Review of "A Boring Wife Settles the Score: A Novel" by Marie-Renée Lavoie

 

In the first book in this series, 'Autopsy of a Boring Wife', Diane Delaunais's husband Jacques leaves her for a younger woman after 25 years of marriage. Diane becomes undone and acts out in a series of dramatic (and often funny) ways.

'A Boring Housewife Settles the Score' opens two years later. Diane is now almost 50-years-old;



sharing a Québec duplex with her best friend Claudine;



looking for a new job; and speculating about romance at her age. I listened to the audiobook version of the novel.

As the story opens, Diane has more or less moved on after Jacques betrayal and is looking for new challenges. Not wanting another office job, Diane gets a position as a kindergarten aide in a primary school. The divorcée is soon dealing with a classroom of active children - some of whom are more idiosyncratic than others.



One boy smashes toys; one boy won't speak; and one girl obsessively counts cards. Given the job of talking to the the toy-breaker's father, Diane is told the child is 'too smart', shown by his ability to do Legos above his age range. Meanwhile the other teachers, who've heard it all before, are giggling behind their hands.



In any case, Diane is a fine aide and goes out of her way to connect with the kids.

One perk of working at the school is the presence of a handsome contractor named Guy, who's doing renovations on the building.



Diane knows Guy slightly, and - encouraged by her friend Claudine - considers making a move on him. Diane and Claudine first try to determine Guy's relationship status, but they can't find it on the internet.....and Diane takes a bold step to find out what's what.



Diane also has a couple of interactions with her ex-husband Jacques: one time when she sees him in the pharmacy and another time when he crashes his bicycle and gives her number to the hospital. In addition to being stressed by his postpartum girlfriend and their newborn, Jacques wants Diane to be friendly with his new family (he always was a bit obtuse). However Diane has other thoughts about this.



In their spare time Diane and Claudine socialize with friends at Happy Hour;



drink wine; eat pizza, and dine on cassoulet;







and talk about getting a man, which (they think) isn't so easy for mature ladies. In one hilarious scene Diane is on the verge of getting lucky when Claudine's teenage daughter Adèle strolls into her apartment without even knocking.

Additional characters add amusement and interest to the story. These include Diane's colleagues at school, such as an overstretched secretary, a cantankerous teacher, and a restless twentysomething;



Claudine's eighty-four year old mother, who takes charge when young Adèle gets too defiant;



a nonagenarian lady with too many cats;



Diane's three-legged feline;



Diane and Claudine's VERY handsome acquaintance;



Diane's grown children; and more.

In this book middle-aged women CAN go on after desertion and divorce.....and the cheating hubbies who left them may not have it so easy. Is this realistic? Probably sometimes.

The sequel isn't as laugh out loud funny as the first book, but provides some smiles and is worth reading. The book is translated from the French, and the audiobook narrator does an excellent job with tone and nuance.

Thanks to Netgalley, Marie-Renée Lavoie, and Dreamscape Media for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night" by Jason Zinoman

 

David Letterman

In this overview of Letterman's professional tenure, the author - Jason Zinoman - covers Letterman's entire career, starting when Letterman was a DJ on a college radio station, through his morning TV show, to his late night shows.




David Letterman early in his career

Letterman was always plagued with insecurities, which were instrumental in shaping his comedy. Letterman incorporated his discomfort with people into his skits and guest interviews, and was sometimes impatient or dismissive (or even hostile) to celebrities if they weren't good guests...especially if they were awkward, or shy, or didn't have good stories to tell.




Alec Baldwin and Drew Barrymore were good guests


Rubert Gee


Letterman did numerous skits with Rubert Gee, owner of the Hello Deli

Zinoman gives a comprehensive account of all the people (writers, producers, assistants, cameramen, etc.) who worked behind the scenes on Letterman's shows, as well as Letterman's agents, managers, and publicists. Letterman apparently grew more and more distant towards these ancillary folks as he got older (and crankier). Zinoman emphasizes the huge impact Letterman's one-time girlfriend, Merrill Markoe (who was his head writer for a while) had on his comedy - especially scripted sketches filmed outside the studio, which she wrote and produced.


David Letterman and Merrill Markoe


Merrill Markoe

There's a little bit about Letterman's personal life, including the attempted blackmail that induced the talk show host to confess to cheating on his wife 'on-air'.....and how this affected him.


David Letterman with Robert “Joe” Halderman, who tried to blackmail him

Zinoman writes a great deal about Letterman's comedy and how it evolved over the years....and he describes lots of sketches and jokes. The author watched a few thousand Letterman shows and interviewed lots of people, and it's clear he's extremely knowledgeable about Letterman and his career. The writer also discusses how Letterman affected subsequent late night hosts, and describes the 'comedy giant's' lasting imprint on entertainment.

If you're a Letterman fan, you'd love this book.



(I didn't write a comprehensive review of the book as there are plenty of great ones available.)

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite" by John Glatt

 

Author John Glatt

In this book, John Glatt - who's written many true crime books - tells the story of Manhattan socialite Thomas Gilbert Jr., who murdered his father in cold blood.


Thomas Gilbert, Jr.

Thomas Gilbert Jr., called Tommy, has an illustrious ancestry in America - starting with Robert Treat, who founded Newark, New Jersey in the 1660s. Some of Tommy's forebears were also mentally ill, which foreshadows Tommy's own descent into paranoia and possible schizophrenia.

