Jill Hindenach

How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The title of Connie May Fowler’s novel How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly comes close to saying it all. It is the story of a thirty-five-year-old woman’s inner struggle for independence and self-acceptance, which she slowly succeeds at achieving over the course of one single day—the summer solstice of 2006.

The novel takes place in the hot, sticky forests and savannas of northern Florida, and it starts as one imagines the weather might feel. Slow moving, but full of detail, the reader learns about the immediate situation Clarissa finds herself in, as well as her surroundings.

While Clarissa is in the kitchen of her sixteen-room, century-old house, her husband of seven years is outside taking photographs of naked women. He is an artist, and Clarissa is a bestselling author who hasn’t written anything in more than thirteen months. Instead of writing, she focuses her creative energies into meticulously detailed daydreams about the death of her husband.

Fowler makes it clear from the start that Clarissa is in a loveless, emotionally destructive marriage. While her husband works on his “art,” he lives off of Clarissa’s money and treats her like she's worthless. Coming from a childhood with an abusive mother and no father, Clarissa realizes she is a doormat, but doesn’t know how to overcome it. Luckily, on that summer morning, a switch flips inside of Clarissa's mind when she realizes how trapped she is. What she experiences afterward not only inspires her to write again, but inspires her to change her life, to “learn to fly” in more ways than one.

The novel focuses on Clarissa’s journey, but is told from the perspective of many. Clarissa’s house is haunted by the family who once lived (and died) there. There is a grounded angel and a carnival of dwarfs in town, and several of Clarissa’s inner voices prod her into taking action instead of waiting for things to happen. Every character she happens across that day seems to help to remind her that she is worth something.

Fowler does an admirable job of making a story that’s been told original and exciting. Clarissa’s story culminates with a storm, which picks up the pace considerably. This is welcomed after the slow, winding road the novel has gone down up until that point. The transformation she goes through is satisfying, but mainly because she is so insecure (almost unbelievably so at times) throughout the majority of the novel. Her situation is extreme, but her lack of confidence in herself and the decisions she makes is relatable. People need validation in their lives, and, thankfully, once Clarissa receives it she moves on.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, March 27th 2010

Girl Mary: A Novel

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0000

By Petru Popescu

Simon & Schuster

The Mary in Girl Mary__ is known by many names and revered by many people. Type “Mary” into Google and the first match is a Wikipedia entry for “Mary (mother of Jesus),” her best known role. She is a major player in the spirituality of millions, yet much of her life remains a mystery. Girl Mary, a work of fiction by Petru Popescu, takes Mary the mythical figure and makes her human while telling a captivating account of her life just before Jesus.

Popescu’s novel marries Judean history with that of Augustan Rome. It begins from the perspective of a young Roman who calls himself Apella, but later reveals his real name is Pontius Pilate—the man who would ultimately sentence Jesus to his crucifixion. He agrees to work as a spy for Augustus Caesar, who wants to declare himself God, by visiting a tribe of Jews from which Caesar has heard the son of God will come. Pilate is told to find a miracle and bring it back to Caesar so the Roman people can be convinced that it came from their emperor.

Mary, of course, belongs to the tribe Pilate visits whose people were banished from their home, Nazareth, by their king. Part of Pilate’s plan is to gain the tribe members’ trust by persuading the king to let them back into Nazareth. Pilate unintentionally falls for Mary throughout this process, but her heart belongs to Joseph, a carpenter she met when she lived in Nazareth. The novel follows Mary’s physical journey back home and her emotional journey of being in love.

Girl Mary brings Mary, Pilate, and Joseph to life in a way that religious texts don’t allow. The story is told from each of their perspectives, though Mary is the most developed character. Much of her development comes from the many conversations she has with God during her journeys. It’s clear she isn’t afraid to question God’s motives, especially when it comes to his creation of women and their suffering at the hands of men.

Popescu’s Mary is quite a bit less reserved than her biblical image. When Joseph asks her to marry him, she declines knowing she would be his third wife (he is set to marry two others before her). It’s clear that she values herself, and Joseph, too much to be his third. In a time when women are used as bartering chips, she acts her own negotiator and haggles Joseph into making her his first wife. Throughout the book, she proves that a woman can be virtuous without having to be submissive to those around her.

In Christianity, Mary is often used as symbol of what all women should aspire to be: pure and virtuous. However, Mary’s level of purity is an unattainable standard. In religious texts, she remains a virgin despite being pregnant with Jesus because he was conceived by a miracle of God. Popescu’s Mary is not a virgin. She has sex with Joseph, which leads God to plant the seed of his son into her womb. It’s a very small part of the book, but indicative of the story Popescu has created. Even though his novel is fiction, its detail and emotion make it feel more realistic than the texts—believed to be based on historical facts—from which the story originally came.

Popescu’s Mary is not only relatable, but the purity and virtue she exemplifies is attainable. He didn’t change her or her story much, but he made them both more rounded and a joy to read.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, December 24th 2009

Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:05:00 +0000

By Glenn Stout

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

From 1922 through 1925, Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle was widely considered to be the best female swimmer in the world, and had no trouble competing, and winning, against men either. In 1926, at the age of nineteen, she became the first woman to swim the English Channel, shattering the previous record by two full hours.

Young Woman and the Sea is the story of Trudy Ederle told by sportswriter Glenn Stout, but it is more than a biography. Using interspersed chapters, Stout gives readers lessons on the history of swimming, the English Channel, and those who came before Ederle in women’s swimming and in the swimming of the Channel. The main focus of the book is Ederle, but it is also the story of those who helped make it possible for her to succeed so greatly.

In the early 1900s, women weren’t taught, or often allowed, to swim. It wasn’t seen as proper and few thought that women were physically capable of even doing it. The Women’s Swimming Association, founded in 1917, had a mission to change that view. Part of that mission was recruiting young girls to train, and, in 1918, Ederle became one of them. Ederle in particular challenged the psychological and scientific reasoning that women were not, nor could ever be, as strong as men.

Ederle’s first attempt at the English Channel was in 1925, but a sexist coach—who is rumored to have poisoned her—sabotaged her efforts both mentally and physically. One year later, under the guidance of a new coach, Ederle swam the Channel better than anyone before her, making the phrase “weaker sex” sound old fashioned.

After Ederle, more women crossed the Channel, one within days of her successful attempt, and more women’s sports, which had seemed so controversial before, were added to the Olympics. More women also began to turn professional, reaping the same financial benefits as professional male athletes, thanks to a change in attitudes toward female athletes.

Ederle was a celebrity at a time when few knew what that term meant. However, soon after her historical swim, she slipped into obscurity almost as easily as her fame began. One of the reasons Stout gives for her being so quickly forgotten was that the changes she inspired became so pervasive so quickly.

The story of Trudy Ederle is important and should be told often. It would be wonderful as a young adult or children’s book because of its inspirational messages of equality and perseverance. Ederle’s reasoning behind swimming the Channel may have had more to do with personal goals than gender equality, but she sure helped things along. Young Woman and the Sea is a charming read and an important reminder of how thankful women today should be for women like Ederle who have come before them.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, July 28th 2009

Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:27:00 +0000

By Marilee Strong

Jossey-Bass

When a crime is committed, the public wants to know why. In Erased, journalist Marilee Strong answers that question for a specific set of criminals she calls “eraser killers.” She outlines an in-depth profile of these killers hoping that the more the public knows about them, the more they will be caught and justice will be brought to their victims.

Strong started the journey to Erased while reporting on the disappearance of a pregnant woman in California named Laci Peterson. She covered Laci’s story through her disappearance to the conviction of her husband, Scott, for her murder and the murder of their unborn child. While researching other murders for the Peterson case, Strong noticed a psychological pattern between Scott and another killer who committed a strikingly similar crime more than fifty years earlier. This book is the result of the next five years of Strong’s research.

Erased covers more than fifty murders throughout the past century that fit the pattern of eraser killings, a form of intimate partner homicide that is committed almost exclusively by men, done in a carefully planned manner, which is often through bloodless means, in order to leave behind as little evidence as possible. The killers frame the murder to make it look like something happened that had nothing to do with them, and often try to make the body physically disappear as well. Eraser killers eliminate women, and sometimes children, in their lives simply because they no longer serve any purpose to them. The killers have no emotional attachment to their victims, considering them nothing more than a commodity. Most disturbingly, these men are often described as loving husbands right up until they day they kill. The women in their lives have no idea they are in danger until it is too late.

Strong credits the “unique psychology of men” with these murders and, in particular, a set of dangerous traits that psychologists have named the “Dark Triad” of personality: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. These traits lead eraser killers to believe they can literally get away with murder without anyone ever knowing. Ironically, it is also these traits that lead many to their downfall. Eraser killers can be so over confident that they make mistakes and overlook important details.

While it is interesting to know just where some of these killers went wrong, Strong occasionally takes those details too far. Her recounting of Laci Peterson’s murder becomes eerie when Strong describes exactly what Scott might have done to get away with it. Surprisingly, she goes into these specifics after telling the reader that many of these killers learn from each other as models, noting what worked for other killers and what pitfalls to avoid. With this in mind, many of the details Strong uses in Erased become uncomfortable to read. It makes one wonder how helpful the book is in bringing victims justice, and how helpful it could potentially be to a future eraser killer.

