Wes Anderson puts a diorama in a music box, festoons it with vintage curios and surrounds it with a model train set in Asteroid City, maybe the most “Wes Anderson movie about Wes Anderson vibes” ever? But I feel like I think that at every Wes Anderson movie lately so who knows.
A 1950s black and white television narrator (Bryan Cranston) introduces us to the stage play and its playwright (Edward Norton) that are the origins of the teleplay that becomes the full Santa Fe sunset color palette of a live-action, er, situation we’re watching in this movie, which is written and directed by Anderson (who has a screenplay credit and shares the “story by” credit with Roman Coppola). Sometimes we’re watching the playwright, sometimes we’re with the actors performing the play but mostly we’re in Asteroid City, the name of the play and the name of its setting. Asteroid City is a small clump of buildings in the southwestern desert. A diner, a bus stop, a gas station and motor inn make up the bulk of the town — as well as a complex astronomical government facility built near the site of an ancient crater caused by an asteroid (which is also still there and available for close-up viewing during the posted hours).
In the 1950s, Auggie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzmann), his teenage son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and his three young daughters — Andromeda (Ella Faris), Pandora (Gracie Faris) and Cassiopeia (Willan Faris) — have come to Asteroid City for Woodrow to accept an award for his science project. But their car has a rather spectacular breakdown causing the family to be stuck there, which leads Auggie to call his father-in-law, Stanley (Tom Hanks), to come and get the girls. Stanley agrees to do so if Auggie will finally, three weeks after the fact, explain to the children that their mother, Stanley’s daughter, has died.
Also arriving for the young scientist event are movie star Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and her teen daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards) as well as other teen inventors, a bus full of school children and their teacher and a group of singing cowboys who miss their connecting bus. Wes Anderson regulars Tilda Swinton as a scientist and Jeffery Wright as a military general are also in Asteroid City as well as the likes of Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, Maya Hawke, Steve Park, Matt Dillion, Steve Carell and Seu Jorge. Most of the assembled show up for the science awards ceremony as well as the nighttime viewing of an astronomical event but then find themselves quarantined by the government when an alien shows up to borrow the city’s asteroid. (The alien is, uhm, quite the thing — from the actor, who I won’t spoil, who plays the alien to its odd The Fantastic Mr. Fox appearance. I’m not sure how I feel about it or a very puppety roadrunner who occasionally wanders through Asteroid City but these are capital C Choices and, I guess, if you’re already doing all of this odd business, might as well really go for it with the alien.)
But maybe more than any of this, the movie is about the vibe — the particular rosey gold of the desert sun, the arts-and-craft-y quality of the distant mushroom cloud from regularly detonated atom bomb tests, the bright pastels of the landscape, the sign on the diner advertising 50-cent ham plates. The dollhouse-like motor inn cabins, the symmetrical quality to even asymmetrically arranged shots, the scenes of Scarlett Johansson as a 1950s actress that almost look like movie stills. There’s grief and optimism and sadness and shy bits of romance packed around the rotary phones and film cameras and Pontiacs. It’s all just sort of lovely to be in even if I also felt like I wasn’t watching a story so much as being told about a story. Like a particularly lovely macaron, it’s surprising at times that all this prettiness is a very fragile confection made of quite a bit of air. B
Rated PG-13 on appeal for brief graphic nudity, smoking and some suggestive material, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Wes Anderson with a screenplay by Wes Anderson, Asteroid City is an hour and 45 minutes long and distributed in theaters by Focus Features.
No Hard Feelings (R)
You ask “what would it look like if a 1980s sex comedy was also really bleak” and I answer No Hard Feelings, an alleged comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence.
Maddie Barker (Lawrence) is just barely getting by in Montauk, one of those fancy Long Island places where the real estate market is set by the millionaires and billionaires who summer there while the principal employment for the actual locals is tourism-based. Maddie is behind in paying the taxes on the house her mother left her and doesn’t know how she’ll catch up once her car — which she uses for her second job as an Uber driver — is repo-ed. Tips from her bartending job aren’t enough to pay all the bills, so Maddie desperately scans the used car listings for anything that will keep her earning. What she finds is an odd listing for a Buick. The “price” of the car is to date Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman), a Princeton-bound 19-year-old. Percy’s extremely wealthy parents, Allison (Laura Benanti) and Laird (Matthew Broderick), are worried that their sheltered, quiet, loner son will sink in school if he doesn’t arrive with some life experience. They tell Maddie they will give her the Buick if she befriends and “dates” (in all aspects of the word) Percy to help get him out of his shell.
Maddie dives into the assignment, showing up at Percy’s volunteer job at the local animal shelter to try to sexy-talk him into going back to her house. He mistakes it for a stranger-danger kidnapping and maces her. She manages to get him to ask her on a date where he, unlike her usual hookups, is more interested in getting to know her than rushing into bed. Despite their age difference — Maddie is 32 to Percy’s 19 — Percy warms to the idea of a real relationship with Maddie. And though she hates the rich Montauk crowd and finds Percy’s helplessness aggravating, Maddie starts to feel some kind of genuine friendship for him as well.
No Hard Feelings feels like it could have been a spiritual descendant to your Can’t Buy Me Love-type 1980s capitalism-based rom-com. And for a while I thought maybe I could just go with it sort of like I would with an Overboard, where an on-the-page icky premise can lean into zaniness or a fairy tale-like quality. But this movie is oddly jarring, frequently juxtaposing the “wacky antics” of this kind of comedy with the actual grim reality of a kid whose parents feel they need to/have the right to buy him a girlfriend or of a woman who feels she has to hang on to the family house at all costs. Jennifer Lawrence doing some fairly solid physical comedy melts into a scene where an emotionally traumatized Percy (his high school years were rough, we’re told) seems clinically depressed. “Ha ha yikes” is the frequent mood of this movie.
