Pigeon in a Crosswalk: Tales of Anxiety and Accidental Glamour
One’s enjoyment of Gray’s debut essay collection is likely to hinge on whether one is a fan, or not, of the comedienne Kathy Griffin. Gray, a producer of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, has a number of famous and semifamous names to drop, Griffin chief among them. His insider dish is sure to appeal to the celebrity-obsessed, while young singletons are likely to identify with his struggle to make his way in New York City. Gray rose to a certain level of Internet fame via his much-followed Twitter account, a practice that shapes his pithy, breezy prose style. His writing is laden with pop-culture references and self-deprecating humor, though there are hints of depths not plumbed, particularly oft-mentioned bouts of depression. Too often Gray defaults to deflective humor, keeping readers at arm’s length with rapid-fire punch lines and outlandish, over-the-top pronouncements where a bit of reflection would be welcome. If the class-clown act begins to wear thin over the long haul of a full-length book, in short doses, Gray makes for an entertaining companion. --Patty Wetli