Disasterama! By Alvin Orloff. Three Rooms Press, 2019

Orloff’s memoir takes us through the late 70s, 80s and 90s club scene in San Francisco. In 1977 he took a bus to Polk Street, and his adventure began. While much of the first part of the story is about relentlessly cruising for sex, whether it be in bars, parks, or bathrooms, there is more to it. There is endless dancing (it was, after all, the disco era), a lot of humor, parties, fashion (both high and vintage), a deep knowledge of old movies, Broardway, and Art Deco, and, above all, irony. While he was a very shy person, he performed with the Popstitutes and Klubstitute before becoming a deejay. He is open about his time spent as a sex worker and as a stripper. He comes across as a genuinely kind person. Then AIDS hit. No one knew where it came from, or what it would do. People were dying, right and left. Friends and lovers were lost. A way of life came to a close as the landscape became grim. This part of the story is difficult to read, but the author is so easy to read that I was engaged just as much as in the times that were more fun. The book is absorbing and humorous; I stayed up nights reading it. There are some marvelous photos and posters from the club years, too.

Burn the Place: A Memoir, by Iliana Regan. Midway Books, 2019

Iliana Regan is the owner of the Michelin Star restaurant “Elizabeth”, named for her sister who died in a jail holding cell. She was exposed to food a lot as a child- they lived on a farm and grew, foraged, baked, and preserved most of their food, but until the point her mother rebelled at having to do all that and they moved to a city. Oh, and they also helped out in Regan’s grandmother’s restaurant, too. Little wonder her mother got exhausted! But Regan loved working with food. When she grew up, she worked for other restaurant and worked in every station, learning the ropes inside and out. For a while, she ran a small restaurant out of her home, foraging the daily ingredients right in the city.



But the book isn’t all about her incredible food talent. As a child she struggled with gender identity. She also had a problem with alcoholism and addiction. She could not sustain a relationship. She was working in a male dominated profession. Being a lesbian didn’t make her any more acceptable. She battled all these things and came out a winner. She’s been married to Anna for several years now, and running a restaurant and a Japanese inspired pub.



The book was a little hard to read. While divided into four parts, the story is all over the place, in the present at one point and then skewing into the past. The writing is raw and blunt- descriptions of slaughtering animals, rampant drug taking, and alcohol binges. But it has something that held me. I do wish I’d learned some about her process of recipe creation; one of the most compelling things is that even as a small child she had a connection with food- when it was ripe, how to combine it, how to serve it up. She has an almost mystical connection with the earth and its edibles. Four stars.

Fashion Climbing: A Memoir with Photographs, by Bill Cunningham. Penguin Press, 2018

Born during the Depression to an Irish-American family with conservative values, Bill Cunningham’s penchant for fancy clothes and beautiful décor was discouraged- discouraged to the point of receiving a brutal beating when his mother caught four year old Bill wearing his sister’s organdy party dress. His interest- passion- couldn’t be kept down, however, and he devoted his entire life to fashion in one way or another. He worked in boutiques as a teen, became a sought-after hat designer in the 50s (who was put out of business by the fact that, come the 60s, no one was wearing hats anymore), crashed every high-profile party, became an on-the-scene fashion photographer- working for the New York Times at one point, and basically celebrated the beautiful. More than fashion, he was interested in style- the clothes and the hats and the jewels had to be worn with originality and elan.

The manuscript for ‘Fashion Climbing’ was found, neatly typewritten and put away, after his death. The memoir covers the years before he became a photographer. Even though he had his share of starving times he was always cheerful and greeted the world as a place of delight. He wasn’t all sweetness and light, though; parts of the last chapter ‘On Taste’ where he makes it clear that most women don’t have style, and that to carry of wearing high fashion one needs not just great posture and manners but ‘generations of good breeding’; after all, one ‘can’t slipcover a pig and expect it not to grunt’. Oddly, this opinion is in the same paragraph where he tells us that one of the day’s most elegant women was a prostitute not long before!

It’s a short book and a fast read, interesting to someone who loves fashion history. A number of black and white pictures (more would have been great!), of Cunningham and various fashionable women- these are not fashion show shots. Four stars.

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review. This did not influence my opinions. 

Little Panic, by Amanda Stern. Grand Central Publishing, 2018

At 25, Amanda Stern was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. This, after going through stress hell growing up, being wrongly diagnosed with a learning disorder, worrying that her mother would die if she didn’t keep an eye on her, and worrying that the world would fall apart at any second. Her life up until diagnosis and treatment was basically one long panic attack.