The movie also gives us quite a bit of the real hopelessness of Montauk economics, not just Maddie’s struggles to stay solvent in a town being taken over by the ultra-rich but her pregnant friend Sara (Natalie Morales) and Sara’s husband Jim (Scott MacArthur) trying to figure out how to get by once their baby comes. She’s a teacher who waitresses in the summer, he owns a business involving some kind of boating-related tourism, and yet they can’t afford to move out of his parents’ house. Their scenes with Maddie provide lightness — and often then go grim.
If this movie has a bright spot — not something I’d go so far as to call a saving grace but a bright spot — it’s that it serves as a reminder that Lawrence is good at broad comedy. This is not a movie I’d put on her highlights reel but maybe this forgettable misfire will get her a stronger comedy that can take advantage of her skills. C-
Rated R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use, according to filmratings.com. Directed by Gene Stupnitsky with a screenplay by Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips, No Hard Feelings is an hour and 43 minutes long and distributed in theaters by Columbia Pictures.
To celebrate The Packie’s sixth anniversary, owner Jon Pinches will host a beer festival on Saturday, July 1, from noon to 4 p.m. at his Hooksett location, for local craft breweries and eateries to showcase their brews.
Admission is free. The day will include food trucks, games, raffles live music and, of course, beer samples from local brewies.
The idea to establish what is now The Packie (a Massachusetts slang term for a package store — a place to buy beer and wine) came from Pinches’s girlfriend, now wife, Sarah.
“We’d been in some beer stores up in Canada and she thought it would be a really cool idea down here. … I’d been going to those stores my entire life, so it hadn’t really occurred to me that those were unique at all until she pointed it out,” Pinches said. “The surrounding states were going through big craft beer booms and New Hampshire was kind of lagging behind.”
Pinches said his passion for craft beer stems from his college days studying business at Arizona State University, where he would frequent the now bought-out Four Peaks Brewing Co. in the city of Tempe.
After a relationship ended while he was working at a Chili’s in Wyoming, he began looking for managerial positions at other locations, eventually finding himself in Massachusetts.
“I was the front-of-house manager as well as backhouse for lots of different places and got introduced to what was going on in Mass. craft beer, and just loved what I was seeing,” he said. “That’s where I got the name [The Packie], from living in Mass. for several years.”
By the time Pinches lived in Manchester, he felt New Hampshire was ready for a craft beer boom of its own.
“I decided … we’d better get on it, and the timing was perfect,” he said.
The Packie, which sells craft beer, cider and mead, held its grand opening in July 2017 and moved to its current Second Street in the summer of 2020. About two and a half years later, Pinches opened the second location in Hooksett.
“It was always part of the five-year plan … [and] I figured by this point we would be ready for it, so we really wanted to hit that goal.” Pinches said of opening a second location. “We were a little worried with the pandemic or at least coming out of the pandemic … because if you own a to-go beer place then the pandemic wasn’t good for you and you weren’t running properly. But now that we’ve come out of it, sales have started the other way … [and] it still seems like the right climate, and we needed the extra revenue from a second place to be able to keep surviving. If you’re not growing, you’re stagnating.”
In past years, The Packie’s anniversary has been celebrated with smaller-scale celebrations. Three or four different breweries would be invited and given a two-hour time slot to showcase their beers. This year, eight breweries and one meadery will be present, each likely bringing two beverage sample options.
“We always want to celebrate the anniversary. We’re so enthused and just grateful for what our customers have done for us,” Pinches said. “If this festival does well for itself, which I think it will, then yeah, absolutely every year we’ll do it.”
The Packie’s sixth anniversary beer festival When: Saturday, July 1, noon to 4 p.m. Where: The Packie, 88 W. River Road, Hooksett Cost: Free admission Visit: thepackienh.com
When Marielle Thompson was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder in 2021, she instantly wanted to find literature that she could see herself in. When she wasn’t able to find any that felt true to her own experience, she decided to write some of her own. Two years later, that story is complete. On Friday, June 30, Thompson, who currently lives in Switzerland, will be at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord to present her debut gothic novel, Where Ivy Dares to Grow.
Ever since her childhood in Exeter, Thompson knew she wanted to be a writer.
“I was just constantly bombarding my family with outrageous stories,” she said.
An avid reader, she spent lots of her time at the Exeter Public Library. She went on to study in Scotland, earning two master’s degrees, first in Romantic and Victorian literature and then in creative writing.
“My first master’s degree in Romantic and Victoran literature [was in] 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century literature, but I really focused in on the 19th century,” Thompson said. “I love those classic gothic tales and I really wanted to focus my degree on the private letters and the journaling a lot of those authors did. … I think that gothic literature generally is sort of like a peek into [the] psyche of the characters and I’ve always found that really fascinating.”
Thompson said that her studies in creative writing and 19th-century literature, citing the Bronte sisters and Mary Shelley as particular influences, gave her a foundation from which to draw inspiration for her novel. Historical events also inspire her writing, like the Moberly-Jourdain incident that happened in France in 1901, when two women who were walking on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles claimed to have slipped back centuries in time before returning back to the present hours later. The story is also infused with her own personal experiences, which Thompson says coincide with the gothic genre.
“The story is very much about mental health and specifically about [the] dissociative disorder that I and [the] main character have,” she said. “I’ve sort of explained it to people by saying it feels like being in a gothic novel, [as if] the ghosts are in your own mind and your body feels like this haunted house you’re trapped in. When I knew I wanted to write a story that was about mental health, and with my degrees, [it] felt like the perfect fit to go for gothic.”
Where Ivy Dares to Grow follows protagonist Saoirse Read who is spending the winter with her fiance and his less-than-accepting parents at their isolated, haunted familial home. One day while walking in the garden, Saoirse slips back in time to 1818 and meets one her fiance’s ancestors, with whom she forms a relationship. Readers embark on this journey with Saoirse, as she slips back and forth from 1818 to the present, navigating the complicated relationships in her life while trying to cope with her mental health.
While categorized as gothic, the novel is a mashup of genres, with elements of historical fiction, romance and psychological mystery with some magical flair. Above all, it was important to Thompson the mental health aspect of the story not be overshadowed.
