professor. He is also the 2015 recipient of the MacArthur "genius" Grant.
Raised in Winslow, Arizona, Desmond's father was a nondenominational minister while his mother worked at various jobs. The family lived on a tight budget, and during his college years, their home was repossessed by the bank.
Desmond earned two B.S. degrees from Arizona State University. It was during that time his family lost their home, and Desmond began volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and socializing with homeless people in Tempe.
After graduating from Arizona State, Desmond headed to the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2010. Moving farther eastward, Desmond became a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University (2010–2013), and was eventually hired as associate professor by the school's Department of Sociology. He holds the department's John L. Loeb Chair.
Desmond achieved nationwide acclaim for his 2016 book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, in which he exposes the low end of the inner city real estate market, where evictions have become a highly profitable enterprise. Starting as a graduate student, Desmond spent eight years conducting fieldwork in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He followed the plight of eight families, eventually concluding that that eviction is a cause, rather than merely a symptom, of poverty.
Prior to Evicted, Desmond also published On the Fireline (2007), coauthored of Race in America (2015) and The Racial Order (2015), and edited the inaugural issue of RSF: Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, which focuses on severe poverty. (Adapted from New York Times and MacArthur Foundation articles. Retrieved 9/6/2016.)
Book Reviews
An exhaustively researched, vividly realized and above all, unignorable book—after Evicted, it will no longer be possible to have a serious discussion about poverty without having a serious discussion about housing.
Jennifer Senior - New York Times
It doesn't happen every week (or every month, or even year), but every once in a while a book comes along that changes the national conversation... Evicted looks to be one of those books.
Pamela Paul, Ed. - New York Times Book Review
Astonishing...Desmond is an academic who teaches at Harvard—a sociologist or, you could say, an ethnographer. But I would like to claim him as a journalist too, and one who, like Katherine Boo in her study of a Mumbai slum, has set a new standard for reporting on poverty.
Barbara Ehrenreich - New York Times Book Review
Written with the vividness of a novel, [Evicted] offers a dark mirror of middle-class America’s obsession with real estate, laying bare the workings of the low end of the market, where evictions have become just another part of an often lucrative business model.
Jennifer Schuessler - New York Times
Thank you, Matthew Desmond. Thank you for writing about destitution in America with astonishing specificity yet without voyeurism or judgment. Thank you for showing it is possible to compose spare, beautiful prose about a complicated policy problem. Thank you for giving flesh and life to our squabbles over inequality, so easily consigned to quintiles and zero-sum percentages. Thank you for proving that the struggle to keep a roof over one’s head is a cause, not just a characteristic of poverty.... Evicted is an extraordinary feat of reporting and ethnography. Desmond has made it impossible to ever again consider poverty in America without tackling the role of housing—and without grappling with Evicted.
Washington Post
[An] impressive work of scholarship...novelistically detailed.... As Mr. Desmond points out, eviction has been neglected by urban sociologists, so his account fills a gap. His methodology is scrupulous.
Wall Street Journal
[Desmond] tells a complex, achingly powerful story…. There have been many well-received urban ethnographies in recent years, from Sudhir Venkatesh’s Gang Leader for a Day to Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Desmond’s Evicted surely deserves to takes [its] place among these. It is an exquisitely crafted, meticulously researched exploration of life on the margins, providing a voice to people who have been shamefully ignored—or, worse, demonized—by opinion makers over the course of decades.
Boston Globe
[Evicted] is harrowing, heartbreaking, and heavily researched, and the plight of the characters will remain with you long after you close the book's pages.... Desmond's meticulousness shows how precision is not at odds with compassionate storytelling of the underprivileged. Indeed, [it] is the respect that Evicted shows for its characters' flaws and mistakes that makes the book impossible to forget.
Christian Science Monitor
[A] carefully researched, often heartbreaking book.
Chicago Tribune
Evicted should provoke extensive public policy discussions. It is a magnificent, richly textured book with a Tolstoyan approach: telling it like it is but with underlying compassion and a respect for the humanity of each character, major or minor.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By immersing himself in the everyday lives of poor renters, Desmond follows in the tradition of James Agee, whose monumental 1941 book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men pounded the reader with clear-eyed and brutal descriptions of rural poverty in the Deep South.
