Review: “The Lion” by Chris Bohjalian


Even though we know this story will end badly, we are connected to Barstow and his followers. I blame Bohjalian. Through bloody, often jarring twists and turns, she weaves life stories so deftly that it’s impossible not to care how they end (or continue, as the case may be). I’m an animal-loving vegan who hates hunting, hot weather, and spoiled elitist. Yet I was there, panting after these people like chasing hyenas — .

No no. Let’s not ruin this for you.

Katie Barstow was born to Broadway music producers Roman and Glenda Stepanov and made her debut at the age of 12. Critics were stunned, but she wanted to escape from her monstrous parents, she said. In his adulthood, he changed his last name to Barstow and left the family business to become a screen star in Hollywood, which put him at least three time zones away from them.

Her advertiser, Reggie Stout, sums up her appeal: “Katie Barstow was who she was not just because she could act and the camera loved her (although both were true), but because she had an indefinable but almost bodily feature of dreams: a quality that transcends her beauty and her brain. It was an aura: it was damaged. You could feel it, you could feel it, you could see it.”

For Benjamin, a local porter and guest liaison officer, the movie star contrasts nicely with most white foreigners on safari. The first night, when the waterproof canvas tub leaked and wet the floor of his tent, Barstow shrugged and apologized; He knows Benjamin and his colleagues will have to boil more water.

“Over the years, he has seen other customers get angry,” writes Bohjalian. “They had been promised so much, spent so much money, and come from so many privileges that they managed to forget where they were: a world where a group of educated men created civilization in one small spot for one night and then destroyed it all. They left only tire tracks, flat grass, a fire pit (or two) and the bones of the game they cooked. Benjamin had women scold him for breaking his nails, and men scolded him for not having the right bourbon in the food tent. His behavior was always embarrassing and sometimes dangerous.”



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