An Inauspicious Debut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Daniel Magariel's "One Of The Boys" is short enough to be considered a novella.  Too bad it is derivative of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country For Old Men."  But where that story satisfied, this one does not.

                                      Magariel offers up a tale of two boys done in by poor parenting--a trampy, abandoning mother, and a psychotic, drug-addicted father.  The story, like these poor boys, go back and forth between them , as does the reader, like a bunch of yo yo's.  They plan an escape which I kept hoping for, but it is the author's not highly unique idea to leave them high and dry, where they are, with us knowing the boys will ultimately turn out to be as no good as their parents.

                                       If this book makes any Ten Best lists, at year's end, well, gag me with a spoon!  Hope springs eternal with me, when it comes to offering up something to say,  So, let Mr. Magariel write something else, and prove it.  Or prove me wrong!

                                         Hey, Daniel, Zadie Smith finally did it, and so, I bet, can you!

                                         But not on this first try!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I Never Heard Anything So Elegant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                        Take a good look at the woman on the right.  That is Violet Kemble Cooper, in her signature role as bitch spinster Jane Murdstone in Selznick's masterful 1935 adaptation of Dickens' "David Copperfield."  Her sister, Lillian, got to play Bonnie's Nurse in "Gone With The Wind."

                                         Jane Murdstone is a perfect Bitch Of The Week.  There is not a feminine, maternal bone in her body, and I have always believed, though it is never hinted at, she and her brother, the equally monstrous Edward Murdstone, are having some kind of incestuous relationship. Or, maybe, she is just psychologically attached to him, because, face it, girls, with her looks and personality, what man or woman would tolerate her?

                                         The Murstones' appearance forms some of the grimmer pages and scenes of this story.  But they finally get theirs, when exposed by Aunt Betsey.  Dickens piles it on thick, yet he cannot help in being funny, also, because Miss Murdstone retorts back to Aunt Betsey the famous line, "I never heard anything so elegant!"

                                           What the hell does that actually mean?  It reveals Miss Murdstone for the dumb bitch she is.  Written out, the words plainly indicate a complimentary remark.  Yet, she spits them out with such vitriol they turn into a hateful epithet.

                                              Not much different from the idiots one sees on "Judge Judy."  Jane Murdstone prides herself on her intelligence, when really she has none to speak of.  And Aunt Betsey knows exactly what kind of woman she is.

                                               If anyone was wired for Spinsterhood, it was Jane.  She was probably hateful, as a child.

                                               Dickens never tells how she ends up, but I can tell you.  She later becomes Dora's governess, and David rescues her from Jane.  In the end, she is probably left out in the sun to dry, like a wrinkled prune!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  She hasn't got far to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Not Just About Klonopin, Dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                      Ever since this book came out in paperback, I have been eyeing it in the stores, wanting to read it, but afraid to do so.  From the cover, and the back, I feared that this novel would be, like Matthew Thomas' "We Are Not Ourselves," one of the most depressing novels, ever.  Let me say, outright, that, compared to both, "The Bell Jar," by Sylvia Plath, is upbeat.

                                       I admired Adam Haslett, ever since his short story collection "You Are Not A Stranger Here."  I wanted to see if he could tackle the novel form, and he certainly can.  No one will respond to this book the same.  I can only offer mine, from personal experience.

                                         I have been on Klonopin for over ten years.  I take the most minimal dosage, and, still I have no tolerance.  My dosage has never been upped, and I see a difference in myself, without it.

                                          I have Anxiety Disorder.  The family in Haslett's novel deal with more than just that.  Father John is clinically depressed, culminating in suicide that, while tragic, was not, in any way, engineered.

                                           But, then, there is older son, Michael, inheriting his father's mental illness gene, for worse, as opposed to his siblings, Celia and Alec.  The youngest, Alec is gay, which automatically made him interesting, for me, though his overall portrayal is that of a Gay Republican.  And we know how dangerous they can be, don't we, darlings??????????????

