Books: Cruising with Kate
Exclusive interview with author Bernard F. Conners and a review of his autobiography of life as an FBI agent living with the rich and famous
Rating: Three Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“An autobiography focuses on one’s innermost thoughts and develops a better understanding of one’s self,” says Cruising with Kate author Bernard F. Conners. “It’s often a vainglorious effort, challenging and depressing. Some express disappointment and criticism, others delight and understanding.”
A week before Conners was to appear on The View to discuss an earlier book, the real-life murder mystery Tailspin, he calls the producer to say he is canceling. Conners says he was too timid to go on the air. In Kate Conners describes himself as “incurably insecure personality” with “macho fantasies” of riding a Harley Davidson. His Secret Life of Walter Mitty personality is at odds with what one expects from an intrepid FBI agent living the good life while solving major crimes.
Cruising with Kate: A Parvenu in Xanadu is the life story of Conners and his wife Kate. After being a pro football player, Conners joins the army and then becomes an FBI agent. Through his new friend George Plimpton, a respected sports journalist and editor of The Paris Review, Conners joins the Manhattan literati scene, dining at the 21 and Elaine’s. Next come the Hamptons and Hollywood. Conners says it’s Plimpton who persuaded him to write an autobiography.
Connors opens a window into his professional life working for the FBI and to his personal life with his wife Kate. Yet writing about himself in third person keeps him at a distance from the reader. Conners has written half a dozen books, two of them bestsellers, yet for his memoirs it’s as though he’s a reporter describing someone else’s life. His self-stated trait of insecurity is combined with a conflicting belief in his own significance and celebrity. The reader is prevented from being fully engaged by Conners’ life story.
It’s as though Conners is writing about himself through the misty eyes of his publicist, rather than from the incisive perspective of dashing G-man and celebrity. However, there are interesting moments, such as when the FBI guns down Dillinger after his betrayal by the woman in red. Dillinger unexpectedly shoves the two women away to protect them from a hail of G-men bullets.
Conners says he, “missed many opportunities that may have made a difference in his career because of a lack of self-confidence.” One opportunity missed in Cruising with Kate is we don’t really get to know Kate. Conners tells George Plimpton that sending a manuscript to a publish is like sending a child to an orphanage, that he loathes the thought of his book being, “shunted about with hundreds of other books.” He chose to self-publish Kate instead.
For his research in writing Kate, Conners says he did a thorough review of old newspaper clips and publishing files. That effort also resurrected memories from long ago.
Conners has written six books. His novels are Don’t Embarrass the Bureau, Dancehall, The Hampton Sisters, and The Elevator. Bureau and Dancehall were bestsellers. His non-fiction titles are Tailspin and Cruising with Kate. He’s also written three screenplays, but none have been produced. Dancehall has been adapted for film, to start this summer in Lake Placid, New York.
James Wade, Kate Cohen and Sarah Novak are Conners’ editors. “When I first read sample chapters from Cruising with Kate, I knew this was a book in which I wanted to be immersed,” says editor Sarah Novak. “Cruising was not only the story of a life well lived but also a rare insider’s view into an astonishing range of endeavors and encounters…the FBI, the entertainment industry, the New York literary scene, and the lives of famous and fascinating people.”
Conners is currently writing the novel The Elevator, about a New York literary agent who finds himself in love and immersed in New York’s Upper East Side social world. Conners doesn’t currently have an agent, although he’s had several in the past. Kate has yet to be optioned for film or television.
Conners lives in the Capital District in New York City. He was born in Albany, New York. www.bernardconners.com
Cruising with Kate: A Parvenu in Xanadu by Bernard F. Conners. Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: British American Publishing (March 7, 2015). Language: English, ISBN-13: 978-0945167570 $29.95
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