Minneapolis StarTribune
Evicted is that rare work that has something genuinely new to say about poverty. Desmond makes a convincing case that policymakers and academics have overlooked the role of the private rental market, and that eviction "'is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty."... Evictions have become routine. Desmond’s book should begin to change that.
San Francisco Chronicle
Should be required reading in an election year, or any other.
Entertainment Weekly
Powerful, monstrously effective…[Evicted] documents with impressive steadiness of purpose and command of detail the lives of impoverished renters at the bottom of Milwaukee’s housing market…. In describing the plight of these people, Desmond reveals the confluence of seemingly unrelated forces that have conspired to create a thoroughly humiliated class of the almost or soon-to-be homeless…. But the power of this book abides in the indelible impression left by its stories.
Jill Leovy - American Scholar
Gripping and important…. Desmond, a Harvard sociologist, cites plenty of statistics but it’s his ethnographic gift that lends the work such force. He’s one of a rare academic breed: a poverty expert who engages with the poor. His portraits are vivid and unsettling…. It’s not easy to show desperate people using drugs or selling sex and still convey their courage and dignity. Evicted pulls it off.
Jason DeParle - New York Review of Books
A shattering account of life on the American fringe, Matthew Desmond’s Evicted shows the reality of a housing crisis that few among the political or media elite ever think much about, let alone address. It takes us to the center of what would be seen as an emergency of significant proportions if the poor had any legitimate political agency in American life.
New Republic
Wrenching and revelatory…. Other sociologists have ventured before into the realm of popular literature… but none in recent memory have so successfully bridged in a single work the demands of the academy (statistical studies and deep reviews of the existing literature) and the narrative necessity of showing what has brought these beautiful, flawed humans to their miseries…. A powerfully convincing book that examines the poor’s impossible housing situation at point-blank range.
Nation
(Starred review.) Gripping storytelling and meticulous research undergird this outstanding ethnographic study…. Desmond identifies affordable housing as a leading social justice issue of our time and offers concrete solutions to the crisis.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Highly recommended
Library Journal
(Starred review.) A groundbreaking work…. Desmond delivers a gripping, novelistic narrative… This stunning, remarkable book—a scholar’s 21st-century How the Other Half Lives—demands a wide audience.
Booklist
(Starred review.) A groundbreaking work… Desmond delivers a gripping, novelistic narrative… This stunning, remarkable book – a scholar’s 21st-century How the Other Half Lives – demands a wide audience.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
The following Questions are part of a Teacher's Guide written for Penguin Random House by Rachael Hudak. A short bio on Rachel can be found below:
1. Why was Arleen evicted from her apartment on Milwaukee’s near South Side? Were you surprised that her landlord made the decision to evict the family after the apartment door was damaged? Arleen later found an apartment where the rent, not including utilities, was 88% of her welfare check. How might a family like Arleen’s manage to cover rent, utilities, and all other expenses on such a small income? What kind of sacrifices do you think families in this situation must make in order to make ends meet?
2. Tenants are often given two options while being evicted from their residence—their possessions can be loaded into a truck and checked into bonded storage or movers can pile their belongings onto the sidewalk. What challenges and consequences may a tenant or family face when experiencing one of these two scenarios? If you were suddenly faced with the decision to move or store your possessions, which option would you choose?
3. Sherrena Tarver claimed to have found her calling as an inner-city entrepreneur, stating “The ’hood is good. There’s a lot of money there” (page 152). How did Sherrena profit from being a landlord in poor communities? Do you think her profits were justified? What responsibilities do landlords have when renting out their property? What risks do they take? Do you sympathize with Sherrena? Why or why not?
4. In Milwaukee, evictions spike in the summer and early fall and dip in November when the moratorium on winter utility disconnections begins. When tenants are unable to pay both the rent and the utilities, how might they make a decision about which expense to pay first? If you were forced to choose between paying rent or heat, which would you choose?
5. In an average month at the College Mobile Home Park, nearly 1/3 of tenants were behind on their rent. Why did park landlord Tobin Charney select a handful of tenants to evict each month? How did some tenants escape eviction? Tobin lived 70 miles away from the trailer park he owned. How might this kind of distance benefit a landlord? What problems might it create?
