Nonfiction: Nonfiction Reviews Weeks of 7/24/2006

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 7/24/2006

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
Daniel Goleman. Bantam, $28 (416p) ISBN 978-0-553-80352-5

In this companion volume to his bestseller, Emotional Intelligence, Goleman persuasively argues for a new social model of intelligence drawn from the emerging field of social neuroscience. Describing what happens to our brains when we connect with others, Goleman demonstrates how relationships have the power to mold not only human experience but also human biology. In lucid prose he describes from a neurobiological perspective sexual attraction, marriage, parenting, psychopathic behaviors and the group dynamics of teachers and workers. Goleman frames his discussion in a critique of society's creeping disconnection in the age of the iPod, constant digital connectivity and multitasking. Vividly evoking the power of social interaction to influence mood and brain chemistry, Goleman discusses the "toxicity" of insult and unpleasant social experience as he warns of the dangers of self-absorption and poor attention and reveals the positive effects of feel-good neurochemicals that are released in loving relationships and in caregiving. Drawing on numerous studies, Goleman illuminates new theories about attachment, bonding, and the making and remaking of memory as he examines how our brains are wired for altruism, compassion, concern and rapport. The massive audience for Emotional Intelligence will revel in Goleman's latest passionately argued case for the benefits to society of empathetic social attunement. (Oct. 3)

Though Bauer's introduction invokes M.F.K. Fisher—in the early 1970s he escorted her for a magazine story on New Orleans restaurants—this collection of 20 essays concentrates more on nostalgia than on the actual pleasures of the table. From such writers as Amy Bloom, Claire Messud, Andre Dubus III, Richard Russo and Peter Mayle, Bauer gathers pieces about meals that were "unforgettable by occasion"—if not savoriness. Sue Miller's contemplative opener touches on the stupendous appetite of her teenage son, memories of her mother's dreadful cooking and the first meal her husband made for her. The reliable Jane and Michael Stern, here writing separately, provide the most humorous essays. In "Stir Gently and Serve," Jane details the first—and only—Thanksgiving she hosted, after which even the bulldog wouldn't eat the leftovers. Michael recalls a "night of a thousand embarrassments" in "My Dinner with Andy Warhol's Friends," when the Sterns took a Swiss art dealer to a fish house in Hoboken, N.J. Steve Almond's gem of a title story serves as one of the more appetizing tales, a funny, wonderfully descriptive account of a sensational homemade pad thai involving fresh Maine lobster. "Words are inadequate," Almond writes, but the reader will be salivating. (Oct.)

Talk show host, force behind The Covenant with Black America and entrepreneur, Smiley begins his life story in self-improvement and moves through self-empowerment into self-aggrandizement. After a Pentecostal upbringing in an Indiana trailer park in the early 1970s, he first tasted success in the "ultra white culture" of his high school, attended Indiana University and landed an internship with Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley through sheer "chutzpah." After running for city council, he broke into radio, becoming "a household name in black America" and receiving "a compensation package for a half-million dollars, the biggest in BET history." But these vignettes serve merely as a platform for homilies and score settling that reach back to a college teacher, his controversial breaks with BET and later NPR. Following his mama's dictum to look for the " lesson and a blessing in everything we go through," Smiley learns from President Clinton that one "need not be intimidated by anyone, even when that person is the most powerful man in the world." Young adult readers may be reassured by the angst in Smiley's life before he hits the big time. The rest of his fans know what to expect—including the plugs for Smiley enterprises at the end. (Oct. 10)

Sociologists Wilson of Harvard (When Work Disappears) and Taub of the University of Chicago analyze four working- and lower-middle-class Chicago neighborhoods to assess why some reach the "tipping point" of rapid ethnic change. Based on research conducted from 1993 to 1995, the conclusions remain timely. In the predominantly white "Beltway," civic-minded residents maintained community solidarity. In "Dover," a mixed-ethnic community with an influx of Mexican-Americans, white members of existing associations made no attempt at outreach, and the churches remained ethnically divided. Whites and Latinos united only regarding schools—though fueled by anti-black sentiment. The largely Mexican (and transient) "Archer Park" had weak civic institutions, as kinship ties remained most important. "Groveland," a mostly African-American community, remained stable; residents—many of whom held civil service or unionized jobs—expressed greater racial tolerance than elsewhere. The authors' conclusion: the stronger neighborhood social organizations are, the longer it takes a neighborhood to "tip." To better manage change, diverse communities must join in common goals, such as improving the schools. The unresolved shadow over all this is society's unwillingness to repair inner-city ghettos, since their presence heightens racial and class tensions in nearby neighborhoods. Author tour. (Oct. 23)

