“Good Harbor,” Anita Diamant
Most of you probably recognize Diamant’s name from her outstanding book “The Red Tent”. I also wrote about her book “The Boston Girl” last year. Written in between these two, “Good Harbor” focuses on two women in a beach town in the Northeast who are able to relate to each other despite their age difference and help to comfort each other through a cancer diagnosis, affairs, and the death of a chid. It is by far my least favorite of Diamant’s books that I’ve read, although I guess it would be hard to write a better book when your first was “The Red Tent”. Full of cliches and “would someone really say that?” moments, “Good Harbor” is the sad comeback novel that one has to write to be able to write better books in the future. Sorry if that was harsh, maybe my expectations were too high–expecting another “The Red Tent”, I suppose.
“The Portable Dorothy Parker,” edited by Marion Meade
This collection of Parker’s work is a very complete selection of her prose, poetry, nonfiction, and letters. It is over 600 pages long and gives a good perspective of Parker through her writing. There is even an interview in the last pages, given during her last years of life, that shows her as a person instead of as the icon she has become. It was clear through her comments that although she was aware of her iconic presence in New York, she still lacked the confidence in her herself and in her writing that she deserved. If you haven’t read anything by Parker, or even if you have, I strongly recommend this collection.