6. How did Tobin benefit from offering his tenants the “Handyman Special” (page 46)—giving families their trailers for free but charging them for lot rent? Why might tenants see this as a better deal than paying the equivalent in rent? How did the high demand for low-cost housing impact Tobin’s decisions about whether or not to repair property or forgive late payments? What incentives could be put in place to motivate landlords to maintain their properties? What risks do tenants take when filing a report with a building inspector?
7. Many Americans still believe that the typical low-income family lives in public housing. But only one in four families who qualify for housing assistance receive it. What challenges did Arleen face when trying to get approved for subsidized housing? Assistance programs in Milwaukee either require that tenants have dependent children or have experienced a sudden loss of income. How do these services assist people experiencing short-term crises but not those facing more serious long-term poverty? Are there other forms of housing assistance available to low-income individuals and families?
8. How does the process of screening tenants lead to a “geography of advantage and disadvantage” (page 89)? How can landlord decisions impact neighborhood characteristics like schools, crime rates, and levels of civic engagement? How can a criminal background or history of past evictions impact a person’s ability to rent property? Do you think a tenant should have to disclose this information? Why or why not?
9. Why do you think landlords like Sherrena rely so heavily on hiring tenants and jobless men to maintain their property? Do you think this affects the employment prospects for people in the neighborhood?
10. What benefits do landlords like Sherrena receive when they rent to tenants who have housing vouchers? Why do some tenants who spend more than 30% of their income on housing receive assistance while others do not? How do landlords like Sherrena and Tobin benefit financially from the Fair Market Rent set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development? How does this program bring large gains to landlords? How does it prevent gains in racial and economic integration?
11. Why do you think Crystal made the decision to let Arleen and her sons stay until they found another residence? How do tenants like Crystal and Arleen rely on friends and extended kin networks to get by? Does this do anything to lift them out of poverty or distress?
12. Desmond writes, “No one thought the poor more undeserving than the poor themselves” (page 180). How do you see this attitude reflected in residents of the trailer park? Do you see it reflected in Arleen’s actions?
13. What motivated Crystal to call 911 after hearing a domestic disturbance upstairs? How did this strain her relationship with her landlord, Sherrena? What risks do landlords incur once their property becomes a designated nuisance? Should landlords be penalized for their tenants’ behavior? Why or why not?
14. Crystal was diagnosed with a wide range of mental illnesses. What struggles did Crystal face throughout her search for stable housing? How might mental illness present additional challenges to a person already living in poverty? How might mental illness contribute to a person’s history of eviction? What protections do people with mental illnesses have?
15. Why do you think Larraine chose to spend all of her food stamps on expensive food like lobster and king crab? What personal reaction did you have to her decision? Do you agree with Pastor Daryl that Larraine is careless with her money because she is operating under a “poverty mentality”? Why might it be difficult for Larraine to lift herself out of poverty by practicing good behavior or self-control? What options do you believe Larraine has?
16. Landlords repeatedly turned down Pam and Ned’s rental applications because they have children. Why? Do you think families with children should receive any protection when seeking housing? Why do you think families with children were not considered a protected class when Congress passed the Fair Housing Act in 1968? Do you think it is fair for landlords to charge tenants with children monthly surcharges and children-damage deposits? Why or why not?
17. Why did Doreen choose not to call Sherrena when the house was in desperate need of repair? Do you agree that “The house failed the tenants, and the tenants failed the house” (page 256)? What effects does living in a home that is not decent or functional have on a person’s psychological and emotional health?
18. Why did Vanetta participate in an armed robbery? Do you think the 81-month sentence Vanetta received was too harsh? Why or why not? What challenges do you think Vanetta will face while serving a 15-month prison sentence? What challenges will she face while serving 66 months on parole? Why do you think Vanetta’s public defender failed to mention that she was attending GED classes, providing childcare, and looking for housing every morning? How might that information have impacted her sentencing?
