Ramsey County Library The Week of... July 7, 2008
Fiction
Nicky Rigopoulos seems to have the luck of the devil; his career as a personal injury attorney in Syracuse, New York, is successful despite his dubious practice of settling claims for his clients at pennies on the dollar and using the money he makes to finance his campaign for state court judge. His personal life is Byzantine as well, due to his many dalliances with women like Lilly Longacre, who is married to the chief of the local Democratic Party that endorsed Nicky’s bid for a judgeship. When Nicky’s law partner (who was also his campaign manager) is brutally murdered, the police focus on him as the main suspect in the case, and things get even more complicated when Nicky’s estranged ex-wife is also killed; this second murder only makes the cops even more certain that Nicky is their man. Determined to keep his troubled campaign afloat and clear his name, Nicky investigates on his own; the trail leads him from a trailer park to a casino to the inner sanctums of the movers and shakers, and the action never stops as the mystery builds to its conclusion. This is a fun and fast-paced mystery with an anti-hero the reader can’t help but like, and lots of plot twists which are somehow all neatly resolved by the end of the story; readers who like John Grisham or Lisa Scottoline will want to try this one.
Jacob Logan fled the small North Carolina town of Mayfield for the big city of Boston years ago, and built a life there for himself. But now his business has failed, and he is still dealing with unresolved issues from his parents’ deaths; Jacob decides to return to Mayfield and the house he grew up in to regroup and figure out his next move. After his arrival, a series of odd events occurs; his belongings are destroyed in a freak accident, his car is stolen, and the strange taciturn caretaker takes a dislike to him. Then there is the mystery of the fireflies, which appear everywhere in town except on Jacob’s property. The author has written a very subtle and effective ghost story, with a terrific depiction of a small Southern town; this is one of those books that you will want to stay up to finish, keeping all of the lights turned on. If you enjoyed Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca or The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes, this one will send a cold chill up your spine.
The unnamed ginseng hunter of the title is a Chinese man who lives near the border with North Korea and makes his living gathering the valuable ginseng root; he lives a simple, quiet life, with little interest in the turmoil of the larger world around him. With no family, his only regular human contact is with the prostitutes of Miss Wong’s bordello in the city of Yanji, which he visits once a month when he needs supplies. When a North Korean prostitute who has lived through a terrible ordeal tells him her story, it changes his insular world forever, forcing him to confront the growing violence all around him; he must decide whether to engage the rest of the world, or try to continue hiding as he has been doing all of his life. The author has written an evocative and atmospheric novel about a place most of us will never see, and has created a setting and characters so vivid the reader will feel as though they are there watching as the story unfolds. This novel is highly recommended for readers who enjoyed Tessa Bridal’s The Tree of Red Stars or Waiting by Ha Jin.
There is perhaps no family in America more written about, or more mythologized, than the Kennedys; in this novel, the author takes a new approach, using Nora Brennan, an Irish nanny for the nine Kennedy children, as the narrator. The story begins in 1917 when Nora takes a job with a young (and growing) Kennedy family, little realizing that this will place her near center stage for some of the most important moments in American history over the next few decades. Nora observes Joe Kennedy teaching the Kennedy boys that money will get them anything they want, including political office, and his wife Rose grooms the girls to be good Catholic wives. Nora loves all of the children, but has a special affection for Rosemary, whose learning disabilities made her lag behind the rest of her high-achieving siblings. On the eve of World War II, Nora makes a decision that will affect her life-and the lives of her charges-forever. This intriguing and well-written tale takes the reader behind the scenes of America’s most famous and tragic family.
In 2004, former Marine captain Brian Steidle went to Sudan as an observer for the African Union; his job was to help monitor conditions under a ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese government and various rebel factions. When he arrived, he knew very little about the region, its people, or the history of the conflict, but he quickly realized that the situation was extremely perilous. Steidle watched, sickened, as Arab Muslims called “Janjaweed,” inflicted horrific violence on Black Muslims in the name of ethnic cleansing; they raped, tortured, and killed thousands, looted and burned villages and towns, and drove people from their homes, forcing them into refugee camps. All of this happened with the complicity of the Sudanese government, which provided money and weapons to the Janjaweed, and it happened despite the presence of neutral observers; as of September 2006, the United Nations estimated that more than 400,000 people had been killed, and more than two million had been forced to flee the country. Outraged at the A.U. forces’ inability to act to prevent the violence, and at the continuing indifference of the United Nations and the rest of the world community, Steidle decided to document what he saw in photographs and in his own words, and this harrowing memoir is the result. This is a terrifying eyewitness account of the horrors of genocide, and it will haunt you long after you finish reading it.
The memoir genre has become crowded with entries in the last decade or so, which makes a powerful memoir such as this a real find. The author grew up in Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s, experiencing what seemed like an idyllic childhood from the outside; what outsiders were not allowed to see was the alcoholism and physical and sexual abuse that marred his parents’ relationships with each other and with their son. Goolrick recounts the lavish cocktail parties given by his college professor father and housewife mother, and the rigid code of secrecy upholding the fiction of Southern gentlemen and ladies that forced him to deny the terrible wrongs his father inflicted on the family. Although the dysfunctional family is a staple of Southern Gothic, the author’s searing honesty and witty prose create a profoundly moving account of his life; this memoir will remain in the reader’s memory long after the final page has been read and the book put away. Readers who devoured Meredith Hall’s Without a Map or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers will find this just as deeply affecting.
Although warnings about humanity’s impact in the world’s climate have been around for at least two decades, it seems that this message has really entered into the mainstream in the last two to three years; “green” products are everywhere, and discussion of global warming or climate change have been omnipresent in the media, even in the current presidential election campaigns. It truly is a “hot topic,” and with so much information (and misinformation) out there to overwhelm and confuse us, the authors of this book provide a primer on what global warming is, how it is believed to be happening, and why we should care about it, as well as offering recommendations on how to ameliorate the situation, for society as a whole and for individuals who want to do their part. For anyone who wants a comprehensive and comprehensible book on global warming and how we can solve its problems, this is an excellent overview.
In 1984, the NBA was fighting to change the perception that it was a second-rate professional sports organization; NBA teams were doing well, but pro basketball was nowhere near as popular as it is today. The 1984 draft roster included such amazing talents as Michael Jordan, Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton, all of whom eventually entered the Hall of Fame. Astonishingly, the Portland Trailblazers used their number two draft pick to select Sam Bowie, passing on future superstar Michael Jordan; he went on to become a legend with the Chicago Bulls, leading the team to six NBA championships in the 1990s. Before the draft, teams would intentionally lose games to improve their draft position; after the 1984 draft, the system was changed to a lottery to prevent this kind of chicanery. The superstardom of players like Jordan, Olajuwan and Barkley changed the stakes, boosting the NBA to its current height of popularity and creating a culture where players could become multimillionaires overnight, with huge salaries and endorsement deals. Bondy analyzes why the draft happened as it did, the fallout, and the long term impact on the NBA and the sport in this entertaining and engrossing book; anyone who is interested in hoops or wants to learn about the inner workings of American professional sports will enjoy this.
June 23, 2008
Fiction
Monica is an attorney at Steel Associates, the most exclusive law firm in Beverly Hills, specializing in high-profile Hollywood divorces. Her job requires her to be an attorney, a marriage counselor, a referee, and a celebrity minder in various combinations, and sometimes all of those things at the same time. Her latest high profile case is the breakup of Cameron and Lydia Johnson, the It-couple known in the tabloids under the rather unfortunate sobriquet “Camydia,” and the scandal is causing a media sensation. Monica must handle her clients’ antics, keeping a lid on the media coverage as much as possible, while fending off attempt by her office rival to sabotage her career and steal a coveted promotion. As if all this were not enough, Monica’s fiancé Raj, who is in London on a work assignment, has been ignoring her messages, which makes her suspicious, but she doesn’t have the time or energy to worry about it. The author has created a very engaging character in Monica, and the sendup of the celebrity world is fun and frothy; readers who liked Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada or The Chocolate Lovers Club by Carole Matthews will get a kick out of this one.
Russell Fink has issues; he still lives with his parents at twenty-six, he hates his job as a copier salesman, and he feels trapped in an engagement to a woman he doesn’t love. Russell is also still weighed down with guilt and grief at the death of his twin sister Katie, who died of leukemia when they were nine, and his relationships with his parents and his older brother Peter are not exactly like the Cleaver family. His best friend is his basset hound, Sonny, who Russell believes is clairvoyant; when Sonny is poisoned, it send Russell into a tailspin as he tries to find out who killed his dog. There is a lot going on in this novel as Russell tried to navigate the hazards of his daily existence while figuring out what he really wants to be doing with his life, and who he wants to be doing it with; but the author writes memorable characters and amusing dialogue, and it all keeps the reader riveted until the last page. It’s like a cross between Nick Hornby and Jan Karon, which sounds strange, but it works.
This is the first book in a planned series of mysteries featuring German history professor Josef Stachelmann, and it’s a fantastic beginning. The professor’s specialty is the history of the Nazi era, and this expertise comes in very handy when his friend Oskar Winter, chief of the Hamburg homicide unit, investigates the deaths of the wife and children of Maximilian Holler, a prominent local businessman. They were each murdered in separate incidents going back over several years, and the latest death has made it clear that someone is targeting Holler. Stachelmann digs into the past to try to discover the motive for these crimes, and uncovers evidence that Holler’s saintly image may be obscuring dark secrets. Holler’s family was involved in a scheme to acquire the property of Jews persecuted under the Nazi Regime at bargain prices, and the murders may be payback; however there are other possible explanations as well. The situation gets even more complicated when Stachelmann discovers that his own father may have been involved in the scheme, and he is endangered by his relentless seeking of the truth. This is a gripping thriller with a compelling mystery, but it is also a sensitive and forthright treatment of Germany’s struggle to deal with the terrible facts of its Nazi past. Readers who enjoyed the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri or Cara Black’s Aimée Leduc mysteries will love this.
Jamilet Juárez was born in a small Mexican village; conceived when her mother was raped, the large red birthmark covering her back and legs makes her even more of an outcast. When her Aunt Carmen invites Jamilet to come to Los Angeles to live, she jumps at the chance to escape; she hopes that she will be able to save enough money to pay a doctor to remove the birthmark that has caused her so much pain. Using forged papers, Jamilet gets a job in a psychiatric hospital. When Senor Peregrino, a cantankerous elderly patient, hides her papers, he says he will only return them if Jamilet will agree to listen to his life story. He tells her about his fateful pilgrimage to the Spanish Cathedral of Santiago as a youth, how he met-and lost-the love of his life, and then left his native country to emigrate to America. When he finally discovered the truth about his long-lost love, it changed his life forever. Jamilet has also fallen in love, but she fears she cannot truly reveal herself-scars, secrets and all-to the man she loves. The two outcasts build a strong relationship as each of them copes with their burdens. The novel deftly explores how small misunderstandings and misdirections can have a tremendous impact on the course of a life. Readers who enjoyed Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto or Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel will appreciate this book.
On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1873, one of the pivotal events in post-Civil War American history occurred in the small Louisiana town of Colfax; the fact that most Americans have never heard of this incident may be changed by this powerful book. In the years after the end of the war, the South was in turmoil; the economic, political and social costs of the war had been staggering, and racial bitterness and hatred had come to a boil. African Americans tried to assert their rights to vote and hold elected office, but white supremacists and groups such as the Klan were not about to let that happen. After Republicans (some of them African American) were elected to various positions in a hotly contested election in 1872, a group of African American freedmen occupied the courthouse to prevent whites from taking over. A group of ex-Confederate soldiers attacked, killing more than 100 of the freedmen. The ensuing criminal case against the white attackers went on for years, ending up in the Supreme Court largely due to the persistence of U.S. Attorney James Beckwith, who did not want them to get away with these murders. The subsequent decision of the Court set the course of government policy until the Civil Rights Era of the 1950’s and 1960s; the federal government did not try to enforce the rights of African Americans again until nearly a century later. This fascinating book tells the riveting story shameful event in American history, ensuring that the truth will not be buried again; readers who are interested in social history or civil rights will want to read this.
Now that election season is ramping up to a feverish pitch, this book is very timely. Minow was Chairman of the F.C.C under John F. Kennedy, and has been involved with the presidential debates for years, most recently as vice chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-profit organization that has set up the debates each election year since 1987, after the League of Women Voters ended their sponsorship. The debates have been the target of much criticism in the last few years for barring candidates other than Republicans or Democrats (Ralph Nader in 2000, for example), for prohibiting questions from the voting public, and for allowing candidates to present canned speeches as responses to the pre-selected questions. Many voters and members of the media feel that the debates have become simply a public relations show, and this book addresses that issue, as well as offering some ideas on how the structure of the debates might be improved to make them more relevant. Whatever your views on the debates or the candidates, this is an interesting perspective from an author who has exhaustive (and often personal) knowledge of the debates’ history; this book is important reading in this election year.
Albert Einstein is well known as one of the most influential and highly regarded scientists in all of human history, whose work has dramatically changed not only the science of physics, but the course of daily life for the entire planet. His image is instantly recognizable around the world, and every high school student learns about the Theory of Relativity in science class. Despite this, many people have little true understanding of what Einstein’s work actually means, and why it is so important. Hawking sets out to rectify this by letting Einstein’s own words explain his revolutionary ideas, adding additional explanation and background as needed. In addition to Einstein’s work on the Theory of Relativity and quantum mechanics, his essays on political, religious, and philosophical topics are also included, which makes this an essential compendium of the work of perhaps the most brilliant and influential scientist of all time. This book is highly recommended for anyone who is curious about the nature of the universe, and wants to understand how scientists explain its workings.
After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, chaos reigned as various factions fought to gain control over the country; warlords controlled their own territories, and groups of mujahideen (“Holy warriors” who had fought the Soviets) competed for power and influence. In 1994 one group of mujahideen called the Taliban became pre-eminent after a successful assault on Kandahar, and they consolidated their rule in 1996 by taking over the city of Kabul. The Taliban were seen by many as providing much-needed stability after a long period of fighting and political and social disarray, but their strict interpretation of Islamic Law was seen by many others as extremely oppressive and totalitarian, particularly in their treatment of women. For many Americans, the Taliban were not in the forefront of awareness until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after which the Taliban were accused of harboring and assisting the terrorists, which led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and their removal from power. This collection of thoughtful and well-researched essays from leading scholars of the region offers an excellent analysis of the history, influence, and impact of the Taliban, on Afghanistan and on the rest of the world; an overview of the country’s history is also included, which helps place the essays in context. This is a vitally important resource for anyone seeking to understand the origins of the conflict in which we are currently embroiled.
