Book Review: In the Name of Gucci

I was recently offered a copy of Patricia Gucci's new memoir, In the Name of Gucci, and knowing nothing about Gucci other than that I can't afford it, I thought it would be an interesting read.

And it was.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought it might be more of a history of the company and all of the scandal surrounding it at the end of Patricia's fathers' tenure.  But, it wasn't.  It was far more personal than that.

In the book, Patricia talks about not only her relationship with her father, Aldo Gucci, but her mother's relationship with Aldo.  Patricia's mother, Bruna, was Aldo's mistress for over 30 years, starting when she was merely 20 and he was a long-married 53.  Oh, and, not only was she young and he married, but she was also his employee and resisted his advances repeatedly, for all of the above reasons.  The author tries to spin it as a love story, but from my modern perspective (these events took place in Italy in the 1960s), it didn't quite fly.

Another attempted spin that didn't quite fly for me was Aldo's arrest and subsequent incarceration for tax evasion.  The author, again, tried to paint her father in the most positive light, but, again, for me, it was a hard sell. Aldo Gucci was the head of Gucci and was very hands-on according to everything else Patricia wrote; and yet, when it came to this, he was suddenly the victim someone else's ineptitude.

The spinning aside, the book is very interesting.  It looks at Patricia's relationship with both her mother and father as well as how their relationship impacted her.  I sometimes got the impression, while reading this, that Patricia felt like a sort of third wheel with her parents.  Her father was gone and her mother was depressed much of the time, leaving Patricia to be raised by a nanny.  In fact, Bruna only really cheered up the one week a month they were visited by Aldo. And when he'd arrive at their home in England he'd pat Patricia on the head by way of greeting and then her parents would send her to her room so they could be together.

For her part, Patricia clearly loved her charming, handsome, absentee father, without know that much about him.  For example, she didn't find out that her parents weren't married and that her father was, in fact, married to someone else until she was nearly 10 years old.  That was also when she found out that she had three half-brothers, all grown men with children of their own.  From what she wrote, this didn't seem to impact her negatively at all; she was just excited to finally meet her brothers.  (Spoiler: they did NOT feel the same about her).

And, when it was all said and done, it was Patricia, and not any of her three half-brothers, that was named as her father's heir.  The story, of Aldo and Bruna, of Aldo and Patricia, and of Patricia and Bruna, to get to that point, is an interesting one.  And one worth reading.


If you'd like to read it, the book is available on Amazon; or you can learn more about it on Patricia Gucci's website.


Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Literary Stylings #24: The Library at Mount Char

Let me just start by saying that this is a fantastic book:

The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins

That being said, I don't think this is a book for everyone, in part because it was very different.  It wasn't like anything I had ever read before and I'm not even sure what genre it's supposed to be in.  One reviewer calls it "modern day hidden world fantasy" and that's a pretty good explanation.  Frankly, you can call it whatever you want, I just call it fantastic.

It takes place in an inter-dimensional (sort of) library (sort of) accessed through a house in a Virginia suburb.  There are twelve "librarians" in this library.  They were all selected by a man they call "Father" to study different disciplines at the library.  The main character, Carolyn, studies languages; all of the languages, living, dead, human and otherwise.  Other librarians specialize in war, medicine, travelling the lands of the dead and the animal kingdoms, among other disciplines.

When the story opens, Father is missing and the librarians are trying to figure out where he is and if he's even still alive.  In trying to do this, they have to venture out of the library into America for the first time since they entered the library as children.  Because they aren't familiar with America and it's social mores, they end up dressing rather peculiarly.  David, for example, the librarian of war, runs around covered in blood and naked except for a purple tutu.  And Michael, the librarian of animals, just runs around naked.

Carolyn, having spent more time in America than the others has a better concept of how to dress herself.  But, because they were all chosen as children, she doesn't necessarily have a better concept of how to dress herself as an adult.  Therefore her chosen outfit is a Christmas sweater and gold bike shorts.  Obviously Carolyn is my inspiration for today's Literary Styling what with the other options being nudity and tutus.


