Celebrating Marie Brenner’s Apples & Oranges
As common as book parties may be in this city, I’m rarely invited to any. Which, given my less-than-stellar small talk skills, is probably a good thing.
But this evening I will be attending a celebration for Marie Brenner’s latest, Michiko Kakutani-lauded book, a memoir titled Apples & Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found. And I can’t wait.
So how did this event appear on my calendar? Well, the party’s host is my mom’s beloved cousin, P. (P.’s mother and my Grandma Rose were sisters). And through her father, P. is also Marie’s cousin. I spent nearly all my childhood Thanksgivings and Passovers at the Westchester home of P.’s parents, and that’s where I first met Marie and her husband and daughter, and began to learn about and follow her work (it’s the reason I began subscribing to Vanity Fair). So I was of course very excited to read the Kakutani review last week; I’m even more excited for this evening’s event.
For now, though, please allow me to refer you to Marie’s Web site, where you can learn more about Apples & Oranges, and about its author.