Summer at Tiffany

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Published:  2007 by Avon

Source:  Purchased

Do you remember the best summer of your life?

     So begins this wonderful memoir of an era that could easily be viewed as the best of times and the worst of times (apologies to Charles Dickens).

     It is 1945.  At the end of their school year at the University of Iowa, Marjorie Jacobson and her closest friend, Marty Garrett, head to New York City for the summer with high hopes.  Some of their sorority sisters have landed coveted jobs at the big department stores, and the girls want to join their ranks.  Turned away from them all ("Come back in the fall" they are told), in a very bold move they decide to call at Tiffany, one of the hallmarks of luxury then as now. 

     Thanks to the still-ongoing war in the Pacific, young men are scarce for filling positions, and the girls are hired as pages for the store's sales floor.  It is not the most glamourous job, but for Marjorie and Marty it is the opportunity of a lifetime.  They are provided dresses from Bonwit Teller (one of those much admired department stores) as uniforms, at times act as models of the jewelry in the showroom, and catch glimpses of celebrities.

     Outside of work, the girls have an active social life; their apartment in the city is party central for their sorority sisters coming in for the weekend from the outer boroughs.  And they meet new people as well that have the potential to change the course of their lives.  Marjorie, an aspiring cellist, meets a Yale music professor at the home of the girls' landlady who encourages her musical ambitions; and she meets a Navy sailor, Jim, who might be more than just a summer acquaintance.  

    

     What I truly loved about this book is that it re-created the time and the place so well.  I often say that I was born in the wrong decade and would love to go back in time to live in the 1940s and this book put me back there.  The innocence of these 20 year old girls -- "Good Night!" "Judas Priest!" "Oh my gosh!" were the harshest phrases coming out of their mouths -- and the simplicity of the era (despite the war raging overseas) is just wonderful to experience.  It's also entertaining to see how much prices and the value of money have changed over the years -- who wouldn't grab a dozen etched cocktail glasses from Tiffany for $12 these days?

     I also loved the element of suspense contained in the memoir -- at the end I found myself exclaiming "NO!" out loud, totally surprised at the outcome.

     Highly recommended.

 



The Most Beautiful Walk in the World

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World:  A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter

Published:  2011 by Harper Perennial

Source:  Received from the publisher for review

Paris belongs to its piétons – the pedestrians



   Regular readers of this blog, tell me:  is there any doubt as to what I think of this book?

   It's about Paris.  About walking in Paris.  About viewing the history of Paris on these walks through the eyes of some of the writers and other cultural luminaries who made their mark in the city:  Hemingway, Picasso, Sylvia Beach, to name just a few.  It's a book written by a Parisian resident who,  I think because he is not a native of the city,  still has a bit of the tourist in him to be able to express his wide-eyed admiration of the city and all that has happened to it.
 
  That's not to say that the book is all sunshine and roses about the city -- Baxter describes a few incidents typical of life probably anywhere, but for me, since they take place in PARIS, they seem so much more bearable. 

  Although not really a travel guide, for those interested in visiting Paris for the first or fortieth time is full of information disguised as narratives that would only enhance the experience;   my copy is covered in Post-It flags and highlighted throughout so that WHEN I can plan my next trip I will have new resources available to me.  Even for the armchair traveller, though, this book is simply a wonderful escape into one of the world's great cities.

  Highly recommended. 

  I also recommend another John Baxter memoir set in Paris:  Immoveable Feast:  A Paris Christmas; an account of his attempt to prepare a traditional French Christmas meal for his French in-laws.  A wonderful holiday read.

My Year with Eleanor

My Year with Eleanor:  A memoir by Noelle Hancock

Published:  2011 by Ecco

Source:  Received from publisher for review as part of the TLC Book Tour

  Yes, this is another "project" memoir.  After losing her job as an entertainment blogger, Noelle Hancock is unsure of her future; however at her local coffee shop she sees a quote on the wall that inspires her:

"Do one thing every day that scares you."  Eleanor Roosevelt

As she is about to turn 29, Hancock takes it upon herself to follow Mrs. Roosevelt's advice and create a "Year of Fear" before her 30th birthday. 

