The Scent of God
Beryl Singleton Bissell
Counterpoint, a member of the Perseus Books Group
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810
9781582433615 $15.00 www.perseusbooks.com http://www.berylsingletonbissell.com
Aaron Paul Lazar
Reviewer
The Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell is a work of fine art, reminiscent of a painting by Rubens or a haunting Saint-Saens melody. The beautifully crafted memoir offers words that glisten like gems on each page. Lush imagery, redolent with heady scents and vibrant color, transports the reader to locales ranging from the sanctified to the exotic. Readers will savor every chapter of this alluring tale.
The story begins in 1947 in Saddle River, New Jersey. Beryl, one of four siblings in a Catholic family, catalogs her mortal sins at an early age and is riddled with guilt when her mother serves meat on Friday or the family misses Mass. Her father's binges and the rage and panic his drinking elicits in her mother, cause Beryl to seek comfort in nature. With her siblings, she happily tramps through the lakeside woods - swimming, fishing, tobogganing, and exploring abandoned farmhouses. In sixth grade, Beryl begins attending a private boarding school run by Catholic nuns who teach her about a God of unconditional love. This knowledge calms and thrills the young girl, who longs for stability and acceptance.
When Beryl is thirteen, her father's drinking causes him to lose his position as vice-president of a New York bank, but he is offered an alternate position in Puerto Rico. When the family relocates to the tropical island, Beryl draws inward, avoiding friends and life outside the home. Beryl's sister's popularity and her mother's critical harping about her weight increase her sense of displacement. Witnessing the drowning of a young boy, however, brings her face to face with her own mortality and the superficiality of earthly success. This new knowledge, in combination with a mystical experience of God's love and the breakup with her "first love" -- a handsome young Puerto Rican boy -- set her on a course toward a life of commitment to God whose love is eternal and unchanging.
At the age of eighteen, and in spite of her parent's initial disapproval, Beryl enters the Monastery of Saint Clare in Bordentown, New Jersey. With visions of becoming a saint, she thrives on the simple goodness of the daily processes in the cloistered nunnery, enjoying working in the bakery, her daily prayers, and the quiet camaraderie of her sister nuns. Her experiences in the monastery are lovingly and honestly recounted, providing a rare glimpse into this life.
Twelve years later, Beryl is deeply ensconced in the tranquility of the monastery when she receives the news that her father has taken ill, and that she needs to return home to assist her mother with his care. Returning to the island reawakens her senses.
"I woke that morning to the sound of waves crashing on the beach below, the pink and gold of the rising sun playing across my face. Despite my father's condition and my mother's frailty, I felt a wild surge of happiness. Eight floors below my window, a receding wave shimmered back toward an oncoming breaker, leaving a froth of bubbles to mark the edges of its ride. A solitary man jogged along the beach, the wet sand forming silvery halos around his footprints."
In the course of caring for her father, and in the most delectable and surprising twist of this true story, Beryl meets Padre Vittorio, a handsome Italian priest who preaches at the local church of Saint Jorge. At first irritated by the man, Beryl slowly finds herself falling in love as she gets to know him better, igniting the most painful yet wondrous struggle of her life.
It would spoil the story to reveal more. Suffice it to say that the segment of the book involving Vittorio is sensual and captivating, never offensive, and completely addictive. Be forewarned that The Scent of God will lodge in your heart and invade your dreams for years to come. Thankfully, the author is working on a sequel to The Scent of God. This reader anxiously awaits the next chapter in Beryl's delightful true-life saga.
The Reckoning
D. Mikels
Xlibiris Corporation
9781425731531 $20.99 www.xlibris.com
Ana M. Gomez
Reviewer
The Reckoning, by D. Mikels, is a superbly written novella that seduces you along the apocalyptic ride with John Morrison to his journey to self-enlightenment. Even though the main character is a detached father and an alcoholic, you can't help but become attached to this flawed man and his demon-filled adventure and with it, his journey to self-realization.
This fast paced, rewarding story taps into the fears of societal destruction held deep within many citizens of the United States post-9/11. That subconscious fear provides the fuel and the desire for John to vanquish the demons both around and within him. Yet it's carefully planned twists and turns leave the reader not with fear, but inspired and at peace.
Mikel's is a gifted author, with keen insight and a knack for creating powerful emotion with words; for example, "He was so unlike me." John's words were empty – an arid vacuum that sucked away all emotion. As you read, you join the characters in their fear coupled with the familiar knot in the pit of your stomach as the story unfolds. Your pulse will race because you can't shake the feeling that if he survives, somehow so will you. It all depends how you define survival. Not since Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three, have I felt so overwhelmingly caught up in a story.
Waking Spirit, Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings
Shirley Cheng
Dance With Your Heart Publishing
PO Box 146, Wappingers Falls, New York
9780615136806 $14.97 www.shirleycheng.com
Christina Francine Whitcher
Reviewer
Inspiration can sometimes be difficult to find. If it is, look in quiet places. The brave are not always found in the spotlight, nor are they typical. They're the ones that see the cup as half full.
It is all, perhaps "one art" – mastering loss, mastering grief, self-mastery. Cheng has a familiarity with loss. She is blind and physically disabled, the obstacles she's had to endure enormous. Through years of physical pain during her childhood, she never lost her zest for life. The largest threat to her happiness was a system that wanted to separate a child from her mother. Juliet Cheng lost custody twice in America because she disagreed with the doctor's recommended treatments. "This would have ended my young life," Shirley says. "They took me out of her loving arms and trapped me inside their gloomy hospital rooms in order to force the unwanted, harmful treatments on me" (52 Cheng).
Shirley Cheng cone again gives rise to and quickens reader's thoughts. Waking Spirit, Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings' combines her story with empowering poetry. This book matters because it reminds us to pay attention to the simple gifts of life. All we need is a little inspiration from the brave who've endured extraordinary hurdles, and then whisper the secret to how they did it. That is what readers will find in this book. Warm, luminous, and an easy pleasure.
Shirley received Honorable Mention in the poetry category of the New York Festival Competition. She has also been a finalist in the national Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards.
Hungry Hill
A Memoir
University of Massachusetts Press
PO Box 429, Amherst, MA 01004
9781558495890 $19.95 www.umpress.usmass.edu 1-800-537-5487
Elaine Winer
Reviewer
Carole O'Malley Gaunt lost her mother when she was thirteen. The four years that followed, as she, her father and seven brothers tried to get through life day by day, are the subject of the honestly written and intense memoir Hungry Hill.
It is spring, 1959. The O'Malley family are at the funeral of wife and mother, Betty O'Malley, dead of lymphatic cancer at 33. As she watches her father cry beside the casket, Carole, 13, thinks "Do I need to take care of him too? I can't be the "strong Carole" my aunt has asked me to be. I will imagine my mother on a cushioned chaise lounge in a backyard part of heaven that is saved for me and my family, where she is drinking a Manhattan and smoking a filter-tip cigarette. No kids' fighting in heaven. No crying in heaven. No yelling in heaven. No Cheerios, no Franco-American spaghetti. I don't really see how my brothers and I have a prayer of getting in. Interrupting my fantasy, my father taps me on the arm and asks me to take Joey downstairs to the bathroom."
As unaffected and straightforward as the writing seems, this "wise prose" (as Frank McCourt terms it) involved me completely, translating me to Springfield Massachusetts, and to an Irish-Catholic working class area called Hungry Hill. There, thanks to Ms. Gaunt's stunning recall of minute details, I lived with the young Carole in her chaotic world as the stricken family struggled back to life. I realized how involved I'd become when, seeing there were family photographs in the center of the book, I couldn't wait to match them with the people I had, without realizing it, come to care about. Carole's pretty, I thought, and yes, Betty, her mother, really was beautiful, and just look at her handsome father and all those boys!
Carole O'Malley Gaunt has created a sprawling, lively Irish American family, complete with aunts, uncles, and friends. They inhabit 21 Lynwood Terrace, and while you are reading this memoir, you live there too. Two year old Tommy naps in the driveway, Stevie, Bobby, Joey, Danny and Gerry fight, play, and torture each other; Michael, the eldest at fifteen, looks down on them all with an oldest brother's disdain; and their father, an alcoholic, drinks. Caught up in their daily lives, one worries with Carole about her sweaty palms and bad skin, about her brothers' constant battling, her father's drinking, and her own constant sense of shame because, no matter how hard she tries, she can never be Good, or at least good enough to take her mother's place.
When her father dies a few years after remarrying a cold and egotistical woman, Carole tutors students, finds jobs, finally decides to go to college; she builds a future that includes a successful marriage, children, and a profession. This memoir is written with such understatement, that the reader hardly recognizes that it is a stirring coming of age story in which Carole, through courage, hard work, and intelligence, lifts herself out of her past and into a happy and secure future.
Scattered throughout the memoir are acute observations that go beneath the even, story-telling tenor of the surface. Talking about what she has lost when her mother died, she says it was not only support and love, but the tension between mother and daughter that is as important as love to teach a daughter what it is to be a woman. Or, talking about her father's remarriage and subsequent death at 47, she understands suddenly that he had married Mary (the stepmother they all disliked) to take care of his children so he could drink himself to death.
In the epigraph, Ms. Gaunt explains why her section of the city was called Hungry Hill, and finishes with the sentence, "Back when I grew up on Hungry Hill, I was suffering from an emotional hunger." It is perhaps this hunger she tries to satisfy in the few chapters she goes into the future to confront, among others, her dead father, her stepmother, and her mother. These were the least effective parts of the book. They don't match the clear, strong, honesty and passion of the rest --we can't make the past turn out all right, even if we write the confrontations ourselves.
What can be done with that unsatisfiable pain? If we are Carole O'Malley Gaunt, we write a memoir as good, as painful, as involving, as Hungry Hill.
The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism
Leon H. Charney and Saul Mayzlish
Barricade Books
185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 308-A, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
1569803005 $22.95 www.barricadebooks.com 1-800-592-6657
Dr. Fred Reiss
Reviewer
The Hebrew word Kaddish means sanctification, and it appears in several forms, including, the Scholar's Kaddish, Half Kaddish, Full Kaddish, and Burial Kaddish. Whenever a member of the Jewish faith says, "I'm going to say Kaddish," there is only one unambiguous meaning, "I'm going to say Mourner's Kaddish." According to Jewish mysticism, when the body dies, the soul wanders for seven days between the cemetery and its Earthly house, and does not fully understand what happened. (Mirrors are covered in the house of mourning so that the soul cannot see itself without the body and become further frightened.) On the eighth day, the soul is brought before the heavenly court. There, its life is examined for eleven months and a judgment is rendered either to send the soul to Gan Eden (heaven) or Gehenna (hell). The mourner recites the Kaddish for eleven months along with the community. Together, they show support for the soul. In effect, those alive, through the Kaddish prayer, come to the aid the deceased. Later, when needed, the living will return to the gravesites asking the dead to intercede on their behalf.
Authors Charney and Mayzlish focus their book, The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism, on all the forms in two parts. Confronted with the death his mother, Charney wanted to "explore how one of the most integral prayers of the Jewish people is practiced in different communities and cultures under various rabbinical interpretations." In order to accomplish this, the authors take us, in the first part, on their personal journey of discovery from the Middle East, to Europe, and then to Asia Minor. Along the way, we meet people who have a special, perhaps even mystical, connection with the Kaddish.
For example, they heard various melodies of the Kaddish in Tel Aviv, and learned from the cantors and congregants how these melodies added to the prayer's intensity. In Jerusalem, the authors visited the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva where they come away understanding that the Mourners' Kaddish "offers us a recipe for life, teaching us that we may not delay our assigned tasks and the demands made upon us. It reminds us of an hour glass, where the sand inexorably runs down, where things which might appear to be minor are major and vice-versa." After a trip through the Holocaust Museum, also in Jerusalem, they went away recognizing that the Kaddish prayer, in the post-World War II world, is the ultimate acceptance of God's actions. In Poland they saw how people reacted to the prayer through the eyes of the late Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, who perceived the Kaddish as personal contact with God. The Kaddish became a longing for the re-establishment of the Temple in the Czech Republic, and in Turkey it was a search for meaning, as a person "may even question the very existence of God, the same God who took one's dear one; yet ultimately arrive at the truth, and faith in the justice of the Creator." The authors' extensive travels between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East allow us to conclude that the meaning of the Kaddish prayer is as personal as the one reciting it.
