The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai
John Tayman
Scribner
c/o Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th floor, New York, NY 10020
074323300X, $27.50, 421 pp. 1-800-223-2336
Dr. Alma Bond, Reviewer
http://alma_bond.tripod.com
The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai reveals the untold history of the infamous American Leprosy settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai and of the exceptional people who managed to survive under the most horrific circumstances. In 1866, twelve men and woman and one small child were put aboard a leaky schooner and cast away to an island prison. They were soon joined by hundreds more. Exile on Molokai continued for more than a century, the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. In all, more than eight thousand people were banished to the settlement. Some remain there still. For the first time, John Tayman reveals the horrendous history of the unfortunate lepers who inhabited for over a century the gorgeous island that looks like Paradise.
The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai is a wonderful book. The protagonist, strangely enough, is the disease of leprosy. The book is fascinating, as the author tells us of its history, its horrible disfiguring symptoms for which there was no cure, how the various patients adjusted, and finally, the triumphant conquering of the illness and the return of the lepers to normal life.
Descriptions of the facial and bodily disfigurement suffered by inmates are appalling, as well as fascinating. Some of the depictions are disgusting, even to a vivid description of the nauseating odors emanating from patients. Particularly loathsome are accounts of the faces of patients so ravaged they were unrecognizable. A description of leprosy which has not been improved upon since was given by Dr. Areataeus of Cappadocia. in the first century, A. D., when he wrote (p. 97), "There is no disease which is graver and more violent.... it is filthy and dreadful to behold, in all respects like the wild animal, the elephant, lurking among the bowels, like a concealed fire, it smolders there...(then) blazes forth...The respiration is fetid...tumors predominate...The hairs on the whole body die prematurely...The skin of the head (becomes) deeply cracked...nose elongated...ears red, black, contracted, resembling the elephant...Sometimes, too, certain of the members will die, so as to drop off, such as the nose, the fingers, the feet, the privy parts, and the whole hands; for the ailment does not prove fatal, so as to relieve the patient from a foul life and dreadful sufferings."
No age was exempt from the dreaded disease. Although it was primarily an illness of late childhood, adolescence, and early adult life, late onset was occasionally experienced. In the 50s, a study was done indicating that only 7 out of a population of 585 patients had suffered the onset of the disease between the ages of 65 and 70. Over 8000 people suffered from this disastrous disease on Molokai, where they remained sequestered as virtual prisoners for more than 100 years.
In 1974, a true "miracle drug" called rifampin was developed. It proved able to kill the leprosy bacilli in three days. "For the first time in 100 years," the Star Bulletin reported, "no one in Hawaii requires hospitalization for leprosy" (p. 287). Every patient was now qualified for release. Unfortunately, it was too late for some. They had been there so long they had lost all ties with the mainland, considered Molokoi their home , and refused to leave the island. By the end of the 90s, the average age of residents was 74. Leprosy could now be cured in three months. The usual treatment consisted of a sulfone-type medication called dapsone, clofazimine, and rifampin. A single aluminum-foil blister pack, resembling a package of Sudafed, contained a month's supply of medication. According to the World Health Organization, "When the regiment was completed, the disease became 'a closed chapter in the life of the person.'" 11 million people worldwide were cured of the illness. Experts estimated that 2.5 million cases remained, of whom 90% were in poor South Asia and Africa. Lepers found in the United States were mostly immigrants from those areas. Since the infliction was so rare in the United States, it was often misdiagnosed or overlooked by doctors. It is now known as "Hanson's Disease," in order to lessen the stigma lepers suffered from biblical times onward, a stigma that still exists.
Late in the history of Molokai, younger inmates who had been treated with the new medication often appeared unscathed by the disease, to the point where they looked as though they were normal. For example, a tour guide conducting a group of tourists through the village and pointing out landmarks was asked, "Where are all the lepers?"(p. 295).
The tour guide answered, "You're looking at one."
The visitor replied, "But you don't look like a leper."
The guide answered, "Looks can be deceiving."
The Colony is an unusual book in several ways. The protagonist, strangely enough, is the disease of leprosy itself. The book is fascinating, as the author tells us of its history, the horrendous disfiguring symptoms for which there was no cure, how the various patients adjusted, and finally, the triumphant conquering of the illness and the return of the lepers to normal life.
Unfortunately, the book is not as good when it speaks of the various lepers and officials of the dreaded island. I sometimes found it difficult to tell one from the other, and had to return to the introduction of a character earlier in the book to find out to which person a passage referred. This is particularly true of the officials, who occasionally seemed interchangeable. Tayman is a science writer, not a psychologist, and it makes sense that his descriptions of the symptoms of the disease and their treatment is more noteworthy than his insight into human character.
The most clearly drawn and best known person in the book is Father Damien, who was highly significant in the history of Molokai, and whose selfless efforts on their behalf made life more tolerable for thousands of lepers over many years. After his death, he was ordained a saint by the Catholic Church.
Father Damien was sent to Molokai in1873 at the age of 33, as a replacement for his ailing brother. He was supposed to be rotated out of the settlement in a little more than two months. Instead, he spent the rest of his life there, visiting each inmate at least once a week, and acting as director, doctor, general handyman, and gravedigger. He soon became the primary force in the colony. A typical day's work lasted 19 hours, and might include saying mass, hearing confessions, performing baptisms and last rites, greeting each newcomer to the island personally, constructing coffins for the dead, digging graves (at one point it was said that Damien personally had dug 1,300 graves), spinning bandages, dressing sores, passing out medicine, playing with children, conducting lessons in carpentry, and giving detailed advice about gardening and crops. By the time his rounds were finished, Father Damien would grope his way in the chalky light to the rectory, where he began to write. If not sleepy when finished, he would read a chapter of the New Testament.
Father Damien remained in robust health for many years. At all times, he believed he had to behave as if the disease could have no effect on him. He took no precautions whatsoever. He did not refrain from embracing the sick members of his congregation, touching a dying patient with oil, or laying the host on the tongue of a communicant. Lepers had access to his home at any hour of the day or night. He ate from communal bowls of poi, shared his pipe with patients, and was often seen "bandaging the most frightful wounds as though he were handling flowers"(p. 125). It is no surprise that in1886 the good Father came down with leprosy himself. It is only surprising that he did not develop it sooner. He died in 1889 at the age of 49, after spending 16 years on the island.
To be decreed a saint, a person has to have been someone of "heroic virtue," a test Father Damien easily passed. Then it has to be established that the potential saint has begotten a genuine miracle. In 1895, a critically ill French nun had prayed to Father Damien for relief. She recovered. No medical evidence for her return to health could be found. The Vatican deemed it a miracle, and he was now Blessed Damien. At the beatification ceremony, Pope John Paul 11 exclaimed, "He became a leper for the lepers...revealing the beauty of his inner self, which no illness, no deformity, no weakness can totally disfigure" (p. 309). Father Damien became world famous, and thousands of tourists came to visit his grave.
Despite a lack of clarity in distinguishing among several characters, John Tayman has written an utterly engrossing account of one of America's most shameful secrets. The book is a page turner that is difficult to put down. Nobody who has read it will ever forget Tayman's devastating history of the lepers of Molokai. It is highly recommended to everyone who enjoys a good story, likes to be spoon fed science, or simply wishes to know the history of our country, be it good or bad.
John Tayman is the former deputy editor of Outside magazine and an award-winning editor and writer. He has served as executive editor of New England Monthly, editorial director of Rocky Mountain Magazine, editor-at-large of Men's Journal, and contributing editor to Men's Health, Life, CQ, People, and Business 2.0.
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
Azar Nafisi
Thorndike Press
295 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Waterville, ME 04901
158274487X, $13.95, 609 pp.
Coletta Ollerer
Reviewer
Azar Nafisi is a professor of literature living in Tehran during the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini. Women are repressed in many ways including the wearing of the veil. Azar has lost her position at the University of Tehran for refusing to veil her head and decides to meet with former students to read western fiction and thereby study western ideas. They meet every Thursday at her apartment, arriving veiled but removing them in the safety afforded there.
The first book they tackle is Lolita. They come to see how Lolita's character compares to their lives with respect to her powerlessness. Lolita has lost her parents. She is alone in the world and needs to depend on this terrible man, Humbert. He takes advantage of her circumstances and imposes his will on her. The little group comes to see the parallel under the rule of the Ayatollah. The Iranians are powerless and have no place to turn to get away from the Ayatollah. The girls and their professor came to see that "life in a totalitarian society is where you are completely alone in an illusory world full of false promises and where you can no longer differentiate between your savior and your executioner." (p49)
The next book they study is The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. Gatsby's dream is to find entrance into the world of the wealthy. The dream is so intense that "it removes from him the power to differentiate between imagination and reality." (p260) Azar proposes that what the Iranian people had in common with Gatsby was "this dream that became our obsession and took over our reality, this terrible, beautiful dream, impossible in its actualization, for which any amount of violence might be justified or forgiven." (p260)
In discussing Henry James' novel, Washington Square, Azar compares the ordinary Iranian citizen to its heroine, Catherine. None of those who interact with her have the slightest empathy with her. Their concern is with their own needs and desires. In Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, the government is without empathy for its citizens while forging ahead with its own agenda. In the end Catherine is victorious in her quiet steadfast way as are the Iranians who remain after the death of the Ayatollah. "A stern ayatollah, a blind and improbable philosopher-king, had decided to impose his dream on a country and a people and to re-create us in his own myopic vision. So he had formulated an ideal of me as a Muslim woman. . .and wanted me to look, act and in short live according to that ideal." (p295)
Austen was among others of her century's novelists who made marriage the central idea of their work. What women said and did and thought were the ingredients of the story and gave it its momentum. With Austen it was not "the importance of marriage but the importance of heart and understanding in marriage." (p542) Austen's ladies wanted the right to choose, a precious tenet of democracy. Azar is pleased to understand that the girls in her reading group "by refusing to give up their right to pursue happiness, had created a dent in the Islamic Republic's stern fantasy world." (p498)
This is a story which reveals the intricacies of life in a totalitarian, fundamentalist Islamic society, how some in its members remain strong and others buckle and get lost in the political fog.
"Like all great mythmakers, he (Ayatollah) had tried to fashion reality out of his dream, and in the end, like Humbert with Lolita, he had managed to destroy both reality and his dream. . . . Yet he had done this with our full compliance, our complete assent and complicity." (p438)
The Shadow of Poe
Matthew Pearl
Random House
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
1400061032 $15.72 384 pages
J. Conrad Guest, Reviewer
www.authorsden.com/jconradguest
Historical fiction is in vogue these days. Being a devotee of Edgar Allen Poe, I had high hopes for "Shadow of Poe," Matthew Pearl's second novel, but alas, it was not to be. Pearl, the author of the best selling "The Dante Club" is a more than able writer, and his passion for its topic -- Poe -- is obvious. The story surrounds a group of fictitious characters set against the historical period of Edgar Poe's death. Pearl's language for this historical novel is accurate if a bit too Poe-like. His research into the events surrounding Poe's demise, as well as the political state of France and the family Bonaparte (which is tied in with the story) is meticulous.
"Shadow's" shortcoming is with its protagonist, Quentin Hobson Clark, a young Baltimore attorney who, upon witnessing Poe's sparsely attended funeral, becomes obsessed, to the exclusion of all else - in cluding his practice as well as his young fiance - with rescuing the dead poet's reputation. While alive, like many artists, Poe struggled with finding an audience and the success that accompanies it; indeed, his greatest acclaim came only posthumously. At times Clark, himself a Poe aficionado, makes the most amazing leaps of deductive reasoning, leaving the reader thinking, "huh?" While at other times he lets the most obvious pass over his head, with clearance to spare. It could perhaps be argued that this is the basis for genius (indeed, Einstein had to be told when it was time to eat and sleep).
Clark's endeavor takes him to Paris in an effort to locate Auguste Duponte, the French detective after which Poe supposedly modeled the character C. Auguste Dupin in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," who, in Poe's story, discovers the truth behind the slaying of two women. Clark is convinced that Duponte will help him unravel the mystery behind Poe's mysterious death. Clark brings Duponte back to Baltimore where it becomes a race to solve the mystery before another Frenchman, the Baron Dupin, the self-proclaimed real Dupin, and his assassin/wife, Bonjour can. This part of the story seems, at best, contrived, at worst, an unnecessary literary device to keep the reader turning pages.
