Tag: 1950’s

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

June 16, 2015 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life.

Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place—Nat King Cole singing “Unforgettable,” Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

In the Unlikely Event is vintage Judy Blume, with all the hallmarks of Judy Blume’s unparalleled storytelling, and full of memorable characters who cope with loss, remember the good times and, finally, wonder at the joy that keeps them going.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC!

Judy Blume is such a beloved author that I’m almost reluctant to write this review. Let me just get it over with: I didn’t like this book.

There, I said it.

It wasn’t the anticipation that made the book such a letdown–it was the style and way the plot unfolded. Many other reviews will note the large cast of characters and the fact that each chapter is written about one character at at a time. For me, this didn’t work. (I’ve recently read other books constructed that way and once I got into the flow, enjoyed everything just fine. None of these characters actually grabbed me.)

The writing style wasn’t as Blume-esque as I recall, and the plot seemed to zig and zag, even though it was fairly linear. I read on and on, hoping I would get to that sweet spot where everything clicks and it becomes unputdownable.

It just never happened for me, and I grew annoyed. Yes, the work is epic. Yes, she winds the characters’ lives around and eventually it all makes sense. Yes, the hopes and dreams of everyone looms large as the plot unwinds, and the maturation of the characters, especially Miri Ammerman, provides a backdrop to keep the average reader turning the pages. I could say it’s like going to Disney World in the rain; the idea of it should be magical, but the weather just doesn’t cooperate.

One thing that was agreeable: the exact perfection in which Blume describes the 50’s. Little details like products, clothing, attitudes, home decor—this is done wonderfully and provided the only bright spots for me. Sad when you spend time reading a book just to pick out the background details.

Ms Blume will sell a lot of copies of IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT based on her status as a literature goddess. I’m still going to worship at her altar, but this book won’t have a place there.

Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen

July 29, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 3 Comments

Spanning over 400 pages and telling the story from 1721 to the present day, Vaccine is a work of great scope. It starts out with the smallpox epidemic in Boston, Cotton Mather, and newfangled “variolation”, then proceeds to the 1940’s and 50’s issues with polio and measles, and rounds out the tale with the controversial DTP vaccine, a discussion of the alleged link between vaccines and autism, and an entire chapter devoted to anti vaccinators, those who would see their children suffer and die a horrible death from whooping cough and other childhood sicknesses.

Blending science, mystery, drama, and politics, this book has something for everyone. Fun fact: the beloved Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls were created by a well known illustrator, Johnny Gruelle, after his daughter Marcella was supposedly sickened by a vaccine given at school without his permission. The book tells that “The doll, with its limp limbs, became a symbol of vaccine-damaged children, and Marcella was the heroine of the Raggedy Ann stories that Gruelle went on to illustrate.”

Another fun fact: During the frantic search for the flu vaccine in 2004, there was also a pertussis (Whooping Cough) epidemic quietly making the rounds, with more than 19,000 cases that year. There were only 11,647 in 2003.

Anti vaccinators would storm the Internet looking for like minded souls and then get together to protest the government’s forced vaccination requirements for school children. In a ludicrous-sounding passage, a mother tells the author that it is good when her children get ill, because then everyone can take the time to slow down and spend time together. The book then goes on to tell how one child spent 6 months coughing, for most of the day and night, with spells of alternating vomiting and coughing from his illness. Another child broke a rib coughing; and a woman had to be hospitalized because she was in danger of losing her unborn child (her cervix was being nearly ruptured from the hacking.

The descriptions of the illnesses are detailed but not gory, and as you read you will find yourself thinking a lot more about the simple “shots” we all got as a kid.

At times a bit long winded, and necessarily full of politics, Vaccine was interesting but not enthralling. I didn’t feel it was a waste of my time, because I learned a great deal, and in the end I was glad my parents took me to the doctor and protected me. Whether you are for or against vaccines, you should read this book.