A Dirty Business
Joe Humphrey
DaKarna Publishing
P.O. Box 8242, JAF Station, New York, New York 10116
0978787102 $11.95 www.dakarna.com
Aaron Paul Lazar, Reviewer
www.aaronlazar.blogspot.com
A Dirty Business, the new debut crime novel by Joe Humphrey, goes down smooth and easy, like a slug of Chivas Regal on the rocks. Kevin Bailey, a young black man recently back from a self-imposed hermitage in the Blue Ridge Mountains, returns home to the color and vibrancy of New York City, broke, with no place to live, and badly in need of a job. Armed with a degree in criminal justice and a kindly referral from a friend in Harlem, Bailey lands a job at Frank Givens' detective agency.
His new boss, swamped with work, throws Bailey a test case that should be cut and dry: a simple assignment from a NYC socialite to dig up dirt on her son's gold-digging prospective fiancee. The client, a pompous blue-haired matron named Selena Eldritch, reluctantly confides in Bailey, whose shabby clothes initially weaken her confidence. Resolved to improve his image and show this woman and his boss that he has what it takes, Bailey digs into the case with gusto.
With a photo of Edward Eldritch and his girlfriend Donna Greenwood in hand, Bailey tails Eldritch on a wild pursuit hours away from Manhattan. After winding through villages and chasing the Hudson north, they arrive in the historic village of Cold Spring, where Eldritch meets a brunette and ducks into a local tavern. Bailey, bold as brass, follows them inside and learns the woman's name is Donna Greenwood. Problem is, she doesn't match the blond in the photo. If the gold-digger isn't Donna Greenwood, who is she?
What appears to be a straightforward case begins to unravel into a tangled web of intrigue and bizarre obsessions. When Bailey finally identifies the blond as Norma Vidon, he discovers she's been missing for two years and the local police have apparently given up on the investigation. Bailey's sense of injustice kicks in, and like a terrier on a bone, he gnaws at it with diligence and purpose, unearthing dead bodies and intriguing red herrings that keep the reader guessing until the end.
Mr. Humphrey writes with a strong sense of place and a consistent voice, with none of the pretentious tools often found in new writers. His style is simple and engaging, and the story moves, whether Bailey is in a fistfight in a parking lot or staking out a suspect and calmly observing the detailed architecture of a building. Following is a sample of Mr. Humphrey's style:
"I missed out on the B&B's inclusive breakfast and was sore about it all morning, but nothing was more aggravated than my stomach, which, at the moment, sounded like a humpback whale splashing around in a puddle."
Mr. Humphrey offers a touch of romance in the appearance of Amelia Helton, a delightful waitress with smooth caramel-colored skin and a ready smile who warms to Bailey and will hopefully play a larger part in the mystery series. This reader will anticipate the second book in the series, and hopes that Mr. Humphrey is writing fast.
Sue Mundy: A Novel of the Civil War
Richard Taylor
University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008
0813124239 $29.95 1-800-839-6855 www.kentuckypress.com
Ann Allyn Slessman
Reviewer
Written as an account of the Civil War, Sue Mundy, A Novel of the Civil War, is a matrix of history, biographies, emotional outpourings and poetic prose. Our future will surely note that Richard Taylor was a writer who took factual material and romanticized it by his flair for language. Anyone who reads this work realizes they are reading the work of a master writer.
Taylor's main character, Jerome Clarke aka Sue Mundy, began his career as a soldier at age fifteen. While some would think this young man lacking in education due to his young years, Jerome was an avid reader and self-schooled well beyond his tender age. Dubbed Sue Mundy by a Kentuckian journalist due to his young age, lack of facial hair and his flair for clothing, the journalist took liberty with the facts at hand and created a legend of young Clark that more often than not, held little truth. This he did to embarrass the Union leaders. Curious about this journalist's accounts of Clarke and his fellow guerrillas, Jerome often sought out the accounts written by this particular journalist with an avid curiosity. There probably is not a better account of the Civil War that raged in Kentucky and the surrounding states. Taylor's research is thorough and his account filled with tidbits that tease the reader.
How Clarke moved from a confederate soldier into the world of a guerrilla soldier makes for some good reading. The chapters are filled with biographies of the men he served with during these years. Some names are recognizable and some are not. Fact meets fiction in a very interesting and fascinating manner.
There is a love interest as well for Jerome and whether or not he is able to carry through with his intentions in this arena will have to wait until you read the book. Anyone who has an interest in the Civil War, the State of Kentucky or simply wants a book worth the price, Sue Mundy is a book worth the money.
Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner.
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
006073132X $25.95
Jason Carney
Reviewer
According to its authors, Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner, Freakonomics has no unifying theme. The book's motley collection of arguments, they confess, depends on an assumption: by asking the right questions, we can trim the briar from the hedge-maze we call the postmodern world.
Recklessly unguided by appeals to conventional wisdom, Levitt and Dubner ask those questions: "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? What kind of impact did Roe. v. Wade have on violent crime? What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?" (inside flap). After the last page is turned, deciding which is more freakish--the questions or the answers - is not an easy matter. Yet this discursive economic analysis, as eclectic as a parking-lot circus, successully humanizes the postmodern experience.
Levitt and Dubner write, "Morality [. . .] represents the way that people would like the world to work - whereas economics represents how it actually does work" (13). Though they attempt to abstain from moralizing, they do seem to support a number of social policies. For example, by interpreting data regarding the aftermath of Roe v. Wade, Levitt and Dubner argue that the legalization of abortion caused an unprecedented decline in violent crime in the early 90s. In other words, the benefits of a pro-choice policy supercede the realm of personal freedom and impact society as a whole.
Levitt and Dubner never exclusively focus on the validity or invalidity of their politics. They highlight the data - drug-dealer ledgers, Sumo win/loss statistics - as opposed to the implications and applications of their findings. Their arguments are neither forced nor sensational, despite the sensational nature of the questions they pose. Although the authors playfully - if not casually - chat us through their data-analyses, occasionally they pause to consider potential misinterpretations. Levitt and Dubner do not frustrate us by withholding their conclusions until the end of each chapter in some showboat attempt to defer the reader's gratification. They ask their odd questions, give their odd answers, and then draw us through an intellectually rigorous conversation that is both lighthearted in tone and merciless in its self-criticism.
The revelations in Freakonomics intrigue, yet their appeal is not an effect of economic theory or expert language. Levitt and Dubner, undeniably experts themselves, do not go in for expertise: "Experts depend on the fact that you don't have the information they do," they lament. "Armed with information experts can exert a gigantic, if unspoken, leverage: fear" (71).
Freakonomics's accessible language and inviting tone alleviate this type of fear: the helpless anxiety we feel when we confront the world and sigh at its immensity and complexity. Contrary to the authors' claims, their book is unified by a theme: do not be alarmed, Levitt and Dubner seem to say. The world is not as unknowable as we have been led to think.
When Pigs Fly
Bob Sanchez
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595407706 $18.95
Carter Jefferson, Reviewer
http://carterj.homestead.com
Bob Sanchez writes like Carl Hiaasen on speed. You can't call his characters surreal, because they're all too human. They make one hilarious mistake after another, but the flock of vultures trying to steal a million-dollar lottery ticket from Mack Durgin is just menacing enough to keep the reader wondering whether they'll succeed. And Durgin doesn't even know he has the prize they're chasing.
Interrupted in a routine burglary in Massachusetts, a smelly, obese sociopath nicknamed Diet Cola hides the ticket he's just pilfered in a funeral urn, down among the ashes. He figures he can get it back from the old couple's house as soon as he serves a jail term already scheduled.
When he's released, he returns and is about to throttle the elderly owner when two other burglars, helped out by the owner's wife, drive him out of the house. He discovers, however, that the couple has sent the urn, complete with lottery ticket, to their son in Arizona--Mack Durgin. They think it's his duty to dispose of the ashes of his old friend George.
Diet Cola takes off for Arizona after the loot. On the same bus he rides, however, are the men who stopped him from killing Mack's parents. Ace is the brain of the two; Frosty, his younger brother, is expert at hot-wiring cars. Durgin, a widowed, retired but fairly young policeman from Lowell, Massachusetts, knew them back when--he'd arrested them, and also let them go as too stupid to cause a lot of trouble. He thinks the pair has a combined IQ of about eighty, but they're smart enough to want that winning ticket.
Moved to Arizona largely to get warm, Durgin meets charming Calliope Vrattos, who becomes his highly desirable but elusive sidekick as he squirms to avoid trouble from his pursuers. The treasure hunters come to include yet another pair--Zippy, a murderous eccentric who thinks Durgin wants his girl, and Elvis Hornacre, who impersonates the real Elvis and thinks Calliope is his dream come true. All Durgin wants is to find a suitable spot to deposit the ashes of his friend George, with whom he chats when things get too confused for him to understand.
One crazy incident follows another at breakneck speed, while Sanchez's comic prose chases after them. Alone with Elvis after a particularly harrowing disaster, Diet Cola says to him: "You're a homicidal maniac. And I mean that in a good way."
And then there's Poindexter, a pet javelina ousted from his owner's house and looking for human companions to feed him Brussells sprouts. The reader knows he'll fly, but when?
Sanchez worked in the Lowell area as a technical writer until he retired recently to New Mexico. His published works include short stories, essays, and book reviews. Only a few novels have made me laugh out loud, but this is one of them. Readers won't put this book down, because Bob Sanchez has a truly twisted mind. And I mean that in a good way.
Mama Fela's Girls
Ana Baca
University of New Mexico Press
1601 Randolph Rd. SE Suite 200 S. Albuquerque, NM 87106
0826340237 $24.95
As Ana Baca's 'Mama Fela's Girls' opens, the Romeros have lived for generations in Santa Lucia, a dusty little town in New Mexico on Route 66. Now, in the middle of the Great Depression, the aging Mama Fela has become the family matriarch.
With the sturdy black umbrella that protects her from the sun, her no nonsense clothes, and impeccable manners, she rules the women of the Romero clan, daughter Cita, granddaughter Cipriana, and daughter-in-law Graciela. Fela even keeps her husband, son, and son-in-law in their places when she has to, with a wink, a sigh, a sharp look, or a very subtle hint. But usually, she lets the men take care of themselves. She's too busy to worry about them. At six, Cipriana must learn how to behave properly with elders, subordinates, and peers. Mama decides to show her how, since Cipriana's mother, Graciela,. is often away teaching school. Grandmother and granddaughter adore each other, so the lessons are given and accepted willingly.
Author Baca tells the story of 'Mama Fela's Girls' through Cipriana's eyes. As the child grows up learning that a proper lady keeps hair groomed by licking her fingers and smoothing stray strands off her forehead; says 'yes' to an offer by saying 'no' first; and puts her husband and children before herself, Cipriana watches her mother support the family when Cipriaina's father can't keep a job.
Cipriana also observes her lively Aunt Cita plunge into caring for neighbors and nieces and nephews, all the while trying to figure out out to escape Santa Lucia, and make a life for herself in Albuquerque as an artist. When Cipriana has a chance to stand up and read a poem in school, her beloved Papa, Mama Fela's husband, gives her the courage to try performing. Mama Fela provides the material for a special dress to wear for the occasion.
In 'Mama Fela's Girls,' Ana Baca has created a detailed portrait of life in a Hispanic family in 1934. Whether Cipriana plans to make sure she gets to school on time the first day by sleeping in the new dress Mama Fela has made for her, or helps her father fry sausages, Baca catches the joy, tension, comedy, and pathos of everyday living.
As Cipriana goes to carnivals and Shirley Temple movies, Baca depicts loving aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents both protecting and exposing her to the world. Even silly boy cousins add their support in their own way, and there is always a girl cousin around to climb a tree with.
The author details the changes Route 66 slowly brings to towns like Santa Lucia Graciela, Cita, and Cipriana embrace the modern ideas they encounter. Mama Fela does not, despite tragic results for her. Other sad times come, too. Though they've lived in New Mexico probably since the 17th or 18th centuries, Cipriana's family must work for the wealthy white landowners, who arrived barely a hundred years earlier.
Cita cleans and cooks for a lady who can be nice sometimes, while at other times, she can be a condescending nuisance. Still when Cita goes to her house to help her aunt cater a party, the little girl sees a way of doing things she has not encountered before. The experience adds to her maturity.
