Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise by Sam Irvin (Simon & Schuster paperback, $16)
To say that Kay Thompson was multi-talented is an understatement.
Born Catherine Louise Fink in Saint Louis during the first decade of the last century, Thompson was a singer, vocal arranger, nightclub star, radio personality, fashion innovator, and a shrewd businesswoman. Despite all these abilities, she is probably most famous for writing a series of the books for children centering around the antics of the iconic Eloise and The Plaza Hotel in New York.
This biography by Sam Irvin, a veteran director, producer and screenwriter for movies and television, is the gossipy, inside story of how this remarkable woman survived and thrived in the snark-infested waters of American entertainment.

The Book of Drugs: A Memoir by Mike Doughty (Da Capo, $16)
Mike Doughty, based in Brooklyn, is a song writer, popular blogger, playwright and poet. He emerged in the band, Soul Coughing, but after a struggle with drugs, quit the band and began his attempt to recover.
His memoir is brutally honest, stark, cringe-worthy, and unexpectedly witty. The realization that he had become addicted to alcohol, heroin and other substances drove him to seek out a 12-step program. As he began to regain control of his life, he met with Dave Matthews who signed him to record at his label, ATO Records.
This is not your typical rocker-hits-the-skids memoir but one that pulls no punches, and is so candid and brutally honest, it almost sucks the oxygen out of the room.
As Doughty explains, “I can’t renounce drugs. I love druigs. I’d never trade the part of my life when the drugs worked, though the bulk of the time I spent getting high, there weren’t doing shit for me. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t do drugs first. This part of my life — even minus the bursts of euphoria — is better, sexier, happier, more poetic, more romantic, grander.”
I hope there will be a sequel to this book. It is that satisfying.

If You Ask Me (And You Won’t) by Betty White (Berkley, $15)
The tag has been overused but never-the-less Betty White is, indeed, a national treasure. I fell in love with this woman during the early days of television but it was her portrayal of Sue Ann Nivens, the sex hungry “happy homemaker” on The Mary Tyler Moore Show that sealed the deal. Nivens could fix anything, cook anything, clean anything, while finding time to sleep with any man who would stand. It was during one of the MTM broadcasts that viewers got a peek inside her boudoir and that sealed the deal for me. White’s late husband, Allen Ludden, was often asked how close the Sue Ann character was to his wife he’d quip, “They’re really the same character — except Betty can’t cook.”
This is a wonderful memoir that is incredibly upbeat and positive laced with the bawdy sense of humor by a woman — who at the age of 90 — is at the top of her game. “If You Ask Me” focuses mainly on the past fifteen years of White’s life including the latest resurgence of her career. As she continues to rack up awards and acclaim, I join others who say hooray for Betty White. Re-read the first line of the previous paragraph and then think how lucky we are to have been entertained through the years by such a sweet, funny, slyly profound woman.
White keeps her seven Emmy awards at her Brentwood, California home that she shares with Pontiac, her golden retriever.

A Bad Thing I’m About to Do: True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and Stunningly Awkward Adventure by Chris Gerhard (Da Capo, $16)
Chris Gethard might be one of New York’s most popular up-and-coming comedians, but he denigrates himself by revealing that he is a card-carrying nerd with a remarkably large forehead and has the added handicap of a rather dodgy last name. He has a penchant for getting himself in outlandish scrapes, many documented in his outlandish book. What kind of scrapes? Consider when he was the only student in his high school to actually volunteer for the “Scared Straight” program which brought him into contact behind bars with a terrifying drag queen named Crazy Chris whp referred to his genitalia as “Christmas candy.” You get the idea,
There are bouts as a wrestler, getting into a high speed chase with a New Jersey Trooper, struggles with rage, mania, depression and even thoughts of suicide. In Gethard’s life, one bizarre thing quickly leads to another. For example, when he almost vomits in the face of his sophomore crush, he grabs a nearby classroom trashcan instead which raises his coolness quotient, gets him a date, and eventually leads to the loss of his virginity.
This is a laugh-out-loud memoir that will be a comfort to those readers who connect the dots and realize their lives are not so bad after all.

A Box of Darkness: The Story of a Marriage by Sally Ryder Brady (St. Martin’s Press, $14.99)
Sally was a debutante and Upton a classics major from Harvard. They met during the mid-1950s at the Boston Cotillion. She was beautiful and he was a great dancer so, of course, it seemed at first blush like a good match.
Sally came to the conclusion that Upton might be good husband material and after a few detours including another boyfriend, she moved in for the kill.
Sally and Upton were married, settled in New England. He became an editor-in-chief at a major publishing house and she, at times, worked as a teacher, editor, and novelist. They raised four children and were married for forty-six years.
Underneath the pristine exterior, the marriage was far from perfect. Sally and shocked to discover that Upton was at times volatile, controlling, and dangerous. Her biggest revelation occurred shortly after his death at their cottage in Vermont. While sifting through her husband’s papers, she found a box that revealed Upton had desired the love of other men.
Make no mistake about this book. It is quite clear that Sally and Upton were very much in love despite the obvious and not so obvious emotional speed bumps. Their bond was as deep and strong as it was mysterious and complex.

Where Did All the Jobs Go and How Do We Get Them Back by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson (William Morrow, $16.99)
There is nothing more fundamental to a decent life in America than having a job. The operative word in that last sentence is decent. The unemployment numbers in this country remains the public’s top concern as we move into a national political campaign season. It will take much more than hot air and empty promises to create jobs.
Scott Bittle, an award-winning journalist and policy analyst, and Jean Johnson, author of “You Can’t Do It Alone” and a seasoned observer of both public opinion and public policy, point out that the recession of 2008-2009 cost this country more than 8 million jobs. Even as we dig ourselves out of this hole there will be long-lasting scars.
According to government estimates we’ll need jobs for some 167 million Americans by 2018, up from about 150 million currently. The pressure to find new jobs following the meltdown of 2008 has been and will be fierce due to outsourcing and the international competition to fill any of the new jobs created.
This book points out in stark terms that jobs is and should be the very top issues in the 2012 presidential and Congressional campaigns. Put another way, we need to turn off “Dancing with the Stars” and get involved. Elections do, indeed, have consequences.

The Change I Believe In by Katrina vanden Heuvel (Nation Books, $16.99)
As editor of The Nation, the oldest continuously published political weekly in the country, vanden Heuvel has observed the ebb and flow of American politics from an unique position. It’s no secret that our current political climate has become so turbulent, congress is virtually deadlocked and any effort to blend principle and pragmatism is met with opposition that is often as ugly and personal as it is inflammatory. Can this hostility be changed? Vanden Heuvel thinks it can.
She warns that to forge an agenda of positive changes is not for the faint of heart but engagement is necessary if the forces of decency and humanity are to prevail against those of reaction and division. The tidal wave of money and establishment power that debilitate our politics can only be overcome by independent organizing, strategic creativity, and bold ideas.
Vanden Heuvel is convinced that until we learn to work together, we will remain stuck in the political ditch.