Book Review: American Mermaid

 By Julia Langbein

• Pub Date: 2023

• Genre: Fantasy

• Where I bought this book: The Bookshelf, Cincinnati 

• Why I bought this book: Hey, I like the idea of mermaids  

 *****

    This debut novel is an uneven book, wonderful in some places, confusing and unfocused in others. At one point, I found myself identifying with a character who was "still struggling to follow" what is going on.

    The author has a varied biography that includes a doctorate in history, a stretch as a standup comedienne, and a food, art, comic book and blog writer. It might explain her wobbly style.

    Langbein loves her metaphors and similes, offering us the good, (a restaurant in a "faux Teutonic Tudor hut ... [that] looks like something Hitler build for Donald Duck"), the bad (people singing along in a room with speakers on a high ceiling as "Whitney Houston's lush vibrato pours down into the bad coffee of our voices like heavy cream"), and the ugly (an oyster dish that was "filling my mouth with the taste of original Pringles and jizz.")

    Even the author of the book's blurb seemed to have trouble capturing the essence of the tale, claiming "Hollywood insists she convert her fierce, androgynous protagonist into a teen sex object in a clamshell bra." The studio writers wanted to make a lot of changes, but that wasn't one of them.

    And that brings up that root of the novel's structure: It a novel about a novel being turned into a bad movie, and the plots merge and separate and merge again on nonparallel tracks.

    The basic story is that English teacher Penelope Schleeman's debut novel, American Mermaid, becomes a best seller, and Hollywood wants to make it a major motion picture. The advances allow Schleeman to quit her teaching job (which she claims to love), and move to Los Angeles to become a consultant on the script.

    So the book intertwines stories of Schleeman's life, chapters from her book, and the behind the scenes drama of writing a movie. There are other characters, some from real-life, others no doubt based on real-life people, and others who are solely from Langbein's imaginations. Some of the characters from the book's book mirror those of Langbein's novel, others are from Schleeman's past life as a teacher and others from her new life as a movie person. Some come out of nowhere, and disappear as quickly. Their purposes are obscure.

    Somewhere in American Mermaid is a good story warning about the power of billionaires, global warming, and the impact it may have on mermaids. But it's hard to find amidst the wandering subplots and fusion of characters. It's all very confusing, and Langbein's writing ultimately fails to carry it along. 

Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

 

•  Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Where I bought this book: The Book Loft, Columbus, Ohio 

• Why I bought this book: I read another book by the author, and my daughter recommended this one

*******

    The faux oral history style is a wonderful way to tell this story. It was like reading a long, detailed magazine article about a defining moment in the history of rock and roll. A friend of mine said after reading the book, she googled the band to learn more about it.

 

    Yep, it seems that real.

    Of course, it's nothing of the sort; rather it is the imaginings of a creative mind who took a tale and ran with it.

    Part of the fun of the book is trying to figure who, if anyone, the characters are based on. Daisy, of course, has shades of Janis Joplin in her soul. But Billy Dunne, the founder and lead singer of The Six? Well, I am far from being an expert in the history of '70s rock, but every time I thought of someone he might resemble, I shook my head and moved on. Maybe a little? I thought. But whom am I leaving out, if not most of the era's rock stars?

    So I took the tale as it was, an overview of a band that started slow, pulsed and throbbed for a while before it hit the big time, and then moved on. It's a good story, done well. The almost realism gives it a special glow.

    Of course, the tale of a big-time rock band leaves little out of the mixture: drugs abound, talent and fragile egos go hand-in-hand, a rock-solid spouse holds things together. But morals come into play -- deep down, despite their problems and failings and weakness, these are generally good people.

Book Review: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abbi Waxman

This is not the type of book I would normally read. If it were a movie, critics would dub it a "rom-com."

But I liked it. It was funny. Sometimes laugh out loud funny.

Yeah, it was a bit corny in parts. Some plot lines mysteriously vanished. And the deus ex machina was hard at work. Still, it was a light, easy, and enjoyable read. Did I mention it was funny?

The book's description caught my eye:

"The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: A job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by. They are all -- or mostly all -- excited to meet her. She will have to Speak. To. Strangers."

Okay, it sort of overstates Nina's being an introvert. But it sounded like someone I could identify with.

So give it a whirl. You shan't be disappointed.