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No One Should Get Pregnant Alone
Elaine D. Fox
Not on the Level
Michael V. Maddaloni
Review by Alyce Wilson
The fictionalized autobiography is a popular genre, often used by writers
who wish to talk frankly about their private lives but without inconveniencing
those involved. Sometimes this technique works, and sometimes it doesn't,
as evidenced by two fictional works which both seem to be influenced
by real events: No One Should Get Pregnant Alone by Elaine D.
Fox and Not on the Level by Michael V. Maddaloni.
Elaine D. Fox's No One Should Get Pregnant Alone reads like
a personal diary, outlining the trials and tribulations of a woman in
her 30s as she and her husband try to get pregnant and then deal with
the changes in their marriage afterwards.
When I say that it reads like a diary, I mean that day-to-day events
are given equal importance, and there is little narrative structure.
Miscellaneous ideas are thrown in, haphazardly, much as in a daily journal.
After all, until you look back at it later, you don't know if that argument
with your friend will end up being significant, or if that strained
moment with your husband will lead to the end of your marriage.
The reader is left wondering why she structured the book this way if
it wasn't based on some real events. Now, it's impossible to say for
sure, because the book is presented as fiction. It's entirely possible
that this entire book comes out of Fox's imagination. Still, the book
feels like a loose-wheeling autobiography.
The title itself is bewildering, because the main character, whose
is named Emily, by the way, does not get pregnant alone. She and her
husband go through it together. Moreover, the book doesn't stay with
the pregnancy itself for very long but instead, spends a good deal of
time talking about what it's like to be a mother. The focus then turns
away from the parenting aspect into the relationship aspect, as the
child is all but forgotten.
Perhaps Fox was trying to achieve a conversational tone, perhaps something
along the lines of an Erma Bombeck story, where she would get humor
out of the situation. Most of her attempts at humor, though, are hackneyed
and sound very much like the daily complaints of somebody keeping a
blog or journal. The entire book lacks focus and direction, and if it's
not loosely based on personal experiences, it's still a failure as fiction.
By contrast, Not on the Level is a very comprehensive and focused
narrative about the rise of the main character, called Joe De Falco,
from a middle-class Italian neighborhood in Philadelphia to the elite
ranks of the Secret Service in the White House and then, following that,
a security officer for a major pharmaceutical company. If you read the
biographical paragraph about the author, this book very clearly parallels
the major events of Maddaloni's own life.
So why write it as a fictional work, not as an autobiography? Probably
to protect both himself and others from censure for morally (and sometimes
legally) questionable activities. While the main character himself exhibits
strong ethics, others close to him make several decisions that could
very well lead to legal consequences, if this book were read as a confession.
Maddaloni may have wished to protect them from prosecution by writing
this under the guise of fiction.
Of course, there's no way to know exactly how many details have been
changed. But it does make the reader ask the same question as with Fox's
book: why structure it this way? If he truly wanted to avoid having
those issues crop up, he might have structured it more clearly as a
fictional novel, with a clear narrative plot structure that avoided
comparisons to a memoir.
Even so, Not on the Level is an entertaining read, due to Maddaoni's
skill for relating anecdotes, providing insight into the life of a White
House Secret Service agent.
No One Should Get Pregnant Alone Rating: ** (Fair)
TurnKey Press, 2006: ISBN 978-1-933538-12-9
Not on the Level Rating: *** (Good)
AuthorHouse, 2006: ISBN 1-4259-0861-6
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