                                            Michael is so ill he cannot function in society.  Outside of a medical text, I cannot recall a book where the word Klonopin is used so much.  Michael is on mega-doses of this, and many other drugs, including Serotonin.  Already in his late-Thirties, he cannot even function in grad school, and his mother supports him.  Fearing for her, and themselves, siblings Celia (a psychotherapist) and Alec (basically a Guppie!!!!!!!!) come up with an intervention plan to wean Michael off the drugs.  A month, alone in a country house, with Alec running the show.  Sounds easy?  Well, it is not, and this is where I have issues.  Deprived of the mood enhancers, cold turkey, Michael sinks into a deeper hole, culminating, basically, in his suicide.  Which I cannot help thinking--though many will disagree with me--was unconsciously rendered by Celia and Alec, who wanted to be rid of Michael's problems, which they did not want to have to go on and face.  They also wanted to release Margaret, their mother, from the burden Michael has been on her, since birth.

                                                I was not depressed, when I finished this book.  I was flat out angry.  As a therapist, Celia should have known better.  Only a doctor can wean a patient off drugs; I have experienced this myself, and it works beautifully, when done properly.

                                                What kept me from throwing this book against the wall was Haslett's compelling rendering of character and situation.  This may be how one family dealt with mental illness; I am not sure Haslett is saying this is the right way; it is just the way this family chose.

                                                  Upon finishing this book, I pondered my own mental health.  I realize I have had Anxiety Disorder my entire life, only to have it dealt with in the last ten years.

                                                     Reading Haslett's novel made me realize I have to monitor it extra carefully.

Does "Meet Me In St. Louis" Still Hold Up? You Bet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  Though it has been referenced and mentioned so many times, since I started this blog, I do not believe I had sat through a full screening of "Meet Me In St. Louis" in all that time.  So, last Saturday, upon discovering it was to be the Channel 13 movie, I told my beloved we just HAD to watch.

                                    The film is perfection.  It elevates the ordinary into art.  A year in the turn-of-the-century lives of the Smith family is what the film is about.  But how those lives and that era is portrayed is what makes the film.

                                       Start with Vincente Minnelli's artistry.  Not only does he elicit brilliant work from the actors, but each frame, in color, detail, composition, and camera placement, is a work of art in itself.  Simple scenes, like Garland and Lucille Bremer positioned at the piano, singing the title tune,  or the lighting during John Pruitt's proposal to Esther, are visually breathtaking.

                                         Add Judy Garland at her vocal peak.  Each song gets better and better, culminating in "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," leading to a moment that just keeps the tears flowing.

                                          Then there is an Academy Award winning performance from Margaret O'Brien.  How this darker exploration of the childhood psyche was elicited from her at so young an age, and that it made it to the screen, is remarkable, for its time.  Many consider Tootie's Halloween adventure to be the film's high point, but, for me, it is the entire Winter sequence, culminating in Tootie's smashing of the snow men, that not only turns the film on its dramatic heels, but shows how capably children could be used in films.  O'Brien won her Oscar deservedly.

                                           The great Joan Carroll plays Agnes, and her start of the singing of the title tune, as it runs throughout the household, establishes this movie's structural flow.  But it the quiet moments that stood out for me--Lucille Bremer's hand gestures in the "Skip To My Lou" number, Garland and O'Brien facing each other, arms raised, in "Under The Bamboo Tree, and, loveliest of all, turning the lights off in the house with Tom Drake, as John Truett, to Garland's poignant rendering of "Over The Bannister, Leaning," which set my tears to flowing.

