Darin Strauss

Josh Goldin está disfrutando de un descanso en la sala de café de su oficina cuando recibe un mensaje de la llamada de su mujer, un mensaje sobre su hijo que menciona "cuidados intensivos" y "pérdida de conocimiento".
Esa mañana, Dori había llevado de urgencias al pequeño Zack, de ocho meses. El bebé parecía sufrir algo grave, pero a la doctora Darlene Stokes algo en la actitud de la madre le parece sospechoso. Había oído hablar del síndrome de Munchausen, que padecen madres que hieren intencionadamente a sus bebés, pero nunca se había encontrado con ningún caso.… (mais)

I knew I should have been moved and blown away by this book. I was not. I should have felt emotionally connected to the author. I did not. I should have sped through this book without stop - well, yes but that was because it was short. I feel oddly guilty that I did not love this. But a large part of it was Strauss's detached writing style which never quite convinced me of the impact Celine's death had on him. Yes, intuitively I knew that he was affected but I never felt it.

But considering that he mainly wrote this book for himself, that is okay. I hope he found whatever he was looking for in this book. And yet... I found the entire book a bit crass. The one moment that stuck with me was when Strauss's date berated him for thinking about himself rather than thinking about Celine. I think that if she had read this book, his date would say the same thing again. While it was very introspective about his feelings and guilt, and how the accident impacted him, there was very little thought given to how the accident affected other people other than when those other people directly interacted with him. The whole thing came off as rather selfish, and the publication of the book very self-serving. Strauss talks about how he could never open up in therapy, so he took to writing it down. I understand that writing is cathartic and healing. But then to publish it just strikes me as profiting from Celine's death.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher.… (mais)

2022 pandemic read. Less than thrilled with this “what if” tale concerning Lucille Ball and a guy from Brooklyn (then Long Island.) The author based it on the premise that his grandfather *might* have been at an event Lucille Ball also attended (and that they *might* have met, kissed, and had a long distance affair spreading over her her turbulent years with Dezi Arnez.) I picked it up because I read a review where the reviewer apparently didn’t read the afterward, which explained it as total fiction, not fiction based on truth. Not following that reviewer any more. This was not their first incomplete read.… (mais)