Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry
Alfred A. Knopf
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
ISBN 0375403736; $26.00, 448 pages, 1-800-726-0600
Diane Payne
Reviewer
Family Matters won the 2002 Kiriyama Prize, which honors titles that encourage greater
understanding among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim. Oddly enough, Canadian author
Rohinton Mistry has canceled the second half of a U.S. book tour because on the first part of his
tour, he was stopped repeatedly and rudely at each airport. Mistry's next book will probably take
place at a security checkpoint, ironically focusing on that greater misunderstanding.
This is a tale that weaves around religious fanatics, showing the tensions among Hindus, Muslims,
and Parsis in Bombay; but it's more than that, it's what the title implies, a book about aging,
marriage, Parkinson's, loyalty, sibling rivalry, isolation, and the conscience.
The most vital character, the 79-year-old Parsi father, Nariman Vakeel, engages his family with
his
wry wit, his revealing nightmares highlight the secrets behind his lurid love affair, while his
physical
decay transforms family members. Unfortunately, as Nariman's health deteriorates and he's unable
to
speak, the novel's spirit diminishes also. Nariman lives with his two adult stepchildren, Coomy and
Jal, in a seven-room flat in Chateau Felicity. Coomy never forgives Nariman for his role in her
mother's death, and for untold reasons, all three remain together in this flat for their entire
lives.
Nariman's daughter, Roxana, husband Yezad, and two sons, Jehangir and Murad, live in a
two-room
flat in Pleasant Villa, where they end up becoming the caretaker of their father after Coomy and
Jal
deviously dump him there, assuring them Nariman's depression will be lifted around the two
boys.
Yezad feels strapped for money after Nariman arrives, and like Coomy and Jal, he devises his own
plan to convince his boss to run as a political candidate so he'll have more responsibilities and earn
a
better salary. At this point, the story shifts more to the schemes Coomy and Jal utilize to keep
their
father from returning home, and Yezad's elaborate fabrications to persuade his boss to serve
Bombay. For awhile their antics are amusing, clever even, but then they become the focus of the
story, and when we next see Nariman, he's barely functioning or a functional character. Like the
shift
in narration at the end of the book, the readers are shifted away from feeling that personal
connection to the characters where we vicariously become a part of the novel, and are now left on
the bleachers watching the novel unfold into a script that has been made for a big screen
movie.
We assume that at one point, Yezad will quit grumbling about his father-in-law, whom he calls
Chief, living in the house, because otherwise there wouldn't be much point in having us watch
Yezad
repeatedly warn his sons to never assist their grandfather when he needs to use the bedpan, or
help
him at all. Even though we suspect Yezad will be altered by Nariman's presence, we're relieved
when
the transformation finally occurs.
Mistry's writing comes to life when Yezad clips Nariman's nails. This act of kindness becomes a
valid testimony of sorts for his earlier ruminations about learning to help one's elders through
death.
"Better now, isn't it?' said Yezad, checking the edges again. "De-clawed. And ha-ha-harmless."
"Not
you, chief. Not with that tongue you possess."
Unfortunately, it's been a long while since we've seen these two together, and a long while before
we
do again. There's so much to do with the boss and the carpenter, so many schemes and deaths,
that
we miss out on Nariman's death. With all that hustle and bustle, we even lose our author. After
397
pages of third person narrative, Mistry hands the pen to the youngest son, a much less gifted
writer,
and Jengahir tells us about the night grandfather died, how his father never gets another job after
his
boss has been murdered, and how his brother enrolls in college and has non-Parsi female friends,
all
these cyclic family traits regenerating once again. It's like Mistry has said, "Jehangoo, I've told the
story once, now it's your turn. I give you the epilogue."
Had Mistry not deserted us, he could have finished the book earlier, and Jengahir would not have
been burdened with this onus task of suddenly taking over five years after Mistry left off.
On page 414, after the funeral and four days of ceremonies, the rented hospital bed is returned,
and
our new narrator seems a bit more like Mistry and writes:
"Think of the good memories, Jehangoo. Remember the first day when Grandpa came to us by
ambulance?" I nodded. "And you fed him lunch, doing aeroplanes with the spoon?" I tried my best
to smile. "He used to have so much fun playing with you, no? How he laughed at your aeroplane
noises." "I spilled some food on his shirt. You scolded me." "Yes, I had to, I'm your mother. But
it
was beautiful to see you feeding Grandpa. And how you and Murad used to stroke his bald head
and
squeeze his chin." At last, Mistry takes his pen back and graces the final pages by showing
Roxana
setting the table for Murad's birthday, using the good china Nariman gave them years ago on their
wedding, perhaps the first time she has used this china. "Remember what Grandpa said to us one
day?" continues my Mother. "To take pleasure in these beautiful things, to defeat the sadness and
sorrow of life?"
These are the things that matter to family.
Prometheus
Alex Domokos with Rita Y. Toews
Hard Shell Word Factory
E-book: ISBN: 0-7599-0566-5
Trade Paperback: 0-7599-0567-3
http://www.hardshell.com/
Author website: www.domokos.com
S. Joan Popek
Reviewer
This story is an extraordinary blend of adventure, Abominable Snowmen, nuclear disaster, love,
despair and hope. This alone is quite a combination, yet there is more. Add in ethnic diversity,
terrorism and various nations' attitudes of "My dog is bigger than your dog," and you have a tale
to
remember.
You get inside the minds and hearts of leaders as they make world changing decisions. You
experience the fanatic psychology of terrorism. You travel with a troop of brave explorers
searching
for the legendary Yeti and their own brand of immortality. Is the Yeti real? What would you do if
you found him? If you are an adventurer who wants to know what makes humanity tick, you can't
miss reading this book.
This is a story of mankind at its best and at its worst. It is a story that makes you think--a story
that
forces you to take a look at humanity and decide if you like what you see. The twists and
surprises
are as varied and winding as the mountain trails the small band of explorers travel as they search
for
the truth in legends.
What if you were dying but you had the chance to start a new chain of evolution? Would you
have
the courage to do it? Are our myths founded in reality? Greek mythology tells us that Prometheus
gave Man fire and set him on the road to civilization. Because of this, the gods punished him
throughout eternity. Why?
Was it indeed the mastery of fire that set mankind apart from the animals and perhaps made them
more like the gods? Ludec, a major character in the expedition's search says, "That is one of the
wonderful things about human nature...Men can not live without plans, and plans are the ultimate
expression of faith in the future." Is this what makes us unique? Are we really so unique as we
believe?
Find the answers to these questions and much more in this spellbinding adventure into one
possible
future. I couldn't stop turning the pages until I finished the last one. It's that good. "Prometheus"
is
not your ordinary science fiction. The authors have a special style that leaves you thinking about
the
book long after you close it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure,
philosophy and just plain, entertaining fiction.
Fusion Branding: How To Forge Your Brand For The Future
Nick Wreden
Accountability Press
3340 Peachtree Rd. #1800, Atlanta, Georgia, 30097
ISBN 0-9717442-0-3, $29.95, 389 pages, www.accountabilitypress.com
Peter Hupalo
Reviewer
A brand identity that draws new customers and keeps current customers loyal is the holy grail of
many businesses. Successful brands have tremendous value and create great wealth for their
owners.
But, why do some branded identities, such as Amazon and eBay, become so successful, while
other
companies pour millions into brands that fail?
Fusion Branding: How To Forge Your Brand For The Future by Nick Wreden helps us
understand
how successful brands are created. Wreden argues past case studies of branding do not apply to
the
present economy, where less-trusting customers have better access to information and customers
expect personalized treatment and quality service. Wreden says today's consumer will not accept
being treated like the mass-market consumer of the past who was often overwhelmed by
interrupt-based advertising.
Wreden writes: "A brand's power doesn't stem from the number of ads or press releases. It derives
from an emotional, even mystical, attachment between a purchaser and a company. ... a brand is a
multidimensional accumulation of positive experiences resulting from performance, usability,
value
and the recognition of peers. Brand building is based on what's always been important. Trust.
Commitment. Loyalty. Respect. Satisfaction. In a word, a brand represents a bond."
Without operational excellence, customers don't respect a brand. Wreden says that companies
must
shift their focus from trying to "sell" to customers and examine the relationship from the
customer's
viewpoint. How can the company create real value for the customer? Branding moves a consumer
from satisfaction to loyalty.
How serious companies are about being customer-focused can be observed by looking at how
companies deal with product glitches. Comparing Inuit to Firestone, Wreden shows that brands
can
be strengthened when companies confront product glitches and absorb the costs to make things
right, while failure to do so quickly erodes consumer trust and destroys the brand's value.
Wreden examines the role of personalization, self-service, and build-to-the-customer
customization
in the future economy. For example, some customers like to mix and match their own PC
components when purchasing a PC. Some customers will want more RAM. Others will want less
RAM, but, maybe, a higher-fidelity sound card. Wreden tells us this is one factor that has made
Dell
Computer so successful. Consumers can create their own PCs online and the PCs will be made to
exactly match the customer's needs.
Wreden says the Internet is "...much more than a marketing medium. It is the key to enabling a
relationship enterprise that allows business to be done on customer terms." We learn that while
the
Internet currently only accounts for one percent of the total U.S. sales, eighty-two percent of
Internet shoppers gravitate to branded sites. So, branding is very important in determining which
commercial websites become successful.
On-demand personalization will extend far beyond PCs in the future. For example, Wreden tell us
about the jeans maker Levi Strauss: "At some stores, a body scanner can measure customers for a
pair of exact-fitting jeans. However, it takes ten days to deliver the finished jeans, and they cost
about one-third more than off-the-shelf jeans. In the demand economy, customers will be able to
get
the same pair of personalized jeans, but they will be delivered within one day and cost about the
same."
To achieve on-demand efficiency will require that companies have excellent supply chain
operations.
Wreden writes: "An effective supply chain is the sine qua non of the demand economy. Integrated,
orchestrated supply chains will be the basis for competition, and the primary determinant of the
brand's ability to rapidly satisfy specific customer requirements. Supply chains must shift from a
production-centric, 'push' model, where products are pushed through the supply chain based on
production, to a customer-centered 'pull' model, where production is guided by actual customer
demand, not forecasts."
Wreden says wireless technology will greatly enhance the ability of companies to immediately
respond to customer needs. Wreden writes, "'Smart Dust' -tiny wireless sensors-will tag everyday
objects for tracking and information transfer.... Already, there are ... garbage-can scanners which
scan discarded items and place immediate orders for replenishment."
In addition to consumer branding, Fusion Branding: How To Forge Your Brand For The Future
discusses business-to-business branding which is often neglected. The book includes excellent
discussions of customer relationship management, pricing, privacy, emotional drivers that
influence
customers, and the importance of accountability within a business.
Fusion Branding: How To Forge Your Brand For The Future is highly recommended to anyone
who
wants to understand business, marketing, and branding. The book is a great addition to the
serious
business library.
The Millionaires
Brad Meltzer
Warner Books
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 0446611921 $7.99 524 pages
Michael Hare
Reviewer
The millionaires, the latest book by Brad Meltzer, succeeds on several fronts. One of the cardinal
rule doled out in creative writing classes is: Don't write in First Person.
One of the hallmarks of a good writer is the ability to if not break, then sharply bend the rules and
still succeed with a good story. Meltzer blends First and Third person views in a very readable
story.
Initially glancing at the story I cringed at the use of first person, imagine fingers on the proverbial
chalkboard. But being an obsessive reader short on reading material I picked up a few books out
of
desperation. The millionaires was the best of the batch of some pretty good stories.
The millionaires is the story of two brothers, Charlie and Oliver Caruso, the slacker and the model
employee, suddenly presented with the perfect crime. Three million dollars in an abandoned bank
account. Only the crime is not quite as perfect as they think, soon they see and friend killed and
they
have the Secret Service, and a female PI hunting them as the desperately try to find out the secret
of
this abandoned account. What they find will shock you. You will never look at your bank account
the same way again.
The millionaires will at very least entertain you, it might even challenge your prejudices
concerning
good writing.
Q is for Quarry
Sue Grafton
G.P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN: 0399149155, 385 pages, $26.95
Terry Mathews
Reviewer
Q is for Quandary ??
I've been a Kinsey Millhone fan since the first page of "A is for Alibi." I love her, warts and all.
Any
girl who is brave enough to cut her hair with cuticle scissors deserves my respect. I eagerly await
each new adventure.
Imagine my disappointment when I finally finished Q IS FOR QUARRY. It took me almost a
week
to finish the fiction-based-on-fact story of a long ago, unsolved murder in Santa Teresa (Santa
Barbara). I felt the descriptions were way too detailed and I grew weary of descriptions of the
inside
of bars, houses, shops and garages. It was as if no editing took place....that every thought, word,
scene was left in from the first draft.
In this volume, Kinsey is hired by two former Santa Teresa lawmen to try and solve the murder of
a
young girl, long dead. They have little to go on. They have no motive. They have no murder
weapon. They don't even know the girl's name. The only thing they do know is that Jane Doe died
from multiple stab wounds and dumped down a ravine near Lompoc, California. After many dead
ends, wild goose chases and red herrings, the fictional mystery is solved. It wasn't particularly a
neat
ending, but since the real murder has never been solved, I applaud Grafton for trying to create a
plausible scenario.