June 16, 2008
Fiction
This intriguing mystery novel is set in Hungary in the 1950s, during the period of Soviet control of the country. The Hungarian people, still suffering from the deprivations of World War II, did not easily accept Soviet domination, and in 1956 the Hungarian Revolution attempted to reassert native rule; the Soviets retaliated with a massive military offensive, crushing resistance and effectively sealing the country’s borders. The story begins when Lieutenant Marosi of the Hungarian Border Patrol is shocked and saddened to learn that Eva Szalánczky, an outspoken journalist and critic of the regime and the woman he has loved since they were both children, has been killed while attempting to cross the border illegally. Marosi is determined to find out why Eva chose this fatal course of action, when she could have come to him for help in escaping; he delves into her life, speaking to her friends and associates in Budapest, and discovers that there was a great deal he did not know about his childhood love. The Hungarian setting and political intrigue are fresh and beautifully written, and the story is suspenseful, with thoughtfully created and fully realized characters. Readers who enjoyed Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko series or the Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell will like this one.
For much of her life, Liza Donovan has had curiously vivid dreams of people living in a 19th century whaling community. When her Aunt Kitty invites Liza and her friend Jane to spend her summer break from graduate school on Nantucket, Liza is eager to go; she wants to see for herself if her strange dreams have any basis in historical reality, or if it is all just a fantasy she has created in her mind. Upon arriving, Liza is astonished to discover that the whaling captain she has been dreaming about, Obadiah Young, was a real person, as was his wife Lucy, whom Obadiah was accused of murdering. Liza enlists the help of Adam Gallagher, the handsome curator of the local whaling museum, to find out more about these people and their lives; he is skeptical about her dreams, but is drawn to her, and they begin dating. To further complicate matters, Aunt Kitty’s godson Lucian, who is living at her estate, is also interested in Liza. She must decipher the meaning of her dreams, and discover what really happened between Obadiah and Lucy more than a century and a half earlier. This romantic suspense novel is engrossing and well-written; the paranormal element of Liza’s dreams adds an intriguing bit of mystery to the story. Readers who like Mary Stewart or Stephanie Meyer will enjoy reading Brallier’s latest book.
The seventh entry in the wonderful Lord Francis Powerscourt series is a delight. In this outing, Powerscourt and his wife Lady Lucy have returned to his Irish homeland; they have been asked to investigate the theft of several ancestral portraits from the stately homes of members of the Anglo Irish aristocracy, a bit of a change of pace from some of Powerscourt’s past cases involving murder, mayhem and political upheaval. Although Irish nationalists have plotted for years to rid themselves of the Anglo-Irish presence and restore Catholic rule, no one seems to take the art theft for anything more than a prank. However Powerscourt believes that there may be something more sinister happening; it may be related to the construction of a new chapel on Croagh Patrick, the sacred mountain where St. Patrick fasted for forty days. When a murder is discovered, Powerscourt must go into action, as he struggles with his own ambivalence toward the Irish question. This series is witty, charming, and highly literate; each book is full of fascinating detail about the politics, personalities, art and culture of the late Victorian and early Edwardian years, and Powerscourt and his family and friends are very appealing.
The author sets this novel in a remote Canadian radio station in 1975, in the time when the era of radio was ending and the primacy of television was beginning. Nearly everyone who works at the CBC Radio station in the remote city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories is running from something: Dido Paris, the news anchor, ended her marriage after her affair with her father-in-law was discovered; announcer Harry Boyd was fired from his television job in Toronto; receptionist Eleanor has had an unhappy personal life; and Eddy, the sound engineer, has a vaguely mysterious and somewhat unsavory past as well. Into this group of mostly unwilling transplants comes ambitious Gwen Symon, who has come to do an internship at the station. At the same time all of this is happening, controversy is growing over whether a proposed petroleum pipeline should be built across the nearly untouched Canadian wilderness; this would bring economic benefits, but would destroy sacred Native lands and wildlife habitat, and bring great changes to the region, something not everyone wants to see happen. Several of the denizens of the radio station decide to go on a canoe trip together, following the route of ill-fated explorer John Hornby, who perished on an exploration trip in 1927. This is one of those novels in which nothing terribly dramatic happens; it’s a lovely, poignant tale of ordinary people living ordinary lives, with gorgeous prose and terrific dialogue. You will want to keep reading just to spend some more time in the writer’s company. If you like Louise Erdrich or Carol Shields, this book will appeal to you.
The term “carnivorous plants” seems almost like an oxymoron; how could plants turn the tables on the members of the animal kingdom, consuming them as a lion consumes its prey? Nevertheless these plants do exist and thrive, and this book is a fascinating introduction to these “flowers of evil.” There are more than 600 varieties of these plants, and they are found in locations all around the world, from the bogs of the Pacific Northwest, to the fast-flowing streams of Amazonia, to rock outcroppings in the Ivory Coast of Africa, to the steppes of Siberia. They have a variety of mechanisms for trapping their prey, from pitcher-shaped blossoms to sticky leaves and “snap traps” like that of the Venus flytrap, all designed to catch animals from single-celled organisms to unwary insects. The book also explains how to cultivate the various species, in case you are bored with African violets or ferns.
Knize has had a successful career as a journalist writing about environmental policy, but when she was 43, she suddenly became obsessed with a new passion; becoming a pianist. The author came from a home where music was very important-her father was a professional musician, and she had studied piano as a child-but somehow along the way to adulthood she laid aside her musical ambitions. Now in middle age, she began taking piano lessons, and then realized that she had to buy a piano of her own. Her quest for the perfect instrument takes her to dozens of piano stores and warehouses; from Yamahas to Steinways, nothing was quite right until Knize found a Grotrian-Steinweg grand piano that seemed to speak directly to her soul. Desperate to possess this paragon of pianos, she took out a second mortgage and had the piano (which she named Marlene) shipped to her home in Missoula, Montana; unfortunately, the journey was hard on Marlene, and the piano’s glorious sound had been deadened, something that can happen when such a delicate instrument is shipped over a long distance. Knize sought professional help from piano technicians, and even from the Grotrian factory in Germany. If all of this sounds a bit obsessive, it is, but readers will find themselves deeply involved with the author’s quest to find and then “heal” this piano with which she feels an almost mystical connection. This book is a wonderful digression into the complex world of the piano; if you enjoyed The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thaddeus Carhart or Piano Lessons by Noah Adams, or just like well-written nonfiction, this is an excellent choice.
Jack Kirby was a giant in the comics industry; he was instrumental in creating some of the greatest comics heroes of all time, including the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Captain America, and many others. Kirby’s comics art was innovative, exciting, and highly influential; he pioneered a dynamic style of art that gave the characters energy and strongly suggested movement. Kirby also included minority characters in his comic books, and co-created the Black Panther, the first black comics hero. However, Kirby didn’t always get the recognition and financial rewards he deserved from the corporate types who published comic books, although he was (and is) beloved by the fans. The author met Kirby in 1969 when Kirby hired him as his assistant, and the rest is history. This biography doesn’t follow the usual conventions of the genre; it’s chatty and informal, as if you were talking to the author at your kitchen table, and it includes pages and pages of terrific art from Kirby, much of it never published before. Anyone who remembers waiting anxiously for the next installment of Spider-Man or X-man will appreciate this book.
Belle Greene was only twenty-six, with a few years of experience working at the Princeton University Library, when multi-millionaire and philanthropist J.P. Morgan hired her to organize his collection of rare books and illuminated manuscripts. Beautiful, outspoken and daring, Belle took the opportunity she had been given to create an outstanding collection for Morgan, becoming a formidable player in the lofty world of rare book dealers and collectors. She had a rather unconventional personal life as well; she never married, but had a series of lovers, including married art critic Bernard Berenson. She traveled the world buying books and manuscripts for Morgan, and she lived lavishly, staying in the finest hotels and traveling first class. In 1924, Morgan’s son Jack created the Morgan Library, which housed his father’s collection of books, manuscripts, and drawings, and appointed Belle the director, a position she held until she retired in 1948. However Belle had a secret, known to some in the rarefied world of art; she was a black woman “passing” as white. Her father was the first black man to graduate from Harvard, but when Belle’s mother left him, she claimed that the family was part Portuguese to explain her darker skin color. The amazing life of this fascinating and erudite woman reads like a novel; she lived her life to the fullest, and left a great legacy in helping to establish the Morgan Library as a world-class institution.
June 9, 2008
Fiction
This is a sequel to the author’s terrific debut mystery, The Collaborator of Bethlehem; it continues the story of Omar Yussef, the principal of a girls’ school in the Dehaisha Palestinian refugee camp near Bethlehem. Yussef goes along on an inspection trip of the camp by two United Nations officials, but the trip is anything but routine, as chaos and violence explode all around. The ineffectual Palestinian government in Gaza is overwhelmed by the violent conflict of the various factions struggling desperately to control the region, and no one is really in charge. When one of the U.N. inspectors is killed and another kidnapped, one of Yussef’s colleagues is accused, and he feels he must investigate to vindicate his friend. Yussef has no allies in his quest, and must relay on only his own wits to solve the murder and free his friend. The setting of Gaza, which is being torn apart by political and social upheaval, makes for a very interesting mystery; the plot is absorbing and the characters are complex and realistic. Just as in real life, there are no easy answers. Fans of Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti series or the Thomas Lynley series by Elzabeth George will want to read this one.
All through high school, Ben Reilly was the kid who got pushed around by all of the other more popular kids; he was especially harassed by Terrance O’Connor, a good-looking jock who accused Ben of homosexuality. Ten years later, Ben is an English teacher at a suburban high school in Staten Island, but he has not forgotten or forgiven his abuse at Terrance’s hands; when a violent altercation occurs at his school, Ben decides to find his tormentor and get revenge. Terrance is now a successful journalist living in Manhattan, but the outward appearance of success masks his inner dissatisfaction; he has many doubts and questions about his path in life. Ben tracks Terrance down to confront him, but instead the two begin an uneasy friendship, and Ben’s obsession with revenge mutates into something more complicated, and possibly even more dangerous to both men. Readers who enjoyed Phil Lamarche’s American Youth or The Lost Language of Cranes by David Leavitt will want to read this one.
The Lucy Hatch series, of which this is the fourth title, is a terrific slice of small-town Texas life. In this entry, Lucy’s stepdaughter Denny has fled her cheating husband and budding country music career in Nashvillle, while Lucy’s husband Ash, a singer/songwriter who had been touring around the country with his band, is hanging around home getting on her last nerve after his record contract got cancelled. To make things even more stressful, Lucy’s boss Peggy is planning to retire and close up her florist shop, leaving Lucy unemployed and with few prospects. Life in the little Texas town of Mooney has always been pretty much the same, but now big changes are coming for everyone in Lucy’s life, and perhaps most of all for Lucy herself. This series is funny and heart-warming, and the latest entry continues that tradition. If you like books by Lorna Landvik or Tim Farrington, this would be a good choice.
This atmospheric western novel is set in the Arizona Territory in 1871, where seventeen-year-old Ned Thorne has run away from home in Connecticut to join the army. Ned is as green as they come, and he is determined to prove himself to his comrades, his superior officers, and to his family back home. When a nearby ranch is raided by Apaches, a woman is kidnapped and two men are killed; Ned’s commander, Lieutenant Austin, leads a rescue mission into the mountains to find her and bring her back. They follow the band of Apaches into Mexico, which leads to a brutal showdown, after which none of them will ever be the same. If you liked the westerns of Larry McMurtry or Cormac McCarthy, try this one.
This quirky and highly personal memoir tells the story of Moore’s childhood in the fifties and sixties in Eerie, Pennsylvania (and yes, that is the author’s real name). Moore, a professor of writing at Ohio University, explores the uncertainty and cultural dissonance of growing up in a time when media messages were strangely at odds with much of daily life; television shows like Leave it to Beaver showed a safe, placid view of family life, while at the same time elementary school kids were taught to “duck and cover” in case of nuclear attack. There was a strong undercurrent of anxiety running through American society. Later, Moore spent much of his time experimenting with LSD and smoking pot while ambling around the country in an old Volkswagen; the turmoil of the late sixties, with political assassinations, Vietnam protests, and violence like the Manson murders, created fertile ground for raging paranoia. When he finally figured out that writing was what he wanted to do in life, desire overtook panic as his dominant motivation; he pursued this calling with all of his energy, and the writing life provided a focus that had been lacking. This is a refreshing take on the traditional style of the memoir; funny and inventive, the essays draw the reader in with humor and then sneak in serious subtext when it is least expected. Readers who like Haven Kimmel or David Sedaris would enjoy this.
The development of atomic weapons is one of the most important historical events of the twentieth century, and their far-ranging impact is felt as strongly today as when they were first used in 1945; atomic weapons ended Word War II, and began a nuclear arms race that lasted through the Cold War, and still endures into the present. Now we fear that terrorists may gain access to these weapons. The Manhattan Project began in 1939 as part of a smaller research project on uranium; scientists, many of them expatriates who had escaped the Nazi regime, feared that Hitler would develop atomic weapons and use them to subdue the entire world. The project grew into one of the most elaborate and successful scientific efforts in history, employing more than 100,000 people and creating a weapon of previously unimaginable power, all in complete secrecy. This volume includes essays, articles, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, and the oral histories of key eyewitnesses; an analysis of Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to end World War II and discussion of the continuing global arms race are only two of the topics addressed here. If you enjoy reading history or current events, this book would be an excellent choice.
We tend to think of the Crusades as battles between Christendom and the Muslim world, but that is not the whole story. The Languedoc region of France has long been a stronghold of cultural, political, and religious dissent; the region had its own local language (Occitan) and was politically independent from the French crown. The Languedoc was also the stronghold of the Cathars, adherents to a Christian sect that espoused a dualist theology, rejecting the Catholic belief in the Trinity. The Catholic Church had tried for years to suppress this sect, which the Church viewed as heretical (and too popular and powerful for Rome’s comfort); by 1209, Pope Innocent III had abandoned attempts at peaceful persuasion, and issued a Papal bull declaring Cathari lands forfeit to anyone who would take up arms against the heretics. The fighting went on for years, with the Crusaders initially succeeding in taking the Cathari lands, but after 1215 a series of revolts displaced the invaders until about 1226, when Louis VIII entered the fray on the side of the Church; by 1229 the Cathars had mostly been killed or displaced, and the Papal Inquisition that began in 1229 dealt the sect its death blow. The Albigensian Crusade was the first example of genocide, the author argues, and provided a blueprint for later campaigns against Jews and Muslims, as well as the impetus for the continuing existence of the Inquisition. This is a fascinating story of a world long lost to time, where religious belief and political conflict intersect; it has many important implications for the modern world as well. Anyone who enjoys reading history will want to try this one.
Most Americans under the age of fifty probably know Gene Autry mainly as the voice singing the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” but his career as a singer, actor and producer in film and television, astute businessman, and innovator of that American film classic, the cowboy movie, made him an American icon. Autry was born in Texas, and spent much of his early life on the road as his father moved from job to job on farms and ranches. At a young age he began performing in public, and at fifteen he went out on tour with a traveling medicine show; after working at several other jobs, Autry struck out on his own to build a career as a radio singer and musician. In 1929 he signed a recording contract, and became one of the most popular country singers of the 1930s; this led to opportunities in the motion picture industry, and the rest is movie history. Autry was one of the first to realize the potential of the new medium of television, and performed in several television series, as well as producing. He also diversified his investments into real estate and other fields, even becoming the owner of the California Angels. He built great wealth for himself, and was also a philanthropist who helped others, but he had his own private demons. This biography tells the fascinating story of one of Hollywood’s true pioneers, on screen and off; anyone who remembers those cowboy movies fondly, or wants to know more about the early days of the film industry, will enjoy this.
May 27, 2008
Fiction
Epperson is best known as a screenwriter for such films as One False Move and The Gift, and his talent for creating cinematic scenes translates beautifully to the page. The story is classic noir, following the saga of Danny Landon, a formerly vicious gangster in Los Angeles of the 1930s; "formerly" because, after a blow to the head, he suffers from partial amnesia, and can't remember the brutal acts that earned him the nickname "Two Gun Danny," and cannot reconcile his criminal past with his current abhorrence of violence. Danny works for Bud Seitz, who is even more vicious than Danny was; his sobriquet "the Kind One" was invented by a former girlfriend whom he later had killed. When Seitz orders Danny to spy on his current girlfriend Darla, an alcoholic chanteuse, Danny falls in love with her, putting both of them at risk from Seitz's rage. At the same time, Danny discovers that the 11-year-old daughter of his neighbor is being molested, and in his new-found humanity, he believes he must help her. The writing is gorgeous; the descriptive prose and dialogue are so real and fresh the reader can visualize each character and scene as if they were watching one of Epperson's movies. Highly recommended for fans of Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy.
The author was the son of Russian exiles living in Brussels, who returned to the Soviet Union in 1919 to be part of the Bolshevik Revolution; eventually he became disillusioned with Stalin's brutality, and after spending some time in a Soviet prison, he left for his own term of exile, first in Europe and then Mexico. This novel tells the story of Daria, a Soviet agent who endures some of the most terrible events of the twentieth century, as well as the constant fear of arrest and imprisonment by her own government. The book is written in four sections; in the first, Agent D, a friend and fellow Soviet agent, tells Daria of his plans to escape with his lover. In the next section, Daria endures the Siege of Leningrad, and in the third section, she is in Berlin, witnessing the bombardment of the city by the Allies in the final days of the war. The last section finds Daria and Agent D reunited in Mexico, where they both hope to escape their pasts and the specter of Stalin's retribution for their betrayal. Serge creates a searing portrait of Europe's descent into the conflagration of war, and a compelling story of individual lives forever changed by it. This would be an excellent choice for readers who appreciate the powerful works of Cormac McCarthy or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
One day everything is going great in Sophie Kintrock's life; the next day Doug, her boyfriend of six years, dumps her (right after she finishes his laundry). Sophie is angry, but she still loves him, and wants to try and win him back. When she finds out he has already moved on to another woman, Sophie decides to break them up, and she's found the perfect way to do it; the interloper believes in psychics, so Sophie will pretend to be one to convince her that she should dump Doug. Her accomplice in this crazy plan is Nick, a psychic researcher she meets while reconnoitering in Doug's apartment building. What Sophie didn't predict is that she would become successful and in-demand as a psychic, and that she would start to like spending time with Nick; maybe her plans will have to change. Cook has written a funny and engaging entry in the chick-lit genre; if you like Sophie Kinsella or Emily Giffen, try this one.
Scott is a writer living in New York City; he is also a meth addict, struggling desperately with his demons. His mother, Donna, who is suffering from cancer, still lives in Scott's Kansas hometown. When she calls Scott, asking him to help her in her quest to discover what happened to some local children who have gone missing, he returns home, uncertain whether the cancer has affected his mother's reason. Donna herself disappeared for a time as a child; she believes she was kidnapped and then returned, and is obsessed with finding out what happened to her and to the other missing children. Scott reluctantly agrees to pursue the mystery, following the clues to a teenage boy trapped in a basement, while trying to decipher what is real and what is the product of his mother's memories and delusions; his drug addiction also clouds his perceptions, so we are never quite certain whether Scott is seeing things clearly himself. This fascinating psychological novel is layered with mysteries; the answer to what really happened to Donna and the others is only part of it, and the nature of memory, the power of our pasts and our relationships, and the despair of addiction are the powerful themes developed by the author. This is recommended for readers who enjoyed Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin or Absolution by Miriam Herin.
Ever since their inception, newspapers have been one of the easiest and cheapest ways to disseminate news and information to a large number of people. The profession of journalism is seen by many as an integral part of a democracy, keeping the citizenry informed and the government and its officials accountable. For much of American history, almost every town of any size had its own newspaper, and everybody depended on it to keep up with what was happening in the world; however newspapers in the U.S. and around the world have been in decline for the last few years as television and the internet have taken on much of the role of disseminating news, and economic forces have changed the way advertising-sponsored newspapers function in the marketplace. This volume of essays was produced by a group of contributors intimately familiar with the newspaper industry, and edited by Charles Madigan, a well-known reporter for the Chicago Tribune. They speculate on the causes of the decline, and what the future of news-gathering will be, in an engrossing and ultimately somewhat pessimistic vein. Whether you are one of those people who can't start the day without a look at the morning paper or one of those whose news is delivered via RSS, this book will be of interest.
Bekoff is a scientist, professor emeritus of Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the author of many scientific papers and books on animal behavior. He is the co-founder (with Jane Goodall) of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a group that works to advance higher ethical standards in the treatment of animals used in scientific research. In this book, he recounts anecdotal evidence regarding animal emotions (such as laughing dogs or grieving elephants), and considers the research available on whether animals do in fact have emotions, and what evolutionary pressures might have worked to foster the development of emotions in animals (and humans). He then discusses how animals are often abused on farms, in laboratories, and in the larger world, and what can be done to stop this abuse. Whatever your views on animal rights, this book provides an absorbing and moving perspective, and is well worth reading.
In the summer of 1926, four American women attempted to become the first women to swim across the English Channel: one of them was 20-year-old Gertrude Ederle, a gold and bronze medalist at the 1924 Olympics who was backed in her attempt by Joseph Patton, founder of the New York Daily News. On August 6, Gertrude made her attempt. The distance from Calais to Dover is 21 miles, in 60-degree water with rough seas and treacherous currents; the previous record for the swim was 16 hours and 33 minutes, which she beat by more than two hours, arriving in 14 hours 30 minutes. The news media seemed more interested in the women's swimsuits, which were considered somewhat risqué at the time, but the real story is the amazing athletic feat achieved by Gertrude Ederle. She was the toast of America, welcomed back with a ticker tape parade and a great deal of fanfare; more importantly, she demonstrated conclusively that women could be world-class athletes, and helped set the stage for the tremendous growth of women's athletics. However, fame was not as kind to her as it was to other celebrities of the era, and when she died in 2003 few people remembered her contributions. This book rectifies that oversight, telling the story of this thrilling and important moment in sports history with relish, and finally establishing Ederle's place in history once and for all. Readers who enjoyed Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand or King of the World by David Remnick will want to read this terrific book.
This book is an absolutely fascinating look at human evolution from a team of scientists, scholars and artists who have recreated the appearance and the lives of early human ancestors, from sahelanthropus tchadensis, who lived in what is now Chad, North Africa, about seven million years ago, to homo neanderthalensis, who lived in Europe between fifty and two hundred thousand years ago. For each species, there is a fictional account of one individual member of the species, as well as amazingly realistic visual recreations, and information on their chronology, physiology, lifestyle and range of living area. The photographs are so lifelike you feel as if you are looking back over millions of years in time; this look at our distant past creates a sense of wonder at the amazing variety of life, and the sheer improbability of human evolution, considering everything that could have gone awry. This would be a great choice for anyone interested in paleontology, archeology, anthropology, or art.
May 5, 2008
Fiction
Dean, the author of the terrific novel The Madonnas of Leningrad, has followed up with this smart, funny and keenly observed collection of short stories featuring performers and performances of all kinds. Dean spent a decade as an actress in New York, and obviously knows the theater milieu intimately, but she also has an excellent grasp of human behavior and a talent for writing great dialogue. The stories include "What the Left Hand is Saying" about a group of New York neighbors who learn a lesson in judging from appearances; "Dan in the Gray Flannel Rat Suit," featuring an actor who experiences both triumph and misery in his profession; and "Another Little Piece of My Heart," in which a middle-aged woman discovers both the limitations and the possibilities of her position in life. All of the stories are lovely, and Dean creates small indelible moments of human experience that will resonate with the reader long after the book is finished; it will be fascinating to see what she does next. Readers who love the stories of Alice Munro or Lorrie Moore will want to try this collection.
The author imagines the end of the life of John the Apostle, now elderly and infirm, and living on the Isle of Patmos with a group of followers. John is now the only person left who actually knew Jesus when he was alive, and his disciples constantly press him for information about the return of Christ. The long years of exile have sown dissension among them; spreading the teachings of Jesus has been a long and difficult struggle that has left many of them disheartened and doubting. John looks back on the time he spent with Jesus, while the most dissatisfied of his followers, Matthias, hatches a plot to make himself appear to have divine powers, causing a schism in the group. When the Roman Emperor decrees on his deathbed that persecution of Christians shall end, John and his followers leave Patmos for Ephesus; there they discover that Christianity has become a small fringe cult, perilously close to dying out. John must find the will to create his Gospel, passing Christ's teachings on to the world. This novel is a fascinating look at a chaotic time in history, when being Christian was very new and precarious, and seen as a threat to the social order; Williams shows that the journey from doubt to faith is often long and difficult. Williams' book is reminiscent of the superb novel The Thieves of Golgotha by D.S. Lliteras, and would also be a good choice for those who liked the Church of England series by Susan Howatch.
Sunny Fernando has had a privileged childhood in Manila as the son of well-to-do Sri Lankan expatriates who fled their country's brutal civil war. As a teenager, he discovers the truth about his mother's death years earlier; Sunny had been told it was an accident, but actually she committed suicide. This bombshell shatters his happy life and destroys his trust in his father, who pressures him into moving to London to study engineering; but Sunny hates it, and drops out when he falls in love with a beautiful woman named Clara. They marry and have a son, and Sunny opens a photography studio to support his family, and to satisfy his need for order and beauty. Later, he returns to Sri Lanka, where he reunites with old friends and realizes that there are many possibilities open to him that he may not have considered before. This is a nuanced and subtle portrayal of a man caught between different worlds, and unsure of his place in any of them; readers who liked The Namesake by Jhuma Lahiri or Sameer Parekh's Stealing the Ambassador will want to read this.
This is the fifth entry in the wonderful Hickey Family mystery series, featuring San Diego P.I. Alvaro Hickey. It is 1979, and the Mexican election is a week away. Rumors are rampant that the Holy Virgin has been appearing to the poor all over Southern California, exhorting them to vote the corrupt PRI political party out of power; when a beautiful woman named Lourdes Shuler appears, begging Alvaro to help her find her sister Lupe Garcia, who has been missing for ten years, Alvaro notices that Lourdes looks exactly like a sketch of the Holy Virgin made by a witness to one of her appearances. She claims that is her sister who is actually the Virgin, and that Lupe killed their father; Lourdes is afraid that the PRI goons will do anything to shut them up, including murder. The two go on the run to Mexico, trying to get to Lupe before the PRI thugs do. The Vagabond Virgins is a terrific noir thriller, but it also illuminates the problems and successes of the Mexican American experience in the last half of the twentieth century, by telling the story of one family. If you enjoyed Stuart Kaminsky's Toby Peters series or Marica Muller's Sharon McCone mysteries, you'll enjoy this.
Big Bone Lick is a salt lick in the woods of northern Kentucky that has been attracting animals for thousands of years; it is a treasure trove of fossil bones of mammoths and other now-extinct species. The lick has been a source of fascination for centuries; Thomas Jefferson charged the Lewis and Clark expedition with bringing back some of the fossils from the site. Naturalists were not sure exactly where the bones came from, and there was considerable controversy over the origin and meaning of these fossils; Darwin's theory of evolution was years away from being published and decades away from scientific acceptance, and the idea of species becoming extinct seemed to contradict Biblical teachings of an unchanging creation. The author explains the geological formation of the area, and the reasons so many species remains have been found there; he also discusses why the site was crucial in the development of the science of paleontology. Readers who have enjoyed Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin will find this book interesting as well.
Although he is now lesser known than some of his contemporaries, Smith is still considered one of the finest English photographers of the twentieth century. Smith was trained as an architect, worked as a draftsman, and began his artistic career as a painter; he went into photography because it paid better than painting. The book is divided into three chapters: "Discovering Photography," "Discovering Britain" and "Discovering Abroad," which follow the course of his career. His early photographs included studies of working people from the mines of Northumberland, the Newcastle docks, and local circuses and fairs, as well as freelance assignments for fashion magazines like Vogue. Later, he became well known for his photographs of English churches, cottages, and gardens, and also for his pictures of Italy, especially Rome and Pompeii. Smith's elegant compositions, and sophisticated and beautiful use of shadow and light, make every photograph in the book gorgeous to behold. Lovers of art and photography, as well as those who love traditional English country architecture and gardens, will want to spend some time perusing this lovely book.
The author is a writer for such publications as Food & Wine and Oxford American. She moved to New Orleans because of her husband, and fell in love with the Crescent City and its amazingly varied and interesting cuisine. The book follows her odyssey through the city as she ruminates on the traditional New Orleans dishes of po-boys, gumbo, and red beans and rice, as well as lesser known favorites like Turducken, and the ethnic Italian and Vietnamese cooking of the city's immigrant neighborhoods. The devastation caused by Katrina provides a melancholy counterpoint to the lively and often eccentric people and places Roahen describes. The very smells and flavors of the food seem to rise off the page, and the rich culture and community that created it comes alive as well. Reading this book is like taking a gourmet trip to the Big Easy without leaving your living room; if you love great food, or love to travel, this book will satisfy your cravings, and may make you plan a trip down to New Orleans to see for yourself.
Every schoolchild in America knows that Mount Vernon was the home of George Washington, and it has been a shrine to the founding of the nation from almost the beginning of our history. All of the daily work of the plantation-tending the farm fields and caring for the livestock, constructing and repairing the buildings, and all of the work of feeding and clothing more then 300 people living there-was done by slaves. Although it is well-known that Washington freed his slaves in his will, it is less commonly understood that many slaves (belonging to his wife Martha, and later to his descendants) remained at Mount Vernon for many years after his death; they played a major, though unheralded, role in preserving the plantation. Sarah Johnson lived at Mount Vernon for more than fifty years, first as a slave and later as an employee, working as a guide, lunchroom manager, and in many other capacities; however the contributions of Sarah and the many other black workers over the years have been almost erased from history. This book rectifies that oversight, providing a fascinating look at the lives of Mount Vernon's black population. This book will be of interest to anyone who enjoys American history; it offers a different view of history than that of such books as Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis. April 28, 2008
Fiction
Burt Hecker is an anachronism by choice; he is a "medieval re-enactor," a man who lives his life as if he were in the year 1256 C.E., drinking home-brewed mead instead of bottled beer, and wearing a homespun tunic instead of a team jersey or other typical casual male attire. Burt is still reeling from the recent death of his wife Kitty, who ran a Victorian B&B to support Burt's lifestyle, including his involvement in the re-enactors group Cofraternity of Lost Times Regained. Burt rejects anything "O.o.P" (Out of Period) like cars, although this doesn't help him when he is arrested for DWI by New York State Troopers after a temporary mental breakdown. Estranged from his grown children-June, a single mom living in California, and Tristan, a musician who has stopped playing the medieval music Burt loves to take up jazz-Burt decides to sell the B&B and go to Germany with a group of chanters who are planning to attend a festival for the 900th anniversary of Saint Hildegard von Bingen. However his real motivation is to track down Tristan, who he believes to be living in Prague with Burt's mother-in-law Anna, his sworn enemy. The author has created a smart and funny character in Burt; he makes the reader root for him despite his eccentricities and general cluelessness. Hilarious and moving by turns, this book will keep you turning the pages and laughing out loud until the final paragraph; readers who liked Harry Freund's Love with Noodles or How to be Good by Nick Hornby will love it.
This extremely entertaining and gory thriller takes place in south Florida in the mid- 1960s, where low-budget horror film director Sheldon Meyer is trying to shoot the cheapo splatter flick "Crimson Orgy" in one week, despite the star being on an alcoholic bender, a reluctant ingenue, a fractious film crew, and the local cops hassling the production; there is even a hurricane, which creates additional obstacles for the film company. With all of this working against him, it seems as though Meyer will never achieve his goal of making the most chilling horror film ever made; but his determination to finish his "masterpiece" turns into obsession, with bloody consequences for everyone involved. This thriller mixes suspense with black humor and old fashioned gory horror to create a gripping read; if you enjoyed Jennifer Armintrout's Blood Ties series, or thrillers like The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson, this is your cup of tea.
Greenwich Village was an exciting place in the 1960s, populated with struggling artists, writers and performers of all stripes, all jostling to make their mark on the world and hit it big. The narrator of this new novel by the author of The Milagro Beanfield War is no different; known only as "Blondie," he is working on his Great American Novel, which has gone through several incarnations, from college romance to saga of the New York elite, none of which have been accepted for publication. Blondie is fascinated by the Argentine emigres who live in the area; their favorite hangout is the neighborhood empanada stand, whose cook, Aureo Roldan, produces little pieces of heaven. The colorful local denizens include an aspiring flamenco dancer, a young guitar prodigy, a man trying to decide between two fiancees, a gigolo, and a pair of feuding lovers, but the most colorful "character" is Greenwich Village itself, which is always swirling with life and activity. Full of small vignettes of daily life in a bustling immigrant neighborhood, this novel is funny, poignant and thoughtful; readers who like T. C. Boyle or Richard Russo will want to try this one.
Dr. John Morgan is a physician at a rural hospital in an unnamed country in southern Africa; every day he must try to help patients who are dying of AIDS. His patients could be helped greatly by anti-viral drugs, but they are outrageously expensive, and the hospital's budget simply doesn't permit this kind of treatment. Morgan's team of doctors and nurses must make do with very little, helping the dying in the only ways they can, until a wealthy businessman presents them with a large donation to be used to purchase these drugs. However there is a catch; the money will only buy enough drugs for six patients, for two years. How can Morgan possible determine who will receive the life-saving treatment? The solution to this dilemma arrives in the person of Father Michael, the local priest, who devises a lottery to decide which patients will get the drugs. Timely and topical, this book is a frank and sometimes funny treatment of a very serious issue; the author is a doctor in Botswana who has seen the ravages of the AIDS pandemic first hand. However despite the bleak subject and black humor, the story also offers hope and a celebration of human endurance and coping with tragedy. It's like a cross between M.A.S.H and Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, transplanted to the present day.
The fascinating history and tremendous influence of the Latin language is the subject of this entertaining book, written by a distinguished scholar of linguistics. Latin began as one of many pre-Christian languages in the Mediterranean, a dialect of the Roman region, and gained in importance as the Roman Empire grew and expanded. The Romans brought Latin to the farthest reaches of Europe as they conquered one land after another; learning the language was indispensable for succeeding under Roman rule. When the Roman Empire crumbled, Latin continued as the language of the elite and educated, especially in the Catholic Church; until very recently (and in some quarters, it still holds true) one who did not speak Latin could claim to be well-educated. In everyday life, Latin mutated into the romance languages of French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc. and continues to be spoken in those variations to this day by hundreds of millions of people around the world; words of Latin extraction still provide approximately sixty percent of the vocabulary of the modern English language. If you enjoyed the PBS series The Story of English, you will enjoy this.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Henry Gray and H.V. Carter published the still-definitive reference work on the human body, Gray's Anatomy; it was an astonishing achievement, and has been used in continually updated editions by generations of medical students ever since. Its beautiful and intricately detailed drawings create a sense of wonder at the amazing structures of the human body. The author is a science writer who has himself taken a course in gross anatomy, in which a cadaver was dissected; he alternates poetic descriptions of his experiences with the narrative of how the book came to be written, and details of the collaborative and personal relationship of Gray and Carter. This evocative and personal journey into the wonders of the human body will captivate anyone interested in medicine, science, or history.
