Stephen CoxReseñas

A fantastic and fun history of The Addams Family TV show and beyond.

Cox, Stephen. Our Child of the Stars. E-book ed., Jo Fletcher Books, 2018.
A spaceship crash-lands in a rural community. An alien baby survives. A kindly nurse and her family take it in and raise it in secret. Not quite as sentimental as it seems, but almost so. A Child of Two Worlds, a sequel delayed by the pandemic, was published in 2021. 3.5 stars.½

Due to my ill-timed slump, it took me longer than usual to complete this. Nevertheless I did find myself intrigued by the overall premise of the story. Once diving into the read, the reader is thrown into the Woodstock era where we meet married couple Gene and Carol, a troubling duo whose lives soon spin of control when dealt with death, grief, deception, infidelity, and substance abuse. Fast forward, we meet 'Corey', a special 'boy' that comes along and everything changes.

I won't go too much into it since it'll spoil the story but this is ideal for readers who are looking to steer off their usual route and indulge themselves with a family oriented, science fiction mixed type of story.

To close this out, "Our Child of the Stars" was a debut that didn't particularly stand out and didn't fall in my favor, but the concept was unique and refreshing, and I would recommend this novel if you're looking to step out of your comfort zone. Yet be warned, it can be a hit or miss, that's for sure.

NA

Overall, a very interesting analysis of literary works that either emphasize motifs of economic freedom, or which (in the essayists opinions) fail to shunt them. Although I have not read many of the works covered in this collection, the authors did a good job of elucidating how they fit in with this sort of economic analysis. I came out of this book realizing I need to read more Ben Jonson, Willa Cather and Joseph Conrad. A dash of Thomas Mann probably wouldn't hurt, either.

Words almost fail me. There is so much good, so much great in this one slim volume, it's difficult to decide where to start.
Isabel Paterson was a cultural icon during her lifetime, being an influential, and skillful, reviewer of books and thus having personal connections to writers and thinkers (not always the same thing) of her era.
She faded from the cultural mind for a while, but, at least in part, because of her prescience, she is again a topic of conversation and her works and thoughts and aphorisms are again being quoted, even in such media as Facebook.
"On its publication in 1943, the 'God of the Machine' appeared hopelessly old-fashioned," wrote Stephen Cox in his introduction to a new edition of that book. "Today it appears prophetic."
Dr. Cox has gathered and edited some of her essays and reviews and even her letters into this magnificent volume, with lots of explanatory notes -- some of the people and events have faded from memory -- and his own words, especially his introductory biography, make this a must-have book for anyone interested in the world of literature and the world of ideas.
I am already re-reading the book because there is so much to absorb as well as to admire. There is so much history, so much discussion of people and ideas of that era and earlier, I know already I'll be re-re-reading it. Probably soon.
I cannot recommend "Culture & Liberty" enough. Wonderful book! (less)

To read more of my reviews, check out my blog at keikii Eats Books!

Quote:

Molly,
I thought we agreed, no secrets. When I screwed up, I told you. I don’t know what the deal is, but it’s eating you up. You’ve got to decide, because I can’t live with someone who doesn’t trust me.
That hieroglyph meant, Love you, Gene.

Review:
Our Child of the Stars is very beautifully written. I just love the tone and direction the narration takes with every part of the story. I found myself adoring something I don't typically pay attention to: the actual words on the page.

The tale is ultimately a mother looking out for her child. The book starts with a couple, Molly and Gene Myers. Molly is a nurse, Gene a librarian. They love each other, and they try to have a kid. But Molly miscarries late in the pregnancy. This completely devastates Molly and she falls into herself, and alcohol, which nearly destroys their marriage. But in the end they prevail and come together again. That's the start of the book.

And then a meteor crashes just outside their town, and it changes their lives forever. As a nurse, Molly has to go into work to help the injured. It is an emergency, all hands on deck situation. And she ends up spending long hours there. And what she finds at the hospital both challenges her worldview and gives her a future. She learns that it wasn't just a meteor, there was a ship, too. With two occupants: a mother and a son. Both are badly wounded, and the mother soon dies, but not before getting a promise (through a translator box) for the doctors to help her child.

And they do, and Molly is one of the few trusted with the secret. Which includes keeping the young boy a secret from the US government. Molly falls in love with this injured child. And soon she decides that he is going to be hers, and she is going to be his second mom. And Molly convinces her husband to go along with it.