Thompson's raucous account of NASCAR's early decades raises from obscurity the "motherless, dirt-poor southern teens... in jacked-up Fords full of corn whiskey" who originated the sport that's now the second most popular in America. Stock car racing grew up in the 1930s South, when moonshine runners, having perfected the art of daredevil driving while escaping "revenuers" hunting for untaxed whiskey, transferred their skills to the event booming in Atlanta and Daytona Beach. Loosely defined as races where the cars were totally unmodified—even though they were actually supercharged beyond recognition—stock car racing was a rawer, more redneck endeavor than AAA-sanctioned events like the Indy 500, which were the realm of rich enthusiasts driving specially built vehicles. Thompson (Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard) celebrates entrepreneurial ex-con Raymond Parks, wizardish mechanic Red Vogt and driver Red Byron instead of the better-known promoter Bill France, "the P.T. Barnum of stock car racing," whom Thompson blames for moving NASCAR from its whiskey-soaked past to mainstream, logo-strewn present. The author is clearly in love with his subject, and the enthusiasm of this breathless, nostalgic account will be contagious to Southern history buffs and historically minded NASCAR fans. (Oct.)

This social, political and cultural history of lesbian and gay life in Los Angeles by two seasoned historians is easily the subject's definitive work. Presenting a wealth of fact and analysis, Faderman (Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers) and Timmons (The Trouble with Harry Hay) breeze through the highlights of L.A. gay history. They begin with the suppression of Native Americans' sexual and gender expression by 16th-century Spanish missionaries, before exploring how gender-bending Hollywood stars such as Garbo and Katharine Hepburn shaped popular culture in the 1930s; the emergence of gay public places during the '40s and '50s; and the influence of gay religious groups in the 1970s. While much gay history has centered on white gay men, the authors add important material about the vital role of lesbians and people of color, such as Helen Sandoz and Anne Carll Reid, who worked to bridge the gender gap in 1950s homosexual politics. Although this popular history doesn't strive for academic comprehensiveness, it's filled with illuminating facts—such as that gay men rioted and protested for several days after police raided the Black Cat bar in 1967, two years before the Stonewall Riots in New York. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Oct.)

The man who virtually defined the West's concept of leadership comes alive in this splendid biography. Military historian Goldsworthy (The Complete Roman Army) gives a comprehensive, vigorous account of Caesar's conquest of Gaul and his victories in the civil war that made him master of Rome. But he doesn't stint on the nonmartial aspects of Caesar's life—his dandyism, his flagrant womanizing (which didn't stop enemies from gay-baiting him), his supple political genius and the flair for drama and showmanship that cowed mutinous legionaries and courted Rome's restive masses. Goldsworthy's is a sympathetic profile. In his telling, Caesar's massacres and group enslavements, though "utterly ruthless," are considered and pragmatic, not wanton, and the conqueror seems to possess a moderation and magnanimity that sprang from the same idealized self-image that fed his ambition. The author's vivid portrait of the late Roman Republic that Caesar toppled is correspondingly jaundiced: its politics are about nothing except the personal ambitions of powerful men, and chaos, corruption and violence reign beneath the ritualistic niceties of republican procedure. More compellingly than most biographies, Goldsworthy's exhaustive, lucid, elegantly written life makes its subject the embodiment of his age. 16 pages of b&w photos, maps. (Sept.)

This is likely to replace Steven Runciman's 50-year-old History of the Crusades as the standard work. Tyerman (England and the Crusades), lecturer in medieval history at Oxford University, demolishes our simplistic misconceptions about that series of ferocious campaigns in the Middle East, Muslim Spain and the pagan Baltic between 1096 and 1500. Abjuring sentimentality and avoiding clichés about a rapacious West and an innocent East, Tyerman focuses on the crusades' very human paradoxes: "the inspirational idealism; utopianism armed with myopia; the elaborate, sincere intolerance; the diversity and complexity of motive and performance." The reader marvels at the crusaders' inextinguishable devotion to Christ even while shuddering at their delight in massacring those who did not share that devotion. In the end, Tyerman says, what killed crusading was neither a lack of soldierly enthusiasm nor its failure to retain control of Jerusalem, but the loss of Church control over civil societies at home and secular authorities who felt that religion was not sufficient cause for war and that diplomacy was a more rational method of deciding international relations. God's War is that very rare thing: a readable and vivid history written with the support of a formidable scholarly background, and it deserves to reach a wide audience. 16 color illus. (Sept.)