'Mama Fela's Girls,' offers a glimpse of how people lived just before the middle of the last century in parts of New Mexico, how they conducted themselves, and how they transmitted their values and culture to the next generation. At the same time, the story speaks to the universal act of just being human during any historical period. What child doesn't fear standing up to recite in school? Who has not tolerated the teasing of a boy cousin? Who has not had a relative they look up to, and who finds them wonderful?
'Mama Fela's Girls' is a terrific read. It's funny, tender, tragic, and joyful, just like life in any place during any age.
Letters to Doubting Thomas: A Case for the Existence of God
C. Stephen Layman
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314
019530814X $26.00 www.oup.com 1-800-451-7556
David Roemer, Reviewer
http://www.dkroemer.com
Like most American intellectuals, Professor Layman doesn't have a rational concept of God and doesn't understand the proof of God's existence. I feel lucky because I was not educated by American intellectuals but by the Roman Catholic Church at a college it ran in New York City in the early 1960s. I'll be comparing his ideas about God with those of Karen Armstrong (Armstrong, A History of God).
They both remind me of a story Howard Gardner, famous for his work on the different kinds of intelligence, told at a conference of educators I once attended. One day his daughter, frustrated to the point of tears, complained to him about the difficulty she was having understanding a college course she was taking in physics. Describing himself as the perfect father, he related how he listened patiently while she spoke, praised her industriousness, and tactfully suggested that she discuss the matter with her physics teacher. His daughter said, "You don't get it, Dad. I get hundreds on all my tests."
His point was that students succeed by repeating on tests exactly what the teacher said in the classroom, regardless of whether or not they understand what they were taught. The more successful students become professors themselves and pass on their so-called knowledge to succeeding generations. I'll begin my critique of Layman's book is with the following quote:
Just as a contingent truth is true but might have been false, so a contingent being is one that does exist but might not have. And suppose we claim, with regard to any contingent being, that it exists, e.g.,"I (Zach) exist" or "You (Thomas) exist." Such propositions are contingent truths, not necessary ones. More generally, we can state the relationship between contingent beings and contingent truths as follows: A being is contingent if (and only if) every proposition affirming its existence is a contingent truth. (p. 85)
Not in the above quote, nor anywhere else in the book, does he say that humans are finite beings and that God is an infinite being. I agree that humans are contingent beings, but this is not as clear and unmistakably true as the proposition that humans are finite beings: Zach exists and Thomas exists, but Zach is not Thomas and Thomas is not Zach. Zach and Thomas are different beings, that is, finite beings. God is a being that is not finite. A finite being needs a cause outside of itself whereas an infinite being can be the reason for its own existence. Since the universe would be unintelligible if every being needed a cause, there must be at least one infinite being. QED.
Like Layman, Armstrong does not understand the concept of the infinity of God. She recalls memorizing, at the age of eight, the following question and answer:
"What is God?": "God is the Supreme Spirit, Who alone exists of Himself and is infinite in all perfections." (p. xvii of A History of God)
Ms. Armstrong's recollections about what she was taught is quite accurate. The second of the 499 points of the Baltimore Catechism is
2. Who is God?
God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.
In him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)
Ms. Armstrong's comment on this is:
Not surprisingly, it meant little to me, and I am bound to say that it still leaves me cold. It has always seemed a singularly arid, pompous and arrogant definition. Since writing this book, however, I have come to believe that it is also incorrect. (p. xvii of A History of God)
Layman jumps from his underdeveloped idea that man is contingent to his necessarily underdeveloped idea that God is necessary. This is Layman's "theistic hypothesis":
(1) There is exactly one entity that is (2) perfectly morally good and (3) almighty and that (4) exists of necessity. (p. 12)
This book is written in the form of a letter to an imaginary Thomas (natch), who doubts God's existence. Layman (Zach) expatiates upon these four points in letters to Thomas. He supports points (1) and (2) by referring to revelation, but his explanations of points (3) and (4) are hopelessly circular. "Almighty" means "maximal power" and "exists of necessity" means "cannot fail to exist under any possible circumstances." In short, he fails to explain that the infinity of God is a reference to the finitude of man.
Professor Layman rejects the proof of God's existence I outlined above:
Many people become disappointed with philosophy because they demand proofs. By a "proof" I mean an argument with these two features: (1) Its premises are acceptable to all rational people, and (2) its conclusion follows logically from its premises. Proofs in this sense are rare or nonexistent in philosophy. The defense of virtually any major philosophical position will involved controversial premises at some point, i.e., premises not acceptable to all rational people. (p. 1)
Professor Layman uses another type of argument:
In an argument-to-the-best-explanation, there is a description of a phenomena or fact to be explained. The argument proceeds by giving reasons for supposing that one hypothesis explains the phenomenon better than rival hypotheses do. (p. 3)
Concerning the proof of God's existence, Ms. Arstrong says:
The argument that we are "contingent" or "defective" beings proves nothing, since there could always be an explanation that is ultimate but not supernatural. (p. 379 of A History of God)
Both are butting heads with the Roman Catholic Church and St. Paul:
22. Can we know by our natural reason that there is a God?
We can know by our natural reason that there is a God, for natural reason tells us that the world we see about us could have been made only by a self-existing Being, all-wise and almighty.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice; because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them. (Romans 1:18-19)
The use of the word "know" and the phrase "wrath of God" constitutes a criticism of the character of naturalists, atheists, and agnostics. Armstrong thinks God's existence is only a possible explanation for the existence of man and not a good one at that. Layman says it's the best explanation without criticizing those who disagree.
Explanations play a role in our daily lives and are part of common sense and reason. Scientists propose theories that explain observations, and juries render verdicts that explain the evidence. We also come across them in our relations with other people: "Lucy, you have some splaining to do."
In my opinion, the proof of God's existence is not an explanation, it is logical deduction from the fact that finite beings exist. The proof doesn't say what man is or what the direct cause of man is. The proof only says that there is an infinite being that causes all finite beings. Nor does the proof try to explain what would motivate an infinite being to create finite beings. Rejecting the "supernatural explanation" for man and preferring a "natural explanation" does not refute the proof because a "natural explanation" would only include finite beings.
One of Layman's arguments is that the "theistic hypothesis" gives a better explanation for the fact than humans have free will than naturalism, the philosphy that there is no supernatural being. Layman begins his argument by attempting to define free will:
Free will is traditionally characterized as the power to do otherwise than one in fact does. Let's say you recently voted in a meeting by raising your right arm. If you performed this action freely, then you had the power to do otherwise, to refrain from raising your right arm. If you have free will, then when you face a decision between incompatible courses of action (such as speaking and refraining from speaking), although you cannot take more than one of them, each of them is within your power. Another way to put it: If you have free will, then when you are confronted with mutually exclusive courses of action, which one you take is genuinely up to you. (p. 139)
All he is saying here is that free will is free will. It is another example of circular reasoning. Undaunted by or unaware of his inability to define free will, he goes on to discuss related concepts at great length: mechanism, determinism, compatibilism, and incompatibilism. I agree, however, with the following statement he makes about naturalists:
Many naturalists deny free will altogether because they see it as incompatible with a world governed by natural law. (p. 162)
I think I can do a better job than Layman of explaining why naturalists deny humans beings have free will. A "world governed by natural law" is a world in which there are no persons exercising their freedom. All Layman is saying is that naturalists deny free will because they don't think there is such a thing.
People who deny humans have free will in philosophical arguments act as if they had free will in the day-to-day living of their lives. They have the same experience we all have of existing, being aware of our existence, and acting through time. If they do something wrong they feel guilty, apologize, and promise not to do it again. If they work hard on a project for a few hours or a few days, they take pride in what they did. Their denial of free will is not only irrational, it raises questions about their sincerity and motives.
We can comprehend ourselves and recognize that we are finite beings, but we cannot otherwise define ourselves since we cannot define free will. This leads rational philosphers to say man is an indefinabilty or an embodied sprit, or that man possesses a spiritual soul as well as a body. Thomas Aqinas's formulation was that man is a compostion of two incompelete beings: a material incomplete being and an immaterial incomplete being that are metaphysically combined to form one being.
By denying free will, naturalists are really admitting, however perversely, that they agree with the logic of the proof of God's existence: If humans have free will, then they are finite beings. If finite beings exist, then an infinite being exists. If their motive for denying free will is not to refute the proof of God's existence, what is it?
I did not invent the proof of God's existence which is sometimes called the "cosmological argument." It can be found, for example, in the Baltimore Catechism:
10. What do we mean when we say that God is self-existing?
When we say that God is self-existing we mean that He does not owe His existence to any other being.
I am who am. (Exodus 3:14)
While the answer to the question is as vauge and circular as Layman's "theistic hypothesis," the use of Exodus 3.14 as a proof-text shows the authors understand the proof, which is based on Aquinas's analysis of finite beings. According to Aquinas, a finite being has two principles operating within it: an essence and an existence. To quote from the glossary of a textbook on metaphysics (N. Clarke, One and the Many):
Essence = that in a being which makes it to be what it is, this being and not some other.
Existence = that is a being which makes it a real being.
An infinite being can be thought of as a being which does not have a separate essence and existence. In other words, an infinite being's essence is the same as its existence. Its essence is to exist. Just as God told Moses.
The List
Tara Ison
Scribner
c/o Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th fl., New York, NY 10020
0743294149 $23.00 1-800-223-2336
Dawn M. Papuga
Reviewer
Folk wisdom about love proclaims that opposites, like magnets, attract. Tara Ison's second novel, The List, depicts the obstacles and darkly comic circumstances of two opposites trying repeatedly to tear themselves apart. Isabel, a gifted heart surgeon about to begin her residency, and Al, a video store clerk and director whose only film turned into a cult-classic, are involved in a toxic relationship where neither of them is capable of breaking the cycle of enabling the other's destructive behavior. In a vain attempt to bring her chaotic personal life into the kind of black and white order her career contains, Isabel and Al create a list of things they always talked about doing together but never got around to, and then proceed to ceremoniously check the activities—a sunset walk on the beach, steamed clams on the Santa Monica Pier—off in order to bring closure to their dysfunctional relationship. But like their every attempt to smooth things over, eventually things take a wrong turn with their final plan. They persist with The List (sometimes with the begrudging notion of completion rather than enjoyment) and destroy a little bit of each other with every item they cross off.
Unlike in many relationship crisis novels, Ison manages to balance strong plot development with an insightful examination of the emotional and psychological roller coaster that Al and Isabel experience in The List. The narrative voices of both main characters are clearly distinguished as each chapter shifts between their points of view, and decisions that might otherwise seem haphazard are justified as the story is not just told, but experienced through the eyes of both Al and Isabel. The strength of this novel is not in the main characters alone, though. Because of the depth of the minor cast of this novel the audience is able to experience the relationship as intimately as Isabel and Al, and at the same time clearly see how their behavior is comically destructive through the eyes of family and friends.
Anyone who has ever done something seemingly out of character, irrational, or sacrificial because of love will immediately recognize and appreciate the complexity of The List. Emotions and rationalizations don't fit into any neat little boxes (though, Al and Isabel would argue that their lives can be seen in terms of physiology and classic film), and Ison's treatment of the down-spiral of a relationship is unapologetic and gritty. In short, it's real. Readers will certainly find the characters conflicted, but may be surprised by their own shifting allegiances between Al and Isabel, what is healthy and unhealthy, and whether or not they should stay together in the end.
The List is a captivating, nearly voyeuristic look at the reality of a contemporary conflict in love—to stay with a partner for the sake of comfort and the looming ticking of a biological clock and career, or to enter into the frightening world of independence and being single. The journey blends dark humor, vulnerable intimacy, and snapshots of the highs and lows that virtually anyone in the dating world can, perhaps disconcertingly, recognize. With her sharp wit, honesty about love, humor about dysfunction, and her gift for unforgettable characters, Tara Ison spins an addictive novel that leaves the Al or Isabel in us wanting more.
The Book of Dave
Will Self
Bloomsbury USA
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
1596911239 $24.95
Michael Frechette
Reviewer
In A Vision, perhaps Yeats' most difficult text, he describes a complex system of gyres that represents his conception of human history as cyclical, a conception first alluded to in his famous poem "The Second Coming": "Turning and turning in the widening gyre." For Yeats, Christianity's massive decline in his own lifetime marked the beginning of a new turn in the historical cycle and created a space for the advent of a new historical epoch. Will Self's most recent literary endeavor, The Book of Dave, offers a similar conception of human history and actually envisages for the reader what this new epoch might be. It utilizes Yeats' vision to buttress its own similar claim that human civilizations rise and fall in cycles, and that each new civilization contains the same basic elements of the one before it – class warfare, oppression, and religious fanaticism, to name but a few.