“There’s tons of heavy topics but it really is a story of hope and … self-love and self-acceptance so I hope that that is something that readers can see in this story and take away from it,” Thompson said. “Especially those that have struggled with mental health … [I hope they] feel like the book is a little bit of a friend and can help give a positive outlook that it’s not always so dark.”
At Gibson’s Bookstore, Thompson will talk about her book as well as engage in a Q&A session and book signing.
“I’m so excited!” Thompson said about returning to the Granite State for this event. “It feels very full circle, as so much of my original love of reading in childhood is connected to memories of New Hampshire, so it feels right to celebrate my debut there.”
Where Ivy Dares to Grow: A Gothic Time Travel Love Story – With Marielle Thompson When: Friday, June 30, 6:30 p.m. Where: Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St., Concord Visit: gibsonsbookstore.com
As the sun shines brighter, summer in New Hampshire provides the perfect backdrop for getting lost in the pages of a good book.
The Hippo’s summer reading guide brings you a diverse collection of recommendations of recently published books from local bookstore and library staff, who shared how these books resonated with them and captured their hearts and minds.
Dive deeper into the stories behind the stories with our series of Q&As with local authors, who discussed the inspirations and writing processes behind their latest works.
Whether you crave thrilling adventures, heartwarming tales or captivating journeys through time and space, our guide has something for you.
Grab a book, find a cozy spot and let your imagination soar.
Contemporary fiction
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, published March 2023. Recommended by: Diane Hathaway, director of Goffstown Public Library. Sylvie marries tragic William, and the book travels through time to describe the challenges of their relationship as a result of their backgrounds and personalities. A beautiful book with unique characters, despite the parallels to Little Women in the four sister characters. “All readers look for certain features that are common in their favorite books. Mine is that I need to like the characters, and Hello Beautiful fits that requirement,” Hathaway said.
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore, published March 2023. Recommended by: Elisabeth Jewell, events coordinator at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord.An “uplit” (uplifting literature) about a collection of lonely strangers who accidentally form a book club, and about the truths we avoid telling ourselves. “Our bookstore devoted a podcast to the idea of uplit earlier this year — these are non-romance happy-ever-after stories — the classic example is A Man Called Ove,” Jewell said.
Maame by Jessica George, published January 2023. Recommended by: Tricia Ryden, adult services librarian at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham. In this tender, quiet coming of age novel, 25-year-old Maddie George’s life seems to be permanently on hold. The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, Maddie is a self-described people-pleaser — the dependable person in all aspects of her life. The book traces Maddie’s struggle to claim her place in the world as she deals with grief and depression, microaggressions, dating and roommate issues. “Maddie is a lovely character, big-hearted and funny and kind, and I really found myself rooting for her. Maame is a compassionate, intimate debut novel and I look forward to reading more from this author,” Ryden said.
Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas, published March 2023. Recommended by: Diane Hathaway, director of Goffstown Public Library. “Sharkbait” is the only name by which we know the narrator. Jude, her nearly 20 years older lover, gives her the nickname, and the book is the memory of their relationship from when Sharkbait is a decade older. We relive the heady days of love with the narrator, as well as the deterioration of the relationship. “This may be my favorite book so far in 2023. This is an eloquent, rich book with lyrical writing, full of feeling. A must read!,” Hathaway said.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, published May 2023. Recommended by: Alexa Moore, circulation and reader services librarian at Amherst Town Library. June Hayward steals and publishes her “best-friend’s” literary masterpiece after her tragic death. June will stop at nothing to keep the fame she believes she deserves. “This darkly humorous satire is a departure from fantasy for Kuang, but still has her strong voice throughout. I loved it. It expertly shines a light on the faults within the publishing industry, and is extremely readable and hilarious. I can’t wait to see what Kuang writes next,” Moore said.
Cookbook
Blueberries for Sal Cookbook: Sweet Recipes Inspired by the Beloved Children’s Classic by Robert McClosky, published June 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. Celebrate blueberries all year with 30 wonderful recipes of muffins, pies, smoothies and more. “Includes the glorious illustrations from the children’s classic throughout. Fun for all!,” Nevins said.
Fantasy
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, published August 2022. Recommended by: Tricia Ryden, adult services librarian at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham. A kind of a twist on vampire stories, The Book Eaters is a dark, gritty, contemporary fantasy that tells the story of Devon Fairweather, a Book Eater. Secluded from human society, Book Eaters survive by consuming books, and to maintain their social order, Book Eater girls are fed a strict diet of fairy tales. Devon, however, finds herself increasingly unable to accept what turns out to be the nightmarish reality of life as a Book Eater princess. “At times harrowing, the book is written with an enormous amount of compassion for the impossible choices that Devon has to make. It’s a book about power, knowledge, survival, social norms, morality and love,” Ryden said.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, published April 2023. Recommended by: Alexa Moore, circulation and reader services librarian at Amherst Town Library. Two writers, Iris Winnow & Roman Kitt, compete for the top spot at a local paper, the Oath Gazette. Iris loses her family, and finds connection through a magical exchange of letters with a mystery person. The ongoing war between the gods finds both Iris and Roman, and causes them to reevaluate their lives. “This historical fiction meets fantasy romance novel focuses on the relationships of its characters, with the backdrop of the gods at war. It has an enemies to lovers romance, incredible worldbuilding with a sprinkling of magic, and some mystery as the reader discovers all the elements to this world,” Moore said.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, published May 2023. Recommended by: Alexa Moore, circulation and reader services librarian at Amherst Town Library. Violent Sorrengail is forced to enter the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College. Will she survive long enough to become a dragon rider, or is she too “fragile” to make it? “This fantasy romance lives up to the hype, and it sucked me in from the first moment! Yarros perfectly executes the enemies to lovers element of the story without taking away from the fantasy worldbuilding. (Plus I am a sucker for a competition novel.) Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas,” Moore said.