What saved this story for me was to finally find out something about Kinsey's family. Because
Jane
Doe's body was found on Kinsey's grandmother's land, she has encounters with her cousin and a
long lost aunt. Those parts, while at times tedious, were worth the effort. I hope Grafton will
pursue
this sub-plot in future volumes. So much of what Kinsey is revolves around her childhood...losing
her parents....being raised by a Bohemian aunt....and never having contact with other family
members.
I admire Grafton for being able to sustain a series through 16 books. She and Kinsey can survive
one
stumble.
Teach Your Child To Read
Janice Myers
Privately Published
413 Willis Road, Spartanburg, SC 29301
ISBN: 0972016910, $19.50, (c) 2002, 112 pp.
Jan McDaniel
Reviewer
My first impression of this book was a favorable one based on its stunning, colorful cover and
professional design. Then I began to explore the book's content. As a former creator of
curriculum
materials for this age group, I realized how much fun beginning readers would have with the
cuddly
character, Spot, leading the way through phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, rhyming
words and the sometimes arduous task of following directions.
Spot is no pushover. He's fun to read about and his adventures are just right for coloring, but this
cleverly designed "tool-kit" is really a Superior Practical Orderly Trusted Reading System that is
the
first book in a five-part Complete Mastery Learning System. I like the fact that parents can teach
their children to read by using these practice-oriented materials at home. The techniques seem
easy
to use, and each builds skills that can be applied in many ways. This kind of approach reminds me
of
how we used to learn.
Inside the front cover of the book author Janice Myers explains how she created her program and
used it successfully at her reading clinic in Spartanburg, SC. Dismayed that she could not locate
books that provided reading practice and filled the gap between Kindergarten and First Grade, she
"
. . . began typing up sample chapters for [her] tutors to use with their students." She continues,
"Even before the artist had the illustrations finished, my tutors were standing in line waiting for
me
to finish the next chapter so their students could read it that day."
I like Spot. I like "O" and feel that this letter and the other vowels in the upcoming books can help
parents and teachers work with not only very young readers, but also older students who have not
mastered reading skills for various reasons. Learning Disabled students should find the repetition
used here helpful, for example, and even ESL (English as a Second Language) instructors might
invite Spot into their classrooms.
As Ms. Myers states in her book, "Every child in America has the right to read."
The Disinformation Cycle
William Harwood
Xlibris Corporation
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
ISBN 1401043542, 283 pp, ppb, $18.69, www.xlibris.com
Jack Truett, Reviewer
No way you can go wrong on this one!
Dr William Harwood's Inimitable The Disinformation Cycle should be required reading for every
high school and university in America. Unfortunately that will not happen, not in any of our
lifetimes
anyway. In fact anyone who has to move his or her lips and mumble every word they read won't
understand most of it anyway. What a pity. Well researched and ideally presented, this book will
acquaint you with such subjects as hoaxes, delusions, security beliefs, and North America's
compulsory mediocrity.
I will not detract from the pleasure, as well as the enlightenment you'll get from reading this
remarkable work, by quoting or attempting to explain his reasoning or hardcore evidence. But
friends, it is a must-read for anyone capable of thinking. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can
pay
the author is this: "Darn! I wish I had written this book!"
Editor's Note: Jack Truett's review was first published in Pagan Palaver, summer 2002.
Benjamin's Bookshelf
Motherless Brooklyn
Jonathan Lethem
Doubleday & Company
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
ISBN: 0-375-72483-4, $23.95, 1999, 311 pp., 1-800-726-0600
The plot of Motherless Brooklyn sounds like one of its character's jokes: an orphaned private eye
with Tourette's walks into a Zen Buddhist school on the Upper East side looking for the Polish
giant
who killed his boss. Alternatively, it could be the echolic wordplay of our Tourettic narrator
transmogrifying "endorphins work to pry the barrettes..." Motherless Brooklyn is a mixture of
both part bleak comedy and part study of an obsessive mind.
Author Jonathan Lethem employs Lionel Essrog's Tourette's syndrome to investigate personalities
and uncover secrets of the anachronistic "cartoonistic"--borough of Brooklyn. The death of "King
of Brooklyn," Frank Minna, plunges Essrog into a mystery of innuendo and taciturn connections,
what Minna called the "wheels within wheels." As Essrog disentangles the wheels, we learn that
he
and his "Minna Men," colleagues at the Brooklyn-based detective agency fronted by a car service,
are the de facto adopted sons of the king, whose legally dubious errands rescued them from St.
Vincent's Home for Boys.
Brooklyn has Tourette's. It instinctually expresses itself in seemingly unintelligible ways, yet
makes
perfect sense to insiders. And if Brooklyn is Tourettic, Court Street is its brain. Like Essrog,
Court
Street is ruled by habit and wary of change. The difference lies in language. Essrog knows too
much
and is pathologically compelled to speak, his mental and physical soundness depend upon it. But
Brooklyn's existence depends upon silence.
Motherless Brooklyn succeeds on many levels. It is a novel about language, but it is entertaining.
It
is self-reflexive, post-modern and concerned with the tradition of the detective novel. Fortunately,
Lethem integrates these elements into the narrative and not the other way around.
Fury
Salman Rushdie
Random House, Inc.
280 Park Avenue, 8th floor, New York, NY 10017
0-679-46333-X, $24.95, 2001, 259 pp., 1-800-726-0600
In his latest novel Salman Rushdie ventures west. Fury's scrutiny of a boom-bloated America
catalogues its way around New York City, weaving current trends and recent news events into a
fiction both realistic and fantastic. Unlike previous Rushdie works (The Moor's Last Sigh,
Midnight's Children), Fury immerses itself in a fleeing present; and in this novel's fad-crazed
locale,
history, particularly America's, is a missing foundation.
Fury trails former Cambridge professor and puppet-maker Malik Solanka along New York's
overcrowded streets. Solanka recently left behind a tranquil existence, a wife, and a young son, to
lose himself in the city's feverish pace. Rather than escaping into an indifferent, if not hostile,
landscape, however, Solanka's furies overtake and torment him.
The novel's first half unfolds in a whirlpool of pop-cultural and literary reference, leaving the
reader,
along with our protagonist, drowning in a chaotic excess of information. However, as Solanka
gains
clarity, so does the narrative. While the puppeteer loses control of his creations to an exhaustive
media-machine and an insatiable public, Rushdie handles a plot overflowing in information, with a
deft combination of depth and efficiency.
As a critique of contemporary America and media frenzy, Fury proves insightful, sustaining a level
of empty urgency consistent with the text's mad-consumption theme. The novel's characters and
premise are not as strong or memorable as previous Rushdie novels, and the story feels at times
rushed. Nevertheless, Fury is the work of a top writer trying out new subjects.
Benjamin Weinstein, Reviewer
afrankenstein@hotmail.com
Vicki's Bookshelf
Imagine The Girl In The Painting
Edited by American Girl
American Girl/Pleasant Company
8400 Fairway Place, P.O. Box 620998, Middleton, WI 53562
ISBN 1584855789, $14.95, 50 pages, www.americangirl.com
This unique gift book is actually a sturdy frame that houses a mini art gallery and eight art cards
that
slip interchangeably inside the front cover. On the back cover, a pop-out stand props up your
masterpiece or choice. But inside the book, girls age eight and up will find the real treasure: 20
beautiful reproductions of paintings featuring young girls. A Victorian girl reads, resting in a
hammock beneath a leafy glade. A pair of French, eighteenth century sisters pose for a formal
portrait, a hummingbird poised symbolically on one hand. A 1950s girl stares moodily at her
reflection in a mirror, wishing she looked more like the movie star in the magazine on her lap.
Each
painting is accompanied by a one-page essay prompting young readers to "Imagine it's Saturday
night in 1954 " "Imagine you have your very own secret garden " "Imagine you are on roller
skates for the very first time " The elaborated text takes you deeper into each painting, imparting
deeper understanding of the time, place, character and the painting itself. Superficially, "Imagine
the
Girl in the Painting" is an unusual gift item, but in fact it succeeds as a lovely art appreciation
course
that girls will cherish.
The Witch Who Wanted To Be A Princess
Lois G. Grambling, Illustrated by Judy Love
Whispering Coyote/Charlesbridge
85 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472
ISBN 1580890628, $15.95, 32 pages, www.charlesbridge.com
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, agrees this funny picture book. Bella, the witch, learns that
simple lesson when she does everything in her power to marry a handsome prince. She knows
she's
not a classic beauty, but has strong enough self-esteem to answer a prince's personal want-ad
seeking "a "beautiful damsel to wed." Before going to the prince's castle, Bella asks her magic
mirror if she should conjure up a potion to change her not-so-gorgeous looks. But Bella decides
she
likes herself as she is, and believes the right man will love her warts and all. Young girl readers
will
fall in love with the book when the big moment comes and the two potential mates set eyes on
one
another.
Robin Hood
E. Charles Vivian, Compiled by Cooper Edens
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
ISBN 0811833992, $19.95, 176 pages, www.chroniclekids.com
The exciting and timeless tale about "the prince of thieves" is more beautiful than ever in this
special
"Classic Illustrated Edition" title. As with the series' previous titles -- "Peter Pan," "Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland," "Pinocchio" and "Aesop's Fables" -- "Robin Hood" is illustrated with
a
virtual best-of variety of color and black-and-white images from a collection of archival sources.
There are more than 100 splendid images in all, dating from the 12th to the 20th century and
created
by artists as diverse as N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Walter Crane and Honor C. Appleton. The
range
is considerable, the fine-detail of the works is immensely impressive, the art restoration is
impeccable, and each antique image is uniquely charming. The lack of a consistent visual style is
initially jarring, but quickly it becomes apparent that this inconsistency is the very source of the
book's appeal, particularly for retro fans attracted to ye olde graphics. The text itself remains loyal
to
E. Charles Vivian's classic version of the story -- with most of the content, spelling and grammar
intact from the 1906 edition, making this respectful tribute to an old masterpiece worth its weight
in
gold marks.
DK Encyclopedia Of The Human Body
DK Publishing
375 Hudson St., NY, NY 10014
ISBN 0789486725, $29.99, 304 pages, www.dk.com
I'm constantly amazed by the consistently excellent educational book front-list from British
publisher
Dorling Kindersley. No other mass-market publisher comes close to producing non-fiction books
of
such quality, scope, sophistication, visual excitement and sheer readibility. When DK Publishing
tackles a subject, it's done right, typically by a hand-picked team of editorial professionals and
topic
experts, as is the case with their latest desk reference book, "DK Encyclopedia of the Human
Body."
Here a team of medical experts provided the massive data contained in the tome's 300-plus pages.
Then a team of authors and editors groomed the text into DK's characteristic style by outlining
subject heads and breaking down information into easily-digested sub-sections, each with a
corresponding image. There are more than 900 full-color photographs, illustrations, charts and
diagrams here, all mesmerizingly revealing the workings of the human body in painstaking detail.
Instead of listing subjects alphabetically in the standard style of most encyclopedias, here it is
organized into related subject groupings, working parts, moving framework, control and
sensation,
supply and maintenance, and so on, and designed in concert with DK's uniquely eye-popping
visuals.
Timelines, charts and illustrated histories help put subjects into perspective and tidbits on leeches,
motion sickness, head lice, and toilets will get the attention of even the most reluctant readers.
Page
after page, the detailed subject is presented clearly and concisely in such a riveting way that young
students ages eight and up will not only find and comprehend the information they're seeking, but
will become so absorbed that they'll surprisingly discover themselves reading for the sheer fun of
it.
For high school students, the encyclopedia is a particularly distinct and pleasurable alternative to
dull
textbooks, making this a must-have for every student's complete home library.
Rolling With The Stones
Bill Wyman with Richard Havers
DK Publishing
375 Hudson St., NY, NY 10014
ISBN 0789489678, $50.00, 512 pages, www.dk.com
Once again, DK Publishing raises the bar, forever influencing the way the best pop culture
biographies will be handled by the rest of the book industry. This time, the noted non-fiction
publisher applies its unique visual encyclopedia approach to a bigger-than-life biographical
subject,
The Rolling Stones, making all previous celebrity bios pale by comparison. As such, this
sophisticated coffee table production -- "Rolling With The Stones," written by none other than
former Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman himself, with the help of his "Bill Wyman's Blues
Odyssey"
partner, Richard Havers and a staff of DK editors -- is a thoroughly engaging insider story of the
world's legendary bad-boy rock and roll band. Judging the book by its cover, one might
mistakenly
suspect it's a common as-told-to remembrance. To the contrary, the hefty book is a virtual
mini-museum providing everything anyone could possibly want to know about the band, its
history,
its inspiration and its affect on cultural and social history. Drawing from his massive personal
collection of Stones memorabilia, Wyman provides hundreds of one-of-a-kind artifacts, personal
photos, and entries from decades of daily journals that he began writing as a child. There are more
than 3,000 images here in all, amid hundreds of press clippings, set lists, quotations by Mick
Jagger,
Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood, as well as their
famous
peers, political pundits and journalists. Wyman's personal account links the historical analysis,
anecdotes and images, as if he's personally guiding readers through a scholarly scrapbook of
sorts.