Charney and Mayzlish propose, in the second part, the idea that the Mourner's Kaddish became significant during the time of the Crusades and Black Plague. It was during these eras that thousands and thousands of Jews were killed from cruelty born out of religious fervor and from unknown natural causes. Looking for ways to give solace to families, particularly orphans, the rabbis looked to their Christian neighbors and adopted the ritual of communal prayer as the formal grieving process. To find that prayer, the rabbis needed to look no further than the Kaddish. To add the communal element, they required a minyan, a group of ten or more men, for Mourner's Kaddish to be recited. The idea is interesting, and certainly consistent with our knowledge that by the thirteenth century Mourner's Kaddish was already part of community prayers.
Originally, the Kaddish was not associated with prayers. Sometime between the First and Second Temple periods, the Kaddish developed as a poem of praise. Teachers recited it at the conclusion of study and before dismissing the pupils with the hope, through prophetic verses, of the speedy arrival of the Messiah. The Scholar's Kaddish asks its listeners to praise God for the world as He created it; asks God to quickly establish His kingdom (implying that the Messiah needs to be sent immediately); profusely gives honor to God's name; asks God to accept the prayers and supplications of the Jewish people, especially those dedicated to the teaching and learning of God's laws; and to grant them peace, mercy, nourishment, and salvation; and concludes with a plea for a time of peace.
Since the Kaddish was not intended to be a prayer, it was spoken in Aramaic, the language of the people at that time, rather than the holy language of Hebrew, which is the custom followed to this day. Slowly, as the synagogue and prayer supplanted the Temple and its sacrificial system of service to God, the Half Kaddish became a prayer that separated minor parts within a service and the Full Kaddish marked the end of the service. The Burial Kaddish and Mourner's Kaddish came much, much later.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Pharisaic Judaism became normative Judaism, and along with it came the belief in reward and punishment after death. Subsequently, Judaism adopted the idea that a father could be saved from the tortures of Hell if, after death, his son would recite the Kaddish and the congregation would respond with the praise of God's name. During the early period of the Gaonim, the sixth and seventh centuries, the Scholar's Kaddish took on eschatological significance. At the end of days, God would reveal a new Torah to the pious, and Zerubbabel (the grandson of Jehoiachin, last King of Judah; leader of the first wave of Jews returning from the Babylonian Captivity after the destruction of the First Temple; and the one who laid the foundation of the Second Temple) would recite the Scholar's Kaddish "with a voice reaching from one end of the world to the other; to which all mankind will respond 'Amen.'" Lamm, in his well-written book, The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning, said that it became accepted to recite the Scholar's Kaddish at the death of a scholar, and then overtime came to be applied to everyone.
Although the Mourner's Kaddish reflects pain and anguish, it does not mention death. Instead, like the Scholar's Kaddish from which it is derived, it begins with the command to exult and sanctify God's great name, to which all within ear shot replied, "Amen." Then the prayer continues," in the world that He created according to His will." Now, a scholar's frame of reference differs from that of a mourner. For the scholar, how the world operates is an intellectual exercise, for the mourner, the Kaddish is the highest pronouncements of realism and love. The mourner, in effect, declares that even though I know that suffering and death are inevitable, and I don't understand why this is happening to me, now, I still praise and sanctify You, God. The prayer is said in Aramaic, except the last line, which is said in Hebrew. "May the One who makes peace in the heavens, also make peace for each of us and for all the People of Israel, and let us say, 'Amen.'" Thus, the prayer ends with a wish that God, who keeps our complex universe running harmoniously and orderly, grant a time of harmony and tranquility to those saying and hearing the Kaddish, as well as for all Jews, everywhere.
The Kaddish, according to the authors, ranks as one of three fundamental prayers of Judaism. The other two being the Shema, which declares the oneness of God and the Amidah, the set of eighteen blessing that makes up the major portion of the four required services, the morning, afternoon, evening, and additional Sabbath services. The conundrum of the Kaddish is why do we hope in a world that presents untimely death and unspeakable suffering? Perhaps one answer, which is inescapably implied in this book, is that if Jews say the Shema to declare their belief in the unity of God, then they recite the Kaddish to reaffirm the belief in their unity with God.
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Random House, Inc
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
0345410017 $13.95 www.randomhouse.com www.randomhouse.com 1-800-726-0600
Justin Roth
Reviewer
The fictional piece Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, has won numerous National Book Awards and has been in print for more than 50 years. I will be reviewing Bradbury's book by pointing out its pros and cons, as well as explaining what he was trying to get across and the accuracy of it, albeit a fictional piece.
In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury creates a fictional world in which a police state exists and has existed for many decades. The government has brainwashed the people with censorship, and corrupt, misleading information. The importance of human life has become a thing of the past and the only thing sought after is to have a pleasing life without any disturbances. Instead of putting out fires, firemen start fires in houses where books have been reported present.
Ray Bradbury's passion shows in his work and he could not have done a better job on Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury, being a father, lived a busy life and dedicated his time to writing in public libraries; where he got his idea to write a story about burning books. Bradbury stated that he loves books so much that he would sometimes spend countless hours wandering libraries. I believe the reason he wrote this book was because of the fear it would give him to see everything he loved disappear. He wanted to show his feelings by writing about the burning of books and how much hurt it would cause him and the world. It almost seems as though Bradbury meant to give the book a satirical coat of paint.
Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 gives great insight into a world where our personal freedoms have been obliterated; not only by the government, but by the people themselves. Bradbury has a writing style that entwines the reader in his words. He has a very broken way of getting his words across to the reader, which allows you to fill in the empty spots with your own imagination. The book suggests that the future is not kind to humans and that humans are not kind in the future. The people are very selfish and thoughtless, literally. Intellectual thought and politics have been deemed worthless and anyone who speaks out is either shunned, murdered, or put in jail. Bradbury sends the message that he'd hoped to open the eyes of his audience. He wanted show just how serious we should be when it comes to censorship and our freedoms. The never-ending war(s), crime, and disrespect is a respected thing in Bradbury's crazy world.
I believe that Fahrenheit 451 is comparable, if not more enjoyable than George Orwell's 1984. Fahrenheit 451 seems to be more set in reality and that helps the reader relate a bit more. Reading this book helped open my eyes to the injustice that is happening-not only the U.S., but also throughout the world. The things that are happening in today's world could easily be twisted to fit Fahrenheit 451, which is a sad thing to think about.
I highly recommend Ray Bradbury's book and consider him a very accredited author. The book is very blunt, sometimes confusing, arises questions, and gets your blood pumping. I am glad I had the pleasure to read Fahrenheit 451 and would not be the same person I am today if I had not (believe it or not, it is that powerful). His words speak for themselves and create a world of their own for you to enjoy. Fahrenheit 451 is a work of art and deserves every award it has received, if not more. See for yourself and give it a read.
A Mind Full of Scorpions
Katherine Tapley-Milton
Booksurge Publishing
9781419640230 $12.99 www.booksurge.com
Liana Metal
Reviewer
Very Highly Recommended
Katherine Tapley-Milton lives in Sackville, New Brunswick. She graduated from Mount Allison University with a B.A. in the areas of psychology, sociology, and history and then got a two year Master of Theological Studies degree from Tyndale Seminary in Willowdale, Ontario in 1981. She has been a freelance writer for the last 25 years and has been published in over 70 periodicals. Katherine is a member of the Canadian Mental Health Association's National Consumer Advisory Council
A MIND FULL OF SCORPIONS is the personal story of Kathy who has been suffering from mental illness for almost 50 years. As the author says:
"You may find that some of the scenes depicted in this book are disturbing, but I have tried to tell it like it is because I feel that society shouldn't continue to stick its head in the sand when it comes to mental illness. Come with me as I take you through my inner space odyssey as I show you my struggle with schizoaffective disorder."
The story starts with the author's childhood years and her early experiences of mental illness that consequently lead to her social isolation. It is a moving story that will touch the hearts of a wide audience and help dispel the prejudice, that still prevails in small communities, against mentally ill people.
Kathy is a survivor that has the courage to tell her own story to the public so as other people can learn how to live better. At the back of her book the readers can find helpful information and read some of her articles that have been published in the media. This book caters to adults who wish to be educated on the issue of mental illness, which many times is regarded as a taboo. Kathy tries to cross the borders and get her message across to all the people:
"I hope that in reading my book you have a better understanding of those of us who live in the shadow lands of serious emotional illness. Let's stop the barbarism and treat mental health consumer/survivors as descent human beings. "
Empowered by Empathy (audiobook on CD)
Rose Rosetree
Women's Intuition Worldwide, LLC
116 Hillsdale Drive Sterling, VA 20164-1201
0975253816 $49.00
Lisa Wechtenhiser
Reviewer
"Jen's upset about something." my co-worker said about our receptionist. I looked up from my paperwork and replied "How can you tell that just by how she walks down the hallway? " "I don't know. I just can. Can't everyone?
Actually, no. Only one in twenty of us are empaths - those of us who "identify with and understand another's situation, feelings, and motives" (American Heritage dictionary). If you are someone with those gifts, this audiobook is well worth the time invested in listening to it.
Rose Rosetree, teacher, author and yes, empath has written and recorded a very unique guide for those of us with these wonderful skills in "Empowered by Empathy". Not only does she explain the various forms of empathic knowing (emotional oneness, intellectual shapeshifting, etc.) but she goes on to offer a variety of techniques specifically designed to assist in working with these gifts rather than being hindered by them.
My co-worker, mentioned above, is exquisitely attuned to what others are feeling. Yet, she's had to all but turn that ability off in order to stay afloat emotionally. Because of her centered and calm demeanor, others are drawn to her and she often finds herself drowning in their "stuff". If you've been there, as I have, you know it's not a fun place to be. Rose teaches skills that will show you how to turn down the empathy dial so you can still be present for others but take care of yourself at the same time. She also gives you real life examples to clarify her points and shares her answers to questions the reader might have (based on her years of working with empaths).
The six cd set runs a bit over seven hours and is great to listen to in the car. Rosetree's voice carries her clear and positive intent as a teacher of this wonderful work. I listened on my way to work and felt uplifted by the twinkly energy in her voice. I read the book a couple years ago but listening to it allowed me to catch things I missed by reading and also jogged my mind about techniques that were relevant to my own inner work. One of the things I like most about all of Rose's books is her ability to speak to different levels of the audience without losing anyone by being too technical nor boring anyone by being too basic.
A wonderful adjunct to the printed book, "Empowered by Empathy" audiobook is a good way to learn how to fine tune your empathic skills and have a little fun with it.
Whale Song
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Kunati, Inc.
6901 Bryan Dairy Road, Suite 150, Largo FL 33777 USA
9781601640079 $12.95 www.kunati.com (727) 230-1912
Mayra Calvani
Reviewer
Whale Song is a beautifully written novel that deals with a controversial subject and combines elements of myth, legend, and family drama.
The story begins when thirteen-year old Sarah Richardson moves with her family to Vancouver Island, leaving behind her old life and best friend. In spite of the fact that not all of her new classmates offer her a warm welcome, Sarah soon makes a good friend, a native girl called Goldie. A white girl where most of the people are Indian, Sarah soon experiences prejudice and racism. Her escape is her loving home, her friendship with Goldie, and her love for the killer whales that inhabit the island waters. From Goldie's grandmother she learns many legends and Indian myths about these magnificent, intelligent mammals.
Then disaster strikes and all that Sarah holds dear is snatched away, leaving her enveloped in a dark vortex of confusion and loneliness. As her life abruptly changes, the issue of racism is replaced by a much more controversial one. Does the end justify the means? Does love justify breaking the law?
The story is told in the first person by Sarah herself; the reader is drawn into an immediate intimate rapport with the young protagonist. The language, in its simplicity, heightens the strong moral conflicts which carry the plot. In spite of the family drama, no silly sentimentalism mars the prose, and Sarah possesses a strong voice that is both honest and devoid of embellishments. The author has managed to create a sense of serenity and beauty that has to do with the mythical setting and the 'parallel' presence of the killer whales and wolves.
Consider this excerpt taken from the prologue and which sets the tone and mood for the rest of the story:
I once feared death.