The young boy, which she names Cory because they cannot pronounce his real name, doesn't look anything like a human. He doesn't know English, though he quickly learns. He isn't accustomed to earth and is at high risk of infection and being unable to even eat our food. The Meyers will have to keep him hidden, always, from everyone. But they love him and want to protect him. And it's adorable.

Yet this isn't all fun and games. The government finds out he exists. They want him. And they aren't particularly good or even pleasant people in charge. The family has to run, they have to lie, they have to pretend. They have to keep their secret, or else. And young Cory is terrified of the soldiers - the aliens don't really have violence. It is a constant battle between living and being safe.

And Cory is so inquisitive, too. At a guess he is around 8 years old, if he were a human boy. And Cory wants to know everything. He wants to experience everything. And he's incredibly lonely. He isn't used to it, and he doesn't want to be alone. He wants others of his own age around him. And that hurts. Both him and me.

I really loved reading Our Child of the Stars. It was cute and wholesome when it focuses on the family. It made me feel like I was part of a family. It put me on the edge of my seat and made me worry when shit hit the fan. This isn't the Earth as we know it. It is an alternative earth, taking place during the Vietnam War, when tensions are already high. And there are changes made to the timeline, and further changes made for when the alien ship crash landed.

And this is actually one of the few stories I have ever read that deals with such real, hard topics such as miscarriage and adoption in science fiction/fantasy. Which is something I really respect. Our Child of the Stars hits a lot of the things I'm annoyed don't exist more in series I read, including children. And sometimes the road to that goal is paved with tragedy, and sometimes your wish is granted where you least expect it to.

ARC received from Jo Fletcher Books on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.

The beginning, dealing with Don Knotts' life, was interesting and written by authors who loved their subject. The rest of the book dealt with his television and movie career.
The kindle edition was probably not the best way to read this, as there were any number of newspaper articles included which weren't particularly easy to read, even when the size was increased (it became a tiring exercise).

This is a broad survey of the history of American Christianity. It looks at major themes in the development of Christianity in the United States. He looks at the "low wall of separation" between church and state, which he says is easily crossed. He also looks at peculiarly American aspects of Christianity, like the emphasis on the apocalypse in many churches there (although he looks mainly at the phenomenon rather than trying to explain it), and the mass revivals that have been a major part of popular Christianity since the United States were still British colonies. One of the most interesting parts of the book is his discussion of "stars" of revivalism like Billy Sunday and Aimee Semper McPherson. He also looks at the importance of hymns in America, which is not unique to the US, but is certainly very pronounced there.

He doesn't offer much overall analysis of American Christianity except to say that it is endlessly varied and unpredictable. The breakdown into themes works pretty well, but they are largely separate. Some organizing framework would be good. Overall, this is a good survey but very far from comprehensive (as the author acknowledges). It's a nice starting point if you want to understand the develop of American Christianity.

What a delight! This well written, well researched book focuses a bit on Carson's life but more of what it was like on The Tonight Show - what Carson was like as host and what it was like to work with him. A history of The Tonight Show and its various hosts is provided and then the book goes into the almost 30-year history of the show with Carson at the helm. Chapters focus on the monologue, celebrity guests, civilian guests, memorable moments, the shows with animal guests, and the NBC pages. The book had numerous laugh out loud moments as the author relates what happened on the show or behind the scenes. The book is full of numerous photographs and extras that include a lot of trivia and interesting stories about Carson, his guests, and even audience members. The author even had the opportunity for a short interview with the reclusive Carson. The author concludes that television like Carson's Tonight Show will never happen again and I have to agree with him on that. A great book for anyone who is a fan of The Tonight Show or Carson.

1886-1961. Among other things, Isabel Paterson was a book critic for the New York Herald-Tribune, writing a column for the *Books* section for many years. People who love books, like people at LT, should consider giving this biography a try.

The biographer is mainly interested in Isabel Paterson's ideas rather than her personality. While her ideas are defintely worth spending time on (she was a brilliant woman), it's a shame that more of Paterson's personality wasn't put into this book. According to Cox, Paterson was a big influence on Ayn Rand. She also wrote a book called *The God of the Machine,* described as "one of the few original theories of history that have been developed in America.

Paterson was the sort of person who enjoyed her time alone and avoided a lot of socializing because she found it to be a bore. I can believe that Paterson was something of a difficult subject for a biography: she wasn't married, didn't have children, and didn't have all that many friends, and more so as she got older. Cox says she considered herself a "hopeless loss" to social events. According to Cox, "A very large book could be devoted to describing all the people who disagreed with Isabel Paterson," but no one could deny that Paterson gave as good as she got.

Good notes and index; unfortunately no listed bibliography.

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