Entertainment
Review: Wally Lamb's latest protagonist is a messy dad — and may be too realistically flawed
Book Review
The River Is Waiting
By Wally Lamb
Marysue Rucci Books: 480 pages, $30
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
Wally Lamb’s first novel in nine years, “The River Is Waiting,” opens with a devastating scene in which a troubled but devoted stay-at-home dad spikes his coffee with two splashes of Captain Morgan and pops an Ativan before getting into a car to drive his two-year-olds, Niko and Maisie, to their grandmother’s. Corby’s plan is to use the day pretending to job hunt, though in truth he’s resigned to being unemployed after being laid off the year before from his position as a commercial artist at an ad agency. His wife Emily, a teacher, has already left for work, so he dresses the kids and brings them outside before realizing he’s forgotten their diaper bag.
He buckles Maisie into her car seat while Niko studies a swarm of ants devouring cookie crumbs on their driveway. Corby retrieves the bag and starts the car. It’s only upon seeing his neighbor gesturing wildly, then hearing her screams and the horrific crunching sound beneath his tires, that he realizes with horror what he’s neglected to do.
As he proved with his astonishing first two novels, “She’s Come Undone” (1992) and “I Know This Much Is True” (1996), as well as four well-received subsequent books, Lamb has a singular ability to unpack dysfunction and the cascading effects of trauma, which is among the reasons all six of his previous novels have been bestsellers — and the first two Oprah’s Book Club picks. Compelled to give back after his out-of-the-gate success, Lamb for 20 years conducted writing workshops at Connecticut’s York Correctional Institution for female offenders, and he has clearly drawn on that experience here: “The River Is Waiting” is set almost entirely in prison after Corby is convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years behind bars.
In the days leading up to the judge’s decision, Corby attends AA meetings, counseling sessions and frantically clings to his fraying marriage. Emily’s grief is all-consuming, the tragedy exacerbated by the revelation of her husband’s secret addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol. Through it all, she fights to shield her daughter from further harm, though Maisie, too, is increasingly distraught — and confused.
All of this should make for a compelling saga, but the fly in the ointment is that Corby is a narcissistic character less concerned with the enormity of his transgression than with how he can return everything to normal. He weighs whether to admit he was under the influence when the accident occurred, until a blood test makes that moot. He addresses his dead son, musing as to whether to plead guilty to the charges against him: “Hey, little man, can you hear me?” he intones. “Niko, what’s going to happen if I tell the truth? Will your mother leave me? Will I go to prison?” To Corby’s credit, he ultimately opts to come clean in the name of accountability.
Throughout the novel, Corby says he is consumed by guilt and remorse, and those emotions are present, but feel performative. We are told that he has frequent crying jags and bouts of insomnia, but we don’t feel his despair. In his few conversations with Emily, he’s often blithe, focused more on the inconveniences prison life poses or whether Maisie will remember him than on what his wife and daughter must deal with. In one such interaction, Emily attempts to reassure Corby that she’s keeping his memory alive while he serves out his term: “We look at pictures of you on my iPad and my phone, mention you in her bedtime prayers. And those drawings you’ve been sending her? We put them in her ‘Daddy folder.’ And her favorite — the ones of her and her dolls having their tea party? That one’s Scotch-taped to her wall.” Corby’s response: “Well, lucky you, Emily. You can use Scotch tape. It’s contraband here.”
I have no doubt that Lamb worked hard to faithfully reflect what he’s gleaned about prison life, and has great sympathy for his character’s plights. Yet much of what occurs feels cliched, as does much of the language and dialogue. Corby has a predictably difficult time with his first cellmate, Pug, until the heart of gold within the hardened criminal is revealed. Enter Manny, who becomes Corby’s protector, and over time, his confidante. When Corby is sexually abused by a pair of guards, Manny suspects what has occurred and tries to get him to open up. Eventually, an investigation is initiated, and widespread wrongdoing is revealed. The resident librarian takes Corby under her wing, and invites him to put his artist skills to work by painting a mural, which proves cathartic. Yet Corby remains haunted by the incident with the guards, and by Emily’s failure to forgive him.
“The River Is Waiting” is more than 400 pages long, yet the ending feels like an afterthought, wrapping up loose ends without satisfying the reader. To reveal Corby’s fate would be a spoiler, but what disappointed me was the absence of an authentic epiphany; I was left feeling I’d spent years with a man who never truly reckoned with his regrets or learned from his mistakes. Maybe that’s the more realistic scenario. Still, I yearned for a protagonist who hits bottom, then finds a way to evolve and transcend. Lamb has written an earnest, well-intentioned novel, albeit one with the promise of so much more.
Haber is a writer, editor and publishing strategist. She was director of Oprah’s Book Club and books editor for O, the Oprah Magazine.
Desert Warrior, 2026.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Starring Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley, Ghassan Massoud, Sharlto Copley, Sami Bouajila, Lamis Ammar, Géza Röhrig, Numan Acar, Nabil Elouahabi, Hakeem Jomah, Ramsey Faragallah, Saïd Boumazoughe, and Soheil Bostani.
SYNOPSIS:
An honorable and mysterious rogue, known as Hanzala, makes himself an enemy of the Emperor Kisra after he helps a fugitive king and princess in the desert.
