"Mary Coin" by Marisa Silver draws its inspiration from Dortothea Lange's portrait "Migrant Mother". Silver builds up a whole fiction around the woman, whom she calls Mary Coin. It was sweet and sad, but I'm actually now interested in hearing the real story behind the woman in the photo.
"The Hundred Dresses" by Erin McKean was fun. Illustrated drawings with explanations and history behind 100 iconic styles. If I say "the Marilyn dress" or "the Dynasty dress", most people can conjure up in their mind exactly what I mean. It's amazing how these styles stick in our collective psyche like that. Beautiful drawings, too.
I read an Advanced Reader Copy of Cathy Lamb's latest, "If You Could See What I See". I didn't particularly care for it. I found her characters rather one dimensional, caricatures, if you will. There was the Scotch drinking, cigar smoking, tough lovin' Irish granny, the overseas supplier who doesn't understand English very well, etc., etc. The storyline was kind of silly, too: Meggie returns to Oregon after her disastrous marriage to a mentally ill man falls apart to help save her family's lingerie business. There was actually a scene where she had her employees discuss what bra they were wearing during important times in their lives, and people actually remembered these things. Um...okay. Anyway, it definitely wasn't my cup of tea.
"Book of Human Insects" by Osamu Tezuka was great. A graphic novel set in the 1970s, it's about a young woman who is basically a human leech: she attaches herself to talented people, steals off them, makes a name for herself in whatever field they're in, then moves on to the next victim, leaving the last person emotionally drained and naturally bitter. It was nicely done.
"Big Brother" by Lionel Shriver was very sad. Pandora is stunned when her older brother Edison comes to visit her and she discovers in the four years since she last saw him that he's gained over 200 pounds. Her health conscious husband can't stand having Edison in the house and her stepson makes fun of him behind his back. Pandora wants to help, but doesn't know what to do. In the second part of the book, she proposes that they move in together for a year, and she will be his diet coach. Edison agrees, and although they struggle, together, for one year, they both lose weight and Edison gets down to his previous size. Pandora then admits in the third part of the book that she made up the entire second part of the book (I actually kind of suspected as much, but I was really rooting for Edison because HE DID IT! as a serial dieter I can take great hope in someone else's amazing achievements). Edison went home after two months with her, got heavier, and died a few years later, fatter than ever. Pandora admits that her fantasy about actually being able to help Edison is just that: fantasy. No one can force someone to help themselves. Truth, sister. It was a fascinatingly epic look at our relationship with food, weight, and our own bodies that makes me think Shriver has battled some food demons of her own. If not, then wow, kudos to her for nailing it.
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