Broadway Baby

October 24, 2011
For his fiction debut, poet and memoirist Shapiro (The Courtesy) has produced an intimate character study that covers the Depression era to the present. After a fateful trip to New York City in the 1930s with her mother, Boston native Miriam Bluestein begins dreaming of Broadway stardom. However, her dreams go unrealized when she becomes a wife and mother. That is, until the birth of her son Ethan, who has the talent but not the enthusiasm to become a star. Determined to see Ethan make it in show biz, Miriam drags him to singing and dancing lessons, neglecting her other children and her husband, Curly. While Ethan achieves some small amount of success, it’s never enough for Miriam, whose relationships with daughter Judy and son Sam are almost nonexistent. Though readers witness Miriam’s family falling apart, it’s difficult to identify with her since she doesn’t demonstrate any substantive self-awareness or capacity for change, nor do any of the other characters. Despite Shapiro’s excellent prose, well-developed setting, and well-rendered cultural tension, the lack of character arc will quickly wear thin.

October 15, 2011

In his first novel, award-winning poet Shapiro (Tantalus in Love) offers an endearing, witty, and heart-warming take on family life--specifically on how dreams and reality do not always coincide. Miriam Bluestein grows up in a fractured Jewish family, living with her grandparents and having only limited contact with her exotic and mysterious mother. Her father, a peripheral figure, makes the occasional, shy visit as well. Miriam spends most of her time dreaming of one day finding fame on the stage but instead is saddled with a not always understanding husband and three frustrated children. She ends up trying to realize her dreams by becoming an overbearing stage mom to Ethan, her only child to show any real promise for the theater. VERDICT Equally sad and laugh-out-loud funny and boasting a cast of vibrant characters, this book is sure to hit a nerve with readers, no matter what their background. Readers will find themselves alternately rooting for Miriam and for her much-suffering family members. Sure to be a favorite.--Leann Restaino, Girard, OH

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2011
Miriam wants nothing more than to become famous on Broadway. Her love for the stage begins during childhood, when she lived with her grandparents in pre-WWII Boston, but it lasts all her life. When she becomes distracted by marriage and then children, she projects dreams of stardom onto one of her sons instead. The struggle to achieve her goal through him and the damage it does to herself and the rest of her family are painful to witness. Shapiro has written the story of Miriam's life much like a true memoir, the focus being on Miriam, but he has also created a book full of caricatures of recognizable personalities. Though tedious at times, this novel has something to say to everyone who has ever had a goal and failed to reach it. Far from being just a life story, this first novel is about dreams and their sometimes tragic intersections with reality.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)