It isn't until nearly two-thirds of the book have passed that Clark uncovers one of the underlying themes of "Shadow:" "the most dangerous temptation in life is to forget to tend to your own business... if pursing the causes of others - even in charity - prevents your own happiness, you will be left with nothing... Even if you were to find the truth (behind Poe's death) they (the public) would only deny it in favor of a newer speculation. We cannot sacrifice ourselves on an altar of Poe's mistakes."
Unfortunately by then the reader cares little that the annoying Clark has lost his fiance and is in endanger of losing even more. We are carried along alone by the mys tery of Poe's death, which is merely a conjecture, and is left tantalizingly unsolved by a mere footnote- "I implored Duponte to expand on this ill-omened statement in full; he relented only under the condition that I never write of it publicly. If I am at a future date able to relate Duponte's revelations touching this point, it must be at a site far more private."
The end is far too tidy, and many readers will be swept along by the fiction of "Shadow's" mystery and its happy ending for Clark. I don't begrudge Pearl whatever level of success "Shadow" may bring him; indeed, by today's standards, such literary devices as he employed are often accompanied by success, but by my standards, I could have done with far less fiction. While I can't say I didn't enjoy "Shadow," my recommendation for a far more enjoyable read in the historical fiction genre is Dominic Smith's "The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre."
Four stars only for its obvious love of labor.
Tabloid Dreams
Robert Olen Butler
Henry Holt & Co.
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.henryholt.com
0805055894 $12.00, 203 pages, (646) 307-5095
Dan Schneider, Reviewer
www.Cosmoetica.com
After winning a Pulitzer Prize for his 1992 short story collection of Vietnam-based stories, A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler followed it up with a collection of a dozen tales, Tabloid Dreams, based upon the sort of headlines ripped from the tabloid weekly newspapers one finds on checkout lines at supermarkets. After a lackluster career as a novelist, Butler seemed to be verging on becoming a great writer for, even though A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain had its ups and downs, there were two or three genuinely great short stories. The work in Tabloid Dreams, however, seems to manifest that A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain was an aberration, and Butler is merely a competent writer who lucked into the Pulitzer- one of the rare times in recent decades that the award was given to a worthwhile book.
Tabloid Dreams is a mediocre book, at best. The tales are basically all summed up by their titles-cum-conceits, and are told in the first person. Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waterbed follows an Englishman after his death on the ship, and decades of his afterlife as part of the evaporation and rain cycle of water. He ends up trapped in a waterbed as a horny couple have sex, and thinks of a woman he fell in love with before the ship went down. He urges her to get in a lifeboat, and cannot get her out of his mind. It's a solid tale, but much too long, although it does have a solid ending. In Woman Uses Glass Eye To Spy On Philandering Husband the tale starts off well, but Butler simply does not know how to end the tale, so it just sort of stops. It's a very poor story, and little above the tabloid level it tries to spoof. Boy Born With Tattoo Of Elvis follows its lead character obsessing over how his peers will react to his freakish birthmark. There really is no point to this tale. Woman Loses Cookie Bake-Off, Sets Self On Fire has a nice conceit, and a solid end, but meanders a bit too much, as the lead character struggles with her own existence's meaninglessness.
In Jealous Husband Returns In Form Of Parrot, a woman buys the reincarnation of her husband takes him home, where he watches her sex life with her new boyfriend, fixates on his human existence's errors, his lust for her, and his inability to convert his still coherent thoughts beyond the usual parrotic squawks. In many ways this voyeurism is a pale echo of perhaps the best story in Scent, Love, so it unwittingly recapitulates- in its inferiority to the earlier tale, all the flaws this whole book has in relation to Butler's earlier, superior book. It also has a very bad ending, which is perhaps the greatest flaw in all the tales in this collection. Butler sets up the ideas in the tales with a brio, but builds no real three dimensional characters, so has no realistic 'out' from their predicaments to offer. Woman Struck By Car Turns Into Nymphomaniac finds a New York Public Relations hack called a nymphomaniac by a tabloid, who gets revenge on the publication's editor. There is no insight nor even humor in the tale. Butler is at his vapid, Postmodern worst in this story. Here he does the typical PoMo schtick of dropping vapid pop cultural references that have already faded into obscurity. Note how a decade after the book's publication so much of what is stated here is not relevant, and some as meaningless as the courtly intrigues off a John Dryden's verse:
One day in spring I stepped into the crosswalk at Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street and perhaps I was distracted by the thought of the Jenny Jones show, wishing it was the Oprah show instead, but Oprah doesn't do the real sleazy subjects, bless her pure and, for the moment, top-rated heart. So when your author is a Manhattan psychologist with a practice in masturbation therapy and a book called Touch Yourself, Cure Yourself, you take what you can get. In this case she was to be the resident expert on the I Have More Fun with Me than with My Partner segment.
The tale then careens to its weak end, loaded with fetishism, but a well-worded last sentence that sums up the schizoid writing that the book is filled with. Note how vapidly the tale's end is set up by banalities:
And he went down, onto his knees, and he bent to me and he began to kiss my toes and I thank my gypsy cab driver for teaching me how pleasurable all that can be and my hand was on the meteor and I picked it up and it was very heavy, very heavy indeed, and its heaviness sent a thrill through me, a sweet wet thrill, and I looked down at the straight white part in his hair, the very place where this meteor was about to strike, and I thought how sexy. How truly sexy is the secret shape of a man's brain.
It's a big comedown for both the tale, and its writer, but too typical of the stories in the book. But, he gets even worse in the next tale, Nine-Year Old Boy Is World's Youngest Hitman. Yes, it's about a preteen murderer, but it's so unrealistic, and so filled with bad, cartoonish Brooklyn accents that it reads almost like an early Martin Scorsese film project that was rejected. Dialect writing almost always fails, and Butler's lack of an ear for it, and lack of a real story, doom the reader of this dismal tale.
Every Man She Kisses Dies is a bit better, and has an almost Biblical resonance. Yet, the tale's lead finds her 'talent' for death wastes away when she finds true love. What could have been a nice political commentary on the sexes and social-sexual relationships, however forced, instead descends into pabulum. The end, again, is execrable. Doomsday Meteor Is Coming is better still, if only because it's lighter and silly, and it ends ambivalently- as we do not know if the end truly is nigh, or not, but it's nowhere near a tale that is resonant and will stick with a reader ten minutes after it's read. Help Me Find My Spaceman Lover is a tale that was later expanded into a novel by Butler, although for what reason is unfathomable, as that tabloid grist- the alien abduction, gets a twist as abductor and abductee meet in a Wal-Mart parking lot. There are some mild tee-hees, but they cannot fill a short story, much less a novel. In JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction, the still living ex-President goes to Sotheby's auction house to voyeur his wife's belongings. The tale is as banal as its premise, and ends very weakly.
The last tale, Titanic Survivors Found In Bermuda Triangle, is told from the point of view of the woman that the lead character from the first tale puts on the lifeboat. She is depressed, goes back to the moment of the ship's sinking, and imagines her congress with the man who saved her. While the end is a good scene, Butler write sit in the most bathetic and banal fashion, which is emblemic of the whole book. The premises are thin, but a better writer would have deepened and truly 'realized' the characters more. Readers never connect with the leads because they are never real characters merely in outrageous scenarios. They are just puppets that ride the wave of the tales' conceits- sort of third rate (at best) Twilight Zone episodes that lack depth and all end weakly. It is a truism that tales that start and end well can get away with muddled middles, but those that end badly can rarely be good, and never near greatness. Pulitzer Prize Winner Loses Touch And Becomes Third-Rate Pulp Fiction Hack may be an interesting enough title for a story- and one that would work well in this book, but as the reality embodied in a work of art it's all too real, and all too depressing. Tabloid Dreams a profound disappointment for a writer with potential, and readers who are searching for real literature in this deliterate age.
The Church of Women: Gendered Encounters Between Maasai and Missionaries
Dorothy L. Hodgson
Indiana University Press
Bloomington, IN
0253345685 (hc) $65.00
0253217628 (pbk) $29.95 330 pages
Girard-Jean Kohler
Reviewer
Dorothy Hodgson (nee Cardiff) has created a solidacademic reputation at Rutgers University,specializing in the well-known Maasai tribe of EastAfrica. It is surprising, therefore, at how shoddythe scholarship of this book is, cobbled together fromfield notes over the course of twenty years. The mainthesis, about women of an African tribe assertingindependence in their lives via religious conversion,could be credible - except for the largely subjectiveand selective development of Hodgson's arbitraryarguments.
From the vastness of Maasai-land in Tanzania,disregarding the Maasai over the border into Kenya,Hodgson has chosen as her tiny sample three atypicalvillages, near the town of Monduli, near the city ofArusha, a couple of thousand people out of hundreds ofthousands whom she mainly ignores. She states her apriori premises early on, then throughout proceeds tobeg the question in trying to prove her case. In theprocess she misinterpretes her own data, convenientlyoverlooks realities from other, more traditional areaswhich do not collaborate her stated biases, andgenerally misrepresents what had transpired before herarrival and even during her vaunted "participantobserver" visits.
For instance, Hodgson uses supposed "spiritpossession" as a telling argument for religiousexperience by certain women. She is undaunted by thefact that significant conversions took place beforethis phenomenon began to appear, that large sectionsof Maasai-land are even now untouched by the hysteria,that even the Lutheran pastors whose writings she usesto substantiate her contention do not agree with herspeculations.
One has to wonder about the veracity of the professionwhen someone with Hodgson's reputation in her field isso methodically wrong, so mistaken in even mundanefacts such as locating places accurately andmisidentifying co-workers, so disdainful ofinconveniently contrary data.
I know all of this, because I was there during much ofthe period and at places Hodgson pontificates about. This potboiler does not do justice to her topic, notto the Maasai, not to the women of the Church.
Abundantly Wild
Teresa Marrone
Adventure Publications Inc.
820 Cleveland St. S, Cambridge, MN 55008
1591930340, $22.95, 2004
Jenny Caron
Reviewer
The Midwest is in for a treat with Marrone's wild edibles cookbook. This comprehensive guide not only helps its readers identify nature's treats (and how to use them), but maps out their habitat, range and seasons available. Marrone also discusses look-alikes, providing pictures of the correct and incorrect plants.
From cattails to nettles to morels, this should be every Midwestern nature lover's bible of cooking. Over 260 recipes are introduced in 8 clearly marked sections, ranging from "top ten wild foods" to "nuts" to "greens and flowers". Recipes range from the quick and familiar - "Honey-Roasted Nut Clusters" to the delicious "Vegetable Terrine with Mushrooms".
These recipes are for beginners and experts alike, and tastefully combine the glorious flavors of nature with familiar ingredients to create exquisite dishes. And tasteful it is. Marrone has been gathering and cooking wild foods for more than 20 years, and not only has a knack for identifying and successfully using them in recipes, but also has a way with words. This is a guidebook for identifying nature's edible foods, a cookbook and a wonderful read. Marrone adds personality to this book, and it proves to make a wonderful gift for any nature lover with a sense of adventure.
The Pocket and the Pendant
Mark Jeffrey
Lulu Press
Audiobook: www.podiobooks.com, free download
1411613236 $16.94 (print)
Kaylea Hascall Champion
Reviewer
The Pocket and the Pendant audiobook, read by the author, is a friendly science-fiction adventure about four children thrown together by strange circumstances. Time has stopped for most of humanity, and an evil alien force seeks to dominate the people of earth. Jeffrey interweaves Einstein and ancient Babylonian and Egyptian creation myths while sending his characters on a mission to save the world. Although the plot was not wholly original, it was full of twists and new variants on older themes which kept the story entertaining. Performed with energy and panache and reinforced with dramatic music, this 13-episode story is family-friendly and would make excellent bed-time listening.
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
Harper Collins
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022-5299
www.harpercollins.com
8172234988 $5.99 1-800-242-7737
Nitin Saraswat
Reviewer
This inspiring story revolves around a boy named Santiago, and how he follows his dreams which ultimately lead to the treasure of his life. Translated from Brazilian to English the story bears simple words and witty statements like the wise man describing the secret of Happiness as:
The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon, handing a spoon with two drops of oil in it and asking the boy to move around his palace and enjoy the scenes.
Santiago travels quite a geographical distance from the Andalusian plains in Spain to the pyramids of Egypt meeting variety of people in the way including the Alchemist. And it all started with a dream he had, sleeping in an abandoned castle in Andalusia.
