BOOK REVIEW: MY YEAR WITH THE ITALIAN GIRL by Linda Leuzzi

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: MY YEAR WITH THE ITALIAN GIRL

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Linda Leuzzi

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS  Leuzzi.Linda@gmail.com

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS:  LindaLeuzzi.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 X  Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: 

Campbell Dalglish – (Writer, Director, Producer) - Founding Director of D'Arc Productions, award winning playwright, screenwriter and director. Associate Professor, The City University of New York. Amazon review

REVIEW: Having followed Linda Leuzzi’s award-winning journalism for the last 20 years in the Patchogue/Bellport area on the South Shore of Long Island, I can attest to her savvy uncompromising activism for the environment as well as her coverage of our community. She pulls us all together when it really counts, and you can count on her research. So it was no surprise that she is also a witty novelist who has created an imaginary community based on Bellport that is threatened by environmental concerns and the politics of builders eager to build more housing. “My Year With the Italian Girl” stands out as a novel about community and reminded me of Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” in its various voices, and even Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milkwood” that depicts unique characters in Welsh poetic fashion. Written in a “head hopping” point of view the reader gets to see our imaginary village that is of course a real village to us, the Bellport reader, through the voices of three women who share the role of protagonist. Vivian Allegra, also a journalist, has taken in an Italian exchange student, Francesca from Catania, Italy. The third woman in this triad is a high school Step Dancer, Keisha, who introduces Francesca to her world of Bellport. Other characters continue to pop up throughout this story as Vivian romances with a witty Brit, faces off with Rowland a builder, and revisits her community through the eyes of her Italian guest as she gets initiated into Keisha’s circle of friends at school. All the characters are rich and unique, including a Canadian Goose named George and a black bird named Crowbar. I have read the book already once and am starting it up again. Head Hopping is a pleasurable literary device when used well, allowing us to get into different mind sets to arrive at the truth, whatever that may be. Often used in mystery thrillers for a Rashomon Effect where the truth is a guessing game played out by unreliable narrators, Leuzzi has used it for the joy of seeing her imaginary world, which soon becomes ours through three different and distinct reliable perspectives, engaging us not so much in the mystery of Bellport as with its unique character. I could easily see this turned into a play or an episodic TV series, and it’s the kind of book you can take with you to the beach for summer reading again and again.

Campbell Dalglish’s website is https.darcproductions.net.

 (See video of Isabella Rossellini interview with Linda at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it0oVFeTSQU.

P.S. (I have a total of 48 reviews on Amazon.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:  

Linda Leuzzi is an award-winning journalist, author and editor and her latest novel “My Year With the Italian Girl” was featured in a book talk interview by Isabella Rossellini. She’s written 8 non-fiction books for young adults, two of which garnered New York Public Library citations. Linda also wrote a book for the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts celebrating their 20^th anniversary. As former editor of the Long Island Advance, Tide of the Moriches and Suffolk County News who now writes frequently for them, her stories have won 19 New York Press Association Awards including First Place mentions for In-Depth Reporting, Spot News, Coverage of the Arts, Spot News Photo and Sports Feature. She’s won two Third Place Sharon Fullmer Awards for Community Leadership for team coverage of LGBTQ+ issues. Her many celebrity interviews have included Isabella Rossellini, Chazz Palminteri, Bernadette Peters, Sara Jean Ford, Tony Danza, Joe Piscopo, Melissa Errico, Lou Diamond Phillips, choreographer Randy Skinner as well as Nobel Prize, MacArthur Award scientists and astronauts. She also received a Media Award at the Long Island Women’s Conference for her contributions and positive community impact as well as a Science Museum of Long Island Outstanding Advocate for Science and Technology Award for Environmental Writing. She regularly writes musical theater previews and reviews for The Gateway Performing Arts Center as well as for art exhibits and film festivals. Community awards include Woman of Diversity for the Of Colors Black History celebration, Brookhaven Town’s Women’s History Outstanding Service in Media/Communications and a Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts honor for her stories. Linda also writes for the Fire Island News. She has mentored several young people over the years in the newspaper business and also via the Rotary Exchange Student program (six young women hosted at her home). A member of the Long Island Author’s Group, Linda is also a Sayville Rotarian who was asked to speak about her book during a regional conference. She trains at the Patchogue YMCA,, is an avid walker with her dog Tina, and loves trips to Manhattan visiting museums and attending Broadway plays as well as animals. Passionate about travel, her last two trips included a women’s wine tour to the Campagna region in Italy and a Celtic trip to Scotland and England. She also enjoys visits to the East End, stomping in preserves, and is an avid environmentalist. 