"I wanted to tell the band's story from an historical viewpoint," Wyman says, "because so much
that
has been written about the Stones skirts the truth, embellishes the truth or, in some cases, tells
total
untruths." Historically speaking, the band's timeline is a fascinating measuring stick for the social
upheavals that occurred in England and the Western World since the birth of the band members in
war-torn 1930s England. Wyman's meticulously thorough account extends well past his own
membership in the band, up to Mick Jagger's 2002 Knighthood, and doesn't miss a thing
inbetween besides discreetly omitting incriminating sex and drugs escapades, that is. That aside,
"Rolling With The Stones" is extraordinary, packed with enough I-was-there accounts, anecdotes
and actual facts to rock any music trivia fan's world.
Leap, Frog
Jane Cutler, illustrations by Tracey Campbell Pearson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
ISBN 0374343624, $16.00, 208 pages, www.fsgbooks.com
In the fourth chapter book about Fraser brothers Jason and Edward, the boys find themselves
faced
with a mischievous new next-door-neighbor. Pint-sized Charley is more than a little pest; he's a
karate-chopping, yelling, jumping, imposing, troublemaking first-grader like they've never seen
before. And he somehow manages to complicate everything. The First Annual Mark Twain
Memorial Jumping Frog Contest, for one thing, which erupts into controversy due to the jumpy
little
guy. And for another, there's Edward's 9th birthday party at the theater, to which Charley assumes
he's invited. What's a nice boy like Edward to do when a rambunctious kid like Charley sticks to
him
like gum on his shoe? Full of fun action, "Leap, Frog" is another winning series addition, perfect
for
upper elementary school boys.
Greece! Rome! Monsters
John Harris, Illustrations by Calef Brown
Getty Publications
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500, L.A., CA 90049-1682
ISBN 0892366184, $16.95, 52 pages, www.getty.edu
All the great mythological monsters are captured in this lively picture book, a mini-encyclopedia
of
sorts for kids age four and up. Zeus? Hera? Apollo? Nah. Why waste time on boring humanoid
Greek and Roman gods when there are so many fabulously hideous creatures of legend? The
author
gets right to the point in a table of contents listing 20 classical flying, swimming and creeping
creatures, then gets straight to brief introductions of each. On the magically delicious side there's
the
unicorn, phoenix, hippocamp (a literal sea horse) and the flying horse Pegasus. On the gruesome
side there's the one-eyed Cyclops, snake-headed Medusa and the truly spooky Scylla which
"consisted of twelve dogs that never stopped barking. What a racket!" The wry, funny treatment
by
writer John Harris is a non-stop hoot. Written in a casual, conversational style, it's full of choppy
sentences and phrases like "check this out," "big mistake," and "one look from him and whammo!,
you're dead. That's a basilisk for you." It manages to make complex concepts downright simple
enough for even the young pre-readers, and, at the end, kindly leads them by the hand with a
pronounciation guide and "Monster Quiz" to test their new-found knowledge. The book's true
success, however lies in the tremendously fun post-modern style of artist Calef Brown, one of my
absolute favorite children's illustrators thanks to his hip art and nonsense rhymes in "Polkabats and
Octopus Slacks." His funky skills picked up at the Pasadena Art Center mesh tremendously well
with the material here.
Jeremy Hatcher, Dragon Hatcher
Bruce Coville
Harcourt
15 East 26th Street, NY, NY 10010
525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
ISBN 0152046143, $17.00, 152 pages, www.HarcourtBooks.com
Abracadabra! Bruce Coville's best-selling "Magic Shop" adventure books are back to celebrate
their
20th anniversary. These beautifully republished hard-cover editions are must-haves for the
middle-grade set, particularly the one that started it all: "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher," the
funny tale of a boy who accidentally stumbles into a secret magic shop and becomes the unwitting
keeper of a fast-growing, fire-breathing pet like no other. The rest of the "Magic Shop" gang's all
here too. Russell Crannaker, in "The Monster's Ring" (ISBN 0-15-204618-6, $16, 106 pages) --
is
tired of being pushed around until he discovers a magical jewel that makes him bully-proof.
Chronic
liar Charlie Eggleston, in "The Skull of Truth" (ISBN 0-15-204612-7, $17, 194 pages), is
compelled
to steal a skull from Mr. Elives' magic shop, and suddenly finds himself unable to tell anything but
the truth but will anyone believe him? In "Jennifer Murdley's Toad" (ISBN 0-15-204613-5, $17,
159 pages) the not-so-pretty girl comes into the possession of a not-so-pretty toad that talks.
Together they hop into a journey to the Beauty Parlor of Doom where she faces her greatest
dreams and nightmares. Each book is a fast-paced fantasy filled with laughs and surprises to be
equally enjoyed by pre-teen boys and girls. For each reissue, the author has not only added a new
afterword giving insight to his creations, but has actually significantly expanded each story
itself.
The Wind In The Willows
Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Michael Foreman
Harcourt
15 East 26th Street, NY, NY 10010
525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
ISBN 0152168079, $24, 232 pages, www.HarcourtBooks.com
What a difference a month makes. Just a few weeks ago I pronounced Seastar Books' new edition
of
"The Wind in the Willows" the best gift edition of the 1908 children's classic since illustrator
Ernest
Shephard's classic version, due to the glorious acrylic and watercolor paintings by Mary Jane
Begin
("The Porcupine Mouse," "A Mouse Told His Mother"). Yet surprisingly, it has already been
surpassed, so I must pass the trophy to Harcourt's new unabridged edition. It's beautifully
presented
in a wide, landscape format with a satin ribbon bookmark to keep your place when the stories
dutifully fulfill their destiny as bedtime reading. The notable source of the book's special appeal, of
course, is the charming new artwork by extraordinary English watercolorist Michael Foreman.
The
pages are filled with gently expressive mixed-media paintings, from the end-papers map of
Wildwood and its surroundings, to a rollicking train ride, and the wild rumpus at Toad Hall. And
the
illustrations are generously plentiful: nearly every two-page spread contains at least one color
sketch. The sheer number of illustrations tremendously enriches the story, and the Foreman's
light-handed technique, previously apparent in "Michael Foreman's Mother Goose," "Joan of Arc"
and "Arthur, High King of Britain" -- is a lovely tribute to the similar style of Shephard himself.
Well
done.
Humphrey's Christmas
Sally Hunter
Henry Holt
115 West 18th Street, NY, NY 10011
ISBN 0805071768, $9.95, 24 pages, www.henryholt.com
Humphrey the elephant and his sister, Lottie are back to share their love of Christmastime in this
short and sweet holiday tale for toddlers. This time, the lovely little characters from "Humphrey's
Corner" and "Humphrey's Bedtime" quietly enjoy the simple pleasures of the Christmas season by
watching the snow, decorating the house and helping their mother with the yummy baking. But
the
best time of all is the last bedtime before Christmas Day. Young children will love hearing about
how Humphrey and Lottie prepare their note and plate of cookies for Santa, then snuggle up for a
bedtime story, especially when snuggled in their own beds for one last book on Christmas
Eve.
Naughty Naughty Kiefer
Wendy Ann Gardner
Hyperion Books for Children
114 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10011-5690
ISBN 0786808861, $10.99, 32 pages, www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com
Here's an interesting case of the tail wagging the dog or bad dog, as it were. Artist Wendy Ann
Gardner was inspired by real-life pets to create several very cool, post-modern plush toys based
on
their unique traits and habits. Now that those boutique toys have become popular around the
world,
they've sparked a line of bold and sassy picture books for children. Leading the quirky pet parade
is
"Naughty Naughty Kiefer," a ginger tomcat who has a nasty habit of leaving little "gifts" around
the
house. Parents will know that the little bow-topped presents are symbolic for, I'll just come out
and
say it, cat poop, but will kiddies get it? Nope. Then there 's "Dig Ivan Dig" about a
not-garden-safe
pug; "Yes, A Cat Named Marty Cohen" about a Scottish-breed cat (hence his plaid appearance)
who
comes to America; and even a tragic-comic chicken tale called "Heedley Pecked Me In the Eye."
Adults will be tremendously amused, but each simple, oddly story-free rhyming book will leave
little
ones to wonder "what the ?"
Quiver
Stephanie Spinner
Knopf/Random House
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
ISBN 0375814892, $15.95 -- 180 pages, www.randomhouse.com/teens
Greek mythology is endlessly fascinating to middle grade and young adult readers, so the spate of
recent fantasy/historical fiction novels set in ancient Greece should come as no surprise. As with
Caroline B. Cooney's "Goddess of Yesterday" and Patrice Kindl's "Lost in the Labyrinth,"
Stephanie
Spinner's new "Quiver" retells a Greek legend and dramatizes it by breathing new life into its
young
female protagonist and expanding the details of her heroic, mythic tale. In it, athletic 16-year-old
archer Atalanta, the swiftest mortal alive -- discovers that she is a princess, orphaned cruelly at
birth
by her true father, King Iasus. The king suddenly demands Atalanta's return so she can marry and
produce an heir to the throne, but Atalanta has other ideas. She agrees to marry the first man who
can beat her in a race but only if all losing suitors are put to the death. She hopes no man will be
foolish enough to take the challenge, but will would happen if the gods intervene?
Spinner ambitiously aims her arrow high for "Quiver," choosing to tell her tale of Atalanta in a
serious, classical style that has absolutely nothing in common with her previous chapter books
such
as "Aliens for Breakfast." But it's that seriousness that makes "Quiver" a bit ponderous to read,
and
keeps readers from truly connecting with the characters. Spinner's no-nonsense sentences are
clipped
and to the point, as if chipped from ancient marble statues at the Parthenon. The weighty words
are
pristinely laid on the pages,, posed stiffly as if minding their posture at a formal event. Spinner's
phrasing is somber, her point-of-view detached as if giving witness from the heavens alongside
unsympathetic gods Artemis, Apollo, Zeus, Eros and Aphrodite who comment from on high in a
scripted format at the end of most chapters. Like them, most readers will remain mildly interested
spectators, largely unmoved by the dramatic events that unfold, even given Spinner's softer
version
of the famously blood-thirsty heroine.
Silly & Sillier: Read-Aloud Tales From Around The World
Judy Sierra, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
ISBN 0375806091, $19.95, 96 pages, www.randomhouse.com/kids
With most hardback picture books priced in the $14-18 range, this timeless treasure is a true
bargain. Accomplished storyteller Judy Sierra has collected 20 entertaining folktales from around
the
world, and retells them in read-aloud fashion with fresh style and wit. She put her Ph.D in folklore
and mythology to good use while gathering these treats from such far-away places as Bangladesh
("Toontoony Bird"), the Czech Republic ("Kuratko the Terrible"), Nigeria ("The Tortoise and the
Iroko Man") and Japan ("Magical Mice"). The Americas are well represented too, from Brazil
("Jabuti and Jaguar Go Courting"), Argentina ("Juan Bobo") and Mexico ("One Good Turn
Deserves Another") to the U.S. Southwest (the Pueblo Indian tale "The Coyote and the Lizard").
The books catchy title comes from the irresistibly fun tale from England about a family of
noodleheads whose silly antics embarrass the son so much he runs away until he discovers even
bigger sillies elsewhere, so he returns home to profitably sell used ice cream cones and fireproof
matches to the local numbskulls. And that's par for the course here; each story has its own unique,
offbeat charm. Filled with brief and fun stories, "Silly and Sillier" is perfectly hilarious circle-time
or
bed-time reading, and a wonderful passport taking young imaginations on a fabulous
round-the-world voyage.
Broken Feather
Verla Kay, Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn
Putnam/Penguin Putnam
345 Hudson St., NY, NY 10014
ISBN 0399235507, $15.99, 32 pages, 1-800-847-5515
Children's author Verla Kay -- renown for her imaginative historical picture books including
"Gold
Fever," "Iron Horses" and "Tattered Sails" -- continues her winning streak with "Broken Feather,"
the poetic saga of a fictional Native American boy. As with its predecessors, the book is
succinctly
written in fewer than 300 words, using a technique the author likes to call "cryptic rhyme." The
format is characterized by rhyming couplet verses composed of clipped phrases that outline
stories in
as few words as possible. This results in rich descriptions that leave lots to the reader's
imagination,
and gives the illustrator free reign to create rich additional visual subtext. The story is a
deceptively
simple one about a young Nez Perce boy named Broken Feather. He lives the happy life of a free
native, joyously fishing and hunting until his tribe goes to war to protect the land from European
invasion. Our heart bleeds for Broken Feather, when he is confined to a reservation, crushing his
dreams: "Reservation, anguished cry. Broken Feather, `Father, why?' `There were many, we were
few. Now, my son, it's up to you.'" With renewed hope, the story sensitively tells of the
heartbreak
of the Nez Perce tribe and how they managed to stay proud and stand tall in the face of
tremendous
adversity.
