Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found
May 2008 · Macmillan + ORM
Ebook
300
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
To be sure, some brothers and sisters have relationships that are easy. But oh, some relationships can be fraught. Confusing, too: How can two people share the same parents and turn out to be entirely different?
Marie Brenner's brother, Carl—yin to her yang, red state to her blue state—lived in Texas and in the apple country of Washington state, cultivating his orchards, polishing his guns, and (no doubt causing their grandfather Isidor to turn in his grave) attending church, while Marie, a world-class journalist and bestselling author, led a sophisticated life among the "New York libs" her brother loathed.
From their earliest days there was a gulf between them, well documented in testy letters and telling photos: "I am a textbook younger child . . . training as bête noir to my brother," Brenner writes. "He's barely six years old and has already developed the Carl Look. It's the expression that the rabbit gets in Watership Down when it goes tharn, freezes in the light."
After many years apart, a medical crisis pushed them back into each other's lives. Marie temporarily abandoned her job at Vanity Fair magazine, her friends, and her husband to try to help her brother. Except that Carl fought her every step of the way. "I told you to stay away from the apple country," he barked when she showed up. And, "Don't tell anyone out here you're from New York City. They'll get the wrong idea."
As usual, Marie—a reporter who has exposed big Tobacco scandals and Enron—irritated her brother and ignored his orders. She trained her formidable investigative skills on finding treatments to help her brother medically. And she dug into the past of the brilliant and contentious Brenner family, seeking in that complicated story a cure, too, for what ailed her relationship with Carl. If only they could find common ground, she reasoned, all would be well.
Brothers and sisters, Apples and Oranges. Marie Brenner has written an extraordinary memoir—one that is heartbreakingly honest, funny and true. It's a book that even her brother could love.
Marie Brenner's brother, Carl—yin to her yang, red state to her blue state—lived in Texas and in the apple country of Washington state, cultivating his orchards, polishing his guns, and (no doubt causing their grandfather Isidor to turn in his grave) attending church, while Marie, a world-class journalist and bestselling author, led a sophisticated life among the "New York libs" her brother loathed.
From their earliest days there was a gulf between them, well documented in testy letters and telling photos: "I am a textbook younger child . . . training as bête noir to my brother," Brenner writes. "He's barely six years old and has already developed the Carl Look. It's the expression that the rabbit gets in Watership Down when it goes tharn, freezes in the light."
After many years apart, a medical crisis pushed them back into each other's lives. Marie temporarily abandoned her job at Vanity Fair magazine, her friends, and her husband to try to help her brother. Except that Carl fought her every step of the way. "I told you to stay away from the apple country," he barked when she showed up. And, "Don't tell anyone out here you're from New York City. They'll get the wrong idea."
As usual, Marie—a reporter who has exposed big Tobacco scandals and Enron—irritated her brother and ignored his orders. She trained her formidable investigative skills on finding treatments to help her brother medically. And she dug into the past of the brilliant and contentious Brenner family, seeking in that complicated story a cure, too, for what ailed her relationship with Carl. If only they could find common ground, she reasoned, all would be well.
Brothers and sisters, Apples and Oranges. Marie Brenner has written an extraordinary memoir—one that is heartbreakingly honest, funny and true. It's a book that even her brother could love.
To be sure, some brothers and sisters have relationships that are easy. But oh, some relationships can be fraught. Confusing, too: How can two people share the same parents and turn out to be entirely different?
Marie Brenner's brother, Carl—yin to her yang, red state to her blue state—lived in ...
Discover more
About the author
MARIE BRENNER is Writer at Large for Vanity Fair. Her exposé of the tobacco industry, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider. She is also the author of the bestselling House of Dreams: The Bingham Family of Louisville.
MARIE BRENNER is Writer at Large for Vanity Fair. Her exposé of the tobacco industry, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider. She is also the author of the bestselling House of Dreams: The Bingham Family of Louisville.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
