Jennifer Weiner Goes Behind the Music in a Tale of Estranged Sisters
Cherry is a 2024 teen with rock-star dreams who believes her destiny will be fulfilled if she can appear on a reality-TV singing competition called 'The Next Stage.' She knows her mother, Zoe, has a past in music — one she refuses to discuss — in a beloved, short-lived 2000s band called the Griffin Sisters, and that the other sister, Cassie, has been M.I.A. for years.
In chunks dedicated mainly to that trio that hop around from the 1980s to nearly today, the sisters' stories are revealed. Zoe was the pretty one; Cassie, the talented one, and Weiner hammers the note underscoring her physical unattractiveness until it's tuneless. Zoe lures her prodigy of a younger sibling out of the house to perform at a battle of the bands, and the nephew of a record label executive happens to catch their set.
The sisters are swiftly signed, given a new name (Grossberg was a little too Jewish) and paired with a songwriter named Russell D'Angelo who joins their band, uniting them in song while dividing them in lust for his attention.
As the Griffin Sisters hit larger stages and their profile swells, Zoe claims Russell and their relationship generates tabloid headlines, but she's increasingly relegated to a backing role in the group. Cassie, who is continually described as a 'fat girl' with untamed hair, is outfitted in a series of bulky pantsuits with 'absurd shoulder pads,' but it's her poetic lyrics that entrance their zealous fans.
So what does this mind-blowing music sound like? This is where Weiner, a steadily best-selling writer who can easily coax the reader along despite the sneaking suspicion we know where this 'Behind the Music' is headed, falls off.
We're told the band's only album, 'Night Ride,' sold 13 million copies in the year following its 2003 release, and its sound is described in magazine and newspaper reviews dotted throughout. The group's aesthetic 'walks the line between pop and rock,' The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (Hmm.) Cassie's voice is a revelation, melding Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Chrissie Hynde and Liz Phair (but she 'has a sound all her own'). Her lyrics are so raw, they capture fans' fears and desires in couplets worthy of tattoos. (One can only hope that even in this fictional world, nobody inked 'You're a star / You're a scar / And you tore me apart' onto their flesh.)
Sarah Seltzer's 2024 'The Singer Sisters' also spins a novel out of the secrets and songwriting of a family band, including a daughter trying to make a name for herself while leaning on its legacy. The sisters there were '70s folkies; the daughter a '90s alt-rocker; and the lyrics a whole lot stronger. Songwriting is not easy!
Cass Elliot, a seeming analogue for Cassie, does come up in Weiner's book, but the Mamas & the Papas singer was outgoing and unrestrained. Cassie (and everyone else) is punished after she finally pursues pleasure beyond her art. And as Zoe's selfishness meets increasing self-doubt, she becomes the ugly one.
When the band blows up amid tragedy, Zoe shoves her once-starry persona aside and embraces suburban life with a well-meaning husband and his creepy son, who leers at Cherry. Cassie splits for rural Alaska.
Though she goes to extreme lengths to preserve her anonymity, the gifted sister is guilted into singing to an employee at a grocery store celebrating a lonely birthday, and a video briefly ends up on Facebook. Cherry seizes on the digital breadcrumb and hunts down the aunt she's never met to bolster her chances on 'The Next Stage,' and everyone is forced to confront their pasts, and their present.
Weiner has a clear affection for music, and a strong enough sense of the currents undergirding the business — at least, in the early 2000s. (Why Cherry would be hoping for TV fame rather than a viral TikTok moment is unclear.) But 'The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits' isn't grimy like a rock 'n' roll novel, or a deep meditation on the ways creative personalities and egos can clash, like the Broadway hit 'Stereophonic.' Still, familiar tunes that go down easy often turn into big hits.