Shifting between childhood and being an adult, Stern tells a story that is hard to read. As someone with an anxiety disorder myself, I found myself going “Yes, yes, that’s how it was growing up” frequently. She had it much harder than I, though; I was able to lose the anxiety for periods, where I’m not sure she ever could. As if she didn’t have enough things to fear as a child, a boy vanished from her neighborhood when she was young, proving that horrible things did, indeed, happen to kids. Her mother had some kind of chronic illness that kept her in bed a lot and required lots of bottles of pills, and her father was remote, so even though her step-father was fairly attentive and caring Amanda’s illness sort of stayed under the radar as long as she wasn’t in trouble at school. Intelligent and articulate, Amanda has been able to have a career as an author of children’s books, which was a relief to read, as I found myself wondering how someone this crippled with panic could hold a job!

Stern has a sense of humor that she looks at the past through, which makes her story a little easier to read than it could have been. I do think the story could have been edited down some- it does drag in some places. It is the details, though, that make her story come to life. I appreciated reading a book that illuminated a lot of the things I’ve gone through in my own life! Four stars.

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine Program in return for an unbiased review. This did not influence my review. 

Muddy Boots and Red Socks: A Reporter’s Life, by Malcolm W. Browne. Times Books, 1993

Malcolm Wilde Browne (Wilde because his grandmother was Oscar Wilde’s cousin) was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who covered wars all over, starting in Korea, and thence to Viet Nam (for which he won said Pulitzer), and then to the Middle East. War wasn’t all he covered, though; among other things, he was the editor of Discover magazine for a while. Along with being a memoir, political and philosophical musings are included- some I agreed with, some very much not.

Malcolm was a proponent of the type of journalism that got right into a situation instead of sitting back and being told what was acceptable to print, hence the ‘muddy boots’. In his quest for the truth, he ended up in three plane crashes, a lot of gun fire, and numerous tight situations. Because of his close ties to the Buddhist community in Viet Nam, he was on hand the day the monk doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. The resulting photos of the burning monk shocked the world. The American leaders did not think much of his reporting as he pointed out the ways American ‘aide’ was hurting Viet Nam. AP was impressed, though, he was *the* reporter for them during this time.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if I’d find a memoir about war journalism engrossing. After I was given the book (a dear friend gave me the book when I blogged about Malcolm dying; he was my cousin whom I’d only met once, when I was a teen) I’d dipped into it many times- mainly for his family and personal life- but never read it front to back. I finally did so and found it was as gripping as any novel. His writing flows and draws you along; I found it un-put-downable. I know more about my cousin now, and just as much more about the politics of war. Five stars. 

the above is an affiliate link. IF you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. This did not influence my review. 

I won't claim that my review is unbiased, though. I mean, he was family! 

Mother American Night: My Life in Crazy Times, by John Perry Barlow, with Robert Greenfield. Crown Archetype, 2018

The recently deceased author had a really colorful life. He seems to have known everyone and done everything. Born to a cattle ranching family that was powerful in Wyoming politics, he went to school with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and later went on to write lyrics for the band. He mentored JFK Jr., and was campaign manager for Dick Cheney. Yes, he was an acid loving, alcoholic, Republican. The cognitive dissonance is still rippling in my head. Later he became a computer hacker and cofounded the Electronic Freedom Foundation, well as writing a book that was basically an ad for Steve Jobs and Apple. He hung at Andy Warhol’s Factory and dated the Dalai Llama’s sister. I’d have thought it was all bullshit, but the people involved say his life really was like that.

All was not sweetness and adventure. As I said, he was an alcoholic. He smoked three packs a day, was a coke dealer, cheated on women, and took off with a $5000 advance for a book he never wrote. He did some of the stupidest things with his health and safety; it’s a miracle he lived as long as he did. One thing his life never was, was dull. And he tells his story in short chapters, as if he was telling them over drinks. At least in the first half of the book; somewhere near the end he sort of … slows down. Given that he was in failing health, I suspect that he just ran out of energy for telling. The prose in the latter part of the book even has a different voice to it, as if the first part was Barlow telling it in full, while the co-author had to fill in a lot in the end. A truly amusing book- I figured I wouldn’t be impressed by the man, but I was. Four and a half stars.

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received this book from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review. 

Neither of these things influenced my review. 

Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality, by Sarah McBride. Crown Archetype, 2018

Sarah McBride is the woman who was the first trans person to speak at a national political convention in 2016. She was only 26 at the time, but had lived a life packed with more events than many people get in a long life time.

Obsessed with politics since she was a child, she was student body president in college as well as being head of the student newspaper. She had worked on campaigns for local politicians already at this time. When she came out, she was lucky; her family was supportive (although shocked, and grieved the loss of their son for a while before realizing she was still the same person), the student body was supportive, and the politicians she knew were supportive. While it was by no means easy, she managed to avoid a lot of the problems some other trans people suffer- violence, loss of friends or family. And she is very aware of how lucky she is!

As soon as she was out of college, she began working in politics. There she met Andy Cray, a trans man who also worked in politics. They fell in love, and planned to make a life together. Then he was diagnosed with a fast moving cancer. After enduring grueling treatments, he died just four days after they were married.