Enlightenment thinker Thomas Paine would be pleased with this brisk, intellectually sophisticated study of his life. Nelson (The First Heroes) breezes through Paine's first 37 years, his attention tuned to 1774, when Paine moved from England to Philadelphia, bearing glowing letters of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. It was there that "his real life story would begin" with the writing of the hugely influential Common Sense, which attacked the divine right of kings and advocated American independence. Nelson follows Paine as he heads to Europe in 1787, and charts Paine's ambiguous relationship with the French Revolution. During the Reign of Terror, Paine got to work on The Age of Reason, and Nelson insists that, though his subject has been called an atheist, this work advocated 18th-century deism and was right in step with "mainstream Anglo-American religious discourse" of the era. Nelson concludes with a brief, intriguing discussion of Paine's legacy in the United States. The descriptions of Paine birthday galas in New York and Philadelphia 20 years after his 1809 death are fascinating—in fact, an entire chapter could have been devoted to Paine's influence in the Jacksonian era. This volume won't replace Eric Foner's classic Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, but it's a welcome addition. (Sept. 25)

Although Acheson (1893–1971) was a life-long Democrat who served four presidents, Harry Truman's flamboyant and sharp-tongued secretary of state is admired on the right as an architect of American Cold War foreign policy, most famously for the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan. Historian Beisner's exhaustive treatment of Acheson's long, influential career reveals the tangled roots of contemporary policy and political discourse—especially the purported links between the unilateral projection of American might and our national security—during and after WWII. A crucial and complex figure, Acheson was not the earliest "cold warrior," though later among the staunchest, and not easily reduced to left or right in the conflict's dissonant strategic and moral calculus. A deep wariness with regard to the atomic bomb, for instance, did not necessarily temper his involvement in developing U.S. nuclear arms policy, including deployment of the more powerful H-bomb. His early urging of engagement in Vietnam later gave way to counseling Johnson to end it. Chronicling rather than criticizing the assumptions undergirding the postwar period's rapidly evolving bipolar order, this thorough biography offers insight into perhaps one of the least understood fields of government action at the outset of a momentous era that's still, in many respects, very much underway. (Sept.)

Emma Lazarus's reputation rests on one poem, "The New Colossus," affixed to the base of the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus (1849–1887), however, was a much heralded artist in her day, and, as this new entry in the Jewish Encounters series shows, Lazarus was a formidable woman of passion and integrity. Poet Schor (a professor of English at Princeton) reveals Lazarus as a prodigy who briefly became the protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson and later corresponded with Henry James and Robert Browning; a champion of Russian Jewish refugees, despite being a member of the highly assimilated Sephardic aristocracy ; and a Zionist before Zionism existed. In Schor's handling, Lazarus comes across more as a strong-willed, philanthropic woman who could write than as an artist driven to activism. Schor's text is marred by a couple of anachronisms, such as a reference to Google, and her prose can turn purple (she describes the morning of Lazarus's death as "sunless, strung with cloudy pearls"). For all that, while readers may not embrace Lazarus's poetry—it bears all the ponderous, orotund tendencies of its time—they will come to agree with Schor's assessment that Lazarus was a woman we might have liked to know. (Sept. 5)

Harwell, a professor of English at Thailand's Thammasat University, brings together 13 interviews with intimates of the late Southern novelist Walker Percy. Among them are Percy's brothers; the proprietor of a New Orleans bookstore; and the Percys' housekeeper, Carrie Cyprian. Certain themes run through many of the conversations: Percy's involvement in civil rights and other community issues; his commitment to and questions about Catholicism; and his struggles with depression. Lee Barrios, who worked as Percy's assistant for a few years, describes the writer's comfort with existential mystery. She also offers a unique perspective on Percy's writing process, which included countless revisions. The novelist's lifelong friend, writer and historian Shelby Foote, tells anecdotes from their childhood. The portrait that emerges is of a flawed man—he could lose his temper over trivial things, and friend and attorney Nikki Barringer allows that Percy had a "streak of homophobia.... He believed that it was a sickness." As a whole, these conversations not only shed light on a great American author, but also plunge readers into the rhythms of folksy Southern storytelling. Percy fans will relish this small jewel of a book. (Sept. 4)

