Web-Exclusive Reviews: Nonfiction
-- Publishers Weekly, 3/19/2007
BACHELOR PARTY CONFIDENTIAL: A Real-Life Peek Behind the Closed-Door Tradition
David Boyer. Simon & Schuster $12.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9781416928089
Though they've been around since 500 B.C., the rituals of bachelor parties—drinking, toasting and general debauchery—haven't really changed all that much. Author Boyer (Kings & Queens: Queers At the Prom) surveys the current cultural landscape in this breezy overview. There's little in the way of sociological analysis, but Boyer does cover the varying perspectives of the groom, his friends, his bride-to-be and party professionals through a large collection of anecdotes from parties (including "infamous" parties like Elton John and David Furnish's), "virtual debates" and interviews with party professionals such as strippers, coordinators and an X-rated clown. Though short on substance, this cultural history will no doubt receive a steady following among rowdy men about to board the flight to Vegas. (Apr.)
BELVA LOCKWOOD: The Woman Who Would Be President
Jill Norgren. New York Univ., $35 (344p) ISBN 9780814758342
Long before Hillary Clinton, there was Belva Lockwood: two-time presidential hopeful, Lockwood campaigned in 1884 and 1888 on a platform of women's suffrage. In the first full-length biography of this feminist pioneer, legal historian Norgren has meticulously researched what little has remained of Lockwood's papers, most of which were destroyed after her death. Lockwood was, in a word, tenacious: one of the first female lawyers in the country, she was the very first woman to be admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, an episode that Norgren recounts in moving detail. Glimpses of Lockwood's less-heroic side emerge as well, and it's to Norgren's credit that Lockwood's controversial views on Mormons, Native Americans and freed slaves are placed in their proper historical context, but aren't necessarily forgiven. Indeed, fights with other suffragists and a seemingly inexhaustible well of self-regard are featured alongside Lockwood's many strengths and accomplishments. Norgren never reaches beyond the facts of the record, rarely speculating on Lockwood's intentions, thoughts or purpose—a plus for those who like their biography embellishment-free, but a definite minus for more casual readers, who may find Lockwood too distant to rouse sympathy. Illustrations. (Mar.)
BLOOD & VOLUME: Inside New York's Israeli Mafia
Dave Copeland. Barricade, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9781569803271
This debut true crime from journalist Copeland is a thrilling guts-and-glory look inside the Israeli organized crime machine of 1980s New York City. The Israeli mafia was small—"core membership numbered fewer than twenty men"—and lacked the "codes of criminal conduct" intrinsic to their Italian and Russian counterparts; as such, it didn't last long: "by September 1990, all the gang's core members had either been arrested, entered the Witness Protection Program, fled the country, or been murdered." The narrative centers on three members—de facto leader Johnny Attias and narcotics dealers Ran Efraim and Ron Gonen—but sticks closely to the perspective of Gonen, the first to get arrested and turn state's evidence. The wild ride Copeland unfurls has all the insane highs and lows an audience familiar with Blow and Wiseguy expects, and they don't disappoint: "Gonen was one step removed from a Colombian cocaine cartel and, in a good month, netted $100,000." In the late 1980s, failing health and concern over his family prompted Gonen to consider retirement. When he was arrested in 1989, it was "just in time to save his life." It would mean the end of the Israeli mafia, capping a story so entertaining that, were it not rooted in such ably handled characters—at once despicable, pitiable and human—it might be unbelievable. (Mar.)