It is said that death begins with the absence of life. And life begins when death is no longer feared. I have stared death in the face and survived. A survivor who has learned about unfailing love and forgiveness. I realize now that I am but a tiny fragment in an endless ocean of life, just as a killer whale is a speck in her immense underwater domain. (p.9)
A sad yet uplifting novel, Whale Song is about the fear and innocence of a young girl and about coming to terms with the shocking and painful truth one often must face. Above all, it is a novel about forgiveness and forgiving oneself.
The Assault on Reason
Al Gore
The Penguin Press
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
9781594201226 $25.95
Peggy Tibbetts
Reviewer
For those of you who were sleepwalking through the past 6 years and don't understand how the US democracy and planet Earth came to be on the brink of disaster, The Assault on Reason by Al Gore, is your Cliff Notes for the 21st century. More than a history lesson, generously sprinkled with anecdotes and famous quotations, this book is a re-enactment of the derailment of our democracy and the destruction of our environment in an easy-to-read format.
Gore introduces us to the mind-numbing power of television, which has robbed us of our marketplace of ideas. Americans spend more than 30 hours a week watching a TV that feeds them information and images without any means of interaction or exchange of ideas and opinions. He reveals research that shows how television can produce "vicarious traumatization" for millions of viewers, making it a powerful tool for fear mongering.
He takes us back to Galileo's trial in the 17th century to examine the importance of reason to our survival as human beings, that without science and law – the "twin daughters" of reason – we are left with fear and blind faith. Then through his careful analysis of the events leading up to the Iraq War and the war itself, he makes it easy to see how, in their all-consuming need for power, members of the Bush Administration, have released the floodgates of fear and blind faith to drown out reason.
But he's just getting warmed up. The gloves come off as he rails at how the government has been privatized by corporations and conglomerates have taken over the media, reducing the arena of the free marketplace to a chosen few. Almost breathlessly, one-by-one Gore exposes the lies heaped upon us these 6 years and the resulting erosions of our civil liberties and national security, all in the name of a Neverending War on Terror.
Gore brilliantly ties these political manipulations to their effects on global warming. In a nutshell, the wealthy oil companies are in cahoots with the Bush Administration and they could care less about reducing carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere. They actually go out of their way to pay for fake research to counter the truth about global warming, while they destroy the planet in their lust for profits and domination.
You could say that Gore makes a strong case that the Bush Administration is responsible for bringing democracy and the planet to this brink of disaster. Instead he points out there's plenty of blame to go around. Yet it's clear he believes the Bush Administration has led the charge of the lemmings – with apologies to the lemmings.
For those of us who have been wide awake all along and horrified at the War on Terror's War on Reason, and the lack of checks and balances, Gore's anger over the dismemberment of democracy is cathartic. His passion for reason is infectious.
Yet he saves the best for last. He gives us answers and solutions. At long last our collective consciousness is awakening to reason. He holds up a mirror to the best in all of as individual human beings. All over the world eyes are opening to the need for drastic changes. He shows us how we are already using the Internet to defend ourselves against the assault on reason. How we can embrace the rule of law to overcome the corruption that dominates governments – from the national level to the local level.
Al Gore truly believes that we, the people, have the moral courage and the strength to stop this train wreck and change history. Now I do, too. There is a future and it's up to us to create it.
Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind
Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth
University of Chicago Press
1427 E. 60th Street Chicago, IL, 60637 USA
9780226102436 $27.50
T.B. Robbins
Reviewer
Humans have minds. We know this indirectly, or a least we think we do. By examining the actions and vocalizations of others we seem able to infer, or at least to guess at, the mental states of others. If we witness some moral degenerate kicking a cat out a window while yelling "%$!# cat!" we may assume that the kicker had a negative mental attitude towards the now plummeting feline. In such cases humans engage more in "mind inferring" than "mind reading." As of now we seem capable of little else, for other's mental states sit locked in the Fort Knox of their minds. Not much hope there. So what about other animals? Do they infer thoughts from actions? How could anyone prove this? The authors of "Baboon Metaphysics" take up this challenge and follow Darwin in their choice of "brute" to study. The father of modern evolution, Darwin was also a budding metaphysician. He thought that baboons provided a good model for the early evolution of the human mind. The authors agree and so begin with the premise: Baboons, like humans, have minds. Building off this, they then ask a series of questions: Can baboons infer the mental states of other baboons? Do they feel empathy? Do baboons have a sense of self? What do baboons "know" about their environment and their existence? Do baboons utilize an internal or external language? And, finally, what do the answers to these questions tell us about human minds?
In the first chapter the authors divide the book into three sections: Chapters 1 through 5 discuss general information on baboons; chapters 6 through 11 delineate scientific research carried out on a group of baboons in the Okavango Delta in Botswana; Chapter 12 summarizes the research findings and explores the implications of these studies for the human mind. After a short historical survey of baboons, which includes the eyebrow raising tale of a baboon "hired" as a railroad track switcher and the equally intriguing Ahla the goat-herder, the book delves into baboon culture. They have rather stressful lives. Lion attacks. Crocodile attacks. Uncertain and dangerous water crossings. Not to mention the wandering alpha males. When a female with an infant sees a new male enter into her social network, she runs away as fast as she can. And who can blame her? Males dominate each other, and thus increase their reproductive success, not only by rigorous wahoo contests but also by killing the infants of previous alpha males. Given the data presented, Shakespeare could have penned a gripping baboon drama. While the males dominate, procreate, and murder, the females hold together an intricate, almost inexplicable, social nexus. With a dizzying complexity that would make Godel proud, the women maintain numerous social strata, protect their infants via platonic male friendships, and maintain a steadfast, almost chivalric, loyalty to their kin. Their main stressors remain changes in the social rank, which creates uncertainty, wandering power hungry alpha males, and loss of a loved one through predation or infanticide. The text reveals some startling correlations between baboon and human life, which peaks when a member of the royal family visits the research site. After they relate baboon life and social rankings to the young aristocrat, she screams with glee that baboons provide evolutionary proof for her own elevated position. "Shortly thereafter," the authors relate, "she returned to her entourage, spirits lifted, leaving us to ponder the wider implications of our work." Did the authors point out to her that alpha male baboons typically reign for only six to seven months? Then, like ancient kings, they get deposed by a bigger wahoo.
Next, the book takes a decisive philosophical turn. The authors turn their focus from baboon life and biology to baboon theory of mind (the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others), self-awareness, social intelligence, communication, and language. To what extent are baboons "aware" of their standing in the world and their relation to other baboons? By measuring glucocortocoid levels, an indication of stress, and performing sound experiments within the group itself, the authors draw several conclusions, though several require further experimentation. Baboons don't seem able to attribute mental states to others. As such, empathy seems beyond them. Though the authors do find some evidence for attribution of basic intentions. Looking at language, baboons use grunts and vocalizations, but not in the way that humans use language. Both humans and baboons do possess great amounts of social knowledge, and the authors argue that this intelligence provides a possible foundation for language. The basis of this argument lies in "the language of thought" that the authors claim predated spoken language. Over time mental concepts relating to objects, events, and relations in the world became vocalized. Thought first, then language. Thus, baboons may represent a living model of our evolutionary linguistic development. From this basis humans evolved into beings with a theory of mind that then spurred the development of language and vocabulary. Recursive thought then allowed our ancestors and us to form mental representations of themselves, others, and even of thoughts (i.e., we can think about the thoughts of others).
Accessible enough for most general readers, "Baboon Metaphysics" does not assume prior knowledge of baboons, biology, or philosophy. Anyone dedicated enough can pick it up and digest its fascinating contents. Nonetheless, the book has its challenges as it prods into new territory and the mental states of animals. Doubtless others will follow the path that this book has trodden and build upon the experiments and observations of a team that spent fourteen years with a group of baboons in Africa. Anyone seeking appreciation of the complexities of both animal and human life will find it here. Rev up your recursive thinking abilities and dive in.
A Compendium of Useful Knowledge and Undoubtedly the "It" Book for Baseball Fans and Movie Mavens. Swap is a book with an interesting and compelling story. It's a compendium of little known facts and useful knowledge. The book is an extraordinary work that covers many aspects of life, all in one volume. The writing is great, and Moffie especially shows talent when showing the reader some of the challengers that Sheldon, the protagonist, faces. The author builds suspense with well thought out plot twists. Moffie has done an enormous amount of research in order to make the book perfectly accurate, and for that he is to be praised. The author is undoubtedly a movie maven, and is on his way to becoming a writing maven too. The book's writing is not descriptive enough, and times the story seems to jump around and skip certain elements that are key to the book. Because of the organization of the book, the plot makes you seem as though you are constantly going in circles. While more fitting to an older, more mature audience than a general audience, it is nevertheless recommended as a book that many people can enjoy.
The book not only gives an interesting story but also delves deep into the lives of its main characters, serving as a novel and memoir all wrapped in one book. The story is about a baseball player whose life seems to be going down the drain, until he comes up with an ingenious idea to save his life: Swap wives with his best friend and fellow baseball player. Anyone interested in baseball or movies will be able to garner a lot of helpful information from Moffie. Moffie's writing reflects that of a great author with literary skill that is beyond the mundane, and the knowledge he delivers to you will leave you turning page after page, hoping the book never ends.
Would I swap this book for another? Not a chance.
The Miracle of Water
Masaru Emoto
Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster
Lower Ground Floor
14-16 Suakin Street, PYMBLE NSW 2073, AUSTRALIA
1582701628 $39.95 AU www.simonsays.com
Rose Glavas
Reviewer
'The Miracle of Water' is well presented as an A5 size pretty looking book. Pretty, perhaps not doing it justice! Looking into this title is like examining a body of still water.... it runs deep.
Masaru Emoto has written several other titles examining water including 'The Secret Life of Water', 'The True Power of Water', 'The Hidden Messages in Water', and 'Messages from Water, volumes I-III'. After reading this current book, I would love to have a look at his others.
The author's background as a researcher, lecturer and graduate of the Yokohama Municipal University as well as his certification as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine helps in the professional, clear and well-written style language used in 'The Miracle of Water'. Profound ideas and theories are presented in an amazingly easy to read way.
This title looks at the relationship between words and water... I admit that at first this didn't sound all that interesting to me. That is until I saw the effects of various words and phrases on the development of water crystals captured in the fabulous photography presented in this book. How can words affect water? That is the first thing I though of when looking at the photographs: Emoto presents his theory on how language has developed and in turn how this affects the crystals within water. He presents many other ideas clearly and in an easy to understand way that will get you looking at your next glass of water in a very different way than you have in the past.
'The Miracle of Water' is more than just about the water in and around you. It also gives you good reason to stop and think about the type of language is used on an everyday basis, and it's effect not only on your drinking water but also on the people around you. My favourite chapter was 'Understanding Vibration and Resonance' which goes into explaining how our words vibrate and resonate between ourselves and others.
As well as the effects of words on water, this title touches on the environment that water is surrounded by. For example the water crystals shown on page 98 have been left exposed to various environments and the effects clearly shown by the photographs. Water exposed to the electromagnetic field of a mobile phone, left sitting in front of a television for four hours, and water left sitting in front of a computer for four hours are some examples of different environments. The results are definitely thought-provoking.
In summary, although presented and written in a deceptively modest way, 'The Miracle of Water' is a real eye-opener and presents ideas that are thought-provoking. If you are interested in making a difference to not only yourself, but others as well (not to mention the world), then this is a must read for you.
The Perfectly True Tales of a Perfect Size 12 A Novel
Robin Gold
Plume Book
375 Hudson St New York, NY 10014
9780452288126 $13.00 www.penguin.com
Sharame Vodraska
Reviewer
Robin Gold's character Delilah White is fabulous and funny. Gold's book and Delilah show us the behind the scenes action involved with making a television show about domestic life, especially in New York! Some of Delilah's heroines are Mrs. Fields and Martha Stewart. Delilah White's sidekick Sophia Trawler helps her out of several scrapes throughout the book. The head of production on the TV show, Agnes, is going to resign. She announces that she is going to pick the next producer, Delilah or Margo. Margo becomes very competitive. Margo has always been jealous of Delilah's ease with Agnes but never saw her as a threat because of her size 12 stature. Margo begins to sabotage Delilah. However, Sophia happens to overhear Margo talking about how she is going to ruin Delilah's chances at the promotion. She decides to keep an eye on Margo during the Trawler annual 4th of July Celebration weekend.
