Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • D6

Fansof books welcome theWilliamsburg NostalgiaFest, honoring the GoldenAgeofHollywood.At least be present tomeet andgreet on Nov. 11 through 13.Twowill provide candidbooks about their groundbreakingwork. These accounts takeus instantly back to thewonders of Hollywood. First, and theFinal JarmanJr. (CovenantBooks, 158 $14.95, 2018.) Jarman: the agewe live innow, the art of hasbeen replacedbybig-bud- get corporate franchises that generate merchandise.

Movie-related tie-ins like T-shirts and videogames earnmore reve- nue than the movies them- selves.Occasionally, are stillmade.Thedifference is, they areusuallymadeoutsideof the currentHollywood system, whereas in thepast, the system wasestablished for thepurpose It always Still, he says, themselveswill never growold because theyweremadewith suchcare. I knowwewill never see the likes ofHolly- thatwashis intro- fromthe novel byMarjorieKinnanRawl- ings.More than auditioned toplayJody, theboy with thepet fawn. eventually selected. Iwas that boy. fromthe slow Southern city ofNashville, Tennessee, to thebustling epicenter fornia, at age ten, Iwas the envy of kids everywhere.Gregory Peckplayedmy father, Jane Wymanmymother, and legend- arydirectorClarenceBrown becamemymentor and Also whowithLindsayHarrison wrote this Side (LyonsPress, Chakiris: time Iwas a little enthralledme.Theyweren’t an escape.

I hadanice life. adesti- nation, a beautifulTechnicolor fantasyworld I could live in for a couple ofhours, aworld full of gorgeouspeople andplaces and stories and, I interested inmovieswith soldiers andguns andbloodand violence, just beauty andgrace andhappyendings andmusic thatwould staywithme long after I left the Chakiriswas28whenhewon anOscar andaGoldenGlobe for best supporting actor forhis role asBernardo, leader of the Sharks, in themovie versionof After an illustrious career theater, he givenanextraor- dinary always mademe feel lovedandvalued andnever, ever same forhis friends. Andhewasgivenapassion doors: everyotherdancer I just part ofwhatwedo, part ofwho This is the real thing. In Williamsburgyoucanmeet and talk to thesepeople and more, among themBeverly Washburn AudreyDalton PatrickWayne theEyeof the andAndrewPrine from The theClarion Hotel, 3032RichmondRoad. WilliamsburgNostalgiaFest.

com, or 757-482-2490. Happy trails to you. Bill Ruehlmann is professor emeritus of journalism and communications at Virginia WesleyanUniversity. Nostalgia fest to bring stars and their books books LITERARY NOTES LoveMurakami or Ferrante? Credit the translator. Book translators are campaigning for credit on front covers, alongside theauthors.

Inanopen letter theynote, is thanks to translators thatwe haveaccess toworld literatures past thatweare notmerely isolated islandsof readersandwriters talking amongstourselves, hearingonly skill, too, canbecritical tohowwe experienceabook. MacmillanUKsays itwill credit themoncovers and inpromo- tionalmaterials forall newtitles The issue isnotnew; thispush is. JenniferCroft toldher 10,000 Twitter followersofher resolve to translatenomorebookswith- out covercredit. She translates fromPolishandSpanishand isknownforherworkonOlga wonthe InternationalBooker Prize. on translatingandpublish- practices (tinyurl.com/ OnCover); ElenaFerrante translator AnnGoldstein (tinyurl.com/ AnnElena).

theannual LibraryofVirginiaaward for anassociateprofes- sorwho teachescreativewrit- ing; readmoreabouthimand hisbook here: tinyurl.com/BCastleb.The awardshonorVirginiawrit- ers.Otherhonorees:Nonfic- theFirstHeartTransplant in poetry, AnnieKim, art in Torrence, NorthAmericanArt at the Womanto leadFarrar, legend- arypublisherhaschosen its thirdpresident president): publisherMitzi inSallyRooneyandGarth Greenwell. She takesover from be chairmanandexecutiveeditor. authors in its 75years includeAleksandrSolzhenit- syn, JamaicaKincaid, Seamus Heaney, WolfeandJohnMcPhee. Authorhoax: InSpain, thriller involving twosisters tortured author, was threemen; the identitywas faked to sell toprotect theauthor frombacklashor to preservemental space towrite. (WashingtonPost) more than100books, Black themesandculturewher- everhecould, andretold tales suchas without the racist caricatures.

(NYT: tinyurl.com/JPartist) misstated theWWIIworkof BlackU.S. servicemenwho fatheredchildrenwithDutch inabookby ChrisDickonandMiekeKirkels. Themenwerenotgravediggers; they likelyworked in trucking andsupply. Newand recent FromElizabethStrout, (RandomHouse, 256 pp.) In this secondLucyBarton tries to herattachment toherex-hus- bandandwhat gotten wrongabout their ConnieOglewrites, calling the bookworth reading though notaspowerful as Lucyslowly intoa sharper focus, homing inonher loneliness andhernaggingcertainty that her impoverishedchildhood hasmarkedher foreverasan JonathanFranzen, in betweenBarackObamaand (Nov. 2).