Quilt Counting
Lesa Cline-Ransome & James E. Ransome
SeaStar Books
11 East 26th Street, NY, NY 10010
ISBN 1587171775, $15.95, 36 pages, www.northsouth.com
From the husband and wife team who gave us "Quilt Alphabet," comes this companion picture
book
based on a one-to-ten counting theme for pre-readers. Simple rhyming text gives glimpses into
quiet
country living and the traditional bonding family experience of quilt making. For the number
three,
for instance we see a grandmother, mother and daughter working together on a patchwork quilt:
"Inside a family gathers/ three generations stand/ to piece a family history / by joining heart and
hand." The count continues with four scissors, five thimbles, six measuring tapes, seven cushions,
eight baskets of cloth, nine spools of thread and 10 stitches in a row. A reverse countdown from
10
to one then takes readers outside the farmhouse into the quietly beautiful countryscape.
Grandmothers, in particular, will enjoy reading "Quilt Counting" to their own young
granddaughters
as a lovely bonding experience in itself.
Herbie's Secret Santa
Petra Mathers
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10020
ISBN 0689835507, $15.95, 26 pages, www.SimonSaysKids.com
Petra Mathers' newest picture book offers a new episode in her charming series featuring Lottie
the
chicken and her friends ("Lottie's New Beach Towel," "Dodo Gets Married"). In the holiday
story,
"Herbie's Secret Santa," ducky Herbie joins Lottie to help her chose a Chrismas tree. But soon
Herbie's good deed goes bad when he looses his holiday spirit and greedily does something he
shouldn't. When he subsequently feels terrible about his misdeed and struggles with his
conscience,
every little reader will intimately relate and root for the sad little duck to pull through, keeping his
friendship with Lottie intact. "Herbie's Secret Santa" is a pleasant little morality tale wrapped
prettily
inside a non-stereotypical Christmas adventure. And though just 26 pages, long, most pages,
generously feature two pages,-worth of pictures and words, making this a bountiful holiday
gift.
Mannekin Pis
Vladimir Radunsky
Antheneum/Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10020
ISBN 0689831935, $15.95, 32 pages, www.SimonSaysKids.com
Something tells me the author will be pleased that his book nearly made me pee my pants
laughing.
Subtitled "A Simple Story of a Boy Who Peed on a War," this fearlessly post-modern picture
book
tells the legendary Belgium tale of the child who stopped a battle with an innocent gesture that
taught the world how silly it is to fight. Both figuratively and literally, author/illustrator Vladimir
Radunsky (who took on Woody Guthrie in "Bling Blang," "Howi Do" and "My Dolly") boldly
paints
the mostly-true story with broad strokes. Clipped phrases and childlike art exuberantly tell the
story
with raw emotion as if being passed down orally to the young readers by an excitable family
member. In this context, Radunsky astutely deems factual details unimportant, even when it
comes
to explaining what all the fighting was about: "But then something happened. The War. Enemies
came to destroy the beautiful town. Maybe they were jealous that the town was so beautiful. Oh,
what a terrible, terrible war." By the time the little boy stands on top of a wall to, well, take care
of
business, kids will be gape-mouthed in disbelief. I can't help but wonder if the book's wicked
scatological humor will inspire some readers to reinact the infamous event themselves. In the
name
of peace, of course.
'Twas The Night Before Christmas
Illustrated by Matt Tavares
Candlewick Press
2067 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140
ISBN 0763615854, $16.00, 32 pages, www.Candlewick.com
Illustrator Matt Tavares (creator of the award-winning "Zachary's Ball") sure has a way with a
pencil. One tiny dot at a time, he fills page after page with eye-poppingly lifelike renderings. His
monochromatic, black and white drawings are photographic in quality, giving his work a timeless
feel. Here, the illustrator lends his talents to a new picture book of the classic Christmas poem,
originally titled "Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas." The heirloom quality book features a
cover
trimmed in gold foil and mock red-leather binding. Inside, luminous green rectangles elegantly
frame
each page, rich end papers resemble red-flocked wallpaper, and a lovely "Ex Libris" bookplate
invites owners to inscribe their name.
Faithfully republished with the same punctuation it had when originally published in 1823, the
anonymous poem (since attributed to Clement C. Moore) offered the first presentation of a jolly,
not
stern or reprimanding -- Santa Claus. Tavares takes Santa's jolly soul to heart in his joyful
renderings. Each illustration is an exquisitely nuanced work of art featuring period architectural
details, furnishings and decorative items researched at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Children
may not be immediately attracted to the colorless pages, but they'll soon be won over by the
images'
mesmerizing realism, and Tavares' ability to make young readers feel they are personally
witnessing
the mysterious and beloved Santa Claus in action.
Born Confused
Tanuja Desai Hidier
Scholastic Press
557 Broadway, NY, NY 10012
ISBN 0439357624, $16.95, 414 pages, www.scholastic.com
Who can resist a protagonist named Dimple Lala? She's a lively, club-going teenager just like
anyone
else, except that she's not exactly sure who she is: a normal American girl or a dutiful Indian
daughter. And now that she's 17, her life is one melodiously complicated mess. She's trying to get
over a break up with her boyfriend, but her best friend is smitten with a new boy so in't there
when
Lala needs her. The last straw comes when her traditional parents make it clear that they wish for
Lala to honor tradition by accepting an arranged marriage to a "suitable boy." It's unthinkable to
thoroughly-modern Dimple until she discovers the boy in question spinning records in a club.
Written by an Indian-American now living in London, the award-winning author slips every now
and
then, using British slang ("bloddy bollocks") for her American characters. But Hidier makes it
easy
for readers to fall right inside Dimple's lengthy story as she struggles to find true love and
friendship
while discovering her relationship with her own culture. The details are as savory as the chai and
masala spices that flavor. Once readers get over the author's odd choice of abandoning quotation
marks, the rapid-fire dialog will be hungrily digested. By the end, each reader will find it
impossible
to imagine a time that they had not loved Dimple "with every Dhage na Dhin, Dhage na Dha of
(their) drumming heart."
The Best of Times
Greg Tang, Illustrated by Harry Briggs
Scholastic Press
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 0439210445, $16.95, 32 pages, www.scholastic.com
Math has never been so much fun. Except, of course, with author Greg Tang's two previous
picture
books that revolutionize the way children can learn math. As with "The Grapes of Math" and
"Math
For All Seasons", Tang makes numbers exciting by showing young learners how to think outside
the
box with mathematical word problems and picture puzzles. For "The Best of Times," he does the
unthinkable by throwing standard memorization of the times tables out the window. Tang presents
an alternative lesson for multiplication that 's bold, playful, practical, extraordinarily effective and
deceptively simple. Want to multiply by five, for instance? Don't memorize. Just multiply by 10
then
divide in half. Even prime numbers can be simply conquered. For nine Tang writes: "Nine is faster
to
compute/ if at first you overshoot./ Here's a very clever tack/ do 10 times and then subtract!
"What is 9 x 7? It's ten 7's minus 7 " An illustrative example completes each lesson with vivid
visuals providing a memorable step-by-step demonstration. It will take multiple readings to fully
grasp the lessons and memorize the ten strategic couplets, but that beats flash cards hands down.
Kids will be quickly be able to answer Tang's challenge questions even on first reading, and will
soon
be able to compute huge figures in their heads. These lessons will last a lifetime by giving kids a
concrete understanding of numbers that will help them truly understand multiplication process,
not
simply remember numeric series. Tang has provided a truly revolutionary and valuable tool that
deserves a place in every elementary math curriculum.
Christmas in the Country
Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Diane Goode
Blue Sky Press/Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 0439073340, $15.95, 32 pages, www.scholastic.com
As comfortable as an old quilt, this new picture book by beloved children's writer Chythia Rylant
is a
cozy bedtime book to cuddle up to this winter. It's a warm and loving tribute to the holiday
season,
filled with childhood memories of special moments leading up to Christmas day. Told from the
perspective of an adult relating her favorite holiday traditions to her own children -- i.e. the young
readers, Rylant begins with the opening of boxes carefully packed with ornaments for the tree,
many
of which she made herself. When she says that "each ornament reminded me of my whole life," we
all know the feeling exactly. We too identify with her small pleasures trimming the tree, singing in
the church choir, writing a note to Santa, leaving out a saucer of cookies and a glass of milk, and
giddily going to bed. Before we know it, Christmas in the country is over, "but in that close of
wool
and mothballs, there would be boxes of old ornaments, waiting." Adding to the book's sentimental
nature, "Christmas in the Country" marks the reunion of Rylant and illustrator Diane Goode,
whose
first collaboration 20 years ago resulted in the Caldecott Honor book "When I Was Young in the
Mountains."
Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear!
Don and Aubrey Wood
Blue Sky Press/Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 0439320925, $15.95, 40 pages, www.scholastic.com
"Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear!" is a holiday treat is for very young picture book pre-readers
who fell in love with the predecessor, "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big
Hungry Bear." The critter characters are both accounted for (though, somewhat awkwardly, the
bear isn' t hungry this time, nor is he seen) in this imaginative story about the joy of giving...and
getting. The narrative text is cleverly written as a one-way conversation to the little guy, giving
voice to his inner thoughts, and bringing readers directly into the action. This time the silent little
mouse is thrilled with all the presents piled under his Christmas tree. When it's suggested that the
big, hungry bear, in the cold, dark cave at the top of the hill would do anything for a Christmas
present, the frightened mouse panics, and takes drastic measures to protect his stash. But then he
realizes how it would feel to not have a single gift, not even from Santa Claus, so he hatches a
plan
to play Santa himself. He musters up enough bravery to bring a package to his fierce adversary
and
finds that the big, hungry bear has a big, giving heart too. Parents may not be entirely thrilled that
the ending twist ignores the customary holiday message that "it's better to give than receive," but
children will be greatly satisfied.
The Donkey's Christmas Song
Nancy Tafuri
Scholastic Press
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 0439273137, $16.95, 32 pages, www.scholastic.com
The latest picture book by Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Nancy Tafuri ("Have You Seen
My
Duckling?") is a lovely Christmas tale for very young readers. Gloriously wrapped in jewel-tones
of
purple and blue, "The Donkey' s Christmas Song" is a sweet Christmas gift item, telling a simple
tale
of the night a special baby was born in a manger a long, long ago. Nestled in his cozy bed of
straw,
the swaddled babe is serenaded by the animals there. One by one, the doves coo and the cows
moo
their soft welcome, followed by goats, sheep, mice and chicks. But the shy little donkey is afraid
his
noisy song will frighten the child, so keeps quiet until the baby smiles at him. Encouraged, he
brays
his welcome too, with happy results. Early walkers and talkers will enjoy the large, colorful
pictures
and the Old McDonald-style role call, but most other picture book fans will quickly become bored
with the repetitive animal-sound theme and scant text, leaving them to wonder "where's the
story?"
Eleonor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine
Kristiana Gregory
Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 0439164842, $10.95, 190 pages, www.scholastic.com
Scholastic adds another jewel its crown for its "Royal Diaries" series of historical fiction for
pre-teen
girls age 9 to 12. "Eleonor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine" is another royal effort, this time written
from
the perspective of the mischievous 13-year-old daughter of a count in 1136 France. When her
father
leaves to fight in the invasion of Normandy, Eleonor faces danger from their enemies. She
survives
but must face new changes when she turns 15 and becomes the politically-strategic bride of
16-year-old Prince Louis VII. Will she rise to the occasion for the sake of her country? Can true
love possibly win out when she is on the threshold of become queen? It's the stuff of girlhood
dreams. "Eleonor" is a feisty protagonist that contemporary girls will latch onto gladly. The series
book designers deserve a tip of the tiara for their richly illustrated covers (here it features an
approachably beautiful princess and knight on horseback in front of a stately castle village),
gold-rimmed pages,, and gorgeous endpapers, giving the book the elegant feel of a library
heirloom.
Milly and The Macy's Parade
Shana Corey, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Scholastic Press
557 Broadway, NY NY 10012
ISBN 04392975401, $16.95, 40 pages, www.scholastic.com
"Milly and the Macy's Parade" is one of the season's most appealing Christmas book gifts for little
girls, especially if it comes wrapped in a bright red Macy's box. This sophisticated picture book
story
about a little immigrant girl with a big idea is sure to warm hearts this holiday season and many
seasons to come. To its credit, "Milly and the Macy's Parade" is related with such casual
confidence,
that it manages to become an instant classic of sorts, by creating a new legend about the creation
of
the beloved annual tradition. The story is entirely fictional, however, as are the 1920s characters,
with the exception of Mr. Macy himself, although he died in 1877, long before the first Macy's
parade. But how fabulous it is to imagine a young girl, new on American shores, happily playing
and
living out her fantasies in her father's workplace, Macy's Department store, among all the
"gorgeous" goods stocking the shelves as Christmas approaches. How poignant to see her smile
fade
when she recognizes that so many adult immigrants are depressed and homesick for their
homeland
holiday traditions. How exciting to watch Milly bravely tell the powerful Mr. Macy what's wrong
with his empire. And how triumphant to see her idea come to fruition! As evidenced by her
previous
picture book, "You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer," author Shana Corey has a knack for
strong young female characters. Here, Milly's strength of character jumps off the page, in no small
part due to illustrator Brett Helquist's ("An Unfortunate Series of Events") most finely-realized
effort to date. It's a stellar flight of fancy with true emotional resonance that will coax a few adult
tears as they read to their own little Millys and remember their own immigrant ancestors.