Unlike his father, he follows the yearning of his heart to travel and see the world around him and hence becomes a shepherd. The author talks about omens which are the signs considered to be spread everywhere around people which keep guiding them towards their goal. The boy had his share of difficulties and hardships as in being cheated by a stranger in Tangiers (the port city) , in the desert with the tribesman and after being beaten up by the men at the Pyramids. The author mentions a new but striking language called the Language of the World which did not depend on words and which helped Santiago in returning to wealth after he was penniless in Tangiers.
The turn of events take the reader from Spain to Tangiers to the eventful desert journey and finally to the place destined to be hiding Santiagos treasure. The only guiding force behind his entire journey was reading the omens and following them. It is in the deserts that he meets the Alchemist who guides him through the desert and deserts him just before he hits upon his treasure.
The story has many interesting turns, like the one in which Santiago was required to transform himself into the wind in front of the tribesmen who had taken them captives and the author excels in describing the way he manages to do so. In the end the reader feels rejuvenated and perhaps gives his innate feelings a little more room to grow and expand.
Miracle in The Andes Nando Parrado
Orion - UK & Crown
Orion House, 5 Upper Saint Martin's Lane, London, WC2H 9EA
Crown, Random House, Inc
280 Park Avenue (11-3), New York, NY 10017
0752871935 $15.75 304 pages
Most of us will never have to ask ourselves such a question, but at only 23 years old, Nando Parrado had to.
We have all heard the story of the Uruguayan rugby team travelling to Chile by plane that met with disaster. The plane, unable to maintain its height because of severe weather conditions, collides with one of the sharp mountainous peaks. The plane is cut in two, one half plummets from the sky only to crash among the towering peaks of the Andes, while the other half--carrying survivors--hits the incline of a snow-covered mountain and dives deep into a valley. Those who survived the crash, look to the skies above, hoping and praying for any sign of rescue. With limited food supplies and limited clothing to shield them from the cold, they are forced to come face to face with the knowledge that they must act or they will die. Three brave men begin a journey--a gruelling trek that no one has ever attempted before, with only a glimmer of hope and no clear path to their destination, they set out to help their friends and save themselves. One of these men is Nando Parrado; Miracle in the Andes is his personal story.
The first few pages of the novel walks the reader through Parrado's first moments after the crash as he wakes up and realises his gruesome predicament. He describes the cold as it first hit him, "burning his skin like acid," making it hard to breathe, hard to move, and as a consequence even harder to live. Those first moments are terrifying, and the reader is right there with him, experiencing every chilling second. As the book progresses, Parrado reflects on his life leading up to the crash. Unlike Nando, his father was a hardworking man who worked long hours to make sure that his family could live the life that he did not. His father's philosophy was that all the good things in life have to be earned. Parrado talks about how his father tried to teach him this lesson, but he did not listen as he was more interested in girls and rugby than having to grind out a living. Yet Parrado must have learnt this lesson; how else could he have survived what he did?
Written in the first person, Miracle in the Andes enables the reader to experience each long, excruciating step of Parrado's journey. It is an open and honest account of a tragedy and one man's struggle to survive. I would not recommend this book for in-flight reading! But I do highly recommend reading this book at some point in life. Miracle in the Andes is not just a story of survival; it is a story of the lengths a person will go to save a friend. The boys who were travelling to Chile to play rugby became men through their experiences. They should be thought of as heroes, an example to us all - "that anything is possible as long as you are willing to suffer."
If this book has any lesson for us, it is perfectly expressed in the last line: "Do not waste a breath."
Near Mama's Heart
Colleen Newman
Trafford Publishing
6-E-2333 Government Street,Victoria, BC V8T 4P4 Canada
1412079195 $14.99 USD/$17.24 CAN 28 pages 1-888-232-4444
Shari Maser, Reviewer
http://www.blessingway.net
Mothers and fathers of breastfeeding babies and toddlers, rejoice! Near Mama's Heart offers photo after photo of sweet nursing moments, with a gentle, affirming, breastfeeding-friendly narrative.
Children's librarians, rejoice! Finally, here is a book that breastfeeding families will be excited to find on your shelves. In this simple, loving photo-essay, there are no bottles, no pacifiers, no highchairs, no playpens... Just families bonding in the most intimate way possible. This is a must-have for every neighborhood library.
Pediatricians, obstetricians, midwives, dentists and the myriad other healthcare professionals with waiting rooms for mothers and children - rejoice! Now you can offer a book that breastfeeding families will look forward to reading in your waiting room.
And last but not least, children - rejoice! This book is especially for you! Whether it reminds you of your own family or teaches you something about other children and their families, every page is sure to bring a smile to your face.
The 4 Hundred And 20 Assassins Of Emir Abdullah-Harazins
Joseph DeMarco
AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
1418441023 $12.95 148 pages
Vicki Cox
Reviewer
"On top of Mount Zion, hidden high above the walls of the palace, it is said that there is a garden of absolute perfection. It's supposed to be a replica of Babylon or something like that. More beautiful than heaven," this is the fictitious garden of Emir Abdullah-Harazins. The garden is used as leverage throughout the book, as Emir (The Prince) Abdullah-Harazins gets young men to serve and kill for him. Harazins is in very little of the book but seems to shape the book through various flashbacks and descriptions of himself and his garden.
The book follows the hazy and stoned Anazasi on route to deliver his dead father's remains. Anazasi is in a mental and physical haze after everyone in his family has mysteriously died in various "accidents" and clearly does not want to be alive. As Anazasi gets wrapped up in his travels, he begins to suspect there is an ulterior motive for his assignment. Is he going crazy? Or is he really supposed to kill the king of his country?
This book is written very cleverly, and is hard to follow in parts, but I think paints a very interesting picture of not only what one views as Paradise, but also the mindset of a pot smoker, particularly the youth of America. The 4 Hundred and 20 Assassin of Emir Abdullah-Harazins stays with you long after you have finished reading it, and ultimately gets the reader to question their idea of paradise and happiness.
Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World
Lama Surya Das
Broadway Books
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
0767901576, $15.95, 432 pages
Victoria Kennedy
Reviewer
If you're new to Buddhism and seeking more information this book is a good place to start. I consider it a how to manual for Buddhists and an informative and thought provoking book for the rest of those who are searching for spiritual wisdom and advice. Surya Das gives us a blueprint for awakening and discovering our true selves. His instructions tell us how to go about achieving more compassionate and peaceful lives. The book is written in a clear and down to earth style that is easy to read. If nothing else it will give you a lot to think about. I recommend this book for anyone seeking guidance and wisdom on their spiritual journey.
This quote from the preface sums up what you will find when your fingers walk the pages of this book. "Today there is a genuine need for an essential, western Buddhism: pragmatic, effective, and experiential, rather than theoretical or doctrinal. We are drawn to spirituality that is simple, direct, and demystified-a sane, nonsectarian, integrated path to wisdom, personal transformation, and enlightenment for modern men and women actively engaged in life." Lama Surya Das has written a follow-up titled, "Awakening to the Sacred."
Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back
Norah Vincent
Viking Books
c/o Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
0670034665 $24.95 304 pages 1-800-847-5515
Few things fascinate us, all of us, more than the opposite gender. Surely that is the main draw of Norah Vincent's Self-Made Man, the nonfictional story about this gay female journalist who spends extended time disguised as a man in order to learn more about that gender. To see the world from and through a man's eyes, or at least as closely to his view as possible.
I expected to be fascinated. I was. Vincent begins with a chapter that describes how she accomplished this feat, then adds chapters on friendship (she joins a bowling league), sex (she delves into the baser side of the male psyche and visits strip clubs), love (she dates a long string of very varied women with surprising results), life (she joins a Catholic monastery), work (pounding the pavement as an aggressive salesman), and, finally, self (she joins a men's therapy group and accompanies them on a retreat to get more in touch with their emotions). Her conclusion, if we are not to give too much away, is that she is most happy being a woman, thank you.
Vincent's journey of discovery begins with a revelation that made me almost gasp YES! that's exactly how it is! the very first time she dresses as a man and walks the same street she has so many times walked as a woman:
"As a woman, you couldn't walk down those streets invisibly. You were an object of desire or at least semiprurient interest to the men who waited there, even if you weren't pretty...
That was it. That was what had annoyed me so much about meeting their gaze as a woman, not the desire, if that was ever there, but the disrespect, the entitlement. It was rude, and it was meant to be rude, and seeing those guys looking away deferentially when they thought I was male, I could validate in retrospect the true hostility of their former stares."
I have no doubt most any woman can relate to this. It is nearly impossible to describe to our brothers in humanity just how this feels. Vincent, switching places from one side of the gender fence to the other in this manner, does it beautifully.
Perhaps most difficult to read is the chapter on Vincent making the strip club rounds with her male pals. I have often pondered why men seem so mesmerized with the images seen in porn, on street corners, and the glossy, airbrushed and objectified images presented in media, even while beautiful real women stand available beside them. Vincent gives insight:
"But as I began to understand more about the shame that arose in men from the need to visit places like this, and the undoubted shame that arose in the dancers for having to work in them, I thought I began to understand something more about the kind of woman that becomes a sex object in the eyes of men. A lot of women have asked themselves why so many men are so fond of modern porn stars and centerfolds, women who aren't real women, whose breasts are fake, whose hair is bleached into straw or perversely depilated, whose faces are painted thick, and whose bodies have been otherwise altered by surgery or diet to conform with doll-like exactitude to something that isn't found in nature. Why, I had so often wondered, didn't men want real women?..."
Vincent describes what these men really want, and I will not quote here because of the language used (appropriately), but the conclusion is that men do not want witnesses to their basest behavior. And so, writes Vincent:
"A real woman is a mind, and a mind is a witness, and a witness is the last thing you need when you're ashamed. So f--ng a fake, mindless hole is what you need. The faker the better."
Crude, but apt. When I checked this section with a male friend, he reluctantly agreed.
But Vincent is not on a mission to degrade the male gender. Dare I say, the male gender does so well enough by themselves, certainly in these episodes. Yet there is another side, and Vincent equally well taps into the rest of the story, rounding it out. She writes of male bonding with a tenderness that never loses its masculinity (and continues on how real women love real, read imperfect, men -- agreed!). She exposes the suffering of men when they are denied their father's approval and warmth. She speaks of the injustices women sometimes throw on men at first encounter, judging them in as fully an objectified manner as men judge women. She chides women for often bringing on male hostility themselves when assuming an emotional superiority that closes down all communication. Finally, however, she states that both genders are hurting, lonely, longing to connect, and fault can be found, just like quality, in both sides.
This is not a journey to be missed. Perhaps I can't claim great surprise in reading any of Vincent's revelations. But I was given an insight into the opposite gender that was as open as any I've encountered. This author had no mission but to be a good journalist and see what she could see, record what she observed.
I recommend this book highly to both men and women. It is great and much needed fodder for discussion and learning. Agree or disagree with Vincent's conclusions (I didn't always agree), nevertheless it has tremendous value for open communication.
Andrew's Bookshelf
The Afghan Campaign
Steven Pressfield
Doubleday
1745 Broadway,New York, NY 10019
www.randomhouse.com
038551641X, $ 24.95, 320 pages, 1-800-726-0600
"The Afghan Campaign" is Steven Pressfield's latest book on warfare in the world of ancient Greece, Sparta, and Alexander the Great. Like his previous best-sellers "Gates of Fire" and "Virtues of War", this book is a vivid and exciting historical novel that gives the reader a soldiers-eye view of war between the West and East.
In a unique style of writing, Pressfield uses Matthais, a 15- 16 year-old volunteer into Alexander's army, to narrate the story of Alexander's campaign to conquer the world. As the army marches east through Iran, India, and Afghanistan, Matthais describes how he and his equally young friends Rooster, Flag, and Ash, sweat, live, and often die in these bloody and raw days. Not surprisingly, these young infantrymen complain and moan about the same topics that our young infantry Marines complain about today – low pay, bad officers, the lack of available women, and expensive booze.
In scenes that could have been taken from CNN or MSNBC, it doesn't take much imagination to substitute our young men carrying M-16's for Matthais and his friends carrying swords as they fight their way through the cold Afghan passes up in the Hindu Kush – each learn that Afghanistan and the Afghan warriors fight in a style all their own. Pressfield is a former Marine enlisted man himself, and it shows in his blunt, accurate, timely, and often funny style of writing. But as Matthais and his fellow troops adapt their tactics to beat their Afghani enemy, their adaptations come at a cost of both lives and perhaps their own humanity.
This is more than just a "cut-n-slash" historical novel. Pressfield has an ability to bring these characters to life, to imbue these young soldiers with the same balance of pragmatism and idealism that can easily be transferred to the realities of war that we see on our televisions nightly. Highly recommended!