Graphic novel
Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Club — Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag, illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, published November 2022. Recommended by: Sean Sherwood, patron assistant at Hooksett Public Library. Jess has always only needed her best friend Olivia by her side through their lives, and their love of fantasy role-playing games has been their special thing forever. But when Olivia starts a new Dungeons & Dragons club in middle school, can Jess cope with sharing her Dungeon Master with other players? “This is a graphic novel that explores the trials of starting middle school and the challenges that come from trying to expand your social circles. I enjoy all of Molly Knox Ostertag’s previous works, such as The Witch Boy, so this was more of the same excellent writing from a stellar author!” Sherwood said.
Sunshine by Jarrett Krosoczka, published April 2023. Recommended by: Christopher Larochelle, patron services librarian at Hooksett Public Library. The author reflects back on a summer he spent as a high school camp counselor at a camp for children with severe illnesses. “Krosoczka’s honesty is a strength. Though the story tackles some very tough subject matter, there is a focus on the positives and a hopeful tone weaves through this moving graphic novel,” Larochelle said.
Historical fiction
All the Broken Places by John Boyne, published November 2022. Recommended by: Dianne Hathaway, director of Goffstown Public Library. Gretel is the protagonist in this book by Boyne, and it is kind of a sequel to his bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This book is full of sadness and guilt, as Gretel travels between World War II memories and the present day. When we meet her, Gretel is in her later years and as the book progresses we hear her full story until the conclusion that we see coming. “This is a poignant, unforgettable book about the horrors of war and what is left behind,” Hathaway said.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, published October 2022 Recommended by: Tricia Ryden, the adult services librarian at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham. A modern-day adaptation of David Copperfield set in Appalachia during the early days of the opioid crisis. Damon Fields, known by the nickname Demon Copperhead, is a young orphan navigating the foster care system after his mother overdoses. He is a smart, funny, angry, hurting kid with a talent for drawing and a powerful survival instinct. “It is such a smart idea to transplant the Dickens story to this particular time and place. While it is specific to the struggles of this community that Kingsolver comes from, it also drives home the universal toll of poverty and inequity. A beautiful, heartbreaking book,” Ryden said.
A Girl Called Samson by Amy Haron, published April 2023. Recommended by: Jamie Litalien, patron services and technical services assistant at Hooksett Public Library. This novel, set during the American Revolution, follows the real life story of Deborah Samson., a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the war for American Independence. This book addresses the challenges of war and one woman’s fight for personal liberty. “If you are looking to be transported back in time, this is the story for you!” Litalien said.
Go as a River by Shelley Read, published February 2023. Recommended by: Paula Frank, a bookseller at Balin Books in Nashua. Against the harsh realities of life in the 1940s a teenage girl finds forbidden love in a small provincial town in Colorado, where loss, prejudice and rage prevail. “As beautiful as it is devastating. The words never felt wasted. Fiercely independent Victoria (Torie) follows her own path. She leaves her broken family behind and deals with many hardships on her own, building a life worthy of the legacy of her past,” Read said.
Homecoming by Kate Morton, published April 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet Bookends of Warner. Full of suspense, this is an epic story that spans generations, asking what we would do for those we love, how we protect the lies we tell, and what it means to come home. “Mix up historical fiction with a woman sleuth, and that spells great summer reading,” Nevins said.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane, published April 2023. Recommended by: Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Set in the same universe as Mystic River — Boston in the 1970s — Small Mercies is a story of the impact of integration and busing on traditional Irish communities, with mysterious disappearances and the constant threat of violence. “Lehane has a great ear for dialogue and is one of our best writers in creating truly memorable scenes. This was the world Lehane grew up in, so this is a very personal story for him,” Herrmann said.
Weyward by Emilia Hart, published March 2023. Recommended by: Heather Weirich Roy, manager and buyer of the children’s section at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Weyward is a multi-generational story following a line of witches and their daughters. “It is a feminist POV that touches on the historical importance for a woman’s right to choose safety in remaining independent. For fans of Kate Morton, Diane Setterfield and Sarah Perry,” Roy said.
Horror
Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca, published June 2023. Recommended by: Ryan Clark, social media manager at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. “If you like your horror to leave you battered and raw, buckle up, I have your next read. Everything the Darkness Eats is bursting with malevolence, desperation, trauma and love. At times you will feel utterly consumed by the darkness, and at other times you will catch a glimpse of the light. This novel may be small, but it is a beast in its own right. Do not underestimate it. Eric LaRocca’s writing is gorgeous and addictive,” Clark said.
Mystery
All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay, published March 2023. Recommended by: Jan Locke, a buyer at Balin Books in Nashua. Has the perfect murder been committed, or not? How does a family, ripped apart by doubt, take sides against one of its own? This is a companion volume but not a sequel to previous bestseller Finding Jacob by the same author “This story really gets under your skin!” Locke said.
Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor, published August 2022. Recommended by: Jan Locke, a buyer at Balin Books in Nashua. Small-town secrets are easily buried in this close-knit community representative of the new mystery genre, rural Australian noir. “Heart-wrenching, evocative and beautifully written, this still manages to be a very good police procedural,” Locke said.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, published January 2023. Recommended by: Heather Weirich Roy, manager and buyer of the children’s section at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. This is a cheeky Australian murder mystery that breaks the fourth wall to address the reader frequently. “Narrated by the author of several ‘how to write a mystery’ books, but not a novelist himself, in this book we get a play-by-play account of one family’s disastrous family reunion weekend and a dirty laundry list of how each member has, as the title suggests, killed someone,” Roy said.
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, published February 2023. Recommended by: Beth Nerbonne, patron service assistant at Hooksett Public Library. A successful film professor and podcaster returns to the New Hampshire boarding school she attended where her former roommate was murdered [during] the spring of their senior year. While she’s teaching a class as an adjunct there, interest in the case resurfaces and forces our protagonist to reconsider what she and everyone else has presumed was the truth. “After reading Makkai’s Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Great Believers, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, and it didn’t disappoint. Filled with twists and turns and of course its connection to New Hampshire boarding schools, this title is one heck of a ride,” Nerbonne said.