Vicki Arkoff
Reviewer
Sullivan's Bookshelf
The Extraordinary Voyage Of Pytheas The Greek
Barry Cunliffe
Walker & Company
ISBN 08027l3939, 2002, l95 pages/indexed, $23.00
This is ancient history at its best. Though the focus is on Pytheas, a Greek, who lived in the Greek
settlement community of Massalia (today's Marseille, France) on the Mediterranean Sea, the
witing
covers the Bronze Age and much of the known world's history from about 500 B.C. to l00 A.D>
and beyond.
Few, if any, people in those days traveled outside the Mediterranean. The hardy souls who did
were
daring explorers. Those who ventured out into the scary Atlantic Ocean waters, sailed south,
hugging the coast of Africa. Only a handful turned north to follow the coast of what is today,
Spain,
France, England, Ireland, and Scandinavia, to say nothing of Iceland.
Pytheas wrote "On The Ocean" telling of his explorations into the Atlanic. He discussued many
things about it, including the people he encountered, the landscapes seen, and the activities of the
inhabitants observed. He also made scientific measurements of the sun from different sites. His
valuable book containing all that, however, was lost or destroyed. Perhaps, as is most likely, it
burned in the fire at the Great Library in Alexandria, Egypt.
Still, much of the book's contents are known, even down to the present day, because other writers
of
that era, and later, borrowed substantially from "On The Ocean". It was one of the few sources
for
such information. .
On the ocean. It was one of the few sources for such information.
Historians like Polybius and Strabo accused Pytheas of being a liar for making up his fantastic
travel
stories. Professional jealousy seems to have been at the root.
Of what is known of Pytheas' travels, much is, admittedly, confusing and muddled. Not the least
of
the problems are the various names and multiple spellings given to the same geographic location.
But today's scholars are of the opinion that Pytheas did spend time traveling in and around the
British Isles. He walked parts of it and sailed around other sections, visiting several of the small
islands. His stories about tin mining and the collection of amber and gold sound credible to
academic
readers. other unique facts that he reported appear to lend further truth to his story.
Perhaps Pytheas' most controversial comments had to do with Ultima Thule, the land of the
frozen
northern waters where the sun didn't set. Several theories exist about where he was talking about.
The strongest theory, according to ancient history experts, would have Pytheas discussing today's
Iceland. Did he merely report what others had told him about the place, or did he really travel
there?
No one knows. And from the remnants of his book's contents that have come down to today, not
enough is available to accurately discern the facts. Yet much of his writing and adventures that are
known are considered seminal in travel from the known world of the Mediterranean to the
Atlantic.
Eventually, he traveled back to his home in Massalia. Perhaps he did so boating down some of
Europe's rivers, expecially those of Gaul (today's France). His later life remains a mystery.
Cunliffe writes, "When it was first published, about 320 B.C., "On The Ocean" must have been a
shocking book. The Greeks knew virtually nothing of what lay "beyond the Pillars of Hercules"
(the
Straits of Gibraltar). They were aware, of course, that Europe faced the ocean, an embracing
ocean
that many believed encircled the known world. They also knew that from somewhere along this
mysterious interface came tin, amber, and gold, but that was about all. {...} Pytheas was the first
Greek to travel among them to the limits of the inhabited world and to publish a sober description
of
what he saw. Many would have read his account in sheer disbelief. The world of the Atlantic
fringe
that Pytheas presented for his sophisticated audience simply did not conform to their comfortable
preconceptions.
A University of Oxford professor, Barry Cunliffe has written, previous to this volume, a trio of
books on ancient history.
Recommended.
Dear Donald, Dear Bennett: The Wartime Correspondence Of Bennett Cerf And Donald
Klopfer
Bennet Cerf and Donald Klopfer
Random House
ISBN 037550768X, 2002, 2ll pages, $25.00
The l942 to l945 letters between the Random House Publishing Company's two founders fills this
slim volume. Klopfer, age 40, entered the U.S. Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II.
Cerf, age 43, stayed back in New York City to run their struggling little book publishing
partnership.
Cerf, extremely proud of his partner and somewhat envious, wasn't all that keen on Don going off
to
war. Klopfer eventually became a Major while stationed in England as an Intelligence Officer in
the
8th U.S. Air Force with a B24 bomber group.
The far off partner provided Cerf with news of the war, though not in much detail, for obvious
reasons. And Cerf gave Klopfer business details, publishing minutia, gossip, and personnel
reports.
The glee that each man exhibited about the people each knew in their particular business, authors,
books obtained, burgeoning sales during the war years, paper shortages, all stated in interesting
ways with lots of humor makes the book pleasant to peruse.
Moreover, the genuine brotherly love between these two business partners and close friends can't
help but uplift the reader. Both men felt and acted the same way towards their employees,
too.
By the war's end, both publishers were rich. And their publishing firm was growing on stable
ground. Their primary worry was over the astronomical income tax rate of 96 percent at that
time.
Writers will get a knick out of and a revealing inside-look at how publishers feel and act
concerning
their authors and book sale prospects.
Cerf himself compiled joke books that had substantial sales, providing him with much additional
income. He was also seen weekly on TV's "What's My Line?" during the l950s. Here's a small
portion of a letter he wrote to Klopfer on October 6, l943: "Dear Don:
I was bowled over by your two letters which arrived here simultaneously yesterday. The thought
of
you actually flying a plane has me so green with envy that one of our new nearsighted employees
on
the eighth floor mistook me for an advance copy of Peter Rainier's "Green Fire".
LOVE,
BENNETT"
The book's introduction is written by Bob Loomis, a well-known and highly respected editor in
the
New York publishing business. Though no compileer, editor, or writer is credited with putting
these
letters and book together, Phyllis Cerf-Wagner and Lois Klopfer Levy, presumably relatives of the
book's subjects, are listed as copyright holders.
This book is recommended.
Jim Sullivan
Reviewer
Skea's Bookshelf
Albion: The Origins Of The English Imagination
Peter Ackroyd
Random House
ISBN: 1856197212, $75.00, hardback, 518 pages
"England is a land of dreams. They think their dreams to be visionary and their visions to be
divine."
Peter Ackroyd is, I think, a romantic. Not that I am complaining. His vision of historical
continuity
in the English character and imagination, from Bede c. 673-735 through to the twenty-first
century,
is one I rather like. Of course the well-known eccentricity of the English is an ancestral trait; of
course we are pragmatic, eclectic, prone to melancholy and, yes, probably bloody-minded, too; of
course we have always been self-deprecating, ironic and fond of "low" comedy; and of course we
have always complained about the weather. isn't that what it is to be English?.
Well.......maybe.
Ackroyd's enthusiasm is contagious, especially when he discusses London, visionaries, theatre and
language, all things he knows a lot about. His breadth of learning is prodigious but lightly worn,
and
his excursions into strange territory, like forgery, gardens and plagiarism, is often unexpectedly
fascinating and provocative. But in spite of all the evidence he brings to support his thesis (and
sometimes there does seem to be an awful lot), I found myself constantly thinking "Yes,
but...".
Yes, there does seem to be a strong connection in English language and literature with the
alliterative verse of the Anglo-Saxons and with our ancestors' patterns of vernacular speech. But
did
the English love of miniatures really grow from our delight in manuscript grotesques? What about
the Mogul love of miniatures, where did that come from? And don't Japanese Haiku and Chinese
Bonsai arts demonstrate that same love? Maybe it is a human delight, rather than a peculiarly
English
characteristic.
And, yes, Ackroyd makes a good case for continuity in our love of flat, intricate, decorative
design.
But what about the flat, intricate patterns of Arabic art?
Sometimes Ackroyd's gaze seemed to be so focused on England that I kept asking myself what
the
quintessential, historically based characteristics of the French, the Africans or the Chinese might
be,
and how similar or dissimilar to the English.
These are quibbles, however, and it is good to be challenged like that. This book (although
anything
but miniature) in fact displays many of the traits of language and approach about which Ackroyd
writes. It is full of antiquarianism, intricately interwoven but flat patterns, miniature portraits,
grotesques and visionary dreamers. I particularly enjoyed reading about Bede, a brief history of
the
English Bible, and the "Mongrel tendencies" of the English language. And I was delighted by the
gloom and doom of "It Rained all Night".
Although the theme is constant, there is enormous variety in this book, as just a sample of the
chapter headings will show: 'A Land of Dreams', 'Anglo-Saxon Attitudes', 'The Italian
Connection',
'And Now for Streaky Bacon', The Song of the Sea', 'I saw you Missis', Femality and Fiction',
'Some
more Dunces', 'Ghosts'. And Ackroyd's five-page list of characters is impressive, ranging from
Bede
(c 670), through (I choose at random) Chaucer, Byrd, Johnson, Pope, Smollett, Sloane,
Macaulay,
Elgar and Spencer, to Howard Hodgkin (1932).
This is a book to read slowly, and to return to and browse in. It is serious but also full of humour.
Learned but also, at times, cheekily daring. Not every chapter is successful, and there is a
tendency
to list things in the interest of brevity, but on the whole it is a very interesting and absorbing book.
I
recommend it, even if Ackroyd does prove that my doubts about his thesis stem from my own
inherited, quintessentially English individualism and, as he puts it, "disaffection from, or
dissatisfaction with, abstract speculation".
The Piano Tuner
Daniel Mason
Picador, Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 0330492675, $ 35.00, hardback, 357 pages
Knopf
ISBN: 0375414657; $24.00, hardcover, 336 pages
Tucked away in the Author's Notes at the end of the book is a memory Daniel Mason has of
travelling, as a student of malaria, on a long-tailed boat up the Salween River in Burma. From a
"muddy trading post on the banks of a small river a strange sound rose up from the thick bush".
What he heard was a piano. "Perhaps", he writes, "it was only a recording, creaking out on one of
the dusty phonographs that can still be found in some of the more remote markets. Perhaps. It
was,
however, terribly out of tune".
Perhaps, too, this was the source of inspiration for his story. The Piano Tuner is imaginative,
curious, almost believable, and certainly intriguing. "Edgar Drake, piano-tuner,
Erards-a-speciality",
is an unlikely hero. Middle-aged, successful, happily married and comfortably settled in the
Victorian
society of nineteenth-century London, he is suddenly the recipient of a letter from the British War
Office requesting his services for an Erard grand piano. Not an unusual request, except that the
piano is in the possession of Surgeon Major Carroll in a remote and dangerous part of
Burma.
The circumstances surrounding this request are as bizarre as the request itself. Surgeon Major
Carroll is clearly a valued but unusual officer. So valued, that his threat to resign if an Erard piano
tuner is not immediately sent to tune his piano in the remote Shan Hills is being treated very
seriously. But information about him and, more importantly for Edgar, about the true state of the
piano which Carroll has transported into the Burmese jungle with him, is not forthcoming. All of
which arouses Edgar's (and the reader's) curiosity.
Edgar decides to accept the job, and his journey to Burma is part travelogue, part history and
geography lessons, part story-telling and adventure and is wholly absorbing. Mason makes the
Burma through which Edgar travels historically accurate and some of the people Edgar meets did,
in
fact, live there at that time, but this does not constrain the author's imagination. And Edgar's own
conservative, unassuming, earnest character makes him so out-of-place in the exotic and strange
surroundings through which he travels that this is part of the fascination of his story.
Edgar Drake is an old-fashioned character and in some ways this is an old-fashioned novel and
Mason is a good, old-fashioned story-teller. But he also takes some daring risks and carries them
off
with considerable skill. He begins the book with Edgar's death, and reminds us of it later in the
book,
but he still holds our interest. He breaks up the narrative with several short stories; he avoids
torrid
love scenes by keeping his lovers within the bounds of Victorian and cultural moralities; he adds a
few lessons on topics which range from the malarial parasite to Burmese folk-lore and
superstition;
he throws in the occasional letter as an explanatory device; and he adds a touch of the 'True
British
Hero' and Boy's Own derring-do. But somehow, with his passion for Burma and his fluent,
enjoyable
prose, he manages to get away with most of this.
The Piano Tuner, is Daniel Mason's first novel and, as the cover blurb says, it is "an elegant and
unusually engrossing story". Mason's inventiveness, and the playfulness and skill with which he
mixes knowledge and imagination into an unusual, very readable and enjoyable story, make his
name
worth remembering for the future. Let's hope that he never spends so much time on his studies in
biology and medicine that he gives up story-telling.