                                            Have hankies on hand, because, oh my, God, darlings, this film will elicit tears in places not expected.  Save plenty for the Christmas sequence, commencing with Garland dancing with Harry Davenport ("Gone With The Wind's" own Dr. Meade) as Grandpa, where he leads her over behind a gorgeous Christmas tree, and out she comes on the other side, in Tom Drake's arms!  A candlelit tree, a tender scene, and that red dress!  Oh, my God, that dress!  Where else would one find such perfection?  Then, just as the eyes are drying, comes her singing, to O"Brien, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," and not since "Over The Rainbow," five years before have I heard a song sung so tenderly.  The transitions on O'Brien's face throughout are spot on brilliant, and then the following--"The Snow Men Scene" has to be seen, if you can see through the mist of tears it elicits.  By this point, I am an absolute mess, sobbing and gasping, like Tootie.

                                            This was MGM's biggest money maker since "Gone With The Wind," and deservedly so.  What is more, in the two dance sequences, in staging, lighting, and camera placement, one can sing how that earlier film influenced this one.

                                              "Meet Me In St. Louis" is the midpoint of the Garland Triptych, flanked on the left by "The Wizard Of Oz," and "A Star Is Born," on the right.  How many film stars can boast a Triptych Of Perfection?

                                                As Tootie says, early on, "Wasn't I lucky to be born in my favorite city?"  If already seen, watch it again.  If never seen before, well, girls, come on, now!

                                                 You will be so lucky to see one of   my favorite movies, to borrow from Tootie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Fourth Of July, Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       I would be completely remiss, if I did not drop by, and wish all my readers a very happy, and safe, Fourth Of July!!!!!!!!

                                      One could argue for "George M!" as today's musical.  It has its virtues, darlings, but how more grounded can one get than "1776????????"

                                        However you set off fireworks today, Baby Gojira, and all of us here, wish you a very happy July Fourth!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         I wanted to play the Original Overture for you.  But here is the opening to the 1998 revival, which I saw, at the Gershwin, on opening night!

                                         Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome, Sookie Tawdry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                Things pop into my head on a whim, darlings, and, last night, this name floated through my dream consciousness.  It must have the day I had yesterday, out on the Island--Long, not Fire, unfortunately!!!!!!!!--where my sanity was salvaged by a lovable dog, named Tork.  I can always count on the doggies, darlings!  I LOVED when he made off with one of the hamburgers.

                                                  When I awoke, this morning, I wondered, just who the hell is Sookie Tawdry?  I know her name appears in Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife," but is she really a part of the whole "Threepenny Opera" thing?

                                                   Echt, Brecht.  I sort of tuned out in drama classes when he was studied.  I loved the Pabst film, and Lotte Lenya, but the vehicle never grabbed me.

                                                     The way I see it, Jenny Diver and Sookie Tawdry are prostitutes.  With a name like "Sookie Tawdry," she certainly is not going to be a nun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Or a graduate of Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                       I wonder why Sookie appeared in my consciousness last night.  A bit of indigestion, perhaps? Will my need to perform ultimately drive me to act in a production of "Threepenny Opera?"  Now, that would be something?  Maybe I could play Sookie Tawdry!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        You just gotta love the name, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!  As for what it all means, stay tuned! If an answer is reached, I will be sure and let you know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                 

We Kick Off The Second Half of The Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  You know I simply cannot resist those Cecil Beaton/Laura Ashley designs, darlings, so let's say hello to the second of the "good time months."

                                    This month's musical, of course, is "1776," which is being done sometime this month at 54 Below.  And I am excited about the upcoming ENCORES "Assassins."  Am I going to get tickets?  Decisions will have to be made.

                                     As it will about my Klonopin. After finishing Adam Haslett's "Imagine Me Gone," there is no way I am quitting cold turkey, like some idiots want me to do.  I mean, I could end up jonesin' on the street.  I will sell books to the Strand, but that is it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     But let's concentrate on the highs of July--it is the height of the Summer season, it is a blissfully tranquil period, despite some blistering days.  And we have some exciting BAM screenings coming up, which are more affordable than ENCORES.

                                      So, a happy July--and 4th--to one and all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Let Little Edie be your guide, this month!