Baby Jack
Frank Schaeffer
Carroll & Graf
c/o Avalon Publishing Group
245 West 17th Street, 11th floor, New York, NY 10011-5300
0786717165, $ 25.95, 320 pages 1-800-788-3123
"Baby Jack" is a continuation of Frank Schaeffer's theme ( that he first introduced in his NY Times bestseller "Keeping Faith- A Father-Son Story about Love and the United States Marine Corps", and discussed again in "AWOL" ), that there is a huge moral and social gap between those individuals who serve in the military vs. those do not.
Similar to his 1993 best-selling memoir "Keeping Faith," Schaeffer's newest book focuses on an upper-class Boston family ( the Ogden's ) whose youngest son Jack ruins his father's ( Todd ) plans for his upper-middle class "waspy" lifestyle by joining the Marine Corps – and worse, joins as an enlisted man, instead of at least joining ROTC in college.
The first half of "Baby Jack" deals with the unhappiness and dismay of Jack's father, and that of his mother Sarah, and the detached bemusement of his older sister Amanda. Jack's only supporter is his high school girlfriend Jessica. In a unique and interesting style of writing, Schaeffer writes each chapter from the viewpoint of the various characters, hence the reader gains a far deeper understanding of Jack, Todd, Jessica, and Amanda than one would see in a usual novel. Todd's sulking ruins not only the previous good relationship between his son and himself, but also ruins the relationship between Todd and his wife. This part of the story is interesting, and told well, but is hardly much more than a fictionalized version of the recruiting drama as experienced in many families.
But then after boot camp and MCT, young PfC Jack Ogden is killed while in combat in Iraq, and finally "Baby Jack" – and Schaeffer's skill as a writer - comes alive. God suddenly appears as a main character, and the interplay between Jack and God, between Jessica and God about Jack and Baby Jack, and God as a narrator, will be appreciated by both the civilian and military readers and their families.
Despite Jack's combat death in Iraq, this is a surprisingly funny book, with some touching and humorous exchanges between Jack and God. The reader will enjoy God shouting "ooh-rah" when excited, and later admitting to hanging out primarily at Parris Island, and "loving Stan O'Malley 1st Sgt, Chief Instructor most of all the people alive on earth…" which gives the reader a good idea as to where Schaeffer's sympathies lie.
Does Todd finally understand why his son joined the Marines? Do Jack and his father finally reconcile? Read the book and find out. Frank Schaeffer has managed to capture the range of emotions so common to a Marine and his family during wartime in a manner that is both very readable and thought-provoking.
Andrew Lubin, Reviewer
www.andrewlubin.com
Bethany's Bookshelf
Health Care USA, 5th edition
Harry A. Sultz & Kristina M. Young
Jones And Bartlett Publishers
40 Tall Pine Drive, Sudbury, MA 01776
0763736252 $69.95 1-978-443-5000 www.jbpub.com
Now in an updated fifth edition, Health Care USA: Understanding Its Organization And Delivery by co-authors Harry A. Sultz (Dean Emeritus School of Health Related Professions State University of New York at Buffalo) and Kristina M. Young (Instructor Department of Social and Preventive Medicine School of Public Health and Health Professions University of Buffalo, State University of New York) is a solid guide for students, professionals, and lay people to the latest industry developments, cost increases, and legal transformations to the American health care system. From the organization, origin, and performance of hospitals, to the nuances of financing health care, managed health care, long-term care, and mental health services, Health Care USA spares neither depth nor statistical analysis. Charts and graphs help illustrate the meticulously researched data, and exhaustive notes and an index round out this "must-have" reference guide for any reader seeking a better understanding of America's governmental health care bureaucracy.
Gifted Children Gifted Education
Gary A. Davis Ph. D.
Great Potential Press Inc.
P.O. Box 5057, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
0910707731 $32.95 1-602-954-4200 www.giftedbooks.com
Gifted Children Gifted Education by Gary A. Davis Ph. D. (winner of the E. Paul Torrance Creativity Award from the Creativity Division of the National Association for Gifted Children) is a no-nonsense guide to the concept of giftedness in children, and how parents can provide opportunities to cultivate their children's gifts. Chapters address how to identify gifted children, the pros and cons of educational acceleration from grade skipping to early college admission, how to aid the development of thinking skills and creative growth, and common problems or counseling needs among gifted children. Written in a conversational style accessible to the lay reader, Gifted Children Gifted Education is highly recommended for parents of gifted children.
College Planning For Gifted Students
Sandra L. Berger
Prufrock Press
5926 Balcones Drive, Suite 220, Austin, TX 78731
www.prufrock.com
1593631812 $18.95 512-300-2220
College Planning For Gifted Students by Sandra L. Berger, adjunct instructor to George Mason University, teaching curriculum differentiation and former guru of the Ask ERIC answer desk and USA Today hotline, is a straightforward guide to selecting the right college for one's needs and getting in. Chapters discuss choosing the right college to apply to, weathering the application process, common pitfalls to watch out for, scholarship and financial aid options, and a wealth of appendices covering useful resources. Enthusiastically recommended, especially for anyone with their eye on the most prestigious colleges.
Mother And Me
Julian Padowicz
Academy Chicago Publishers
363 West Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60610
0897335449 $27.50 1-800-248-7323 www.academychicago.com
Mother And Me: Escape From Warsaw 1939 by documentary flimmaker Julian Padowicz is the true story of a Jewish child who grew up estranged from his mother to the point of hating other Jews. Virtually ignored by his mother and raised by his Catholic governess Kiki -- who taught him that God didn't love Jews because of what they did to His Son and that the only way Julian could go to heaven was to become bapitized. Julian's world transformed forever when World War II came to Warsaw. Kiki had to return to her family; his stepfather joined the Polish army; and the mother who once barely made time for him assumed responsibility for raising him. Determined to provide for her son, Julian's mother cut in food lines and later, under Soviet occupation, befriended Russian officers for extra rations of food and fuel. In the winter of 1940 as conditions for survival deteriorated, Julian's mother brought him in a daring escape to Hungary on foot, through the Carpathian mountains. Mother And Me is an unforgettable memory of blood bonds being thicker than water, and a family love that burns most fiercely when family is threatened. Highly recommended.
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Betty's Bookshelf
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
John Ringo
Baen Books
P.O. Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471
1416520597, $24.00, 307 pages www.baen.com
John Ringo's done it again. When you've read the last page of his newest scifi warfare book, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, you'll surface for air with a dazed look around to remind yourself of where you actually are. Oh, yeah. You're not fighting the forces of evil in a spaceship hurtling through space, beset by evil creatures, dark elves, orcs, and just plain mean people, as you try to save mankind. You're in your bedroom. (OK, that's where I was. You might be in your living room. Or on the porch. Whatever.) In my humble opinion, the folks who compare Ringo's style to Tom Clancy's miss the mark by a mile. Clancy's books are merely exciting. Ringo's grab you by the throat and simply will not let you go.
East of the Sun, West of the Moon starts with a prologue introduction to Private Tur-uck, an orc from New Destiny that's having a very bad day. Then, in Chapter 1, Blood Lord Herzer Herrick shows up, also having a bad day, as he trains for his latest mission (a guaranteed cluster fisk, in his opinion). A tanker full of reactor fuel is returning to Earth, and whoever can control it and its contents will have the edge in the struggle for world control. The forces of good (read "the United Free States") are determined that the fuel will end up in their hands, and Herrick has been tasked with making it happen.
It doesn't seem like that great of an idea. Sure, Herrick's a Blood Lord's Blood Lord. True, he's one heck of a fighter on the ground. But now, in a very short period of time, he has to learn how to fight in zero grav, against who-knows-what kind of monsters. So why is he in charge? Simple. The original team was slaughtered during training by some horrible kind of altered spider or scorpion or something, sent by New Destiny's leaders. Now, it's time for the B Team, led by Herrick.
That wouldn't be too bad – Herrick lives by the Blood Lords' motto, "Die or Drop" – but a bunch of civilians have been conscripted for the mission. One of them is Megan Trevante, former member of the late Paul Bowman's harem, one of the thirteen "Key Holders" that control the protocols of the AI that runs the planet – and Herrick's fiancee. He hates her participation, but it can't be helped. A key holder is a vital part of the battle plan, and she's the only UFS holder who can be spared.
This could be a problem. Will having Megan in harm's way end up dividing his attention? Maybe, but there really isn't any choice. She's going. So, he'll just have to make sure she, at least, makes it back to Earth in one piece. Which won't be easy. Megan may not be a trained Blood Lord, but she's not one to sit back and wait to be rescued, either; she escaped the harem by poisoning Paul, and she's just as committed to the mission's success as Herrick is. Who knows what she'll do?
Throw in additional problems caused by Megan's distaste for sex (thanks to her harem days), female underlings who'd love to take Megan's place (and don't mind letting Herrick know), Herrick's determination to remain faithful to Megan (however long it takes), poor intel (really poor), a mission rapidly going to hell in a handbasket (with no steering mechanism); and a few nightmare creatures (altered by New Destiny and sent to destroy anything in their way), and you've got a story that'll keep you up for hours past your bedtime. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need a nap.
Agent to the Stars
John Scalzi
Subterranean Press
P.O. Box 190106, Burton, MI 48519
1596060204, $30.00, 286 pages www.subterraneanpress.com
In 1997, writer John Scalzi started his first novel, after deciding to find out if he was capable of writing something that was longer than two thousand words. He told himself it was just a practice novel that would never see the light of day, so there was no worry about how good it would be. And since it would never be sold, it wouldn't matter what he chose as subject matter, either. The self-deception did the trick; in the book's introduction, Scalzi says it took him three months to write and "…I had a ball. Writing [this] novel was one of the most fun writing experiences I've ever had."
Completed book in hand, he decided to see if it would sell. The results weren't encouraging. True, everyone who saw it liked it. However, no one wanted to publish it. By that time, Scalzi had a web site up, so he bunged the manuscript onto the site and asked readers who liked it to send him $1.
To his surprise, between 1999 and 2004, he received $4,000 from grateful readers. To his further surprise, a publishing house then decided they wanted to publish it. I'm glad they did. Now readers can enjoy reading Agent to the Stars while lying in bed or soaking in the bathtub, rather than while hunching over a computer screen.
Agent to the Stars introduces us to Thomas Stein, a junior Hollywood agent, whose boss gives him the job of introducing Earth to the Yherajk, who are worried about how they will be accepted by humans. True, the Yherajk are friendly and eager-to-please, speak excellent English (learned from thousands of hours of television sitcoms), and know more about earth's entertainment industry than any earthling alive (with the possible exception of BGSU students who've chosen to pursue a pop culture degree.)
However, as they themselves admit, "We look like snot. And we smell like dead fish." With this major image problem, making first contact with a PR expert (Stein's boss) instead of the White House made perfect sense to them. However, since the alien make-over needs to be kept a deep dark secret until the Yherajks are ready to make their worldwide debut, Stein's boss thinks Stein should handle it. After all, who pays any attention to junior agents?
It's not going to be easy. However, if Stein can present the Yherajk to Earth in a positive light, he'll not only have a major place in earth's history, he'll have nice percentage of the most amazing deal ever to come along. Can he pull it off?
I started reading Agent to the Stars because I really enjoyed Scalzi's Old Man's War. It was a little hard going at first, but I figured I'd at least give him long enough to demonstrate whether or not he could pull me past the "eeeeuw – gross" alien description and make me want to finish the book. The answer turned out to be: Yep, he could. Interesting premise. Fun story. Nice job!
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss
Gotham Books
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
1592400876, $19.95, 209 pages
Lynne Truss, a book reviewer for The [London] Sunday Times, takes the subject of punctuation very seriously. Indeed, she takes it so seriously that she was constrained by her conscience to write an entire book about it, in the hope that she'd make a difference in the world. It seemed unlikely, despite her rallying cry of "Sticklers unite! You have nothing to lose but your sense of proportion (and arguably you didn't have a lot of that to begin with)." After all, how many sticklers are there, anyway? When's the last time anyone you know spent any time at all discussing the importance of comma placement (unless it was after telling the joke that the book is named after)?
In fact, Truss says the book was originally aimed at the tiny minority of British people "who love punctuation and don't like to see it mucked about with" and she freely admits that she didn't expect much. "Grammatical sticklers are the worst people for finding common cause because it is in their nature to pick holes in everyone, even their best friends. Honestly, what an annoying bunch of people," she says.