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing HowToDoItFrugally http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. Pre-format the post editor for each new post. Cancel Save Post published

Laura Sturza Recommends The Frugal Editor to Her Students

Title: The Frugal Editor
Subtitle: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets
Edition: Third Edition
Publisher: Modern History Press
ISBN: 9761615996001
Available on Amazon Hardcover, Paperback, E-book
Awards: 
       USA Book News, Reader Views Literary Award, 
       Next Generation Marketing Awardm Next Generation Indie Book Award, 
       Dan Poynter's Global E-Book Award

Reviewed by Laura Sturza originally for Amazon 

I am a writer and a writing teacher and I highly recommend this book to my students. It is particularly helpful for those writing a book as it includes detailed information about presenting the best version of one's manuscript when submitting it to agents and publishers. There is also lots of information to help those submitting work to magazines and newspapers so that editors don't reject an excellent story because it includes editing errors. While I have been steeped in the writing business for decades, this book taught me so much and helped me refine other essentials, such as decisions about a book's layout. Years ago, I met the author when she ran a writing group. By using personal stories and humor, Howard-Johnson brings that same, warm, conversational style to relaying information that I have found challenging to absorb from other sources. There were grammar corrections she covered that I have struggled with for years, and which she simplified. The book is also full of resources to further explore the topics covered. My copy is full of sticky notes to help me as I continue to edit my first book. When it is published, I have the author to thank for helping me create the strongest possible version of it so that readers can enjoy the story without the distraction of editing flubs.

Disclaimer: I received a book from the publisher of this book so I could write a fair and honest review.

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

 Laura Sturza is a writer/teacher living in Rockville, Maryland after 20 years in L.A., which remains her other home. Her work is published in The Washington Post, Shondaland, The Boston Globe Magazine, AARP's The Girlfriend, The LA Times, Lunch Ticket, and Hippocampus, among others. Laura is completing the memoir, Better Late: My Midlife First-Time Marriage. She was a nonfiction editor on the forthcoming book, Transformation: A Women Who Submit Anthology. She wrote, produced, and starred in the one-woman show, Finding the Perfect Place to Live in 111 Gyrations  laurasturza.com

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG

 

Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. 

Title: The Frugal Editor
Subtitle: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets
Edition: 3^rd Edition
Publisher: Modern History Press
ISBN: 978 1 -61599-600-1
Available on Amazon as a hardcover, paperback, e-book

Reviewed by C. Hope Clark, author of the Edisto series and Vine Reviewer

VINE VOICE

5.0 out of 5 stars An encyclopedic wealth of knowledge

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023

The Frugal Editor, 3rd Edition, just blew me away in its concentration of knowledge. It contains an incredible amount of teachings about how to manage a manuscript from the editing stage to the publishing stage. The book is a far cry from how to copyedit a story. Oh my goodness, it covers grammar, formatting, and tips and warnings about using which writing program, beta readers, hiring an editor, even covers. I have been in this business for 23 years, and I was dumbfounded at the little tricks, suggestions, and how-tos on so many topics. . . like MS Word, which I thought I knew everything about! Take it from someone who has traditionally published 17 novels . . . knowledge abounds in this book, and no author is too advanced to pick up this book and NOT glean something. I'm impressed . . . and I don't impress easily. Well done.

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

C. Hope Clark is the author of The Carolina Slade Mysteries,  The Edisto Island Mysteries, and The Craven County Mysteries. She’s editor of FundsforWriters, one of the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers and published in The Writer Magazine, Writer’s Digest, Guide to Literary Agents, Writer’s Market, and other trade and online publications.

 

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG 

 Authors, Publishers, Readers and Reviewers may publish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with readers on this blog.  That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. 

 Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. 

 Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author, a veteran educator and also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. 

 Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Want a New Review for Your Book? List Your Review Request Here.

  This is your how-to page for authors to submit a query for

 Lois W. Stern to help you find reviews for your book.

(Kindly use the form below.)

Lois W. Stern, author advocate and associate of TheNewBookReview, offers readers who are authors a path to getting free and ethical reviews for their books. No kidding! Lois explains how to do it below and you'll learn more about her other "Authors Helping Authors" projects in her biography below those guidelines. Please feel free to let those in the publishing industry know about this service. 
Welcome!
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Your  #TheNewBookReview blogger

"Marketing is a huge part of a book's success, and getting reviews is a huge part 

of marketing a book or any other business. 

If you don't believe it, ask a plumber who has had poor reviews on Yelp!"

~Quote from Page 18 of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

__________________________________

How to Let Lois W. Stern Match Authors and Book Reviewers 

Get your review request (it's like a mini query for reviews!) listed here on this The New Book Review blog at no charge.  Send your request to Lois at tales2Inspire2@gmail.com with REVIEW WANTED in the subject line. If you need help writing a query, see Carolyn Howard-Johnson's The Frugal Editor. (Check the Appendix for sample letters and the Index for help within the body of the book.) 

Note: Please be sure the book you want to offer for review is already available for sale at Amazon.com or another online site where books are sold and include that link in your query. 

All of this blog's services are free, including this "Learn How to Use Our Free Book Review Service."

________________________________

Be sure to submit the exact information below in the email you sent to Lois. 

Put QUERY FOR LOIS'S REVIEW SERVICE in the subject line of the email and send it to tales2inspire2@gmail.com

AUTHOR's NAME: 

AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: Contact information for person submitting (be it author, reviewer, reader reviewer, or publisher.)

TITLE OF BOOK: 

SUBTITLE OF BOOK (if any):

GENRE:

BOOK DESCRIPTION: (100 words max) - Make your description pop to entice others to want to read your book! Hint: Use strong, present tense verbs! This is not a review, but a logline or tease like you see on movies posters--something to entice a reader to want to read your book. Usually two lines. Something like, "When so and so does this....then this presents a problem." You don't reveal the ending.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 

AGE/INTEREST LEVEL:

AMAZON OR OTHER ONLINE BOOKSTORE URL: 

Kindly send full link (NOT shortened link, as they do not seem to be working on Google sheets).

* BOOK FORMAT(S) YOU ARE OFFERING FOR REVIEW:  

(Please note: Paper books are more likely to get review offers than e-books.) 

Paperback or hard copy books - Yes or No 

Electronic versions of your e-book such as Kindle, pdf - Yes or No

How Authors Handle the Review Requests They Receive

When you get a request from a fellow author who wishes to review your book, send a review copy directly to your volunteer reviewer in whatever format you have offered, along with any promotional material you wish to share that might be helpful to the reviewer. The reviewer will then give your book an honest and fair review. Those interested in maximizing their efforts to get and use reviews to market their books will find Carolyn's How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically a big help.  

Disclaimers: 

1. In the spirit of Authors Helping Authors, Lois is happy to provide her 

review-getting service to her fellow authors at no cost, b

ut 

cannot guarantee that your listing will attract a reviewer. 

2. Due to conflict of interest concerns, Lois does not review the books listed on her review-request page herself. Nor does The New Book Review employ reviewers. All reviewers are subscribers or visitors to the blog who volunteer their services because they love to read, want to support the publishing industry, and may want a little extra online exposure for their own projects.

_______________________

Helpful Hint For Attracting Reviewers

 

Authors are more likely to find new reader-reviewers for their books if they promote (network) the link on the web--everywhere from website to blog to social media likeTwitter and Facebook! Lois will help guide you through that process upon request.

In Carolyn Howard-Johnson's book, The Frugal Book Promoter, she says 

"For promotions to work, ya' gotta promote the promotion." 

We at #TheNewBookReview do a lot of that promotion for your book, too!  

__________________________

 

  MORE ABOUT YOUR REVIEW COORDINATOR

Tales2inspire® was a kernel of an idea I started in 2012, which has grown to proportions even I didn’t dare to envision. My innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea, but it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled me forward. You see, in my heart I am all about authors-helping-authors and Tales2inspire® is another of those projects. It delivers exactly what it promises as both a project and a contest. Free to enter, this competition is open to talented newbies and seasoned authors alike who are willing to listen to their fellow author's critiques to better their work. Learn more here. 

A multi-award-winning author, Lois's work has been featured in The New York Times, Newsday (Act 2), and Long Island Press, on Local Access TV, and in live presentations in a multitude of venues. She has now published ten Tales2Inspire® books of her contest winners' stories. Fans of Chicken Soup for the Soul are particularly enamored with Tales2Inspire® books because, aside from their inspirational themes, they are filled with original photos to enhance the power of each story. Lois invites interested readers to get a free Tales2Inspire® sampler book click here. 

To learn more about entering Lois's next Tales2Inspire® contest, click here.

Spend some media marketing time with Lois at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

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More About This Blog

 

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or use this link to take you there.  Or you can use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" plan for requesting reviews. Just scroll up on this page to find her guidelines for getting reviews for your book or books!

Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Badges, Banners and Illustrations on this blog are provided by Carolyn Wilhelm. She tweets @jamsandbooks and offers educational aids on Pinterest as well. You'll also find her book and study guides by going to https://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com 's  handy search engine. Or just subscribe! We'd love to have you!

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author, a veteran educator and also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Author of "Cinema Stanzas" Shares Second List of Favor Books About Movies

#TheNewBookReview is most always happy to try something new when it will benefit our visitors and subscribers and with so many fans of my registered hashtag, #MovieReviews, I feel sure this is one of those times. Thus, not one but two lists of Film Poet Betty Jo Tucker's favorite books about the movies. Find the first on this blog at https://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2022/11/rotten-tomato-critic-shares-0-favorite.html. 

And, of course, enjoy this one before you go! 

TITLE Favorite Books about Movies: Part Two

AUTHOR: Betty Jo Tucker

AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: www.BettyJoTucker.com  

GENRE Nonfiction

AGE / INTEREST LEVEL Adult

AWARDS: Author received five awards for books about films (see Bio below)

A LINK TO THE ARTICLE SUBMITTED:  https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=82551

                      FAVORITE BOOKS ABOUT MOVIES: PART TWO

By Betty Jo Tucker, author of Cinema Stanzas, occasional reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes, and thymed reviews and related material on her Facebook stream.

 

As I mentioned before, most movie addicts enjoy reading books about films and filmmaking. That’s why I am pleased to add the 10 books below to my list of favorites.  Part Three coming soon!

A Poet Among Critics. Richard Jack Smith (UK, 2016) What a treat to read an entire book of impressive movie poems from this prolific British film critic and poet! A diverse collection, the book showcases this author’s extensive film knowledge and unbridled passion for the cinema. Unique and candid, Smith’s poems cover many genres and eras. Plus, Smith’s use of lush language makes every poem come alive and emerge as a gem on its own.   

A Screenwriter’s Notebook: Reflections, Analyses and Chalk Talks on the Craft and Business of Writing for the Movies. Bill Mesce Jr. (Serving House Books, 2020). The author shares his personal experiences and intriguing insights as a screenwriter and teacher of this subject. While extremely helpful to wannabe screenwriters and people already working in this field, the book boasts considerable appeal for film critics and for avid movie fans. It’s highly entertaining and packed with details about all kinds of movies.            

 CLAPTRAP: Notes from Hollywood. Stephen Gyllenhaal (Cantara Books LLC ) Movie and television director Gyllenhaal, father of Jake and Maggie, takes readers on a profoundly humanistic journey in his first book of poetry. This impressive offering includes 46 poems that evoke marvelous cinematic images and stir the emotions, two things I always expect good poetry to do.  

Hollywood Haunted. Laurie Jacobson (Angel City Press, 2014) This acclaimed book covers more than 100 years of ghostly goings-on in filmland. Spooky tales about haunted houses, hotels, studios and theaters abound in Jacobson’s entertaining exploration of Hollywood hot spots and famous ghost sightings, including such stars as Bela Lugosi, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Errol Flynn.

 I’ll Be in My Trailer: The Creative Wars Between Directors and Actors by John Badham and Craig Moddorno (Michael Wiese Productions, 2006) Veteran director Badham passes on helpful information about how to work with actors, and not just from his own point of view. He also includes advice from numerous directors and actors. This impressive book is now being used in film schools worldwide.   