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes, published February 2023. Recommended by: Ryan Clark, social media manager at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. After unsuccessfully trying to murder his boss, instead of being arrested, Cliff Iverson is recruited to the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, the very fancy, well-rounded school for learning the art of homicide. “Darkly funny, a bit like if A Series of Unfortunate Events was written for adults. This is by the same man who wrote ‘The Pina Colada Song’ way back when!” Holmes said.
Nonfiction
Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska by Warren Zanes, published May 2023. Recommended by: Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Warren Zanes writes about what this album meant to musicians at the time (he, with his brother Dan, were core members of The Del Fuegos), where it lands in the personal journey of Springsteen as an artist, and its enduring legacy. “This is an in-depth and fascinating study of Bruce Springsteen’s album Nebraska, which took the world by surprise with its darkness and ragged simplicity in 1982,” Herrmann said.
Monster: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer, published April 2023. Recommended by: Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. This book had its beginnings as an essay in the Paris Review that went viral — “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?,” a question that also goes to the heart of professional bookselling. “Claire Dederer, author of the memoirs Poser and Loveand Trouble, has expanded her essay into a broad and fascinating study of the issue, and also a radical self-examination that is highly valuable. You’ll read about Picasso, Woody Allen, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson and many other well-known figures whose work endures even as their reputations are re-evaluated,” Herrmann said.
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus, published May 2023. Recommended by: Jo Swenson, lead bookseller at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Part travelog, part culinary history, part quirky memoir. “Raw Dog is the horny socialist hot dog book you didn’t know you needed. If that alone doesn’t immediately sell you on this book, I’m not sure I can help you,” Swenson said.
Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder, published January 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. From the streets of Boston, this wonderful writer of Mountains Beyond Mountains now brings us the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, who invented ways to create a community of care for a city’s unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets — the “rough sleepers.”
Woman, Captain, Rebel: the Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Wilson, published January 2023. Recommended by: Mark Glisson, assistant director at Hooksett Public Library. The title of the book tells it all: depicting Iceland’s famous female sea captain who not only succeeds against all odds in a sea-faring world dominated by men, but also solves one of the country’s most notorious robberies. “This engaging story provided an eye-opening glimpse into a very unforgiving world of climate and culture faced by women,” Glisson said.
Picture books
The Book of Turtles by Sy Montgomery and illustrated by Matt Patterson, published May 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. “The Book of Turtles has amazing illustrations, is emotionally engaging with fact-filled text, and speaks to the wisdom these long-lived animals can lend. … From Soul of an Octopus to The Good Good Pig, this best selling Hancock author has now produced another treasure in children’s books,” Nevins said.
Once Upon a Fairy Tale House: The True Story of Four Sisters and the Magic They Built by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Giselle Potter, published May 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. “This beloved children’s author from Wilmot has just released another glorious picture book, based on the true story from the 1930’s of four talented sisters who combined their efforts to create fairy tale cottages for themselves and others. … Childhood dreams can become adult realities,” Nevins said.
Romance
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood, published June 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. “If you loved Lessons in Chemistry (by Bonnie Garmus), check out the latest STEM-based romcom, this time about rival physicists, academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans. This follows the earlier Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain. Guilty pleasure beach reads all around,” Nevins said.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, published April 2023. Recommended by: Tricia Ryden, the adult services librarian at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham. Sally Milz is a writer for The Night Owls, a late night Saturday Night Live-type sketch comedy show. When she falls for that week’s guest host, a handsome and slightly aging pop star, she approaches the relationship with the same ironic detachment she brings to her sketches. “There are fun Saturday Night Live insider references, and plenty of romantic comedy tropes to enjoy in the novel. However, the relationship develops in 2020 in the shadow of the pandemic, which underscores that there are bigger and more important things going on, even in the world of this book, than this relationship. It also highlights the importance of embracing a chance at happiness when it comes your way. … A funny, smart, enjoyable read.” Ryden said.
Science fiction
The Measure by Nikki Erlick, published June 2022. Recommended by: Paula Frank, a bookseller at Balin Books in Nashua. This is a thought-provoking story that follows the lives of eight individuals navigating a new reality when every adult on Earth learns how long they will live. “I like to refer to this book as a philosophical thriller; as it unspools how individuals, governments and society wrestle with having this knowledge. The eight protagonists each have a different perspective and the way Erlick weaves the story and connects the characters is brilliant,” Frank said.
Youth and young adult
Live Your Best Lie by Jessie Weaver, published January 2023. Recommended by: Heather Weirich Roy, manager and buyer of the children’s section at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. When a famous teen Instagram influencer winds up dead at her own Halloween party, it becomes a locked room mystery for her friends to find the enemy in plain sight. Everyone is hiding something, and all were being blackmailed by the not so perfect off-camera Instagram darling.
Opinions and Opossums by Ann Braden, published May 2023. Recommended by: Katharine Nevins, owner and manager of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner. The latest Opinions and Opossums is about how women are portrayed in religion. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy the books from this Vermont middle-grade writer. She writes about kids trying to stand up for themselves even when things are tough, starting with The Benefits of Being an Octopus, and then Flight of the Puffin,” Nevins said.
The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro, published May 2023. Recommended by: Amy Lemelin, teen librarian at Rochester Public Library. Nico and his boyfriend, Will, go on a quest to Tartarus to save a reformed Titan named Bob. The quest takes them on many adventures, where they meet interesting characters that change both kids in profound ways. “Fans of the Percy Jackson books will appreciate the referencing to previous but not overdone plotlines. The book contains stories of friendship, growth, understanding, and trust, while also taking the reader on a thrilling adventure,” Lemelin said.
Conversations with Authors
Margaret Porter, author of The Myrtle Wand
Published in October 2022, the historical fiction novel is Porter’s latest release.
What is The Myrtle Wand about?
The Myrtle Wand is a retelling and a reimagining of the classical ballet Giselle and it was inspired by seeing a production a few years ago. … Taking in information about the way the ballet had been originally written, [I decided to explore characters.] I’d also wanted to set a book in 17th-century France so I decided to transfer this version of the background and history and future of the characters from the ballet to 17th-century France, to the period of Louis XIV at an early part of his reign. It was a mashup of ballet lore and French history and it includes some real historical characters and then the characters who were fictional from the ballet.