This fascinating if overly ambitious study examines the rise of stereotyping in modern society and how the mainstream stereotypes the "other"—whether black, Jewish, gay, disabled, etc.—to maintain social order. Ewen & Ewen—the pseudonym of Elizabeth and Stuart Ewen, professors, respectively, of American studies and film and media studies—have amassed a huge amount of material across a broad spectrum of disciplines, all providing concrete examples of how Western culture, beginning in the mid-18th century with the study of physiognomy (the evaluation of character based on facial features), has consciously created visual, verbal, scientific and artistic cues to identify those outside of the dominant culture. The Ewens' research is prodigious and their examples eclectic—silent star Mary Pickford's film persona and notions of femininity, the social philosophy behind Roget's Thesaurus, blackface and minstrel shows, and George W. Bush's rhetoric on Iraq—and this mass of information is extremely well organized thematically. While the Ewens' writing is clear and compelling, the overall effect can be overwhelming, and often the nuances get lost. Still, this is a terrific volume that will be eye-opening to academics and general readers alike. B&w illus. (Sept.)

Posner, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, inaugurates a new series on inalienable rights. The series is intended to stimulate debate, and Posner's work will do exactly that, drilling energetically into a set of issues raised by what he sees as an unprecedented emergency. In the fact of terrorism and the threat of WMDs, he argues, the scope of constitutional rights must be adjusted—i.e., narrowed—in a pragmatic but rational manner. Saying we must balance the harm new security measures inflict on personal liberty against the increased security those measures provide, Posner comes down, in most but not quite all respects, on the side of increased government power. He advocates that coercive and even brutal forms of interrogation should be allowed in proper circumstances, that all communications within the United States should be subject to interception, and that government should have authority to enjoin publication of classified information. Posner (An Affair of State) would impose limits and qualifications on these assertions of government power, but even so, his views will provoke Category 5 protest from civil libertarians. You may agree with or be appalled by Posner's cost-benefit analyses, but the author's premises are explicit, his writing is economical and precise, and he ably makes the case for his side in the national debate. (Sept. 18)

Once upon a time, a Republican was the nation's leading crusader for clean air and water, sustainable growth and the protection of endangered species. In this engrossing blend of biography and insider politics—an exciting story occasionally muffled by the minutiae of bureaucratic maneuvering—Flippen (Nixon and the Environment) casts a nostalgic eye on a brief period of American ecological achievement: the years between Lyndon Johnson's retirement and Ronald Reagan's ascendance to the White House. That's when conservationist Russell Train, self-made son of a rock-ribbed Republican family, helped craft the Clean Air Act and a forerunner of the Clean Water Act, empowered the nascent Environmental Protection Agency with political muscle and was active in ecological diplomacy abroad—though he counseled a moderation that dismayed more aggressive activists. Train left the EPA with Jimmy Carter's election in 1976, leading the American branch of the World Wildlife Federation and operating "as essentially a free-agent environmentalist" for two decades, always a loyal Republican until, dismayed by the second Bush's environmental record, he voted (at age 84) for John Kerry in 2004. This slice of political history is a timely reminder that Train's credo—"ecologists are the true conservatives"—once held sway. (Sept.)

Surgeon and New Yorker contributor Gawande (Complications) says the "coolest" science writing isn't necessarily found in the science press. His collection of the year's best includes only one research paper—an American Scientist treatise on yawning. And though Jack Hitt's essay (from Harper's), on racist subtexts in the archeological study of who the first Americans were, has footnotes, they tend to contain side jokes, not science. Most of Gawande's selections come from mainstream publications like the New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly, and especially from fellow New Yorker writers like Elizabeth Kolbert (on avian flu), Jonathan Weiner (on a rare neurological disease) and Richard Preston (on redwoods). Still, there are plenty of opportunities for writers at other publications to shine. D.T. Max's piece from the New York Times Magazine presents a lively inquiry into "literary Darwinism," speculating on the evolutionary function of storytelling. And in the anthology's most moving essay (from Wired), Michael Chorost recounts his efforts to find hearing aid technology that will help him to hear Ravel's Boléro with the same clarity it held before he went deaf. The diversity and readability of Gawande's selections are very cool indeed. (Sept. 5)