The first chapter begins over 500 years in the future after a flood in the early twenty-first century has apparently turned England into an archipelago. Human society, while still complex with burgeoning urban centers, has nonetheless been reduced to a more primitive state, devoid of the type of technological sophistication that has come to define the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Institutionalized religion governs all aspects of human behavior, a religion that has been founded upon the ranting of the book's main character, Dave Rudman. Dave is a cab driver in contemporary London, and his story comprises half of the novel's tale. The chapters alternate back and forth between the two settings, challenging the reader with the task of juggling two separate plot lines. In modern-day England, we learn that Dave's wife Michelle has ditched their loveless, abusive marriage for another man, and that Dave struggles, albeit unsuccessfully, to maintain some semblance of a relationship with his son, Carl. In some ways, Dave is archetypal, a dim-witted figure with limited self-understanding who is besieged by the pace, complexities, and uncertainties of modern life. His domestic dysfunction is symptomatic of his time and place, and in this way, Dave is a character easily recognized by any reader.
Soon after the dissolution of his marriage, Dave has a psychological breakdown and decides to record a religious creed based on his own experience, something to keep people "in line," some "fatherly advice" for his son Carl (345, 346). What the reader soon discovers is that Dave's book has physically withstood the test of time and is being used as religious doctrine by the futuristic society of the other half of the novel. In his book, Dave outlines some basic principles for living inspired by his failed marriage and generally angry disposition – that men and women should live separately, that women should remain subject to men's dominance and abuse, and that children should split their time evenly between mummies and daddies. In the future of 523 AD (After Dave), Dave Rudman is a deity whose principles are rigidly enforced by the priestly class in power. These priests have instituted what Dave in his book calls the Breakup, resulting in a world where the sexes are actually forced to live apart. And at mid-week, children observe the Changeover where they must leave their daddies to spend the rest of the week with their mummies.
Obviously, watching a future society adopt as religious creed what contemporary society considers social dysfunction is both humorous and satirical. It is also laughable to the reader to hear certain words and phrases from the twenty-first century used in the context of a futuristic society. For instance, the time of creation is referred to simply as the MadeInChina, clearly the label stamped on the scraps of twenty-first century rubbish found near the shores of future England. The people of Ham, an island of the archipelago where much of the action takes place, refer to these scraps as Daveworks and string them into necklaces that they wear like rosaries under their clothes. At the same time, the very idea that future civilization has religiously embraced the social ills of contemporary London serves as a reality check to the modern reader that human history is circular, not progressive. When Dave first meets his wife Michelle and is escorting her in his cab through the web of London streets, he thinks, "Feeling the city wheel about the cab – a widening gyre of miles and years – Dave thought, I'm never going to be this connected to anything ever again…I'm falling"(110). Such language clearly evokes Yeats' vision of human history. Not only is the center soon to fall out of Dave's life, but also the impending natural disaster will reset human civilization back to zero and allow for a future society to rebuild it. In the particular case of this novel, the social ills of the past become the social objectives of the future, implying that future civilization will make the same mistakes and suffer the same consequences as our own contemporary society.
The novel's satire certainly rings true, but Self does not offer anything terribly new or original to Yeats' century-old vision. In a hundred years, has much changed if we're still waiting for the turn of the tide, the great event that is going to redefine human civilization and inaugurate a new historical era? Such a question forces the reader to wonder if Self is preoccupied with a historical conception that is outdated and untrue. Self cannot prove that the novel's vision of history is reality, but can only imagine a potential scenario in which such a conception of human history might actually be the case.
In any event, the novel is a pleasure to read, and the language soars in many places. The writing is smart, crisp, and eloquent. At first, the chapters concerning the England of the future are difficult to digest as Self has invented a new dialect for this society along with a vocabulary that has evidently evolved over the course of time. Fortunately, Self provides a glossary at the end of the novel in the fashion of A Clockwork Orange, and after the first chapter, the novel as a whole becomes easier reading. The plot is moderately-paced for most of the book, and initially, the thrill of envisioning Self's conception of futuristic England is absorptive for the reader. However, the novelty of this imagined world wears off in time, leaving the reader much more engaged with the plight of Dave Rudman in contemporary London. Nevertheless, each plot line develops speed and anticipation towards the end, making the novel much more gripping altogether as the reader approaches the final chapters. All in all, Self should be praised for attempting such an ambitious project with a mixture of humor and seriousness. It in no way overshadows what Yeats accomplished in the previous century, but it is a well-written, noteworthy piece of fiction that makes one reconsider the contemporary assumption about human progress.
The Frugal Book Promoter (How to Do What Your Publisher Won't)
Carolyn Howard Johnson
Star Publish LLC
P.O. Box 20664, Sun Valley, NV 89433
193299310X $17.95 www.starpublish.com
Ian Middleton, Reviewer
http://www.ian-middleton.co.uk
The Author's promotional bible. Always keep it close it times of need.
What can I say about this book that hundreds of other authors haven't? As a writer and self-publisher, the onus has always been on me to promote my own books; a task I've always found extremely difficult and laborious. I'm a writer and photographer, not a sales and marketing expert. I hate feeling like I'm talking to someone just to sell them something, or boast about my fantastic book. I always imagine them thinking, "Of course you would say it's good, you wrote it!" And like most writers, I want to write, not be a salesman.
But Carolyn Howard Johnson has shown me a whole new way to not only promote, but make it fun and tie it in with the thing you are passionate about: writing!
The Frugal Book Promoter shows us how you need to brand yourself as an author, and publicize yourself as much as your work. You don't have to boast about your work, just simply let people know it's there. If your book is good, others will boast about it for you. Exposure is the word Carolyn uses often. She teaches us that the trick is to simply brand yourself as an author and let people know who you are, and what you write. Carolyn shows us a prolific amount of ways to do this, from writing articles for free to blogging, joining discussions groups, writing book reviews and so much more. It's so simple, and in most cases completely free. I often hated the thought of writing articles for free, but the book emphasizes that although you may write for free, the tagline at the end could well result in book sales, so effectively you are likely to get paid indirectly. Think about it, these publications wouldn't have paid you anyway, and you would have to pay for advertising, so effectively you are working for your advertising. And of course you are writing, which is what a writer wants to be doing.
This is just one example of the priceless advice offered in the Frugal Book Promoter. This book is an absolute treasure chest of useful information, and not only inspires you to get up off your backside and start promoting, but is also packed full of useful websites for you to get started. I've committed the ultimate sin with this book by folding over numerous page corners (something I never do with a book) to bookmark all the useful reference points. The websites listed here, often lead on to other useful sites.
I'd always dreamed of the day when I would snag a major publisher so they could do all the promotion for me, but the Frugal Book Promoter has taught me that even with a major publisher, the onus will still be on me to promote my books; after all, ultimately the author cares more about the book than the publisher. So now I plan to forget about that and march best foot forward into a new world of endless promotional opportunities that this book brings.
If you are an author then this is one book you cannot afford to be without. Written with Carolyn's free-flowing and easy prose, the Frugal Book Promoter stands out head first above the rest and is the sort of book that you will always want to refer back to. I don't know how I ever survived without it.
Text: Ur—The New Book of Masks
Forrest Aguirre, editor
Raw Dog Screaming Press
5103 72nd Place, Hyattsville, MD 20784
1933293209, $29.95 (hc) 193329339X, $15.95 (pb)
Kristina Marie Darling
Reviewer
Featuring such award winning writers as Brian Evenson, Lance Olsen, Rikki Ducornet, and Terese Svoboda, Forrest Aguirre's anthology Text: Ur – The New Book of Masks includes both experimental and more traditional fiction, all of which is imaginative, quirky, and wonderfully surreal. Short stories and flash fiction in this anthology depict such diverse subjects as the strange worlds that lurk within libraries, children built from parchment and twigs, and evil dictators. These pieces are similar in their match-up of form and content, often using the shape of the narrative, sentence structure, and other formal devices to convey the story to readers.
Toiya Kristen Finley's "The Avatar of Background Noise," which portrays the libraries of people's thoughts and daydreams as well as the scholars who research there, exemplifies this match-up of form and content. Told from the point of view of one of these scholars, Endnoter, the narrative is often interrupted by pages from the manuscripts of the author's thoughts and musings, simultaneously explaining and complicating the main story. For example, as Endnoter and his crew sift through the thoughts of an author who is writing fantasy novels, the narrative is interrupted by one of her thoughts: "Fantasy novels set in Ratasharia sell very well, and now I'm going to be writing a ton of them. They will 'mimic reality'" (35). The narrative itself is set in Ratasharia and mimics the reality of university scholars. Notes like this one create ironic twists to Finley's story. Other stories (e.g. Tom Miller's "The Fifth Tale: When the Devil Met Baldrick Beckenbauer" and Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold's "Incipit") use similar formal devices, such as footnotes and text boxes, to augment their stories. Each writer gracefully weaves together multiple strands of narrative.
The collection is self-consciously experimental, but it also features more traditional work. Nadia Gregor's "Faure, Envenomed, Dictates," for instance, is the tale of an attempted assassination of an evil dictator that employs other formal devices, like sentence structure and repetition, to create a narrative style that mirrors the content of the story. Constructed mainly of declarative sentences, the narrator's tone is formal, reflecting the order and militarism of the dictatorship that he describes. The repetition of character names and the absence of contractions add to this staunch, military quality, which contrasts nicely with the story's humor.
Text: Ur is diverse, fun, and well-crafted. A rich introduction to these innovative authors, it is filled with inventive, audacious, and intelligent work. Anyone looking for a compilation of high-quality fiction will enjoy this book.
Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage
Cheryl Dickow
Bezalel Books
Waterford, MI
0979225809 $8.99 www.bezalelbooks.com
Lisa M. Hendey, Reviewer
http://www.lisahendey.com
Beth Gantry, Liz, Elizabeth…the main character of Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage is many things to many people. What seems unclear in the opening pages of this debut novel from established non-fiction author Cheryl Dickow is how Elizabeth will be able to reconcile her roles as wife, mother and teacher with the woman she feels she has always wanted to become.
In the opening pages of this engrossing story, we meet Elizabeth and depart with her on the journey of a lifetime: her solo trip to Israel. She has dreamed of this pilgrimage for many years, but in the end it appears to be her discontent with her life that drives her to finally embark on her voyage. Beth has given her life to serving others and has come to feel only disappointment and resentment in return for her loving efforts. Her relationship with her husband Luke is strained to the point of near divorce. She feels a growing gulf between herself and her teenage children, the oldest of whom has flown the coop for college. Even her spiritual life seems dry and distant.
Beth looks at her journey to Israel as an opportunity to regain the life she feels she has missed out on in all of her efforts to care for others. "Her ache for what life hadn't yet held was becoming almost unbearable at times." Leaving her children in the care of her very driven and increasingly distant husband, Beth throws herself into her travel. Her desire is not to have the typical tourist experience of the Holy Land. Rather, she arranges for apartment housing in hopes of truly experiencing the traditions of the Jewish people. After having spent years studying the Jewish culture, "Elizabeth wanted to know, up close and personal, what is was like to live as a 'chosen one'."
Elizabeth's logistical efforts are rewarded immediately when she meets the friendly neighbors at her Jerusalem accommodations. Meir and Ayala Goldfarb, along with their adult children David and Miriam, immediately embrace Elizabeth as a part of their family's Sabbath celebrations and she finds herself invited to dine and worship with them.
Just as the reader is joining Elizabeth in settling in to her wonderful scenario, unexpected tragedy strikes. Beth, at the urging of a very concerned Luke, contemplates cutting her trip short but eventually decides to remain in Jerusalem. The ensuing events draw her even more closely into the Jewish rituals and traditions she has longed to experience. Ultimately, through her wonderful relationship with the Goldfarb family, she meets Sipporah and Rachel, who will become her guides. Their tutelage is both historical and spiritual – embracing their companionship Elizabeth ultimately reconnects with her own personal spirituality. A fire is lit within her as she reconnects with God with a new intensity.
Interspersed throughout the accounts of Elizabeth's trip, we find Luke experiencing his own journey of sorts. As he steps in for the role his wife has played within the family, he begins to understand her perspective and his part in the damage that has occurred in their relationship. Like Beth, he finds himself longing for a deeper and more convicted connection with God. But has his marriage suffered too greatly to be repaired? The closing chapters of this lovingly crafted novel bring a tender response to this dilemma.
Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage is not the typical inspirational novel. Part travelogue, part history lesson, part Bible study, this book blends a wonderful story with empathetic characters. Author Cheryl Dickow's research and attention to detail are apparent in this smartly written tale. Dickow's strengths lie in both character development and in educating the reader without taking on an overly dogmatic tone. In reading this novel, I learned a tremendous amount about Jewish culture and its relevance to the roots of Christianity. The close connection I felt with several of the characters in this book, along with my admiration for the wisdom and spiritual reflections of author Cheryl Dickow, leave me hoping that we will be treated to a sequel to Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage.
Give Me Liberty
L. M. Elliott. Nielsen
Harper Collins Children's Books
1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
0060744219 $16.99 1-800-242-7737
Vicki Talley McCollum
Reviewer
Nathaniel Dunn, an 11-year-old boy, arrives in America to find a New World filled with hardship and loss. His mother dies of ship fever, and his father abandons him, selling himself and Nathaniel into indentured service to pay their passage. On a Virginia plantation where he serves, Nathaniel gains a friend—Moses, an African slave. Moses looks after Nathaniel, and Nathaniel teaches Moses the alphabet. The plantation master declares bankruptcy and sells everything, separating Nathaniel and Moses. A blacksmith buys Nathaniel's contract at auction, then loses his temper and beats Nathaniel. Basil Wilkinson, a school teacher, takes pity on Nathaniel, and sells valuable books to scrape together enough money to outbid the blacksmith for Nathaniel's contract. In return, Nathaniel offers Basil his grandfather's German flute, but Basil teaches him to play it. Nathaniel goes to Williamsburg to live with Basil. He begins an apprenticeship to a Williamsburg carriage house where he meets Ben, a young idealist. Conflict develops quickly and the reader roots for Nathaniel and his friends as the carriage shop becomes caught up in opposing Loyalist and Patriot sympathies. "
An historical novel written for grades four through middle school, "Give Me Liberty" is an excellent supplement to social studies curriculum, adding rich detail of daily life in Colonial America. Elliott captures the struggle of the era through her portrayal of common people living out their lives in a period of social upheaval. Her characters display a strong sense of loyalty mixed with desire for self-determination. Nathaniel questions whether the revolution fueled by Patrick Henry's words, "Give me liberty or give me death," will apply to slaves like Moses: "If Moses is fighting for the British to secure his liberty, something wasn't right with the patriot cause."
Elliott's style is fun to read and filled with delightful descriptions such as this of Basil: "He was an angular, older man, all elbows and knees it seemed, like a grasshopper…., and his eyebrows were hairy and a bit wild, sticking almost straight up." Readers who've had the pleasure to know Latin teachers can easily imagine Basil's mixture of humility and wit. As an added bonus, Elliott includes period English lyrics "borrowed" by the Colonist's and reworded as Patriot songs.
In a touch of irony, Ben, a zealot—but a poor-student—is wounded before he's called to fight. Through Basil, he learns the value of words to support the cause; while Nathaniel—a good student—decides to fight alongside Basil as Patriots. Ben says to Nathaniel: "You're stronger than you think, Nat; I've learned that steady men make better leaders."
"Give Me Liberty" raises important issues for classroom and home school discussions. Neighbors, good and honest people, find themselves on opposing sides of the Revolutionary War; and many question the morality of slavery's continued existence in colonies fighting for liberty. Guided by Basil, Nathaniel and Ben grow in wisdom and character, each adopting for himself Thomas Jefferson's vision of the inherent "nobility of common man." In addition to "Give Me Liberty," L. M. Elliott has written two Young Adult historical novels, "Annie, Between the States," and "Under a War-Torn Sky."
Dying To Call You: A Dead End Job Mystery
Elaine Viets
Signet New American Library
375 Hudson Street New York NY 10014
0451213327 $6.50
Sharame Vodraska
Reviewer
A very funny and sparkling mystery. The main character Helen Hawthorne, working as a telemarketer, comes into her own in this installment. The whole series is fabulous and if you have never read any of the books in this series, this would be a good place to start. Helen says and does many of the things that some of us only think of doing. She is very headstrong and adventurous. No matter what job she finds herself working she always finds time for some part time detective work in the interest of friends and strangers alike. So if you like mysteries and find yourself wishing you could do something about your job I am sure that you will enjoy Elaine Viets' book Dying to Call You. And once you have read one of her books you will definitely want more, so check out the whole Dead End Job Series.
Arlene's Bookshelf
Stellium in Scorpio
Andrews and Austin
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
430 Herrington Road, Johnsonville, NY 12094
1933110651, $15.95
Teague Richfield, a screenwriter from Los Angeles, is on her way to the Desert Star Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and what she hopes will be a fortuitous and sizzling reunion with Callie Rivers. However, Callie, the beautiful astrologer and psychic, has other pressing concerns on her mind. There are strange happenings occurring at the Desert Star. A Vegas showgirl has made "the list," nefarious types have infiltrated the ranks of theater performers and staff, and Callie just has that feeling that things are just going to get worse.
Appealing lead characters that possess wit and intelligence drive this novel. The dialogue is smart, humorous, and realistically expressed. The authors' experience with professional screenwriting is most evident in the conversational instances. These spoken sequences successfully drive the plot forward. Dialogue is too often given short shrift by some writers. Perhaps they fail to see the deep and irrefutable connection between that and character development. Andrews & Austin recognize that connection and move easily from the humorous and wry comments to the more sobering and thoughtful, all the while revealing the different layers of their characters. Sharp and witty banter is difficult to achieve without becoming annoyingly obvious and contrived. This novel displays a well-crafted technique and an innate ability to succeed in this goal.
Timing is an important factor when trying to create that suspension of disbelief so vital to a credible storyline. This novel is fast-paced and transitions quite easily without confusing the reader or leaving any unanswered questions within the plot. Chapter endings flow easily into the next and create that necessary suspense and anticipation so essential with this particular genre. Stellium in Scorpio is a novel that can be easily read in one sitting, yet there is substance here and noticeably clever storytelling.
There are countless mysteries out there from which to select and spend that hard-earned dollar. If the reader is looking for a well-written, intelligent, and thoroughly enjoyable one, Stellium in Scorpio is for you. Richfield and Rivers make a wonderful couple who experience the various ups and downs of life with a sense of humor, affection, patience…and an astrology chart.
When Dreams Tremble
Radclyffe
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
430 Herrington Road, Johnsonville, NY 12094
1933110643, $15.95
Radclyffe, one of today's most prolific authors of the lesbian Romance genre, has written her twenty-fifth book, a stand-alone novel entitled When Dreams Tremble. It is bound to satisfy her legion of fans, and for those who have yet to experience her writing, this is perhaps, a good opportunity to discover this best-selling writer.
The setting is the Lake George area in New York. Successful Manhattan corporate lawyer, Leslie Harris, has returned to her family's upstate lakeside resort after receiving some unsettling health-related news. Also, in the area is Dr. Devon Weber, the former town bad girl, who went to high school with Leslie and with whom she shares a rather secretive past. Devon is now an environmental biologist conducting some research of the lake. When unexpectedly asked by Leslie's mother to pick up her daughter at the train station, Devon agrees. Fifteen years have passed when last they were together so it is with a sense of anticipation and a degree of trepidation that Dev finds herself waiting in the train station parking lot. After all, the last words she heard Leslie say that calamitous night hurt Dev as nothing ever had or would. "…it was a joke! I was just fooling with her. She doesn't mean anything to me. She's nobody!" (p. 36).
There are several basic questions this reviewer considers when evaluating a book. How well the author achieves the answers determines the quality of expression and the level of craft. Does Radclyffe show rather than tell her story? As in other works by the author, When Dreams Tremble manages to create a setting so vibrant and distinct that it transports the reader to that time and place. Does the introduction grab the reader? The opening scenes clearly delineate the persona of Leslie, at least the façade she puts forth in the world. The courtroom action and aftermath engage the reader from the outset creating that anticipation needed to keep turning the pages. Are there basic truths to be found within the chapters? Radclyffe writes about the causes and effects of disappointment, heartbreak, and regret, while at the same time exploring, through convincing characterization, the implications and ramifications of culpability, remorse, and contrition.
As for the romance genre, When Dreams Tremble is a notable example of the genre and well worth the reader's time. The use of the flashback technique expands the plot development giving it that story within a story aspect. The usual Radclyffe fireworks take more than the usual time to ignite; however, this reviewer found it to be a surprising and refreshing departure from past works. When Dreams Tremble is a commendable addition to the Romance genre.
Night Vision
Ellen Hart
St. Martin's Minotaur
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
0312349440, $24.95
Night Vision by Ellen Hart is another engaging entry in the Jane Lawless mystery series. This 14th novel featuring the amiable restaurateur and amateur sleuth is every bit as inventive and entertaining as readers have come to expect from this superior mystery author.
An old friend of Jane's has agreed to star in Cordelia Thorn's latest Allen Grimby Repertory Theater production, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Joanna Kasimir has achieved fame, fortune, and Hollywood movie star status, but she has also paid a price for rising to the top of the entertainment business. Almost ten years ago, she sent her ex-husband, Gordon Luberman, to prison for stalking her. As she is about to leave for her trip to Minnesota, she receives a harrowing reminder of his nefarious harassment, a bouquet of roses.
Also arriving in the Twin Cities and on Jane's doorstep is David Carlson, Joanna's brother who is also Jane's best friend from her high school days. He appears to have some extra baggage that he isn't willing to immediately reveal to Jane. Making matters even more confounding is the unsettling fact that Joanna and David have been estranged the past year, and David does not relish the idea of having to see her.
Sprinkle the plot with an unexpected corpse, a private detective eager to have Jane's assistance, the usual commotion involved with any Cordelia Thorn extravaganza, and several more circuitous storylines, and you have not only an incredibly enjoyable reading experience but also another classic whodunit in the witty and revelatory Hart style. Night Vision glides facilely back and forth between the action of the moment and the back story of Joanna and Gordon. In many ways, the latter plot element could have stood alone as a novel.
As always, Hart's mysteries revolve around the characters and their disparate relationships. The presence of Cordelia Thorn continues to add to the continuity of character. Cordelia Thorn is has an intrinsic function in these novels because she provides not only the steadfast friend, the comic relief and witty retort but also the sounding board for Jane as she sifts through the clues which will ultimately solve the mystery. On the other hand, Jane's long distance relationship with Kenzie Mullroy is put on the back burner in this episode which was regrettable for this reviewer. However, perhaps in the next Jane Lawless installment, the author will choose to offer more elaboration. Hart has a gift for creating secondary characters that are not always as they appear to be. The elements of surprise and discovery are essential if one is to captivate the reader.
Ellen Hart's Night Vision is another superb mystery that will not disappoint her legion of fans. A rather common dilemma, stalkers, is given an original and unique take in this book. This reviewer is always concerned with the manner in which an author resolves the conflicts in a mystery. In a Hart novel the inevitable resolution is always consistently logical and thorough, never contrived or artificial. Night Vision is a well-crafted story with appealing protagonists and believable malevolent antagonists. There is also an unexpected twist at the end which readers will find tantalizing. Now bring on the next in the series.
Snow Moon Rising
Lori Lake
Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC
4700 Highway 365, Suite A, PMB 210, Port Arthur, TX 77642
1932300503, $20.95
Mischka Gallo is a Roma girl traveling with her people through Germany and Poland in late 1918 just prior to the end of World War I. She and her group have learned to disregard the pejorative, Gypsy, which often is hurled their way, and live their unassuming life with malice toward no one. One evening an AWOL and shell-shocked German soldier, Emil Stanek, stumbles upon the group. Soon he is adopted by the clan, and he eventually marries Drina, a Roma woman,. At the wedding, Mischka meets Emil's sister Pippi, and they soon become fast friends. Unfortunately, the Roma vagabond lifestyle allows only infrequent visits. And, sadly, unbeknownst to either girl, future personal and world events will provide them both with even greater hurdles to be overcome and challenges to be met Theirs is an adventure and a journey that the reader will discover to be innocent, harrowing, heartbreaking, yet ultimately uplifting and re-affirming.