Graffiti Girl
Kelly Parra
MTV/Pocket Books
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 13th fl., New York, NY 10020
9781416534617 $9.95 www.simonsays.com 1-800-223-2336
Summary: Angel Rodriguez wants to take her art further and the school's competition for painting a mural seems to be the place. Angel isn't selected as one of the three finalists, but finds herself torn between the good boy who was and the bad boy who should have been.
The Take-Away: I loved how Angel was positioned between the good kids and the bad kids. When Nathan Ramos -- the good guy -- and Miguel Badalin -- the bad boy -- both try to lure her into their own worlds of art, Angel has to make tough decisions about who she is and what she stands for. Her feelings of alienation from her mother and best friend force her to decide without guidance from those she cares about. Angel, in spite of her name, is one tough kid. Reading about her decision will captive the teen in us all.
One unique aspect of the title was the introductory lines to each chapter. Angel's intimate thoughts about her growing graffiti career give the reader insight to the slang used by graf artist as well as providing the reader with a sneak peek of what's to come in the chapter. They were probably my favorite part of the book. My recommendation: Get this one for the teenage girl in your life.
Afrika's Bookshelf
Women of a New Tribe: A Photographic Celebration Of The Black Woman
Jerry Taliaferro
Jerry Taliaferro Photography
9780979730900 $49.95 http://www.blackartphotoart.com
Five Stars Rating
The Women of a New Tribe project is a homage to the physical and spiritual beauty of the black women we see everyday. It is an attempt to see in a new light and in a new way an incredible group of women. For good reasons it has been called "powerful", "uplifting" and "long overdue". This book is more than a collection of photographs, it is an experience.
Women of a New Tribe is a spectacular, powerful, uplifting, dynamic and inspirational photographic exhibition about the beauty and representation of black women. I think that Mr. Jerry Taliaferro did an excellent job depicting black women and I was very fascinated by overall layout of the project. I think that this project is very essential and universal. It serves as a reminder of how black young women should be represented. I believe that some black women undermine the essence of themselves and leave themselves open to be called out of their gender.
Mr. Jerry Taliaferro meticulous usage and well crafted black and white photography, is very detailed and comprehensive. I believe that Women of a New Tribe is an excellent homage to many women who have stood before us! Congratulations on your project!
About the author: Mr. Jerry Taliaferro was born in the small southern town of Brownsville, Tennessee. After graduating high school in May 1972, he joined the Army. Almost a year later he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated four years later as a member of the Class of 1977. His real interest in photography began when he was posted to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for the Special Forces Officers Course in 1981. While serving in Germany, his interest photography continued to grow and in 1985 he was published for the first time when a Munich magazine purchased the rights to one of his images. After returning to the United States in the Summer of 1985, Mr. Taliaferro began doing assignments for advertising and design firms. In July 1988, he left the military and began his pursuit of a career in commercial photography. Over the ensuing years, his interest turned more to fine art photography. This change in direction has resulted in several projects and published pieces. His one-man exhibition Women Of A New Tribe premiered at the Afro-American Cultural Center in Charlotte NC on 14 June 2002 and is now a traveling exhibit. For additional information visit
Women of a New Tribe is available at amazon.com and Black Book Plus.
Black People: for Entertainment Purposes Only
W.Ivan Wright
Able Journey Press
9781934249468 $15.95
Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only, is a suspenseful fiction thriller that introduces seasoned characters and humorous dialogues to the reader. The main character, Jurney Swiftwood, has written a book whose title infers that the purpose of black people, is for America's entertainment. Jurney's book has placed him in the cross hairs of community dissension, media scrutiny and family angst. The outcry from an offended public has also placed an unsuspecting Jurney on the hit list of a politically controlled assassin. In the midst of his troubles, Jurney discovers that he is the father of a precious, yet abused nine-year-old girl! Situations and conversations present an entertaining vehicle that serves to remind all communities of the importance, and awesome power of perception.
Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only is Ivan Wright's first novella and in his book, Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only, he deals with many threads that African Americans experience. I believe that his main character was captured well and plot was very well depicted from the beginning to end. I believe that was caught my eye the most was the cover of the book, Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only. The cover says a lot and designed very well. Congratulations on your accomplishment and thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your book, Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only!
About the author: Ivan Wright was born and raised in Trenton, NJ where he attended Trenton's public school system. His affinity for the sciences led him to Indiana University of PA where he received his Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy.
Writing began for Ivan while in college and continued as a "serious hobby" for many years. His formalized literary work and fiction novel development began several years ago and has resulted in two novels: Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only (publication release April 2007) and Indentured Scholars: The Inner City Scandal (publication release September 2007).
Ivan's books deal dramatically and humorously with the many threads of the African American experience. His characters are rich in content and speak to the interests of the seasoned and introspective readers. Woven within the pages is the appreciation of human values that were once common pillars in all communities. Through "ancestral whisperings," we are reminded that love, family and acceptance, name us all.
Be it romance, suspense, violence or relationships, Ivan's novels will give the reader a chance to laugh, shiver, cry of just reminisce. Most of all, his stories will offer all an opportunity to continue the dialogue regarding our wondrously dynamic African American journey! For additional information about the author, visit www.ivanwright.com
Excerpts can be viewed at http://www.ablejourneypress.com/chapter_excerpt.html
Black People: For Entertainment Purposes Only is available at amazon.com, atlas bookstore, and www.ablejourneypress.com
Afrika Midnight Asha Abney
Reviewer
Andrew's Bookshelf
"I'm a Hero Too"
Jenny Sokol
Authorhouse
9781425989859 $12.49 www.authorhouse.com
"I'm a Hero Too" is a lovely little children's book written for the sons and daughters of our deployed Marines, Army, Navy, and AirForce. Jenny Sokol is the wife of a Marine and mother of two, so she knows the ups and downs of dealing with children during Dad's deployment.
Sokol's book is written simply and elegantly in a style that lends itself to being read to small children, or having an older (7+) child read it to him or herself. Her experience as a mother and writer is demonstrated as she'd done up the book in a picture-book style, which lends itself to easy and interesting reading.
But it's in the text that Mrs. Sokol's talent as a writer surfaces. She writes of how children feel as their father's leave on deployment, and she lets her young readers know that tears are OK. A child's feeling towards hearing news about "the war" and "terror attack's" on the television are also discussed, as are problems fitting in at school, as well as growing up when Dad is away fighting. Her text is simple enough that children of all ages will fully understand and appreciate the sentiments and problems that the book addresses, with the important result that the children realize that their private fears are actually shared by many others in their age group.
This is simply a lovely little book that should be given to the family of every one of our deployed warriors. Highly recommended.
Guiding the way from Middle Neebish
Edward T. Cook
Bookstand Publishing
9781589093621 $13.95 www.bookstandpublishing.com
This book should be 200 pages longer. Author Edward Cook has written a 48 page book on his grandfather's years as a lighthouse keeper on the Middle Neebish Lighthouse Station, on one of the Great Lakes. With minimal attention to detail, Cook recounts vignettes of his family's life on the island, along with some equally sparse details covering his father's schooling and growing up.
There are many excellent photos embedded in the text, which fortunately provide more detail and description to the book's era than does the large-print text. In view of the family photos Cook takes pains to include, one can only wish he'd made the same effort to describe his grandfather, his father, and their lives as lighthouse keepers during one of the most interesting times in the commercial history of the Great Lakes.
The Coveted Black and Gold
LTC J.D. Lock, USA, ret
Fenestra Books
1587363682 $31.95 www.fenestrabooks.com
It's not easy earning the coveted title "Ranger" and it's accompanying Ranger shoulder tab.
Author John Lock, a former Ranger, takes the reader on a 9-week journey through the hell of ranger training, where 5 hours is considered a good night's sleep, and 2 meals daily is appreciated, as opposed to expected.
LTC Lock wisely takes the time to explain the Ranger 'mystique' to the reader. The Rangers history began back in 1757, with Maj. Robert Roger's "Roger's Rangers" fighting in the French & Indian Wars. He traces their history through WW2, Korea, and Vietnam, although one wishes he'd done so in more detail.
But most of the book describes the nine-week Ranger training program, and how (then) Cadet Lock dealt with it. He describes the physical and mental stress to which the trainees were subjected, the 0400 timed runs in the Georgia humidity, the always sore muscles, trying to stay awake in class on 3 hours of sleep, and the knowledge that success or failure depended on mental toughness more than physical strength.
As one of the participants, Lock does an excellent job describing how difficult it is to complete the Ranger course, and why it is the most demanding of it's kind in the Army. He's able to explain how the Rangers channel this mental and physical toughness into the Army's elite fighting force, as well as parlay this success into their lives afterwards. For those readers who strive to succeed, or wish to become part of something bigger and more important than themselves – this is the book for you.
Mission Al-Jazeera
Josh Rushing
Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
9781403979056 $24.95 www.palgrave-usa.com 1-888-330-8477
With America losing the information and public relations war around the world today, "Mission al-Jazeera" is a fascinating and timely book that should be required reading by the many Administration Public Affairs and press secretary's.
Author Josh Rushing first came to the public's attention in the award-winning documentary "Control Room." He was the young Marine Lieutenant Public Affairs Officer dealing with upstart Arabic television station Al-Jazeera in early days of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Using these exciting days at Centcom's headquarters in Qatar, Rushing's book has two main themes interwoven throughout the story.
The first theme is how important it is to use media properly in order to influence international public opinion; or at least to fight the international media war to a draw.
Assigned as the Al-Jazeera liaison because all his senior officers preferred to deal with the western heavyweights like ABC, NBC, and the BBC, Rushing was notable for his even-handed views of the war, and his foresight in realizing that positive and honest media relations might be the key to "spreading the word" into the Arab world. Unfortunately the senior leadership did not share these same view and Rushing describes how Centcom's lack of interest in dealing with the various Arab media organizations hurt the United State's efforts to "sell the war" to the Arab world. He explains in detail how marginalizing Arab media only serves to diminish American influence in the Middle East. Western concepts of strength are too easily construed in the Arab world as humiliation, and that pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers can also viewed as pictures of dead relatives – which lead to still-occurring consequences.
Author Rushing also begins to discuss the relationship between the military and the media. On a strategic level, both sides need each other; the military has a story to 'sell', and at the same time the media needs a story to 'buy." But it's on the tactical level that Rushing begins to tell the story as he discusses the media's infatuation with the military and how the Administration was able to use their softball-style of reporting to it's best advantage.
Finally, Rushing describes Al-Jazeera Television and it's role in the world today. With offices in most major international cities, and distribution throughout most countries except the United States ( including such western bastions as England, Germany, and Israel ), Al-Jazeera English is part of a multi-media organization that includes a children's channel, several sports channels, a documentary channel, and a C-SPAN-like channel that focuses on debates and current events.
Written in an informal, yet informative style, Josh Rushing digs into his background of Texan, with 14 years in the Marine Corps, as he discusses covering a war from both the Arab and American point of view. Rushing has produced an invaluable book on the importance of dealing with international media, instead of just chatting with the TV folks from your hometown.
Andrew Lubin
Reviewer
Anthony's Bookshelf
Hillary
Dr. Thomas Moore
Alphar Publishing
130 Church Street, #413, New York, NY 10007
0978602404, $16.95 www.alpharpublish.com
Hillary Clinton becomes President after befriending Gena, the granddaughter of the man who first blows the whistle on government deceit. Gena is a prostitute who marries an aristocratic gypsy engineer and publisher, Tony, who has been bribed to vilify Hillary, vilifying her so as to corrupt her presidential bid. But Tony discovers a different and insidious corruption that is rampant.
"Hillary could declassify national secrets. I want you to produce a Hillary book that will destroy her credibility. Democracy is too fragile a flower to risk in the hands of a woman, especially a woman who is a bitch."
Dr. Moore reveals why there is no secret that will not be exposed. He writes sparse and spine-tingling prose with an eye for character and detail.
Wanderlost
Ben Olson
Alphar Publishing
130 Church Street, #413, New York, NY 10007
0978602412, $19.95 www.alpharpublish.com
"WANDERLOST" by non-generation author BEN OLSON is a fast journey across America, on the rails, which records what happens beneath the cracks. Here is a straight shooting voice who speaks to those disenchanted readers under twenty-five, and who is destined for an impact in American literary circles.
