Friday, September 29, 2017

Book review: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

Manhattan Beach
By Jennifer Egan
Scribner


This latest from Jennifer Egan is an entirely different kettle of fish from her last novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad, which won the Pulitzer Prize.
That’s not to say Manhattan Beach isn’t good – it is – but only to say don’t expect more like the Goon Squad with its time shifting and groovy alternative story forms.
Manhattan Beach is a more straightforward novel; time is quite firmly rooted here.
It is the story of Anna Kerrigan, who grows up in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. The novel begins when she is 12 years old and carries readers through her young adult years during the Second World War.
In the beginning, Anna lives in a workaday apartment with her mother, father and disabled sister Lydia. She often accompanies her dad when he goes to work – his work appears to be as some sort of messenger for a union. They visit the homes of other men, who often invite him in for a drink while Anna plays with their children. On one memorable evening, they visit the home of Dexter Styles, a mysterious man Anna learns more about as the story progresses.
Insights into the lives of New York gangsters, showgirls and nightclubs play a starring role in this novel, as does the research Egan did about the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the pursuit of diving.
The Second World War opened up opportunities for women to work in jobs previously occupied only by men and deep sea diving to repair ships in the navy yard was one of them. Anna, who finds work sorting through bits and pieces of ship hardware, longs to be a diver herself.
The story and the setting are interesting, but it’s Egan’s thought processes and turns of phrase that make Manhattan Beach a standout.
Here’s a passage told from Dexter’s perspective, about how his respectable father-in-law convinced Dexter to marry his pregnant daughter, and managed to get Dexter to make concessions.
“And later … Dexter could only marvel at the sleight of hand whereby his father-in-law had jimmied himself out of a straitjacket with enough leverage to extract promises. Houdini couldn’t have topped it: his daughter was knocked up and refused to have it taken care of. Had Arthur withheld his consent, she’d have run away with Dexter: a disgrace. The old man hadn’t had enough room to scratch his nose, yet he’d bargained as if the advantage were all his – intuiting with eerie perspicacity that, although criminal, Dexter was a man of his word.”
The details, the visuals, the emotions and the intensity is Egan’s calling card.
Egan, as well as writing A Visit From the Goon Squad, has written four other books, including The Keep, Emerald City, Look at Me and The Invisible Circus.
This is a beautifully written novel, with a solid plot to back it up.
Jennifer Egan will be appearing at the Vancouver Writers Fest in a special event on October 25.
tracy.sherlock@gmail.com

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Vancouver school trustee candidates get a chance to speak out Oct. 3

Candidates vying for one of nine spots on the Vancouver School Board will be able to speak out on Oct. 3.
I'm going to be hosting a candidates' forum on Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at John Oliver secondary school, 530 E. 41st Ave.
Candidates will be answering questions posed by parents, who want to know trustees' views on everything from school closures to support for students with special needs. There will be short answers, yes/no questions, multiple choice questions and longer form questions, and every candidate will get a chance to speak out.
tracy.sherlock@gmail.com


Metro’s 2017 Homeless Count shows many homeless people grew up in foster care

Metro Vancouver’s 2017 Homeless Count asked homeless people whether they had been in ministry care in their childhood. It is the first time this question has been asked and the results are astounding.
One-fifth of all of the homeless people said they had either previously been in ministry care or were in care when the survey was held. Of the people surveyed who were younger than 19, nearly one-quarter said they were currently in care, while one-fifth said they had previously been in care. Fully 38 per cent of the people aged 19 to 24 said they had been in ministry care.
In British Columbia, foster children and other young people in government “age out” when they are 19 and their supports are cut off.
As the Vancouver Sun found in its 2014 series, From Care to Where, when children in care are cut off at 19, they face high rates of homelessness, unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and incarceration.
The B.C. government has pledged to create a “comprehensive program” of supports for children aging out of foster care. To date, it has created a program to ensure all young people who have been in the care of the government for more than two years will be able to attend one of B.C.’s 25 public colleges and universities tuition-free.
tracy.sherlock@gmail.com