LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE-I Promise You Can't Put it Down

From the moment you start Taffy Brodesser-Akner's novel, LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE (LIC), you won't put it down until you find out how the Fletcher family members fare with their neuroses and with each other. The patriarch of the family is Carl Fletcher, a wealthy Long Island business owner. The apex of the plot's trajectories unfurl following Carl's kidnapping in 1980 from his driveway that lasted several days. The repercussions of this frightening ordeal that ended with Carl's safe return, left a damaging impact on his entire family.  Though physically unharmed, Carl is now a hollow husk of human being leaving his wife and mother to manage the family and their affairs. Brodesser-Akner gained notoriety with her previous novel, FLEISCHMAN IS IN TROUBLE. While both deal with Jewish neuroses and tropes of Jewish assimilation, LIC is a much darker and troubling novel that resonates closely with Jonathan Franzen's depictions of Jewish family dysfunction. If you're a fan of either skillful author, grab on to your hat and hold on for the rollercoaster ride of affluent, self-destructive individuals inherent in third generation Jewish families. The narration is told mainly through a triptych of characters; the three Fletcher children, Nathan, "Beamer" and Jenny. This stinging parody preys on the adage "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves".  As with the Fletchers, the third generation often finds itself at odds with the initial wealth creation and the values of their ancestry. The family's Rabbi said, "The Fletchers were a great Jewish American family" The author explains this to mean, "They'd survived and proliferated, that they'd come to this country, observed the landscape, and deftly assimilated into it. They did such a good job of this that, ultimately, they disappeared undetected into a completely different diaspora." Nathan, Ben and Jen prove to be the stereotyped squander generation; the downfall of wealthy families. The flagrant ways the three siblings run through their family fortune and steer away from their lineage creates havoc for themselves and their loved ones. They are express train wrecks we can't turn away from. These over indulgent, insufferable people comprise the real Long Island Compromise."That you can be successful on your own steam or you can be a basket case, and whichever you are is determined by the circumstances into which you were born." The concession that the fault lies not in their own capacities but rather it lies in the stars, is as repugnant to swallow as these individuals. For those who like a seething satire and carnage, this is a novel to be consumed ferociously. Some will detest the non-stop calamities. For me, I loved to loathe these vivid characters who never had a chance to be normal. "In order to be a normal person, you had to at least see normal people."This is absurdist comedy spawned and twisted from reality. 

Matthew Perry's "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir"

What's terrible and tragic about Matthew Perry's tell all about his addiction to drugs and alcohol is that his clarion call for help didn't prevent his death. It was released in 2022 less than a year before he died from a drug overdose that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub. It is part bio, part celebrity anecdotes and a tribute to his relationships and experiences with FRIENDS. However, this reads as a devastating tale of the torment and self-destruction from addiction. Still, Perry's unflappable humor permeates his autobiography which makes the pain and suffering palatable. He writes as if speaking directly to you in confidence while outing his self-destructive behaviors and insatiable cravings for opioids, alcohol and nicotine. Reading his words knowing he has succumbed to his struggles with addiction shrouds his words with anguish. Addiction is difficult to understand. Many who have never suffered from addiction will ever fathom the challenges and nature of addiction. Perry's frank accounts of his twisted logic were eye-opening. "I never actually wanted to die. In fact, in the back of my mind I always had some semblance of hope. But, if dying was a consequence of getting to take the quantity of drugs I needed, then death was something I was going to have to accept. That's how skewed my thinking had become."  The onset of Perry's addiction was attributed to painkillers prescribed for him after an accident on the set of a movie. He describes his reaction while driving a sports car along the Pacific Ocean as "complete and utter euphoria. If this doesn't kill me, I'm doing this again." At age 14 when drinking wine with his pals who were puking up what they drank, he felt happy and at ease. These initial reactions elicited an insatiable desire to regain the initial sensation. Perry explains, "As the pill kicked in, something clicked in me. And it's been that click I've been chasing the rest of my life." The big terrible thing is this disease for people who "have a brain that wants them dead." writes Perry.  Furthermore, "This disease...the big horrible thing, Addiction, has ruined relationships. It's ruined the day-to-day process of being me." What gave Perry the most happiness was helping others achieve sobriety. Perry told us at the beginning of his memoir why he wrote it. If was meant for others who..."have all the information, and they understand the consequences-but they still can't stop drinking. You are not alone." Perry ends his memoir with a positive outlook for his future. But, in hindsight it feels more of an acknowledgement and apology to family, friends and lovers who were there for him.

I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL-What If You Received All Private Office Emails? Well?