String theory is the only game in town in physics departments these days. But echoing Lee Smolin's forthcoming The Trouble with Physics (Reviews, July 24), Woit, a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and a lecturer in mathematics at Columbia, points out—again and again—that string theory, despite its two decades of dominance, is just a hunch aspiring to be a theory. It hasn't predicted anything, as theories are required to do, and its practitioners have become so desperate, says Woit, that they're willing to redefine what doing science means in order to justify their labors. The first half of Woit's book is a tightly argued, beautifully written account of the development of the standard model and includes a history of particle accelerators that will interest science buffs. When he gets into the history of string theory, however, his pace accelerates alarmingly, with highly sketchy chapters. Reading this in conjunction with Smolin's more comprehensive critique of string theory, readers will be able to make up their own minds about whether string theory lives up to the hype. (Sept.)

For centuries, people have been going into caves in France and Spain, looking at the 30,000-year-old pictures painted there and asking, "What can they be?" In this lively survey, Curtis, former Texas Monthly editor, makes it clear that while we'll never have a definitive answer, the quest will always be fascinating. He begins by laying out who the painters probably were and what their world was like during the waning days of Neanderthals. Then he dives into the caves and the bitter controversies on the art within, from the war of ideas between Marcelo Sautuola and Emile Cartailhac in the late 19th century to Jean Clottes's and David Lewis-Williams's current, strongly disputed theory that the paintings are related to shamanic quests. Curtis's own speculation is sometimes more arguable than believable, but usually intriguing. He bolsters a slim number of illustrations with concise descriptions that convey his own delight, befuddlement, frustration and awe. At the cave Les Tres-Frères, he is overwhelmed by the images and by being "as close as I would ever be—physically close—to The Truth." For readers who may never visit the caves, Curtis's sensitive narration gives a chance to share that encounter with mystery. 20 b&w illus. and 8-page color insert. (Oct. 13)

As a boy in the 1960s, Mendelsohn could make elderly relatives cry just by entering the room, so much did he resemble his great-uncle Shmiel Jäger, who had been "killed by the Nazis." This short phrase was all Mendelsohn knew of his maternal grandfather Abraham's brother, who had remained with his wife and four daughters in the Ukrainian shtetl of Bolechow after Abraham left for America. Long obsessed with family history, Mendelsohn (The Elusive Embrace) embarked in 2001 on a series of journeys to learn exactly what had happened to Shmiel and his family. The result is a rich, ruminative "mythic narrative... about closeness and distance, intimacy and violence, love and death." Mendelsohn uses these words to describe the biblical story of Cain and Abel, for one of the book's most striking elements is the author's recounting of the book of Genesis in parallel with his own story, highlighting eternal themes of origins and family, temptation and exile, brotherly betrayal, creation and annihilation. In Ukraine, Australia, Israel and Scandinavia, Mendelsohn locates a handful of extraordinary, aged Bolechow survivors. Especially poignant is his relationship with novelist Louis Begley's 90-year-old mother, from a town near the shtetl, an irascible, scene-stealing woman who eagerly follows Mendelsohn's remarkable effort to retrieve her lost world. B&w photos, maps. (Sept.)

What makes this personal account of the post-9/11 recovery effort at the World Trade Center site particularly moving is the willingness of Keegan, an operation commander at the site, to delve into unsettling issues. The 20-year Port Authority Police Department veteran understandably lauds the work of his fellow NYPD and FDNY officers as they sifted the rubble from the terrorist attacks: "In the midst of hell we found the face of God," he writes. But he freely discusses the emotional strain of looking, day after day, for bodies—or parts of bodies—of the victims, many of them colleagues and friends. At the same time, Keegan is critical of the therapists sent to counsel the workers as "too eager and intrusive," aggressively pursuing those who simply wanted to be alone for a few minutes. He also discusses his campaign to win public recognition for PAPD recovery workers, who had a much lower profile than those of the NYPD and fire department. In the end, his efforts succeeded: it was Port Authority officers who raised the steel-beam cross that became the site's symbol. Only those made of something stronger than steel will fail to be deeply moved by this book. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Sept. 11)

Canadian mystery writer Reynolds's irreverent guide lacks an overarching thesis or philosophical dimension yet is packed with playfully presented information. The author begins by describing the 11th-century Iranian-based cult known as the Assassins, noting its obvious parallels with al-Qaeda. Next, he traces the history of the Freemasons and the Illuminati, observing that "[a]ny review of U.S. history encounters Freemasons lurking behind every treaty, battle and statute." He then proceeds to sketch the complex history of the French cabal the Priory of Sion; details the belief systems of the Druids and Gnostics and their differing attitudes to secrecy; and explores how followers of the Kabbalah, "neither a religion nor an organization," came to be considered "secretive and sinister" (Reynolds comments lightheartedly on how "the Kabbalah was transformed into a supermarket of pious accoutrements" by the Kabbalah Center in L.A.). Chapters on Triads, the Mafia and Yakuza are adept in their focus on immigration and minority cultural traditions in American society. Reynolds is most provocative when drawing links between Skull and Bones and the CIA. He closes with a brief history of conspiracy theory, anti-Semitism and the risks of paranoid allegations. B&w photos. (Sept.)

In this mix of heartrending personal stories and practical information, the Andersons (Angel Animals) explore why, out of 16,000 animals rescued in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, only 3,000 were reunited with their families (many were adopted or taken into foster homes), and find the reasons in the loss of records, the chaotic conditions evacuees faced and euthanizing of unclaimed pets by some shelters. Directed to leave their pets behind when Katrina was bearing down and denied entry to Red Cross shelters with their animals, many residents waited out the storm at home rather than abandon their pets. The authors focus on three major organizations (the ASPCA, the American Humane Association and the Humane Society of the U.S.) that, buttressed by volunteers from all over the country, played a key role in saving animal lives. Believing that domesticated pets are family members and that by helping them one is also helping people, the Andersons detail what has been learned from Katrina and provide instructions for readers in the event that they face an evacuation. The authors stress that owners must take primary responsibility for their pets and that rescue volunteers should be properly trained. The Andersons can be saccharine, but their advice is well taken. 16 pages of color photos. (Sept.)

Evans reprises the light, kooky formula she adopted with her debut travelogue (It's Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels) in this account of her solo trip across China. Armed with Wet Wipes, a smattering of Mandarin and tips from friends in Beijing, she travels by bus, train and even a mule from Beijing to the polluted Mongolian city of Datong before zigzagging south to Shanghai, then on to Tibet and ending in Hong Kong. Attracting attention along the way as a waiguoren, or foreigner, she marvels at the "alluringly foreign... but also... hellishly frustrating" country while vigilantly rubbing her hands with antibacterial lotion, a habit that doesn't prevent a nasty cold. In restaurants, she orders by pointing to others' meals; in squalid public restrooms, she holds her breath. She learns a little kung fu and calligraphy, eats stewed dog and drinks yak-butter tea. Though Evans beefs up the story with historical nuggets on the Mao regime and more, her jaunty style often verges on the cartoonish, as with her impressions of unintelligible Mandarin: "gobbledy gook." Evans's sophomore effort will make an entertaining companion for armchair travelers who enjoy women's magazine–style travel writing. (Sept.)

Carr, a British standup comic and host of the game show Distraction, and his friend Greeves, a freelance writer, deserve a round of applause for this entertaining and educational book about the history and practice of humor. In a delightfully roundabout way—leavened with a joke or witticism at the bottom of each page—the authors discuss theories of comedy, delving into trickster traditions, whether animals understand jokes, gender differences in joking, children's humor ("What's yellow and dangerous? Shark-infested custard"), ethnic and dirty jokes (e.g., the Aristocrats, made famous by the Penn Jillette/Paul Provenza movie), politically incorrect humor and the social role of antiestablishment humor. Tucked here and there are some delightful digressions, including a short bio of a dirty-joke collector, a history of joke books and the story of the development of television laugh tracks. In the end, Carr and Greeves remind readers not to confuse "seriousness of purpose" with a "solemn" attitude: just because people joke about something doesn't mean they're not taking it seriously. And that goes for the history of joking, too. (Sept.)

In 11 honest but effortful essays, Bledsoe (This Wild Silence: A Novel) explores "the relationship between fear and grace" born from her often dangerous outdoor adventures. She muses on what propels her to a summit in "Dead Horse Pass," a climb in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains: "Perhaps it is an ache for beauty... to lose one's will for a moment... to experience pure awe." Invoking the naturalist John Muir, Bledsoe asserts she seeks more than an endorphin high; climbing a mountain is "an act of worship." In "The Freedom Machine," she meets a woman cycling across the Mojave Desert, not for sport but to escape an abusive husband. Romanticizing the lone, desperate traveler, Bledsoe deems her the embodiment of a bicycle's importance: "escape, physical empowerment, and ultimately a recovery of my imagination in a landscape." The author is a three-time visitor to Antarctica, and "The Breath of Seals" recounts her stint there—from survival school on the Ross Ice Shelf to a jaunt to the South Pole—as an artist-in-residence with the National Science Foundation. A longing for spiritual release Bledsoe can find only in the wilderness is woven through these thoughtful essays. (Sept.)