  Most of the book details the "big" things Hancock did that scared her -- trapeze lessons and skydiving, for example -- but throughout we see her growth as a person as she deals with less glamorous issues like her dependence on sleep medication and the status of her relationship with her boyfriend.  And as it becomes clear to her -- and to me -- that scary things aren't always big things, she also makes important realizations about what it means to conquer a fear-inducing feat:

"If I could take this kind of risk maybe then, if I had a chance to make a difference in someone's life someday, I'd have the courage to do it."

"The scariest thing I'd done in my life so far turned out not to be all that scary - fun even.  It made me wonder what else I was missing out on.  Also, what other things in my life was I unnecessarily wasting time and energy worrying about?"

  At first I thought this book was going to be shallow - I blame my preconceived notions of the writing style and interests of an entertainment blogger.  However I was pleasantly surprised by Ms. Hancock's account of her exploits and by the inspiration she took from Eleanor Roosevelt's life.  Most books I read usually lead me to add one or two more books to my to-read list, and this one is no exception, as I do want to read more about Mrs. Roosevelt myself.  And in addition to the quote that started Hancock on this journey, I have several other quotes (including the two noted above) that I hope to use as motivation myself to attempt at least some of those things that scare me.

Highly recommended.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour of this book:

Monday, July 11: Book Reviews by Molly
Tuesday, July 12: Bibliosue
Wednesday, July 13: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Thursday, July 14: Melody & Words
Tuesday, July 19: Scandalous Women
Wednesday, July 20: Unabridged Chick
Monday, July 25: One Book Shy
Tuesday, August 2: “That’s Swell!”
Wednesday, August 3: The Book Chick
Thursday, August 4: Cozy Little House
Wednesday, August 10: Kahakai Kitchen
Thursday, August 11: Stephanie’s Written Word

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominque Bauby (translated by Jeremy Leggatt)

Published:  1998 by Vintage International

Source:  Borrowed from the library

  In my ongoing attempt to learn French, I have started to watch French movies (still with the English subtitles - I'm not that fluent yet!) and one that I enjoyed recently was The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby.  After watching the movie, I felt I needed to seek out the book upon which the movie was based (I'd like to try reading it in French, but for now I read the English translation).

  Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor of Elle magazine in France when at the young age of 43 he suffered a massive stroke.  While his mind was not affected, his body - except for one eyelid - was left completely paralyzed; this condition is colloquially known as "locked-in" syndrome. 

  One of his therapists devised a method of communication where one would read him the letters of the alphabet in the order of their frequence of use and Bauby would blink his eye when the correct letter was reached.  This is how Bauby "wrote" this memoir - memorizing what he wanted to say, then dictating it to the transcriber.

  I use the term memoir to describe this book but I'm not sure if it is correct.  It seems rather to be a collection of vignettes of his "locked-in" life and the language he uses is incredibly vivid:

My dving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly.  There is so much to do.  You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court.

You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still-sleeping face.  You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions.

And, in describing a visit to the seaside near his hospital with some of his caretakers who find the smell terrible around the shacks on the beach:

But I never tire of the smell of french fries.

The book is not long - about 130 pages - but it is full of inspiration and should make one appreciate their own life a little bit more.

Recommended.



It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me -- by Ariel Leve

  Ariel Leve lives in both New York and London. She seems to be successful in her career.  She is well-travelled.  But she is also anti-social, a hypochondriac, and in my opinion not someone with whom I would want to spend a whole lot of time; at least that is how her essay collection, It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me, portrays her.

  Loosely grouped into sixteen sections, Leve discusses topics ranging from doing nothing ("People with "nothing to do" have no options.  People with "no plans" have the world as their oyster - they just haven't decided yet what they're going to do") to trying new things ("Why would I try new things when I have more than enough trouble getting by with what I've got?") to maintaining friendships.  She is about my age, yet definitely curmudgeonly. 