"The book is a backlash to this dumb culture taken over by a crassness of people who are all passionately apathetic," says Ben, a young prophet howling at the American landscape. "Stealing a handful of napkins and a pen from the cocktail waitress when inspiration hits is more real, more organic, therefore more important...."
Finding himself flat broke, ten miles from the nearest town, at 1:30 a.m., after bailing on the truckers, it was time to go home. "I knew that was the climax. It was the weirdest it could get, and the best it could get."
During his trip, he found old friends, partied like only someone in their twenties can, and moved on. "There's something about the motion that gets my mind in gear. It never matters where I'm going, or what for, it's just the idea that I'm on the move. It helps because it quiets down the restless urge I always get when bored and jaded in one place."
Ben Olson has an unerring eye and penetrating gaze, but also has too tight a hold on story, and a disdain for romance... perhaps even for modern human relationship.
Anthony Chaytor
Reviewer
Bethany's Bookshelf
Celebrate Italian Style
Jacqueline Miconi
AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
9781434307385, $16.95 www.authorhouse.com 1-800-839-8640
A third generation Italian American, cookbook author Jacqueline Miconi draws upon years of personal experience and expertise with home-made Italian cuisine to compile the recipes in "Celebrate Italian Style". The authentic Italian dishes are combined with colorful anecdotes of her life, family and friends, along with more than one hundred photographs. The result is a wonderful book to browse through and to cook from. The recipes range from Italian Wedding Soup; Pepperoni Pinwheels; and Portabello Mushroom Sandwiches; to Italian Steak & Cheese Subs; Fusilli with Fried Zucchini & Sausage; and Fried Baccala. Also available in a hardcover edition (9781434307378, $22.95), "Celebrate... Italian Style" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal and community library ethnic cookbook collections.
A Thief of Strings
Donald Revell
Alice James Books
238 Main Street, Farmington, Maine 04938
9781882295616, $14.95 www.alicejamesbooks.org
Award-winning poet, translator and critic Donald Revell presents A Thief of Strings, his tenth collection of poetry. The brief, free-verse poems revolve around humankind's apparent liberation from conscience, with potentially earth-shattering results. At times a lament for man's inhumanity to man, at times an inquiry as to whether consciousness itself is drifting away, A Thief of Strings compels the reader with its visceral evocation of raw sentiment. "The Wisdoms": What happened? I was one / Gladly suffered the believing I am I. / A cut tree weeps a stream of ants from its wounds. / Not two feet away, sage and verbena thrive / In a cascade of blue differences / Over the lizards and dirt. / La di da. To matter to me, / Time was, a man or woman had to love me. / That was America / That was a chief concern. / What happened is my eyes have no color. / I love the way a flower steps away / From a dead tree. / Broken glass is alive too, / In the colors. In them, I was a republic."
My Feet Aren't Ugly
Debra Beck
Beaufort Books
c/o Maryglenn McCombs
2817 West End Avenue, Suite 126-274, Nashville, TN 37203
9780825305429, $12.95 www.beaufortbooks.com
Author Debra Beck shares her experience in serving as a mentor to teenaged girls in My Feet Aren't Ugly: A Girl's Guide To Loving Herself From The Inside Out, a self-help and self-esteem guide written especially for young women. Chapters cover choosing friends that treat a girl right; looking after one's physical health by eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep; the problems of drug abuse and teen suicide; the heavy price one pays for engaging in sex; and much more. "Is there a price to pay [for sex]?? YES!!! Pregnancy or getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), having to tell the man you love and want to marry that you have had many sexual partners, that you have a sexually transmitted disease that he is going to get, and that you'll both have it for the rest of your lives! And then there's living with an STD. Absolutely there is a price to pay. Sexuality is big! It is such an important link to our self-esteem." A handful of black-and-white illustrations, as well as "think it over and journal" sections where girls can write down their thoughts on blank lines round out this helpful and encouraging guide.
Playwright and musician Lizann Bassham presents Barefoot, a novel for all ages about a young girl, only seven years old in 1963 when her mother dies in a freak accident and her father sends her to be raised by her grandmother in a backwoods, mountain community of northern California. A coming-of-age novel of family secrets, surviving in hard times, and the young protagonist's search for the answer to her question: "Is it possible to do something really terrible and not get abandoned by your family?" Gradually, she learns that abandonment has happened to other family and friends she knows and trusts. Ultimately a novel of building spirit, hope, and character in a supportive community, Barefoot is particularly ideal for young adult reading lists, junior high and high school libraries, and classroom study, concluding with thirteen questions for discussion such as "Several characters exhibit different kinds of prejudice, what are they? There are also incidences of acceptance and tolerance, what are they?"
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Betty's Bookshelf
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral.
Myra Cohn Livingston.
HarperCollins Children's Books
10 E. 53rd St., New York, NY 10022
0060230088 $13.89 http://harpercollins.com
This collection of poetry for children contains fifty poems divided into three chapters, which give the book its name. The poems themselves feature the small things in life that often only children really notice: insects, seeds, toys, dust motes, a puff of winter-frosted breath. It also includes a table of contents, an index of authors and translators, an index of first lines, and an acknowledgment list (which comes in handy if a reader wants to know which book a particular poem came from). It is currently out of print, but it would be worthwhile to find a used
copy for your favorite little poetry lover.
Livingston herself is a fine poet, but you'll have to take my word for it, since she only includes one of her own poems here, "Trees: The Seeds", in the Vegetable chapter. However, she also has a good eye for the poetry of other writers and cultures, from Langston Hughes and Arnold
Adoff to Carmen Bernos de Gasztold and William Shakespeare.
I'd have made a few changes myself (including choosing a different poem from de Gasztold's Prayers from the Ark), but overall she did a nice job. I especially liked the Chippewa poem "To a Firefly" that calls its subject a "flitting white-fire insect", Felice Holman's "Oriental Poppy"
that compares a poppy petal to Japanese origami and William Sharp's "The Wasp", which includes these lines: "Yellow and black, this tiny thing's a tiger soul on elfin wings".
Hundred-Dollar Baby
Robert B. Parker
G. P. Putnam's Sons
Penguin Group, USA
375 Hudson Atreet, New York, NY 10014
0399153754 $24.95 http://www.penguin.com
When April Kyle walks into Spenser's office, he doesn't even recognize her. In his mind, she's still the teenage runaway he rescued from sexual slavery (in Parker's book Ceremony) and sent to a high class New York City bordello to be cared for by a madam friend of his. He hasn't even
seen her since saving her again a few years later from a lover gone bad (Taming a Sea-Horse).
But here she is, in his office, and despite the new maturity, the high class looks, and the new job – madam of a franchised house in Boston – things haven't changed much. She's in trouble again. It's hard for her to tell Spenser (her hero) that she needs help again, but once she does, he
and Hawk jump in feet-first to bail her out. Pro bono, at that.
However, as time passes, it becomes obvious that April (and probably everyone else involved in the case) is lying to Spenser. Guessing at and digging for the truth, dodging thugs trying to kill him, traveling back and forth between New York City and Boston, and getting psychiatrist
girlfriend Susan's input on what may be going on is taking up all Spenser's time. Can he shake the truth loose in time to save April from her enemies? Or, in the end, is she her own worst enemy?
Once again, Robert B. Parker has hit one out of the park. Spenser, Hawk, Susan, and the other characters that inhabit the pages of the Spenser series live and breathe, quip and curse, and laugh and cry, while making any suspension of reality totally unnecessary. A reader could almost
believe that if she went to Boston and looked in the phone book, she could place her troubles in Spenser's capable white knight hands, as April does in Hundred-Dollar Baby.
If she did, though, she should not forget one important fact: Spenser won't quit until the case is solved, no matter who or what gets in the way. Even if the obstacle is his client.
Betty Winslow
Reviewer
Bob's Bookshelf
Ocean Titans: Journeys in Search of the Soul of a Ship
Daniel Sekulich
Lyons Press
P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9781599210384 $24.95 www.GlobePequot.com (800) 962-0973
Anyone who is fascinated by merchant ships will find Daniel Sekulich's "Ocean Titans: Journeys in Search of the Soul of a Ship" riveting read. As he delves into the world of container ships and bulk carriers, the author travels to the massive shipyards in Korea where the vessels are created, a boardroom of wealthy ship owner, and the Indian graveyard where obsolete ships are broken up for scrap.
Along the way Seklulich shares the trips he took on various cargo ships and his numerous interviews with crew members. As he seeks to understand the ageless appeal of ships and the sea, the Canadian writer tries to answer a single question, "Does a ship have a soul?" He gets some interesting responses from the men and women he meets but I'll let him share the general consensus of the maritime community on whether or not these seagoing behemoths are more than just a mass of steel and cutting edge technology.
With plenty of facts and anecdotes, "Ocean Titans" offers a highly entertaining account of life aboard the ships that supply us with so much of what we use today. The only downside to this very readable volume is that it would have been even more enjoyable if more photos would have been included to flesh out the author's narrative.
It
Joseph Roach
University of Michigan Press
839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209
9780472069361 $19.95 www.press.umich.edu (734) 764-4388
In "It" Professor Joseph Roach investigates the genesis of that hard-to-define quality possessed by abnormally interesting people.
Roach traces the origins of "It" back to the period following the Restoration, persuasively linking the sex appeal of today's celebrity figures with the attraction of those who lived centuries before.
From King Charles II, Flo Ziegfeld, and Clara Bow, the famous "It Girl" of film, to Johnny Depp, and Lady Diana, this engrossing study crisscrosses centuries and continents with a deep playfulness that entertains and enlightens.
Roach writes that "It" is the power of apparently effortless embodiment of contradictory qualities simultaneously: strength and vulnerability, innocence and experience, and singularity and typicality among them. He continues, "The possessor of It keeps a precarious balance between such mutually exclusive alternatives, suspended at the tipping point like a tightrope dancer on one foot; and the empathic tension of waiting for the inevitable fall makes for a breathless spectatorship."
Although he can sometimes be a bit pedantic, overall Roach keeps the tone light enough that most readers won't mind these occasional lapses.
Bob Walch
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
How to Win Every Interview!
Raymond B. Bogardus
Publish America
PO Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705-0151
TCI Smith Publicity
532 Old Marlton Pike, Suite 154, Marlton, NJ 08052-2075
9781424133628, $14.95 www.smithpublicity.com publishamerica.com
Author Raymond B. Bogardus draws upon his 36 years of professional experience as an executive, interviewer, and successful job applicant in How to Win Every Interview!, a step-by-step guide to putting on a winning performance in the interview process. Chapters walk the reader through essential preparations before the interview, how to handle oneself on the big day, proper etiquette for interview follow up, and much more. "Don't leave a single person you talk with without reminding them that you really hope that you have the opportunity to work with them and that you are sure you will be successful in the job... Then, thank them for their time and that you have thoroughly enjoyed your conversation. Then, leave! Don't dawdle and make small talk! Don't ruin the great impression your thoughtful answers have created by making a mistake at the last minute." An absolute "must-have" for anyone in the modern job market.
The Gods of Business
Todd Albertson, MBA, Ph.D.
Trinity Alumni Press
Lulu Press
860 Aviation Parkway, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560
9780615138008, $19.95 www.lulu.com www.trinityalumni.org
Written by international business expert Todd Albertson, MBA, Ph.D., The Gods of Business: The Intersection of Faith and the Marketplace is a very straightforward introduction to the basic guiding principles of the world's major religions (Confucianism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Secular Postmodernism) and how those principles affect individual adherents, particularly in the realms of commerce and ethics. The Gods of Business spells out the a condensed yet balanced portrayal of each faith in plain terms, immediately accessible to lay readers, and is enthusiastically recommended for anyone preparing to embark upon business ventures among those of different faiths, or simply seeking to quickly grasp a better understanding of how religious diversity shapes different culture's worldviews. "Jewish ethics are summed up in the Ten Commandments and in the philosophy of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' The latter sounds harsh today, but it was an enormous advance on the take-no-prisoners ethics of the societies that surrounded the Jewish people in the days of Moses. The non-Jewish principle of the time was a life for an eye, and if I cannot kill you, I will get a member of your family. This was the whole basis of feuding, which was widespread even in the West until recent history." A 'must-have' primer for anyone unfamiliar with basic tenets of world religions in today's era of globalization.
The Spirituality Of Bread
Donna Sinclair
Northstone
9590 Jim Bailey Road, Kelowna, BC, Canada, V4V 1R2
9781896836850, $34.00 www.northstone.com
"The Spirituality Of Bread" by Donna Sinclair is a superbly illustrated and deftly written multi-cultural history of bread -- why we make it, how it is made, the memories, concepts and iconic associations we have with bread ranging from the mythology of Demeter (the Hellenic goddess of grain) to Jesus and its metaphysical meaning to Christians. Inspired and inspiring, thoughtful and thought-provoking, as engaging as it is entertaining, "The Spirituality Of Bread" is a unique and highly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library collections.
Friends on the Farm
Ruth I. Ufkes
Vantage Press Inc.
419 Park Avenue South, 18th floor, New York, NY 10016
9780533154395, $8.95 1-212-736-1767
Friends on the Farm is the true-life memoir of author Ruth I. Ufkes, who grew up working on an Illinois farm in town of only 4,000 people. From the cat, dog, and horse that were her childhood friends, to education in a one-room schoolhouse, to learning to distinguish "town" girls from "city" girls, and the excitement of her first big trip away from home, Friends on the Farm is a heart-touching tale sure to resonate with animal lovers everywhere. Highly recommended.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
The Upside-Down Year
Marc C. Crump
Round Top Publications
11125 Old Woods Rd., Cloverdale, OR 097112
9780977316809, $18.81 www.oregoncoast.com/marccrump
The debut western novel of equine, firearm, and Old West enthusiast Marc C. Crump, The Upside-Down Year is an action-packed saga set in the late 1800's. A classic struggle of good versus evil unfolds in a time and place when life could be as cheap as the cost of a single bullet. Enthusiastically recommended, The Upside-Down Year is an adventure written by a Western fan, for Western fans, and piles the excitement high to the very last page.
You've Got Male
Bari Auerbach
Kelly & Hall Publicity
5 Briar Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945
9781598007213, $9.95 www.kellyandhall.com
Journalist and mother of two Bari Auerbach presents You've Got Male: On-Line Dating Exposed, an anthology of real e-mails from supposed men in cyberspace. From misspellings to ridiculous promises to the rare uplifting or flirtatious email that can make a gal's day, You've Got Male explores the gamut along with helpful tips and tricks for online dating. "Help! The MILF hunter is after me!! (MILF stands for 'Mothers I'd Like to... you can figure out the rest!) Even though Demi and Ashton have made it somewhat more mainstream for older women to be with younger men, I think it's probably safe to say that the majority of under-30 guys are mostly oversexed and not overly into having intellectually stimulating conversations. I've also received countless messages from men my age who look 20 years older - or actually do qualify for the senior citizen movie ticket!" From sexist emails to narcissism-clogged "all about me" emails to emails with ludicrous questions ("Didn't I see you on bay watch or should I say babe watch?") and much more, You've Got Male is sure to bring a smile to the face of any woman who has perused the online dating scene.
A Farm In The Firelands Of Ohio
Dayton A. Williams
Next Friend Press
12699 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106-3332
0974793701, $19.95 1-216-225-1829
"A Farm In The Firelands Of Ohio: Memories Of The Post-Civil War Period" is a fascinating and informative of what it was like to grow up on a family farm in Lyme Township, Huron county, Ohio. Dayton A. Williams was born in 1874, graduated in 1899 from Kenyon college (where he captained the last football team to beat Ohio State) and then some fifty years after he left the family farm, wrote a series of letters which included essays on Decoration Day at the country church and on Christmas celebrations at the church in town. Here are personal memories of peddlers, tramps, boyhood inventions for easing farm work, descriptions of the farm machinery of yesteryear mid-America, and even a quiz for readers to test themselves on their knowledge of the 'farmer business'. Deftly edited by Dayton Williams grandniece Anne Southworth McFarland (who began her own correspondence with Dayton when she was child on the farm with a pony and grew up to become a law librarian and author), "A Farm In The Firelands Of Ohio" is a superbly presented and engaging memoir that is as entertaining as it is thoughtful in presenting life on a typical Ohio farm in the latter part of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. As original source material, "A Farm In The Firelands Of Ohio" will prove to be of especial interest to both scholarship and non-special general readers with an interest in American History.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Carson's Bookshelf
Simple Signing With Young Children
Carol Garboden Murray
Gryphon House
PO Box 207, Beltsville, MD 20704
9780876590331, $24.95 www.ghbooks.com 1-800-638-0928
In "Simple Signing With Young Children: A Guide For Infant, Toddler, And Preschool Teachers", preschool teacher, special education instructor, early interventionist, parent educator, nursery school and childcare director, and sing language workshop presenter Carol Garboden Murray draws upon her more than 17 years of experience and expertise to write a thoroughly 'user friendly' instruction manual for parents, teachers, and care-givers to teach very young children how to communicate through sign language. Detailed photographs aptly demonstrate how to execute each sign while written directions provide a methodical and step-by-step guide for educators and parents. Comprehensive, authoritative, and superbly organized, "Simple Signing With Young Children" is the ideal introductory instruction manual and very highly recommended for anyone having to teach sign language to very young children at home, in a daycare center, or a community preschool program.
Everyday Herbs In Spiritual Life
Michael J. Caduto
Skylight Paths Publishing
Sunset Farms Offices, Route 4
PO Box 237, Woodstock, VT 05091
9781594731747, $16.99 www.skylightpaths.com 1-800-962-4544
The use of herbs has been an integral part of religious and spiritual practices since the dawn of recorded time. Herbs have been part of rituals and ceremonies for Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Native Americans, and aborigines around the world. Expertly written and illustrated by author, storyteller, educator, and ecologist Michael J. Caduto, "Everyday Herbs In Spiritual Life: A Guide To Many Practices" is presents information on herbs with respect to their medicinal, purification, and celebratory uses; the aesthetic and symbolic uses; their holy day and holiday usage; and their usage with respect to memorials, bereavement, weddings, and blessings. Of special note are the sections on herbs with respect to 'Cosmic Herbals', 'Reflection and Meditation', and 'The Practical Realm'. Enhanced with an informative foreword by experienced herbalist Rosemary Gladstar; a list of sources for herbs, seeds, and herbal supplies; a glossary and an index of herbs and flowers; a list of herbs for healing, aesthetics, giving thanks, in celebration of the 'Circle of Life'; cosmic herbs flowers and fruits; as well as herbs for meditation and reflection, "Everyday Herbs In Spiritual Life" is an enthusiastically recommended and thoroughly 'reader friendly' addition for personal, professional, academic, and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
In an Elevator with Brigitte Bardot and Other Appreciations
Michael Lee
Wordcraft of Oregon, LLC
PO Box 3235, La Grande, OR 97850
1877655503, $15.00 www.wordcraftoforegon.com
Marine Corps veteran and experienced journalist Michael Lee presents In an Elevator with Brigitte Bardot and Other Appreciations, a selection of essays interspersed with humor, memories, searing personal insights into daily life in Cape Cod. "Great poetry can be change-your-life stuff. Or sometimes it's just change your pants stuff. But then the next Bill Collins gets up there, living out loud and dragging poetry, kicking and screaming, onto the actuality of the blank page. Then you can't help but get excited about poetry." Each essay is only a few pages long, yet each strikes the heart of its topic with a deft flick of the wrist. A treasury to savor a bit at a time, or all at once.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Christy's Bookshelf
Brother Odd
Dean Koontz
Bantam Books/Random House
9780553804805 $27.00 www.randomhouse.com
Odd Thomas sees dead people. Although they are unable to communicate with him verbally, he feels it his duty to help them resolve their reasons for staying in this world so they can move on to the next. Odd has taken refuge at St. Bartholomew's Abbey in California's High Sierra Mountains, where he hopes to find peace among the monks and nuns that reside there, caring for children who suffer from physical and mental disabilities. Having never seen snow before, Odd is intrigued when a snowstorm is predicted for the mountains. While staring out the window, waiting for the snow, he spies an inhuman creature outside the abbey. When he goes outside to investigate, he stumbles over the inert body of one of the priests but is knocked unconscious before he can help the man. The next morning, the priest has disappeared and his body is nowhere to be found. To add to Odd's anxiety, bodachs—evil spirits that foreshadow carnage and the bloodier the better—are crawling all over the abbey. When the snowstorm hits, it quickly becomes a squall, and Odd, the monks and the nuns find themselves engaged in a fierce battle to save the children from a deranged scientist and the evil creatures he has created.
Odd Thomas is an interesting character with an ancient spirit and witty sense of humor. The series started with a bang, seemed to lag with the second book, but is now gaining momentum. Odd is strong enough to carry forward through many more sequels, and Koontz's talent as a storyteller, along with his creative imagination, will continue to ensure he remains on the bestseller lists.
Lisey's Story
Stephen King
Scribner
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
9780743289412 $28.00
Two years after the death of her husband, celebrated author Scott Landon, Lisa (Lisey) Landon finally faces the challenge of cleaning out Scott's study. While doing so, she is forced to face memories of their life together in this world and in another, alternate world Scott would retreat to from time to time, a place he called Boo'ya Moon. During this time, Lisey resists pressure from a professor to donate Scott's papers to his university's library. She cannot be bothered with this; her sister Amanda has gone into a catatonic state over the marriage of her boyfriend to another woman and Lisey needs to find a health care facility for her. Lisey receives a phone call from a man calling himself Jim Dooley, warning her that if she does not donate the papers, he will hurt her. Although Lisey ignores the threat, she soon finds Dooley in Scott's study, where he physically assaults and mutilates her. Recalling Scott's healing trips to Boo'ya Moon, Lisey goes there to mend herself. When she returns, she knows where she needs to take Amanda to cure her mental illness and where Jim Dooley must die.
This lengthy story transits from the past to the present and back to the past again, in an entertaining way that keeps the reader engaged and eager for more. Lisey is a strong woman mourning her husband's death who finds herself not only caretaker of her sister Amanda but also the person her family turns to in times of crisis. Reminiscent of King's earlier works, Lisey's Story is an electrifying read, with in-depth characterization and a plot that demands the reader's constant attention.
The Devil's Racket
Tom Wallace
Salvo Press
Portland, Oregon
1930486677 $16.95 www.salvopress.com
Homicide detective Jack Dantzler has a perfect solve rate with the Lexington, Kentucky police department. His secret: Dantzler prides himself on outsmarting the criminals he's after. But his ideal record is threatened when an evil darkness comes to Lexington, the likes of which Dantzler and his partners have never encountered.
When a woman and two of her three daughters are brutally slain, Dantzler is not only puzzled but also angry. He knew the woman and her daughters and can think of no reason why these three would be slaughtered so senselessly. Dantzler's investigation leads him to New York and back to a horse farm in Lexington, where young women are disappearing. What Dantzler uncovers during his investigation is evil incarnate that puts his own life in danger, as well as his friends and other investigators.
The Devil's Racket is a chilling thriller, packed with breath-taking suspense. The gritty, fast-paced plot holds the reader's interest from the first page to the last. Dantzler is an engaging character, a talented tennis player with a genius IQ whose investigative techniques are infallible. His developing relationship with detective Laurie Dunn adds a warm touch to a disturbing, albeit galvanizing, storyline.
Trouble
Jesse Kellerman
G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group
9780399154034 $24.95 www.penguin.com
Medical student Jonah Stem works more hours than not, but accepts this as his fate, as he is determined to become a doctor, regardless of the sacrifices. One night, Jonah stumbles across a murder-in-progress and steps into the midst of a knife battle between a man and woman. In an effort to protect the injured woman, Jonah kills the knife-welding man. When Eve, the woman he saved, shows up at his apartment to thank him, things between the two of them quickly spiral out of control and they become involved in an intense sexual relationship. However, Eve's sadistic tendencies and increasing pressure for a masochistic lover are discomfiting to Jonah. When he tries to break off their relationship, Eve begins to stalk him outside his apartment, at the hospital where he works, and at his parents' house. Jonah obtains a restraining order against Eve, which motivates her to send to him a video clip that proves this mentally deranged, manipulative woman is a force to be reckoned with.