Ann Skea, Reviewer
http://ann.skea.com
Shelley's Bookshelf
Deadly Revenge
Mary Cunningham
Xlibris Corporation
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
ISBN: 1401021174, $19.54, www.xlibris.com
Mary Cunningham is a woman of many talents. A resident of the Pacific Northwest, her writing
has
garnered an award from the Pacific NW Writers Conference. She is a graduate of the Renton
Police
Department's Citizens Academy and is a member of Sisters in Crime.
In Deadly Revenge, Mary Cunningham presents Detective Spenser Dawson, a sexy and likeable
member of the Seattle Police Department. He is the head of a task force formed after the death of
Megan McGuire, a business woman and leader who was killed in a fiery car accident after
someone
cut her brake line. It is up to Spenser Dawson, with a little help from his father J.L. to solve this
puzzler:
"'Is your dad a consultant to the police department?' 'No, but he'd like to be, although he doesn't
have the training. He's what you might call an armchair detective. He loves to read mysteries,
especially the latest crimes by Earl Emerson, Ridley Pearson, and Ann Rule. In fact, he knows
most
of these Northwest authors because of his connections in the media.'"
Cunningham's writing is crystal clear, with lots of plot twists and turns. She throws in Kari
Townsend, head of the O'Neill Foundation, as a love interest and pivotal character in the solution
of
the murder. Sparks fly immediately between Spenser and Kari, and their missteps in building their
relationship provide Kari's friend, Gayla Graham, the chance to become the perfect fairy
godmother.
Deadly Revenge is a well-written, meticulously plotted mystery with so many blind alleys that the
reader is completely fooled. Cunningham presents fascinating characters and subplots that keep
the
action moving and the reader glued. Spenser Dawson is a wonderful hero, and his burgeoning
relationship with Kari provides lots of clues as to what is really happening. Spenser's father and
Gayla provide laughs, love, and a supportive web for the story. The task force is made up of
interesting individuals, and Cunningham lets the reader in on lots of police secrets. A great first
effort! This reviewer will be watching for more.
Amorous Accident: A Dog's Eye View Of Murder
Joan C. Keating
Astra Publications
209 Matoaka Court, Williamsburg, VA 23185
ISBN: 0967401607, $12.99, www. Astrapublishers.com
Jean C. Keating is a retired aeronautical engineer with NASA. She holds degrees in Physics,
Mathematics, and Information Systems, and authored more than 50 reports and studies in her
work
at NASA and as Research Coordinator for Virginia's higher education board. Amorous Accident
was originally published in 1999, and her follow-up is in progress under the title of Brainy Bear:
Death Takes Best Of Breed. Her specialty in the dog kingdom is papillons.
Kevin Andrews is called in to investigate a particularly grisly homicide at an animal research lab.
No
one is too upset about the death of the scientist, Michael Porter, chief of research at a cancer
institute. Andrews is a kindly veteran cop who loves animals. He enlists the help of his son and
daughter-in-law, who have special expertise in the care of dogs and cats, by claiming two dogs
whose future is dire if left in the lab. He has a long list of suspects, as Porter was not a popular
figure, and the symbolic death left little doubt that the perp was an animal lover:
"The senior detective paused to sip his coffee before continuing. 'Twill said the victim was killed
by
having acid poured down his throat, a rather brutal method wouldn't you think?' he asked
rhetorically. 'Porter was awake and aware for a considerable time, about four or five very long
minutes maybe. There were numerous ways to kill Porter without resorting to torture, if ending
his
life was the only objective. He was knocked unconscious first with a blunt instrument. He was
helpless. Then he was trussed up in that metal rack for some reason and acid was forced down his
throat.'"
This remake of the classic Frankenstein/evil scientist story is a most satisfying plot for any dog
lovers who worry about what goes on in research labs. Keating does a wonderful job of making
the
case against animal experimentation, and points out how the financial rewards can and do outstrip
the usefulness of such practices. The plot moves along briskly; Keating hides the killer where no
one
thinks to look; and the characters (including the four-legged furry kind) are sweet beyond
compare.
Amorous Accident provides good instruction on just how smart and lovable animals are and how
they are abused by greedy and sadistic people who belong not in a lab, but probably in jail. But
don't
fear...the story is compelling and well planned.
Mountain Ice
R.E. Derouin
Hats Off Books
610 East Delano St., Suite 104, Tucson, AZ 85705
ISBN: 1587360861, $15.95 (US); $25.95 (CAN)
Mountain Ice is R.E.Derouin's third David Dean mystery novel, Time Trial and San Juan Solution
being the first two installments. Derouin is a resident of Ouray, Colorado, where he writes and
occasionally works in the family toy business.
David Dean, ex-cop from Pennsylvania, has relocated to Ouray, Colorado where he and his wife,
Cynthia, have recently opened a bed and breakfast called Bird Song. Dean's stepfather Fred also
lives at Bird Song. Fred has started an online resale business of auction items. To date, life has
been
idyllic, until Edith Shipton appears. She and her son Donnie have obvious problems, including
hiding
out from Edith's abusive husband. But when a 100 year old journal turns up in code, chaos begins
to
unravel what should be a peaceful vacation paradise:
"Dean looked up at his wife after reading the strange lines. 'Damned! That doesn't sound like any
minister's wife I ever knew!' 'What do you make of it?' Cynthia asked cautiously. 'It's obvious.
She's
a hooker. A prostitute. A lady of the night.'"
Derouin writes a lively mystery chock full of interesting characters, several levels of action, and a
grand denouement. He covers a range of subjects from the running of a bed and breakfast to the
thrills of ice climbing. His characters range from the quirky Gladys Turnbull, a wannabe writer
with
a head full of imaginary planets and people with a romanticized version of herself as the heroine,
to
the sad and tragic figure of Edith Shipton. He creates nice polar opposites even in his character of
David Dean, as he struggles with issues he thought disappeared with his career change. David is
an
admirable hero, though, even as his wife Cynthia puts him through his paces. Dean takes on such
subjects as abuse and marital stress in this rich and satisfying mystery.
For anyone who loves a ghost story, Derouin doesn't disappoint. Even while there is an actual
murder being planned and executed, Derouin keeps the reader pointed in the direction of an old
story that is resurfacing, complete with the shadows of past events. Mountain Ice is a most
enjoyable
story from a writer who is gaining more and more expertise.
Why Johnny Died
Marlis Day
SterlingHouse Publisher, Inc.
The Sterling Building, 440 Friday Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15209
ISBN: 1563151847, $11.95, www.sterlinghousepublisher.com
Marlis Day has been a teacher for 30 years. She holds a BS degree from Indiana State University
and an MS degree from Indiana University. She is also a freelance writer, having published ten
articles in Christian magazines and educational journals. Why Johnny Died is her first Margo
Brown
mystery.
Johnny Benson, a seventh grader with a sweet personality and a rotten home life, is found dead by
his mother of an apparent snake bite. Margo Brown is his teacher, and when she reads a journal
Johnny wrote for her class, she is convinced that he is too smart to have carelessly picked up a
snake. She concludes that he was murdered, but no one believes her, except her colleague Roxy.
Together they piece together a chain of facts that implicate their ever so stern principal in Johnny's
death. Dr. Fitzbaum transparently tries to dispose of Johnny's journal because it has incriminating
evidence, and he would succeed if it wasn't for Margo Brown's penchant for adventure:
"In stunned silence we stared at each other he with his gun in the doorway, and I, seated in his
chair with my arms full of his private papers. . . and Johnny Benson's journal. As most school
principals, Leo had been given the gift of glare, and could beat me in a starting contest any day of
the week. I'm sure my expression was a combination of terror and wide-eyed astonishment, while
he
was calm and feral."
Why Johnny Died is a mystery with a purpose, as Ms. Day clearly expostulates in her epilogue.
Teachers see children from broken homes; children who are abused; and children from homes full
of
alcohol and drug abuse every day. Because of the legal system, teachers no longer have any real
control over their students' lives. Therefore they cannot come to the assistance of children in need.
This is a national tragedy. It has pushed good people out of teaching, and made the act of
teaching
that much harder. Children who are troubled are simply thrown back into the classroom, where
they
disrupt the atmosphere and interfere with the learning process for all children. Ms. Day writes her
extremely entertaining, witty, but sad story to get our attention. Children are the single most
important resource we have...thanks, Ms. Day.
Final Respects
F.M. Meredith
The Fiction Works
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
ISBN: 1581247427, $12.95, www.fictionworks.com
F.M. Meredith is in the inner circle of law enforcement, having many friends and relations who are
police officers. Meredith has gone along on "ride alongs" with various police departments to get a
feel for what the life of a police officer is like. Meredith belongs to the Police Writers'
Association,
as well as other writers' groups.
Doug Milligan has a true calling for police work. It is all he's ever wanted to do. Unfortunately,
his
wife Kerrie has no appreciation for his occupation and lacks the grit that is essential to be a
policeman's wife. Doug's town used to be quiet, but no longer. There is a funeral home employee
who is about to become a psychopath in front of Doug's eyes. Crime is up, and each trip out of
the
house could be his last. When he is called to assist in a bank robbery, a policeman is shot. His wife
Kerrie uses that opportunity to try to derail his dreams, the only job he's ever wanted, and his
home:
"All the way to the Navarros', Kerrie raged on about how men with wives and children had no
business being policemen. 'It's just too dangerous, Doug, and this incident proves it. It's time for
you
to begin looking for another job. You don't realize what it does to me to have to worry every time
you leave for work, never knowing if you'll be coming home.'"
Final Respects is an inside look at the stresses of police work. Doug Milligan's character has to
adjust to an intolerant wife leaving him just as bodies start to multiply. His home has been invaded
by a psychopath who murders his babysitter in a twisted and vicious crime. His partner is killed
during another police call due to the irresponsible actions of a fellow cop who only has his own
career advancement in mind. And to top matters off, Doug is ordered to take a leave just as his
family is disintegrating. It would be enough to put anyone under, but Doug has more character
than
that, although he struggles towards the denouement.
Meredith does a nice job of crafting this tale which portrays the police as human beings who are
chosen to protect the rest of us. Doug Milligan is a straight-ahead cop readers will like because he
is
so accessible. The plot and characters are rich in detail, making this story the "real deal."
Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer
Shannon's Bookshelf
The Monster In The Mailbox
T. E. Watson, Illustrated by Mari and Linus Lancaster
Paw Prints Press
2384 Tokay Court, Paradise, CA 95969
ISBN: 1-58478-011-8, hardcover, pp. 32, ages 7-12 years
What can you do to pay back a pesky little brother for all his teasing and pranks? How about
telling
him there's a monster in the mailbox? That's exactly what Cynthia does, and poor Timmy won't
ever
look at the mailbox in the same way again.
The Monster In The Mailbox is an imaginative tale about sibling rivalry and fun. Its full color
illustrations are bright and detailed. The age range is listed as 7-12 years, but I would suspect that
even kids a year or two younger would enjoy this tale.
Manifesting Methods For Would Be Millionaires
Susan James
Vast Five Publishing
Suite 218, 644 Greenville Ave., Staunton, VA 24401
ISBN: 1-59113-181-2, $19.95, 2001, pp. 139, www.susanjames.org
What if becoming a millionaire wasn't about striving to attain wealth, goal setting or aggressive
marketing? What if becoming a millionaire was as easy as going to the grocery store?
According to Susan James, consultant and author of Manifesting Methods For Would Be
Millionaires, becoming a millionaire IS that easy. In the opening of the book, James says that
achieving millionaire status is truly just, "The application of the mechanics of Energy and Spirit
toward multimillionaire status."
Using an theory James calls User Friendly Physics, this book reveals how thoughts, not action,
create the millionaires of the world. Better yet, she tells us how to change our thoughts and thus
raise our vibrations to millionaire status. She tells us how we keep ourselves from becoming
millionaires: constant worrying about how we will pay our bills, speaking words that contradict
what
we say we want for our lives, even our attitudes toward other things unrelated to money. All our
words and thoughts are energy and create our reality. So, in order to get to millionaire, we must
align the thoughts and words we present to the world, and more importantly, to ourselves, with
what we want, not what we don't want.
Divided into a series of 50 essays or "branches," each expanding on the last, this book reveals the
recipe for millionaire. Also included is an index of resources for further study and "games" James
devised to change our focus from lack to millionaire.
This book is very thought-provoking, revealing where our thoughts go awry, where we can
change
our attitudes to align ourselves with the financial situation we say we want. It seems so simple: If
we
need gas for the car, we think about wanting gas and drive to the gas station. We don't complain
about not having gas or whine that we won't be able to drive our car when it finally runs
completely
out. We simply align ourselves with the need for gas, drive to a gas station and fill it up.
Is becoming a millionaire so simple? According to Susan James it is. Maybe if enough of us read
and
apply her ideas, we'll see how simple it is, too.
You Can Heal Your Life
Louise L. Hay
Hay House, Inc.
P.O. Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100
ISBN: 0-937611-01-8, $12.95, 1987, pp. 247, www.hayhouse.com
The opening line of You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise L. Hay, is both simple and profound at
the
same time. "What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us."
Hay, a metaphysical lecturer, teacher, Science of Mind minister and best-selling author of many
books, adds later in the chapter that "All dis-ease comes from a state of unforgiveness" and that
"whenever we are ill, we need to look around to see who it is we need to forgive." Hay developed
the ideas in this book when, in her dealings with hundreds of people over the years, she began to
see
that those with similar physical symptoms seemed to carry around similar thoughts and life
experiences.
You Can Heal Your Life guides readers through the process of uncovering what has formed our
thoughts, what dis-ease has manifested from those thoughts, and how to change to bring health
and
well-being back to our lives.
Hay's details on healing are thorough and uplifting. The book also contains a list describing
physical
problems, probable causes and a new thought pattern to alleviate each problem. Covered in the
list
are everything from gray hair to heartburn to migraine headaches to cancer.
Concluding the book are a more general list of thought patterns to develop for improving the
health
of specific areas of the body, self-help resources and Louise Hay's own story of dis-ease and
healing.
I found the book intriguing, uplifting and hopeful. Some of Hay's final word sum it up simply and
completely, "Dis-ease can be healed, if we are willing to change the way we think and believe and
act." It's certainly worth a try.
Shannon Cave
Reviewer
Roger's Bookshelf
The Balancing Act: Mastering The Five Elements Of Success
Sharon Seivert
Park Street Press
One Park Street, Rochester, Vermont 05767
ISBN 0892817763, $16.95, Trade paperback, 313 pages
More Americans are talking about seeking balance in their lives. Many of them have actually gone
beyond talking and are on the quest. The Balancing Act is one of a number of books that have
been
written (and will be written) on this topic. Seivert, a business consultant and executive coach, has
put together a design that suggests five areas that need to be brought into an appropriate balance
for
you: Personal Life, Relationships, Leadership, Organizations, and World.
Various chapters of this book are keyed to the five elements; others are presented as being of
general interest to the reader. This approach and book organization (the chapters are coded in the
table of contents) enables the reader to concentrate, during first or subsequent readings, on those
areas of greatest interest. Two appendices and an index provide additional support.
The book is organized into three parts: Finding Your Balance in Life, Relationships, and Work;
The
Five Elements of Success; and The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts. The first section,
pre-chapters, offers almost three dozen pages of introductory material on Finding Your Balance,
The Elements of Success, and The Great Ally Inside You. Readers will find a collection of
worksheets to engage in some self-analysis before proceeding into the meat of the book.
The text is heavy on spirituality, as opposed to books focused on life activities and common sense
advice. Seivert's elements: air, fire, water, and earth are discussed in the context of balancing them
in
the way you lead your life. If you are receptive to a deep spiritual approach to life, you'll enjoy
this
book. If you are not engaged by this approach, it will be difficult to connect with this
presentation.
The Power Of Minds At Work: Organizational Intelligence In Action
Karl Albrecht
AMACOM
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
ISBN 0814407374, $24.95, hardcover, 260 pages, 1-800-250-5308
Employers are plagued by a dearth of leadership. Too many companies are populated by people
who
can't think for themselves and, worse, by people who can think but don't. Today, when
brainpower is
so critical to an organization's success, we limit ourselves by doing some really stupid things.
If that statement sounds a little brash, challenging, critical, and accurate, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
After a quarter century of consulting to all sorts of organizations around the world, Karl Albrecht
has earned an enviable reputation---and the bully pulpit to tell it like it is. His messages (and the
book is filled with them) need to be heard by people in charge of today's departments, divisions,
companies, agencies, and other organizations. We call these people "leaders," but in truth most
are
really managers or even administrators in leaders' clothing. Their ignorance, ineptitude, and
avoidable blunders inhibit performance.
Leaders need to learn more about leadership. They need to understand leadership in its current
context and, at the same time, appreciate how we arrived at this place on our journey. They need
to
appreciate their role, especially the importance of inspiring and supporting people to use their
minds.
Creativity? Yes, but an amazing proportion of workers can't---or won't---even think for
themselves,
limiting their potential for achievement.
Consider Albrecht's Law: "Intelligent people, when assembled into an organization, will tend
toward
collective stupidity." It's Dilbert (r) come to life. Albrecht's assertion is that leveraging the
intelligence of an organization can determine the difference between "smart" companies and
"dumb"
companies. In our increasingly competitive employment environment, companies that allow
themselves to be "dumb" (or even just dumber than the competition) may be doomed to
extinction.
The differentiating factor is leadership, and how well that leadership can utilize the individual and
collective intelligence of the organization's members.
This book will grab your attention in the preface and you'll find yourself wanting to keep turning
the
pages to absorb the knowledge delivered, sometimes irreverently, by the author. Each chapter is
filled with insights of past, present, and possibilities that will add to the vital comprehension of
how
the quality of thinking can help or hinder achievement. A liberal sprinkling of examples, aptly
called
"Case in Point," bring principles and experiences to life in each chapter. A set of Key Indicators
closes each chapter, giving the reader a handy checklist to apply the knowledge gained. This
design
is very user-friendly.
The first two chapters make the case for smarter organizations. The second section of the book
explores Organizational Intelligence, focusing on strategic vision, shared fate, appetite for change,
earning discretionary energy, alignment and congruence, knowledge development, and
performance
pressure. The last two chapters offer the reader some serious guidance in how to make their
organizations smarter. Notes at the end of each chapter and a comprehensive 12-page index add
value.
The Power of Minds at Work covers a lot of landscape. It's comprehensive, yet delves into
sufficient
depth to satisfy some of the thought stimulated by his commentary. Yes, you read that sentence
correctly: some of your thought will be satisfied. Reading this book will inspire you to go further.
Wise leaders will absorb the book, then invite their co-leaders to read and discuss Albrecht's
messages....and apply the wisdom that emerges. The content in these pages will generate some
rich,
productive conversations.
Reviewer's Note: As author of "Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Not Enough People," a
wake-up
call about the shortage of skilled labor in this decade, I urge corporate executives to sharpen their
skills in leadership and drawing more from their people. "The Power of Minds at Work" is an
excellent tool to build this strength.
Laugh And Learn: 95 Ways To Use Humor For More Effective Teaching And Training
Doni Tamblyn
AMACOM
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
ISBN 0814408455, $25.00, Hardcover. 256 pages, 1-800-250-5308
While it contains a lot of good ideas, this book will not make the list of books every trainer should
read to be successful. Tamblyn pulls together a number of proven training techniques and
principles,
but the book lacks the depth of numerous other books in the field.
The author is a former comedienne turned trainer, with her seminal experience at the state of
California's school for errant drivers. Not exactly a corporate setting. She tries to be funny and
mix
in research on humor. Is this a training book or a humor book? I'm not enthusiastic about either
objective being accomplished well, particularly compared with other work in the field that has
greater depth and value.
In the introduction, as Tamblyn begins the lightness of the book's style, I read, "Therefore, I
herewith offer this personal guarantee: If you don't laugh at least once while reading this book, I
will
eat a raw Japanese sea urchin. I swear. All you have to do is write." As a serious reviewer, even
noting her lighthearted treatment of her topic, I wondered more than once how much she likes
raw
Japanese sea urchins.
The AMACOM editors have contributed by supporting some good organization to the book,
including an index of the 95 techniques immediately following the table of contents and
acknowledgements. Each chapter ends with a pause for reflection (write in the spaces provided
what
you got from this chapter) and a Next Steps section. Techniques presented in the book are tied
back
to theoretical introductions with side notes on the pages and readers are supplied with call-out
quotes to read throughout the book.
The author and editors attempted to accomplish several things in one volume, but didn't make a
sufficient connection or case, in my opinion. There is some value here for less experienced
trainers,
but such readers might be better served by the writings of Bob Pike and Leslie Yerkes. If you
know
something about the field already, this book may be a disappointment.
Successful Talent Strategies: Achieving Superior Business Results Through Market-focused
Staffing
David Sears
AMACOM
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
ISBN 0814407463, $29.95, hardcover, 248 pages, , 1-800-250-5308
The lexicon birthed a new word not so long ago: talent. No, actually the word is not new, but the
way the word is applied as taken on new meaning. "Talent" now describes the people who work
for
an organization, with a particular focus on the skills, knowledge, and capabilities they bring.
Talent
is more than just workers; it's the collective capacity of people to contribute to the achievement of
results. The concept of talent, as the definition is evolving, links the application of competence to
fulfillment of corporate strategy. While some may argue that the difference between "workers"
and
"talent" is merely semantic, others will assert that the engagement of human capability-from
education, experience, expertise, and leadership-adds considerable value to viewing employees as
mere human resources.
This concept of "talent" and its appropriate productive use is getting a lot of attention in various
books and periodicals. Jim Collins in his book, "Good to Great," talks about having the right
people---in the right seats---on the bus. Why? Having the most talented people to perform
particular
jobs is critical to an organization's success.
Most organizations don't have the right mix of people--talent---assigned to the right roles. And, to
exacerbate the problem, they're burdened with too many people who, for various reasons, should
no
longer be employed by the company. The unavoidable consequence is that the organization is
seriously inhibited in its drive to achieve its strategic objectives.
This potential-limiting condition can be overcome through effective talent management. This
practice must be deeply imbedded in the corporate value system, touted by its leaders and
enforced
by its managers. Note that talent management is not a human resources issue; it's a leadership and
management role. Human resource professionals have a part to play, but its not their game.
Sears begins his book with a vital section on the relationship between talent strategies and
business
strategies. They are inextricably linked; success at one strategy is interdependent with success in
the
other. It is obvious that attracting and engaging the right talent at the right time is essential.
In my work as a strategic business futurist concentrating on workforce and workplace trends, I
have
forecasted that the management of this linkage will influence the very survival of organizations. In
our book, "Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People," we sounded a wake-up call for
corporate leaders about the severe shortage of skilled labor coming in this decade. A major part of
the solution---to avoid extinction---is talent management, and Sears teaches the process in his
book.
There is a clear and powerful congruence between anticipated challenges and recommended
solutions.
Sears addresses how to build, deliver, and measure talent strategies in the second section of
"Successful Talent Strategies." From his perspective as a consultant with significant experience in
the human resource field, explains, with ample examples, just how talent management works.
Charts
and graphs illustrate the journey, with the message continually connected to corporate strategy.
The
message is that talent strategy is driven by corporate strategy. The acquisition and application of
talent, inside and outside the organization, enables leaders to achieve desired results.
This insightful how-to book will take some concentration to read and "get." Not every leader nor
experienced human resource professional will be able to fully immerse and gain the considerable
value of this book. But that's what separates people who make things happen from those who
wonder what happened. The convergence of trends will move us along at an increasingly rapid
pace.
If you want to be one of those who makes things happen, by understanding, developing, and
applying cohesive strategies, read this book.
The One Minute Millionaire
Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen
Harmony Books/Random House
280 Park Avenue, 8th floor, New York, NY 10017
ISBN 0609609491, $19.95, Hardcover, 388 pages, 1-800-726-0600
Two authors, both of whom have done well in their worlds, have teamed together to provide
inspiration, methodology, and a platform for growth. The design of the book is unique, as are
some
of the ideas. If you're ready and receptive, this book could be helpful to you.
Let's look at the inspiration side first. And it is inspiration "side." The right hand pages of the
book,
differentiated by a purple border, are the inspirational book. The story is intriguing, though it
stretches the imagination at times. Several important messages are included, such as teamwork,
networking, creativity, and tenacity. A literature critic could probably tear the story apart, but,
like
Celestine Prophesy, it conveys the authors' theme. The reader's thoughts are stimulated, pulled
along
with curiosity about what happens next, then massaged with the idea that the story line-though a
stretch-is not impossible.
The left-hand pages of the book are a step-by-step process, a methodology. Some of the content
has
been around before, but bears repeating. Parts of this section seem a bit contrived, but the reader
can
still pick up the gist of the message.
Are there any guarantees? No. Is there enough here to provoke your thinking, and perhaps your
action, to increase your wealth. Yes. Will everyone who reads this book "get" the message and
take
action? No. This book needs to be taken in context as a stimulator with no guarantees. The
authors
are both millionaires; through the ups and downs of life, they've made it.
At the start of this review, I used the word "platform." What you learn in these pages can be a
platform for your financial [and spiritual (tithing is recommended)] growth. Engaging with the
authors will also give them a platform to sell you seminars, follow-up learning tools, and more.
They
invite you several times to their website. If you take them up on this offer, expect to hear from
them
on a regular basis. While this process will probably help Hansen and Allen to increase their wealth
while helping others, it may also give some readers more ideas on what they can do.
My thoughts were stimulated, though I found the one-side of the page reading to be a bit
distracting.
I don't know that I'll follow the paths the authors recommend, but I'm thinking more about more
clearly mapping and treading my own path.
Work Naked
Cynthia C. Froggatt
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
989 Market Street, 5th floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741
ISBN 0787953903, $24.95, hardcover, 294 pages, 1-800-225-5945
Let go. That's the message to corporate leaders who have decades of reinforcement that their job
is
to control the people who work for them. There's a new game in town-a new way of operating
that
releases creativity, boosts productivity, and drives more profit to the bottom line.
This new approach involves stripping away the old ways of thinking about managing. It means
removing policies that inhibit employees in their self-driven initiatives to do truly amazing things.