So, imagine her surprise when her book became a New York Times best seller. Who knew so many Americans were sticklers about punctuation (or at least, wanted to read about it)? I hope she doesn't read my review, though, because I'd hate to be the one who breaks it to her that there probably aren't that many.
What the US does have (in great and growing numbers) are readers who enjoy almost any topic if it's written about in a witty and interesting manner. And if Truss is anything, it's witty and interesting. From her opinion on the abuse of the apostrophe by greengrocers to her belief that "hyphen usage is just a big bloody mess [that is] likely to get messier", Truss makes punctuation as fascinating as almost anything I've ever read does. Fascinating punctuation. Now, there's a first. I can't wait to see what she takes on next.
Betty Winslow
Reviewer
Bob's Bookshelf
The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook
Andrea Froncillo with Jennifer Jeffrey
Ten Speed Press
1580086861 $19.95 168 pages
Gilroy, California, may be the garlic mecca of the West during the summer when the town's festival attracts thousands of visitors but in San Francisco the Stinking Rose Restaurant is where garlic fans congregate. You only have to follow your nose to find the North Beach restaurant located on Columbus. The hearty Californian-Italian fare created by executive chef Andrea Froncillo combines the flavors of the southern coast of Italy with the garlic fields of California. Now it's not necessary to make the trek to San Francisco to enjoy Chef Froncillo's signature, garlic laced dishes. "The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook" offers 65 of the eatery's most popular recipes. Italian Pot Stickers, Forty-Clove Garlic Chicken, Creamy Garlic-Spinach Cheese Fondue, Pasta with Butternut Squash, Fried Sage and Garlic Chips, and Garlic Ice Cream are just a few of the delights you'll find in this well illustrated cookbook. The restaurant's mouth watering side dishes you'll want to try at home include Pesto Mashed Potatoes, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Eggplant and Caramelized Onions with Roquefort Dressing and Broccoli Rabe.If seafood is one of your favorite entrees, the Lemon-Baked Salmon with Garlic Caper Butter, Cioppino, and the Louisiana Shrimp in a Garlic-Tomato Broth are to die for! When it comes to cooking with garlic, you can't do much better than these recipes which keep satisfied diners returning year after year to The Stinking Rose.
The Potluck Cookbook
Dolores Kostelni
Collectors Press PO Box 230986,Portland, OR 97281
www.collectorspress.com
193311214X $19.95 128 pages 1-800-423-1848
The potluck is one of the most traditional gatherings that include food and fellowship. The perfect potluck dish is one that can be made ahead of time, travels well, and can be easily served. "The Potluck Cookbook" by Dolores Kostelni features over 100 recipes for any potluck gathering.
From party starters, soups and appetizer casseroles to meat and poultry entrees, you'll find a wide variety of dishes to dazzle your friends and family. Besides a special breakfast and brunch section, the author includes a "Family Favorites" chapter which features a Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Tuna Noodle Casserole, and Macaroni and Cheese. Desserts haven't been forgotten either. There are recipes for Carrot Wedding Cake, Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble, PTA Brownies, and Viginia Apple Cobbler. Retro illustrations accompany this fun cookbook that harkens back to the comfort food of your youth. And yes, you'll find instructions for whipping up a killer potato salad, Deviled Eggs, and Green Bean Casserole!
Ginseng, the Divine Root
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
P.O. Box 2225 Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2225
1565124014 $23.95 308 pages
One of the world's oldest plants, predating the continental drift, ginseng first appeared more than 65 million years ago. Most people think of ginseng as an Asian plant, but it's also native to forests in much of North America. In fact, the "living fossil" sparked a boom in Minnesota no so long ago that was reminiscent of the California Gold Rush. People flocked from surrounding states to dig and sell the valuable root.
David Taylor's "Ginseng, the Divine Root: The Curious History of the Plant That Captivated the World" investigates the King of Herbs and why this plant is as important today as it was centuries ago. Ginseng's legendary powers are said to improve stamina, relieve stress, stimulate the immune system and enhance mental clarity. The plant is being studied today in conjunction with the treatment of cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, and it is at the very center of the huge herbal boom.
As he weaves together the natural and social history of ginseng, Taylor tells a story that includes international crime, Native American myths, gourmet cuisine, herbal medicine, and ecological recovery. The elusive plant's trail stretches from New York and North Carolina to the Midwest before it reaches across the Pacific to Hong Kong and the remotest corners of China. Once into the book you'll be totally captivated by this tale of the Root of Life and the wheelers, dealers, diggers, and stealers who have sought it down through the ages.
Bob Walch
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
How Tradition Works
Michael D. C. Drout
Arizona Center For Medieval And Renaissance Studies
P.O. Box 874402 Tempe, AZ 85287-4402
0866983503 $47.00 1-480-727-6503
How Tradition Works: A Meme-Based Cultural Poetics Of The Anglo-Saxon Tenth Century by Michael D. C. Drout (Associate Professor of English at Wheaton College) re-examines "memetic" theory while contemplating the manner in which traditions are created, modified, perpetuated, and recognized. Especially focusing upon the Oral Traditional Theory as revealed in a case study of the longevity of classic Anglo-Saxon poetry from the tenth century, How Tradition Works is especially intended for specialists in evolutionary theory, memetics, and Anglo-Saxon studies. A serious-minded, college and graduate school-level discussion of the complexities of intergenerational human societal expression.
Heart Attack: A Cleveland Clinic Guide by Curtis Mark Rimmerman M.D. (Medical Director for Cleveland Clinic Westlake, Lakewood, and Avon Pointe) is the no-nonsense official guide from The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, selected as the best Heart Center in America according to U.S. News & World Report's annual survey for the past eleven years. Numerous individual case stories clarify solid information about heart anatomy, telltale signs and warnings of risk to the heart, the patient's role in managing heart disease, how to choose the right heart doctor for one's needs, and much more. Of particular importance are the heart disease myths that Heart Attack thoroughly debunks, such as "if I have no symptoms, I'm not at risk", "heart disease begins in adulthood", and "smoking only hurts the lungs/cigars are 'safe'". A solid, fact-filled resource thoroughly accessible to lay readers, and highly recommended.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
In Deep Water
Felix Perry
Breakwater Books LTD
100 Water Street, P.O. Box 2188, St. John's, NL A1C 6E6
1550812033 $13.95 www.breakwaterbooks.com
Based on the biography of "Dobbin the Diver", a Newfoundlander who in the mid 1800's dared to defy conventional careers to become a salvage diver/underwater treasure hunter, In Deep Water reads like a novel written in first-person perspective, but stays close to the facts from the original biography, nonfiction articles written about Dobbin's life, and meticulous research. The result is an adventure spanning 50 shipwrecks, fourteen exciting years, gold, silver, money, jewelry, and glimpses of the unfortunate remains of those whose final resting place was the sea floor. Technological limitations made diving a much more dangerous enterprise over a century ago, and In Deep Water's title reflects the threats Dobbin braved in search of wealth and adventure. Especially recommended pleasure reading for diving and salvage enthusiasts.
Academic Collective Bargaining
Ernst Benjamin & Michael Mauer, editors
The Modern Language Association Of America
26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004
0873529723 $22.00 www.mla.org
Academic Collective Bargaining is an anthology of essays by learned contributors to educate readers about the history and context of collective bargaining as a negotiation tactic, particularly in the academic career realm. Addressing the concerns of both constituents and administrators in collective bargaining, and opening the way to speculation on the future of academic unionism, Academic Collective Bargaining is an insightful and scholarly treatment of its chosen field.
The Other Quebec
J. I. Little
University Of Toronto Press
10 St. Mary Street, Suite 700, Toronto, ON, M4Y 2W8
0802093973 (pb) 0802091008 (cloth) $35.00 (pb) $70.00 (cloth) 1-800-565-9523
The Other Quebec: Microhistorical Essays On Nineteenth-Century Religion And Society by historian J. I. Little offers a wonderful glimpse of 1800's Quebec through records of true-life stories, journals, and community events. The Other Quebec is not a sweeping general history, but rather a collection of in-depth microhistories about specifics, from the Temperance Movement in the Eastern Townships 1830-52 to the 1800's perspective on marriage and parenthood. Researched in fine detail, and illustrated with a handful of black-and-white photographs, The Other Quebec offers a charming and insightful portrait of the past to lay readers and scholars alike.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Burton's Bookshelf
Welcome To The Night Shift
Jim H. Duncan
Lulu
860 Aviation Parkway, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560
www.lulu.com
1411651820, $13.00, 135 pp. (919) 459-5858
While reading Jim Duncan's first published book of poetry, I often got this image of a P.I. type with his feet crossed on top of a mahogany desk in a dark office. Think Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and you have it. It's the dark-edged voice with a sense of humor in Mr. Duncan's poetry that gave this image its home in my mind. The works in this collection seem to combine a fear of aloneness with the joy of it as well. You can feel the emotions—the hope, sadness, wonder and questions—that all writers face.
I could probably pick something out of every poem in the book that I liked. In each one, we're given an intimate look at the workings of this individual. One poem, in particular is "I've Killed My Fish Tonight". My favorite part is "this empty tank sits quietly/filter deadened/food soggy and sinking/my reflection peers back through the empty waters/and sees an empty night/through empty eyes"... The subject and choice of words used to paint this picture, are simple yet brilliant. They aren't just words to read on a page, they're images that seem to jump out at you and say, 'look at me!' To get a feel for all this collection offers, you have to read it yourself. This book, as well as his second poetry collection, Thrift Store Majestic, can be found at the author's website, www.jhdwriting.com. A true talent on the rise.
Like Dandelion Dust
Karen Kingsbury
Center Street
Time Warner Book Group
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
1931722854, $12.95, 2006, 370 pp.
I can't recall a time that an author's dedication or acknowledgements made me cry, but this book's did. I knew this was going to be a heart wrenching story, so after reading through those first pages and thinking of my own children and how precious they are, I settled back with a box of tissue nearby and began to read the rest of the book.
Chapter after chapter flew by as I devoured the struggles, the hope, love and faith of the characters. Mrs. Kingsbury tackles some tough issues—adoption, abuse, religion, just to name a few—with a tenderness and knowledge that sets the reader fully in the story.
Four-year-old Joey is a breath of fresh air. I think his fears as well as his strength in finding and trusting God tugged at my heart the most. What a special little boy. I could also appreciate the adults in the families. They were all unique in their own way.
This was the first Karen Kingsbury book I've read but it won't be the last. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have read and reviewed such a wonderful story by a talented author. It couldn't have come to me at a better time. As for the tissue, I went through half a box. It was well worth it.
Lynn Burton
Reviewer
Carson's Bookshelf
Between Justice & Beauty
Howard Gillette Jr.
University of Pennsylvania Press
3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4112
0812219589 $22.50 1-800-537-5487 www.upenn.edu/pennpress
Between Justice & Beauty: Race, Planning, And The Failure Of Urban Policy In Washington, D.C. by Howard Gillette Jr. (Professor Of History Rutgers University) examines how, as the only American city directly under congressional control, Washington D.C. has historically been used to test federal policy initiatives and social experiments. Some results have been positive; many have not, and the best of intentions striving to bring social justice to the largely black populace have failed. A large federal presence has been created, but to what ends? Gillette claims that this bloated and all-too-often ineffective federal presence is a triumph of beauty of justice, and searches for a more effective means to bring help to the city dwellers who need revitalization the most. A scholarly, well-researched treatise, sparsely illustrated with black-and-white photographs, Between Justice & Beauty attacks longstanding social problems head-on in search of solutions.
The Power To Persuade
Michael G. Carew
University Press Of America
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
0761831657 $38.00 www.amazon.com
The Power To Persuade: FDR, The Newsmagazines, And Going To War, 1939-1941 by Micheal G. Carew (Assistant Professor Of Economics at Baruch College, New York) is the true story of the role four magazines played in generating support for America's involvement in World War II against the Nazi-led Axis. At the time, the magazines "Life", "Look", "Newsweek", and "Time" reached over 40 million readers - almost 50% of America's electorate, mostly middle to upper class. By the end of November 1941, enough of the formerly anti-war opposition hand changed their opinions and joined Roosevelt's electoral consensus. The Power To Persuade scrutinizes how a nation could go from neutrality to active participation in the war against the Axis in two short years, drawing on a wealth of compiled data presented in various charts. Appendices packed with even more statistics and bibiolography round out fascinating insight into a crucial phase of American history.
Healthcare For Less
Michelle Katz, M.S.N.