What inspired you to write a retelling?
There’s been a lot of retellings in novel form … and it was a form that I’ve never tried before. … You’re using an established storyline to some extent but there’s a lot of freedom to interpret it the way you want and to develop the characters in a way that’s based on imagination. … I was able to rely on imagination a great deal and just sprinkled in the history where it served my story.
What is Giselle about?
Giselle is … in love with the stranger who has arrived in the village. What she doesn’t know is that he is a duke in disguise who’s … already engaged to a princess. … When she discovers this, her grief is so great that she goes mad and … then she abruptly dies. The second act … takes place in the forest … where the ghosts of girls who’ve been betrayed by their lovers rise from their graves … and hunt down men and make them dance until they die. Giselle, having just died, is raised up from the dead by the queen of these girls’ spirits. The duke comes into the woods … and Giselle’s ghost has to figure out a way to save him from certain death.
Why did you decide to move back the time period of the setting? What interests you in the time period and the setting?
I have an interest in King Louis XIV of France but particularly his earlier years when he was a young king. [The] novel’s main character is the princess, [who] I decided to make … a friend of his. The whole aspect of arranged marriages for the nobility and the royalty of that time is very much explored in the story.
How did the research and writing process look for this novel?
I wrote this novel I think faster than any other novel I’ve written, and I think partly because there wasn’t quite as much research required. I did a lot of research into Louis XIV … and then I did research into convent life … and agricultural life. The daily life aspect was very heavily researched.
What about this story do you think will resonate with readers today?
It shows how women of today have so many more choices, agency and control of their lives. It gives a view of women of the past; what they couldn’t do but what they managed to do and how they could be successful. It’s also the glamorization of the past.
What do you hope readers take away from this story?
To hold on to hope. That when things seem at their worst … there’s always a brighter day ahead, and that companionship and friendship are crucial.
Anita Oswald, author of Brother Where Art Thou
Oswald, a California native and longtime New Hampshire resident, published her latest release in July 2022.
What is this book about?
Brother Where Art Thou is a psychological thriller. It’s kind of a whodunit. Is it the rich heiress? Is it the brother who hasn’t been around? Is it the estranged sister? It is a tale of revenge and why they’re seeking their revenge. Someone is killing women who resemble a certain kind of likeness. It takes you along those adventures with the main characters. It’s kind of a mystery as to who the actual murderer is until you get to the end of the book and figure it out.
What inspired you to write this story? How did you come up with the concept?
I came up with the concept of the book during a family reunion in Kentucky. It has nothing to do with my family, but we were in rural Kentucky and … came across this kind of abandoned location and it just seemed kind of fitting for something like this. If you’re looking at this location it would be one of those that you say, ‘Wow, this could be a crazy place for a thriller suspense movie of some sort.’ Then I took a lot of concepts from the Kentucky area, so there’s a bourbon heiress, there’s horse racing and it takes place during the Kentucky Derby season.
What was the writing and publication process like for this book?
This was my fourth book [to be] published but it was my first being published from a traditional publisher and not [being] self-published. … It’s very different from the self-publication methods because with that you have to do everything yourself. I decided not to go that route with this book because I felt it was time to put it out there [and] give it a greater audience. Psychological thrillers have become such a big part of people’s viewing history [and] the fascination that people have with serial killers, so I thought this was the best opportunity to get it out there and maybe have it become something bigger.
What about this story do you think will resonate with readers and what do you hope that they take away from this story?
Well, it’s a work of fiction so I hope they take away an enjoyment for what I’ve written and a genuine curiosity to read the second book because it does conclude in a second installment. … I really hope that the right person picks it up and it just explodes everywhere. It was a fun book to write [and] it was definitely a labor of love. I put a lot of work [and] research into it. Pulling out a psychological thriller isn’t the easiest thing to do.
What did the research process look like?
Well, I’m probably on an FBI watchlist for everything that I’ve Googled. I Googled everything from non-extradition countries to how you can hide your assets and get away with it. I got probably as close to the dark web as you can go without actually going onto the dark web to find information. I had to Google ways to get rid of a body untraditionally [to] as far as how much lye would it take to dissolve a body, how many hours [it takes and] what the right conditions [are]. That kind of stuff. It seems very grotesque but in order to give the character life that’s kind of what you have to do.
Do you have any idea of when we might hear more about the second installment?
I am hoping within the next year that book will be finished. It is going a little bit slower right now. I am hoping that once I am at a point where I can pitch it to my editor that they will also want to publish the second installment as well. But I am hoping within the next year I can start that process. I’ve already got about five chapters done so it’s definitely on its way.
Linda Kulig Magoon, author of Live Free and Hike: Finding Grace on 48 Summits
Magoon, an environmentalist living in Warner with her two cats, published her debut in June 2023.
What is this book about?
In my mid 50s after I recently divorced my husband, I rediscovered my love for hiking. I had time to myself to focus on my own healing, so I took to hiking Mount Moosilauke on a whim on a sunny Saturday afternoon and just absolutely loved it. There’s something magical about being above tree line, and Mount Moosilauke has an extensive trail system above tree line. You just feel like you’re on top of the world. When I came down from the mountain I discovered that there’s a list of 48 4,000-footers … so I set a goal to hike all 48. I didn’t have a lot of hiking or high summit experience, so I wrote the book because I thought it would be good to share something like that, and spoiler alert: I didn’t die.
Where does your interest in hiking and the outdoors come from?
I grew up in rural Massachusetts and my interest for the outdoors was from my mom and dad. My dad liked to hike, hunt and fish and my mom liked to garden. She was also the queen of house work, so to avoid getting sucked into house work we would all run outside and hide.
Why did you decide to share your story?