Among the many laudable qualities to be found in this novel, the one element with which this reviewer is most impressed is the bookend structure of narrative that Lake chose to convey her story. This form has a large dominant section which usually encompasses the bulk of the work which is then sandwiched between two smaller sections that introduce and conclude the work. The opening scene introduces the main protagonist, Mischka, an eighty year-old woman talking to her fifteen year-old grandson, Tobar. The year is 1989 in November. The concluding scenes return to that same time frame. The fact that this character is telling a story serves to enhance the overall storytelling of the author.
Snow Moon Rising is a consummate work of literary fiction. With her latest novel, Lori L. Lake succeeds in breaking through the glass ceiling of lesbian fiction and enters the realm of mainstream literature. She has crafted a period piece of such authenticity that any aficionado of the two post-World War periods will certainly be impressed with the meticulous attention to detail through extensive and exhaustive research. The inclusion of the German and Romany languages in the narrative and dialogue, the ancillary index of the Roma moon cycles, and a Select Bibliography section further indicate the unequivocal desire for accuracy that the author has invested in her writing.
Superlative editing is evident throughout this lengthy work; both the substantive and line editors have served this author well. Rich narrative is tightly composed, yet expansive when the plot requires it. The imagery used is both original and evocative. As a result of Lake's adept combination of understated yet powerful expression, scenes from the slave labor camp are intensely memorable. The heartbreak, terror, and sense of despair and desolation are all captured through the masterful and precise selection of word choice and the accomplished turning of a phrase. Equally true is the presentation of the indefatigability, courage, and love within the Roma culture, and in particular, Mischka and her familial relationships as well as her commitment to Pippi.
Snow Moon Rising is a novel that entertains, enlightens, and affects the reader long after the last page is read. The book has been nominated for the Lambda Literary Foundation award for Lesbian Fiction and for the Golden Crown Literary Society award for Lesbian Dramatic General Fiction. Lake has created a level of expertise and accomplishment with this novel seldom seen by this reviewer when evaluating other fiction. She has definitely raised the bar for the quality of writing which, hopefully, more authors will strive to attain. Snow Moon Rising is an experience not to be missed. It offers readers an unforgettable heroine in Mischka who transcends the most depraved and despicable adversities humankind can inflict upon one another while never losing her own innate sense of decency, love, and loyalty. Both Mischka and Lake have accomplished something remarkable, and they have done it with grace.
Arlene Germain
Reviewer
Bethany's Bookshelf
Vessie Flamingo Outshining the Moon
Jerelyn Craden
Authorhouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
1425935478 $14.49 www.vessieflamingo.com www.authorhouse.com
Written by Jerelyn Craden, Vessie Flamingo Outshining the Moon: A Tale of Self-Mastery and Love is a novel about Vessie VanCourtland, a burned-out, thirty-year-old former psychic and levitator-mediator turned jingle writer. Determined to turn her life around and place a new value on authenticity, she dares to make drastic changes with the aid of ancient yoga techniques, the insights of her wise-cracking Inner Child, and the long distance support of Mrs. Smith, her surrogate Jewish mother who speaks in a hodgepodge mess of folksy sayings only Vessie can interpret. Vessie's sweeping transformation brings with it unexpected surprises; reinventing her life doesn't necessarily make anything any easier, in this charming, witty adventure of self-discovery.
Seducing the Rabbi
Jala Pfaff
Blue Flax Press
3068 10th Street, Boulder, CO 80304-2522
0977255808 $14.95 www.jalapfaff.com www.blueflaxpress.com
Seducing the Rabbi is anathema to the traditional romance novel. When linguistics professor Aviva Goldberg is recovering from the end of a steady relationship, her two best friends come up with a salacious challenge - for her to bed thirty new men in the next year. Eager to experience new pleasures Aviva accepts. Yet Murphy's Law rears its cynical head: when you're not interested, you have to beat potential candidates off with a stick, but when you're looking, they're nowhere to be found! A somewhat risque, tongue-in-cheek romp told through Aviva's eyes, sporting a witty and often wicked sense of humor.
Celebrating Drusilla
Drusilla Deja
Xlibris
International Plaza II, Suite 340, Philadelphia, PA 19113
1413431623 $25.99 xlibris.com www.drusilla.net
Written by Drusilla Deja, Celebrating Drusilla is a most unusual look at great women throughout history who have proudly borne the given name Drusilla. From Empress Livia Drusilla to pioneer and saint Drusilla Doris Hendricks to anthropologist Drusilla Gould and many more, these thumbnail biographies of each notable woman is sure to inspire a new generation of young girls bearing the Drusilla name. The name Drusilla in literature, poetry, and media is also surveyed. What makes Celebrating Drusilla truly special, however, are the full-color photographs of handmade, amazingly detailed dolls representing the famous individuals named Drusilla. Highly recommended as a treasured giftbook for doll lovers and especially for young girls carrying on the Drusilla legacy.
On the Altar of Greece
Donna J. Gelagotis Lee
Gival Press LLC
PO Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203
1928589367 $15.00 www.givalpress.com
Award-winning poet and longtime resident of Greece Donna J. Gelagotis Lee presents On the Altar of Greece, a free-verse poetry collection that explores the majesty, venerable history, and wonder of Greece from an American woman's perspective. Poems contemplate mundane aspects of daily life such as food preparation or the relationship between neighbors, as well as holiday celebrations and the taste of simply experiencing a different way of life. An evocative and memorable tribute. "Remembering You": Gamma, epsilon... / Slowly your name spells itself / to me, my tongue catching the letters / along the contours, bulging through / interior openings that flip the letters / onto their backs. And I have / forgotten what they said to me. / I have forgotten the taste of your alphabet.
Living in South Korea
Rob White & Kyoung-mi Kim
Pro Lingua Associates
PO Box 1348, Brattleboro, VT 05302
0866472223 $9.95
The latest volume in the "Living In" series for travelers and would-be foreign residents, Living in South Korea: How to Feel at Home, Make Friends and Enjoy Everyday Life is a basic primer for business and pleasure travelers as well as prospective residents of South Korea. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs, Living in South Korea does not offer maps or information about tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, and the like; instead, the focus is upon delivering a solid primer of Korean culture and manners. From how and when to bow, to rules of etiquette concerning gift giving and who pays when going out, to warnings of what to expect when searching for a job teaching English (such as the importance of bringing an original university diploma, at least two letters of recommendation, and several original copies of a police check from one's local police department indicating no criminal record), to types of employment opportunities available, and much more. There is a brief summary of the Korean language and a pronunciation guide, but no phrasebook - Living in South Korea is not intended as a substitute for Korean language reference or study materials. An absolute "must-have" for anyone considering a visit to South Korea.
Practical Shamanism
Katie Weathercup
Hands Over Heart
0977815404 $14.95
Written by shamanic practitioner, Reiki master, and mechanical engineer Katie Weathercup, Practical Shamanism: A Guide for Walking in Both Worlds is a guide to the metaphysical power of exploring worlds beyond the mundane, building a bond with spirit guides, past-life healing, shadow work, soul-retrieval, and the search for a more meaningful existence. Written to be accessible to readers of all backgrounds, Practical Shamanism guides both novices and experienced shamans with sensible advice and provides numerous anecdotes of other individuals' mystic experiences. A bibliography rounds out this excellent guide that blends modern views with time-honored shamanic traditions.
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Betty's Bookshelf
Daddy, Will You Dance with Me?
Sandra Schoger Foster.
J. Countryman
c/o Thomas Nelson, Inc.
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
1404103503 $10.99 http://www.thomasnelson.com
Cydney (the daughter in Sandra Schoger Foster's book Daddy, Will You Dance with Me?) is three when the story begins. "Daddy, will you dance with me?" she asks, and her father scoops her up in his arms and waltzes her around the room, humming into her cheek. Delighted, she tells him, "I love you, Daddy." He replies, "I love you, too, my sweet Cydney girl. And God loves you as though you were the o-o-only one in a-a-all the world to love – and that makes you very special."
Throughout her life – from a wedding reception at the age of six through her growing-up years to her own wedding reception – Cydney turns to her daddy for comfort and affection by asking him to dance with her. And as they dance, he tells her once again how special she is to him and to God.
When Cydney's first child, Jordan, arrives, her dad comes to meet his new granddaughter and ends up dancing around the room embracing both Sydney and Jordan as he tells them both how much he loves them and how special they are to him and to God. At the end of his life, Cydney gently sets her daddy's cane aside as she guides him around the floor, whispering back to him the words he has told her so many times, and assuring him that some day they'd meet again and dance together on streets of gold.
The book ends with Jordan finding a picture of her mom and grandpa dancing together. "Daddy, will you dance with me?" she asks. Away they go, twirling around the room, and Cydney watches and listens from the doorway as her husband repeats to their daughter the words her own daddy always said to her.
This little book is packed with emotion, and the misty photos are a nice complement to the gentle story. The cover is a lovely pale green and white, printed with pink daisies and a little girl standing on her daddy's shoes as they dance. The presentation page in the front makes it a natural gift item, and if a little girl of any age is looking for a gift for her daddy, this book may be just the thing. It might also be a nice gift for the daddy of a brand-new little girl, to encourage him to spend time dancing with his daughter and telling her just how special she is to him and to God.
American Heroes: Stories of Faith, Courage, and Sacrifice from the Front Lines.
Stephen Mansfield.
J. Countryman
c/o Thomas Nelson, Inc.
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
040410416X $10.99 http://www.thomasnelson.com
On the cover of this little book, the upper half of a saluting military man is silhouetted against an American flag, while on the back, the full silhouette stands next to these words: "A tribute to those who serve in the American armed forces". Inside, a presentation page makes it easy to use American Heroes as a gift to encourage and inspire a soldier – or a soldier's family - in need of a pick-me-up.
The text itself is comprised of stories that reveal the courage and dedication of today's troops and quotations from well-known military figures, reminding readers that today's soldiers are carrying on the tradition begun by other American fighting men.
However, if the soldier who needs encouragement is a female, send her something else. Not one story or quote in American Heroes includes a female soldier. How disappointing! My eighteen-year-old daughter proudly volunteered to serve during the waning days of Desert Storm, and many of her female comrades are still serving today. Don't they also deserve a salute? American heroes come in both genders, and so do military stories of faith, courage, and sacrifice. It wouldn't have been difficult for Stephen Mansfield to track down and include at least one female soldier's story in his book. What a shame that he didn't.
Tales from Tanzania: A Mostly True Story.
Scott Balows.
Authorhouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
1414003951 $11.50 www.authorhouse.com/bookstore www.talesfromtanzania.com
I've never really wanted to go on an African safari. Bugs (internal and external), extreme heat, dirt, wild animals, languages I don't speak and customs I don't know – it just never appealed to me. I'm also not a big fan of self-published books. They're often poorly edited and meandering, self-important, filled with bad grammar and rank spelling – no thanks.
So, why did I even pick up Scott Balows's self-published account of his safari in Tanzania? It sounded like a challenge, that's why. Could anyone besides Dave Barry take a disastrous safari that included internal distress of epic proportions, run-ins with wild animals, and a bunch of rude British tourists, publish it himself, and make it well-written and interesting, even funny? Doubtful, but I was willing to give it a chance. It wouldn't be the first train wreck of a book I'd made myself read.
Boy, was I surprised! Balows was hilarious as he piled one mishap on another. He has a way of telling a story (even one about unpleasant bodily functions gone wrong) that makes you glad you aren't drinking a soda as you read. (I've snorted Coke out my nose before – not fun.) I even had to restrain myself from reading portions of the book out loud to random family members passing by as Balows introduced the Daft One, Minouk, QE2, and his other tormentors on the trip. How can you not want to share statements like "Always keep a slower and more delicious guest between you and the wildlife" and "Even while hurling, the Brits maintain a certain level of cilivilty and refinement"?
Whether you're an armchair world traveler or just got back from your umpteenth trip, you'll enjoy Balows's twisted look at an African vacation. I don't know if Balows has written anything else, but I'm going to find out. Stay tuned!
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beading Illustrated
Georgene Lockwood
Alpha Books
Penguin Group USA Inc.
375 Hudson St., New York, NY, 10014
1592572561 $18.95 http://www.idiotsguide.com
I love jewelry, the bigger and bolder the better. I always tell people, if an earring can't double as a Christmas ornament or fishing lure, why bother? That sort of jewelry often presents a few problems, though; it's usually more expensive than your run-of-the-mill stuff and it's way harder to find, especially if you need a certain style or color. My solution to that was to learn to make it myself. How hard could it be?
