Tippingpoint

our pick & pans My Absolute Darling

Gabriel Tallent

This 2017 title’s been on my radar, but I just recently got around to it. A literary thriller that has very few of

the conventional traits booktip

associated with “thrillerdom,” “My Absolute Darling” is what you reach for when you want to read unbearably lovely prose about the darkest father/daughter relationship imaginable. Set outside Mendocino on the northern California coast, the story features 14-year-old heroine Turtle in a horrific situation where she’s violently and sexually abused by her dad Martin. A survivalist/philosopher/kook, Martin’s ability to control Turtle is waning as she matures both intellectually and physically and realizes her life isn’t remotely normal. When she befriends two free-spirited young men from a local high school and learns more about the outside world, it’s as though a fuse has been lit on a timebomb. I’m hesitant to recommend this to those who might be squeamish — check it out and make your own decision — but Tallent

is remarkably gifted and this is a massively great sledgehammer to the kidneys of a novel.

— Rick Koster

Brian Regan: On the Rocks

I thought that this standup special must have been filmed before the pandemic, because the audience was

packed with people. streamtip

But no! Upon further inspection, everyone is masked, albeit outdoors. Once you get past that weirdness, settle in for prime Regan comedy. Regan looks like he could be Will Ferrell’s brother and has some of Jim Carrey’s facial dexterity and buzzing energy. He finds chortle-inducing takes on minor things in life: bad dinner-party conversations, hair dye, people trying to convince him he should like raisins if he likes grapes. My favorite sequence was probably his description of his OCD way of dealing with organizing his books — genius.

— Kristina Dorsey

Pine River Cold Pack Cheese

I’m not sure the marketing folks at Pine River were having a fantastic week when they decided to call this product “cold pack foodtip cheese.” It sounds like something an athletic trainer would use to stuff an open wound so the defensive tackle could get immediately back on the field. What “Cold Pack Cheese” is, or so it seems to me, is a sort of pub-style cheese spread. There are several varieties, and we’re partial to “Spicy Beer,” “Swiss and Almond,” and “Garden Vegetable.” Great on crackers with olives, diced banana peppers, coins of pepperoni, or as it — and I’ve learned to use a garden trowel just to scoop hunks in my mouth. Available at the little adjunct cheese shop in Grand Wine & Spirits in Waterford. About $4 for a 7-ounce tub of greatness.