Miami satire, important memoir: Mitch Kaplan’s latest book recommendations

Mitch Kaplan from Books & Books

Two Florida-themed debut novels and important memoirs from the worlds of entertainment and public health currently top Books and Books founder Mitch Kaplan’s summer reading list.

LITERARY FICTION

Pink Glass Houses by Asha Elias

The author Elias describes herself in her official biography as a “reluctant socialite,” and she has set her debut novel in this distinguished world. Pink greenhouses. There’s a literal glass house in Elias’ satirical portrayal of a shiny but hollow place: modern-day Miami Beach, where Elias lives and which she takes aim at as only a local can. The narrative centers on Sunset Academy, the island’s most prestigious private school, where mothers vie for dominance on the parent council. They include Charlotte Giordani, the alpha of the parent community; Melody Howard, a newcomer from Kansas with a background in nonprofit management and a different view of privilege; and Carol Lawson, a Jamaican American and judge whose actions spark a white-crime investigation at Sunset Academy that threatens its continued existence. Elias, who has a degree in print journalism from the University of Miami, tells the story in alternating first-person voices, delving into the minds of all her characters — and giving us all an exclusive, scandalous glimpse behind their private lives. (Elias will discuss the book at an appearance at Books & Books in Coral Gables on July 30.)

Oye by Melissa Mogollon

Here’s another acclaimed debut novel from an author with local roots: Melissa Mogollon grew up in Florida, has an MFA in fiction, and now teaches at a boarding school in Rhode Island. Imaginatively structured as a series of one-way phone conversations initiated by Luciana, the youngest daughter of a large Colombian-American family, Yes is set in Miami, where a monster hurricane is heading for the region (imagine that) and Luciana’s eccentric grandmother Abue refuses to evacuate. Since Luciana’s older sister and mother won’t intervene or face their matriarch’s stubbornness, those roles fall to Luciana; along the way, Abue learns a shocking medical diagnosis that further complicates their relationship. Funnier than that description suggests, Yes is a coming-of-age marvel whose author demonstrates a lived understanding of the way Generation Z thinks and expresses itself. (Mogollon will discuss the book in an appearance at Books & Books in Coral Gables on July 10.)

MEMOIR

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne

The actor and producer Griffin Dunne is a household name in Hollywood and literary circles, although less so in the general public. He has worked continuously in film and television since the 1980s, the decade of his most famous roles: “American Werewolf in London” and “After Hours”. During this time, up until the age of 34, Dunne The Friday Afternoon Cluban autobiography full of colorful Hollywood anecdotes, told in the caustic tone of an outsider that one critic compared to that of Holden Caulfield. He tells stories like Sean Connery saving him from drowning when Dunne was 8, and Dunne allegedly being groped by Tennessee Williams. But the book is also a true crime account of the tragic murder of Dunne’s 22-year-old sister Dominique by her ex-boyfriend. The murder trial that followed became a media spectacle that inspired Griffin’s famous father, Dominick Dunne, to become a crime writer; for Griffin, it may have taken a book like this, more than 40 years later, to fully reveal everything.

On Demand: A Doctor’s Journey into Public Service by Dr. Anthony Fauci

Thanks to a six-decade career bookended by deadly epidemics on both sides — AIDS on one side, COVID-19 on the other — Dr. Fauci’s story has a built-in, full-circle narrative arc, and I’m sure a biopic will be made about it someday, starring Tony Shalhoub or Geoffrey Rush. For now, we have his new memoir, and a likely bestseller, which includes stories from the doctor’s childhood in Brooklyn, through his work on Ebola, SARS, anthrax, and the West Nile virus, to his contributions to shaping health care decisions under seven presidents. His work under the Trump administration was, of course, a contentious and combative one. His book is frank in its assessment of Trump’s leadership during COVID, but Fauci is no polemicist — he also offers sharp criticism of the CDC and other aspects of the public health infrastructure that allowed something like COVID to spread. Considering the new insights he has gained over the last few years, he believes that this is one of the greatest challenges facing public health. On callGiven the current spread of the COVID-19 variant in the country and especially in Florida, it should be remembered that even the brightest minds rarely cope smoothly with unforeseen events.

Further information Boca Click here to view the magazine’s coverage of arts and entertainment.