I originally set out to write a book about my exploits fumbling across the summits, and my original theme was ‘If an old lady in her mid 50s can do it you can too.’ But about a third of the way through the hikes I got some terrible news that my ex-husband had been arrested for child molestation. So the next three years during the criminal process was probably the most difficult of my life. … Suddenly I had mountains much bigger to climb than any 4,000-footer. So it’s a little bit about that and how at the time I was engaged with a life coach and a therapist and how they became my support system along with my friends and my family. It’s a book that I think anyone who has had some traumatic experience in their life that they can relate to would be able to find some inspiration and some examples of resilience from it.
What was the writing process like?
It really came from journaling. Journaling was a way to help me cope with the events that were going on. Plus I enjoyed journaling and writing anyway so it was very easy for me to go on a particular hike and then come home and write some notes about it very quickly and a lot of the book came from my journals.
What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
Well, I hope that they can find some inspiration. That you can achieve a goal that you set out to do, no matter what the obstacles. Help is available if you need it. Action is rewarded. … I’d like people to understand that it’s never too late to start over. It’s never too late to say, ‘You know what? I’m not happy, I’m better off with a new life.” It’s for people who maybe are struggling in unhealthy relationships and not sure how to get unstuck from that, or people who maybe want something and just don’t feel worthy or know how to take that first step.
What about this story will resonate with readers?
I think everyone’s had some cross to bear at some moment in their lives where things didn’t quite go as planned. That takeaway I want readers to have is that you can come out the other side a different person, maybe stronger, more resilient, or maybe you discover that you are stronger than you think you are.
Brinda Charry, author of The East Indian
Charry, an India native and New Hampshire resident, published the novel — her first U.S. release — in May 2023.
What brought you to the United States, and more specifically, New Hampshire?
I came as a graduate student and then I finished my Ph.D. at Syracuse and I got a teaching job at Keene State College in Keene. I’ve lived in Keene almost 18 years now.
How did your journey begin as a novelist?
I’ve always written fiction on the side and I did publish some books in India and in the U.K. … but The East Indian is really the first novel that was published in the United States. I came across a reference to the first person of Indian descent to come to colonial America. I was very moved and inspired … and decided to write a novel based on that.
What is The East Indian about?
It’s a fictionalized account of this person. The historical record indicates that [he] came to Virginia in 1635 and seems to have been brought over by an English settler. The Indian’s name is listed as Toni Easton. Really nothing much beyond that is known about him. What I do in the novel is I sort of imagine what his journey might have been like. What I try to do is talk about the struggles and the triumphs that this young man might have been through. I wanted to write a coming of age story, but it’s not just any coming of age story because … [it] happens in the context of this huge movement that he’s made across the world. I also wanted to write an adventure story because surely this must have been an adventurous life, so it’s a little bit of both is how I approached the novel.
What was the writing and the research process like?
The research process really took up a lot of time because I do take that part of it very seriously. I got my doctorate in Shakespeare so I know quite a bit about the 1600s in England … but I didn’t really know much about Virginia in the 1600s, so I really had to do a lot of research, and of course I had to make sure there really was an East Indian. Once I had all that it really inspired me to sit down and I wrote the novel. And of course when you’re writing a novel you’re not being a historian even if you’re writing historical fiction … but you let the research form your characters and the plot.
Where did you draw inspiration from to create this character and his life experiences?
I don’t know if I drew from anything in particular. It’s not quite clear whether the Indians who came here in the 1600s were slaves or indentured workers. For the novel I decided to make him an indentured laborer. Some of the inspiration came from reading about the experience of these young people. As a writer, what you try to do is put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and I tried to imagine what life must have been like in what is such a completely new scenario.
What about this story do you think will resonate with readers today?
It is a story of a lot of loss because this is someone who has left a lot behind and it’s not like he was voluntarily brought over, but I hope in addition to the loss and the tragedy of this person’s life, I want people to take away the sense of hope and survival … because I think in even the darkest of places people do find hope, and ultimately I did want to write a story of someone who survives and makes it.
Eversource has completed the transfer of ownership of properties acquired for the Northern Pass transmission project, including parcels sold to private parties and agreements with Bear Rock Adventures and Wagner Forest Management. According to a press release, the transfers signify Eversource’s support of economic development, environmental stewardship and recreational activities in New Hampshire. The properties span 92 parcels in 15 towns and four counties, primarily in Coos County. Eversource emphasized its ongoing collaboration with communities and partners to contribute to the success of the Granite State.
Smoky day
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services declared an Air Quality Action Day on Sunday, June 25, for certain areas of the state, including high-elevation regions, due to predicted unhealthy levels of fine particle air pollution caused by winds carrying smoke from extensive wildfires in eastern Canada. According to a press release, precautions, such as limiting outdoor exposure, were advised for sensitive individuals, including those with lung diseases, children, older adults and individuals engaged in outdoor activities, in several counties to prevent possible health effects and reduced visibility. Healthy individuals were advised to reduce strenuous outdoor activities. Air quality was expected to improve on Monday as winds shifted and dispersed the smoke away from New Hampshire.
Nashua Center board
Allie Lafond, a resident of New Hampshire since 2014, has joined the board of Nashua Center, an organization that provides specialized care and support to children with severe disabilities while promoting growth in independence. According to a press release, Lafond has experience as an HR Manager in the nonprofit sector and a passion for volunteering with the Girl Scouts. She enjoys hiking, exploring nature, trying new restaurants and creating memories with friends. “Allie’s enthusiasm and dedication are truly inspiring,” Emily Manire, Nashua Center’s Executive Director, said in the release. “Her expertise and unique perspective will undoubtedly enrich our board’s discussions and contribute to the continued growth of Nashua Center.”
Tech awards
The New Hampshire Tech Alliance held its annual TechWomen Connect and Awards at Fidelity Investments’ campus on Thursday, June 22. According to a press release, the event, which is the largest networking event for women in tech in New Hampshire, aimed to provide networking opportunities, professional headshots and connections with local nonprofits focused on STEAM education. More than 120 tech professionals attended, and three women were recognized for their dedication to supporting and advancing women and girls in STEM fields: Kennedy Amorim from Derryfield School, named Tech Student of the Year; Jennifer Cava from the Academy for Science and Design, named Tech Educator of the Year, and Flo Nicolas, named Tech Professional of the Year for her work with Get Tech Smart and the DEI Directive.