19. What challenges did Scott face while maintaining his sobriety? Do you think the process for Scott to get his nursing license back was reasonable? Why or why not? What relief did Scott receive after receiving subsidized housing and county-subsidized methadone treatment?
20. Arleen received 89 negative responses and one positive from prospective landlords. What impact did this have on her children, Jori and Jafaris? How do children expose families to eviction rather than shield them from it? What happened to Arleen when she was evicted from her apartment? After losing her possessions in storage and having her welfare case closed, what options did Arleen have?
21. If you were unexpectedly evicted from your home, what would the fallout be? How would this impact your education, employment, and relationships? How might a sudden change like eviction affect your physical and mental well-being?
22. Why do you think 90% of landlords are represented by attorneys in housing courts while 90% of tenants are not? What would you do if you were facing eviction and in need of legal assistance? Do you think attorneys should be provided to low-income tenants at no cost?
23. Why did Desmond believe it was important to live in the Milwaukee communities most affected by eviction? How did his presence impact the lives of his neighbors? How was his personal experience different from the experiences of the people he interviewed?
24. Why do you think there is so much research on public housing and other housing policies but very little research on the private rental market? What solutions to the lack of affordable housing does Desmond propose? Do you have other ideas for how this issue could be addressed in your community?(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Rachael Hudak is the author of several discussion guides, including Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. She currently serves as the Director of the Prison Education Program at New York University. She has led creative arts and meditation workshops in prisons and jails in Michigan, Illinois, and New York, and has worked on anti-violence initiatives throughout the United States. Rachael holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan.
Ooh La La: French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day
Jamie Cat Callan, 2013
Kensington Books
224 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780806535579
Summary
French women seem to have a special knack for life's most important things—food, love, raising children. And in matters of beauty and style, they appear to be at an unfair advantage.
But the good news is that everything French women know can be learned.
French women are not born more attractive than anyone else. They simply learn at a very young age how to feel beautiful, confident, and sexy, inside and out. It's an allure that outlasts youth—in fact, some of France's most celebrated women are femmes d'un certain âge. Experience only makes them more irresistible.
Growing up, Jamie Cat Callan had a French grand-mere to instruct her on style, grooming, and genuinely liking her reflection in the mirror. Now she shares that wisdom along with advice from other French women on fragrance, image consulting, makeup, and more, and shows you how to:
♦ Discover the power of perfume
♦ Find mentors who will help hone your personal style
♦ Begin at the ends—hands, feet, and hair
♦ Choose lingerie that makes you feel magnifique
♦ Get an internal makeover and nourish your soul
♦ Embrace your age gracefully and gorgeously
Bid au revoir to Botox, fad diets, and agonizing over every imperfection, and say hello to the truly timeless beauty that comes with making the most of your own unique je-ne-sais-quoi. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1954-55
• Raised—Stamford, Connecticut, USA
• Education—B.A., Bard College; M.F.A., University of California-Los Angeles
• Currently—lives in Cap Cod, Massachusetts
Although raised in the U.S.A., Jamie Cat Callan grew up under the tutelage of her French grandmother. She has traveled to France many times, lived in France, and fallen in love with all things French. That fascination led Callan, eventually, to publish three books about French women and "their secrets to joie de vivre, timeless beauty, love, romance...and lingerie." In the space of four years, from 2009-2013, Callan published French Women Don't Sleep Alone; Bonjour, Happiness; and Ooh La La.
Callan earned her B.A. from Bard College and an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the University of California-Los Angeles. Her writing career took off at 26 when she published her first book under a New York State grant from the Council of the Arts Program. That book, Over the Hill at Fourteen sold nearly half-a million copies and became a Scholastic Book Club selection.
Over the next five years, Callan published two more young adult books including The Young and the Soapy (1984) and Just Too Cool (1987).
Since then her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Modern Love column, Missouri Review, American Letters & Commentary, and Best American Erotica.
Her book Hooking Up or Holding Out was issued in 2006, followed by her three advice books on the style and love lives of French women.
Callan has taught writing at Wesleyan University's Graduate Liberal Studies Program and conducted writing workshops at Grub Street in Boston and through New York University. She lives with her husband on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. (Adapted from the publisher and Cervena Barva Press.)