Well, it wasn't quite that easy; it took several classes and a number of books to bring me up to speed. Too bad I didn't start out with a copy of Georgene Lockwood's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beading Illustrated. It has everything you need to know to keep you going for years. Once you get beyond the insulting title and the series-wide choppy design that seems geared to ADD [Attention Deficient Disorder], you'll discover a wealth of basic information, great illustrations, and scads of helpful hints.
Lockwood has been an avid beader for 10 years and has a real feel for explaining things in simple, step-by-step directions. Bead weaving, stringing, wirework, creating your own beads, tool and technique information – it's all here. There's even a section with projects you can make. Also included are a glossary, a resource list, and some very helpful charts. If you can only buy one book about beading, this is the one.
Betty Winslow
Reviewer
Bob's Bookshelf
Truck: A Love Story
Michael Perry
HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022-5299
0060571179 $24.95 www.harpercollins.com 1-800-242-7737
This is an offbeat celebration of small town life in which the author struggles to grow his own food, live peaceably with his neighbors, restore his 1950s International Harvest truck, and sort out his love life. Along the way, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, takes a date to the fire department chicken dinner, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans.
"All I wanted to do," writes Perry, "was get my old pickup truck running. That, and plant a little vegetable garden. Then I got distracted by this woman…"
A memoir that begins on a pile of sheep manure, detours to the Whitney Museum of American Art, and returns to the deer-hunting swamps of northern Wisconsin, "Truck" is compiled of a series of vignettes which introduce some very memorable characters. Among these local "notables" is a one-eyed land surveyor, a paraplegic biker who rigs a sidecar so his quadriplegic buddy can ride along, a bartender who refuses to serve light beer, and a very remarkable beagle named Bob.
A delightful combination of insight and humor, Perry ruminates on everything from small-town living, laundry tips for bachelors and his mis-firing brain. Musing on the unintended consequences of love, he notes, "We plunge into love with a naivete that ignores all prior humiliations. Thank goodness, I guess."
Treehouse: View From the Top
John Harris
The Lyons Press
246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437
1592281559 $29.95 www.lyonspress.com 1-800-836-0510
If you have always dreamed of having your own treehouse or perhaps have thought about building one for your children this is a book you'll want to read. The founder of the TreeHouse Company, a firm that has designed and constructed over 150 treehouses across Britain and Europe, the author has created some truly astounding lofty retreats that have served as offices, conference rooms, and arboreal hideaways for adults as well as playhouses for children.
As you will see, Harris' structures are a far cry from the small and unstable affairs that we knew as children. These top-of-the-line models nestled in large trees feature electricity, running water, stained glass windows, and other amenities. Although some of them sport wooden or rope ladders, more often than not a more formal stairway takes one up into the branches.
Lavishly illustrated with color photos, this volume lets you dream of what "might have been" if your parents had the money and inclination to create such an expensive hideout for you. On the other hand, for those who may wish to construct such a structure the author offers practical suggestions on how to tackle such a undertaking. He offers advice in how to select a tree, assess its health, plan the treehouse, and even make allowances for the continual growth of the tree.
Ranging from simple children's playhouses to complex two-storied fantasy structures linking a number of trees, there are over twenty tree- houses detailed in this book. Each case study discusses how the designer works in symphony with the surroundings and what steps are taken to conserve the tree's integrity. Construction materials are listed and, at the end of the volume, Harris walks the reader through the construction of a simple treehouse for the do-it-yourselfer.
Fire Places
Jane Gitlin
The Taunton Press
63 South Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470
1561588350 $24.95 www.taunton.com 1-800-477-8727
"Fire Places" is a practical design guide to fireplaces and stoves for indoor and outdoor use. The wide array of styles, sizes, and colors combined with a variety of fuel choices and special features for cooking or heating can make selecting a fireplace or stove a confusing proposition. Gitlin provides a unique combination of design and decorating ideas to help you get the most out of your fireplace. No matter whether you are concerned about creating an efficient heating system or just the aesthetics of a fragrant, crackling wood fire, you'll discover lots of practical advice here to achieve your goal. The basic chapters in this guide cover masonry vs. prefabricated fireplaces, chimneys, mantelpiece design, various types of stoves, alternatives to using wood, and outdoor fireplaces.
Anyone planning to do a fireplace makeover or convert an existing woodburning hearth to some other fuel, such as gas, pellet stove or an electric fireplace, would be wise to spend some time perusing this informative guide before launching the project. Over 250 photos and 20 drawings illustrate exactly what the possibilities are in fireplace and stove design.
Bob Walch
Reviewer
Brenda's Bookshelf
The Religion
Tim Willocks
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003
0224077988 $26.00 www.fsgbooks.com 1-888-330-8477
The Religion is a beautifully written account of a group of Christian knights, 'The Religion', who defended Malta against the Moslem Turks in 1565. Against this gory, bloodthirsty backdrop is set the story of Carla La Penautier, a noblewoman who returns to Malta in search of her son. She recruits the assistance of a merchant, Mattias Tannhauser, for this dangerous and seemingly impossible venture.
Willocks' language is extremely descriptive and almost lyrical in its beauty. The story opens with a scene in which a young Mattias forges a dagger in a fire: "Thus he drew the hardness, for hardness is not itself strength. When the spine was a solid dark blue he worked the tang and the ricasso darker still. And to the very tip of the blade he gave a pale blue temper, like the early morning sky on New Year's Day." (page 7). Through tragic circumstances Mattias is uniquely equipped to deal with both religious sides of the war. This advantage proves to be somewhat of a conundrum to the reader as he/she is faced with the irony of the bloodlust and crime committed in the name of God.
The story of loyalty, love and betrayal is set firmly in a detailed historical account – the very genre I enjoy most. One point of criticism in this emotional saga is that almost the entire book of 600 plus pages maintains a high level of action, without a gradual climb, peak and then tapering off.
Other novels by Willocks include: Bad City Blues, Green River Rising and Bloodstained Kings. The Religion will be enjoyed by devotees of the historical novel. I highly recommend it.
House
Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker
WestBow Press
Nashville, Tennessee
159554156X $15.99
I was introduced to Frank Peretti's books some time ago and was enthralled by the element of fantasy, the high suspense and the underlying Christian/moral message. House, is a collaborative effort between Peretti and Ted Dekker.
The four main characters, Jack, Stephanie, Randy and Leslie are fairly well-portrayed and undergo noticeable changes as the story advances. The book quickly launches into the depraved and strange with the introduction of a sinister patrolman, food which turns bad as it is eaten, and a peculiar family in an equally peculiar house. The four become trapped inside the house and are relentlessly pursued by enemies without and within the house, as well as within themselves.
House is certainly a page turner with plenty of suspense. The action fails to change, however, and the story seems to contain more of the same dead ends and undiscovered passages etc, which becomes tedious. Also, despite the denouement being saved for the end, the salvation message of Christianity is obvious. I found this irritating and a departure from Peretti's customary treatment of the subject.
Magdalene: It's Never Too Late to Begin a New Life
Angela Hunt
Tyndale House Publishers
351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188
1414310285 $13.99
Mary Magdalene has been made famous, or infamous, most recently by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Labeled by different authors as a prostitute or even as Jesus' wife, Hunt paints a far more sympathetic picture of Miryam of Magdala. That Mary was possessed by seven demons and was present at Jesus' crucifixion is recorded in the Bible. In this account Miryam is portrayed as a feisty character and a skilled businesswoman who loves her husband and children. When Miryam's entire family is murdered by Romans she begins a slow descent into "darkness", something from which only "Yeshua" is able to save her. Despite having her demons cast out and deciding to follow Yeshua, Miryam cannot forgive the Romans who took her family from her.
The book is a well-researched account of the Roman occupation of Israel and Roman characters are given life in a parallel story to Miryam's. The two story lines finally meet in a tragic and illuminating ending.
Having bought Magdalene as a gift for my teenage daughter, I also enjoyed this clear and simple account of a well-known, yet mysterious biblical character. An interesting interview with the author is included as is a series of discussion questions for book groups. Other historical books by Hunt include The Silver Sword and The Velvet Shadow.
Brenda Daniels
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
Beyond the Techno-Cave
Harold Jaffe
Starcherone Books
PO Box 303, Buffalo, NY 14201
0978881117 $16.00
Grant-winning author Harold Jaffe presents Beyond the Techno-Cave: A Guerrilla Writer's Guide to Post- Millennial Culture, his latest "docufiction" anthology of short original stories frequently bearing the bent or structure of a documentary. Current events and headline-grabbing news as well as little-known anecdotes of history are recurring topics in this at time sardonic social commentary, written with a tongue-in-cheek zest for exposing human foibles. At times Beyond the Techno-Cave reads like a weblog, but not just any blog - the one golden blog among heaps of blog dross, that keeps the reader paging through entries all night long.
Fumbles, Field Goals, and the Myth of the Hail Mary
Steven Shiendling, Ph.D.
Brown Books Publishing Group
16200 North Dallas Parkway, Suite 170, Dallas TX 75248
1933285265 $17.95 www.brownbooks.com www.shiendling.com
Written by Steven Shiendling, Ph.D., Fumbles, Field Goals, and the Myth of the Hail Mary: Helping Men Become Better Relationship Partners is a relationship self-help guide written especially for men. Drawing heavily upon football metaphors in order to effectively communicate its points to guys everywhere, Fumbles, Field Goals, and the Myth of the Hail Mary covers everything from improving personal communication from learning how to take a "time out" when emotions such as anger may provoke a person to say or do things they would regret, to the parallels between a successful relationship and a positive team, and much more. A superb and practical self-help book sure to fully engage the attention of any reader familiar with football terms.
The Lean Product Development Guidebook
Ronald Mascitelli
Technology Perspectives
PO Box 8539, Northridge, CA 91327
096626973X $44.95 www.design-for-lean.com
Project management professional Ronald Mascitelli presents The Lean Product Development Guidebook: Everything Your Design Team Needs to Improve Efficiency and Slash Time-to-Market, a handbook written especially for design team managers in all business fields. The focus lies upon making the product development process "lean", thereby improving both its efficiency and its effectiveness. Chapters describe how to establish product design requirements, heighten the pace of project execution, and apply self-assessment tools to keep design paradigms operating at optimal levels. The Lean Product Development Guidebook is spiral-bound, able to lay flat or be folded over on itself for easy reference, and is written in plain terms, with numerous black-and-white charts and diagrams illustrating its principles. Enthusiastically recommended as an overview resource and guideline for design team managers everywhere.
Ready To Sail
Dr. Ed Mapes
Offshore Publications
4903 Carolina Circle, McKinny, TX 75071
0977777200 $29.95 www.offshorevoyager.com
Written by USCG licensed master mariner Dr. Ed Mapes, Ready To Sail: A Captain's Guide to Boat Inspection and Repairs Preparations of Boat and Crew for Offshore Passage-Making is a practical guide to inspecting every last aspect of a ship from its hull and mast to its propulsion machinery and electrical system to shipboard amenities, safety features, and much more. Numerous black-and-white photographs and illustrations add a visual touch that will prove as useful to sea veterans who want to be absolutely certain they didn't overlook any details as it will to new captains. Appendices filled with inspection checklists and other quick-use references and resources round out this "must-have" before-you-set-sail bible. Highly recommended.
Lynched by Corporate America
Herman Malone & Robert Schwab
HM-RS Publishing
3840 York Street, Suite 2008, Denver, CO 80205
0978509439 $19.95
Written by Herman Malone (CEO of RMES Communications) & Robert Schwab (editor of Colorado Biz), Lynched by Corporate America: The Gripping True Story of How One African American Survived Doing Business with a Fortune 500 Giant is the true-life tale of one man's bitter fight against a corporate conglomerate. When communications titan US West (now Quest Communications International Inc.) started to systematically cancel contracts with African-American-owned businesses, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, chaired by author Herman Malone, dared to fight back. US West settled its race-discrimination lawsuit with six of the seven plaintiffs, but Malone would not soften his demand for justice. Lynched by Corporate America gives an intimate view of the legal proceedings, trial, and fallout, in a thoroughly readable prose style. Highly recommended.
Maximizing Me
Hart Cunningham
Aslan Publishing
2490 Black Rock Turnpike, #342, Fairfield, CT 06825
0944031994 $15.95 www.maximizingme.com
Written by Hart Cunningham, founder of numerous still-flourishing global businesses, Maximizing Me: 30 Lessons on the Journey to Self-Empowerment is a self-help guide to realizing one's dreams, whether in business or other areas of life. Chapters address how to overcome the inertia that keeps one enmeshed in failed habits and choices, reject egoistic self-deception, orchestrate a series of realistic, well-chosen goals, and reinvent oneself for the better. Other invaluable skills covered include how to exercise emotive influence, effectively manage time, use tasking to measure progress, and much more. Bullet points and sample "try this" paragraphs close each chapter in this highly accessible and thoroughly solid self-help guide especially recommended for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Runes
CB Follett & Susan Terris, editors
Arctos Press
PO Box 401, Sausalito, CA 94966
0972538461 $12.00 www.members.aol.com/runes
Edited by CB Follett and Susan Terris, Runes: A Review of Poetry is the 2006 anthology of one hundred carefully chosen poems by an immense diversity of authors, all submitted in a competition open to the general public. Bound by the common theme of "hearth", these brief verses touch upon thoughts of family, memories, togetherness, and remembrance. A handful of foreign-language poems are printed both in their original language and in English translation. This latest volume of Runes upholds the high quality standards evidenced by previous, award-winning volumes, and is enthusiastically recommended for poetry lovers everywhere. "Hearth": A bird has flown / down the chimney. / A redbird, a fistful / of molten life. // We used to make / space for such luck. / Roused / from coiled dreams // we'd beat the pans / till daybreak, / then raise a fable / from the common ash.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
Alliances
Stephen W. Eubank
Catellus Publishing
PO Box 55049, Houston, TX 77255-0409
097854210X $19.95
The debut book of Stephen W. Eubank (Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History), Alliances: A Theory of Concerted Human Behavior is a scholarly examination of alliances between human beings throughout history - how they form, how they change, and how they decline. From true alliances that combine resources to achieve common objectives, to semi-alliances that aren't always in the best interests of all participants, to illusory alliances that dangle the carrot of perceived benefits to its exploited "illusory" members but in essence have far different objectives than what is openly stated, to tyrannies that exist solely to funnel resources to the benefit of its controllers, Alliances examines human collective behavioral structure in detail often using simple models. Alliances scrutinizes its topic from an amoral point of view - the intention is not to discount the importance of morality in forming alliances; it is simply that evaluations of ethics and morality is beyond the scope of what Alliances covers. From limitations imposed upon decision makers, to how individuals are deceived into being in a mutually beneficial alliance when they are not, to ways of viewing history as the growth, development, and destruction of alliances, Alliances is a thought-provoking study of human behavior and enthusiastically recommended for public and college library sociology shelves.
The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors
Frederic March
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595379125 $35.95 www.iuniverse.com
The debut nonfiction compendium of religion and history expert Frederic March, The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors: A Political History of Ancient Israel and Judah is an in-depth examination of the Bible in the context of five historical eras. The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors does not shy away from moral quandaries of the Bible, such as the existence of a supposedly loving God that commands Israel to annihilate entire nations. Researched at length, and breaking down Biblical text passage by passage in historical context, The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors is enthusiastically recommended for both public and private religious history and Bible studies shelves.
The Singular Adventures Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes
Alan Stockwell
Digory Press
Three Rivers, Minions, Liskcard, Cornwall, PL14 5LE, United Kingdom
1846855047, $12.95 www.diggorypress.com
There is no more popular character in British mystery fiction than Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. So popular was this deductive genius of a sleuth that stories continued to be published by fans and admirers long after the death of Doyle. "The Singular Adventures Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes" featuring new stories by Alan Stockwell recounting the adventures of the Baker Street detective is just such an example. Stockwell does full justice to the character of the famous sleuth with his imaginative, ingenious, inventive plots that are completely faithful to the spirit and tone of original Doyle stories. A superbly crafted and grippingly entertaining collection of stories, "The Singular Adventures Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes" features seventeen thrilling and enthusiastically recommended Sherlock Holmes short stories that once again bring England's most famous detective to live in our minds and imaginations.
Searching for Sacred Ground
Raylene Hinz-Penner
Cascadia Publishing House
126 Klingerman Road, Telford, PA 18969
1931038406 $19.95 www.cascadiapublishinghouse.com
English and literature teacher Raylene Hinz-Penner presents Searching for Sacred Ground: The Journey of Chief Lawrence Hart, Mennonite, the chronicle of a modern-day Cheyenne leader who strives to guide his people with a balance of Cheyenne tradition, Mennonite faith, and practical modernity. Thoroughly researched, drawn from extensive interviews, and sporting a chronology, references, and an index, Searching for Sacred Ground follows Hart's life from his boarding school education to marriage, service as a Navy fighter pilot, his efforts to teach others about Cheyenne culture, to his refinement of a respectful and deeply spiritual leadership style. An unparalled personalized biography.
Nice Jewish Felon
Michael Eliot Mehler
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595400477 $14.95 www.iuniverse.com
Nice Jewish Felon is the true-life memoir of author Michael Eliot Mehler. Born into a prominent family, the author suffered molestation at the age of eleven, and therapy did little to help his self-destructive tendencies. He became a career criminal as an adult, associated with the former alleged mob boss of the Bonanno/Massino crime family, and endured incarceration and probation. His pattern of abuse repeatedly surfaced against the people he cared for the most. With the support of his wife and child and the unconditional love of his dog, he embarked upon a remarkable turnaround. In writing Nice Jewish Felon, Mehler presents the unvarnished truth about himself and his life; the difficult process of coming to terms with his past and determining to shape a better future is plainly evident within the prose. A singularly powerful and vivid memoir.
Overcoming Pain
Allan Platt, Jr., Susan Platt & Cathy Hedrich
Hilton Publishing
110 Ridge Road, Munster, IN 46321
0974314420 $16.95 www.hiltonpub.com
Written by the team of Allan Platt, Jr. P.A. -C., Susan Platt, M.D., and Cathy Hedrich, R.P.T., Overcoming Pain: What It Is, Why It Is, And Successful Ways To Treat It is a guide written especially for lay readers concerning chronic pain - its causes, diagnoses, and treatments through modern, cutting-edge, and alternative medicines. Especial concern is given to indigent and minority patients, who are often under-assessed or have inadequate access to medications. From advice for dealing with the medical world, to the pros and cons of pain medications as well as non-medical pain treatments, to why participating in a clinical trial can potentially be beneficial (patients of such studies get expert medical care, the latest information, free lab studies, and free treatment), Overcoming Pain is a down-to-earth, go-to resource enthusiastically recommended for anyone coping with chronic pain.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Carson's Bookshelf
The Personal Leadership Puzzle
Susan K Wehrley
Thomas & Kay, LLC
161 W Wisconsin Ave., Suite 2G, Pewaukee, WI 53072
0972950516 $19.95 www.solutionsbysusan.com
Written by transformation expert Susan K Wehrley, The Personal Leadership Puzzle: 8 Missing Pieces To A Complete Life! is a self-help guide to improving one's leadership skills. From learning to embrace curiosity and therefore become more receptive to new ideas, to developing an inner wellspring of calm, opening one's heart to the vital quality of compassion, improving communication skills, using dovetailing (combined activities) for better time management, and much more, The Personal Leadership Puzzle covers a broad spectrum of virtues to cultivate for more effective leadership. A highly accessible, well-rounded primer recommended for leaders and aspiring leaders in all fields.
The Science of Extraterrestrials
Eric Julien
Allies Publishing
PO Box 2187, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742
1601771010 $24.90 www.alliesbooks.com
The Science of Extraterrestrials: UFO's Explained at Last is a serious and highly readable discussion of metaphysical influences that manifest as what humans call extraterrestrials, or to use the author's term, extratemporals. Chapters discuss the weaknesses and limits of scientific culture without consciousness, what the stars can tell mortals about time itself, the concept of "absolute relativity", the role of consciousness in creating the world, and the nature of what humans call ETs, as well as the discrete nature of what humans call God. Black-and-white diagrams illustrate author and ET-contactor Eric Julien's insights into the fundamental quantification of time, space, and existence themselves. A welcome addition to metaphysical cosmology shelves.
Drift
Steven Paul Mark
Booklocker.com Inc.
1601450621 $17.95 www.booklocker.com
Entertainment attorney Steven Paul Mark presents Drift, a high-strung thriller novel about Max LaFollette, an unemployed ex-Marine who says the wrong thing at the wrong time to Imperium Solutions, a powerful oil company that is utterly ruthless in exercising its mysterious agenda. Shortly afterward, Max's wife is murdered and he is forced to flee for his life, in a cat-and-mouse chase that leads from the Manhattan undercity to the halls of Washington to the desolation of Chechnya. Set amid a modern era of global warming, catastrophic heat waves, and melting polar ice caps - an accidental byproduct of Imperium's work, or the more sinister outcome of their deliberate plot? - Drift follows LaFollette as the most unlikely instrument of Imperium's destruction, with the ecology of the Earth as humankind knows it in the balance. A taut, suspenseful read, highly recommended.
Funky to Fabulous
Eli Davidson
Oak Grove Publishing
269 South Beverly Drive, Suite 248, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
0976631601 $24.95
Written by nationally recognized empowerment expert Eli Davidson, Funky to Fabulous: Surefire Success Strategies for the Savvy, Sassy, and Swamped is a go-to self-help book offering tips, tricks, and techniques for better coping with a broad range of life's problems. From strategies to cope with nagging fears to the power of envisioning success to overcoming tendency toward unproductive perfectionism and much more, Funky to Fabulous presents salt-of-the-earth wisdom in a trendy, lighthearted manner. Though written particularly with the overworked woman's perspective in mind, Funky to Fabulous is sure to prove valuable to readers of both genders and all backgrounds. Highly recommended.
Death By Pedicure
Dr. Robert Spalding
Chattanooga Fu Fu Factory
1225 Taft Highway, Signal Mt., TN 37377
0971106819 $19.95 www.justfortoenails.com
Written by Dr. Robert Spalding, Death By Pedicure: The Dirty Secret Of Nail Salons is a chilling indictment of health code violations that are all too frequent in nail salons, and their catastrophic consequences - which are sometimes lethal. Wherever bacterial organisms and instruments that can draw blood are found, therein lies danger. Chapters discuss how the reader can protect himself or herself from unsanitary nail salons or nail technicians, and common foot and nail care products to avoid. However, Death By Pedicure also discusses the positive benefits of manicures and pedicures, including the possibility that nail technicians can detect and refer foot problems before they turn serious. A serious-minded, highly readable discussion accessible to lay readers and recommended for anyone with ties to the nail care industry, whether as a client, an employee, or through business connections.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Christy's Bookshelf
Deadly Advice
Roberta Isleib
Berkley Prime Crime/Penguin Group
The Berkley Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
0425214745 $6.99 www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515
Dr. Rebecca Butterman is a practicing clinical psychologist who also writes a weekly advice column for an online magazine. Divorced and living in a condo in Guilford, Connecticut, Rebecca is distressed to learn her neighbor, Madeline Stanton, apparently committed suicide. Rebecca is unsettled that she had not made efforts to know her neighbor very well, and when Madeline's mother asks her to take care of Madeline's cat until she can find a home for it, Rebecca readily agrees. But when Mrs. Stanton expresses her suspicions about her daughter's death and nudges Rebecca to look for clues as to why her daughter died, Rebecca's wary. Consequently, Rebecca's editor wants her to branch out and begin writing about her experiences in the dating field, but Rebecca is reluctant. However, when she learns that her neighbor had been involved with a speed dating service, she thinks it wouldn't hurt to look into Madeline's death while obtaining information for her column. It isn't long before Rebecca's reeled into the world of fast-paced dating, Internet seduction, murder investigations, and a killer on the loose.
Dr. Rebecca Butterman was first introduced in Isleib's Golf Lover's Mysteries, and fans of that series will enjoy the Advice Column Mysteries series, as well. Butterman is an engaging character, a psychotherapist who is divorced, approaching middle-age and trying to move forward with her life while dealing with past traumas. Her strongest features are her compassion for humans and animals and her inner sense of rightfulness. Deadly Advice is a fast-paced mystery, with red herrings around every corner, and plenty of twists and turns. Recommended.
At Risk
Patricia Cornwell
G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
0399153624 $26.95 www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515
Massachusetts District Attorney Monique Lamont, in an effort to validate her plans to run for governor, has developed a program called At Risk, which will incorporate advanced DNA technology in solving crimes. The first case she wants to headline is an unsolved 20-year-old murder that occurred in Knoxville, TN, where State Investigator Winston "Geronimo" Garano has been attending the National Forensic Academy.
Garano is biracial and dresses in designer clothes, which he purchases at second-hand stores. His respect for Lamont is nil and he is frustrated she's called him back to Boston to lay a cold-case on him that occurred in the city he just left. When he spontaneously decides to visit Lamont at her home to voice his displeasure, he interrupts a man who has tied Lamont to her bed, raped her, and intends to kill her. Instead of being grateful for her rescue, Lamont puts Garano in the hot seat. While Garano deals with the investigation following Lamont's rape, his good friend TBI special agent Delma Sykes begins to reinvestigate the cold-case in Knoxville, which seems to tie into a suspected suicide in North Carolina.
Patricia Cornwell is best known for the Kay Scarpetta series, which is meticulous in forensic detail and very well-received. At Risk is a short novel sans in-depth characterization and the usual twists and turns readers expect from Cornwell. Lamont isn't a character the reader will feel empathy for and Garano comes across as a man with a chip on his shoulders who cannot seem to get out from under Lamont's control. A somewhat disappointing read compared to other books from Cornwell.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Debra's Bookshelf
A Perfect Mess
Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
Little, Brown and Company
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
0316114758 $25.99 www.twbookmark.com 1-800-759-0190
In their book A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder authors Eric Abrahamson (a professor of management at Columbia Business School) and David H. Freedman (a contributing editor at Inc. magazine) question the widespread assumption that organization and neatness are inherently better than disorder and clutter. They argue that in fact some degree of messiness is very often to be preferred to strict order--because the cost of maintaining order can be higher than the benefits accrued from it, for example, because disorder can be the mother of invention, because messy systems can be more efficient and robust than perfectly neat ones. In making their case Abrahamson and Freedman do not confine themselves to domestic mess--the topic that leapt to my mind when I first saw the book's title. Clutter is just one of twelves types into which they categorize messiness. Others include "time sprawl," as when tasks are left unprioritized, and "convolution," which occurs when organizational schemes are illogical. Accordingly, the authors discuss not only messy homes and offices but messy leadership and messy organizations, pathological messiness and artistic messiness.
The topics covered in A Perfect Mess are far reaching--from the suspect claims of professional organizers (for example, that the average person wastes an hour a day looking for things) to Arnold Schwarzenegger's "improvisational lifestyle" (incredibly enough, he doesn't keep a schedule, or didn't, at least, when he was first running for governor), from the Noguchi filing system to natural landscaping to cell phone noise and compulsive hoarding. Throughout, the authors profile people and businesses and systems that have profited from the introduction of some degree of some type of messiness.
"...we argue that there is an optimal level of mess for every aspect of every system. That is in, in any situation there is a type and level of mess at which effectiveness is maximized, and our assertion is that people and organizations frequently err on the side of overorganization. In many cases, they can improve by increasing mess, if it's done in the right way. At a minimum, recognizing the benefits of mess can be a major stress reducer--many of us are already operating at a more-or-less appropriate level of mess but labor under the mistaken belief that we're failing in some way because of it."
A Perfect Mess is an interesting book, written for the general reader in perfectly comprehensible prose. The authors' thesis won't necessarily surprise readers. If you think about it, it's obvious enough that there must be some optimal level of order for every situation. But it's not so much the conclusion that matters here as the guided tour through the messy worlds of city planning and hardware stores and trombone tuning and so on: you'll almost certainly learn something along the way, and in the end you may feel a little better about letting the dishes pile up.
Kill All the Lawyers
Paul Levine
Bantam Books
c/o Bantam Dell Publishing Group
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
0440242754 $6.99 www.randomhouse.com 1-800-726-0600
Steve Solomon is beset on a number of fronts in Kill All the Lawyers, the third installment in Paul Levine's series of legal whodunits. The most worrying of his concerns is that a certain Dr. William Kreeger--former client, celebrity psychiatrist, and sociopath--is out of prison and out to punish Steve for having lost his case. Meanwhile, Steve's father, disgraced judge Herbert T. Solomon, has gone Orthodox. Steve's sister Janice has found Jesus in rehab. And Steve's nephew Bobby has found the "harlot-in-training" down the street. To top it off, Victoria Lord, Steve's law partner and lover, is having doubts about their relationship. She spends most of this book agonizing over her decision to move in with him.
Steve has found a worthy nemesis in his Dr. Phil-ish celebridoc, whose motives remain a mystery for the better part of the book. Ultimately Kreeger's story merges nicely with those of Bobby and Bobby's mother--who has shown up in Miami with her own brand of menace, the threat of removing Bobby from Steve's care. But it's unfortunate that Victoria takes a back seat in this one. Her relationship with Steve is less interesting here than in previous outings. Too little is made of Herbert Solomon, too, who shows up now and again to spout some Yiddishism and then exits the story. On a brighter note, there is some nice development in the relationship between Steve and Victoria's mother Irene, a woman at once magisterial and tawdry--and with a penchant for naked display. We watched Irene cavort naked poolside in Deep Blue Alibi. This time around, alas, we are made to look on as she splays her legs for an intimate waxing. The scene falls short of funny and into the realm of the shudder-inducing.
Kill All the Lawyers seems a little stale in comparison with the first two books in the series, the characters often more cartoonish than not. I'm hoping the next outing finds them a bit more nuanced than they were allowed to be here.
Seize the Daylight
David Prerau
Thunder's Mouth Press
245 West 17th Street, 11th floor; New York, NY 10011
1560256559 $23.00
I grew up hearing as an explanation for Daylight Saving Time that it was "good for the farmers." It turns out that this is a widespread misconception, and it also turns out not to be true: farmers have in fact historically opposed the adoption or expansion of DST because of the inconveniences it imposes on them. Another childhood illusion put to bed, if decades late.
Since 1986 the U.S. has observed DST from the first Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, DST is to be expanded by three weeks (in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005). It will now begin on the second Sunday of March and extend until the first Sunday of November. Given this change I figured it was high time for me to find out what Daylight Saving Time is all about.
I review below David Prerau's Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. It's the first of two DST-related books that have been weighing down my TBR shelves. Both books were published in 2005--the idea of exploring DST apparently being very much in the air in the first years of the new millennium.
Benjamin Franklin proposed in 1784, when he was serving as the American minister to France, that Parisians conserve energy--in the form of candle wax and tallow--by changing their habits, rising with the sun rather than sleeping in with their shutters closed against the daylight. The idea never caught on, and it is at any rate impractical as it would depend on the alteration of individual habits on a large scale for it to have any chance of working for a community. Over a hundred years later, in 1905, a certain William Willett devised an alternative plan for increasing the number of usable daylight hours during England's summer months. His plan, what we now call Daylight Saving Time, called for setting the nation's clocks forward in the spring (he initially imagined the time being changed in 20-minute increments on each of four successive Sundays) and back in the fall, thus not relying on people to alter their sleep patterns on an individual basis. His idea didn't catch on either, at least not immediately. In his book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time author David Prerau, who has coauthored government reports on the effects of DST, traces the complex history of DST from Willett's tireless campaigning on behalf of its adoption to the modern era. Prerau also provides a chapter on the two artificial adjustments to natural sun time that men adopted prior to the introduction of DST. (Mean solar time was adopted starting in the late 18th century. It differs from apparent solar time in that the length of a day is a constant throughout the year rather than depending on the amount of daylight in any given day, which varies throughout the year. The second artificial adjustment was standard time, adopted in the late 19th century, which is when a single mean time is recognized over a large area.)
The history of DST has been, as Prerau's subtitle asserts, a highly contentious one, the case for and against its adoption taken up over the years by a variety of special interest groups--the railroads, theater operators, purveyors of sporting goods, golfers and farmers and concerned parents and religious purists. Political cartoonist jumped to portray its inconveniences. Presidents and prime ministers came to recognize its merits as an economizing measure. And scientists and astronomers were divided on the question of implementing it. The editors of the scientific journal Nature, for example, ridiculed DST early on by equating the time change with the artificial elevation of thermometer readings in the winter:
"'It would be more reasonable to change the readings of a thermometer at a particular season than to alter the time shown on the clock, which is another scientific instrument.' They wondered if perhaps another bill would be proposed 'to increase the readings of thermometers by ten degrees during the winter months, so that 32°F shall be 42°F. One temperature can be called another just as easily as 2 A.M. can be expressed as 3 A.M.; but the change of name in neither case causes a change of condition.'"
It's surprising just how many people have had an axe to grind one way or another on the DST issue.
The implementation of DST was neither a quick affair nor a straightforward one. Initially adopted in the U.S. during World War I, for example, it was repealed in 1919, retained in pockets of the country between the Wars, adopted again and expanded during Wold War II, and repealed again by Truman after the War. It remained in use by local option in the decades following, and wasn't adopted as national law until 1966. Even now its implementation is not entirely regular, as certain states and territories have opted not to observe DST. In short, the history of Daylight Saving Time is a confusing mess. Transforming the complex story of its adoption in the U.S. and England and elsewhere in the world into a readable narrative is a great accomplishment.
Prerau's book is packed with information, some of which certainly surprised me. I'd had no idea, for example, that it was standard as late as the 19th century for communities to determine their time locally, so that the time from town to town would vary by minutes depending on how the communities were situated from one another longitudinally.
"As long as travel and communications were relatively slow, it didn't much matter that, for instance, in the United States when it was 12:00 noon in Chicago it was 12:31 in Pittsburgh, 12:24 in Cleveland, 12:17 in Toledo, 12:13 in Cincinnati, 12:09 in Louisville, 12:07 in Indianapolis, 11:50 in St. Louis, 11:48 in Dubuque, 11:39 in St. Paul, and 11:27 in Omaha. The relaxed pace of travel, the lack of instant communications, the inherent inaccuracy of contemporary clocks, and the less frantic pace of life all made minor time variations unimportant."
What a strange world our great-grandparents inhabited.
Prerau sometimes errs on the side of including too many details in his book, but for the most part the story he tells is fascinating, and the book well written. Seize the Daylight is a nice example of a type of book that I particularly enjoy, one that is as informative as it is interesting to read, one that sheds light on a convention or invention that quietly informs our daily lives but which few of us bother to investigate on our own. Seize the Daylight definitely rewards the reading.
Spring Forward
Michael Downing
Shoemaker & Hoard
1400 65th Street, Suite 250, Emeryville, CA 94608
1593760531 $23.00
Michael Downing's Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time is one of two books about Daylight Saving Time that were published in 2005, the other being Seize the Daylight by Michael Prerau (see my review). Downing and Prerau cover much of the same ground in their respective volumes, both authors detailing the complex history of DST since its adoption in England and the U.S. during World War I. But there are, of course, differences between the two books. Downing's is a shade more conversational in tone than Prerau's, and Downing seems to be less sold on the benefits of DST than Prerau, his relative negativity toward the time shift perhaps signaled in the "Madness" of his subtitle. Another difference between the two books is that Prerau's approach to telling the story of DST is primarily chronological, while Downing adopts more of a thematic approach to the subject. He offers chapters on DST and sports, for example, on New York City's role in the DST debate, and on the oddities of time management--sidereal days vs. solar days, solar months vs. lunar months, and so on.
Certainly Downing provides information in Spring Forward that Prerau does not include in his book. Downing offers a fuller account of the 1966 U.S. legislation that regularized (more or less) DST, and he writes about the attempts of various Pacific island states to profit from the millennial celebrations by tinkering with their clocks. But on the whole Prerau's Seize the Daylight is the more thorough and informative of the two books. Prerau's approach to the subject is easier to follow and, frankly, his book is simply a more interesting read. If you have the time, as it were, by all means read both books. But if you're going to read just one book about DST, I recommend you make it Prerau's Seize the Daylight.
Small Acts of Sex and Electricity
Lise Haines
Unbridled Books
200 North 9th Street, Suite A, Columbia, MO 65201
1932961275 $23.95
Mattie and Jane have been friends since they were little girls, neighbors for part of the year on the Santa Monica beach. Both were escaping from dysfunctional families in those years, Jane summering sans parents with her grandmother Franny. And Franny wound up offering a second home also to Mattie while her parents sailed and mingled and drank cocktails. This pattern--Mattie playing the loved but resented (by Jane) third wheel--would repeat itself in the girls' adulthood. When