Transportation funds
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas announced that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation will receive $20 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to a press release, the funding will support the General Sullivan Bridge Bicycle and Pedestrian Crossing project in Rockingham and Strafford counties, which will replace the General Sullivan Bridge with a new two-girder superstructure, reopening the multi-use path across Little Bay that connects Newington and Dover. The federal grant, allocated through the Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, was made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law negotiated by Sens. Shaheen and Hassan.
Help for vets
Harbor Care, New Hampshire’s largest nonprofit service provider for veterans, partnered with Bank of America to address homelessness among veterans and promote economic mobility. According to a press release, Bank of America donated $20,000 to support Harbor Care’s Veterans FIRST program and sponsored the Summit to End Veteran Homelessness, which took place on June 28. The collaboration brought together local, state and federal stakeholders to address pressing issues related to veteran homelessness. Harbor Care’s Veterans FIRST program offers housing, health care, substance use treatment and employment services to more than 450 veterans and their families annually. With Bank of America’s support, Harbor Care successfully ended veteran homelessness in greater Nashua in 2017 and continues to work toward replicating that success statewide.
Imagine Casino/Concord Casino has received final planning board approval to construct a 44,000-square-foot Phase I Casino in Concord. According to a press release, the venue will feature 26,000 square feet of charitable gaming space with electronic games, table games and poker rooms and various non-gaming amenities such as dining options and live music space. The site plan includes acknowledgment of a Phase II, consisting of a hotel and a 20,000-square-foot expansion and conference center. Established in 2018, Imagine/Concord Casino holds the exclusive right to offer electronic HHR games, including table games and poker, in the capital region of New Hampshire.
Writer Ernest Thompson will attend a screening of the 1982 film On Golden Pond, for which Thompson won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, at the Park Theatre in Jaffrey on Sunday, July 9, at 4 p.m. The movie was filmed at Squam Lake, N.H. According to a press release, Thompson will talk about the movie and his new novel The Book of Maps. Purchase tickets at theparktheatre.org or by calling 532-8888.
Bruce in the USA, a Bruce Springstreen tribute band, will perform at the 15th Annual Benefit Concert and Silent Auction for the Center for Life Management on Friday, July 14, at 6 p.m. at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry. According to a press release, the event aims to bring people together in support of mental health, and proceeds will provide mental health services for un- and underinsured individuals in the local community. See tupelomusichall.com.
Along with eschewing profanity, Brian Regan assiduously avoids politics in his act. He does, however, have a one woke joke. Growing up, his parents would make Regan and his siblings vote on playtime activities. The family had four boys and two girls, so it was an inherently undemocratic exercise.
“I didn’t like that, so I voted for dolls,” Regan quipped.
He hasn’t checked on whether this bit set the social media world atwitter. “I’m just gonna keep trying to do what I think is funny,” Regan said in a recent phone interview. “If it bumps somebody, I apologize. Well, I take that back. Maybe I don’t apologize.”
His latest Netflix special On the Rocks finds Regan’s broad appeal on display. He addresses being diagnosed with OCD (“How come when you want things in order, they call it a disorder?”), the absurdity of bagpipes, and his newly gray hair, leading off with the latter. “Let’s get [it] out of the way, ’cause if I don’t you won’t listen to a word I say for an hour.”
Regan went prematurely gray in his thirties, so he started coloring his hair. “I’m like, hey, I’m trying to get booked as a twentysomething, I can’t have gray hair,” he said. He stopped during lockdown and didn’t start again. “When the world opened up a crack and people were like, hey, we’ll do a show with eight audience members, I said, ‘Alright, I’ll perform,’ but I decided … I’m just gonna go out, and this is what I look like now. It’s kind of freeing.”
On the Rocks was filmed at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in Utah, but Regan was quick to point out that the open-air venue was chosen before the pandemic. “It was just a fluke, I wanted to do an outdoor show,” he explained. “I might have been one of the only people to be able to do a special with an audience during Covid, but it worked out OK.”
The special was the final one of a Netflix deal that included 2017’s Nunchucks and Flamethrowers and the two-part series Standup and Away! a year later. He’s talking with “various platforms” about a follow-up. “I’m anticipating being able to do something soon,” he said, adding, “I never know how to talk about what I do because the topics themselves always sound incredibly boring.” To illustrate, he recalled an article from a few years back. “It said, ‘Brian … talks about food, traveling and shopping.’ I wondered if couples or families were sitting around reading the paper going, ‘Oh, my God, we have to go check this guy out — he’s exploring our favorite topics for humor!’”
Regan worked against type in Loudermilk, a Peter Farrelly-created series that ran for three seasons. “That opportunity was tremendous, because audiences know me for a certain kind of comedy … and Loudermilk is far from clean,” he said. “It’s on the rough side of the tracks … gritty and dirty, but I still loved doing it because it was real. There’s a lot of love in it.”
The comedy drama starring Ron Livingston as a recovering alcoholic faced a few challenges. The network it ran on ceased operations just as Season 3 was about to air; the show was later rescued by Amazon Prime. That said, more episodes could happen. “It’s not a definite that it’s over,” Regan said. “Peter Farrelly has said that he hasn’t given up on it; I mean, the last season was shot before the world shut down.”
For now, Regan is glad to be working again in relative normalcy.
“I don’t want to say it’s completely gone; there might still be people out there who have health concerns and don’t want to get out,” he said. “But for the most part it feels like crowds are back and it’s a lot of fun performing in front of places that are full.”
He’s also looking forward to his upcoming show at Manchester’s Palace Theatre.
“I love the whole New England area,” he said. “I mean, every part of the country is different, but New Hampshire is wonderful, it has its own personality, and I love performing for the people there.”
Brian Regan When: Thursday, June 22, 7:30 p.m. Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester Tickets: $39 to $59 at palacetheatre.org
