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is kind of a mess and he's not much of a writer, I do kind of like his goofy style though and it's fun to read something juicy, But if you didn't know this was based on real people it's probably not much of a book, "Our Town" is a captivating debut novel by Kevin Jack McEnroe which realistically portray the devastating effects of addiction, According to a NY Times interview, May,: the novel is "a fictionalized account" of McEnroe's grandfather Ryan O'Neal's first wife Joanna Moore, and another alcoholic female relative who died in.
The author's mother, Tatum O'Neal, has chronicled her own battles with addiction and substance abuse in her own bestselling memoirs.


The novel is divided in the following acts: Act, cover the years from, beginning with the life of the main character Dorothy White.
Act,White's life, poor decisions, multiple relationships, Act,a culmination and ending of White's life resulting in tragedy related to her inability to break her cycle of addiction.


Born in Americus, GA, the oldest of two daughters to a brilliant scientist and his wife, Joanna Rae Cook lost her mother and her sister when they were killed in a tragic car accident.
When her Nana was unable to care for her any longer, Joanna was adopted by a loving doctor and his wife, her name was changed.
Dorothy White's young first marriage ended quickly in divorce, she was later crowned as "Miss Americus", her beauty, was noticed and discovered as she attended college in Los Angeles.


While acting for a television show, White became involved with another strikingly handsome rising actor on the same production: Dale Kelly.
Eventually they made a stunning married couple, their movie careers were followed closely by tabloid media, White was content to remain a traditional wife and mother, as Kelly became increasingly famous, his star rapidly rising, After their children Clover and Dylan were born, the couple's marriage held a dark hidden secret, as they both became addicted to the pills that were provided originally by studio management people.

Dale Kelly became obviously dissatisfied with his wife and family, wrapped up in the hype of his playboy image, fame, and popularity.
With the ending of her marriage, the illusion of love, Dorothy White spiraled out of control, turning to alcohol and substance to cope with her shattered dreams, and disappointment over her inability to remain even close to path of superstardom, also her disappointment and failure to meet her desire to be a good mother as her life and addiction continued.


McEnroe not only expertly illustrates the tragic consequences and the darkness of addiction, but also how this disease begins in one generation and relentlessly settles in the next generation.
A stunning recommended read for anyone interested in addiction and recovery issues,















This story is populated by losers.
None of the characters possess any admirable characteristics, which was probably the author's intention, but it painted a very onesided picture of life in Los Angeles.
The prose was overly descriptive the author used far too many adjectives, It took me awhile to get used to the descriptions of locations and emotions, and I found it easier to skim longer paragraphs than wade through the detail.
After traveling so far with these disturbing characters, I would have appreciated a more satisfying end to this read, Sometimes you pick up books for the craziest reasons, In this case I was watching the U, S. Open, decided to google John McEnroe's children and discovered that his son had written a well received novel based on his mother's dysfunctional family.


It was excellent!

Mr, McEnroe is an amazing writer, After reading "Paper Moon" by Tatum Oneal, I was excited to read her son's debut novel, as it is loosely based on Tatum's mother.
The book was dark and sad, but brilliantly written, Story is an example of how dark Hollywood can be, I am looking forward to see what Kevin writes next, Our Town is the debut of a striking literary voice, one that captures the disillusion at the fringes of Hollywood as seen through a haze of drugs, alcohol, abuse, and fallen aspirations.
An unseen narrator guides us through the dark fairy tale of Dorothy White, an aspiring actress who “never quite figured how to get out of her own way.
” Her perfect marriage to an equally golden actor, Dale, quickly turns into one of jealousy and violence, Dorothy ends the marriage yet begins a legacy of selfdestruction for the failed couple, as well as their two children, Clover and Dylan.


But we see the pathos in Dorothys attempts to get back on track, to be a good woman, mother, and grandmother.
Throughout the novel, she is left in the wake of decisions that turn disastrous, Her downward spiral from elusive fame into consistent infamya series of DUIs, the continuing neglect of her children, a string of failed and unhealthy relationshipsis not without its grace, with the warmth of her character shining through her spackled makeup and cloud of acrid perfume.
In many ways, Dorothy White is an antiheroine for the ages“vanilla voiced,” bewigged, loving, and ever radiant a sympathetic character caught in the riptide of her transformation from smalltown southern girl to onetime toast of Hollywood to embarrassing tabloid fodder.


