Don't Kill the Birthday Girl Few writers are more qualified than Sandra Beasley to pen a memoir about living with food allergies. The Washington native is allergic to “dairy, egg, soy, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish, and mustard.” Even fewer could navigate the nuances of this problem with such humor, pathos, and flair. Read a full review of Don't Kill the Birthday Girl.
The Good and the Ghastly James Boice’s trigger-happy third novel is a graffiti-rough mural of America in the 3300s, a thousand years after a nuclear holocaust has reduced the US Capitol and the Declaration of Independence to ash, rendered Ikea side tables and Target rugs as priceless treasures, elevated Oprah Winfrey and Stephen King to the ranks of the Founding Fathers, and turned the country into a wasteland operated by executives from Visa. Read the full review of The Good and the Ghastly.
The Big Fight “What’s most beautiful about boxing,” novelist Colum McCann wrote, “are the lives behind it. They’re so goddamn literary.” That could be jacket copy for The Big Fight, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard’s cursory yet deeply confessional autobiography (written with Michael Arkush). Replete with episodes of childhood abuse, adultery, violence, drugs, and second chances, it lends vulnerability to a fighter whose footwork and head fakes, not to mention his patented bolo punch, made smoother, stronger opponents look clumsy and dazed.
Book Reviews: Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl, The Good and the Ghastly, and the Big Fight
July's Washington Reads tackle food allergies, boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard, and post-apocalyptic Northern Virgina
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl
Few writers are more qualified than Sandra Beasley to pen a memoir about living with food allergies. The Washington native is allergic to “dairy, egg, soy, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish, and mustard.” Even fewer could navigate the nuances of this problem with such humor, pathos, and flair.
Read a full review of Don't Kill the Birthday Girl.
The Good and the Ghastly
James Boice’s trigger-happy third novel is a graffiti-rough mural of America in the 3300s, a thousand years after a nuclear holocaust has reduced the US Capitol and the Declaration of Independence to ash, rendered Ikea side tables and Target rugs as priceless treasures, elevated Oprah Winfrey and Stephen King to the ranks of the Founding Fathers, and turned the country into a wasteland operated by executives from Visa.
Read the full review of The Good and the Ghastly.
The Big Fight
“What’s most beautiful about boxing,” novelist Colum McCann wrote, “are the lives behind it. They’re so goddamn literary.” That could be jacket copy for The Big Fight, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard’s cursory yet deeply confessional autobiography (written with Michael Arkush). Replete with episodes of childhood abuse, adultery, violence, drugs, and second chances, it lends vulnerability to a fighter whose footwork and head fakes, not to mention his patented bolo punch, made smoother, stronger opponents look clumsy and dazed.
Read the full review of The Big Fight.
These reviews appear in the July 2011 issue of The Washingtonian.
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
MAP: Road Closures for Trump’s Military Parade
The Smithsonian Says It Will Decide Who Runs Its Museums, Thanks; Trump’s Parade Will Close Some DC Streets for Days; and a Maryland Bear Got a Ride to a Park in Virginia
Man Jumps From AU Radio Tower in Apparent Suicide
Smaller Crowds, Big Emotions for Army’s 250th: What We Heard Around DC
The Latest on the June 14 Trump Military Parade in DC
Washingtonian Magazine
June Issue: Pride Guide
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
Kings Dominion’s Wild New Coaster Takes Flight in Virginia
More from News & Politics
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
PHOTOS: “No Kings” Protests Draw Thousands in DC Area
Smaller Crowds, Big Emotions for Army’s 250th: What We Heard Around DC
Man Jumps From AU Radio Tower in Apparent Suicide
Unelected Storms Menace Trump’s Tank Parade, Kennedy Center Boss May Run for California Governor, and WorldPride Tourism Didn’t Meet Expectations
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This June
Troops for the Military Parade Are Sleeping in Office Buildings. DC Police Are Recruiting Outside.
Two Days After He Ascended, a Man Remains on a Radio Tower on AU’s Campus