We Are Too Many

December 1, 2022

In Why Fathers Cry at Night, Newbery Medalist and New York Times best-selling author Alexander (Swing) blends memoir and love poems, recalling his parent and his first years of marriage and fatherhood as he ponders learning to love (50,000-copy first printing). After abandoning her marriage as the wrong path, Biggs looked at women from Mary Wollstonecraft to Zora Neale Hurston to Elena Ferrante as she considered how to find A Life of One's Own. A celebrated New York-based carpenter (e.g., his iconic Sky House was named best apartment of the decade by Interior Design), self-described serial dropout Ellison recounts how he found his path to Building. Shot five times at age 19 by a Pittsburgh police officer (a case of mistaken identity that amounted to racial profiling), Ford awoke paralyzed from the waist down and learned he was a new father; a decade later, he recounts his path to social activism and An Unspeakable Hope for himself and his son. From the first Black American female designer to win a CFDA Award, Wildflower takes James from high school dropout to designer of a sustainable fashion line showcasing traditional African design to founder of the booming social justice nonprofit Fifteen Percent Pledge (businesses pledge to dedicate 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands). Minka's fans will proclaim Tell Me Everything when they pick up her hand-to-mouth-to Hollywood memoir (30,000-copy first printing). In Whistles from the Graveyard, which aims to capture the experience of confused young millennials in the U.S. Marines, Lagoze recalls serving as a combat cameraman in the Afghan War and witnessing both bonding with locals against the Taliban and brutality toward innocent people by young men too practiced in violence. To cement ties with his eldest son, star of Netflix's hit Dead to Me, veteran actor and New York Times best-selling author McCarthy found himself Walking with Sam along Spain's 500-mile Camino de Santiago. A first-generation Chinese American with a seafaring father and a seamstress mother, Pen/Faulkner Award finalist Ng (Bone) recounts being raised in San Francisco's Chinatown by the community's Orphan Bachelors, older men without wives or children owing to the infamous Exclusion Act. Thought-provoking novelist Pittard (Reunion) turns to nonfiction with We Are Too Many, an expansion of her attention-getting Sewanee Review essay about her husband's affair with her best friend (80,000-copy first printing). Delighted by all the queer stories she encountered when she moved to Brooklyn, book publicist Possanza uses Lesbian Love Story to recover the personal histories of lesbians in the 20th century and muse about replacing contemporary misogynistic society with something markedly lesbian. In Uncle of the Year, Tony, Drama Desk, and Critics Choice Award nominee Rannells wonders at age 40 what success means and whether he wants a husband and family; 19 original essays and one published in the New York Times. Describing himself as Uneducated (he was tossed out of high school and never went to college), Zara ended up as senior editor at Fast Company, among other leading journalist stints; here's how he did it (30,000 copy first printing.)

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February 6, 2023
Novelist Pittard (Visible Empire) recounts the marriage-ending affair between her husband and best friend in this bold and inventive memoir. In snippets of conversations—some real, some imagined—presented like scenes from a playscript, Pittard peels back layers of betrayal and deception to chronicle what comes to look like an inevitable end. As Pittard and her husband, Patrick, trade barbs over domestic matters, deep fissures over finances and professional success are revealed. Readers easily come to see why this was “a marriage that was destined to fail,” but Pittard wisely doesn’t dwell on the usual litany of faults of a bad ex. In the final section, where Pittard writes plaintively about her friend Trish, the full scale of her loss is felt, and it’s here that she finds true pathos. She shows how she was captivated by Trish, a woman who radiated cool confidence and who seduced her with flattery but also exploited the insecurities that Pittard confided in her: “She was my balm and my diversion, even as her treatment of me as a possible competitor fueled my physical insecurities.” Pittard’s frankness stings, and the stripped-down format makes this all the more potent. It’s a powerhouse.

March 1, 2023
Conversations, remembered and imagined, surrounding a divorce. Pittard, author of several novels, begins this deconstruction of her marriage--her less successful writer husband, Patrick (names are changed), left her for her so-called best friend, Trish--with an introduction justifying its existence. In 2017, the author published a long essay in the Sewanee Review about the situation, but readers wanted more--"the nasty bits." Clearly, it's about more than just that: "What began as a response to curious readers has since morphed into an investigation into the intersection of memory, self, honesty, and personal accounting--an investigation that sharply questions the legitimacy, ownership, and accuracy of personal and shared memories." The first half of the book, which is interesting to read in a salacious, other-people's-private-business way, presents a series of scenes, written in script format with stage directions, between her, Patrick, Trish, and a few other characters. Scenes include: "July 2016--Hannah Discovers Her Husband Is Having an Affair"; "June 2012--Four Years Earlier, Patrick Proposes"; "Fall 2005--Hannah & Trish Discuss Live Bands and Eating Disorders"; "February 2014--Nine Years Later, Hannah & Patrick Discuss Having Children." The fractured chronology sometimes makes it tricky to follow, but overall this part is snappy and controlled, an addition to the growing canon of women writers figuring out fun formal ways to liven up a sad story of betrayal. The second section is less charming, envisioning a dialogue in second person with an imagined version of her husband. Here, bitterness and TMI prevail. About his career, she says, "It's like you took one look at me--simple, boring, uptight me--and thought, Jesus, if she can do it, then surely so can I....But nothing got taken; nothing got published." In response, the imagined husband says: "This is gross. I feel dirty even tolerating this conversation." Connoisseurs of divorce memoirs will enjoy the inventive style choices and unusually nasty details.

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April 1, 2023

Divorce is difficult for many who've been through it to talk about. That's even more the case when the tipping point is an affair between a spouse and their partner's best friend. Novelist Pittard's (Visible Empire) genre-bending work conquers that heartbreak by combing facts with speculation and fiction. While this structure is unique, some readers who prefer traditional formats may have difficulty following along. The book notes the author's relationships with her ex-husband and best friend, divorce, and the aftermath by utilizing time jumps and short dialogue that give readers insight into her mind and thoughts as she reconciles what exactly happened. It becomes a memory exercise as events are twisted, fantasies peek through, and conversations are misremembered. The book is an honest look at how relationships can affect people, and it's a fascinating study of how the mind works when someone is dealing with heartbreak and grief. This book demonstrates the importance of communication and that the way people perceive things does not necessarily match what is happening around them. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy memoirs that deal with personal relationships and the journey of discovering oneself.--Leah Fitzgerald

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.