Tommy's parents, Thomas Gilbert Sr. and Shelley Rea Gilbert, were a wealthy New York couple with a luxurious lifestyle.


Tommy's father Thomas Gilbert Sr.


Tommy's mother Shelley Rae Gilbert

The Gilberts were thrilled when young Tommy was born in 1984, and the handsome intelligent little boy was pampered and sent to the best schools. Little Tommy was close to his dad and, at the age of nine, gave his father a 'World's Greatest Dad' statuette, which Tom Sr. cherished.

As a young teenager Tommy was a model pupil at Manhattan's elite Buckley School. Tommy was a straight A student, talented athlete, and student council member - later described as 'a golden boy' by a classmate.


Young Tommy was called 'a golden boy'

Tommy's outer façade was deceptive however, and he was becoming anxious and paranoid.....and developing an irrational fear of his father. A few years later, when Tommy was a junior at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, he became convinced his roommate was 'contaminated.' Tommy then began obsessively washing his hands, was constantly 'losing' clothing because it was contaminated, and started showing signs of depression.

Despite his problems, Tommy applied to his father's alma mater - Princeton University - and was accepted. However, Tommy's fear and avoidance of his father escalated at this time, and he also became convinced the Princeton campus was contaminated. To cope, Tommy embraced Princeton's drug scene, and indulged in marijuana, LSD, and cocaine. Moreover, Tommy began injecting himself with anabolic steroids, to improve his performance on the football field.


When Tommy got older, he became a heavy drug user

When Tommy was caught using drugs Princeton suspended him, and Tommy's parents reached out to mental health professionals for help. Tommy started seeing a psychiatrist named Dr. Kevin Spicer, and told the doctor people were contaminating him, stealing his personality, and killing his thoughts. Dr. Spicer diagnosed Tommy with a depressive disorder and possible schizophrenia, and prescribed antipsychotic medication. Spicer also advised the Gilbert parents to hospitalize Tommy, but they didn't, partly because they were in denial, and partly because of the social stigma.

In subsequent years - as Tommy's behavior became more bizarre and dangerous - various doctors encouraged the Gilberts to hospitalize Tommy again and again. The Gilberts always resisted, though, saying Tommy would refuse inpatient treatment. In retrospect, this seems like a grave error, as institutionalization might have helped Tommy before it was too late.

During Tommy's suspension from Princeton, he lived the high life for a couple of years, surfing his way around the world at his parents' expense. Tommy hit the beaches in South America, Africa, and Brazil, then spent time in America's Deep South before returning to college.


Tommy partied at his parents' expense

When Tommy finally graduated from Princeton, he was expected to become a successful financier like his father, but this never happened.

Glatt elaborates about Tommy's youth, years at Princeton, subsequent elegant lifestyle in Manhattan and the Hamptons (paid for by his parents), refusal to get a job, and declining mental health.




Tommy had an active social life in Manhattan and the Hamptons

Glatt also includes details about Tommy's troubled relations with his friends and girlfriends. Though Tommy was peculiar, many women liked him for his good looks.


Tommy's girlfriend Briana Ressner


Tommy with his girlfriend Anna Rothschild

Tommy's behavior - suspicious and antagonistic - made it difficult for him to keep friends, and Tommy went over the top when he beat up his former roommate Peter Smith, then burned down the Smith family's historic house in Southampton.


Tommy's friend Peter Smith


Tommy burned down the Smith house in Southampton

Sadly, Tommy's parents repeatedly hired lawyers, covered for him, and paid his way out of trouble, and Tommy came to expect special treatment.

As 2015 approached, Tom Gilbert Sr. was experiencing money problems and reduced Tommy's allowance, the idea being that Tommy needed to (finally) support himself. Tommy then made plans to sell his parents' Hampton's mansion, worth over 11 million dollars - and decided to murder his father so he could proceed with his scheme.


Tommy planned to sell the Gilbert mansion

On January 5, 2015, at the age of 30, Tommy paid a visit to his parents' Manhattan apartment and asked his mother to go out to buy him a sandwich and a coke. Tommy then shot his father in the head as Tom Sr. was watching television in the bedroom. Tommy was arrested seven hours later.


Tommy being arrested for shooting his father

The tale of Tommy's subsequent competency hearings and eventual trial takes up the latter part of the book.


Tommy in jail


Tommy at one of his court hearings

Though Tommy pulled the trigger, there's room to disagree about Tommy's 'legal' guilt or innocence, since he was mentally ill. Once again, one must wonder what would have happened if Tommy - starting in his teenage years - had received the help he so badly needed.

Glatt did extensive research for this book and observes, "Golden Boy is without a doubt my most challenging true crime book." The author spent five years interviewing Tommy's family, friends, and acquaintances, and following the winding path through scores of court hearings and trial transcripts.

Glatt came to know Tommy's mother Shelley quite well, and observes,"[Shelley's] courage and dignity are amazing, and I cannot begin to fathom how difficult it must have been to lose a husband and then a son to this terrible disease." Shelley hoped her son would be hospitalized rather than sent to prison.


Tommy's mother Shelley supported him after he killed his father

The author was also assisted by Tommy's one-time girlfriend Lila Chase, who remained empathetic to her former beau through his arrest, hearings, trial, and afterwards.

In many ways this is a cautionary tale, about the dangers of over-indulging children while simultaneously neglecting their obvious problems. Families should take heed.


Tommy with his sister Clare and their parents, Shelley and Tom Sr.

Thanks to Netgalley, John Glatt, and St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars