Bluestone Press, January 21, 2021
A Review by Anne Pyburn Craig
Unquenchable Ms. Mourka: ‘Flipping the Bird’ A Celebration of Life.
Rosendale resident Margarita “Mourka” Meyendorff chronicled her extraordinary background for us in “DP: Displaced Person”: born to White Russian nobility in a German displaced persons camp under Allied occupation, she was destined to try to make sense of all that in the United States. It is, as readers have noted in Amazon reviews, a poignant and authentic tale of self-discovery.
And one thing it firmly established is that Meyendorff, who kept her passion and intelligence blazing despite her parents’ struggles to find purpose in a new land where they were no longer a baron and a baroness, is enormously fun to hang out with: brash, witty and determined to grab life with both hands. The 30 short stories in “Flipping the Bird” hone in on specific adventures in which she found herself at odds with authority, and the vicarious joy is immense.
We accompany the daughter of the baron and baroness as she’s dancing wrapped in tinfoil in a ‘60’s go-go club, racing muscle cars with the boys, and calling out a drunken, entitled bank president for his crude assaults on tellers with a shriek, then marching herself to bank headquarters for her final paycheck and a five-star reference, or else; hijacking a gorgeous Mediterranean stranger straight off the crosswalk for an exultant erotic adventure.
War correspondent Martha Gelhorn famously remarked, “Nothing ever happens to the brave,” (although it could equally be said that everything does), and Meyendorff’s reminiscences bear this out; things that might not have gone well for a more timid soul turn out OK thanks to her determination and follow-through. Not everyone, for example, finds the path from the go-go bar stage to children’s theater and teaching and almost into a translator’s job with the FBI.
Meyendorff is a force of nature, never more than when––having contracted a bad case of contact anxiety from husband No. 1 that manifests itself as agoraphobia––she forces herself out of their apartment to find her own therapy in a simple job. Her Ulster County adventures are often hilarioius: a supporting role in a Palenville party that featured glow-painted genitalia (not hers) and generated the Daily Freeman headline “Nudity and Commies in Palenville,” staging a topless standoff at the Rosendale pool, trapped in a Town of Ulster carwash, she is as indomitable as she is staring down the Serbian military and the Mexican scorpions.
Reading “Flipping the Bird” is like a good long sit-down with a fascinating friend. Meyendorff has a light touch, yet her fearlessness extends into deeper waters like mother/daughter alienation and connection and social justice. Some of the material has been performed at TMI in the past, and one hopes the community will be able to see more live performance in the near future––but meanwhile we have “Flipping the Bird,” in which a onetime displaced person proves that a rebel’s place is wherever she chooses to go.
Alice Gilgoff
When I think of you flipping the bird, I think of you as brave, as evidenced by the many examples in the book of when you actually or symbolically flipped it. Yet you describe yourself as shy, not outgoing, except under the guise of performing. For myself, in social situations, I think I am more an observer than a participant. Do you think that is a writer’s talent (or excuse)? I can give a talk in front of hundreds of people at a conference but as an attendee at a discussion group I find I am more comfortable presenting an idea for someone else’s complaint than telling about my own problems. I think it is a matter of trust. Therefore I am in admiration of your honesty in the telling of significant events in your life.
I enjoyed your description of what it’s like to be a public school teacher. My friend was one for many years also and once invited me to develop with her a board game called BOARD of education. Looking like a monopoly board, every square your piece landed on would have a bizarre outcome, as in “Bonjour La Classe.”
I also admire your ability to bounce back from adversity e.g. your last trip to Mexico, the pandemic, and worse events in your past. I see your story as well in Donna’s. Matt used to tell me I live from 3 to 7, meaning that those who live from 1 to 10 risk experiencing both great sorrow and great joy fully. You seem to live from 1 to 10.
Betsy Tuel
I am absolutely LOVING your book. I’ve read the first three parts, the first 90 pages. It is wonderful. You have had so many experiences in your life!!!!! Wow! You write fabulously and fluently. You are a gifted writer.
Susie Brown
I read it in a day, and I loved it! Your writing is so authentic and honest and inviting, and for me, so very relatable. Not the Russian Baroness part of course, but the travel, the relationships, the finding my voice and my truth parts. I felt a part of your journeys—I was definitely in that race car with you. It was like we were sitting at an outdoor cafe chatting over a coffee.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories From an Adventurous Woman
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2021
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When you begin to read Margarita (Mourka) Meyendorff’s Flipping the Bird, it becomes quickly apparent that she is not your ordinary person. She loves speed, adventure, dance, romantic interludes, and is a fierce defender of her right to pursue all of the above – with or without the permission of the Powers That Be. Her home life as a child is stifling; an ex-Russian Baron father, home and ailing, along with her maddened mother, who cannot reconcile her present fate with her royal past. These stories are honest; she admits to a sometimes destructive competitive streak, she overflows with the desire to shine and be loved, and she is clear about a fragility beneath her gutsy behavior. Meanwhile, we admire her sheer unflagging love of being alive, her desire to be her very best, and her ability to overcome obstacles with little in the way of status or money. And, she is funny.
A good read about an interesting person’s experiences, and her response to an unfair world.
One person found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2021
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This is a delightful book of short stories and two one act plays. It’s easy reading in a casual conversational style, chronicling events from the author’s very interesting life. The stories depict a life that is just off center from the “typical” American–or is it the real American story?
2 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fast read, can get through this on a plane ride. Cute nonfiction stories.
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2021
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Cute nonfiction stories, fast read. I enjoyed hearing her little stories throughout her life.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2021
I loved Flipping the Bird! What an extraordinary sense of humor Margarita (a.k.a. Mourka) has, even when it seems her luck has run out. This is a wonderful memoir – a delightful take on life, opportunity and female empowerment. Such colorful and touching chapters describing a slovenly and overbearing boss, a not-so-graceful exit – then entrance – to independent life free of the restraints of her conservative upbringing, and a dear friend’s close call that ended in enlightenment (such a touching and descriptive chapter). The author’s description of coming full circle with her thoughts about her mom, comfort food and making amends is extremely touching, yet not overtly or typically cliché. I truly, truly enjoyed it and highly recommend. Margarita’s writing is superb and invites the reader to be “in it” with her, at times wishing they could have been there to cheer her on when she “flips the bird!”
2 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2021
‘Flipping The Bird’ is the perfect title for this book. The stories tell of the many different ways Mourka has ‘flipped the bird’ at convention and anyone who’d demand it of her. The experience of reading it is like sitting down with the writer – maybe over a glass of wine or two – and listening to her tell her stories. Her writing has a lovely intimacy, and you finish the collection wanting more.
2 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure delight!
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
Flipping the Bird is the literary equivalent of sharing an evening of sparkling drinks on a moonlit terrace with a dear friend who tells the BEST stories. Margarita “Mourka” Meyendorff zings through life’s challenges with a welcome display of insouciance. She’s performed many of these stories aloud at various venues, so they leap off the page fully formed. She’s also included a brace of one-act plays and a short screenplay infused with the same bird-flipping defiance of all things dull and conventional. Reading this book may inspire you to unleash your own rebel spirit. L’chaim!