Whatever Wednesday - Zosia Mamet's Essays

 It's  challenging growing up in show business. Zosia Mamet's Essays - Does  This Make Me Funny? is  a mixture of  humorous memoir incidents, bittersweet memories, hilarious observations, and some very truthful slightly sad, frankly scary confessions. 

Father - David  Mamet

Mother - Lindsay Crouse

Quite a formidable background, she grew up backstage at theaters as her mother worked. Zosia calls herself a nepo baby lite. Her big break was as Shoshanna on Girls. 

Her essays vary - navigating body issues, plenty of self loathing, wasted days and nights partying in Hollywood.  She writes of her years as a young adult pining for acceptance and love, her first attempts as an actor, what it means to  be a girl in the  world, and how to define yourself amid  the bustle of show business.  (cover blurb)

Zosia is very, very funny. Her story-telling is impeccable. She writes of a world I can't comprehend, and at times it's as if she steps back and says, "now this is bonkers".  Very self deprecating and quite brave.  I knew her name, but wasn't terribly familiar with her work. I may seek it  out to watch. I think she'd be a fun person at a luncheon, and it seems as if she's  in a good  place now - married, older, more  confident, and healthier.  

Thumbs up on  a quick read. I laughed out loud at times. 

Friday Fun Read - Where I Come From by Rick Bragg

 Finally Friday and you need a frothy, light read. Where I Come From (Stories from the Deep South) by Rick Bragg is a hoot. I've reviewed some of his work before, and I laughed my way through this whole collection. 

As a damn Yankee gal from PA, I've been in Texas (the south) long enough to appreciate his terminology.  

Cover blurb - From his love of Tupperware to the decline of country music, from the legacy of Harper Lee to the metamorphosis of the pickup truck, as well as the best way to kill fire ants, the unbridled excess of Fat Tuesday, and why any self-respecting Southern man worth his salt should carry a good knife (that's Ray - plenty to choose from in our house), Rick Bragg's stories crackle with tenderness, wit, and deep affection. 

These are short essays full of humor and descriptions of great food. After his short dissertation on New Orleans, I was ready to climb in my car and seek out his po-boys, Creole sauces, and gumbo.  

It's Friday - fry up something, pour a lot of white gravy on top of it, savor the drippings, and kick back with Where I Come From. Read with an honorary drawl and sip sweet tea.  Enjoy!

Book Review - Browsings

Browsings by Michael Dirda is a collection of nonfiction essays on the literary life. This man lives and breathes books, has opinions on books, collects books, and earned a Pulitzer Prize as a critic on books. This book is not for everyone and I admit I skimmed some chapters. However, he also offers some funny anecdotes. He discusses literary pets, the lost art of cursive writing, book inscriptions, author photographs, novelists in old age, Oberlin College, a year in Marseille, writer’s block, and more. (cover blurb)

And he offers up reading suggestions that would last more than ten lifetimes.  He gives lists of perfect book titles, great adventure novels, favorite words, books about books, and children’s classics. He offers this with love and hate – eager to steer the world in the proper direction toward good books. He himself cannot stay away from used book stores, and admits to almost hoarder status as far as boxes and stacks of books in his home. He is married, so it sounds as there is some control and he won’t be crushed by his collection.

Dirda’s enthusiasm shines through, and he does put a lot of work into his passion.  Browsings was a library book choice for me and worth signing out to browse.