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Where to eat in Rome and Sicily
ROME Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Ditirambo Recommended by a foodie family member (who might be annoyed I'm sharing her favorite special spot), Ditirambo is a classic Roman trattoria. Tucked in a warren of streets near the Campo de'Fiori, the intimate space is the opposite of swanky, with a dark beamed ceiling, pale yellow walls, art by local artists, simple cloths on wood tables, and super-friendly staff. When the one table of loud Americans left, we were the only ones not speaking Italian, creating an atmosphere of hanging out with the locals. But don't let the simplicity of the place fool you. The food is the star here, with fresh seasonal ingredients driving the menu's weekly specials and fixed choices. 'I piatti di mezzo' (middle dishes), a cross between an appetizer and a first course, include vegetarian choices such as eggplant meatballs, and zucchini millefeuille with smoked buffalo mozzarella. All breads and pastas are homemade, including filled pastas — ravioli, tortelloni, and such — and the Roman classic cacio e pepe, basically Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper that is made slightly differently by every chef in town. Other seasonal specialties include rigatoni alla carbonara made with pork cheeks, farro pappardelle with rabbit ragù, sea bream with capers, tomatoes, and olives, and suckling roasted pig. Our choice, fettuccini with fresh and fried artichokes and bacon, was sublime. We paired it with a local white Lazio wine, chosen from an extensive list. Open for lunch and dinner. Advertisement della Cancelleria, 74, 00186 Roma +39-06-687-1626, At Sora Margherita in Rome's Jewish Quarter, the walls are covered with handwritten thank-you notes from happy patrons. Necee Regis Sora Margherita We had hoped to try a certain restaurant in the Jewish Quarter, but alas, it was closed for lunch that day. While wandering the neighborhood, an unexpected downpour led us running to the door of Sora Margherita, a tiny restaurant where we had one of the best meals of our trip. The place was packed with diners, but the friendly hostess managed to squeeze two soggy patrons into the one-room space and produced a handwritten menu of pastas, salads, and traditional Roman dishes: grilled marinated lamb, rustic chicken stew, steak with grilled vegetables, and fried salt cod. We ordered carciofi alla giudia, a deep-fried artichoke dish originating in Rome's Jewish community; polpete al sugo, three massive meatballs in a rich red sauce; and fettuccine cacio e pepe. When the Italian diners at our elbows were served what we had just ordered, we knew we had selected wisely. The smashed artichoke was like a golden sunflower, with leaves as crispy as potato chips that then melted in the mouth. Astonishing. The pasta was just peppery and cheesy enough, though our new friends suggested that next time we try it with added ricotta. The meatballs, flavorful and filling, were the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine. As the lunch crowd departed, we could view the walls covered with handwritten thank-you notes from happy patrons. We were too full to order dessert, but our neighbors insisted we try a bite of their ricotta and sour cherry tart, a classic Jewish Quarter sweet. Open for lunch and dinner, with outside dining when weather permits. Advertisement Piazza delle Cinque Scole, 30, 00186, Roma +39-06-687-4216, The cool interior of Glass, a restaurant serving typical Sicilian dishes and pizza in the hilltop town of Piazza Armerina. Necee Regis SICILY Glass Clinging to a hilltop in central Sicily, the small town of Piazza Armerina is a terrific place for lunch when visiting the nearby Villa Romana del Casale, a not-to-be-missed fourth-century UNESCO World Heritage site known for its more than 37,000 square feet of well-preserved Roman mosaics. Before visiting the villa, we were hiking the maze of Piazza Armerina's medieval streets on an unsuccessful hunt for pizza when someone directed us to Glass. Stepping from the bright, hot sunshine into the cool stone building, we sat beneath the arched ceiling — hungry, tired — and learned that pizza is only served at dinner. When traveling, it's easier to pivot than to force a plan that isn't working. So, we stayed, and were thrilled that we did. It was tough to choose among the many offerings of typical Sicilian foods: Antipasti with Mortadella, speck, caponata, fresh ricotta, eggplant rolls and more; beef tartar with red wine reduction; fusilli with eggplant and almonds; hand-rolled pasta twists with cream of pistachios from Bronte (a town near Mount Etna famous for its small sweet pistachios only harvested every two years); fusilli with asparagus and speck; grilled Angus beef with arugula and parmesan; rolled veal stuffed with ham and pistachios; and hand-rolled macaroni with sausage and fennel. We chose the latter two dishes, and left sated and satisfied. Maybe someday we'll return for pizza. Open for lunch and dinner. Advertisement Largo Capodarso, 5, 94015 Piazza Armerina +39-093-557-7680 Red shrimp crudo with Sicilian avocado on sauteed spinach with a grapefruit reduction, served at Portocostanza, a stylish restaurant overlooking the port in Palermo. Necee Regis Portocostanza I'd be lax if I didn't mention the prevalence of locally-caught seafood in Sicily. Sardines, anchovies, shrimp, squid, shellfish, and finfish, including swordfish, are served in pasta, grilled, fried, and raw. For a special celebratory meal, a friend in Palermo directed us to Portocostanza, a stylish restaurant overlooking the port. The creative menu focuses on Sicilian flavors, with a farm-to-table approach that includes organic vegetables and herbs acquired from local farmers and its own 5-acre garden. Watching boats lazily glide past our tableside floor-to-ceiling glass windows, we bypassed the tasting menu and shared several dishes for our lunchtime meal: red shrimp crudo with Sicilian