Our Town is an original and startling debut novel, one whose fresh voice and expert perspective reinvents the Hollywood story for a new generation of readers.

McEnroe can write no doubt about thatbut his subject matter is bleak, There is no break from this downward spiraling tale of addiction and depravity, I wanted to like these characters, I wanted to come up for air but no such luck, The fact that McEnroe based this story on his grandparents' relationship doesn't add any shimmer of sympathy,

I still look forward to his next book, Let's see what he can do with the New York party scene, Couldn't finish . boring. Addiction is a powerful, dangerous force, one which often leads to tragic outcomes, And when children are raised by addict parents, the likelihood of their also falling prey to addiction, traveling down the same dangerous path as their parents, increases exponentially.
It's a vicious and sad cycle,

Kevin Jack McEnroe, the son of Tatum O'Neal and John McEnroe, tackles the effects of addiction on a family in his debut novel, Our Town, which he has said is a fictionalized account of his grandfather Ryan O'Neal's first wife, Joanna Moore, and another female relative.


JoannaRae Cook lived an idyllic life in Americus, Georgia in thes, the daughter of a scientist and his wife, when her entire family is killed in a car accident.
When she was adopted by a doctor and his wife, she changed her name to Dorothy, "Because she felt different here, Happier, somehow. And she thought it'd be nice, and fitting, to recognize that change, Starting over would be a theme in her life, She always felt she could be better than she was, "

After winning the Miss Americus beauty pageant, she caught the eye of a talent agent and moved to Los Angeles.
It is on the set of a television show that she meets Dale Kelly, a handsome young actor also making his debut.
The two fall quickly and passionately in love, get married, and when Dorothy gets pregnant, she puts her acting career aside to raise their family.
But as Dale's star slowly rises, the couple find themselves in the thrall of alcohol and drugs, especially when Dorothy tries to restart her career after giving birth twice.
It isn't long before Dale's jealousy and anger turns to violence, and the two, constantly fighting addiction, divorce,

Our Town follows Dorothy through her life as she struggles with trying to stay beautiful, trying to appeal to men, although she constantly seems to pick the wrong ones.
She needs alcohol, cocaine, uppers, downers, and other drugs to make it through her days, keep her weight off, and soften the rough edges of her custody battles with Dale and her frustrations with her children, Clover and Dylan.
As frustration turns to neglect, her treatment of her children scars them in countless ways,

This is a tremendously bleak book which mirrors the real struggles of addictionglimmers of hope and recovery follows by long periods of decline and relapse.
These characters are not likeable, but even as you are disgusted by their behaviors you see what fuels them, You know they are headed toward danger, and you are powerless to stop them you can only hope they'll find their way before it's too late.


The premise of this book is a powerful one, but unfortunately, it didn't work for me in the storytelling itself.
McEnroe is a talented writer but his style is scattered, and it is difficult to follow the plot because he often alludes to or foreshadows events without them actually occurring.
I found the book very slow moving, but I wanted to see how McEnroe would tie everything up, and the ending of the book definitely provokes emotions.
I just wish the rest of the book did the same,

See all of my reviews at sitelink blo . Had to give up on this one halfway through, I did not connect at all with Dorothy or Dale so I was never drawn in by their story, Our Town is the first novel of writer Kevin Jack McEnroe and what a great debut it was, Kevin has a unique writing voice that he brings to this first novel with exquisite detail and storyline, From the first sentences I knew this novel would capture my attention, I brought it with me on our Julyth trip and read the entire thing on ourhour plane ride.
Fast paced, and far from predictable "Our Town" tells the story of two actors Dorothy and Dale from when they first meet to the final moments of their journey.

Dorothy met Dale her first day on the set of a brand new show and just couldn't seem to stop looking at him.
Dale felt the exact same way and goes up to Dorothy to find out more about her,
Both Dorothy and Dale sink into the Hollywood life without even becoming movie although Dale's career is much more successful than Dorothy's even will be.
They both have a highly entitled personality and believe that others should jump when they call, They both become addicted to drugs, alcohol and other substances to numb the pain they feel they have,
Eventually they both end up messing up their lives and the lives of their offspring,
Kevin does a great job of portraying what it is like to live with an addict and also what it is like to be an addict.

