October 1, 2021
A Duff Cooper Prize winner for Becoming Dickens, Oxford English professor Douglas-Fairhurst argues that for Dickens the emotionally tumultuous year of 1851 was The Turning Point that singularly shaped his oeuvre. A professor of Aegean civilization at the University of Bologna, Ferrera moves from Mesopotamia and Crete to China, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond to chronicle The Greatest Invention--writing. In I Was Better Last Night, Fierstein talks about being a cultural icon, gay rights activist, and four-time Tony Award-winning actor and playwright. Emmy Award-winning writer Galloway, who created the Reporter's famed Oscar Roundtables, revisits Madly in love Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, among the first global celebrities (75,000-copy first printing). In Keats, British literary critic Miller uses verse and epitaph, e.g., "Endymion," "Bright Star," to explore the life of the English Romantic and present him less as dreamer than subversive. In a book structured as a series of letters to her book-loving father, Nafisi urges us to Read Dangerously, addressing literature as both solace and subversive power that can challenge repressive politics; originally scheduled for August 2021 (75,000-copy first printing). Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director, and actor Polley offers six essays capturing moments of her life, from stage fright to risky childbirth to healing herself after traumatic injury by retraining her mind to Run Towards the Danger, i.e., the very things that triggered her recurrent symptoms. The creator of The Good Place and cocreator of Parks and Recreation, Schur offers How To Be Perfect as a laugh-out-loud guide to living not the good life but the better life (200,000-copy first printing). Lead singer of the Ronettes--remember Be My Baby?--Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Spector recounts professional collaboration with and marriage to Phil Spector, then fighting to reclaim her musical legacy and her life (75,000-copy first printing).
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2022
The actor and playwright looks back on his pioneering path. Born in 1952 in Brooklyn, Fierstein writes that he "always stood out in a crowd." Whether this was due to his frequent wisecracks or his sneaking off to his parents' bathroom at age 7 to apply his mother's makeup, this personal history movingly charts the author's journey as a playwright and actor. Not content to revel in the success of his most famous roles on Broadway, Fierstein also gives insightful, unflinching glimpses into his artistic development and creative process. Among the strongest sections are the author's revelations about the evolution of his beloved Torch Song Trilogy, "proof of [the LGBTQ] community's] struggle and a road map for how we got here." Fierstein is a pleasant guide throughout, glossing over his role in countless firsts--"first openly gay actor to play an openly gay lead in a Broadway show" and "first openly gay actor to play an openly gay role on a sitcom"--as he shares his personal, professional, and creative highs and lows. The author is particularly strong when he writes about his feelings of abandonment during the AIDS crisis of the early 1980s. In stark yet passionate sections, he evokes the fear as well as the deep kinship that arose in his community during this time, though he is unsparing in many of his assessments. "I have never been able to shake the feeling that the heterosexual community at large let us die," he writes. "They wished us well, then turned their backs, issuing sighs of relief that they had nothing to worry about." Despite Fierstein's somberness when appropriate, he also excels at showcasing his quick wit. Interspersed with his creative and artistic journeys are hilarious stories of his encounters with celebrities including Matthew Broderick, Estelle Getty, and Robin Williams. It all adds up to an encapsulation of Fierstein's philosophy that there is "no such thing as having lived too much." A poignant, clever, and entertaining look at an impressive, unique career.
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January 24, 2022
Fierstein, author and star of the Broadway hit Torch Song Trilogy, looks back on his show-biz travails and the struggle for gay rights in this raucous debut memoir. He recaps his parts in theater, movies, and TV—from an early turn as an asthmatic, coprophiliac, lesbian maid in Andy Warhol’s Pork to a portrayal of Congresswoman Bella Abzug—and his playwrighting achievements in groundbreaking gay-themed blockbusters like Torch Song and the musical La Cage aux Folles. Along the way, Fierstein spotlights celebrity japes—he threatened to crush comedian Jon Stewart’s genitalia in a movie scene but praised singer-songwriter James Taylor’s endowment when they shared a hot tub—as well as lurid episodes from New York’s gay demimonde of the 1970s and ’80s, and a bout with alcoholism that ended with a suicide attempt. Readers will appreciate his blunt takes on anti-gay discrimination in matters small (“Why do the straight guys always get laid in movies while the gay characters almost never do?”) and large (“The heterosexual community... let us die,” he writes of the AIDS crisis, “issuing sighs of relief that they had nothing to worry about”). Defined by a campy yet bittersweet comic sensibility, Fierstein’s vivid writing about the pratfalls, exhilaration, and painstaking craft of a life in theater beguiles. Photos.
Starred review from January 1, 2022
In this richly detailed book, award-winning playwright and actor Fierstein tells his life story, from growing up in Brooklyn to finding success and adulation in the theater world. Fierstein discusses working in experimental theater and Broadway and off-Broadway musicals. He wrote the Tony-winning Torch Song Trilogy and starred in and wrote the book for La Cage Aux Folles--he notes that both of these works broke barriers for gay representation in theater. Fierstein also recounts performing in Hairspray and Fiddler on the Roof and cowriting the hit Kinky Boots. He shares his experiences of coming out and dealing with homophobia in the media. His memoir is filled with evocative characters and scenes, and his wit and way with dialogue shine. Among the book's most poignant moments is Fierstein's memory of watching a 2017 revival of Torch Song Trilogy; he reflects with surprise that its topics, which were revolutionary and almost radical when the show debuted (e.g., drag; gay relationships), have since become far more accepted, even commonplace, in mainstream culture. VERDICT Written with verve and enthusiasm, Fierstein's memoir will be a must-read for his fans and for theater lovers and anyone who appreciates pop culture.--James Collins
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