Hatherleigh Press
5-22 46th Avenue, Suite 200, Long Island City, NY 11101
1578262224 $15.95 718-786-5338 ext. 202, www.hatherleighpress.com
Healthcare For Less: Getting The Care You Need Without Breaking the Bank by Michelle Katz M.S.N. (host of cable Television show Today's Health) is an extremely practical primer to the financial lingo of healthcare plans, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Medicare and Medicaid, coverage for those in the military, COBRA, and much more. Tips to save money range from basic prevention advice to keep oneself in good health, to learning how exactly to read a medical bill, to negotiation strategies with healthcare institutions and providers. In the modern era of spiraling prescription and health care prices, Healthcare For Less is strongly recommended for all but the wealthiest Americans.
The Neal-Schuman Library Technology Companion, second edition
John L. Burke
Neal-Schuman Publishers Inc.
100 William Street, Suite 2004, New York, NY 10038
1555705502 $59.95 www.neal-schuman.com
Now in an updated second edition, The Neal-Schuman Library Technology Companion: A Basic Guide For Library Staff by John L. Burke (Interim Director of the Garden-Harvey Library, Miami University of Ohio) is a straightforward guide for librians and library workers to the latest technological tools available to the profession. Chapters discuss general concepts and specific "how-to" tips in acquiring and fully utilizing computers from desktops to laptops to handheld devices, computer networks from WiFi to email, software systems, library databases, search tools from Amazon to Google, how to protect library technology from spam, spyware, and other security threats, and much more. Each chapter concludes with questions for review and self-testing, in this hands-on guide with sample screenshots to illustrate its points. Enthusiastically recommended for all librarians, from novice to expert technology users, in today's technology-driven world.
Generals In The Cabinet Room
Yoram Peri
United States Institute Of Peace
1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20036-3011
1929223811 $19.95 202-457-1700 www.usip.org
Generals In The Cabinet Room: How The Military Shapes Israeli Policy by Yoram Peri (Professor of Political Sociology And Communication at Tel Aviv University) forcefully and persuasively argues the premise that while once Israel's military was the servant of its civilian political leadership, today it is the Israeli generals who have the lead in foreign and defense policymaking. The repercussions for Israeli--Palestinian relations, Israeli democracy, and other democracies are potentially earthshaking. Generals In The Cabinet Room traces recent military-political Israeli history with especial focus on the 1990's and beyond, and warns of a future in which democracy itself could potentially fall victim to too much militarization. Highly recommended.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Cassandra's Bookshelf
Eva Hesse: Sculpture
Elisabeth Sussman and Fred Wasserman with essays by Yve-Alain Bois and Mark Godfrey
Yale University Press
New Haven and London, www.yalebooks.com
The Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10128
www.thejewishmuseum.org
0300114184 $50.00 175 pp.
For me Eva Hesses story is all about being a Jew, a woman and an artist in a patriarchal society. In the late 1960s,the political is personal became a catch phrase embodying the influential role played by feminism during this era. Feminist critics including Cindy Nemser and Lucy Lippard lead the charge to restore women artists to art history and to document the work of contemporary women artists. Were it not for such pioneering work, Eva Hesse's art, like that of other women of the period, would have fallen into obscurity.
For a whole generation who doesn't know who Eva Hesse was or anything about her art this book is an eye opener. We live in an age where ethnicity and identity politics are the bread and butter of the day. For these reasons people are at least taking a second look at Eva Hesse's art and life in a way that finally includes her reality. This book (catalogue) focuses on a recreation of her 1968 breakthrough exhibition and once more brings before the public her extraordinary sculptures and drawings. Eva Hesse has been one of the only women ever credited with being part of the so-called Minimalist movement in the history of modern/contemporary art. The names of the men are probably more familiar to readers and include Sol Lewitt and Robert Morris. This particular form of art emerged in the 1960s in the wake of a movement towards the "dematerialization" of art as a way of getting away from the "commodification" of art during this period. It was based on certain Marxist inspired and utopian notions about human nature and materialism. It focused on the geometric and formal properties of art. These were supposedly "dumb" works of art. Other more sensitive and knowledgable critic have related her work to artists such as Lee Bontecou, Lucas Samaras and even Robert Smithson because of the anthropomorphic influences that her work supposedly contains. This all fit in with the various movements that emerged during the period of her lifetime but in no way really defined her art in the context of her experiences. What the current catalogue/book tries to do is set her work within the frameworks of her life as a child of survivors of the fall out from the Holocaust. Fred Wasserman's essay "Building a Childhood Memory: The Diaries of Eva Hesse's Early Years," is a treasure trove of information (97-133). Recently, the Jewish writer, Melvin Jules Bukiet observed, JEWS ARE GOOD AT TWO THINGSs: being killed and writing about it. Simply put, Eva Hesse's art is a reflection of being Jewish and the consequences of being a victim and a survivor.
The artist herself tells us:I used to stand alone at night and I used to be terrified. My mother was there but not therethere, but not there. Iwas shifted from home to home. I was raised in a different place and so was my sister. My mother was in and out of sanatoriums.
What her art is really good at is visualizing the unspeakable and working a kind of healing grace through it¡ªa healing grace that has been largely ignored by the art historical establishment. Eva Hesse took a delight in forming syntax, in making phrases, in repeating letters, alphabets, in making meaning where none had been before. Her work is full of transient movement, permutations, circles surrounded by shadows, by the dark of night. She remembered it all even before she had the words to say it, the visions to embody it. She evoked a kind of restitution through disclosures; a moral authority that spoke of the emotional confusion and the effects of aryanization on every area of public and private life, particularly from a two year old child's vantage point.Eva Hesse was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1936 to a prominent Orthodox Jewish family. In December 1938, she and her older sister Helen were sent to Holland on a kindertransport (children's train) to escape Nazi extermination pogrom. They were placed in a Catholic home in Holland. Two-year-old Eva was reunited with her parents three months later, and the family came to reside in New York City, where Hesse was raised in the German Jewish refugee community of Washington, Heights. Holidays were important to the children; especially Hanukkah and Passover. Actually, for the Seder, Eva learned to say the four questions (Mah Nishtanah). She liked going to shul and she had a religious disposition, which suggests she had a potential for mystical thinking. In 1945, her Uncle Nathi and Tante Martha were killed in Bergen-Belsen and then the family received the terrible news that her mother's parents Moritz and Erna Marcus had been murdered at Auschwitz. Given the facts of her life, it comes as no surprise that Eva emerged from this troubled background with a divided consciousness of belonging and not belonging. What she was sure of was that she did not want to live on Park Avenue and be a Doctor's Wife. These are the facts that helped to form Eve Hesse as a person and the subjects of her art. Beth Turk's beautifully illustrated "Chronology of Eva Hesse's Life," (133-145) captures Hesse's beauty, her spirit and her art through a collection of family photographs, exhibition notices and assoted other materials that document her life and art.
Restoring Eva Hesse to the context of Jewish culture and life reveals how being educated in an orthodox Jewish household shaped her thoughts, imagination and values. Situating her in a Washington Heights Jewish refugee community fragrant with fresh strudel and the burning pain of longing, yearning, dislocation and exile lets us see through the abstraction of her work to the rich content of her art. Her friend Nancy Holt commented:I can never remember a time that we were at her place, where she didn't bring out a memento of her past.... at least a half an hour to an hour, would be spent looking at some log, or a diary, or pictures of her parents or her stepmother or something. And generally, at least one story about the past, and then fragments of the past mementos, other than pictures and writing...She thought her present was connected to this past history, into childhood.
In a sense she fed off of that material.Eva Hesse's art is a narrative of trauma and redemption. Hesse witness to displacement, exile, unbearable loses; the quintessential modernist experience, the rootless refugees living in a diaspora from herself: the Jewess, the modern soul seeking redemption and healing from a broken world. That the wisdom of nothingness (Ayin) permeates Eva Hesse's vision comes as no surprise. The gist of Eva Hesse's art is encompassed by the Jewish mystic Maggid of Mezerich who commented, Before a thing is transformed into something else, it must come to the level of Nothingness.
Elie Wiesel once said, People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell. Absolutely, Hesse has a story to tell in a unique voice¡ªrich and otherworldly. Had Hesse not died from a brain tumor at the tender age of thirty-four. Had she lived there is no telling what she might have achieved. What this book does is being Eva Hesse's art back to life and give readers a rich and varied picture of this extraordinary artist who avanced the cause of modern art light years beyond her male contemporaries at a time when less was less.
The Passion of Mary Magdalen
Elizabeth Cunningham
Monkfish Book Publishing Company
27 Lamoree Roade, Rhinebeck, New York 12572
www.monkfishpublishing.com
0976684306 $29.95 640 pp.
Generally I love historical fiction even with a science fiction twist. I adored Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Heartlight" and "The Saga of the Renunciates." Heck I even liked "The Da Vinci Code, despite all its historical liberties. So I should have liked this book. Why didn't I like it, why did I find it so irritating and frustrating? First of all the book is several books in one which makes it very hard to get into and to keep track of the characters. The heroine Maeve (Mary) is a kind of slut cum wonder woman from some crazy mixed up Celtic island. Her star crossed, boy friend with the dirty feet is supposed to be the historical Jewish boy carpenter, Jesus. Their story is told from Maeve's point of view and it is wild. We are taken through slave markets, whore houses, ancient Rome according to Cunningham. But readers will be oddly jerked out of time and place by the authors zig zagging between ancient and contemporary language and events. How couod Maeve/Mary Magdalen know about Scarlet O'Hara or Gone with the Wind? How could Roman matrons know about coffee klaches and other social customs only available after World War II. when displaced German Jews made them common place?
The problems with this book are too many to dig into in the space of a short review. The book is too long and needlessly complicated to warrent more than a word of warning to readers. If you don't know history and don't care, if you don't mind being snapped back and forth between time periods like a pin-pong ball, if you can stand the ham sliced thick as home-made bread laced with more than a touch of the Gospels according to Cunningham this may be the book for you. It certainly wasn't for me. I don't care for gutter language where it doesn't fit, I don't like sex scenes that are swell and fall like so many inflated blimps. There are plenty of truly talented writers working in the genre but this book can make you sick to the very soul when it comes to the spiritual and it is saturated with religious notions that are sterile of any lessons at all. In the line of entertaining reading this book is like an elbow in your ribs.
Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander
Ann Herendeen
Author House
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, Indiana 47403
www.AuthorHouse.com
1420869639 541 pp. 1-800 839-8640
Unlike the previous book, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander is a fun read. In this bisexual regency romance, Ann Herendeen had smartly brought together the style of Jane Austin and a strong command of English history. Not only does she set the characters in context but she actually writes the dialogue accurately so that one gets a sense of the period. Her descriptions of clothing, manners, architecture, food, and finances are on the mark and her sense of gender relations is equally representative.
Andrew Carrington is one of those tall, dark and dangerous anti-heros that one hates to love--but does love. His female counter part Phyllida is equally charming and a bit of a con artist. In agreeing to Marry Carrington in an "arrangement" to use Hilary Clinton's well phrased term, Phyllida insists on her own profession albeit "anonymously." "I say, Carrington, I think you're making too much of this. After all, she said she don't use her own name and nobody knows she's the suthor." (32) And, so their bargin is struck. Andrew does his duty and it ain't half bad. Gradually they learn to appreciate each other and Phyllida finds herself liking some of his boy friends.
Herendeen has a delightful sense of humor and her inflection like Chaplin's is perfect for getting laughs as in a scene where Phyllida who is amply endowed dressed up in men's clothing and invades the sacred house of sodomy, a bachelors club where men roam free and do as they will regardless of the law of the land. Add to this a spy drama that brings to this book a dry wit and sparkle that makes it well worth reading. It's a little bit like an English pot pie with a Lubitsch touch. Good dialogue, historical accuracy and some unusually delightful bit pieces make this spy melodrama an entertaining read.
Welcome to the World Baby Girl!
Fannie Flagg
Ballantine Books
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
www.ballantinebooks.com
080411868X $7.99 391 pp., 1-800-726-0600
Fannie Flagg is one of my all time favorite authors. She is a model voice in a world full of garbble. What I like about her wrting and this book in particular is it's less is more philosophy. Yes, Flagg is a philosopher. It's not just that she is a great story teller who keeps the readers interest page after page. What she does is lace her novels with home grown wisdom that makes common sense; a rare thing in our getting and spending global economy.