Now, I don't have gold bike shorts (I know, I too am surprised) or a Christmas sweater, but I do have a snow sweater:

And I figure camel and gold are in the same color family so I paired it with my camel skirt:

Snow Sweater: vintage Ralph Lauren (similar here, here, and here)
Skirt: sold out LOFT (similar here, similar longer version)  Tights: Target  Boots: Born "Sosie" (similar)

I added the white tights because white tights always feel a bit young to me.  And since Carolyn was a young child when she was taken to study at the library, I figured white tights fit the theme.  I mean, I know my 9-year old self would love this outfit.


But, enough about me and The Library at Mount Char.  What about you, Reader Friends?  What did you read last month?  Did it inspire you sartorially?  If so, please link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

What I Read: January 2016

Do you remember when I  said I read a lot of books in December?  Well, as it turns out, I also read a lot of books in January.

I think it's because I still don't really know anyone here in Pennsylvania, so my weekends are spent reading instead of going to see 80s tribute bands or thrifting with Alex or day drinking with Jodi or watching my sweet, giant nephews play basketball.  As much as I enjoy reading, I definitely miss my weekends with friends and family.

But, they're not here and books are, so without further ado, here's what I read in January.


America Pacifica, by Anna North

I hate to categorize someone's time and effort as hot garbage, but, man this book is pretty much deserving of that categorization.  I read it on a whim because it should have been right up my alley.  It's dystopian literature with what seemed like an interesting twist: the world ends due to a new Ice Age.  The freezing of the mainland forces people to flee to tropical islands where they immediately overburden the native ecosystem with too many people and industries better suited to the old world instead of the new world.

Oh, dear, I'm afraid I'm making this book sound interesting.  It's not.  It's terrible.  The author is not a very good writer at all and I can't help but think that this book was only published because of the popularity of The Hunger Games and other YA dys-lit.  But, unlike Katniss, Darcy is hateful and whiny and you spend most of the book hating her even when bad things happen to her.  Seriously, don't read this book.



The Heart Goes Last, by Margaret Atwood

If Margaret Atwood writes a new novel, I will read it.  And, in this case, as always, I am so happy I did.  Oh, make no mistake, this is a weird one.  And things are often hinted at rather than fully explained, but done in that Atwood-way that makes you think instead of just frustrating you.

The novel does take place in the future, like many of her novels do, but it's interesting because at first it seems like a less severe future than, say, The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake.  (Two of my all-time favorites, btw).  But, don't be fooled by the Utopian community in this dystopian future.  Nothing is what it seems, even  with the main characters from whose point of view the tale is told.  Especially Charmaine.  You're gonna wanna keep your eye on Charmaine.



Revival, by Stephen King

As I said in my Goodreads review, I used to read a lot of Stephen King.  I mean, a lot.  And then, after The Dark Tower series finished, I stopped because the way that series finished was so perfect, but so frustrating, but so very right, that I couldn't stand it.

But, I found a copy of Revival in my local Goodwill and figured I'd give King another shot.  And he's still probably the best at pacing that I've ever read.  And he's still smart and terrifying and I might need to read more Stephen King in the very near future.



Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See

I liked this book well enough, but I didn't love it because it also frustrated me.  It's about Pearl and May Chin, thoroughly modern Shanghainese women who have their lives absolutely turned upside down.  I thought the author did a great job with the historical stuff, especially in how the Chinese Exclusion Act impacted Chinese immigrating to the United States.  That part was fascinating.

The two sisters themselves though, were less fascinating and more frustrating.  I basically didn't like either one of them, thought they acted foolish more often than not and couldn't get invested in their relationship at all.  So, to recap, good historical stuff, bad relational stuff.



The House at Midnight, by Lucie Whitehouse

This book, while better than the hot mess that is America Pacifica, is also pretty bad.  The story is supposed to be a modern Gothic story, I think.  I mean, I'm pretty sure that the premise is that the house that one of the characters inherited is supposed to have a malevolent nature and drive its inhabitants to violence and horniness, but it just doesn't read that way.  Basically, one character is an asshole and has too much influence on another character and stuff goes awry and I can't see how the house has any impact whatsoever.
Really, the only thing that saves this book is that Whitehouse is a pretty good writer.  But, she wrote a pretty terrible book.



