From Publishers Weekly
Family memoirs always run the risk of careening between the sentimental and the sensational, but this heartfelt, warmly intelligent kaleidoscope of intimate portraits never glosses over the rough edges while casting an illuminating glow on hard times and intriguing personalities. In this collection of 15 interrelated essays about members of the extended Bessie/Burnett clan, the author portrays his relativesDboth famous and notDas striking examples of American individualism, ingenuity and integrity. Some of themDincluding advertising genius Leo Burnett and publisher Michael BessieDhave garnered mainstream praise for their work, while others have become heroes in the political and social counterculture: Alvha Bessie (the author's father) was one of the Hollywood Ten, while Harry Burnett and Foreman Brown founded the famous Yale Puppeteers and Turnabout Theater. The latter also wrote Better Angle, a pro-gay novel, in 1933. Meanwhile, Wes Wilson (husband of Bessie's half-sister Eva) invented the acid-art-nouvelle posters that defined the drug and youth cultures of the 1960s. At the center of this memoir is the portrait of the author's mother, Mary, a woman of intense devotion, intelligence and varied talents who lived her life for her family and children and never gained the recognition granted to many in her extended family. To Bessie's credit, he never sermonizes about his relatives or their lives but simply presents them as complex human beings. His reflections will especially appeal to historians of progressive political movements, gay history and contemporary social history. (Nov. 17)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Bessie, a film writer and director, has put together a lively look at a bunch of his relatives. What is remarkable is not only his voice--it is all in the practiced cadences of a born raconteur--but the number of interesting people he is related to. There's his favorite cousin, the aptly named birder Phoebe, who before her death in 1999 had logged 85 percent of the 10,000 bird species. His Uncle Harry ran the Yale Puppeteers and the famed Turnabout Theater with his partners Roddy and cousin Forman; as Richard Meeker, Forman wrote the famed gay classic, Better Angel (1931). Bessie's father, Alvah, was blacklisted and went to prison as part of the Hollywood 10. His gentle, impaired stepfather was convicted of murder. His half-sister, Eva, married Wes Wilson, whose astonishing posters for the Fillmore Auditorium in the 1960s are now icons. Like the titles listed in the Read-alike column "In Search of Our Parents" [BKL Mr 1 00], this memoir would make a great choice for discussion groups exploring family chronicles. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