Kellerman's unique, schizophrenic writing style and confusing similes, along with the subject matter he addresses, make this familiar story a somewhat difficult read and one some readers may find disturbing. Jonah comes across as an immature, naïve man who is weak and ineffectual and can't seem to stand up for himself to anyone. Eve is portrayed as evil and narcissistic, a much stronger character than her counterpart Jonah. The ending seemed a bit implausible and hurried.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Clay's Bookshelf
The Ghost on the Brooklyn Bridge
David Fango
Publish America
111 E Church St Frederick, MD 21701
9781413795561 $19.95 www.publishamerica.com
Debby and Sue our two female heroines looking for fun on Halloween night disguise themselves as men to go out on the town to see what adventures they will find. Rich, smart, mathematicians taking a break after college graduation and before entering the "real" world. Little did they know how far disguising like men would take them. They dance out arm in arm quoting from their favorite poet Emily Dickerson "A little madness in spring/ Is wholesome even for the King".
Their fun leads them to a bar where the participants seem to be leftovers from the seventies the bodyguard/owner at the door has purple hair going by the name of Cool Dude selling far out glasses that at first claims to have made which to enter the club you must buy. Turns out some Wiccan witch had made them as Cool Dude admits he's not that creative. The girls/guys asked how they see into the astral plane and Cool Dude replies that when the time comes they will see, as our heroines enter attempting to look through the world through their spirit glasses.
While this is going on we have Robert who has inherited a grand fortune from the deaths of his parents. Robert has chosen on this Halloween night to dress in 19th century garb, cape and all to pass out money, paying people to allow him to smash a pie in their faces. Robert is extremely depressed and so is going from bar to bar to play out his grand fun. As he only seems happy smashing pies in unsuspecting faces with these antics provides plenty of humor. Needless to say he has been kicked out of several places as he is on his pie smashing spree. In one place he comes across two strippers and pays them to wear seventeenth century Spanish maid of honor costumes, and carry his pies on trays as they go from place to place.
Robert is a member of a men's only suicide club that caters to emotionally disturbed men that glorifies the drug culture and dead musicians who have died of drug overdoses of the sixties and seventies and plays the "Grateful Dead" music with the philosophy of "it's great to be dead" where he has decided to spend the rest of his inheritance in order to finish his life in a grand suicide.
Finally Robert meets up with our girls/guys and Sue feels she must save poor Robert's life and so they agree to join the suicide club. Debby meets a fellow mathematician that she falls for and feels he must be saved too. So our girls/guys-heroines set out on a mission to save the emotionally disturbed men. But how far are they really willing to go…..
Will love be found and lives saved? Just who is the ghost of the Brooklyn Bridge? And what role does Emily Dickerson and the spirit glasses play in all of this? So if you enjoy mystery, science fiction, fantasy, poetry and the philosophical side of life than enter into the dark side of the drug scene and read this cleverly written twist of an anti-drug culture tale.
The ghost on the Brooklyn Bridge is an amazing tale of what drugs will lead to- "an end of all dreams", an excellent anti-drug message. The author David Frango does an amazing job with this descriptive tale as the characters and scenes come alive in excellent word picture form. This fiction novel is based upon the death of a classmate of David Frango's and two female mathematician students, graduates of the University of Arizona who team together to write this memorial tribute to their friend. The novel is written in a modern style of nineteen century literature that this reviewer found refreshing. Also really great is the tie in of some awesome poetry from Emily Dickerson to T.S. Eliot. An awesome teaching tool and must read for all mature teenagers, young adults and adults. You won't want to put this page turner down wondering what is to happen next and ponder upon the philosophical and metaphorical teachings this tale holds.
The book is a print-on-demand but is available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million and through the publisher Publish America. But wherever you find it don't pass this one by!
The Quantum Enzyme Code: The Woman Who Discovered the Cure for Aids Or Harmonic Synthesis
David Frango
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Rd Suite 100 Lincoln, NE 68512
9780595393817 $29.95 www.iuniverse.com
The year 2020; bold, confidant twelve year old Dianna Utterson learns of science and math at her Uncle John's knee. She towers over her fellow students but doesn't mind the teasing for she has a gentle heart and sweet spirit. Loner, child prodigy, genius, member of GTS (Gifted Talented Students), confidant enough to notify her science teacher she would make amino acids align themselves into a perfect protein. Actually what she does is create a protein using musical synthesis, during this same time her Uncle John dies of aids. Determined twelve year old Dianna Utterson prays that some day she would find the cure for aids.
The year is 2033 and Dianna is attending Charles Carroll University. The University has given her the space, equipment and assistants and notably Sarah Hamilton studying for her PhD just like Utterson, to develop her cure for aids. She meets Ben Cashman; rich, arrogant and determined to steal the cure for his future pharmaceutical company. He's attending Thomas Jefferson University on his way to be a M.D. Jealousy and power drive him but at the same time loves Dianna but she just sees him as a lost soul needing spiritual help – or does she…..
But hold on that's just the beginning! The storyline in it's self is amazing but the complexity of the uniting of math, science and music is outstanding. If you hold a fascination for math and science this is a must read. But even if you are not like this reviewer you will be captivated by the storyline and information. Don't be intimated if not into math and science for there is something here for everyone as this book contains romance, science, thriller and intrigue. So many subplots and even religious complications between the Vatican, Pythagoreans and Papists is intriguing, A definite read for high school, college students and those in advanced studies in the math and science fields for the extreme detail of information this novel holds. This book reads more like a biography than a fiction novel and you'll find yourself even learning a thing or two along the way.
This amazing tale is the second novel by the author David Frango with the first being "The Ghost on Brooklyn Bridge" which is also an excellent read. "The Quantum Enzyme Code ", has already won an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction category from ForeWord Magazine (reviewer of independently published books), proves this to be a timeless tale that teaches an appreciation of science and the secrets it holds. With two excellent books this reviewer feels David Frango is someone to watch to see what is next from this extremely talented author.
Taking Woodstock
Elliot Tiber with Tom Monte
SquareOne Publishers
115 Herricks Rd Garden City Park, New York 1104
9780757002939 $24.95 www.squareonepublishers.com
Born Eliyahu Teichberg, poor Elli struggles to break what he calls the “Teichberg Curse” and changes his name to Elliot Tiber—hoping that would break the curse. Always on the brink of financial ruin and trying to hide his deepest secret, he dreams of the miracle that would change his life.
In 1969, he got that miracle. Manager of his Jewish parents' failing resort hotel El Monaco in White Lake, New York on the weekends, Elliot runs during the week to Greenwich Village where he can live the life he chooses as an interior designer and meeting the likes of Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Robert Mapplethorpe—all the while keeping his gay life a secret from his family. That is, until June 28, 1969, when he finds himself at the Stonewall Inn and the famous "Stonewall Riot" that would revolutionize the gay culture breaks out. With a newfound boldness, he finds out in July that the town of Wallkill has revoked the permit for the Woodstock festival. So he contacts Mike Lang, the concert’s promoter, to offer his 15 acres for the concert. While Elliot hopes this is the miracle he has been waiting for, Mike Lang and his entourage arrive by helicopter but they end up feeling that the swampland of his resort hotel won't work for the concert. Tiber assures Lang and company that, since he has been the president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce and has held a concert and art show for the past few years, he can get the necessary concert permit. Quickly, he calls his good friend Max Yasgur—who supports everything Elli does and only lives four miles up the road—and asks him to hold the concert. Elli explains to Mike that Max has a dairy farm on a hundred acres—more than enough to hold a concert. Arrangements are made and, before he knows it, Elli is caught up in the magic that will change his life forever. He is introduced to the hippie scene where everyone is accepted no matter who or what you are and learns he can love himself.
Whoa! Totally awesome and even far out and groovy! This book is absolutely amazing! This reviewer couldn’t put it down—in fact, read it twice before writing this review. If you’ve ever dreamed of being at Woodstock or even if you were there, the author Elliot Tiber will take you back. The Sixties will come alive and you won’t want the trip to end! But that is only part of the story, as Elliot takes you through the time of his troubled past and describes in perfect word pictures the struggles of his secret life, his childhood, the insanity of running the hotel resort, and dealing with bigoted locals who persecute him because of his Jewish heritage. In the end, you’ll feel you know everyone and that you were there, too.
See Woodstock through the eyes of someone who lived it, who helped bring it to life – you’ll never look at this period of history the same again. Don’t pass this one by, as this autobiography guarantees to be one of the best reads of 2007 and is to be released just in time for the media's annual August remembrance of that great music festival. Also an awesome unique feature that this reviewer really likes is the reversible dust jacket—one side conservative, the other psychedelic. This feature, according to Square One’s publisher Rudy Shur in Publishers Weekly, represents “The notion of duality [that] has been a central theme throughout Elliot’s life, and we wanted the book to represent that notion of difference in a very direct and colorful way." So whichever trip you decide to take, this is one you’ll never forget.
Cheri Clay
Reviewer
Debra's Bookshelf
Skulduggery Pleasant
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
9780061231155 $17.99
After 12-year-old Stephanie Edgley inherits her uncle's estate she discovers that the eccentric author who doted on her had a lot more going on in his life than she could have imagined. As it turns out, the novels Gordon Edgley wrote about "horrible monsters and scary stuff and bad people doing worse things" were based largely on his own real-life experiences. Alone in Gordon's house, Stephanie is suddenly and violently introduced to the world he wrote about, and saved, not for the last time, by Gordon's old friend Skulduggery Pleasant. Skulduggery is a skeleton who manages to look less conspicuous when the situation requires by wrapping himself up, Invisible Man-like, in a coat and scarf, a frizzy wig and wide- brimmed hat. He is also a detective, investigating transgressions in the magical world he inhabits, and Stephanie becomes in due course his assistant. Dangerous adventures ensue, with nothing less than the fate of the world at stake.
Skulduggery Pleasant is the first in a new series featuring Stephanie and the skeletal detective. It's easy to imagine a successful string of books following from this introduction: more magic and monsters; Stephanie's exploration of Skulduggery's world and of her own abilities; the "normal" world's incomprehension of and even hostility toward magic. There are some superficial similarities between Landy's story and the Harry Potter books: a pre-teen protagonist with as yet unrealized powers and some kind of magical birthright is thrust into a supernatural realm that exists alongside our own reality. But the world Landy has created is not as complex as the Potter universe, and his characters are unlikely to inspire debate among adult readers about their motivations. But unfair comparison with Rowling's oeuvre aside, Landy's Skulduggery is a well-written and above all charming book. What makes it shine is the playful interaction between Skulduggery and Stephanie:
"You can't leave me alone," she said, following him into the living room.
"No," he corrected, "I can. You'll be perfectly safe."
"The front door's off!"
"Well, yes. You'll be perfectly safe as long as they don't come through the front door."
He pulled on his coat, but she snatched his hat away.
"Are you taking my hat hostage?" he asked doubtfully.
The relationship is fun to watch because of the banter and because Skulduggery, while the older of the two by far, is not above being childishly irresponsible. Landy also occasionally ratchets up the tension. There are a great many fight scenes, with the good guys using their various powers to combat different sorts of monsters. But the best bit of suspense--it certainly got my 11-year-old excited about the book--comes near the beginning of the story, when Stephanie so unwisely spends the night alone in Gordon Edgley's creepy mansion. You know that can't end well....
Landy's Skulduggery won't assume the Potter mantle--if such a thing were even possible--but it is highly readable and funny, a charming page-turner for the YA crowd.
Annie Cheney
Body Brokers
Broadway Books
9780767917339 $23.95
A human head might bring in seven or eight hundred dollars, a spine at least as much again. Shoulders, knees, bones, brains, various viscera--pretty much every part of a dead body can be sold off if the corpse is fresh enough. The demand for material is high: medical schools and medical device companies and surgical skills workshops need bodies or body parts for dissection, and willed body programs don't produce enough corpses to go around. That's why, shocking though it is, there is apparently a robust underground trade in human remains--in the U.S., in the present day.