In this captivating, comic and melodramatic novel, Flagg comes to terms with life choices and how they shape us as individuals. She says that the one thing God made a mistake about in creating human beings was in giving them "free will" the choice of chosing between good and evil. Her cast of characters are all richly described. We get to know and love or hate them. Take Sidney Capello, a scum bag digger up of dirt on other people whose sole motivations, like many of todays politicans right, left and center, are paranoia and greed. (392) What he will do for a buck and the atrocities he is willing to commit are only part of the story. The heroine, Dena Nordstrom (the baby girl of the title) is drop dead beautiful with her white skin, blond hair and blue eyes, is on a fast track career high as she migrates from job to job climbing the ladder of ambition until she lands in the big Apple with a prime time television spot. Of course, she drinks, smokes and parties to much, and she develops a bleeding stomach ulcer. This sends her to a shrink named Gerry O' Malley who immediately falls head over heels in love with her despite her very obvious intimacy problems. In the background keeping the book alive and down to earth are her father's family. They are small town folks who live in Elmwood Springs, Missouri and are of no particular interest to the world.There is a lot in this book worth reading. Dena is vivid, alive and despite her failings, charming. The book suggests how good she could really be under better circumstances. But the circumstances are at the heart of this book. Who is Dena really, where does she come from and who are her people. All this is revealed in due course whichis what makes this such a moving read. In one scene she flies down to New Orleans to interview Tennesse Williams. Now Williams doesn't give interviews to just anyone but he makes an exception because of Dena's friendship with the last newsman of integrity who he admired and respected. Of interviews In a stinging critique of journalism, Flagg has William's tells her "I rarely give interviews anymore. Of course, now it really doesn't matter; they write them anyway." "I call them the Masturbation Pieces. They do it without me."(246) Dena asks him if he believes in God. And he says, God? "Well, he's either the meanest bastard that ever lived or the most careless." Then he tells her the one true thing, "We must be kind and forgive one another or we won't survive." But even among the most religious there seems to be a great blind spot covering the world, an inability to learn from past experience. Civilization is as precarious as a sand castle. All the care and effort it took to create it can be knocked down in a second by some bully or another.(248). This is a hell of a powerful statement and one that we might all pay some attention to. People seem timid about speaking out, or confused by current events and/or in a state of shock as the world seems to hover on the edge of utter chaos. The passion for vengeance is terrifying and inevitably leads to the horror and bloodshed we are currently experiencing in the middle east yet all this could be averted as Flagg points out with a little "loving kindness and a willingness to forgive and start afresh. This is something that seems beyond most of the human race. Yet Flagg tells us and I think she truly believes the words she puts in Aunt Elner's mouth when Dena asks her, "do you really like people? "They just tickle me to death.... but, yes, I like people."To tell you the truth, I feel sort of sorry for most of them. Some days I could just sit down and cry my eyes out...poor little old human beings--they're jerked into this world without having any idea where they come from or what it is they are supposed to do, or how long they have to do it in. Or where they are gonna wind up after that. But bless their hearts, most ot them wake up every morning and keep on trying to make some sense out of it. Why, you can't help but love them, can you?(379-80).
Read this book if you want to know all about human dignity. Read this book if you want to know how impossible vengeance is and how bestial human beings can be and what lows they can sink to, read this book if you believe in the power of redemption. This is not a book for the weak of character and it is more than just an entertaining novel. It is philosophy and the stuff that great poetry is made of.
The Devil in Babylon
Allan Levine
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
81 University Avenue, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2E9
www.mcclelland.com
0771052731, $27.95 448 pp.
This is a very information filled book and what I like about it is how it compares and contracts modernism in American and Canada. Levin has a Ph.D in history and it shows. He gives us interesting portraits of Emma Goldman, William Jennings Bryan, Nellie McClung, Mae West, Al Capone and Jane Adams who were among the movers and shakers who helped to make the modern age. Using music, social history, movies, dance, the suffragist movement and immigrants he shows us the formation of a modern society based on race, class and money.
Although I have read many histories of modernism in connection with my own work I found Levine's take entertaining and accurate. He creates a colorful picture of mainstream culture and politics filled with red hot information and plausible explainations. His book is generally respectful of historical facts and at times a bit dry but he livens things up when he writes about Scarface, Lansky and Al Capone, and Prohibition (224) His take on SEX, Mae West's production if it, is delightful. John Sumner and his Society for the Suppression of Vice was not amused.(306) They called Sex "moral poison" and tried to shut it down. Critic's called it "a monstrosity plucked from the garbage can, destined for the sewer." To add insult to injury, West then produced and directed a new play about homosexuality called "The Drag." But before the play opened West and the cast of SEX were arrested and put on trial. What was at issue was "how she delivered her lines."(308). She was convicted but with her typical business woman's mind she said, "I expect it will be the making of me." She wasn't wrong. Her fame spread to Hollywood and the rest is history. Levine's telling of the many tales of Mae West, a truly liberated woman, are delightful. Her "innuendoes and double meanings" still have audiences roaring with laughter.
In a more serious vein, Levine documents Black Tuesday and the economic crisis of the 1930s.(350). Using history, American philosophy, religion and poetry he paints a dark picture augmenting it with a description of Canada's refusal, not unlike the United States, to receive large numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. From 1933 to 1945, the U.S. admitted two hundred thousand European Jews, while Canada found room for only five thousand. (353)
His discription of the opening of the Chrysler building in New York City, one of the gems of the art deco era, is dazzling. I have spent many afternoons just looking at this skyscraper and taking in the wonders of its elegant decorations. "From it's dome and tower large nickel-chrome steel gargoyles to it's exquisite interior, everything about the Chrysler Building is first-rate."(359) Indeed, and The Devil in Babylon is an easy read and first rate at giving informaton in a smart, concise and well written style.
Cassandra Langer
Reviewer
Cheri's Bookshelf
Whitewater Rendezvous
Kim Baldwin
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
430 Herrington Road, Johnsonville, NY 12094
1933110384 $15.95 240 pp. libertas.co.uk
I enjoy a book that takes me on an adventure—both physical and emotional. Whitewater Rendezvous by Kim Baldwin does both. Once again, the author of Force of Nature, and the critically acclaimed Golden Crown Literary Award finalist, Hunter's Pursuit, has given her fans compelling characters amidst a breathtaking backdrop. The journey through the Alaskan waterways with its wildlife and fauna would make even a homebody feel like exploring nature.
Baldwin does her homework, thus creating a believable setting, but it is the gorgeous, buff, and multi-talented tour guide, Chaz Herrick, who will have everyone booking their next trip. Even a workaholic TV network news big shot like Megan Maxwell can't help falling in love with the Northern Alaskan frontier and a certain someone she soon finds she can't live without.
Baldwin sets up the longing between two admirable characters that can be equally stubborn. She then throws other obstacles in their way, which makes finding a resolution sweeter. The author draws the reader in by their senses, dazzling us with the landscape, feeding our desires a little bit at a time until the climax, where all inhibitions are
obliterated. More importantly, Baldwin gives us pause to consider what's important, what's worth preserving in life, and it's not always fame and fortune. How can anyone compare the dirty yellow-gray air over Chicago with the vivid blue of the Arctic sky?
Take a Whitewater Rendezvous, kayak along with the Broads in Broadcasting, and feel one with nature just as Megan learns to do because of an outdoors enthusiast who captures her heart and will capture yours too. You'll be putting your priorities in proper order before you know it or at the very least wishing you could. When it comes to romances, Whitewater Rendezvous by Kim Baldwin will leave you sated. The foreplay is excruciatingly exquisite, the sex completely satisfying and hot, and the resolution complete for a worthwhile read. I recommend it and hope to get to visit Alaska someday soon. There is way more than the caribou and grizzly bears that I hope to see there, that's for sure. Megan and Chaz may not seem to have much in common but read the book to find out if they have what it takes for a long-term relationship.
Too Close to Touch
Georgia Beers
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
430 Herrington Road, Johnsonville, NY 12094
1933110473 $15.95 libertas.co.uk
In her third novel, Georgia Beers delivers an immensely satisfying story in "a modern day romance," Too Close to Touch. Warm-hearted Kylie O'Brien seems an unlikely match for tough gal Gretchen Kaiser, but the chemistry between them is undeniable, and the reader becomes readily invested in their future.
Gretchen starts a new job as a Regional Sales Manager at a company that needs her expertise. She relocates from Poughkeepsie to far upstate, Rochester, New York. She does so willingly in hopes of putting some distance between her and her family, among other reasons. On her first Saturday night out, she finds the Black Widow bar, and surprises herself by having a great time with the local lesbians. An overachiever who prides herself on improving the performance of a failing sales force, Gretchen has the reputation of Cruella de Ville, which is fine with her since she's more interested in the bottom line than winning a popularity contest.
There are key ingredients lacking in Gretchen's personal life, but she compensates for it in her professional life, as if achieving one's goals is all that matters. What the woman lacks in height, she more than makes up for in personality. Gretchen competes with the 'big boys,' and wins in a man's corporate world by exuding strong leadership and managerial skills. She also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous, and has a well-hidden mushy side beneath her cool exterior. Gretchen has no trouble finding dates, and she prefers casual sex because she's not looking to settle down. Until she meets Kylie. . .
In the love department, Kylie is the complete opposite of Gretchen. She can't get into one-night stands, but rather searches for her one true love. Intelligent, competent, and equipped with excellent social skills, Kylie is an asset to Gretchen as her executive administrative assistant. Kylie knows just what to do and what to say. She is well-liked by all who know her and loved by many. Her attraction to Gretchen may be physical at first, but Kylie finds there's more to her feelings than meets the eye. However, their professional affiliation puts a damper on any chance of a relationship between the two. Kylie turns heads and has on occasion broken hearts with her endearing, bubbly, and charismatic personality.
Kylie's best friend Mick is hot! She's big, in a muscular way. She's butch, and she's jealous of Gretchen for capturing Kylie's heart. Mick loves Kylie, pays her the most adoring compliments, can fix anything, and exudes sex appeal. She's a femme's dream (or worst nightmare) come true. Beers creates an appealing character readers can empathize with on many levels. And Mick adds to the existing conflict between Gretchen and Kylie, resulting in an intriguing triangle with Kylie in the middle.
Beers knows how to generate sexual tension so taut it could be cut with a knife. For example, Kylie says to Gretchen, "Either kiss me right now or stop whatever it is you're doing with your thumb, because it's driving me crazy" (p. 139). Up to that point, the reader is praying Kylie would say that.
What makes Too Close to Touch memorable for me is how effective Georgia Beers is in demonstrating the power play between a boss and her subordinates, and especially, how under the right circumstances, and with the right woman, a tough, reserved, private control freak can let go and let a caring and loving woman take charge. Gretchen goes through an enormous growth curve when she figures out what's important in life and she learns that lesson in the last place she expects to, from her father.
Beers weaves a tale of yearning, love, lust, and conflict resolution. She has constructed a believable plot, with strong characters in a charming setting in this well-written and carefully edited book. It's obvious that Beers cares deeply about her characters from the way she portrays their strengths and weaknesses. Readers can't help falling in love with them, too. If you enjoy a romance that leaves you happy and completely sated, don't miss Too Close to Touch. I look forward to Georgia Beers' next novel Fresh Tracks due in November 2006.
Under the Fig Tree
Emily Reed
Blue Feather Books, Limited
P.O. Box 5867, Atlanta, GA 31107-5967
0975573977 $13.99, 142 pp. http://www.bluefeatherbooks.com
Under the Fig Tree, by Emily Reed, is an inspiring collection of poetry commemorating one woman's journey through life, and the words pour out of her heart with perfect rhyme and reason. This fine collection of poems ignites the senses and tells a story, thus making it a memorable reading experience.
In modern society, poetry is often treated like a second-class citizen to fiction, possibly even third class, if you add non-fiction to the mix. It is common for small lesbian presses to discourage poets since the market makes it difficult to cover their expenses. There are calls for submissions, for example, in erotica anthologies, which will consider poetry, but not encourage it. Unfortunately, the demand for poetry has dwindled, and one cannot fault publishers for giving readers what they want and for not embarking on a risky venture. However, Reed's collection in Under the Fig Tree has something for everyone. Reed writes about love, lust, hatred, and fear, in a way that's easy to assimilate and difficult to dismiss.
I admit guilt when it comes to seeking poetry for my personal library, but it's time to rekindle the desire for this oft forgotten art form, which isn't as easy to write as it looks. Under the Fig Tree is a great place to start because it gives even the most resistant poet in all of us a dose of magic in a way we can relate to, because the power and beauty touches our heart.
Reed's style is catchy; it reads like the lyrics to a favorite song. Her poetry gets right to the point. She doesn't beat around the bush, unless you want her to, as in the erotic poem, The Burning Bush.