An exciting new voice in adult fiction, hopefully this is just the beginning of many books from this author.
This book is a "fictional" version of the life of one of my favorite actresses from the Andy Griffith show.
It will haunt me for a very long time, as does her descent into addiction, RIP, Joanna. I truly hope you are at peace, This book had a plot that felt very realistic to the point that it sometimes seemed like it was ripping off real lives but still untethered.
Once I learned that McEnroe is the son of Tatum O'Neal

and that the story is a somewhat fictionalized account of relatives, everything made more sense.


Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for the book to really work for me McEnroe's style is a bit chaotic which made the book hard to follow.
At times it felt like plot elements came out of nowhere, or disappeared entirely, I feel like less time and character hopping may have made things better but I don't really know, I bought this novel shortly after it was published, because I love watching men's tennis and the author is the son of tennis star John McEnroe.
The author based this novel on the life of his maternal grandmother the mother of actress Tatum O'Neal, It is a sad story about addiction, There are some truly nice moments in the book where the young author displays true writing talent, However, as I continued reading, it became clear the manuscript hadn't received a thorough edit, The editing failures are at times glaring on the page and truly appalling, Why wasn't more care taken Such a shame, I ended up hating the book due to these distracting, careless flaws, I do admire its author's attempt to write this story as a way of learning more about his family's history of addiction and to exercise his own personal demons his famous mother was an addict as was he.
I do wish him the best on his journey and hope he writes another book and continues to grow as a writer.
A really bold and surprising novel, written in a tone and style I hadn't read before, A fascinating portrait of a destructive marriage and Hollywood from thes, Highly recommended! After discovering the plot I was expecting a family version of Valley of the Dolls, What I got was a long spiral into the lives ofof the saddest, disappointing characters I've come across in a while.
Other than Clover's sentimentality for her mother this family is the worst,

The writing is phenomenal, It's just my exposure to people like this in real life that has instituted my zero tolerance, I don't want to be around it in real life, let a lone a book, Harrumph. The story of Joanna Moore is definitely worth a screenplay along the likes of Frances based on the life of Frances Farmer.
Joanna Moore was equally victimized by her life circumstances, addiction and Hollywood, This novel is a good attempt at telling the story of her life, and the fact that it is her grandson who tells it is both beautiful and redemptive.
However, the novel itself could have done with a rewrite to improve basic structure and the narration, as well as an editor to fix quite a few errors including some wellknownstep aphorisms that for some reason seem to be peppered throughout the book, yet do not have any relevance to the story itself.
It seems as if the novel were rushed to print when it was not quite ready to be published,

Still, the life of Joanna Moore is worth retelling, Maybe this novel is the beginning for a reexamination of Moore's life on screen, which is most likely the best home for the story This is an enthralling, but very bleak read with a lively, almost conversational narrative.
This is a tale where nobody wins, but continues to make the same mistakes over and over again, falling prey to addiction.
That is, after all, a staple of old Hollywood livingand McEnroe delves into this with an unfettered grittiness, He's made a commitment to these characters' plights, speaking casually of popping, snorting, and drinking an array of deadly substances.
They stumble around in halfdrunken sometimes completely over the hill and then some hazes, saying and doing hurtful things.
There are no happy endings, This book builds you up to believe in the possibility of better, but it swiftly careens back to a depressing realitybecause that is, after all, the life of addicts.
Especially those who don't want to get better, and this book is comprised primarily of them,

It will make you squirm, It will make you frown, It will keep you turning pages, and at the end, you may find yourself wonderingwhat, exactly, is the point of this novel It's not a cautionary tale, certainly not for most of us.
It's not a story of redemption, when we can cheer for our antagonistturnedheroine, It just is, mirroring the characters themselves, It contributes nothing but Hollywood's dark, destructive truth, And maybe that's the point,

/Captivating, dare I say entertaining, but lacking the morality to make it a story of triumph, .