The new approach suggests that people can work from anywhere without the traditional trappings
to
achieve results far beyond current reality. In a phrase, the new approach allows people to work
naked, without constraints. Froggatt, a consultant specializing in aligning workplace strategies
with
business plans, describes the process as "shedding the layers" of control, overwork, conformity,
hierarchy, poor communication, geography, and unproductive work environments to release the
bonds.
While explaining the problems, Froggatt presents the principles that can empower a leadership
team
to change the way their company does business. Eight simple principles: initiative, trust, joy,
individuality, equality, dialogue, connectivity, and workplace options. Some leaders will read this
book and stick it on a shelf to gather dust. Others will really "get" the message and will transform
their organizations. With the content of this book, and the way it is presented, transformation will
not be that difficult . . . for the enlightened leaders. Unfortunately, we have far too few leaders
who
fit into that category. Hopefully this book will win a few more converts.
Do not expect policies, contracts, procedures, systems, and all that sort of garbage in these pages.
No, this book is about people and principles. The pages are rich with concrete examples that will
be
an inspiration to readers who are inclined to adhere to the concept of working naked. Checklists,
bullet-point lists, charts, diagrams, and plenty of chapter subheads make this book superbly
readable.
Adding to the value of "Work Naked" is an astonishingly detailed 13-page index and a index-like
list
of the companies profiled in the book. Over ten pages of chapter notes await you at the end of the
book and a concise summary awaits you at the end of each chapter.
I read this book with a high degree of interest, from my perspective as co-author of "Impending
Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People." Our book talks about the coming severe labor shortage
and how many companies are headed for extinction. "Work Naked" supplies the treasure map for
employers who want to avoid extinction and thrive instead.
Highly recommended!
Roger Herman
Reviewer
Pogo's Bookshelf
Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment Of Animals And The Holocaust
Charles Patterson
Lantern Books
1 Union Square West, Suite 201, New York, NY 10003
1930051999, 2002, 296pp, ppbk, 20.00 US, http://www.lanternbooks.com,
http://www.booklightinc.com
Caught like a child sleeping all the rubbish under the bed to make the room look clean, Charles
Patterson unexpectedly opens the door to the ugly secrets of society, the dirty habits that we hide
under the public carpet. A corpse beneath the floorboards still rots, eventually its corruption
pervades the rest of the house. In a society dependent on MacDonalds, Pizza Hut or Kentucky
Fried
Chicken, no one would keep the dead pig in the bathtub or the butchered steer in the cellar; it's so
much neater to get it in celluloid package, between the buns or deep-fried in the Colonel's special
batter, so much cleaner on the fingers when you can you an alcohol moistened towel or napkin to
touch up.
But did you ever stop to think about what you eat between the Botox treatments and the Avon
parties? Envision your pink poodle neatly filleted and fried into a nice golden poodle schnitzel
between to cripsy sesame seed buns with tartar sauce and lettuce, sprigged up with Idaho sweet
white onion rings. Mmmm! Finger-licking good. Just a little bit tough and sinewy, but good for
those maxillary muscles to get some serious exercise; but wouldn't it taste better if it were
manufactured better? A little plumper? A little more tender? A little younger? Why talk about
terrorists when we live among human vampyres? And what about the victims of our selfish
gratification? Angry with your boss? Mad at your teacher? Didn't like the way someone looked at
you? Lost a job? Then pick up a gun and kill someone. It's the American Way of Life.
With so little repect for human life, there's less for animals. Not only do we eat them, but we wear
them on our feet, feed their bones to herbivorous bovines and make soap out of them. Wearing a
leather jacket is cool, but we'd cringe if it were human. Patterson strips away the facade to take a
closer look inside:
"One meat inspector who worked at a "distress kill plant" in the Midwest described the plant as
the
end of the line for worn-out sick and crippled pigs: "Most of these animals aren't that old, they're
just abused malnourished, frostbitten, injured. Lot of DOA's [dead on arrivals]. Sows with broken
pelvises who pull themselves around with their front legs, scooting along on their rumps for so
long
they get emaciated. They call them 'scooters.'" The meat from these distress kill plants that passes
inspection gets used for sausages, hot dogs, pork by-products, and ham, while condemned
animals
get renedered into animal feed, cosmetics, plastics, and assorted household and industrial
products."
(p115)
And although we read Anna Sewell's classic, Black Beauty, we never seem to learn the basic
lessons
of it, brushing away the maudlin tears of sentimentality easily. Outraged, onlookers and
nonparticipants will boycott the annual steeplechases to protest against the senseless
endangerment
of horses as they leap across barricades and water hazards. We sympathize with a wheelchair
hero,
fallen from the horse in a public competition; but have little sympathy for the animals
themselves:
"Perhaps no animal is more "downed" and vulnerable than a female giving birth. Sue Coe
witnessed
a birth at the Dallas Crown packing plant in Texas, which kills 1,500 horses a day for the
European
market, mostly France. When she arrived at the plant, Coe noticed a white mare in distress in
front
of the nearby restraining pen. Coe recorded what she saw: "Two workers use a six-foot whip on
the
horse as she gives birth, to get her to speed up and go onto the kill floor. The foal is thrown into a
spare parts bucket. The boss in his cowboy hat observes from the overhead walkway."
(p116)
Considering the correlation between horse slaughter and death penalty, it's a wonder if there aren't
more. Be sure to read the miniscule print on the powdered soup.
Where did it all begin? How can it be justified? How much meat can a person eat and how much
does one actually need in a society where nearly every week there is a recall on contaminated
meat
printed on the headlines of the online newspapers that screams not only across the continent, but
also across the international dateline? When was the last time you hummed that wonderfully lively
tune, All things great and small, the Lord God made them all.", or read the classic
by James Herriot, All Things Bright and Beautiful?
Is it an aberration of Darwinism handed down and improved upon by Henry Ford, or is it
inherrent
in man's history and culture?
"In a lecture which the environmentalist and social critic Ian MacHarg gave on the question of
Western man's attitude toward the natural world, he said, "If you wanted to find one text which, if
believed and employed literally, or simply accepted implicitly, without the theological origins
being
known, will explain all the destruction and all the despoliation by Western man for at least these
2,000 years, then you do not have to look any further than this ghastly calamitous text..." (p16)
indicating the opening of Genesis through which Christianity rationalizes the superiority of man
over
all the other living things. However, not content to be merely the ruler over the lesser creatures,
Western man has also consistently classed other races as being subordinate or subhuman;
particularly
noticeable from the 16th century. European voyagers and colonists graphically compared other
cultures and nations with animals, the Hottentots with turkeys and apes and classing negroes as
animals and enslaving them in conditions that no country squire would impose upon his hounds.
With the advent of scientific thought came craniological studies and psuedo theories of human
inequality which was "based on the gender, and class that set white European males above
non-Europeans, women, Jews, and at the bottom of the ladder, Africans. Western scientific
thought
accepted as self-evident the superiority of the white race and the possession of greater intelligence
by the educated and wealthy." (p29)
With such mentality, nearly anything can be justified, especially with the invention of that new
American field of study, eugenics. First there is the justification that other peoples are subordinate
and akin to animals, comparing Japanese to "yellow dogs" or "beastly little monkeys", Chinese to
"pigs", Jews to "vermin" or "parasites" of society. With such transferred attributes, it becomes
easy
to justify the "ethnic cleansing" of a culture or country. Vilifying a group of people systematically
dehumanizes them and "makes mass murder less terrible to the murderers..." (p47) In a society
immune to the slaughter of animals, the degradation of human beings facillitates their annihilation
much more smoothly, especially when formulated on the efficiency of Model T Ford assembly-line
transferred to the American slaughterhouse.
Nor is this a new subject for consternation, as it was Upton Sinclair who first graphically
described
the corrupt environment of the slaughterhouse with its brutality and putrid stench in The Jungle,
first
published in 1906. Nearly a hundred years later, the meat and packing industry are still making
disclaimers regarding the abuses of corruption and brutality, although the results are frequently
headlines in newspapers calling for the return of contaminated meat. But why? Stamped with the
USDA Seal of Approval it should be Grade AAA to eat and not swept up from the dirty sewers
of
the street. What ho? Did God make cattle to eat corn and ingest ground bones? And live short
lives
on feed lots and get steroid shots? Sentimental and suffering from amnesia we close our eyes,
unwilling to admit the guilt of the past. America loves eugenics and is infatuated with the ideal
whether the ideal woman with Botox celluloid skin or the ideal veal raised to be killed.
What was America's contribution to the War? Especially in the early years? "Daddy what did you
do
during the War?" is still a very awkward question for the a guilty nation that lead the world in the
studies of eugenics, endorsed sterilization of criminals and preventing the procreation of the
defective and physically unfit. " Davenport, who quickly emerged as the leader of the movement
in
America, described eugenics as 'the science of the improvement of the human race by better
breeding.'" (p83)
"Davenport and other eugenicists believed that social deviation was genetically determined and
that
criminality was the result of bad genes. Their proposed solution to social problems was to keep
people whodeviate from acceptable social norms from reproducing. ... Davenport advocated
examining the family history of all prospective immigrants so that people with "imbecile, epileptic,
insane, criminalistic, alcoholic, and sexually immoral tendencies' could be identified and kept from
entering the country. he also advocated compulsory sterilization of genetically defective people
"to
dry up the springs that feed the torrent of defective and degenerate protoplasm..." (p84) and
compared human matings to horse-breeding.
Patterson carefully establishes the correlation between the American development of eugenics and
sterilization to the implementation of them in Nazi Germany. And although, the arguments from
the
Eugenicists are persuassive, there is never any substantial base on how to evaluate patients for
being
feeble-minded or having inferior genetic make-up. Who decides? "The captions and commentaries
of
Erbkrank and other Nazi propaganda films about "hereditarily ill" people, describe them as
"creatures," "beings," "existences," "life unworthy of life," "idiots," and "travesties of human form
and
spirit." (p96)
In reflection, we see the long shadow over Nazi Germany and witness the shadows escaping from
the chimneys. It isn't only that Jews were labelled vermin or rats to be herded like pigs and
consigned to open cattle cars but that the slaughter is systematized based upon the methods of the
slaughterhouses:
"In 1942, not long lafter German psychiatrists sent the last of their patients into the gas chambers,
the journal of American Psychiatric Association published an article that called for the killing of
retarded children (nature's mistakes)" (p106) Himmler, a chicken farmer, intent on improving the
methods, was not the only member of the enormous machinery that was trained to raise and
slaughter animals. There were others as well. And the means of herding animals and people to the
killing floors are similar.
"At Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, the "tube" was the final passage that led to the gas chambers.
At
Sobibor the tube consisted of a path, three or four yards wide and 150 yards long, which was
fenced
in on both sides with barbed wire intertwined with branches. SS men and their auxiliaries drove
their
naked victims through the tube to the gas chambers..." (p112)
When will it ever end? When will it ever end? When you pick up your double Mac sandwiched
between the sesame seed bun and realize that it was once a living animal and put down the brass
knuckles, knife and gun to respect both your fellow man and fellow creature? Unheard, unseen,
undefended the animals are massacred in their Eternal Treblinka.
Charles Patterson's book is heavily documented and indexed. A must read for those who care
about
the living and the dead.
Globalize, Localize, Translate: Tips And Resources For Success
Thei Zervaki
1st Books Library
2595 West Vernal Pike, Bloomington, IN 47404-2782
075967566X, 112pp, 2002, .pdf, $13.95 US, ppbk available, 1-800-839-8640,
www.1stbooks.com
Thei Zervaki introduces us into the personal world of globalized commerce by systematically
defining the terminology and then the practical application of strategy. With the intervention of
the
Internet, the worlds of private and global interests collide, forcing the innocent bystander to
become
a hitchhiker to the universe.
What is globalization? Is it lethal? Will it bring irreversible harm to my kin and country? Although
the historic Battle of Seattle has already been forgotten and the Roving Mobs of Prague have long
dispersed into yesterday's fog, the consumer finds himself in the international market square with
high-tech construction and cyber communication on every side.
But where fits the individual in this high-tech Metropolis? Thei Zervaki provides the map for the
ambitious freelancer and entrepeneur to pursue. Like a good Scout leader, she provides the
handbook and the accoutrements necessary for finding the way through the often hostile high-tech
cyber-jungle that exists on the internet. How does the individual enter into the cyberuniverse and
what is the interface between the person and the corporation? Where do the interests
intersect?
No one likes to deal with the faceless, inhuman corporation, but between the great and small there
must be a medium that translates mutual interest and delivers assurance that each other's interest
is
significant or business can't get done. Although we may accuse big business of being purely
self-interested, we know that inflated egos of a corporation can get overblown and burst; then
you,
the insiginificant mousy individual, are important. Take away the walls of a skyscraper and lift off
the lid and you'll find people inside. Whether a company is big or small, the biggest problem is still
communication that can effectively translate across cultural barriers and talk in local tongues.
Stop
again to think whether globalization is your friend in need, because it needs your personal skills.
Re