Natalie Sue's comic novel about a shunned secretary in an office that is being downsized who is inadvertently receiving everyone's interoffice emails is the intoxicating premise to I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL (IHTFYW).  Our funny and ingratiating protagonist, Jolene, a single 30 something admin. assistant has a caustic wit that casts her an outlier and into her solitary cubicle amid a motley mix of characters. Jolene deals with her co-worker's slights by complaining in cutting postscript on emails/DMs never intended for her to  send. Of course, this doesn't end well for her. Jolene is assigned probation and tolerance training with the new personnel director, Cliff. The new IT guy makes a magical mistake which unknowingly directs everyone's emails/DM's to her computer. With this information Jolene is given insider information of an unexpected, upcoming layoff plan. With little else going on in her life except bingeing on booze and nature shows, Jolene becomes determined to turn her life around and use her knowledge to make herself invaluable. While she's at it, she plans havoc against those who've snubbed her. Jolene profits in the first quarter from her information. She also gained insight into problems plaguing other people at work. The info Jolene gleans about her work mates leads to some warm-hearted symbiotic relationships and reparations.  Outside the office Cliff and Jolene cross paths.  They decide to carpool which causes some romantic sparks and friction at the workplace. Other stories branch off outside the office and create some hilarious stumbling blocks. Jolene helps stage a faux engagement which her mother, to the overbearing mother's utter delight, learns about leading causing comical chaos.  There's a precocious pre-teen, Molly, that hovers outside Jolene's complex that everyone tries to ignore.  Molly adds a touching figure in the plot. Some plot lines not successful included the mother who blatantly lies to cover for a troubled son. Another involves an abusive relationship and there's an employee firing that goes distastefully awry.  However, (IHTFYW) hits its target goal. It does an excellent job of parodying a toxic work environment with humor. This proves to be a discernible office comedy where you're happy to see the leading lady get ahead. I recommend promoting this novel to your bedside reading table. 

Kay Jamison's Memoir AN UNQUIET MIND Living with BiPolar Disorder

AN UNQUIET MIND is Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, is a clinical writer and psychologist. Her work has centered around the study of bipolar disorder; a disorder she knows first hand. The writings and studies she has published have been fundamental to understanding and treating the illness which plagues nearly 3% of the population in the US and 46 million people worldwide. AN UNQUIET MIND is an honest and eloquent memoir that gives a valuable perspective on how Jamison has managed her life, thus a keen and empathetic view on how millions with the disorder cope and can best be treated, medically as well as socially, to live a full and  productive life.  Having already been proliferate with her published studies and books on the subject, her exacting memoir offers valuable insights that delve into the deep, dark crevices of suffering and the whirlwind euphoria that people experience while in the debilitating throes of mental In fact, my own curiosity and skepticism as to whether anyone not having this illness can truly comprehend what it's like drew me to reading this book. I was enlightened by Dr. Jamison sharing her  profound account of her trailblazing life. Even so, Dr. Jamison shares that she has faced professional doubts from peers and about her ability to treat patients with mental illness and her conundrums whether her studies would be tainted or biased. I concluded that building a better insight into this often maligned mental illness deemed by many as willful destructive behavior was always an ultimate objective for Dr. Jamison. She's maintained throughout that with monitored medical and psychological treatment, the disorder is manageable. Dr. Jamison's life of accomplishments, relationships and struggles is unremitting, unforgettable and invaluable to serving as a remarkable template for those navigating with a bipolar disorder and for those providing support to people living with this treatable but lifelong affliction. She credits individuals whose unwavering support enabled her to continue. Dr. Jamison also left me with her  intrinsic knowledge of her own illness. "I honestly believe that a a result of it I have felt more things, more deeply; had more experiences, more intensely; loved more, and been more loved; laughed more often having cried more often...And I think much of this is related to my illness-the intensity it gives to things and the perspective it forces on me." Those suffering with bipolar disease need to know that they're not alone in this. There is help and understanding the disorder is essential to providing help. 

Prose's THE MAID-Maid On the Spectrum Makes an Entertaing Mystery

Molly Gray is a stellar maid at a ritzy, cosmopolitan hotel. She's most at home when cleaning hotel rooms or tidying up the tiny apartment she shares with her beloved Granny. Molly is on the autism spectrum making it difficult for her to decipher social cues and or expressions not meant to be interpreted literally. Otherwise, Molly is very content with her cleaning trolly making hotel guest rooms immaculate. Sadly, after her grandmother dies Molly finds herself alone and in financial constraints. Her beau proved to be a "bad egg" and cleaned out their savings. Unfortunately, there are evil people who take advantage of people like Molly who are trusting and susceptible other's with malicious or disingenuous intent. Working at the hotel, she again falls for another bad egg and becomes an unwitting pawn in a drug ring where Molly gets  marked a prime suspect. The reader is aware of Molly's foibles and follies which render her endearing and incapable of committing a crime; least of all murder. Mayhem ensues after Molly is befriended by the glamorous, trophy wife of the filthy rich Mr. Black. Black is found dead in bed in a hotel room by Molly, now in over her head. Her precarious involvement lands her in jail accused of his murder.  Fortunately, for Molly her kindhearted demeanor and diligence at work have earned her friendships she didn't realize she could rely on for help. But, time is running out to prove Molly's innocence and find the real killer.  It's not the mystery that makes "The Maid" sparkle and delight. It's our distinctive heroine with peculiar traits that made THE MAID first rate. Even so, the novel is able to pull the wool over your eyes and surprise. It's gratifying to see goodness triumphant.  And, watch Molly develop a better sense of how the world really operates. Molly surmised, "We are all the same in different ways." She also concluded, "The longer you live, the more you learn. People are a mystery that can never be solved. Life has a way of sorting itself out. Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." This is a novel you can savor with a spot of tea. "A good cup of tea cures all ills. And if it doesn't, have another." 