Book Reviews
[A]n important look at American women, how we may be selling ourselves short, and how the women in that strange land called France may have much to teach us. It may change you.... Ooh La La is a reminder that you get to choose so many things about who you are and how you want to be seen.... This book will help you do just that. Take possession of your future. Buy it. Read it. Gift it. Hurry. Read more . . .
Christine Merser - LitLovers
In this combination lifestyle guide and travelogue, Callan interviews French women...on topics like beauty, fashion, and feminine hygiene in an effort to divine the wellspring of a French woman’s je ne sais quoi.... This charming foray into French femininity will make a perfect cadeau for any Francophile lady.
Publishers Weekly
The good news for women around the globe is that they don't have to be French to develop a chic sense of style.... [This] delightful romp through France...provides universal lessons on looking and feeling fabulous and will appeal to Francophiles. —Ajoke Kokodoko, Oakland P.L.
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available by the publisher; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Ooh La La...then take off on your own:
1. What are the differences Callan sees between French women and American women? Do you agree, or not? Has she overstated her case...or hit the nail on the head?
2. How do French women handle aging? Do they "age gracefully" and if so, how? In fact, what does it mean to "age gracefully"? Based on Callan's observations, does France seem to be as caught up in the idea of youthful beauty as America? Or do the French see aging as an advantage rather than a loss?
3. If you have traveled in France, what did you take away from your time there—in terms of lifestyle, attitudes between the sexes, work, consumerism, sexuality, beauty, or fashion? Are French values different from American values?
4. How do you feel about lingerie after reading Ooh La La?
5. Callan begins each of her chapters with an epigraph. How do they relate to what follows? Do any strike you as particularly inspirational, astute, helpful, funny?
6. Overall, what do you think of Ooh La La? Does it offer sound advice, something you can take to heart, and use to make changes in your life? Is the book insightful, or do you find it shallow?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
Ed Yong, 2016
HarperCollins
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062368591
Summary
Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin—a "microbe’s-eye view" of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth.
Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are.
The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people.
Many people think of microbes as germs to be eradicated, but those that live with us—the microbiome—build our bodies, protect our health, shape our identities, and grant us incredible abilities.
In this astonishing book, Ed Yong takes us on a grand tour through our microbial partners, and introduces us to the scientists on the front lines of discovery. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—December, 1981
• Where—England, UK
• Education—B.A., M.A., Cambridge University; M.Phil., University College of London
• Awards—(see below)
• Currently—lives in London, England, and Washington, D.C., USA
Edmund Soon-Weng Yong is a British science journalist. As of 2016 his blog Not Exactly Rocket Science, is published as part of the National Geographic Phenomena blog network. Previously his work has been published by Nature, Scientific American, the BBC, Slate, The Guardian, The Times of London, New Scientist, Wired, The New York Times and The New Yorker. He has been a permanent staff member of The Atlantic since 2015.
Education
Yong was awarded Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Natural Sciences (Zoology) from the University of Cambridge in 2002. He completed postgraduate study at University College London where he was awarded a Master of Philosophy degree on the biochemistry of resolvases, a group of enzymes that repress transposases.
Awards
Yong's approach to popular science writing has been described as "the future of science news," and he has received numerous awards for his work. Yong received the National Academies Communication Award from the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in 2010 in recognition of his online journalism, then part of Discover's blog group.
In the same year he received three awards from ResearchBlogging.org, which supports online science journalism focused on covering research that has already been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals which can be adapted for a wider public audience. In 2012 he received the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Stephen White Award. His blog received the first Best Science Blog award from the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) in 2014.
Yong's interactions with other science bloggers and engagement with commenters on his own blog have served as case studies for academic work in media studies. (From Wikoipedia. Retrieved 8/9/2016.)
Read the author's newsletter.
Book Reviews
This compelling and beautifully written book will change the way people look at the world around, and within, them. Certainly among the best books in an increasingly crowded field and written with a true passion for and understanding of the microbiome.
Professor Rob Knight, University of California, San Diego, author of Follow Your Gut
Yong has captured the essence of this exciting field, expressing the enthusiasm and wonder that the scientific community feels when working with the microbiome.