Smith, erica.smith@ pilotonline.com ByMichael Schaub Minneapolis Star Tribune told, is amiracle, a blessing, a gift. Womenwhogivebirth are expected tobegrateful, uncom- plaining, never expressing any negative emotion. But forClaire, thenarrator of stunning newnovel, the situa- tion ismuchmore complicated. in she as a mother andmyself asnotwere twodifferentpeople, Claire is aprofessor and author found herself suffering fromsevere postpartumdepressionafter the birthofherdaughter.Heropen marriage is faltering, and alarmedwhen teeth growing insideher vagina.Her doctors think ing and and intolerableher life as weight anddeeply ambivalent mother awunderkind burnout rethinkingher impres- sive Claire takes toReno, Nevada, for a speakingengage- stays with their daughter. look- ing forward to the of.While she still has friends in the citywhere sheused to live, sheknows be forced to confronther childhood, spent inCalifornia andNevada.Her ahappyone thedaughter of a formerManson familymember (asdidWatkinsherself and anopioid addict, bothofwhom diedyoung.

When it comes time forher to returnhome, She bounces fromtown to town, stayingwith friends, strang- ers anda lover developed serious feelings, a violationofher agreementwith herhusband: sex withotherpeople or fall in love withotherpeople, butnot both. Not both in the sameperson. Thiswas the rule I Claire breaks several rules in this novel, and quite regret anyof them. truth is I cannotplaynice and to, butwant towant to, she says.And Watkins refuses to judgeher harshly for this; the character is that rarest of things: awoman whosequestionabledecisions remainunpunished.That’s part ofwhatmakes this novel so does it descend into amorality tale. ReaderswhoknowWatkins twobooks are bound tobe surprisedby this novel.

out of pocket andunapologetically transgres- sive.Bynaming theprotagonist of thebookafterherself and givingher similar biographical seems to feel to take risks. And it pays off. But is a wild, hilariousnovel, toldwith a contagious, unchained feroc- ity. awonderful bookbyan quicklyproven herself indispensable toAmeri- can literature. Michael Schaub is amember of the board of the National Book Critics Circle.

He lives in Texas. FICTION Amother the rules ByBenSwenson Correspondent For all thedirewarnings doomsdayers like to trum- pet about imminent societal collapse, reality suggests that far fromapreci- pice.Evenaglobal as the tides of death and economic turmoil plungedus into a for survival. But for readerswhodare to ventureover the edgeof civili- authorChris- tinaDalcherhasonce again provenherself amasterful chaperone.Withher thirdnovel, creates a worldwhere chaos reigns and a sanctuary fromthedisorder comeswith its owncomplica- tions. twootherdystopian-themed novels: In permitted to speaknomore than 100words aday; segregatesAmericans and their opportunities basedon their in aneffort to engi- neer abetter society. in anation white-collar elites, reduced to primal survivalmode, perform manual labor at their former country clubs.Dalcher’smain olds andher teenagedaughter, Emma, are left destitutewhen their spendthrift husbandand father self-destructs, his tenuous life built Themother anddaughter havenochoicebut to Femlandia, a gated, commune in rural NorthernVirginiawheremales arenotwelcome.

a last- ditch attempt at survival; this communewas foundedby estrangedmother and lifelong nemesis. ButFemlandia, like the color- ful characterswhopeople this engaging story, is under a veneer of virtue.The uncompromising stanceonmale exclusion, for instance, sows in a communitywhere childbearing is encouraged for the sakeof continuity. Even ifwomencangetpreg- nant provide geneticmaterial, about half ofwhichhasXY(male) chromosomes.Those are incon- venient truths leaders and the residentwomen of childbearing age likeMiranda andEmma. Emma takes a shine to life behind the iron gates of Femlandia. ButMiranda is caught.Her family ties to the commune, alongwithher curi- osity and intellect, leadher to revelations about the perverse and cruelmechanisms that make such anunconventional societywork, and thepropa- gandaused to conceal them.

Yet her efforts to impart those discoveries to her daughter and the otherwomenaremetwith obstacles at every turn. Such is the power of unquestioned groupthink. While somereadersmight be cautious about approaching a novel that explores radical femi- nism, fortes is critical analysis that givesno free pass to any ideology.Apotent strengthof is that amirror inwhichall of us and female, across the political seeour own follies. InonepassageMiranda laments a fate ofwomanhood, citing three femalespunished for Pandora are shamed for this kindof curi- Later, after seeing thedark- ness that resides in someof the femalehearts she comes to that pathologyofnarcissism, the preoccupationwith fantasies of savior status, coulddwell just as easily Singular, dogmatic solutions to systemic, longstanding issues are a errand.Yet through- outhistory, peoplehave tried to sidestep problemsby creatingutopian communities, andDalcherplacesFemlandia alongside Jonestown, theOneidaPerfec- tionists. and perfection possible.

read somewhere that utopia is someone one resident of Femlandia tellsMiranda. Dalcherhasbuilt ona foundationof radical femi- nismbornofpatriarchy.But on adeeper level, she constructed this journey into turmoil on the shaky foundationofhuman foibles, and awildbut intriguing ride that leavesno unaltered. Ben Swenson is a writer and edu- cator in James City County who specializes in American history and culture. Reach him at ben. FICTION A female-only dystopia, from the author of Christina Dalcher, author LAURENS ARENAS PHOTOSE Christina Dalcher Berkley.

336 pp. $27. Among them: Side actors Bill Ruehlmann Jarman LOVE YOU BUT CHOSEN Claire Vaye Watkins Riverhead. 290 pp. $27.

6 Sunday, October 31, 2021.