  

Matt Haig's Novel "The Life Impossible"" Mirrors His Life with Depression

Matt Haig's latest novel, "The Life Impossible" is a sci-fi, environmental messaging story that is a guise for the author to exorcize his demons battling with depression. His non-fiction, "Reasons to Stay Alive," is a forthright, honest account of his dark days and pro-active steps he uses and suggests for others. In his charming novel, "Being Human," Haig uses an alien inhabiting a human. The alien's new experiences as a human delights him in simple pleasures to cherish which are overlooked and taken for granted. The use of an extra terrestrial is revisited by Haig in "Life" as an underwater energy source that bestows extra-sensory powers to someone deemed worthy of using its abilities for the benefit of mankind and who will  appreciate the boost to one's senses. This person is Grace, a retired teacher and widow. She and her husband suffered the loss of their adolescent son fatally struck while riding his bike. Grace harbors immense guilt blaming herself for permitting him to ride in the rain that day. Out-of-the-blue, Grace is bequeathed a home in Ibiza from a former acquaintance whom she hardly knew. With nothing tying her in the states, she views this unexpected inheritance as an adventure. but not a permanent move. Upon arriving, Grace is warned to avoid the local eccentric, Mauricio, the town's scuba instructor.  Despite the warnings she seeks him out and ventures on her first scuba-diving lesson. The last thing Grace recalls before waking in a hospital is a glowing light unfurling towards her. Mauricio is bedside and explains she aroused the alien who endowed her with supernatural abilities. He tells her, "The only thing I ask is that you leave a door open in your mind to possibility." However, sticking with the plot asks a lot. It becomes  water-logged in a far-fetched mystery and saturated in an addled, sappy mission to align locals in pushing  back against an evil developer to protect their natural habitats and indigenous animals. Grace's newfound heightened senses brings the world into a technicolor Neverland where she visits with her deceased son and husband and absolved of her guilt and remorse. Dispairingly, too much of the story gets shrouded in Grace's sorrows making the reader gasp for air. "I owed it to the world to feel awful, that had been my logic. And if I didn't owe it to the world, at the very least I owed it to my dead husband my dead child. I have believed that I was simply not meant to be happy."  Haig's mission in "The Life" veered from instilling an uplifting message. The novel is fathoms deep in depression. Grace realizes late in her wayward journey, "Life sings and blazes. Even when we are numb to it, when we hide from it, when it is too loud and painful to experience, when we aren't equipped to feel it-it is there waiting to be cherished," making this novel a struggle and impossible to appreciate.

Lisa Marie Presley/Riley Keough FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN-Memorable Melancholy Memoir

FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN consists of transcripts from Marie Presley (LM) tapes of her recollections that was co written by her daughter Riley Keough and published posthumously. Riley submits her reflections mirroring her mom's accounts which gives credence and gravitas to both their perspectives.. This melancholy memoir is a riveting and sobering look at the turbulence and loneliness of LM's childhood and her struggles as an adult. LM passed away in January of 2023 at the age of 54 preceded in death by the suicide of her son Ben at age 27. There are revelatory shocking descriptions of LM being sexually abused by one of Priscilla's boyfriends, her mother's downplaying of her accounts and reluctance to terminate their relationship. After LM's son killed himself, she kept his body on ice in her home for two months. She left her marriage to the father of Riley and Ben for Michael Jackson. And, although she doesn't delve into her marriage with Jackson she did say, "I was actually so happy. I've never been that happy again...I feel really, really lucky that he let me in. I fell in Leo with him because he was normal, just fucking normal." It was not possible for LM's life to be "normal" with such a famous father. A major take-away throughout is the strong bond and love between LM and her dad. Riley attests to her mom's love for Jackson. "She told me that no one ever came close to being like her dad apart from Michael." Her other 3 marriages, including a brief one to Nicholas Cage, did not receive much in the way of positive or negative feelings except for her first marriage to Danny Keough. "He's always, always been there for me. ...We shared every single family vacation together. We made it really great for them." LM's childhood is interwoven with happy times at Graceland with her cousins and friends. But, she felt torn away from her dad by her mom who she felt never wanted her. "My mom made me live with her again-but again I was miserable, so I was a terror. It was clear she didn't want me there." LM never focused in school and never graduated high school. For a time, LM lived in the Scientology's Celebrity Centre as a teen but gives little insight into this period.  After leaving the Centre LM began getting addicted to pills. LM speaks often of her deep love for her 4 children.  She shared, "I really had no prototype to follow growing up. I had no family life, no home life to be an example, ever. No stability." Kiley differed by saying, "From my point of view, we were a close, normal family." There were a solid two decades where our family felt very normal to me." The following lament by LM sums up the majority of her downcast life. "I don't know who I am-I never really got the chance to uncover my own identity. I didn't have a family. I didn't have a childhood." Though overwhelmingly LM had a despairing life filled with woe, it also shows adversity, grace and empathy to be gleaned from both mother and daughter.