Professor Jack Gilbert, University of Chicago
(Starred revicew.) British science journalist Yong succeeds in encouraging readers to recognize the critical importance of biological microorganisms. He argues that humans must move past the belief that bacteria are bad.... and reveals "how ubiquitous and vital microbes are" on scales large and small.
Publishers Weekly
Yong's readable and entertaining style is appropriate for the nonspecialist, though occasionally the author gets carried away with the use of metaphor and other figurative language. Verdict: Highly recommended for general science readers interested in the complicated relationships between microbes and their hosts. —Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ
Library Journal
(Starred revicew.) Bottom line: don’t hate or fear the microbial world within you. Appreciate its wonders. After all, they are more than half of you.
Booklist
(Starred revicew.) The author excels at objectively navigating the large body of research related to the microbiome..., and he delivers some of the finest science writing out there.... An exceptionally informative, beautifully written book that will profoundly shift one's sense of self to that of symbiotic multitudes.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for I Contain Multitudes...then take of on your own:
1. What specifically are microbes, and where do they live within the bodies of animals?
2. Talk about the wide-ranging roles that microbes play in the health of their hosts, particularly we humans. Consider how microbes facilitate digestion and reproduction, or affect immunity and inflammation.
3. Trace the history of the microbe, going back to when they were the planet's only inhabitants, swimming in Earth's early oceans. Explain the sigificance of those early bacteria merging with archaea?
4. Microbes have long had a poor reputation. What are some of the misconceptions Ed Yong dispels?
5. What was the book's greatest "ick" factor for you? What most surprised, even astonished you?
6. Yong paints a vibrant canvas of the characters who played important roles in the discovery and understanding (or misunderstanding) of microbes. Whom did you find most interesting?
7. Yong raises an important question: Are we too clean? What are the implications of our sanitized life? Why do some believe our obsession with cleanliness is unhealthy? If so, what is the solution?
8. Discuss some of the new therapies that are being explored regarding the use of microbes in, say, the treatment of irritable bowel disorder or allergies.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir of Hope
Tom Brokaw, 2015
Random House
256 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780812982084
Summary
A powerful memoir of a year of dramatic change—a year spent battling cancer and reflecting on a long, happy, and lucky life.
Tom Brokaw has led a fortunate life, with a strong marriage and family, many friends, and a brilliant journalism career culminating in his twenty-two years as anchor of the NBC Nightly News and as bestselling author.
But in the summer of 2013, when back pain led him to the doctors at the Mayo Clinic, his run of good luck was interrupted. He received shocking news: He had multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable blood cancer. Friends had always referred to Brokaw’s "lucky star," but as he writes in this inspiring memoir, "Turns out that star has a dimmer switch."
Brokaw takes us through all the seasons and stages of this surprising year, the emotions, discoveries, setbacks, and struggles—times of denial, acceptance, turning points, and courage. After his diagnosis, Brokaw began to keep a journal, approaching this new stage of his life in a familiar role: as a journalist, determined to learn as much as he could about his condition, to report the story, and help others facing similar battles.
That journal became the basis of this wonderfully written memoir, the story of a man coming to terms with his own mortality, contemplating what means the most to him now, and reflecting on what has meant the most to him throughout his life.
Brokaw also pauses to look back on some of the important moments in his career: memories of Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the morning of September 11, 2001, in New York City, and more. Through it all, Brokaw writes in the warm, intimate, natural voice of one of America’s most beloved journalists, giving us Brokaw on Brokaw, and bringing us with him as he navigates pain, procedures, drug regimens, and physical rehabilitation. Brokaw also writes about the importance of patients taking an active role in their own treatment, and of the vital role of caretakers and coordinated care.
Generous, informative, and deeply human, A Lucky Life Interrupted offers a message of understanding and empowerment, resolve and reality, hope for the future and gratitude for a well-lived life. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—February 6, 1940
• Where—Webster, South Dakota, USA
• Education—B.A., University of South Dakota
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Thomas John Brokaw is an American television journalist and author, best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation (1998), A Lucky Life Interrupted (2015), and other books, as well as the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He is the only person to host all three major NBC News programs: The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, briefly, Meet the Press. He now serves as a Special Correspondent for NBC News and works on documentaries for other outlets.
