If you enjoyed MINOR CHARACTERS, Joyce Johnson's award-winning memoir of her two year relationship with Jack Kerouac, then you might like MISSING MEN too. It offers an overview of the rest of her life, including her offbeat childhood trying to make it as a child actress, with her mother's avid support. (Her father, a meek little man, not so much.) She also gives a brief look at her Jewish immigrant grandparents. But mostly the book is about her life after Kerouac, writing and working in the publishing business as an editor and supporting two husbands, both artists. The first died in a motorcycle crash. The second gave her a child, then they drifted apart and divorced, but they remained cautious friends until his death years later. I found the book mildly entertaining, and also informative about the artsy set in Greenwich Village and SoHo in the 60s and 70s. Johnson is a very capable writer. An enjoyable read.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

i don't understand the less than enthusiastic ratings of other readers. i loved this and her other book minor characters. the missing men are her father who chose not or was unable to join the strong relationship joyce had with her mother as a child, jack johnson, joyce's first husband who seems lovable but manic and died before their love could wane--she has kept his name, and peter pinchbeck(great name!), her second husband and father of their only child, an artist who was never recognized and was very difficult. she kept him in their son's life after they divorced and they always remained friends. ( )