  And I think that is where the problem lay (lied?) when I read this book.  I could definitely relate to some of the things she spoke about, but I found the anti-social nature of most of the essays to be an overall downer.  Which perhaps was the point of the book and its title? 

  The essays are all rather short (most less than two pages in length) so it is an easy book that can be picked up for short reading intervals.  Perhaps read in this way it might be more enjoyable; for me, taking it all in at once was too much.

(Disclosure:  copy of book received from the publisher, Harper Perennial)

Paris Times Eight -- World Party Reading Challenge

The first month of the World Party Reading Challenge takes us to France, a country rich in culture and history.  It's capital city, Paris, is one of the great cities of the world.

I have "only" been to Paris once, but after reading Deirdre Kelly's memoir Paris Times Eight:  Finding Myself in the City of Dreams, I am finding myself wanting to drop everything and get on the next plane to experience it again.  This memoir takes us with Kelly to her eight visits to Paris at various stages in her life, the first as a recent high-school graduate, the most recent (I doubt it is her last) with her two young children.  Each visit provides her with a different glimpse of Paris ( ".. A city of endliess possibilities, never quite grasped"), and of course of herself; during one visit in which she is bound to stay in Paris permanently and is offered a job well beneath her qualifications, she decides that living in her dream city is not worth sacrificing her writing ambitions, however later on she accepts a position at her newspaper almost solely for the fact that she will be required to travel to Paris.  She cannot completely rid herself of the pull Paris has on her.

I really enjoyed reading this book, especially for the descriptions of the Parisian neighborhoods known and not-so-known to the occasional visitor.  I cannot wait to visit again. 

The Journal of Helene Berr

I read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl when I was eight or nine years old, and at that time could not fully understand the immense tragedy that was the Holocaust. Why were Jewish people hated so much? Why did they have to be killed? I don’t know that I yet understand it but as I became older, I also began to appreciate the horrendous sense of loss of all the young people like Anne Frank who did not have the chance to grow up and become important contributors to arts and culture.
Helene Berr is another young Jewish woman who did not have the opportunity to realize her potential. Her journal, published last year in the United States, is a wonderfully written account of her life in occupied Paris. Helene is a student of English at the prestigious Sorbonne and for a time is able to maintain her regular routine. Restrictions on French Jews are imposed, but as she writes when her father is arrested for a seemingly minor infraction (improper stitching of his yellow star on his clothing), “The full meaning, the sinister meaning, of it all was not apparent because we were among French people”.
Restrictions tighten, Berr begins working with an organization in Paris to assist women and children interned at Drancy – a transit camp outside of Paris – and she realizes her own likely fate. She is at times slightly optimistic: “Even if I am deported, I shall think ceaselessly about coming back”, and also pragmatic “… if these lines are read, it will be clear that I expected my fate; not that I had accepted it but, … that I was expecting it”. (Berr had given her journal to her family’s cook to give to Jean Morawiecki, Berr’s boyfriend, in the event that she was arrested and did not return. He in turn passed it on to Berr’s niece).
This realization of what is to happen also causes her to criticize not only Nazis, but the French, the Catholic Church, and even fellow Jews. Berr sees herself and her family as French first and Jewish second (her father was a decorated officer of the French army during World War I), and the fact that it is Frenchmen – not Germans – who are making the arrests is especially disheartening: “Imagining that duty is unconnected to conscience and unrelated to justice, goodness, and charity shows just how inane our supposed civilization is … we could have hoped it might be different among us.”
Helene Berr and her parents were arrested at their home on March 8, 1944 and sent to the internment camp at Drancy. Helene was sent to Auschwitz and then to Bergen-Belsen, where she died five days before the liberation of the camp (her parents died only months after being deported to camps).
Like Anne Frank, it is so unfortunate that we only know Helene Berr because she was killed in such a senseless way along with so many others. But we should be thankful that they both left us accounts of what they endured. Had they been allowed to live, I’d like to think that their incredible writing skills would have brought them success on their own merits.

Related Reading: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay