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Book Review
Who Is Elena Ferrante?
By Diane McCurdy
Italian author Elena Ferrante is an enigma.
Red Eggs and Good Luck
Ferrante has stated, “....books, once they are
written have no need of their author.” No
book tours have occurred, no signing of
first editions, no interviews. Even the name
may be a pseudonym and there is some
question, despite the feminine connotation,
as to whether or not the author is a woman.
Ferrante has written a half dozen novels but is
known mostly for the Neopolitan Quartet, the
fourth of which has just been released, The
Lost Child, which has generated interest in the
series and catapulted the initial publication,
My Brilliant Friend, onto the paperback best
seller’s list. Speculation about the author’s
identity has always been rife. With other
writers vying for slots on late night TV shows
in order to hawk their work, Ferrante demurs.
This reticence only enhances the mystique probably doing more to promote sales than a more ordinary route would.
Red Eggs and Good Luck is the powerful coming-of-age story of a Chinese- American girl struggling to discover her identity as the daughter of a Chinese father and a German Catholic mother
The tetrology begins around 1950 in one of the poorer but very colorful neighborhoods situated on the perimeter of Naples. On these mean streets, two girls form a bond and remain friends even though as they mature they follow very divergent paths that are delineated over 50 years and 1,600 pages. The two middle pieces are called, The Story of a New Name and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. The transitions of the two protagonists mirror not only the changes extant in their own little neighborhood but in the cities and indeed in their country.
and playing make believe with their dolls. With a Chinese father who loves consumerism and an American mother determined to give her daughters the opportunities she was denied, Angela and her sisters grow up celebrating
both their Chinese heritage and their American culture. But when their father suddenly becomes ill, Angela begins to question the limits of luck and the power of prayer—and to wonder whether she will ever find the courage to be herself.
I read the first book, My Brilliant Friend, with gleeful anticipation as it had been highly recommended. After all, Ferrante is heralded internationally as one of the great artists of the modern era. Critical acclaim has been more than generous. I’m going to admit that I didn’t like it. I found it terminally boring, laborious and not so brilliant. The style was tedious. I felt like nothing was happening. I feel the purposeful anonymity has added a delicious dimension to the work that may not otherwise have been there. Perhaps something was lost in translation. But I am definitely not tempted to read the other volumes that he/she has written.
Book signing on November 5, 5:30-7 pm at Best Wishes!, 3080 Marlow Rd Santa Rosa
In China, girls are bad luck and are often drowned. But Angela Lam and her sisters are lucky. They are born in America and allowed to live two lives in one world: eating dim sum and praying the rosary; studying hard at school
Multiracial Americans are the fastest growing demographic group, up 3.4 percent to about 5.2 million, according to the latest census estimates. Winner of the 2003 Mary Tanenbaum Award for creative nonfiction and the 2014 She Writes Press Memoir Discovery Contest, Red Eggs and Good Luck: A Chinese- American Memoir about Faith, Family, and Forgiveness (She Writes Press / October 6th, 2015 / $16.95) by Angela Lam, is the timely and powerful story of one Chinese American girl struggling to discover her identity.
Local Authors Speak
Women at Ground Zero
These Sonoma County local authors have done
an excellent job of interviewing women firefighters, police officers, EMT’s, and others who responded to the World Trade Center. These rescuers have looked into hell -- and have surely gone through emotional hells of their own -- and yet were still able to talk frankly about their experiences. Their presentation is low-key, almost matter-of-fact, which serves as a dramatic counterpoint to the intensity of the subject. The result is a very moving and highly readable collection of profiles that forms an important piece of the historical record.
The authors were riveted to the news after 9/11 as we all were. They watched in horror and disbelief watching four hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.
Mary Carouba (investigative social worker) and Susan Hagan (Santa Rosa firefighter) heard over and over about our brave male rescue workers, the policemen, firemen, EMT’s. Yes, indeed, we couldn’t have recovered without them, but the authors wanted to know, what about the women rescuers? Are only men strong, brave and heroic?
Especially if you are a woman -- and even if you’re not -- this is the 9/11 book you need to read cover
to cover. Their stories are at the same time gut- wrenching and awe-inspiring. If you read one book on the September 11 tragedy this should be the one.
A few weeks after the attack, the authors got a month’s leave from work and went to Manhattan to find the women first responders of 9/11.
This book is a powerful collection of first-person stories told by female firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, and others who responded
to the events of September 11 and its aftermath. Women at Ground Zero provides a unique perspective on the events of that terrible day through the eyes of women rescuers who risked their lives to save others. Through their heartbreaking and inspiring stories, the voices of female rescue workers and their contributions at Ground Zero are finally heard.
Gaia’s Garden 1899 Mendocino Ave. Santa Rosa
Monday, November 9th at 6-8:30 pm
All proceeds from the sales of the book go to Women in the Fire Service, Inc. & National Center for Women and Policing. info@jeaneslone.com or 544-2491
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