BREATHING SPACE: How Allergies Shape Our Lives and Landscapes
Gregg Mitman. Yale Univ., $30 (320p) ISBN 9780300110357
Mitman and his son Keefe are members of the "tribe" of allergy medication users whose expenditures fuel a $5-billion industry. Studying both the history and business of allergies, Mitman—a historian of science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—traces hay fever from its first (erroneous) identification as an ailment of the wealthy in the 19th century up to the modern, booming antihistamine market. Since seasonal allergies were first identified, misconceptions have shaped their treatment. Early sufferers escaped to hay fever resorts in areas where their sinuses mysteriously cleared. Believing that the communion with nature had led to the reprieve, many escaped to country homesteads landscaped with the very plants whose pollen causes hay fever. As Mitman demonstrates, the story of hay fever is also the story of the development of nature tourism, urban planning and the postwar pharmaceutical boom. As Mitman demonstrates, Americans seeking relief have changed where they live, what they build their homes with, what they buy, what activities they participate in and even the chemistry of their own bodies—but still all you hear every spring is sneezes. In clear and detailed prose, Mitman offers a wide-ranging history of this ongoing struggle that's as much about 20th century American consumerism as it is about allergies. Illustrations. (May)
THE CHEATER'S GUIDE TO BASEBALL
Derek Zumsteg. Houghton Mifflin, $13.95 paper (288p) ISBN 9780618551132
Baseball blogger Zumsteg (ussmariner.com) argues that cheating—within reason—is not only not a bad thing, it actually makes baseball a more nuanced game. Using a wealth of anecdotal evidence and some statistical analysis, he argues that baseball has evolved hand-in-hand with the aid of its scoundrels, scamps, and shifty characters—and that doctoring the ball or stealing signs necessitates teams, umpires and even fans adopt more complex strategy. Zumsteg draws the line at gambling, game fixing and steroid use, showing little sympathy for the Black Sox and even less for Pete Rose. While baseball aficionados will be familiar with many of Zumsteg's stories, his wit will keep most casual fans entertained. Whether he's describing what might happen in a car crash with Pete Rose ("I admitted that I hit your car … Can't we stop this witch-hunt and get on with our lives?") or laying blame for the steroid era on everyone from the commissioner to the fans, Zumsteg dispenses with the sanctimoniousness of most current sports writing. Although his prose style and humor are sometimes better suited to the Web (a few lengthy asides come across as amateurish), Zumsteg still creates a funny, honest look at the history of baseball's black arts. (Apr.)
CHICK FLICK ROAD KILL: A Behind the Scenes Odyssey into Movie-Made America
Alicia Rebensdorf. Seal, $15.95 paper (296p) ISBN 9781580051941
In 2001, 26-year-old Oakland, Calif., waitress Rebensdorf was "tired of my every image being the refuse from some since-forgotten flick." Hoping to defuse the creeping Hollywood romanticism within and inject some "oomph" into her life, Rebensdorf takes her Suzuki Sidekick ("the Tonka Toy of the automobile industry") across the country to visit the places where her favorite movies and television shows were set and/or filmed. Despite the title, Rebensdorf is almost entirely unconcerned with "chick flicks": her first stop is Brownsville, Ore., where director Rob Reiner shot Stand by Me; after that, she drives north to Washington, where iconic 1990s TV series "Twin Peaks" and "Northern Exposure" were filmed; later, she ventures to Devils Tower in Deadwood, S.Dak., site of the alien landing in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Alternately delighted and disappointed (the Snoqualmie Falls from Twin Peaks' opening credits "just make me miss the soundtrack"), Rebensdorf is always entertaining. Her strongest work takes place in New York City just weeks after Sept. 11, where she writes on the difference between what she saw on motel room TVs and the situation she encounters on the streets. Grounded in Rebesndorf's sharp voice, finely balanced between sincerity and cynicism, the 9/11 chapter provides the melancholy heart of this funny, smart and swift travelogue. (Mar.)
GRAMMAR LESSONS: Translating a Life in Spain
Michele Morano. Univ. of Iowa, $22.50 (172p) ISBN 9781587295300
In 13 lyrical essays, Morano details the personal impact of her long relationship with Spain, beginning with her first visit at age 18, continuing through a post-graduate year teaching English in Oviedo and a series of return trips a decade later. As a guiding theme, Morano uses the rules of grammar to organize and explain how Spain has affected her life. (The word "grammar," she notes, has Latin roots meaning "the process of ingesting experience.") Against a dichotomous Spanish backdrop of stillness and bravado, Morano proves her versaility in topics such as grammatical moods, motion sickness and having (or not) the panache to dine alone. Teaching and being taught provide a recurring through-line. One lesson she teaches is that "language is power," urging her students to "take notice, again and again, until a word feels less like an enemy than like a piece of fruit they want to pick and bite into." Learning experiences include an awe-inspiring jaunt into an ancient cave and a moving visit to Guernica, in which Morano narrates, superbly, the attack that inspired Picasso's famous painting. Having carried the angst of a failed relationship with her across the Atlantic, Morano does not lack for internal dialogue and thoughtful self-questioning; these slick travel stories hide a wealth of lived experience. (Mar.)