Along with Peter Jennings at ABC News and Dan Rather at CBS News, Brokaw was one of the "Big Three" news anchors in the U.S. during the 1980s and 1990s. The three all hosted their network's flagship nightly news programs for over 20 years, and all three started and retired within a year of each other.
Early life
Brokaw is the son of Eugenia (nee Conley), who worked in sales and as a post-office clerk, and Anthony Orville "Red" Brokaw, a construction foreman for the Army Corps of Engineers. His paternal great-grandfather, Richard P. Brokaw, founded the town of Bristol, South Dakota, and the Brokaw House, a small hotel and the first structure in Bristol.
Brokaw's father worked at the Black Hills Ordnance Depot and helped construct Fort Randall Dam; his job often required the family to move around South Dakota in Brokaw's early childhood, but they eventually settled in Yankton, where Brokaw attended high school.
While in high school, Brokaw was governor of South Dakota American Legion Boys State and accompanied then-South Dakota Governor Joe Foss to New York City for a joint appearance on a TV game show. It was to be the beginning of a long relationship with Foss, whom Brokaw would later feature in his 1998 book about World War II veterans, The Greatest Generation.
Brokaw enrolled at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, but majoring in "beer and co-eds," as he later said, dropped out after a year. In tribute to his fun-loving freshman year, the Airliner Bar has named a booth in his honor. Brokaw later returned to school, this time to the University of South Dakota where, in 1964, he received a B.A. in Political Science.
Early career
Brokaw's television career began at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa, followed by stints at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska, and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1966, he joined NBC News, reporting from California and anchoring the 11 p.m. news for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. In 1973, NBC named Brokaw White House correspondent, covering the Watergate scandal, and anchor of the Saturday editions of Nightly News. He became host of NBC's Today Show in 1976 and remained in the job until 1982.
In April, 1982, he began co-anchoring NBC's Nightly News from New York with Roger Mudd in Washington, D.C. After a year, NBC News president Reuven Frank concluded that the dual-anchor program was not working and selected Brokaw to be sole anchor—NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw began on September 5, 1983.
Nightly News highlights
On November 9, 1989, Brokow scored a major coup as the first English-language broadcast journalist to report the opening of the Berlin Wall. He had attended a televised press conference in East Berlin in which the East German Politburo announced its decision to allow East Berliners to cross to the West without prior approval. Asked when the wall would be open, the spokesman glanced through his notes and said, "immediately, without delay." That comment touched off a stampede of East Berliners to the Wall. Later that evening, while stationed on the west side of the Brandenburg Gate, Brokaw reported on the announcement and the resulting pandemonium in East Berlin.
As anchor, Brokaw conducted the first one-on-one American television interviews with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He and Katie Couric hosted a prime-time news magazine, Now, that aired from 1993–94 before being folded into the multi-night Dateline NBC.
On September 11, 2001, Brokaw joined Katie Couric and Matt Lauer around 9:30 a.m., following the live attack on the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and continued anchoring all day, until after midnight. On the collapse of the second tower, Brokaw observed, "This is war. This is a declaration and an execution of an attack on the United States."
He continued to anchor coverage to midnight on the following two days. Later that month, he received one of the mailed letters containing anthrax as part of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Brokaw was unharmed, but two NBC News employees were infected.
In 2002, NBC announced that Brokaw would retire as anchor of the NBC Nightly News following the 2004 Presidential election. He would be succeeded by Brian Williams but would remain as part-time analyst, anchor and producer of documentary programs. Nearly 16 million viewers watched his final Nightly News broadcast on December 1, 2004. He closed the show with
That's Nightly News for this Wednesday night. I'm Tom Brokaw. You'll see Brian Williams here tomorrow night, and I'll see you along the way.
Brokaw was considered the most popular news personality in the U.S. He moved Nightly News to first place in the Nielsen ratings in late 1996 and held on to the top spot for the remainder of his tenure, placing him ahead of ABC's Peter Jennings and CBS's Dan Rather.