John Badham On Directing. 2^nd Edition: Notes from the Sets of Saturday Night Fever and War Games and More. John Badham (Michael Wiese Productions, 2020). Badham adds more fascinating and valuable information from and about directors and actors in this welcome new edition. Television and streaming projects receive considerable attention here because of their widespread content now. Like Badham’s first On Directing, this book is a must-read for people in the business but also for serious movie addicts like me.

The Force Is with You. Stephen Simon (Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2002) The producer of such acclaimed films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Comeexplores over 70 movies that deal with such important topics as the nature of love, the meaning of life and death, the concept of time and space, and the visions of our future. Simon believes there are mystical messages in movies that inspire our lives -- and he has a wonderful way of illuminating these films.   

The Liveliest Art. Arthur Knight (The MacMillan Company, 1957) Would you like a panoramic history of movies through the late1950s -- one that emphasizes the growth of film from an 1895 novelty to an important 20th century art form? Then this amazing book is definitely for you.

Unsinkable: A Memoir. Debbie Reynolds and Dorian Hannaway (William Morrow, 2013) Good mornin’, good mornin’!  I stayed awake the whole night through -- reading this fascinating book until I finished it. Thanks to these two authors for giving me such enjoyable insomnia. But describing Unsinkable is not easy. Is it a thriller? A modern Book of Job? A humorous showbiz romp? A behind-the-scenes Hollywood exposé? A heartfelt love story?  I think the answer has to be “Yes” to all of the above.            

 What’s It All About? An Autobiography. Michael Caine (Turtle Bay Books, 1992) This is one of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read. Caine writes with a humorous style as he reveals how he overcame his impoverished London childhood that included growing up with an eye disorder, rickets and a name like Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. But, for movie buffs, the most important part of this terrific book involves the wonderful detailed  stories about Caine’s many films.           

INFORMATION ABOUT THE REVIEWER

NAME OF REVIEWER: Betty Jo Tucker

ORIGINAL PLACE THE REVIEW WAS PUBLISHED (ReelTalk Movie Reviews)

BIO: Betty Jo Tucker served as editor/lead film critic for ReelTalk Movie Reviews for 20 years. She also writes film commentary for AuthorsDen and the Colorado Senior Beacon. She is the award-winning author of Confessions of a Movie Addict, Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick, Cinema Stanzas: Rhyming About Movies, and Cinema Stanzas Two: Poet Laureate of the Movies. Using the pen names of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence, Betty Jo and her husband Larry co-wrote It Had To Be Us, a romantic memoir adapted for the screen under the title of CAKE: A Love Story, which earned First Place in the Short Film category at the NSAEN Online International Film Festival. She is a co-founder of the San Diego Film Critics Society, a member of the Online Film Critics Society and an approved Rotten Tomatoes critic.

TWITEER MONIKER: Betty Jo Tucker @MovieAddictRevu

EMAIL ADDRESS: reeltalk@comcast.net

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author, a veteran educator and also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Solstice Literary Reviews Jendi Reiter's Newest Book of Poetry

TITLE: Made Man

AUTHOR: Jendi Reiter

AUTHOR WEBSITE: https://www.jendireiter.com/

GENRE: Poetry

AGE LEVEL: Adult

PAGES: 142

PUBLISHER: Little Red Tree Publishing (March 2022)

LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Made-Man-Jendi-Reiter/dp/193565666X

Reviewed by Robbie Gamble originally for Solstice Lit Magazine

A quick scan of the table of contents of Made Man, Jendi Reiter’s third poetry collection, indicates that the reader is in for a comitragic, day-glo accented, culture-hopping, snort-inducing, gender-interrogating rollercoaster of a ride. Titles like “It’s Not Sensory Processing Disorder, You’re a Werewolf,” “My Longest Female Relationship Is With My Subaru,” “Don’t Get Your Penis Stuck In The Bubble Wand,” “Dreaming Of Top Surgery At The Vince Lombardi Rest Stop,” and “Buzz Aldrin Takes Communion On The Moon,” erupt from the pages with a fierce irreverent energy, and we know at once that this is not a collection to be savored quietly by the fireside in slippers with a cup of herbal tea. We also sense we will be entering a smart, challenging, multifaceted world.

