Suburban, Urban
Born in NYC in 1953, raised in the Jersey suburb of Norwood, Pamela Redmond Satran has carved out an impressive literary career. After graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked for Glamour magazine, eventually becoming a fashion features editor. In the meantime she wrote novels, books on humor and on naming kids, and two works of non-fiction. Her second novel, Younger, was adapted to TV, shooting 82 episodes from 2015-’21. I just finished her third novel, Suburbanistas, published in 2006. It’s the story of old friends who have not been in contact for 20 years, since one ran away to Hollywood at 17 and became a star. On a visit to her Jersey home, her mom passes away. Meanwhile her third husband’s affair with the nanny becomes national news. She reconnects with her old friend and helps her, a mom of four, a complete novice, run for mayor against an unscrupulous, predatory realtor who wants to change the area into a haven for the wealthy. The female characters are fleshed out nicely. The guy is a stereotype. The narrative becomes good vs evil, black and white, without the grey that might have made it interesting. One detail is ridiculous, a cheap shot despite it being fiction. The subplot involving a daughter’s desire to become an actress is much more interesting. Halfway, when it turned to politics, I considered abandoning the book. Since I liked the women and the writing was smooth, I stuck with it. All that was satisfied was my curiosity. The most surprising aspect is the rather explicit sexual content. The 335 pages of the large paperback edition reads like considerably less. 14 users at Amazon have rated Suburbanistas, forging to a consensus of 4.1 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 2.25. I believe its appeal is restricted to fans of chicklit. There is a liberal bias. Redmond is a mom of three, divorced. Facts from Wiki and IMDB, photo from Google Images:
Headline from buffalonews.com: “From human ashes to cellphones, what’s going on with concert fans lately?” Scanning the titles of news articles that came up after a Google search, these artists have been struck by debris or slapped by a fan while performing recently: Harry Styles, Ava Max, Bebe Rexha, Steve Lacy, Drake. A fan of Pink threw her mom’s ashes onto the stage. WTF?
Cloudy, nice breeze, no rain — perfect conditions for doing business curbside. My thanks to Viktor, who donated a mix of books and media, English and Russian; and to Bill, who delivered three DVDs; and to the gentleman who bought two Danielle Steel paperbacks, Anne Rice’s The Road to Cana: Christ the Lord, and two handbags; and to the gentleman who purchased six hardcovers in Russian; and to the one who overcompensated me for Medical Terminology Simplified: A Programmed Learning Approach by Body System by Barbara A. Gylys MEd CMA-A (AAMA) and Regina M. Masters BSN RN MEd CMA (AAMA), and American Kernel Lessons Intermediate Student Book by Robert O’Neill, a book on grammar; and to the woman delighted to pay only a buck for a handbag; and to Bay 37th alum Lorraine, who took home Demon Seed by Dean Koontz and the 2001 version of the Guinness Book of Records, dated but beautiful. A black belt, Lorraine was wearing this T-Shirt, photo from GI:
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