PositiveManhattan Book ReviewWriting groups looking for prompts to kick start their practice writings would be well advised to use the prompt Letter to a Stranger. This collection of writing demonstrates that through this process of short letters to passersby the writer thinks more deeply about his own life. In the process of reflecting on what a stranger meant to one, one reveals deep, perhaps hidden, truths about one’s own life ... This is a very interesting book and a great approach to thoughtful writing.
Katherine Seligman
PositiveSan Francisco Book ReviewThroughout the story, this reader worried about Maddy and longed for her to find her way off the streets. Unlike many novels, the author does not provide easy answers. The resonant title of this book reflects the edge of a hateful life on the streets.
Robert Paarlberg
PositiveThe San Francisco Book Review[Paarlberg] has jam-packed the book with scientific data and recent improvements to the agricultural complex. There remain, though, those of us who look at the system of food distribution and find it fragile. For us, local makes much more sense, but it is very interesting to learn an opposing argument from this expert.
Joan Didion
RaveThe Portland Review of BooksThose of us who eagerly await any of her writing are very excited to read this collection. Why are we so eagerly awaiting any of her books? Didion’s powers of observation and succinct writing style are masterful. Like many journalists turned novelists, she has learned to perfectly convey a mood, attitude, or cultural shift in a shorthand developed through painstaking craft. All of the essays in this volume are relevant and interesting. The foreword, written by Hilton Als, is a perfect summation of Didion’s relevancy and power.
Martin Amis
PanSeattle Book ReviewI have three arguments with this book. Firstly, its length; it is a tome. The second and the third are perhaps broader arguments against a type of literature that has recently emerged. The new books are what seem to be journal entries that have not been shaped into a significant memoir, novel, or history. In this book, we learn a great deal about the main character’s sexuality and his famous friends. It purports to be a novel, but if it is a novel, it also has the author’s name as the main character and his friends. The third argument is a portrayal of women who are nothing more than sexual props for the male characters. As Martin unchivalrously recounts his sexual exploits to Christopher Hitchens, this reader cringes with embarrassment for the women so involved ... this reader hoped for something that held together a bit more.
Kirkland Hamill
PositiveSeattle Book ReviewThe author of this book, seemingly embarrassed by his social register status nonetheless uses it as a trump card to try to fit in and gain friends. To compound matters, the question of his sexual identity is confused, unresolved, and isolating. A true story that money and privilege is not a paved road to happiness, but can be a lonely and sterile existence.
Mary Pauline Lowry
PositiveSeattle Book ReviewReaders of Bridget Jones’s Diary will also like this book because it is in much the same vein ... This is a pleasant, well-written book guaranteed to pass the hours ... For pleasant reading, the author does not disappoint.
Julia Alvarez
MixedThe San Francisco Book ReviewWhile the beginnings of this novel hold promise, it grows tiring in the long telling. The sisters do not seem real, but perhaps that is due to the detachment and sorrow of the narrating sister. The most interesting part of the book is the unification of the sisters against the \'crazy\' one. In many families, one member is always the scapegoat. This reader had a wish for greater resolution to this story and felt abandoned in the last pages.
Diane Keaton
PositiveSeattle Book ReviewThis must have been a very difficult book for actress Diane Keaton to write ... It is a brave and honest book and is sure to resonate with so many families who struggle to understand the complexities of brain chemistry. Even very blessed individuals have struggles we may not know about.
Rachel Maddow
RaveThe San Francisco Book ReviewRachel Maddow is a great storyteller. This gift combined with her skills as a reporter makes for a formidable entry into the current glut of new books about the Trump administration ... chilling and well researched ... This is a suspense story built up carefully about an industry that plays ball with dictators, thugs, and murderers. Her stories are artfully constructed. This book is highly readable, entertaining and brilliant in its compelling stories.
Sophie Mackintosh
PositiveManhattan Book Review\"Is this a feminist or antifeminist novel? Such is the mastery of the author that one is left to ponder the ideas in this book long after finishing it ... This book is interesting on so many levels: unrequited love, murder, abandonment, and the unshakeable bond of sisterhood ... This book is interesting and thought-provoking.\
H.W. Brands
MixedSeattle Book Review\"The reader may find it difficult to read since the characters were not drawn clearly enough to differentiate them. For that reason, this book might be better suited for a reader more schooled in their history. Perhaps that is the lesson of this book: history repeats itself.\