The Burning Bush (poetry reproduced with expressed permission by the author)
I took my shoes from off my feet,
I took the rest off too
I stood before the burning bush
Prepared to worship you.
I knelt down on my knees in awe
I bent my head down low
I looked upon the burning bush
And felt the fire grow.
I put my hand inside the fire
I felt the scorching heat
I felt the flames engulfing me
With no thought of retreat.
I ventured then to taste the fire
I licked the tongues of flame
I worshipped at the burning bush
Not stopping 'til you came.
I saw the bush was not consumed
Although it burned with fire
It must indeed be holy ground
The font for my desire.
Some critics would say that any poem which is easy to understand in its entirety, and that doesn't make learned scholars spend countless decades pondering the true meaning as intended by the author has less literary merit. Clearly, they have not read poetry merely for the joy of melodious words, the raw emotions with which she speaks, such as Emily Reed writes in Under the Fig Tree. Nor have they come away with Reed's pleasingly metrical verse, which inspires the reader to look at poetry in a different light. Poems so powerful in their message, as in Regrets.
Regrets
Our mortality nips at our heels
But fools that we are, we ignore it
We see it strike out at our friends
And then we decry and abhor it.
We squander our time on this earth
We waste precious moments we're given
But thinking of her at death's door
I wonder. By what are we driven?
By plans to accumulate cash
By living for others' opinion
By hoping to live out our dreams
Before we approach Death's dominion.
But the future is not guaranteed
And Death lies around the next corner
I don't want to die with regrets
I cry for myself as I mourn her.
The careful way Reed assembled the poems speaks clearly of an underlying mission to tell a story, to depict the journey. From chapter one, Dates, as in the dried fruit, but really, the synonym, courtship rituals, are delicacies that build to sustenance. Dates to pomegranates to vines, figs, olives, and finally to wheat and barley surely provides substance.
For poems that speak of truth, offer hope, try to make sense of the injustices of the world, and make you feel, don't pass the poetry by where it sits upon a shelf. Do something totally worthwhile for yourself. Read Under the Fig Tree by Emily Reed, you'll be glad that you did, you'll be glad you listened to me. But don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself. Next time you're in a book-buying mood, take Under the Fig Tree off the shelf.
Cheri Rosenberg
Reviewer
Christy's Bookshelf
Forever Odd
Dean Koontz
Bantam Dell
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
www.bantamdell.com
0553804162 $27.00 334 pages, 1-800-726-0600
Publishers Weekly calls Dean Koontz a master storyteller, and in my view, they're right on target. I've read him for over 30 years and was hooked with "Whispers", absolutely one of the creepiest books ever written - and I mean that in a good sense. I still get goose bumps over that one.
Odd Thomas is exactly what his name implies. Why? Because he can see dead people. Although they can't verbally communicate with him, Odd manages to figure out what's troubling these spirits who, for whatever reason, choose to stay behind. In this installment, Odd has taken a leave of absence from his job as a fast-food cook and is grieving the death of his girlfriend, Stormy. Elvis Presley's ghost is still hanging around and Odd can't figure out how to help him. When Odd is visited by the spirit of Dr. Wilbur Jessup, he immediately goes to his house, where Odd's best friend, Danny, lives. There, he discovers Dr. Jessup's battered body and that his friend is missing. Danny has what is known as brittle bones disease and is deformed because of this, and Odd fears for his friend's life. Suspecting that Danny's biological father has taken him, Odd employs what he calls psychic magnetism to guide him toward his friend. He is lead to a fire-damaged casino, where Odd faces off against Datura, a mentally deranged woman, and her two powerful male companions who kidnapped Danny in order to draw Odd to them. Datura is fascinated by the occult and suspects Odd is a witch doctor. Before the day is through, she means to steal his spirit.
That last sentence is probably an exaggeration but that's the point I took from the book. As always, Koontz gives the reader a compelling story, which takes place over one day. His ability to vividly and realistically portray evil characters does not falter with this book. Odd is an engaging character who accepts his "burden" with grace and tries to encourage those spirits he encounters to cross over into the next life. I look forward to more in this series.
Killing Time
Linda Howard
Ballantine Books
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
www.randomhouse.com
0345453468 $7.99 400 pages 1-800-726-0600
In January of 1985, a time capsule is buried next to the flagpole in front of the Peke County, KY Courthouse. Twenty years later, the time capsule mysteriously disappears and the only thing the security camera reveals is an instant flash of light. Chief Investigator Knox Davis is mystified by this but doesn't have long to investigate due to the murder of a prominent attorney. At the crime scene, Knox discovers Nikita Stover snooping around. Although Nikita claims to be an FBI agent, Knox isn't buying that. Nikita has a slight accent and doesn't understand common terminology. When Knox threatens to arrest her, Nikita confesses she is an FBI agent, but from 200 years in the future, and has been sent back to try to find the contents of the missing time capsule; one of which holds the secret to time travel.
While Knox and Nikita try to track down the missing time capsule, a killer from the future is stalking them with the intent to murder Nikita. Although Nikita and Knox are fully aware she will eventually have to return to the future, they cannot deny their growing attraction for one another.
Fast-paced and filled with action and romance, this is an entertaining read. Although some questions remain unanswered, Linda Howard, as always, delivers her readers and fans an intriguing paranormal suspense.
The Bone Collector
Jeffery Deaver
Penguin Books USA
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
067086871X, $22.95 424 pages, www.penguin.com
I saw the movie first, then read the book. Both are very good, but the book is superior simply because there is so much more information offered regarding forensic investigation. A former renowned criminalist, Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic confined to his bed. With the ability to move his head, neck and one finger, Lincoln has the best technical support at hand but has lost his zest for life and is looking forward to an assisted death. But he's drawn into the search for a man who snatches hostages and then stages their death, copying crimes committed by a former serial killer. Patrol officer Amelia Sachs is first on the scene at a particularly grueling murder - a man has been buried alive, the only indication of his whereabouts, his bloody hand rising from the earth. Lincoln is impressed by her efforts to protect the crime scene and insists Amelia be the one to walk the grid at subsequent scenes, following his directions. Although Amelia is reluctant at first, she begins to respect the process and Lincoln's frantic efforts to find the bone collector. She and Lincoln team up, never knowing that the killer's ultimate intention is to murder both of them.
A gripping read, filled with plenty of information about forensics for those so interested, with a plot that moves along at a fast pace. There is a tease of attraction between Amelia and Lincoln, which this reader hopes will carry forward through the series. In essence, this is one of those books that's hard to put down and stays with you after the read.
The Two Minute Rule
Robert Crais
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
0743281616, Hardback, 336 pages, $24.95 www.simonsays.com
The two minute rule refers to the length of time a bank robber is assured before the police show up. When Max Holman, a former bank robber, is released from prison, his only goal is to reconcile with his estranged son, who is now a policeman. But the night before Max's release, his son and three other cops are shot to death. Although the police quickly arrest a suspect, Max learns the suspect has an alibi and begins to doubt they have the right man. Max asks the person who arrested him ten years before, former FBI special agent Katherine Pollard, to help him investigate who actually killed his son and why. At every turn, the police thwart their efforts to learn the truth behind the killings, and it isn't long before the FBI starts throwing up walls.
Max Holman is an interesting character, a man whose past revolved around taking drugs and robbing banks and who took little interest in his son until his incarceration. Although Max is intent on staying straight, life's circumstances keep disrupting his efforts. Katherine Pollard is a woman who abandoned her life as an agent to raise her two young sons and now finds herself adrift and bored. She and Max hold an attraction for each other which neither feels comfortable acting upon.
The book moves, for the most part, at a fast pace; enough to keep this reader turning pages and engaged in the story. The characterizations are wonderfully portrayed and the mystery a good one.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Debra's Bookshelf
Deep Blue Alibi
Paul Levine
Bantam Dell Publishing Group
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
0440242746 $6.99 496 pages
This second installment in Paul Levine's series of courtroom whodunits finds Miami legal partners Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord defending murder suspect Hal Griffin, the former business partner of Victoria's father. But the "locked boat" mystery in which Griffin is implicated--two men on a yacht in the middle of the ocean and one of them ends up dead--is only one of several puzzles to be solved in this book. Griffin's reappearance in Victoria's life stirs up her resentment and curiosity about her father's long-ago suicide, while Steve sets out to uncover the secrets behind his father's retirement from the bench--not quite disbarment--years earlier.
As in Solomon vs. Lord, the first book in Levine's series, much is made of Victoria and Steve's vastly different personal styles: she's Ivy League uptight, he's Jimmy Buffett mellow. We see more, also, of Steve's nephew Bobby, who puts his unusual talents to work helping his Uncle track down a killer. Both of the principals turn out to have parents with intriguing pasts, though Steve's disgraced father seems, at least at this point in the series, to be a more nuanced character than Victoria's silicone-enhanced mother. The secondary mysteries the two parents bring to the book add to an already solid story. An enjoyable read and a good mystery.
Zen and the Art of Crossword Puzzles
Nikki Katz
Adams Media Corporation
57 Littlefield Street, 2nd floor, Avon, MA 02322
1593375638 $12.95 211 pages
Nikki Katz's Zen and the Art of Crossword Puzzles is part of a series of Zen-related hobby books published by Adams Media (Zen and the Art of Knitting, etc.). In her contribution to the series Katz provides thumbnail histories of both crossword puzzles (first published in 1913) and Zen philosophy (considerably older), and she frequently points to intersections between the two--how Zen principals can be used to make one's crossword experiences more pleasant, how solving crosswords can be experienced as a kind of "working meditation." But Katz's book is hardly all Zen all the time. She discusses a great number of topics in the book's ten chapters: crossword solving rituals and methodologies, hints for solving puzzles, an explanation of British cryptic crosswords (for which I am especially grateful), the health benefits of puzzle solving, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, crossword-related poetry and paintings and fiction (specifically, the Nero Blanc series of crossword mysteries). Some of what Katz has to say will be too lightweight for hard-core cruciverbalists, but there should be something new in the book for just about everyone.
Katz conducted a great many interviews while working on the book, which she punctuates with personal anecdotes gleaned from her interview subjects. As it happens, I am among those whom Katz contacted: she writes in chapter eight about my habit of blogging the New York Times Sunday crossword every week at the-deblog.com.
Katz ends each chapter with a tip for improving--or at least for altering--one's crossword experiences: in the last chapter, for example, she suggests that readers try solving a crossword online if they haven't before as a means of broadening their crossword experiences; elsewhere she suggests that readers try creating their own crossword-related poetry. An original puzzle follows each chapter, and Katz lists a number of crossword resources in a handy appendix--online crossword sites and dictionaries, anagramming tools, construction software, etc.
The Ruins
Scott Smith
Alfred A. Knopf
1745 Broadway, 21st floor, New York, NY 100019
1400043875 $24.95 319 pages www.randomhouse.com/knopf
The vacation is close to idyllic. Four friends in the Yucatán in August, three weeks of snorkeling and sailing and lazing in the too-hot sun before they head off in the fall to their various futures--graduate school for three of them, a job teaching English in a prep school for the other. They're Americans, Jeff and Amy and Stacy and Eric, two couples, but the group quickly became international: Mathias, a German with good English, and a trio of non-English-speaking Greeks join the party, tagging along with the Americans. A hint of menace over this situation is introduced on the book's first page:
"There were three Greeks--in their early twenties, like Mathias and the rest of them--and they seemed friendly enough, even if they did appear to be following them about."
Eventually the friends decide to take a trip to the interior, to an archaeological dig a half day away by bus, then taxi, then by foot. It's another adventure, and a good deed, as Mathias is worried about his brother, who'd made the same trip some days earlier. But it turns out that once you leave the tourist areas behind, the air conditioned bars and the hotels and the miniature golf courses, the Yucatán can get very dangerous very fast.
There are no chapters in Scott Smith's book, just section breaks, which is probably just as well: turning the page to start a new chapter would just slow down your reading. The book is scary as hell, with a villain that is, once you put the book aside and start to think about it, frankly ridiculous, but that doesn't matter either: the book is frightening enough, the plot compelling enough to keep you reading. In a sense also, the identity of the villain doesn't matter that much. The Ruins is really a long character study, its well-developed protagonists, isolated from the rest of the world, put under duress and under a magnifying glass. What happens to someone, the question is, when he's subjected to fear and stress? How do different sorts of people respond to it? And do their varying responses matter that much, in the long run? Eric asks himself the question at the beginning of the book: "Who are they?" he wonders, thinking first of the trio of Gre