Shah's excellent 2006 memoir The Caliph's House described his experiences living in Morocco after he rather impulsively decides to purchase an old house in Casablanca, and move there from England with his wife and two young children; this book continues the story with a narrative of Shah's journey from Casablanca to Fez and Marrakech, and deep into the Sahara. The journey becomes much more than a road trip; it is a voyage through the history and culture of Morocco, and Shah's own life and memories. Shah records a variety of colorful personages retelling their versions of the traditional Arab tales that formed the basis of A Thousand and One Nights, leavening the mix with his own stories; in this way he discovers the rich heritage of this ancient land, as well as hidden truths from his own life. This is not the usual travel narrative; it takes its time, wandering among the medinas and hidden places of Morocco, listening to the stories of the denizens of this ancient kingdom, and creating a colorful, nuanced portrait of a fascinating country. Readers who liked A Year in the World by Frances Mayes or The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux will enjoy this book.
New Orleans artist Phil Sandusky presents a unique vision of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed much of the city in August 2005. His amazing plein-air paintings, all created in a single sitting, document the terrible devastation of the storm and subsequent flooding, showing the twisted wreckage of boats, cars, and buildings in abandoned neighborhoods around the city. The paintings have a strange, almost eerie beauty as they show the aftermath of the tragedy; while they completely show the shocking destruction, they have a sense of presence and life that transcends the images in photographs of the same scenes. This is a moving and valuable record of the most catastrophic natural disaster in American history; it will be appreciated by anyone interested in history or art.
April 21, 2008
Fiction
Nineteenth-century Istanbul is the setting for this mystery, a sequel to The Sultan's Seal. The Ottoman Empire is dying, its power and cohesion disintegrating, and tension between Christians and Muslims is running high. Magistrate Kamil Pasha has been charged with stopping a ring of smugglers who are stealing religious relics from Istanbul's churches and mosques, and then selling them to wealthy Europeans on the black market. Of particular concern is a reliquary whose whereabouts have been unknown for centuries, and which has inspired the growth of a cult shrouded in mystery; this object is said to contain a secret message known as Proof of God. One of Kamil's friends, Malik, a member of the cult, is murdered, increasing the urgency of the search, and Kamil must find this sacred object before more deaths occur, including possibly his own. The author skillfully recreates the gritty criminal underworld of Istanbul in the 1880s, and Kamil Pasha is a sympathetic, intelligent and engaging detective. Readers who enjoyed The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte or Jason Goodwin's The Snake Stone will be pleased with this mystery.
This sequel to The Graduate, the basis of perhaps the most famous American film of the 1960s, certainly took its time arriving; the original book was published in 1963. It is now eleven years after Benjamin Braddock and Elaine fled California, and they wound up on the other side of the country, in suburban Westchester County. They have married and have two children, Matt and Jason, whom they are home schooling as a sort of last gasp against the "establishment" that they have otherwise joined; however in the mid-seventies, the Westchester School Board is rather hostile to the idea of home schooling, and is waging a campaign against the Braddocks to force them to put their children in a regular school. To complicate matters further, Elaine's mother, Mrs. Robinson, arrives for a visit, creating tension between the couple and uneasiness in Ben; she tries to help with the children's education and with deflecting the school board's animosity. This alarms Ben and Elaine greatly, and to get her to leave, they invite Garth and Goya, a strange hippie couple who are also home schooling their kids, to stay with them, hoping that their granola-eating ways (for example, their seven-year-old daughter is still breast fed) will repel Mrs. Robinson and get her to leave. Unfortunately their tactics backfire, and the situation escalates. Replete with barbed, sly humor, this novel is a wicked satire of suburban domesticity and modern consumer culture. If you liked Cynthia Ozick's The Puttermesser Papers or The Godmother by Carrie Adams, you will have fun reading this.
It has been five years since April Newton was treated successfully for breast cancer, and she feels as though her life has been on hold for all of that time. April's relationship with her husband Rick has become distant and chilly. Rick has invested all of his energy into building a huge, fortress-like mansion on the California coast in Redondo Beach, but April sees the house as a monument to the painful years of her illness and their subsequent estrangement. April finds herself attracted to a small cottage, the last one on the street that hasn't been torn down and replaced with a much larger and more elaborate house; when she discovers that the owner of the cottage plans to sell it for far less than market value to someone who will preserve it, she becomes determined to put in an application herself. Rick sees this as a betrayal, and the tensions in their marriage reach the boiling point. What happens next will keep readers captivated until the last page. This is a very enjoyable read, with some thoughtful things to say about families, surviving a serious illness, and figuring out what you really want out of life. If you like Alice Hoffman or Kristin Hannah, this one will appeal to you.
Callum Innes has just gotten out of prison, and is working hard to make a living as an unlicensed P.I. in Manchester, England. Trying to stay straight and protect his younger brother Declan, a heroin addict who is trying to kick the habit, is difficult; Cal's situation is further complicated when Morris Tiernan, the local crime boss, forces Cal to go after Rob Stokes, a small-time blackjack dealer who absconded to Newcastle with the gang's gambling profits, as well as Tiernan's sixteen-year-old daughter Alison. As if that were not enough to worry about, Tiernan's psychopathic meth addict son Mo is angry that Cal has been tapped to take care of Stokes, a job he'd like to do himself, and he wants to kill off the old man so he can inherit the family business. Between Tierney senior and his insane offspring, Cal has all the trouble he can handle, and if he doesn't get to Stokes first, there may not be anything left of him (or the money) for Cal to find and return to Tierney. Gritty, violent, and suspenseful, this book has plenty of action and very salty dialogue, and would be a good choice for fans of Ken Bruen or the Joe Kurtz series by Dan Simmons.
NonFiction
David Roche describes himself as an inspirational humorist, motivational speaker and performer; in this book, he uses his talents to craft a funny, moving and inspirational account of his life and beliefs. Born with large tumor that severely disfigured him, David faced many trials coping with his situation; he had to endure everything from teasing, to shunning, to being called a monster, and was refused entry into the priesthood because of his appearance, which authorities in the catholic Church believed would undermine his ability to perform his priestly duties. He bore a heavy burden of shame at his appearance, and from the negative reactions of people around him, but he worked hard to learn to accept himself as he is; eventually he realized that his life had worth, and the lessons he had learned could be of great benefit to others. This book is the chronicle of the experiences, both painful and sublime, that shaped him and allowed him to grow into a successful person professionally and spiritually. The book is funny, engaging, and inspiring, and readers who liked books such as Ann Lamott's Traveling Mercies or the works of Frederick Buechner will find this a very worthwhile read.
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