Reading With Robin: The Ice Cream Queen
Robin Kall, GoLocalProv Book Columnist
Reading With Robin: The Ice Cream Queen
Q- The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, the paperback just hit the shelves. What are your hopes for the paperback release?
A- “This big, delicious read is a Target Book Club Pick for summer – and both its edition and the new, “regular” paperback come packed with a terrific “reading group guide” and an in-depth interview with the author (me), so there’s lots to sink your teeth into. I hope book clubs all over the country read it in droves and love debating it over ice cream or frozen yogurt – laughing over some scenes, crying over others, arguing about whether the main character is a villain, victor, victim, or all three, etc.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“I’ve been told that “The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street” is a deceptively literary and morally complex page-turner with a controversial female anti-hero at its heart. It’s my intention that the epic tale of Lillian Dunkle touches readers, compels you, gives you pause, takes you on a gripping journey through America and 20th century ice cream history, entertains you, challenges you, turns classic stories and assumptions on their heads, and haunts you long after you’ve set the book down.”
• The paperback cover is quite different than the original which isn’t always the case. What do you think of the new cover?
A- “I love it. The vintage photograph on the cover is of the corner of Hester and Orchard Streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1913, the very place and year that my novel begins. It’s also a block away from where my great-grandparents settled when they first arrived in America, so it’s personally meaningful for me.”
“These streets were a gateway for millions of immigrants when they first arrived in America: Germans, Irish, Jews, Italians –now the Chinese – so many readers will be glimpsing some of their own family history on this cover as well.”
• You live in Geneva and travel back and forth with frequency and ease seemingly -what are your travel tips/secrets?
A- “This sounds like a no-brainer, but on airplanes, good manners are essential for making a flight bearable. (Admittedly, this is sometimes a challenge for me, anxious and pushy as I am).
“Yet I’ve found that if you’re gracious and good-humored to your fellow passengers and the flight crew, you generate good will and elevate the mood in the entire cabin. This is particularly regarding flight attendants. People tend to not even see them, let alone appreciate them. But an upbeat crew makes for a much better trip.”
“When I’m on a long-haul flight, I try to bring the attendants some little treat from wherever I’m coming from – cookies, salt-water taffy, Swiss chocolate. I give it to them as soon as boarding is finished but before they close the doors. They’re so appreciative, and meeting the crew personally helps calm me down, too. It’s better for everyone.”
“So I always say “please” and “thank you” and never treat them like servants or nuisances. In-flight, I try to take off my headphones when speaking with the crew. This might sound elemental or condescending, but you’d be surprised… these little courtesies go a long way.”
• Do you still love ice cream as much as ever or has the novelty worn off?
A- “Are you kidding? My love does not wane, Robin. I am an ardent and faithful fanatic. I could eat ice cream every day, all the time. Still.”
• What are your favorite flavor(s)-and is this mood dependent?
A-“Hands-down, a tie: Chocolate and mint-chip. On rare occasions, okay, I might stray, say, towards Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Frozen Yogurt, or sample something new from those gods at Haagen-Daz. Certainly, if I’m at a local ice cream parlor, I’ll give special homemade flavors a try – purely for research purposes, mind you. (After all, I am the founder of the Susan Jane Gilman Institute for Advanced Gelato Studies here in Europe). I have tried garlic ice cream, even cannabis ice cream (in Amsterdam, of course, and no, it didn’t get me high, and yes, it was disgusting). But really, there’s no reason on earth to stray too far from ice cream involving serious amounts of chocolate.”
• “What have you read recently that you’d recommend and what are you hoping to get to this summer?
A- “I’ve just finished (and loved) Jenny Offill’s haunting, poetic, “The Department of Speculation”; A.M. Homes’ darkly raucous “May We Be Forgiven,” Elizabeth Gilbert’s engrossing and inventive “The Signature of All Things,” and Rachel Kushner’s brilliant “The Flame Throwers.” Next on my list? Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins”; Brittani Sonneberg’s acclaimed debut “Home Leave”; Charles Baxter’s latest book, “There’s Something I Want You to Do”; Karen Jay Fowler’s “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves”; Talia Carner’s new novel “Hotel Moscow”; and Adam Johnson’s upcoming collection of short stories, “Fortune Smiles,” due out in August. “
• Wow! That is quite a list. I’m glad I asked. What are you working on now?
• “Um, taking a summer vacation after all the book promotion is done! And then, of course, a new novel. Right now, it’s little more than a gleam in my eye, but it’s coming into being slowly in sentences and fragments, bright molecules floating in the air before me. Stay tuned.”
To listen to yesterday’s radio interview with SJG please click here! Hope to see you Thursday at Barrington Books!