Together the three anchors ushered in the era of the TV news anchor as a lavishly compensated, globe-trotting star in the 1980s. The magnitude of any event could be measured by whether Brokaw and his counterparts showed up on the scene. Brokaw's retirement in December, 2004, followed by Rather's ouster in March, 2005, and Jennings' death in August, 2005, brought that era to a close.
After Nightly News
After leaving the anchor chair, Brokaw remained at NBC as Special Correspondent, providing periodic reports for Nightly News. He served as an NBC analyst during the 2008 presidential election campaign and moderated the second presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain at Belmont University. He reported documentaries for the Discovery Channel and the History Channel and in 2006 delivered one of the eulogies during the state funeral of former President Gerald R. Ford.
When Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert died in June, 2008, Brokaw served as interim host until December when David Gregory was named Russert's replacement.
On May 29, 2011, Brokaw began hosting The Boys in the Hall, a baseball documentary series for Fox Sports Net.
In December 2012, Brokaw starred in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's annual Christmas concert, with live audiences of 84,000 and a nationally televised broadcast titled Home for the Holidays.
In April 2014, a new broadcast facility opened on the Universal Studios Hollywood lot and was named the Brokaw News Center. The facility houses KNBC, Telemundo owned-and-operated station KVEA, and the Los Angeles bureau of NBC News.
Personal life
Since 1962, Brokaw has been married to author and 1959 Miss South Dakota Meredith Lynn Auld. They have three daughters: Jennifer, Andrea, and Sarah Brokaw and his wife spend considerable time at their ranch near Livingston, Montana, which they bought in 1989.
In August, 2013, Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the Mayo Clinic. Following a treatment regime, Brokaw and his physicians announced that they were "very encouraged with his progress." Brokaw has continued to work for NBC throughout his treatments and announced in December, 2014, that his cancer was in full remission. His treatment is the subject of his 2015 memoir A Lucky Life Interrupted. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 8/1/2016.)
Book Reviews
Brokaw doesn’t paste a smiley face on his story. Again and again, the book returns to stories of loss but also of grace, luck and the beauty of having another swing at bat.
Washington Post
Engaging...[with] the kind of insight that is typical of Mr. Brokaw’s approach to life and now to illness.
Wall Street Journal
It’s impossible not to be inspired by Brokaw’s story, and his willingness to share it.
Los Angeles Times
The former NBC News anchor has applied the fact-finding skills and straightforward candor that were his stock in trade during his reporting days to A Lucky Life Interrupted.
USA Today
(Starred review.) A powerful memoir of battling cancer and facing mortality . . . Through the prism of his own illness, Brokaw looks at the larger picture of aging in America.
Booklist
Brokaw’s account lacks the depth and fire of Christopher Hitchens’ Mortality (2013), but it belongs on the same shelf as a wise and oddly comforting look at the toughest news of all.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
This set of questions has been generously submitted to LitLovers by Angela Scott, better known as "Library Princess." Many thanks, Angela.
1. Tom Brokaw is a man who does not slow down, until that is, he is diagnosed with cancer. How does the title A Lucky Life Interrupted reflect this?
2. As a well known public persona, do you feel that Tom Brokaw was a recipient of privileged healthcare due to who he is? Do you feel he received a better quality of treatment than an average person who would go into the Mayo facilities?
3. As a reporter, Tom Brokaw’s job is report on other people’s lives. What do you think of the fact that he kept his diagnosis quiet and hidden for such a long period of time, including from close friends and even his employers?
4. What were your thoughts on the flashbacks of his life throughout the book? Did you enjoy a particularly one over the others? Were they distracting from the story?
5. Tom Brokaw has to deal with mortality as he takes this journey, through the deaths of others who have suffered from multiple myeloma and other various cancers to the death of his brother through Alzheimer’s. How do you think this changed his perspective on life? Which deaths affected him the most?
6. What are your thoughts on cancer? Do you know anyone close who has suffered through it? Would you recommend this book to someone who was going through this disease or their families?
7. He says, "It was a personal goal to remain-to remain unbroken." How did his approach to cancer keep him going? How can a determination to fight make or break a person?
(Questions courtesy of Angela Scott. Please feel free to use them, online of off, with attribution to both Angela and LitLovers. Thanks.)