While Erased is disturbing on many levels, it is also thought provoking. For the majority of the book, Strong’s heart seems to be in the right place. In the conclusion, she offers recommendations on what the criminal justice system can do to better catch eraser killers. She focuses on closing loopholes that make eraser killers think they can get away with murder and that allow some of them to do just that. At the very least, Erased is a wake-up call that there is another, more disturbing, side to domestic homicide that deserves serious attention. Strong makes a very clear case that her profile and recommendations are worth considering.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, July 25th 2009

The Makedown

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:19:00 +0000

By Gitty Daneshvari

5 spot

The Makedown is marketed as a witty take on a makeover in reverse. However, this part of the storyline actually occurs in the last fourth of the novel. The first two parts focus on the makeover of the narrator and main character, Anna Norton, and the third focuses on the start of her dysfunctional relationship with her boyfriend, Ben.

The first section of the novel, titled “Hello Fatty,” describes Anna ages ten to twenty-three with nearly every “ugly” cliché imaginable. She is “fat,” has braces; acne; greasy, matted hair; and is a bad dresser. However, she is also extremely intelligent, landing a spot at the University of Pennsylvania and ultimately graduating with a degree in molecular biology.

After a short series of unfortunate events on her twenty-third birthday, Anna decides to move to New York City, giving up an apprenticeship at a research facility in Ohio. Disheartened by a job interview on Wall Street in which she is mocked for her appearance, the Penn graduate takes a job as a caterer’s assistant making minimum wage. But she doesn’t care because this caterer, Janice, is her “fairy godmother,” the person Anna has been waiting for to transform her “ugly” and “fat” self into something beautiful.

After calling all of the delivery places in Anna’s Brooklyn neighborhood and telling them not to serve her, Janice finally gets Anna to start eating healthy and exercising. She also introduces Anna to the Gap, her dermatologist, and mustache waxing. Anna is rewarded for all of this with her first New York boyfriend, Ben.

The only problem is Anna’s intense insecurity, left over from her days as a “fatty.” In comparison to Ben’s ex-girlfriends, she feels she just doesn’t stack up. She worries about Ben only asking her out because his mother suggested it. She worries about the girls who smile at Ben and worries even more when he smiles back. She overhears him give his email address to a coffee barista and pretends to faint for attention. She finally decides that he is just too good looking, and knows it too well, for their relationship to work.

Instead of breaking up and moving on, Anna can’t let him go. Thus, she plans The Makedown. In the words of Anna, “makedowns are applied to lessen the excessive beauty that Mother Nature accidentally dumped on certain people.” She focuses on fattening Ben up, thinning out his hair, and dressing him poorly. She convinces herself making Ben less beautiful will be the answer to her relationship problems, but, as expected, she’s wrong.

To be honest, I didn’t find this book very witty. The superficiality of the characters was painful, not humorous, for the most part, and while the concept might sound unique, the story was still quite predictable. I appreciate that the end goal of the novel is to remind the reader to be happy and confident in herself before committing to another person and that looks aren’t really everything, but I wish those points weren’t so muddy.

The book’s writing is in the vein of Helen Fielding or Marian Keyes, but the biggest difference is those authors’ characters are much more relatable, and more realistic, than Anna. I left the book feeling sorrier for her than I did when it started and, even if that was part of the author’s intention, it was disappointing.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, May 14th 2009

Herb and Dorothy

admin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:59:00 +0000

Directed by Megumi Sasaki

Arthouse Films

“You may not have lots of money. Your job may be boring. Still, life can be exciting and fulfilling to the extent that we allow ourselves to follow our passions.” —Megumi Sasaki, director of Herb and Dorothy

The award-winning documentary Herb and Dorothy follows the touchingly obsessive love affair between Herb and Dorothy Vogel, contemporary art, and New York City. It is the story of how a New York postal worker and librarian become two of the greatest contemporary art collectors of our time.

In the early 1960s, Herb and Dorothy met, fell in love, and their art collecting began. For their honeymoon, they went to Washington, DC and made a beeline for the National Gallery of Art. It was there Herb gave Dorothy her first art lesson. She became as enthralled as he was and soon they were taking art classes back in New York, painting works in their one bedroom apartment.

It was then they started to slowly build their collection of minimal and conceptual art. Throughout their years as collectors, Herb and Dorothy had few rules to what they could and could not purchase. In fact, there were only two: pieces had to be affordable and they had to fit into the apartment.