avocado on sauteed spinach with a grapefruit reduction; spaghetti with mixed seafood in light tomato cream with capers and mint-flavored breadcrumbs; and snapper fillet with confit cherry tomato cream and Salina caper powder. All were terrific, along with house-made breads, and we'd happily return to taste the many other tempting options, such as risotto with fish broth and shrimp; crispy octopus on smoked eggplant; and mixed salad with tuna tartar, mango cream, and almond flakes. They also have a pizza menu and serve happy hour snacks on an outside upper deck. Reservations are strongly suggested for both lunch and dinner. Advertisement Marina Yachting, Via Filippo Patti, 30, 90133 Palermo +39-091-619-9199, At Bollicine in Palermo. a fire-singed, pillowy crust pizza is topped with salty prosciutto, sweet yellow cherry tomatoes, creamy Buffalo mozzarella, and earthy, nutty artichokes. Necee Regis Bollicine Palermo is known for its street food, especially arancina, cheese or meat-filled deep-fried rice balls, and for its gelaterias serving a wide selection of fruity, nutty and chocolate/coffee flavors. We sampled many of these wondrous things, but nothing — really nothing — could outshine the pizza at Bollicine. Located around the corner from the historic Teatro Santa Cecilia, where we attended a top-notch jazz performance, the restaurant's outdoor seating was packed and festive on a Saturday night, with service friendly and quick. The menu offered a variety of antipasti, pastas, burgers, and salads, but the draw for us was the 20-plus pizzas. It was difficult to choose among offerings that included sausage, champignon mushrooms, anchovies, Mortadella, smoked scamorza, Gorgonzola, speck, red pumpkin cream, spicy salami, pistachio pesto, ricotta, sundried tomatoes, eggplant, rapini, and more. Our friends are tired of hearing us swoon over our choice — the Salento — with its fire-singed, pillowy crust topped with salty prosciutto, sweet yellow cherry tomatoes, creamy Buffalo mozzarella, and earthy, nutty artichokes. When I return to Palermo, this will be my first meal. Piazza Rivoluzione, 13, 90133 Palermo +39-327-002-6314, Necee Regis can be reached at . Necee Regis can be reached at
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Alyson Stoner on escaping the 'toddler to train wreck' pipeline and building plans to dismantle the child star industrial complex
Come for the juicy child star gossip, stay to dismantle the system. Alyson Stoner's life radically and irreversibly changed in the aisle of a grocery store in 2002. A week after the MTV premiere of Missy Elliott's 'Work It' music video, which featured a 9-year-old Stoner dancing for a few brief seconds in pigtails and a pink tracksuit, a stranger approached the child with a request. 'Are you the little white girl in the Missy video?' the man asked, before adding, 'Can you do the dance?' The young dancer obliged, soon surrounded by customers watching the spectacle. This was the beginning of what Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, calls 'permanent performance mode.' Stoner's career as a child star took off from there, and they became a mainstay on the Disney Channel for many years, appearing in Camp Rock and Mike's Super Short Show but never fully breaking out with their own series or movie like fellow Mouse House stars Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato. It's an unusual trajectory, and Stoner's new book, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, is not the typical kid performer memoir. It's OK if you think so at first, though. It's all part of the plan. 'Copy-and-paste downward spirals' Stoner says they noticed a series of recent memoirs and documentaries highlighting a 'repeated pattern of former child performers … experiencing copy-and-paste downward spirals,' but no one had yet unpacked the ecosystem that creates that kind of pattern, nor tried to intervene and prevent it from continuing to harm children. 'I thought, 'I want to not only share my lived experiences — yes, all of the juicy details from the sets growing up — but also connect new dots for people across media, culture, child development and the industry,' Stoner, now 32, tells Yahoo over Zoom. 'Folks might show up to read about the childhood chaos of it all, but I hope they stay for the cultural critique.' Stoner is still an entertainer, and they recognize that their work onscreen is probably what you know them from. But they're also a mental health practitioner. For every reveal of childhood trauma or candid tale about a familiar name in their book, there's a revelation about something broken in the entertainment industry and a proposal to fix it. Knowing that fame and trauma would be the draw for a lot of readers, Stoner worked with a writing supervisor to strategize about what exactly to include. It's written chronologically and guided by Stoner's inner monologue over time, pulling directly from journal entries. With that in mind, the vulnerability on display is impressive. Stoner details heart-wrenching stories from their life: public and private scrutiny that contributed to an eating disorder that they sought treatment for in rehab, a tumultuous home life with an abusive stepfather and alcoholic mother, run-ins with stalkers and extortionists, rape and suicidal ideation. There are even stories about the inner workings of Hollywood and its stars that became tabloid fodder the same day the book was released. But that's just Stoner's real life. They're working with what they've got. 'There are ways you can speak about your direct, personal experience and still honor the humanity of everyone involved while calling for some accountability, while accepting that there are consequences beyond my control, no matter what I do or don't say,' Stoner says. 'So I wanted to make sure that even though the truth is not always polite, I could still deliver it with integrity … if I'm going to write a memoir, now is the time to get it [all] off my chest.' 'We're speaking about children as commodified products' Though the Disney Channel stars of today have a new playbook, Stoner says their learnings from childhood fame are more relevant than ever. 'Anyone with a Wi-Fi connection and social media profile can deal with challenges related to privacy, to safety, to parasocial relationships, mental health challenges due to our tech use,' they say. In June, I saw Stoner speak on a panel at VidCon, an annual convention for content creators and their fans. Their bravery stuck with me. Stoner interjected as experts were discussing how the kid influencer industry could protect the young and famous, speaking clinically and professionally about the laws and regulations in place to protect them. 'I do want to ground the conversation in the reality that we're speaking about children as commodified products at the moment. I was one of them,' they said onstage. 'There are well-meaning people in all areas of the [entertainment] industry, [but] the entire system of it is warped here … we're talking about a child who cannot legally consent, who doesn't have legal rights to control what their parent shares of them.' Stoner brought humanity to a hot-button issue often discussed by the people revolving around and profiting from famous children. They had made their point — kids aren't products, nor do they know what might impact them later on in life. I asked them about it a month later on our call. 'I think any string of experiences that is too overwhelming for any young person will take its toll in one shape or form. You may not always be able to recognize it right away, because young people oftentimes want to please the adults around them.' Stoner explains. 'They also don't have any alternative map of reality to compare their experience against. So whatever we normalize for them is what becomes the patterns that dictate their trajectory.' I thought of the early chapters of Stoner's book, in which they describe the constant pain and rejection of the audition process as a child actor. On a plane to Hollywood for a series of TV pilot auditions at 7 years old, Stoner recalls thinking, 'I just want to show them all I'm special … I better make it count.' In order to feel good, they had to successfully book projects over and over again. While meeting with their agent, they were encouraged to alter their appearance and learn more special skills to become more marketable. 'It didn't register that I was being groomed to be sold. I was no longer a child; I was a commodity … physical beauty — coupled with high versatility— increased my price tag,' Stoner writes in their memoir. In 2025, kids don't need an agent or auditions to experience this. Anyone who's posting online can. Drawing on her mental health expertise, Stoner tells Yahoo that young people are losing the opportunity to have a 'play-based childhood,' where they're allowed to fail and experiment in private, giving them time and space to process what they're going through and better 'find equilibrium after intense experiences.' 'It's when it becomes a chronic and incessant experience with no respite that we start to see young people developing their own coping strategies,' Stoner says. That can lead to eating disorders and harmful obsessions. For child social media stars, it might even be worse. 'They're not portraying a character … this is actually the literal commodification of their humanity. And that's worth spending some time reflecting on,' they say. The plan to stop the spiral The more I talked to Stoner and read about their traumatic experiences as a child star, the more I was surprised that they were still in show business. I would have run for the hills to never think about this again. I was a big fan of Stoner when we were both kids, and I never considered why their disappearance from Disney might have been strategic until they went viral in a 2021 YouTube post about the 'toddler to train wreck industrial complex' that they 'narrowly survived.' The reason Stoner isn't running away from the entertainment industry entirely is fairly simple, but perplexing — and it speaks volumes about their strength. Their 'unique and unexpected upbringing' gave them an understanding of both children and Hollywood, they tell me. 'I'm hoping that I can hold the middle in a way that allows people on all sides to be able to hear each other … so we can think about these things holistically and always … center the fact that children are not just mini adults,' Stoner says. 'Their brains and bodies are at literal different developmental stages and phases.' The child star industrial complex desperately needs to be rebooted. Discussion and legislation help, but Stoner has a practical and actionable plan. They created the Artist Wellbeing Essentials, a toolkit for performers and parents to learn about the pitfalls and potential risks. It's made up of over 50 videos about specific experiences that performers go through, from learning to get into and out of character to managing audition rejection, and how they impact other areas of their lives, like finances and education. 'I'm hoping [that material] is something that becomes standardized as a preventative resource, just like anyone would get if they're onboarding to a new job,' they say. Maybe Stoner's desire to stay in and overhaul an industry they 'narrowly survived' is less of an act of defiance than a genuine calling. Destiny is rarely this apparent outside of the Disney movies Stoner once acted in, but their real-life story is far more compelling. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Washington Post
LL Cool J takes the mic for the 2025 MTV VMAs, where Lady Gaga rules nominations
LOS ANGELES — LL Cool J has snagged wins, co-hosted and performed atop the MTV Video Music Awards stage. Now, the Grammy-winning rapper-actor-author is going solo to host the 2025 awards ceremony. He's retaking the stage, this time without Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow, with whom he co-hosted in 2022 , the VMAs announced Thursday.
