BOOKS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT BESTSELLERS AUTHORS BOOK PUBLISHING Michael Giltz Freelance writer GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ Follow Africa , Alexandra Fuller , Books , Memoir , Books News 3 11 0 0React Inspiring Funny Typical Important Outrageous Amazing Innovative BeautifulBook Review: Cheers for Alexandra Fuller's Cocktail Hour...</p><p> COCKTAIL HOUR UNDER THE TREE OF FORGETFULNESS *** 1/2 out of **** BY ALEXANDRA FULLER You may have lost track of author AlexandraFuller .</p><p> Her debut memoir -- Don't Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight -- was a rollicking, bestseller about Fuller's childhood in war-torn Africa with parentsso much larger-than-life that they made thephrase "larger-than-life" seem rather puny.</p><p> It wascompulsively readable and funny and sharp.</p><p> Thebook was very much an expected hit in my mind,despite the long odds of gaining a wide audience.</p><p> FOLLOW US September 15, 2011 PHOTOS: Newspapers CommemoratePHOTOS: Cooper Strips Down, Reveals A Whole...</p><p> EXCLUSIVE: New Revelations From PostSecretAnderson Cooper's Big Day Arrives EDITION: U.S.</p><p> Things Fall Apart For 50 Cent Over Classic Book Title More In Books: Strike A Pose...</p><p> Grandchildren 'Horrified'...</p><p> JK Rowling And Privacy ...</p><p> Can Roald Dahl's Writing Hut BeSaved? Like 43 Posted: 8/25/11 03:08 PM ET SHARE THIS STORY Submit this story Get Books Alerts Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES CONNECT FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE Like 6KeReaders NYR BlackBerry 101 More Log inA sequel involving mercenaries slipped by quietly and Fuller also delivered a well-reviewed look at a Wyoming man who worked on oil rigs and fellprey to the indifferent safety records of the companies that run them.</p><p> But now Fuller has returned to the source in Cocktail Hour Under The Tree Of Forgetfulness.</p><p> The source is not just her childhood but her parents and specifically her mother: Nicola Fuller of Central Africa.</p><p> Mum always wanted to be the heroine of a story but Fuller's memoir was a bit too spot-on and became ever after that Awful Book.</p><p> Well, now Nicola has an Awful Book of her own, in essence a biography that captures her eccentric, quixotic and downright dangerous tale with full room for humor, love and more than a few highballs.</p><p> It begins with Nicola cajoling her Dashing Little Sri Lankan into some pilot lessons so she can fly and land a plane (planes being a constant in the sort of rollicking life Nicola imagines for herself a la Out OfAfrica, West With The Night and so on).</p><p> Soon we flashblack to Nicola's childhood in Scotland, where the family war cry was -- when translated from Gaelic to English -- "Gainsay who dare." This capturesFuller's puckish but loving tone perfectly: It took me a while to recover from the discovery that my Mum's family had a war cry, but then Ithought about Mum and I realized that if you didn't have a war cry to go with that attitude, you'd haveto invent one.</p><p> During the bush war in Rhodesia Mum forwent her family's Gaelic war cry and took up apersonal war cry.</p><p> It was borrowed from [pop star[ Cliff Richard] and the Shadows and was about being a bandit from Brazil, being the quickest on the trigger and shooting to kill, which was about the extent of Mum's interest in the lyrics.</p><p> In fact, she quite often didn't make it past the opening word - a loudlyshouted "Ole!," which kept it simple for everyone who did not speak Gaelic but confused those of uswho spoke absolutely no Spanish. [My sister] Vanessa and I translated the word as "Hooray!" But themeaning was clear either way.</p><p> My mother was here, she was armed, and you bet your insurrectingCommie ass she was dangerous." The tale rockets back and forth charmingly, with Nicola's childhood bumping up against Alexandra'scurrent visits to holy family sites, with Mum's dreaded childhood fancy dress parties not preventing herfrom forcing similar ghastly arrangements on her own children, with the added frisson that you might bedressed up in some silly costume and bouncing down the road to a party but in Rhodesia you better bepacking a gun in case rebels decided to attack.</p><p> Fuller shows her parents at old age, finally perhaps discovering a resting place in Zambia where they and the land and the people are at an uneasy peace of sorts.</p><p> By that time we better understand a woman whoattended boarding school and whose best friend as a child might have been a chimp, a woman who blithely champions people like Che Guevara (you know who she admires because she names her pets after them) but can't be bothered with "the people" themselves in all their pushy reality.