Guess Who’s Coming To Breakfast? James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma
Posted by: Dan Shaw
Posted on: Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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A must-read for James Taylor fans, Taylor’s ex-wife has just penned an extraordinary “novel” that takes readers on a fascinating (and fictitious?) journey. “A Stopover in Venice,“ by Kathryn Walker is available at The Bookloft in Great Barrington.
MY REVIEW ON AMAZON:
If this smart and well-paced and literate tale of loss and redemption had come out earlier in the summer, it might well have been on every summer reading list, including Oprah’s. I don’t mean to commend it solely as entertaining diversion, though it certainly is that - I lost myself for two days and nights in its labyrinth of 16th century characters, emerging, open-mouthed, in a state of wonder - because it has much more to offer.
It is the rare book that can parallel two lives, half a millennium apart and seemingly unrelated, and cogently allow the reader glimpses into the complex commonality of human nature in the way Walker has done here. As a review in the San Francisco Chronicle put it, “...the book’s themes are profound and unforgiving. Emotional restlessness, thwarted desire, the insinuating attraction of the past: These are Walker’s concerns, and her romantic subject matter lends them an attractive, dramatic background without diminishing their seriousness.“
The narrative structure, in which Walker offers a composite consistency within the duality of narration, is notable. The novel takes place in both modern day and 16th century Venice, the modern narrator working toward discovery of the 16th century narrator, and each displaying a distinctive prose style: the modern narrator’s prose is clipped and introspective, as if she’s thinking to herself while gardening, or doing the dishes perhaps. The 16th century narrator’s prose is grand and mellifluous, literary and romantic, deeply emotional and culturally intelligent. A remarkable feat, and one not easily held together.
Nel Everett, on a European concert tour with her famous musician husband, his band, and his worshipful entourage, comes to the sudden realization that having been sucked into the vortex of his fame she has ceased to exist, or matter at all. Alarmed and awakened by the realization, she suddenly gets up and gets off the train at a small stop near Venice without telling anyone. Standing on the platform alone as the train pulls away, wondering if she will even be missed, she is lost, with no clear sense of what she is doing or why. She is feeling, at the same time, triumphantly liberated. And so the adventure begins.
Confused and lonely, she heads back to Venice where she rents a tiny hotel room and mindlessly walks the city’s streets and alleys. The novel takes us through Nel’s process of recovery, of figuring out what happened to her and who she is. Does love really exist? Did it ever? She is taken in by an elderly and elegant countess living in a partially boarded up palazzo. The endearingly misanthropic characters Nel meets along the way and the backdrop of mysterious and romantic Venice offer her perspective, revelations, and endless new possibilities.
While the story is engaging, its most salient and lasting facet, I think, is its scorching indictment of our culture of celebrity worship. What becomes of people who are encouraged to believe themselves gods, and how are the people in their lives affected (or afflicted) by it? Walker should know. According to a New York Times article on the book, she was married to folk icon and demigod James Taylor for a decade. A lot to give up to find yourself; but in the end, it sounds like it was worth it. Brava Nel!
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You don’t have to wait until next summer at Tanglewood to hear James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma give an outdoor concert in the Berkshires. The two local favorites will be peforming live on the porch of the Red Lion Inn on Monday, September 15, as part of Good Morning America‘s “50 States in 50 Days” whistle-stop tour.
GMA will begin its day at the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum at the historic Lenox Station, and then a special Amtrak train will make a stop in Lee before arriving at the Stockbridge Station, where local residents will be able to greet Diane Sawyer, Chris Cuomo, Robin Roberts and Sam Champion. The second hour of the show will be broadcast from the Red Lion’s porch and will include a segment on Red Lion chef Brian Alberg‘s work with the Railroad Street Youth Project. There will be special area set up to view the show and concert. (The Town of Stockbridge has not yet announced its parking and traffic plans for the day.)
The broadcast is a coup for Red Lion Inn owner Nancy Fitzpatrick, who is the ultimate Berkshires booster and founder of the Berkshire Creative Economy Council. She is thrilled that her historic hotel will get national television exposure but she was coy about her involvement in getting the two world-famous musicians hooked up with GMA. “Well, they both happen to be personal friends, however, wasn’t it a no-brainer for ABC?,“ she said in an email Tuesday night from John F. Kennedy International Airport, where she was waiting to board a plane for Europe. The indefatigable Fitzpatrick noted that she would be in Ireland next Monday on a long-planned Mass MoCA trip. “I’m really sorry to be missing all the mayhem at the inn, but at least it will be easy to stay out of everyone’s way.“