(image_2}ROBIN KALL is Rhode Island’s own book maven. From author interviews to events with best-selling authors, Robin shares her love of books wherever and whenever possible. You can connect with Robin on Facebook and follow her on Twitter, and on her website, which is updated constantly with all new author interviews and bookish information. Reading With Robin is on AM790 Fridays from 4-5pm and on I Heart Radio (search AM790 WPRV)
Reading With Robin's Top Summer Picks
Providence Noir
The latest in the very popular “Noir” series is Providence Noir edited by Rhode Island’s own, Ann Hood. “Noir is about sex and money and sometimes about revenge, “ Otto Penzlet, the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, told the New Yorker in 2010.
Where better than Providence for Hood to feature essays by authors and local favorites such as : Peter Farrelly, Pablo Rodriguez, Taylor Polites, Amity Gaige and of course, Ann Hood. This is a must-have for any self-respecting Rhode Island reader.
Girl in the Moonlight
Girl In The Moonlight by Charles Dubow is one of the books I read this past winter and was the first book I knew would be included in my summer reading event. (Summer Reading With Robin at the Dunes Club June 24th is sold out).
This novel is rich with passion and obsession as we follow Wylie Rose and his unrelenting pursuit of the elusive Cesca Bonet. Wylie having grown up with the Bonet children is cautioned by his father early on “ they’re beautiful, talented, rich. It’s all very seductive…” Will Wylie listen to his father? Who would?
The Mapmaker’s Children
I love reading a wonderfully written historical fiction novel and The Mapmaker’s Children is exactly that.
Sarah McCoy weaves the story of the very bold and artistic Sarah Brown who stumbles upon her father, Abolitionist John Brown’s work on the Underground Railroad with current day Eden Anderson’s story. Eden inhabits a house with a strong connection to the Underground Railroad and perhaps to Sarah Brown as well. This thrilling ride will keep you turning the pages until the very last stop.
Oh! You Pretty Things
I love sharing a debut novel and Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin is one of those witty novels told with a sharp and original voice that is not to be missed. Set in Los Angeles this book is about celebrity and the people who push you down on their way up.
Mahin is a high school dropout who rallied late despite her ninth grade English teacher’s prediction of a lifetime of wasted potential. Who could possibly pass up the chance to read a novel by this author? Not me!
9 ½ Narrow…My Life In Sho
If these shoes could talk, well in this memoir they do. In this funny, poignant coming –of-age memoir, 9 ½ Narrow by Patricia Morrisroe shares the stories of a generation of women who have enjoyed a world of freedom and opportunity that there mothers did not have as well as Morrisroe’s own story.
From wedgies to earth shoes, heels and more this memoir spans five decades and countless footwear trends this clever book will induce you to look back and some of the shoes that carried you through.
Inside The O’Briens
Yes, that Lisa Genova from the author who brought us Still Alice and Love Anthony comes her latest novel about the O’Brien family of Charlestown, MA. (Bottom of the Hill as the area was called) Joe O’Brien is a respected Boston police officer and all around good guy when he begins experiencing bouts of strange, involuntary movements, fits of rage and disorganized thinking.
In this heartrending novel, what Genova did for Alzheimer’s disease in Still Alice, she will do once again for Huntington’s disease with her mesmerizing storytelling. Colorful language and passionate prose move this page-turner along all too quickly. Savor this one.
Royal Wedding
You are cordially invited to attend the royal wedding of Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia…well, not exactly. You are, however, invited to read the very first adult installment from Meg Cabot the author who brought us The Princess Diaries.
Fans of this popular series will be thrilled to know that Royal Wedding opens five years after Mia has graduated from college. Mia has a whole new life living in New York City, which is quite the opposite of her reign in Genovia. Even in the word of the royals there are bumps along the way and fairy-tales aren’t always what they seem.
I Regret Nothing
From the hilarious and brutally honest Lancaster comes the latest, a memoir about turning her midlife crises into a midlife opportunity. From attempting a juice cleanse and starting a new business to training for a 5K, Jen shares every effort at making her life better again and again. Lancaster embarks upon the first part of her journey with a warning from her husband, “Don’t get a tattoo.” Does she or doesn’t she?
The Dream Lover
Elizabeth and Berg –what else is there to talk about? From the beloved novelist who has written classics such as : Talk Before Sleep, True To Form and Ordinary Life: Stories, comes a gorgeous novel rich with history, bravado and passion. At the beginning of The Dream Lover we meet Aurore Dupin as she is leaving her estranged husband and their estate in the French countryside to begin a new life in Paris.
This storyline might not be quite as scandalous if it were set in modern day, but this story is set in the nineteenth century. It’s in Paris that upin gives herself a new name – George Sand and pursues her dream of becoming a writer and embracing the life she longs to write about.
Re Jane
Another debut and this one is a fresh and contemporary retelling of Jayne Eyre by Korean-American author Patricia Park. I had the pleasure of meeting Park recently and was so engrossed by her talk about this book that I couldn’t wait to add it to my summer reading stack.
Jane Re is a half-Korean, half-American orphan who has been trying to escape her life in Flushing, Queens. She just might find that new life a lot closer to home than she imagined. Jane embarks on a journey from Queens to Brooklyn and Seoul and back. Jane must find a balance between two cultures and learn to accept who she really is.