The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins

I'm not sure how I even heard about this book, but I basically loved it.  I mean really loved it; I think it might even be one of my favorite books ever.  I'm not saying it's the best book ever, but damn it if I didn't love it.  It's a bit hard to get into because the author forgoes any world building to just throw the reader in.  And that's confusing.  It is.  But it's so worth sticking with.

Seriously, this book is weird and wonderful and funny and sad and wonderful again.  It's also the inspiration for my LitSty look for this month, so I'll share more about it next week.



Speaking of LitSty, the link party will be live on Tuesday, February 9th and I hope to see you there!


Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

What I Read: July 2015

So, it was a very slow month reading-wise.  I blame the heat.  No, the humidity.  Actually, probably both; this weather here in PA just sucks the life out of you.

But, I did read two books and, I am happy to report that I loved them both.

The first book I read was The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt:

This book is absolutely fantastic.

The author just happened to arrive in Venice after their famous opera house, La Fenice, burned to the ground.  He spends time in Venice both trying to learn how the fire started, but also learns a lot about Venetian society.  And let me tell you folks, it is frickin' fascinating.  He speaks with artists and poets and wealthy expats and fifth-generation palazzo owners.  I had no idea that Venice was so interesting.  I mean, sure, I knew it looked nice, but it's really, really an interesting place.  Both internally, as well as externally.  I highly, highly recommend this book.


The second book I read, and loved, this month was Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk:

I'm a big Palahniuk fan and my favorite up until now, was Invisible Monsters (so good), but I think Lullaby might be my new favorite.  It's darkly funny, as his work often is, and weird (also a Palahniuk trait) and very good.

It's about an African culling song, which is, traditionally, a song sung to the old and/or infirm, to help them pass peacefully.  But, somehow, someone accidentally (?) included it in an anthology of "poems and rhymes from around the world" and people are reading it to their loved ones.  And it's up to a reporter, a real estate agent and two Wiccans to try to save the world.  Again, a great, great book.


Per usual, I'll have my Link Party up next Tuesday, just in case you read something you'd like to share sartorially.


Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

What I Read: June 2015

As I wrote in Tuesday's post, I read, and liked, the novel Conflicting Webs, by Darlene Quinn last month:

I also read, and for the most part, liked, two other books last month.


Outside Valentine: A Novel, by Liza Ward

It took me quite a while to finish this book.  Not because it's bad or particularly long, but because it was sad.  It is, in part, about the killing spree of Charles Starkweather and his young girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.  I knew that going in and therefore expected it to be at least somewhat sad.  But, the book also goes into lives of the surviving son of a couple murdered by the pair, and his wife, and that was very sad.

It was the wife that I found most sad.  Her childhood seemed to lead her to identify, at least somewhat, with Caril Ann Fugate.  Not that Fugate is the most sympathetic figure, but in some ways, she was because of her need to be loved and what it drove her to do.  I also found it very disturbing how the final couple was selected to die; Caril Ann just liked their house best.

Even though it's a fictionalized account of those murders, it's quite a good one and I found it as interesting as I found it sad.  If you don't mind a little gloom during your summer, I'd say add this one to the list.



Gentlemen & Players, by Joanne Harris

I loved this book.  I mean absolutely loved.

I don't mean to brag, but it's pretty rare for me to be surprised by a twist in a book or a movie.  I am usually able to figure it out before the reveal.  Even with The Girl on the Train, which I thought had a pretty great twist, I figured it out before it was actually revealed.  But, with Gentlemen & Players?  No clue.  Completely blindsided in the best possible way.

I don't want to give too much away, but this book involves plotting and intrigue and a very old, very well-respected private school in England.  Seriously, read it.

Harris is a very good writer (I also love Five Quarters of the Orange), and her talents are on full display with this book.  If you want an great mystery to read this summer, I highly recommend this book; it was my favorite of the three I read last month.


And it probably the book I'll create an outfit for come next Tuesday, which is when I've decided to hold this month's Literary Stylings Link Party.  Hope to see you all there!


Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey