Roe’s studious examination effectively details the brilliance—and blemishes—of an entertainment gem.
A wide-ranging tour through a landmark TV comedy.
Few sitcoms can compete with 30 Rockin a jokes-per-minute contest. That alone makes this lovingly researched unpacking of every episode in the Tina Fey series worthwhile for fans. But Roe, an arts and entertainment editor, comedy writer, and producer, provides a broader context for the show’s success. Sure, the author explains where the show’s catchphrases—e.g., “I want to go to there” and “blerg!”—originated and how its most memorable moments (remember “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah”?) came together. Roe goes deep on the ratings-challenged show’s struggle to stay on the air, even with a star-studded cast, including Fey, Alec Baldwin, and Tracy Morgan, and the support of powerful Saturday Night Livehoncho Lorne Michaels. The author also meticulously chronicles the show’s influences and, through interviews, takes readers into the writers room to get a sense of the craftsmanship. However, his research has limits. His quotes from Fey, Baldwin, and Morgan come from DVD commentaries and other interviews. That leaves questions like why Fey replaced her friend Rachel Dratch with Krakowski unanswered—though Roe offers educated guesses, including that “test audiences didn’t respond to Dratch.” Roe fares far better when he takes the show to task for its actors’ use of blackface and questionable jokes at the expense of minorities. “That really hurt,” the show’s prop master Kevin Ladson told Roe, explaining how he felt when he saw Krakowski on stage in blackface portraying football player Lynn Swann. “And I said, ‘I really want to know how this gets a pass.’ ” Calling out the show’s issues makes the overwhelming praise throughout the book that much more believable.
Roe’s studious examination effectively details the brilliance—and blemishes—of an entertainment gem.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5044-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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