With aspirations of being a historical epic harkening back to the sword and sandal blockbusters of yesteryear, Rupert Wyatt’s seventeenth-century Arabia tale is about as generic and epically dull as one would expect from a film plainly titled Desert Warrior. Yes, there appear to be real locations here, and there are some admittedly sweeping shots of various tribes storming into battle on horseback and camels, but it’s all in service of a mess that is both miscast and questionable as the work of a filmmaking team of mostly white creatives.
The story of Emperor Kisraa (Ben Kingsley, a distracting presence even with only one or two scenes) rounding up women from other tribes to be his concubines, which inevitably became the catalyst for a revolution led by Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart), uniting all the divided clans and strategizing battle plans for flanking and poisoning, is undeniably ripe for cinematic treatment. The problem is that what’s here from Rupert Wyatt (and screenwriters Erica Beeney, Gary Ross, and David Self) is less than nothing in the primary creative process; no one seems to have a connection to Arabic heritage or culture, but they have made a flat-out boring film that is often narratively incoherent.
Following the death of her father and escaping the clutches of oppression, the honorable Princess Hind joins forces with a troubled, nameless bandit played by Anthony Mackie (he totally belongs here…), who seems to be here solely to give the movie some star power boost without running the risk of white savior accusations. Whatever the case may be, it’s jarring, but not quite as disorienting as how little screen time he has despite being billed as the lead and how little characterization he has. It is, however, equally disorienting as some of the other names that show up along the way.
As for the other factions, Princess Hind talks to them one by one, giving the film an adventure feel that fails to capitalize on using beautiful scenery in striking or visually poignant ways at almost every turn; the leaders of these tribes also often have no character. There also isn’t much of an understanding of why these tribes are at odds with one another. This movie is filled with dialogue that consistently and shockingly amounts to vague nothingness. Nevertheless, each tribe doesn’t take much convincing to begin with, meaning that not only is the film repetitive, but it’s also lifeless when characters are in conversation.
That Desert Warrior does occasionally spring to life, and a bloated 2+ running time is a small miracle. This is typically accomplished through the occasional fight scene between factions that also serves to demonstrate Princess Hind coming into her own as a warrior. When the tribes are united in a massive-scale battle, and that plan is unfolding step by step, one certainly sees why someone would want to tell this story and pull it off with such spectacle. However, this film is as dry as the desert itself.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist
Entertainment
Eddie Murphy’s son and Martin Lawrence’s daughter welcome first child: ‘That baby gonna be funny!’
Eddie Murphy is celebrating not just his lifetime achievement award, but also the arrival of his third granddaughter, perhaps the funniest baby alive.
Murphy’s son Eric and Martin Lawrence’s daughter Jasmin have welcomed their first child together, baby Ari Skye.
On Saturday, Murphy was honored with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala in Hollywood and told reporters that he had recently celebrated back-to-back milestones.
“I just had my first grandson two months ago, and I had my third granddaughter two weeks ago. And I turned 65 a month ago,” he told “Entertainment Tonight” ahead of the gala. “It’s raining blessings on me.”
The ceremony celebrated his storied career across comedy and film, and featured tributes from fellow funnyman Dave Chappelle and “Shrek” co-star Mike Myers. The special will premiere May 31 on Netflix.
The “Dr. Dolittle” star also gushed about his new grandbaby to E! News, and told the outlet that being honored for his work was “a wonderful thing” but that his legacy wasn’t his work.
“My legacy to me is my children,” he said.
Asked whether he or Lawrence offered their kids any parenting advice as they prepared to welcome Ari Skye, Murphy said he’s more of a lead-by-example kind of dad.
“You don’t give advice like that,” he told the outlet. “Your kids don’t go by your advice. Your kids go by the example you set. They watch you. Stuff you be saying, they don’t even pay that no mind. They watch and see what you do.”
In March, Jasmin and Eric posted photos from their lavish baby shower on social media. The shindig included a three-tiered pink cake, pink cocktails garnished with meringue that looked like clouds and balloons galore. “The most beautiful and special celebration for our baby girl,” the couple captioned the post. “Thank you to our parents and everyone that made this day so magical! Ari Skye Murphy, you are SO loved already!!”
Excitement around Ari Skye’s arrival had been brewing in the media long before the couple even announced they were expecting. Murphy joked about a potential grandbaby when Jasmin and Eric were dating back in 2024, during an interview with Gayle King.
“They’re both beautiful,” he said. “They look amazing together. And it’s funny — everybody’s like, ‘That baby gonna be funny!’ Like our gene pool is just going to make this funny baby.”
Murphy agreed, saying: “If they ever get married and have a child, I’m expecting the child to be funny.”
-
Tennessee5 minutes agoTennessee Senate passes ‘CVS bill,’ reshapes pharmacy business as CVS threatens closures
-
Texas11 minutes agoFitness influencer drowns during swimming portion of Ironman Texas
-
Utah17 minutes agoUtah Jazz win coin flip, guaranteed to keep NBA Draft Lottery pick
-
Vermont23 minutes ago
VT Lottery Powerball, Gimme 5 results for April 20, 2026
-
Virginia29 minutes agoVirginia voters to vote on measure that could determine control of Congress
-
Washington35 minutes agoWashington Watch: CCAMPIS grant competition announced – Community College Daily
-
Wisconsin41 minutes agoTranfser Portal Predcition: Wisconsin trasnfer John Blackwell likely to land with contender
-
West Virginia47 minutes agoAIA West Virginia honors design excellence at 2026 gala in Morgantown