McBride’s story is both inspiring and heart breaking. While this is her personal story, there is much of politics and trans issues in here, as well as basic LGBTQ rights. It’s a very informative book as to what LGBTQ people have to go through, how much they have gained legally and how far there is to go to achieve full equality. The book is well written- the author does a lot of writing professionally- and easy to read- the legal and political parts blend seamlessly with her personal life and do not bog the story down. I hope she has a long and happy life from here on out- one thing I’m sure of is that it will be a busy life!

Odd Girl Out: My Extraordinary Autistic Life, by Laura James. Seal Press, 2018

After wondering all her life why she seemed different from other people, in her mid-forties Laura James was diagnosed with both Ehlers-Danlos and Asperger’s (and I suspect she may have synesthesia, too, although she doesn’t say so). Over the course of a year, she learns all she can about these disorders, and things start making sense to her- and to her husband. It’s not that she’s been a failure- she was highly successful, with four children and a career as a journalist. But there had always been situations that caused extreme discomfort, sometimes even leading to a meltdown.  Crowds, uncomfortable clothing, sensory overload- even some colors- are all things she tries to avoid.

Highly intelligent, she and her second husband created a life that allowed her to succeed and still be protected from things that stressed her. Getting her diagnosis explained so much about her, but she’d already gone a long way towards accommodating her problem. The diagnosis meant she could find out how other people dealt with having autism and allowed her to be in contact with people who faced the same problems.

The book follows her over a little over a year’s time, with sections of current time alternating with her past. It’s a really interesting read, but I could never quite get invested in her story. There is a dryness to her prose that seemed somehow stand-offish, even though she talks about some really painful events. Perhaps part of being autistic, perhaps part of being a journalist, used to presenting facts. A four star read; I recommend it to anyone with a person with autism in their circle, because it might really help them to understand that person. 

The above is an affiliate link; if you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review.

Neither of these things influenced my review.

It’s Not Dark Yet: A Memoir, by Simon Fitzmaurice. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017

Simon Fitzmaurice was only 33 when he was given a diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease, motor neuron disease) and given four years to live. A filmmaker with a young family, he wasn’t about to just sit and give up. In 2010, the muscles that allowed him to breathe failed, and he was advised to just die quietly. He opted, against medical opinion, to go on a ventilator. Since then, he has sired more children, written and directed a movie, and written this autobiography, along with, of course, being a father and husband every day. Not exactly a waste of resources!

The book is short and a fast read (less than two hours), but it’s not lightweight. It’s very heavy. This horrible disease has stolen so much from Fitzmaurice, but he lives every day to the fullest. He communicates via an eye glance computer, which turns his eye movements into a voice. His family is 100% supportive. He has a lot to live for and a lot of things he wants to get done. It’s pretty inspirational. Four stars out of five. 

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. 

Neither of these things affected my review. 

In the Days of Rain: A Daughter, a Father, a Cult, by Rebecca Stott. Spiegel & Grau, 2017

Rebecca Stott was born into a cult. So was her father. He was a high ranking official in the church called the Exclusive Brethren. An End of Times cult, they felt they had to purify themselves so they would be bodily taken up when the Rapture occurred. The rules became more restrictive through the years; not only did they restrict all information sources to the Bible and their own publications, but they limited contact with outsiders to almost nothing. Women were to be seen and not heard. Then they started attacking their own members, trying to force confessions of sin from them; they removed the victim’s family members from the house and isolated them. Some committed suicide. Businesses and jobs were lost.

Growing up in this cult, Stott lived a life of fear, which seems to have been common among members. Fear that she could not live up to the strict standards of the cult- which of course she equated with the strict standards of God. But when things got too bad (the church leader, J.T. Junior, who was instituting all these rules, emerged as an alcoholic and blatant womanizer, going so far as to be fondling women’s breasts in front of others), her father broke with the church. He was the last member to have been allowed to go to college and had read ‘worldly’ books. Sadly, his education did not save him from folly; he became a chronic gambler and womanizer and left his wife trying to provide for the family.

The idea for the book began when her father, Roger, found out he was dying. He wanted help in finishing his autobiography, which he had started years before. Rebecca set out to record their talking sessions, and found that while he could talk about his early life, her father could not get past the years when he, as part of the Brethren, had led interrogations of members. Something in his mind could never get past what he had done, no matter how he tried to reconcile the person who had done that with the person who had sought to do the right thing.

One part of the book tells us about the Brethren movement itself; another about her family’s part in it. Then there is her father’s life; and then her own, as she sought to outgrow the philosophy she’d grown up with. While a lot of the writing is very good, it is in places disjointed, switching between her father’s life and hers. I found myself confused in places. I also found myself getting bored with the details of the Brethren’s history. While I feel this book is important to understanding how cults work and how people become coerced and dependent in them, I feel it could have used a lot more editing. 3.5 stars out of five. 

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

This book was given to me free by the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review. 

Neither of these things influenced my review.