Cover to Cover continued from page 9 because she’s trying to be a good mum, though she’d rather wallow in bed and eat ice cream. This novel made me laugh out loud, and I often smiled while I read. I declare it to be v.v. good.
along? How did ABC’s Good Morning America come to break NBC’s longtime winning streak? The best part of the book reports on “Operation Bambi,” which reportedly was the code name for the plan to fire Curry. There also are chapters on the rise of GMA, the genesis of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and the struggles at CBS. Stelter’s writing is a little bumpy, but media wonks will revel in the juicy details.
Kansas City. Chuck Haddix (host of KCUR 89.3’s Fish Fry and director of the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri–Kansas City) tells lively stores about the saxophonist, who was known for his brilliant playing but also for his drug and alcohol abuse. Parker often disappeared before gigs to search out heroin. Having gone into withdrawal while traveling cross-country, he wandered off a train in the middle of the desert to look for a score. Among the fascinations in Haddix’s book are the details he includes about Kansas City’s history, including where Parker went to school and how he started playing music — and, of course, where the city’s hopping nightclubs were in 1951. Haddix lovingly describes Parker’s compositions and performances, making this a fine gift for a jazz fan.
Best Jane Austen Fan Fiction Longbourn By Jo Baker
Best Reporting on a Hurricane
It has become a cliché to love Jane Austen, and many writers try to imitate her style. Longbourn is one of the few pieces of fan fiction that’s worthwhile. It retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of the servants, and it makes the Bennet home come alive. I felt as if I actually lived in the same house as Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters. The story is told mostly by Sarah, a housemaid who has worked there since she was orphaned. We get glimpses of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, but the “downstairs” plot stays focused on the lives of the servants. Plus, you learn a few secrets about the family that not even Miss Austen knew.
NON FICTION
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital By Sheri Fink This is a devastating account of what happened at a hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. After the storm, Memorial Medical Center was flooded and lost power, stranding a large staff and nearly 200 patients, some of whom needed ventilators to breathe. Rescue operations were slow due to communication breakdowns, a lack of emergency preparedness, and massive failures of both the hospital’s owner and the government. The staff said it was like a war zone. On the third day after the hurricane, some patients with slim chances of survival were administered drugs to help them die. Some called it euthanasia; others called it a necessary decision during an extreme disaster. This book is gripping and emotional, even requiring breaks to come up for air.
Best Gossip About TV News
Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV By Brian Stelter I worked in a newsroom for more than 10 years, so I read this for its behind-the-scenes stories of what happened at NBC’s Today show. Why was Ann Curry replaced as cohost? Did she and Matt Lauer really not get 10
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december 19-26, 2013
M E MOIR Best Book About Pop Culture
The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever By Alan Sepinwall This book covers the beloved dramas that Sepinwall says ushered in a new golden age of TV: The Wire, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mad Men, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Oz, The Shield, 24 and Breaking Bad. Sepinwall gives the history of each show, interviewing the creators and network executives to describe how each found its way to air, along with details about the production process and what made the shows great. A key point he makes is that dramas have recently flourished on television partly because the motion-picture industry has all but abandoned them. As Sopranos creator David Chase puts it: “Movies went from something really interesting to what we have now.” This book compelled me to rewatch shows I hadn’t looked at in years, and drew me to some I hadn’t yet seen.
Best Book Written by a Woman Who Should Be My BFF Best Biography of a Kansas City Jazz Legend Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker By Chuck Haddix
This is a marvelous biography about Charlie “Bird” Parker, who was born and raised in
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tion gathers her favorite of those pieces, with topics including her dog, her grandmother, a Catholic education, opera, censorship, solitude, bookstores (Patchett owns one), floods, Christmas, applying to be a police officer, and driving a Winnebago around the American West. My favorite is “The Getaway Car,” in which she lays out how she started writing and gives advice for anyone who wants to do the same. And in the memorable title essay, she discusses why her first marriage ended in divorce and how she came to be happily married to her second husband. Reading this book is like having a good chat with your wisest, most clever friend.
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage By Ann Patchett Before becoming a best-selling novelist (Bel Canto, State of Wonder), Ann Patchett made a living writing magazine essays. This collec-
Best Memoir by a Goonie Coreyography: A Memoir By Corey Feldman
Growing up with 1980s movies, I loved The Goonies, Stand By Me and even campy, campy The Lost Boys. What I didn’t know back then was that Corey Feldman, who appears in those three pictures, was enduring a hellish personal life. This memoir describes how his parents abused and neglected him, how their drug habits ate up his paychecks, and how he was molested by older men. Feldman charges that pedophilia is a serious problem in the entertainment business, and he mourns his longtime friend and fellow actor Corey Haim as one of its victims. To escape, Feldman started using drugs and misbehaving. Now,