</p><p> Tragedy, war,struggle, lost children, hunting parties, lost wars, hasty retreats, lost countries, bouts of depression ormadness or going "wobbly" if you prefer, and many many drinks -- war-ravaged Africa is, if not romantic,unquestionably vivid in these pages. "Here's to us," goes one of Nicola's toasts. "There's none like us and if there were, they're all dead." Fuller brings her mother's world and society fully to life here, as wonderfully as she did in Don't Let's Go To TheDogs Tonight.</p><p> If you liked that book, don't hesitate.</p><p> If you're a fan of West With The Night or Out Of Africa , here's a far more complicated and modern look at the continent in all its bloody, confusing and addictive glory.</p><p> Now no mucking about: Fuller's next memoir better be an Awful Book about her dad.</p><p> MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 'Web Cam 101 For Seniors' Turns Oregon Oldsters Into YouTube Celebrities Scarlett Johansson Nude Photos Prompt Investigation SHOCK VIDEO: Debate Audience Says Uninsured Patient Should Be Left To Die Celestrellas: Angola named Miss Universe 2011 - show recap (PHOTOS & VIDEOS) AOL TV: Jon Cryer, Ashton Kutcher & Angus T.</p><p> Jones Talk 'Two and a Half Men' Season 9 (VIDEO) Ten Signs Your Marriage is Headed for Divorce Mark Blankenship True Blood Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 12 Engadget: Windows 8 for tablets hands-on preview (video) AOL Jobs: Spelling Errors Send Red Flags To Employers DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5 Kumi Naidoo Don’t Make a Wave: Greenpeace at 40 Candy Spelling iPads and Social Media in the Like 118K Like 95 Like 64K Like 2K Like 453 Like 2K Like 111 Like 3K Like 1K EXCLUSIVE: New PostSecret Post Cards Bad Words: 6 Words You Should Never...</p><p> Rare J.D.</p><p> Salinger Note On Sale For...</p><p> Jacqueline Kennedy Book: Former First Lady's Grandchildren...Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.</p><p> Note : Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of the book in advance of publication.</p><p> He receives far more books than he can cover, so they are provided without any guarantee of coverage.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Buy a link here Sponsored Links 57 Year Old Mom Looks 27 Huffington Post Readers: Mom Reveals $5 Wrinkle Trick Angering Doctors Daily-Lifestyles.com Truth About Scientology You've Heard The Controversy, Now Get The Facts.</p><p> Watch Online Videos Scientology.org Penny Stock Jumping 3000% Join our 100% Free Newsletter & get Penny Stock Picks that jump high! www.AwesomePennyStocks.com Online Masters Degrees AA, BA, BS, MA, MS, PhD Programs www.DegreePath.com Read more from Huffington Post bloggers: Zoe Triska: 'The Night Circus' Review: The Next 'Harry Potter'? So should you read Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, "The Night Circus?" The short answer is, "Yes." The book is both engaging and magical, entrancing the readerevery step of the way.</p><p> Even the first three sentences of the novel, as seen above, transport the reader to another place.</p><p> More in Books...</p><p> Classroom? MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3 HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2 HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Video Weird Animals Astronomy Buy a link here Sponsored Links Official Rosetta Stone® The Fastest & Easiest Way to Learn aLanguage.</p><p> Try Our FREE Demo Now! www.RosettaStone.com Groupon™ Official Site 1 ridiculously huge coupon a day.</p><p> Like doingyour city at 90% off! www.Groupon.com Are you pregnant? It's time to get educated about cord bloodbanking- get free info...</p><p> Cordblood.com 6 Words You Should Never Write Things Fall Apart For 50 Cent Over Book Title How to Talk to Little Girls Like EXCLUSIVE: New Revelations From PostSecret Like 275 sarah_ross RetweetDear Twitter Friends pls check this out: Have We Overlooked the Most Effective Way to Prevent Terrorism & War? http://t.co/YyoQ1EIR soundcloud Retweet'Listening for the Sounds ofinnovation.", a great guest post by our own @Bougie over on @HuffPostTech http://t.co/aIT65Ox Food Fashion Scott Brown Kanye West Barack Obama Maria Shriver MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » BOOKS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT BESTSELLERS AUTHORS BOOK PUBLISHING Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Contact Us Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.</p><p> All rights reserved.</p><p> Part of AOL Lifestyle FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