Along with their voracious appetite for art, Herb and Dorothy had a genuine interest in artists’ development and continue to maintain relationships with the artists they have bought from over the years. Watching the interviews with different artists in the documentary (Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, and Richard Mangold to name a few), one can imagine them jumping at the chance to share their stories of Herb and Dorothy and praise the couple’s sincerity.

In 1992, the Vogels’ apartment was filled with art well above its maximum capacity. They decided to move their collection to the National Gallery of Art, much of which was a gift. They admirably had a code to never sell any of their art for profit and particularly liked that the gallery was free to the public. With some help, the Vogels are also launching Fifty Works for Fifty States, which will distribute 2,500 works from their collection throughout the nation by the end of 2009.

People with Herb and Dorothy’s love and intensity are rare. After being married and collecting art for forty-five years, the couple couldn’t be less bored with life. Throughout the film it’s clear that the couple’s marriage and relationship as art collectors are equal partnerships. Neither thinks their collection would be as brilliant as it is without the other. As Dorothy puts it, they’ve done everything together and that’s the way they like it. Today, they still live in the same one bedroom apartment, and are refilling it with more art.

Even if you don’t love art, you will fall in love with Herb and Dorothy. It would seem impossible not to leave this documentary with a smile and a renewed sense of hope that love exists and anything is possible with enough passion.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, March 9th 2009

Reading Novalis in Montana

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:20:00 +0000

By Melissa Kwasney

Milkweed Editions

Reading Novalis in Montana is a collection of poems by Melissa Kwasny that focuses on connections between the natural world, spirituality, and modern life. The title of the collection rightfully implicates nature and Novalis as the inspiration behind the poems. Novalis, a late eighteenth century poet and writer of Early German Romanticism, focused much his work on the belief in harmony between humans and nature, or the inner and outer worlds.

Spirituality in nature is a strong theme throughout the book. Kwasny’s respect for the outside world is obvious; the poet treats each living thing as an individual existing within its own world. In "Mule Deer," she views the deer, birds, and fish as cartographers drawing lines to suit their own needs. It is a truly refreshing view. Instead of simply coexisting, the poet reflects on what it feels like to live with these different worlds and learn from them.

It is this deep connection to the natural world that leads the poet to introspective questioning of life’s purpose. In the opening title poem, "Reading Novalis in Montana," Kwasny writes: "If, as the gnostics say, the world was a mistake/ created by an evil demiurge, and am I trapped/ in my body, abandoned by a god whom I long for as one of my own,/ why not follow the tundra geese into their storm?"

In the next poem, "Redpolls," she wonders, "What is it that I was supposed to learn?" In "Lepidoptera," she decides that "one reads the world the best one can," but still questions the purpose of her surroundings. She quotes Novalis in the opening poem, writing that "all we experience is a message." While this sounds like a comforting guideline to live by, Kwasny demonstrates it can also be maddening, only leading one to more questions without answers.

There are very few people who claim to have the world figured out. Trying to do so is the lost art Kwasny internally struggles with in her poetry. In "Is It Oblivion or Absorption When Things Pass from Our Minds?" Kwasny talks about "the throwaway life" many humans beings lead.

Trying to find answers to questions of our purpose in the world is exhausting. Most just give up and lead the lives they think they have been given. Thankfully Reading Novalis in Montana never stops asking questions or trying to find answers, reminding the reader there is more to life than one settles for or often cares to know.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, March 2nd 2009

To Survive

admin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:27:00 +0000

By Joan as Police Woman

Cheap Lullaby Records

The name Joan Wasser is not well-known to most people, but it should be. Collaborating first with bands like The Dambuilders in the ‘90s and, more recently, Antony and the Johnsons, Joan Wasser first came onto the music scene as Joan as Police Woman in 2006 with her debut album, Real Life. The album was critically acclaimed for its haunting honesty and beauty, and her sophomore release, To Survive, fortunately sticks with that formula.

The ten tracks on To Survive are soulful. Wasser ranges from sounding like Kate Bush to Chan Marshall to Neil Young with a common thread of vulnerability. While Wasser’s lyrics are far from self-assured, their honesty is the most appealing thing about To Survive. She does not convey the voice of a strong woman, but one that life has kicked around quite a few times and is looking to hold on to something or for someone to hold on to her.

The album is hopeful and realistic. In the title track, Wasser conveys that life is not perfect, and in times of depression and loneliness, you must just find “the spark to survive.” For Wasser, that spark appears to be love. The album ends with “To America,” a duet with Rufus Wainwright in which the lyrics warn not to starve yourself of love because it will save you. This realization explains the importance and urgency Wasser places on love throughout To Survive and the beautiful, building duet is the perfect ending to an album about the imperfections and loneliness of life and the things that can rescue you.

Written by: Jill Hindenach, August 19th 2008