In the author’s words: “Made Man explores female-to-male transition and gay masculine identity through persona poems in the voices of unusual objects and fictional characters with some aspect that is constructed, technological, or hybrid.” And further, “…these character studies open up onto a broader consideration of humanity’s relationship with technology and the shadow side of male dominance of nature.” But far from being a didactic examination of gender identity and our tech-obsessions, these poems are often laugh-out-loud funny, as the table of contents would suggest. Reiter is a founder of the Winning Writers organization, and oversees its literary contests, including the nationally-acclaimed Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, so they are well-grounded in the business of tackling complex subjects with a comedic toolkit. In “All Cakes are Bastards,” a wry persona-poem take on the gender-reveal party phenomenon, the in-utero speaker says,

they drove, masked, to the mall for plastic feet
to spear into frosting
in the dry wind they dreamed
of lures or lace, of my two choices
under an orange sky
as I slumbered normal in the blood-rich sea
as ash fell on the green courses
as I grew into my ultrasound assignment
they directed the baker’s hand, putters
or pearls, rifles or ruffles
the sugared script radiating pink and blue…

There is humor, to be sure, especially in the title which draws us in, but the humor darkens around the edges, with references to out-of-control fires raging across California (one ignited by a gender-reveal fireworks display gone awry), the COVID-19 pandemic, and the murder of George Floyd at the hands and knees of the police. It’s an ironic and scary world to be born into, especially if one will be wrestling with their assigned gender.

Reiter shifts tonal gears in poem after poem, dragging the reader along at a dizzying pace, creating a sense of disorientation that is evocative of a long journey of transition through a surreal, often unwelcoming cultural landscape. In “Dreaming Of Top Surgery At The Vince Lombardi Rest Stop” they imagine “the great men of New Jersey”: Walt Whitman, Joyce Kilmer, Thomas Edison et al, availing themselves of the men’s room while the speaker intones, “O, Vince Lombardi…/ I believe you would agree…/ that purity of heart is to will one thing.” In the title poem, “Made Man,” the hormone-injecting subject veers into scriptural syntax:

Became incarnate
            and was made

man or a god barely an age
to shave, that mirror-ritual of boys
            aping the father,

making their bones
his,
            yours.

The pace slows in the poem “when people look at me I want them to think, there’s one of those people,” an intimate elegy for Lou Sullivan, thought to be the first transgender man to publicly identify as gay.

Reiter shows their aptitude for given forms, dropping in odes (“Butternut squash, you are the War and Peace of vegetables”) and ghazals (“My body is the Tomb of the Unknown Penis”) to great effect. The penultimate poem in the book, “Transfag Semiotics,” is a mini-crown of sonnets, an extraordinarily crafted sequence where the speaker drills deep into their quest for identity:

Sometimes you vanish like a father
or a breast. Drop the handkerchief,
the theory, drop to your knees. Whether
you can explain it or not, do you want to live?
Faggot is becoming. What is a man?
I experienced what I wanted to understand.

It’s an absolute tour-de-force, and the comedic gestures fall away as Reiter grows deadly serious about the cost of becoming, of being made, and ultimately, what it means to authentically be.

In the current season of culture wars, where state legislatures are enacting “Don’t Say Gay” bills, and trying to reframe gender-affirming treatments as parental abuse, Made Man stands as a testament to the humanity of trans people everywhere. It’s also chock-full of intelligent, often hilarious and sometimes biting poems that will leave you spinning and exhilarated. Jump in, crank down your safety bar, and head out for the ride.

More About the Poet

Jendi Reiter (they/he) is the editor of WinningWriters.com is a prolific (and prolifically published!) poet. His New poetry collection! Made Man is from Little Red Tree Publishing. The American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table Reviews reports it is:  "A mix of somber moments and charming wit, Reiter’s collection makes space for humor in the maelstrom of navigating gendered experiences." 

             "Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they 

              otherwise." --Surangama Sutra

More About the Reviewer

This review by Robbie Gamble was originally published in the spring issue (2022) of  solsticelitmag.org. Robbie's poems have appears in the Atlanta Review, Poet Lore, RHINO, Spillway, and The Sun, among other journals. His essays have appeared in MassPoetry, Pangryrus, Scoundrel Time, Solstice, and Tahoma Literary Review.  Recipient of the Carve Poetry Prize and a Peter Taylor  Fellowship at the Kenyon Summer Writers Workshop, he holds an MFA from Lesley University and serves as poetry editor for Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices. Learn more about him at  https://robbiegamble.com/. Email him at 

rgamble@solsticelitmag.org

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