The Loose Lip Brigade
by Julia Newman
About the Author
Julia Newman has pursued careers in yoga and dance instruction, improvisation comedy and filmmaking, most notably working with Lena Dunham of HBO‘s Girls. Her fiction has been published online at Every Writers Resource, and she is a contributing author at Out In The City Online. Her website, Feed Me Daily, has gained wide popularity as one of the most honest, well-written blogs about living authentically through creativity and wellness.
Book Summary of The Loose Lip Brigade
The fictional characters, in Newman’s highly recommended The Loose Lip Brigade — a collection of short stories, are paralyzed by the reality of circumstance. Building from moments of anxiety, the collection delves into themes of self-doubt and self-indulgence in the face of unclaimed desires: a lesbian war vet, a rogue mailman, coffee breaks, a black bra, empty wine glasses and the perfect ratio of ennui and hope; for example, in ‘The Hurly Burly’, teenager Ramona obsesses over a boy with an overwhelming urgency. In ‘Bread Crumbs’, Samantha’s search for her runaway dog exposes familiar wounds from her past with the sharp pain of enlightened grief. The collection includes five more juicy tales!
My Book Review of Julia Newman’s The Loose Lip Brigade
I received my copy of Julia Newman’s The Loose Lip Brigade in the mail a day early. Winding down for the evening I couldn’t wait to read it, and not long after I was quite a way through her stories in the Lip Brigade.
My favorite books are those with angst, or suffocation, confusion and doubt about the world, relationships in the world and with the world itself — and to end, with a sense of contentment — even if in the slightest, most non-expected way. I was rooting for that contentment [and by the end, boy did this book deliver what I was hoping — the unexpected!]. In the meantime, I just wanted to hold all of the characters and let them know how awesome they are, and that I can understand their dilemma. It’s as if there’s an underlying choice, whether it comes through chance or full realization of contentment, well-being, or just something the reader will be able to find, hold, and I suppose just realize, through the characters. It’s really quite a treasure, a gem of a book. It’s a pleasurable read. Newman’s view and her relationships with both the overall world and its finest details are spot-on, yet, while there is dissent or strife going on, she writes it in such a way that captures me, draws me in, and also keeps me guessing. Feelings of my own self-doubt through such diverse and remarkable characters and storytelling allowed me to thoroughly enjoy reading The Loose Lip Brigade. The stories elicit positive emotions, which is the key to the best storytelling. Julia Newman has published an outstanding book. I believe that you, as the reader, will find yourselves in all the characters in the Brigade — from Ramona, Nina, and all the rest. Highly recommended with sincerity, to a fine author, from a fellow writer.
I was able to contact the author of this book with some of my thoughts, and she responded, to my surprise. I don’t think she will mind my publishing her reply, as I seemed to have realized precisely Julia Newman’s vision for The Loose Lip Brigade.
I’m speechless, Jonathan. I cannot tell you quite how it feels to get such feedback. This is astounding. Thank you. You understand exactly what my vision for the book was, and I’m ridiculously honored to have you care for my work and the characters in it with such poise and compassion. —Julia
I hope you will take the next time you have to sit down and relax with a good book (paperback or Kindle) and enjoy Julia Newman’s 116 page gem, which I truly adore, The Loose Lip Brigade available on Amazon and Lulu Press.
- See more at: http://www.jharnisch.com/the-loose-lip-brigade/#sthash.PHJM8hQ1.dpuf