GROWING UP COUNTRY: What Makes Country Life Country
Edited by Charlie Daniels. Doubleday/Flying Dolphin, $19.95 (204p) ISBN 9780385518468
Country star Daniels assembles a slight collection of essays from 59 self-described "country folk"—from Dolly Parton to Jimmy Carter—on the appeal and influence of rural life. Organized into sections such as "Faith," "Home" and "Stars and Stripes," the essays share a saccharine perspective on the past ("when hugging was in style," reports Daniels) and a contradictory urge to keep their recollections of it short: many entries are no more than a page, and some clock in shorter than the author bio they follow. Indeed, with the exception of Joe Ely's—about "finding the true sound of my music and my Texas roots" in Europe, of all places—these repetitive, often one-note essays are not so much about music or growing up as they are about reinforcing an American rural mythology (Barbara Mandrell sums up nicely: "We were raised to realize that God, family, and America are the most important things in life"); for those already invested in their vision, these essays should prove sporadically rewarding. (Mar.)
INSTANT INCOME: Strategies that Bring in the Cash for Small Businesses, Innovative Employees, and Occasional Entrepreneurs
Janet Switzer. McGraw-Hill, $24.95 (272p) ISBN 9780071487788
In her first solo book, entrepreneur Switzer (co-author, with Jack Canfield, of The Success Principles) offers practical insights for business owners in a fast-paced text jam-packed with useful information and tricks of the marketing trade. Designed to bring in customers and cash, Switzer's guide builds on small business basics and provides authoritative strategy in an impressive number of areas: customers, joint-ventures, advertising, prospecting, sales, the internet, apprenticeships, negotiating deals and "earning extra income whenever you need it." Switzer is a firm believer in research, promoting the theory that the best marketing campaigns gather as much knowledge as possible about potential customers—their problems, needs and goals—in order to avoid the "customer complaints, returns, and refunds" generated by "selling prospects something they don't need." Packed with advice on everything from "Writing ads that make the phone ring" to "Launch[ing] a viral report" to "Going into business with the boss," as well as endorsements from Switzer's satisfied advisees, this book is a valuable resource for anyone who owns a small business or is interested in making some extra money; media-savvy consumers may also find this book useful in navigating the marketing forces that bombard them daily. (Mar.)
INVENTING HUMAN RIGHTS: A History
Lynn Hunt. Norton, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 9780393060959
This comprehensive work traces the development of human rights from its conceptual roots in the Enlightenment to its full expression in the United Nation's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hunt begins with a wonderfully detailed lexicographical survey of 18th century uses of rights language ("rights of man," "natural rights," "rights of humanity") to show the many currents that led to the first modern declaration of human rights, the Bill of Rights. She then triangulates the upswing in rights language with both the appearance of the novel of letters (such as Rousseau's Julie and Samuel Richardson's Pamela and Clarissa) and the rise of portraiture in the mid- to late-18th century. These particular art forms, she argues, fostered a sense of individuality in their audience and empathy for their subjects, most frequently "regular folks" rather than nobles, royalty, or saints. She then takes the reader through 250 years of rights legislation, covering the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, various anti-torture measures and 20th century campaigns against human rights violations, among others. Despite the obvious academic grounding of this sweeping work, it is aimed at a wider audience and will appeal to most readers interested either in the history of human rights or in European or American history. (Mar.)
KILLED CARTOONS: Casualties of the War on Free Expression
Edited by David Wallis. Norton, $15.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9780393329247
Operating under the premise that it's fun to get a glimpse of something verboten, Wallis (Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print) presents dozens of political cartoons yanked prior to publication. Functioning as both a compendium and history of political cartooning, the book is full of cartoons, each accompanied by a brief narrative describing why it was killed, and though some cartoons seem fairly innocuous, the background provides intriguing context. Perennially controversial cartoonist Ted Rall has several entries, including one from 1991 captioned "How Gulf War Veterans Like To Spend Their Summers," which features a kooky-looking guy burying beachgoers. It was inspired, Wallis writes, "by a report in Newsday that U.S. Gulf War veterans might be having some remorse about using tanks outfitted with earthmoving plows to bury Iraqi troops alive." Older cartoons are included, as well, like a David Low cartoon killed in 1937 that "skewer[ed] the imperialist ambitions of Fascist leaders in Spain, Japan, Germany and Italy." Catholicism gets spanked, too, as do a host of presidents, notably Clinton, Bush I and II and Reagan. With 100 illustrations, this is a commendable collection. (Mar.)
OKLAHOMA!: The Making of an American Musical
Tim Carter. Yale Univ., $38 (352p) ISBN 9780300106190
The first collaboration of famed music-and-lyrics team Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oklahoma! still has "more than six hundred productions per year," but, according to University of North Carolina music department chair Carter, the musical has never received a "scholarly" treatment. This meticulously researched, soundly reported tome covers much of the same territory as Max Wilk's 1993 title, OK! The Story of Oklahoma!, but instead of calling on the testimony of cast and crew, Carter delves into the archives of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein and the show's producer, the Theatre Guild. Taking from letters, newspapers, drafts and business records, Carter puts together a comprehensive record of the writing, casting and financing process, a challenging 11-month trial (shockingly swift in today's era of endless development workshops) that shaped the final show through inspired teamwork and heated quarrels. The history includes enlightening tables that chart the evolution of script and songs from one draft to another and a concise timeline of the show's inception. Also amusing are the some-things-never-change concerns of the 1942 Braodway machine: would Oklahoma! be too serious and unspectacular to woo the masses? Would stars draw in the crowds? Deanna Durbin as Laurey? Groucho Marx as the Peddler? Though Carter can overwhelm with a surfeit of details, devout musical theater fans will applaud the minutiae. Photos. (Mar.)
RADICAL EYE FOR THE INFIDEL GUY: Inside the Strange World of Militant Islam
Kevin J. Ryan. Prometheus, $24 (272p) ISBN 9781591025078
For those who prefer their global threat analysis laugh-free, this treatise on the dangers of Islam—punctuated with lists like "The Crusades vs. the Jihad: Battle of the Holy Wars"—might be worth skipping. Ryan's cultural study attacks the notion that Islam is "a religion of peace and tolerance," making a bold case outlining Islam's direct threat to Western culture and democracy. Ryan characterizes the Muslim world as "ruled by hatred, casual murder, medieval-style torture, and a nearly pathological misogyny," and his study of it "heartbreaking, infuriating, tragic and almost comical in its extremism and contradictions"; as such, his tone of beleagured outrage works perfectly. Though Ryan's pointedly inflammatory rhetoric can grate, he covers plenty of ground, including the honor killing of Muslim women by their own fathers and brothers, state-sanctioned execution for those who convert from Islam and, of course, suicide bombing. Ryan can undermine his own arguments with simplistic answers to complicated questions (Did 9/11 happen "because we let our women wear shorts, go to school, drive a car, and go to work? I think it was a large part of it"), but his fearless look at the troubling aspects of Islam is informative and provocative. (Mar.)
READING LIFE: Books for the Ages
Sven Birkerts. Graywolf, $16 paper (202p) ISBN 9781555974640
Previously published in the American Scholar, the Believer and the Virginia Quarterly Review, among others, these critical responses address a group of novels—including The Catcher in the Rye, The Good Soldier and The Moviegoer—that chart the "topographical reference points" on the rough "map of [Birkerts's] inwardness." Though he has read many of the books several times, Birkerts, who teaches at Harvard and edits the journal Agni, is still often "surprised, going back, to find the work had grown fresh again, full of unexpected turns and nuances." Most of the essays are structured to reflect this unanticipated and gratifying energy by beginning at the moment of first encounter with the books under discussion—"the frisson of first connection": Madame Bovary in a Montana bunkhouse or the discovery of Humboldt's Gift after the breakup of an important romantic relationship. Looking back on the lonely, estranged and marginal selves that found (and still find) solace in the "disputatious inner swing" of the "secret Masonic life of reading," Birkerts uncovers a stabilizing realization. Through "shifts" and "twists of vantage," this collection recounts the essential transformational value of a lifetime spent discovering the self that "comes fully awake only in the dream of a book." (Apr.)
A WAR LIKE NO OTHER: The Truth about China's Challenge to America
Michael E. O'Hanlon and Richard C. Bush. Wiley, $25.95 (240p) ISBN 9780471986775
In dense, academic prose, Brookings Institution scholars O'Hanlon and Bush argue that a war with China is neither as implausible as it might appear nor as inevitable as history would suggest. The likely cause for military intervention, they propose, would come not from China's rise as a regional and global power, nor from the growing threat it poses to the U.S.'s economic strength, nor from its curtailment of human rights—all of which could be addressed diplomatically—but rather the political situation of Taiwan, the semi-autonomous island 100 miles from the mainland, whose independence could upset delicate U.S-China relations. The authors present a number of possible conflict scenarios and discuss the sorts of legislative and diplomatic action that could get the U.S. into them, but wisely avoid bombast by noting regularly that war with China remains unlikely. The only passages of general interest here are those on Taiwanese history; the legislative and diplomatic prescriptions that constitute the majority of the book, while comprehensive and reasonable, will fail to excite even interested lay readers. Professors and lawmakers would do well to read this volume, if only for the reminder that, in this time of seemingly insuperable international dilemma, some problems can still be solved with a bit of level-headed diplomatic maneuvering. (Apr.)