Annie Cheney explores the gruesome subculture of modern-day body snatchers in her book Body Brokers, which grew out of an award-winning article she wrote on the subject for Harper's. She discusses in detail how bodies en route to their final resting places can be harvested for parts--by pathologists' assistants, for example, or corrupt funeral directors, or crematorium operators. She discusses also the various markets for body parts, including institutions that need bodies for instructional dissection as well as factories that transform human tissue into products--"injectable bone paste" and the sorts of things you might find in Home Depot, screws and dowels and wedges, except that they're made out of human bone. ("It's all precision tooled....") Cheney also provides a chapter on the "Resurrection Men" of the 19th century, men who, like their modern-day counterparts, did the dirty work of supplying corpses for a price. But the Resurrectionists usually had to dig up fresh graves to get their material.
One comes away from Cheney's book impressed at the apparent extent to which this gruesome business is going on, and impressed also with how many people seem to be able to sleep comfortably at night when they've got a refrigerator full of heads in the next room. It's interesting to note also how efficient the business is: when possible, bodies are dismembered and their parts sold off individually.
"The three of them went on in this way, methodically moving from body to body, part to part. Tyler removed Ronald King's elbows--one slice on the forearm and two swift strokes forward with his saw until the bones snapped in two. Then his hands and knees. One slice on his calf and his thigh, a few cuts of his saw, and the leg came right off. Then his head. Tyler plucked out King's brain like a smooth boiled egg from its shell."
This makes perfect financial sense, of course. Why supply a class full of gynecologists with perfect corpses, for example, when the students can just as well practice on limbless, headless torsos?
"Over the next couple of days, Brown hung around in the conference room, watching the gynecologists as they probed the vaginas of the dead women. When a torso needed adjusting, he noticed, the doctors called on Tyler to help. Tyler gingerly moved the chilly flesh into the right position, raising or lowering it so that the doctors could get a good view. When the dead ladies began to smell, Tyler spritzed them with deodorizer. At the end of the day, he packed them into Igloo coolers. The next morning he brought them out again."
As you can see, Cheney's book is deliciously gruesome in parts.
Body Brokers is readable and seems very well researched. The author documents her sources in the book's notes and bibliography. My only difficulty with it is that, although it's quite short--the narrative ends, a little too abruptly, after 193 pages--it is difficult to keep the names of the various characters and companies straight. (Cheney provides a list of characters at the beginning of the book, but it's still a bit confusing.) Otherwise, Body Brokers is an interesting and certainly an eye-opening read. It could make some people change their minds about leaving their bodies to science.
Meet Me in Venice
Elizabeth Adler
St. Martin's
9780312364472 $24.95
Precious (Preshy) Rafferty and her cousin Lily Swan have never met. Both women happen to own antique stores, but they have little else in common. Precious is an American living in Paris, single but surrounded by supportive friends and family. Lily is Shanghainese, and she is wed to her work, driven by her desire for wealth after having grown up in poverty. She supplements her income by trading in stolen antiquities, a dangerous business that involves handing wads of cash over to hoodlums in the middle of the night. She has few friends, and the person she most relies on, her assistant Mary-Lou Chen, proves to have been poorly chosen. The lives of these three women, Preshy, Lily, and Mary-Lou, are all affected in the course of Elizabeth Adler's novel by one particular antique--a necklace whose pearl was stolen from the grave of the Dowager Empress of China--and by the charming sociopath, Bennett Yuan, who will do anything to get his hands on it.
Meet Me in Venice may not be the best book you'll read this year. Adler's villains are two-dimensional, and she tends to spill her characters' back story onto the page without great subtlety.
"While Lily's father played the tables, her mother attempted to make a living selling cheap copies of antiques. Somehow the family scraped by. When she was sixteen her father died and Lily left school and took over the business. Her mother died five years later. Lily was alone in the world with no one to rely on but herself."
I found references to Preshy's friend Daria's "Super Kid" cringe-inducing. And I wondered at Adler's decision to give her main character the name "Precious": it is so unusual that one cannot help but be reminded of another literary Precious, Mme Ramotswe of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. (It's rather like naming a character "Sherlock." You're certain to distract readers by calling to mind that other Sherlock.)
I came away from Adler's novel, however, reminded of how delightful an escape reading can be. Meet Me in Venice is a solid romantic mystery, light on character, perhaps, but with a decent plot. Adler makes you root for her protagonists and boo her bad guys and hope that the right people wind up together in the end. I'm glad I read it.
Debra Hamel
Reviewer
Gary's Bookshelf
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants
Lee Goldberg
Signet
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
9780451220974 $19.95 www.penguin.com
Like many fans I love the whole concept of Monk, whether it is the show on USA network or this series of novels. This one is a dream come true tale that would make a great episode. Sharona, Monk's first assistant reenters his life and causes complications for Natalie. That's only part of the story that is the best novel so far by Goldberg. Adrian solves numerous cases along the way in typical Monk fashion. This is also the first hardcover title. Monk is a gem and Goldberg captures the essence of all of the characters from the hit program
What's So Funny?
Donald E. Westlake
Hachette Book Group USA
237 Park Avenue, New York NY 10020
9780446582407 $24.99 www.HachetteBookGroup.com
Dortmunder and the gang are recruited to steal a very pricey chess set that is stored in an underground office vault. There are many complications that make the story much more interesting than the last several capers of this group of thieves. Back are Andy Kelp and Stan Murch. There are several new characters as well. The one complaint I have is that Dortmunder, Kelp, and Murch are not in the story very much like other titles in the series. At any rate the book is fun and has a great ending.
Blackmailer
George Axelrod
Hard Case
299 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
9780843957723 $6.99 www.HardCaseCrime.com
The screenwriter for the movies "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and "The Manchurian Candidate" tells a revealing story of the publishing world. Several individuals claim they have a best-selling authors last manuscript before he died. They approach a publisher to see his interest in bringing this last work to print. What follows is a series of mishaps, several manuscript copies and a trail of dead bodies that make a delightful mystery that holds up today. Hard Case is the new pulp publisher that is bringing back some great reads that have been out of print for a long time.
Badge 149 "Shots Fired"
Gary P. Jones
Infinity Publishing.com
1094 New DeHaven Street Suite 100
West Conshohocken, Pa 19428-2713
9780741432445 $18.95 www.buybooksontheweb.com 1 877 BUYBOOK
Jones writes about the real world of cops by presenting short venues that have questions at the end of each. This approach is more a role-play that makes readers understand what cops face everyday on their beats. Also of interest is that these are all pulled from real situations that happened in the mid 1970s in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. What he shows is that nothing has changed. The cities and years can be different but what cops face is exactly the same. This would be a great teaching tool for police courses and academies throughout the nation.
The Lunar Boy Book One
Jarrett B Williams
1847289436 $19.95 www.lunarboyland.com
This is a graphic novel that has a lot to say about a person's place in the world and how they deal with it. I like how the writing and art come together very well to tell the story. Williams is a very talented artist writer who has a great career ahead
Orion the Skateboard Kid
Juanita S. Raymond and Leland F. Raymond
CyPress Publications
P.O. Box 2636, Tallahassee, Florida 32316-2636
067258502 $9.95 www.cypress-starpublications.com
The authors have used things kids are interested in to teach them about the solar system. Orion, one of the writer's characters. is almost hit by a car while skateboarding in a private parking lot. She and her friends want a place to skateboard safely. This is the beginning of the story. Through a series of observations by Orion and her friends they learn in an interesting way all about astronomy. The book is a fun, easy read that teaches all about our universe.
Cafe Wisconsin
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen
The University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, Madison Wisconsin
0299201147 $19.95 www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress
Finally there is a book that shows where some of the best dining can be found. Of course you have to go to the state of Wisconsin to experience it. These are the places we all know and love that are considered hole in-the-wall eateries. The author is your tour guide to some of the best food served anywhere. She tells who the owners are, what types of food are served and the general feel of each place. She breaks the state of Wisconsin into sections and shows maps for each area. This is your number one resource for when you travel to Wisconsin.
Cafe Wisconsin Cookbook
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen and Terese Allen
The University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, Madison Wisconsin
9780299222741 $24.95 www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress
This one is a little different. It has recipes from many of the restaurants talked about in "Cafe Wisconsin." If you can't get to the places listed in the previous title, then this is the second best way to taste the food that makes these places so great. You can make your own by following the directions the authors have provided here. Many of them sound mouth watering.
Hurricanes
Seymour Simon
Harper Collins Kids Publishing
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
9780061170720 $16.99 www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Though this is a kid's book about hurricanes, it is very educational. Even I learned some things I was not aware of. The pictures add a dimension to the chilling information the author provides.
Life in the Meridian
James Allen Starkloff
Broken Pen Publishing
9780979044502 $8.99 www.starkloff.com 386 454 0559
Through a series of adventures from a different era the author shows how different the country was.. The book is easy to read with generous doses of humor. Starkloff is a master of the word and has readers feeling like they are right there with the situations.
Secret Society
Miasha
Pocket Star
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
9781416546757 $7.99 www.simonsays.com
I won't reveal what the secret society is but I will say the writing and the characters draw the reader in from the first page until the very end. Miasha has delved into a world that is under our noses and done a very good job of portraying what it's like to be in it. The pacing is very fast and will have readers begging for more novels from this fine author.
Gary Roen
Reviewer
Geoffrey's Bookshelf
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
First Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
A division of Random House, Inc.
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
0394758285, $12.95 234 pages www.randomhouse.com
As Hard Boiled As A Three-Minute Egg
I haven't read a single Chandler novel until this book, nor have I seen the movie. And though I know that Humphrey Bogart plays the story's narrator, detective Philip Marlowe, in the screen adaptation, it didn't matter. I forgot Bogart about as quickly as a smile vanishes when an unasked-for bucket full of cold water is thrown at it. After all, what kind of hard-boiled macho knows interior design, alludes to Marcel Proust, or can resist the desperate advances of a naked woman?
For example, here's how Marlowe describes Eddie Mars's place: "It was wainscoted in walnut and had a frieze of faded damask above the paneling." Damask? Get outta here. Marlowe does this repeatedly, and by the mid-way point, I concluded that Marlowe is about as hard boiled as a three-minute egg.
Regarding Chandler's style, it could be argued that he overuses the simile because this device sometimes calls attention to itself. For example, "The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men" is the third of four such similes in a single long paragraph in chapter 2.
Nevertheless, this book moves so rapidly you'd better be wearing a seatbelt. A bigger mystery seems to loom behind every solved one leading to a surprising conclusion.
Shakespeare
Anthony Burgess
Carroll & Graf Publishers
An Imprint of Avalon Publishing Group Incorporated
161 William Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10038
0786709723 $15.95 256 pages
Shakespeare's Ghost
Anthony Burgess's biography of Shakespeare makes for riveting reading. However, the reader arguably learns more about Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex than about the elusive Mr. Shakespeare.
In fact, Shakespeare makes only occasional and shadowy appearances in this bio as if he were the ghost of Hamlet's father (which he is, in a sense). Burgess doesn't hesitate to put his own stylish and imaginative spin on what little we know about Shakespeare, though if he were to shed any more light the shadow might disappear.
Nevertheless, by coupling his considerable breadth of learning with documentary evidence, Burgess manages to accomplish what I think he sets out to accomplish in writing this book - that upon completion the reader will say with near certainty, "Shakespeare did exist."
Animal Farm: Centennial Edition
George Orwell
A Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf
A division of Random House, Inc.
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
www.randomhouse.com/everymans
0452284244 $13.00 128 pages
Chilling
Animal Farm successfully works as a chilling distillation of human behavior gleaned firsthand by George Orwell during the Spanish Civil War. He had become -for a time - one of those useful idiot intellectuals, like Hemingway and Dos Passos, who thought fighting for the Loyalists against Franco in the Spanish Civil war was the cat's meow.
However, it wasn't long before every socialist and anarchist brigade on the Loyalist side was being coordinated, staffed and equipped by Soviet Stalinists who first purged their own, and then became every bit as brutal and inhumane as Franco's Nationalists. At least Orwell and Dos Passos saw the error of their ways.
Where the allegory fails, however, is that Orwell puts the literate pigs at the top of the heap and makes less-than-bright barnyard animals unwitting dupes when we all know that super-schooled egghead types on both sides of the political aisle so often fall for utopian mumbo jumbo.
Geoffrey Smagacz
Reviewer
Gloria's Bookshelf
Love Kills
Edna Buchanan
Simon and Schuster
1230 Sixth Ave., New York, NY 10010
9780743294768 $25.00 www.simonsays.com 1-800-223-2336
Britt Montero, the Miami News police reporter protagonist in thi
