Review of Mr. Personality: Profiles and Talk Pieces from The New Yorker (Paperback)

Mark Singer is a writer for The New Yorker magazine and collected here are 25 relatively short (2-3 pages) "Talk of the Town" pieces as well as 8 much longer "Profiles" written by him during the 1970s and `80s. The Talk articles are quirky human interest stories that spotlight unusual characters in and about the 5 boroughs of New York City: a group of handball players from Brooklyn, a street musician in Manhattan, a fruit seller named Tomato Bob, a "found objects" sculptor in SoHo. The Profiles are of the same mold, but are more leisurely developed and expansive. These include essays on the comic writer Goodman Ace, an art dealer named Graham Arader, a group of "court buffs" who as a hobby attend trials at the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, and the Brennan brothers who are luxury apartment superintendents. Singer's style is light and humorous, and his goal is to entertain as well as to inform. If you want an inkling on why The New Yorker is often considered America's best-ever periodical, reading this collection of Mark Singer articles will help you get one. Most enjoyable.



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Review of A Strong West Wind: A Memoir (Paperback)

Having my own roots firmly ensconced in the barren desolation of the Texas panhandle, I seemed drawn like a magnet to this book. When I picked it up and read that the author was of the same age as I, putting it down was no longer an option. Driven to see how this neighboring girl of the thriving metropolis of Amarillo (my childhood was of a more pastoral ranch setting) viewed her early life on the southern plains pushed my interest beyond the level of resistance.

What I found inside A STRONG WEST WIND by Gail Caldwell was an astonishing array of similarities to my own early existence, yet creating polar opposite results in later years. Caldwell's early cognizance of life in the panhandle mirrored my own on so many levels; both having a deep love of books, considering in some innate way our own domicile to be the center of the universe, an unquestioning admiration for our fathers, an upbringing deeply rooted in faith; and yet, despite these similarities, our own personal end results of world views hold gaping divergence.

I was at once, saddened by this book; that Caldwell would deviate so far from her conservative upbringing to embrace such things as war protests and the women's movement; and simultaneously touched by her visions of life and the poignancy of her perspectives. This is illustrative proof that personal discernment is in no way predicated on circumstantial similarity.

Though our views of the world are as far removed as is imaginable, I felt a kinship to the author and must admit with clarity that she is a brilliant and poetic writer. It has been thousands upon thousands of printed pages since I have found a wordsmith whose prose flowed with such emotion and fluidity. Political and social differences aside, it would be disingenuous of me and I would be failing to accurately represent this book if I did not give it the 5 stars it deserves.




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