Weekend picks for book lovers, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Unmasked'
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include the new memoir by Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a suffrage history for Women's History Month.
Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Harper, 487 pp.; non-fiction
As he approaches his 70th birthday on March 22, Andrew Lloyd Webber has decided the time is right to share some memories (sorry).
And yes, the story behind Memory, from Cats, or at least Barbra Streisand’s rendition of it, is one of the juicier tales in Unmasked, Lloyd Webber’s memoir of his life and fabulous career — up to the opening of The Phantom of the Opera in 1986.
Even if the 1970s and ’80s marked the creative pinnacle for Lloyd Webber (and early collaborator, lyricist Tim Rice), the British composer/musical impresario has been enjoying a recent revival. In 2017, four of his shows — Sunset Boulevard, Cats, School of Rock and Phantom — were hoofing it on Broadway at the same time. And on April 1, Easter Sunday, NBC will resurrect the 1970 Lloyd Webber/Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar with a live broadcast starring John Legend.
While hardly universally beloved by critics, no one can deny Lloyd Webber knows how to grab an audience — through spectacle, bombast and hummable show tunes. Unmasked (the title is a play on Phantom’s signature facial gear) will tickle music and theater geeks. It’s an insider’s inside account, if disappointingly discreet when it comes to personal gossip.
Paste BN says ★★★ out of four. “Highly readable, thanks to Lloyd Webber’s affable, intelligent voice.”
The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss; Viking, 340 pp.; non-fiction
A history of the fight for women to get the right to vote, focusing on the little-known battleground — Tennessee.
Paste BN says ★★★. An “important tale.”
The Hunger by Alma Katsu; Putnam, 373 pp.; fiction
Novel based on the horrors of the real-life Donner Party, California-bound pioneers who had to resort to cannibalism to survive — with a supernatural twist added.
Paste BN says ★★★½ . "What would you do in those mountains, to survive the ever-present threat of death? The Hunger might show you more than you’d like to know."
Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi; Viking, 336 pp.; fiction
John Green fans will appreciate this young-adult tale of Philadelphia high-schooler Scott Ferdowski and his runaway adventure in Washington, D.C., to find direction in his life.
Paste BN says ★★★. “Ahmadi successfully fashions a universal story of discovering one’s true self through the honest eyes of another.”
Movie Nights With the Reagans: A Memoir by Mark Weinberg; Simon & Schuster, 237 pp.; non-fiction
Weinberg, a former aide to President Reagan, looks back to the days when the president and first lady Nancy Reagan screened movies in the 1980s, from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to Top Gun.
Paste BN says ★★★. “A sentimental meander through a simpler time.”
Contributing reviewers: Jocelyn McClurg, Zlati Meyer, Steph Cha, Brian Truitt, David Holahan
