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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 28 February 2018
Review: The scenery Lewinsky calls Clinton affair

is what is remembered a 'gross abuse of power'

from 'The Hush'

NEW YORK (AP) — Former
By OLINE H. COGDILL White House intern Monica
Associated Press Lewinsky says the affair that
Series, or sequels to a nov- led to impeachment pro-
el, work because the sto- ceedings against President
ries have a continuity that Bill Clinton "was not sexual
invests the reader in the assault," but "constituted a
characters' next adven- gross abuse of power."
tures. Interest can be main- Lewinsky writes in the
tained a few years be- March issue of "Vanity Fair"
tween stories, but the more that she is "in awe of the
that years pass, the less the sheer courage" of women
momentum survives. who've been confronting
That's one of the draw- "entrenched beliefs and in-
backs of "The Hush," which stitutions." In this June 25, 2015, file photo, Monica Lewinsky attends the
picks up the story of Johnny She says she was recent- Cannes Lions 2015, International Advertising Festival in Cannes,
southern France.
Merrimon, who was intro- ly moved to tears when
duced in John Hart's Edgar- a leader of the #MeToo affair before admitting to it permission for something to
winning 2009 novel, "The This cover image released by movement told her, "I'm so in 1998; the Democrat was happen.' And yet what did
Last Child." In the previous St. Martin's Press shows "The sorry you were so alone." acquitted by the Senate. the 'something' mean in this
novel, 13-year-old Johnny Hush," a novel by John Hart. Lewinsky says she's been Clinton's representative did instance, given the power
was obsessed with finding Associated Press diagnosed with post-trau- not immediately respond dynamics, his position, and
the man who killed his twin a complicated deed. Hush matic stress from being to a request for comment my age? Was the "some-
sister, Alyssa. The quest took Arbor once belonged to "publicly outed and os- on Tuesday. thing" just about crossing
Johnny into hearts of dark- Isaac Freemantle, the first tracized," and lauds the "Now, at 44, I'm beginning a line of sexual (and later
ness no child should ever freed slave in Raven Coun- "#MeToo" movement for (just beginning) to consider emotional) intimacy? (An
know about. In "The Last ty. Many of Freemantle's providing "the safety that the implications of the pow- intimacy I wanted — with
Child," Johnny's vivid char- descendants are buried comes from solidarity." er differentials that were so a 22-year-old's limited un-
acter was comparable there, as are some of John- "There are many more vast between a president derstanding of the conse-
to Scout Finch in "To Kill a ny's ancestors. Johnny's women and men whose and a White House intern," quences.)
Mockingbird." ownership of Hush Arbor voices and stories need Lewinsky said. "He was my boss. He was
"The Hush" picks up John- is being challenged by a to be heard before mine. "I'm beginning to entertain the most powerful man on
ny's life 10 years later. While relative of Freemantle, and (There are even some the notion that in such a the planet. He was 27 years
Johnny's backstory isn't too mega-wealthy business- people who feel my White circumstance the idea my senior, with enough life
difficult to catch up with, man William Boyd wants House experiences don't of consent might well be experience to know bet-
"The Hush" is so disconnect- to buy the land to use for have a place in this move- rendered moot. (Although ter. He was, at the time, at
ed to "The Last Child" that hunting. With no money ment, as what transpired power imbalances — and the pinnacle of his career,
it barely works as a sequel. to fight for his land, John- between Bill Clinton and the ability to abuse them — while I was in my first job out
The decade has been ny turns to his childhood myself was not sexual as- do exist even when the sex of college," she said.
difficult for Johnny, who friend Jack Cross, now an sault, although we now rec- has been consensual,)" she Lewinsky added that "none
became a minor celeb- attorney. Johnny claims he ognize that it constituted a wrote. of the above excuses me
rity whose exploits with a won't sell because the land gross abuse of power,)" Le- "But it's ... very, very compli- for my responsibility for
killer were detailed in a is part of his family heritage. winsky wrote. cated. The dictionary defi- what happened. I meet
true-crime book. But the But Hush Arbor also har- Clinton initially denied the nition of "consent"? 'To give Regret every day.)"q
23-year-old now is a near bors violent, unexplainable
hermit, whose infrequent acts, and seems to have
visits to the small North healing powers. No matter Randy Bachman reimagines George
Carolina town for supplies how injured he is, Johnny
bring stares and specula- heals quickly, as if he were Harrison tunes, goes too far
tion about "the darker cur- Wolverine or Luke Cage.
rents that ran beneath" "The Hush" is strongest when away with 11 George Harri- alog. On these and a few
Johnny's persona. Hart concentrates on the son songs on "By George — others, the original tunes
Johnny is nearly penniless evocative setting, height- By Bachman," which mostly are more or less intact and
but land-rich, living on 6,000 ened by a strong sense succeeds when respecting they're sturdy enough to
acres called Hush Arbor of place with Hush Arbor. the Quiet Beatle's melo- support the makeovers.
that had he inherited from But the magical realism This cover image released dies, but sometimes fails to "Something," however, is
aspects do not resonate by UMe shows "By George - capture the grace and el- a supple love song meant
egance of the originals.
to be about "the way she
and become increasingly By Bachman," a release of "If I Needed Someone" has moves," not the way she
far-fetched. The beautiful George Harrison songs by a jazzy feel, with a George plods, and even some hot
North Carolina scenery is Randy Bachman. Benson-like solo while guitar solos can't change
what is remembered from Associated Press there's a flamenco-ish that. On "While My Guitar
"The Hush," not the char- By PABLO GORONDI rhythm on "You Like Me Too Gently Weeps," the instru-
acters. Johnny, so well- Associated Press Much." ''I Need You" gets ment and the song seem
sculpted in "The Last Child," Randy Bachman, found- a power-pop rebuild and way past the soft cries and
is a mere shadow of him- er of The Guess Who and "Don't Bother Me" rocks out closer to a complete ner-
self and Hart doesn't delve Bachman-Turner Overdrive, even further, like something vous breakdown. Oh well.
deeply enough into his let's his imagination run from the Smithereens' cat- q
psyche.q