This compelling study of 18th-century male gender mores and sexuality is filled with engrossing historical details, demonstrating that 18th-century American ideas about masculinity were complexly tied to religion, economics and the body. For example, a 1746 newspaper article proposed a tax on single people, since they "promise no help to the future generation"; American colonists understood male effeminacy to be as much a sign of wasteful consumption as sexual deviance; and in 1742 Rev. John Cleveland referred to God as "his first husband." Foster, assistant professor of history at DePaul University, has mined a variety of primary sources, including letters and diaries of colonial men, 18th-century Boston newspapers and moral guidebooks such as Daniel Lewes's 1725 The Sins of Youth, many of which have not been analyzed before. He uncovers intriguing and historically important examples that provoke rethinking of the history of gender in America, and he also makes some bold claims—including debunking Michel Foucault's famous dictum that before modernism, sexuality was defined by actions not identities. This is vital reading for anyone seriously interested in American history or gender studies. (Sept.)

F.T. Marinetti (1876–1944) famously claimed to have formulated the tenets of the Futurist movement after walking away from a crashed automobile, a story he detailed in his 1909 manifesto. The founding document of this early 20th-century avant-garde artistic philosophy is one of more than 70 pieces Berghaus (Avant-Garde Performance) gathers in this significant update on the 1972 Selected Writings. This new collection expands upon the body of Marinetti's work available in English, with additional critical writings and manifestos reflecting Marinetti's concepts of literature, theater, film and radio; plus introductory essays and notes that further elaborate the historical and cultural context. Futurism called for no less than a modernist aesthetic revolution that would overturn the traditionalist cultural establishment and mirror the era's technological progress. But it also had a complex stance toward feminism and was violent and militaristic, celebrating WWI as a way to rid Europe of its accumulated history. Though these essays bring Futurism's nationalist leanings into sharp focus, Marinetti's 1918 coalition with Mussolini was brief, and by 1939 Fascism had effectively shut down the movement. This thorough collection will interest scholars of Italian history, art history and theater. (Sept.)

After 31 years in the Hollywood trenches and 15 films including Flashdance, Basic Instinct and Showgirls, screenwriter Eszterhas delivers a dishy, catty mix of reminiscences and Hollywood trivia in the guise of a handbook for wannabe screenwriters. Writing in a format perfect for readers with ADD, Eszterhas offers hundreds of instructive epigraphs, each an excuse for a short, gossipy paragraph. He includes a smattering of basic advice (avoid having your ideas ripped off by going to pitch meetings with a witness), warnings about producers, agents, directors and actors ("The word star is rats spelled backwards"), self-aggrandizing tales of wheeling and dealing, and tangents about various sexcapades (his own and other screenwriters'). He doesn't stint on snide comments about people he's worked with, like Sharon Stone, or about those he's refused to work with, like Michael Ovitz. Eszterhas includes fun quotes from Hollywood legends like Ben Hecht and Raymond Chandler and his fellow Hungarian, Zsa Zsa Gabor, but his forte is skewering sycophants and phonies in this opinionated showcase of the underside of Hollywood life. (Sept.)

This bold follow-up to journalists Moore and Slater's bestseller, Bush's Brain, takes a provocative look at how Karl Rove used George Bush's various campaigns and presidency to engineer nothing less than the assertion of a long-term Republican hegemony and the complete dismantling of the Democratic Party. To make their case, they draw on a wide range of materials, including interviews and reportage done by other journalists to demonstrate how Rove mobilized his party's base, forging an unlikely alliance between religious and economic conservatives, while mounting targeted assaults on gays and lesbians, trial lawyers and labor unions. Yet in this narrative, his bid for a complete realignment of American politics begins to derail with the failure of Bush's Social Security reform plan, the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and, most significantly, the implication of Rove in the leak of CIA employee Valerie Plame's identity. In this damning but scattered account, Rove remains an elusive, almost inhuman figure, despite short digressions about his relationship with his gay stepfather and his weekly brunches with members of the White House and RNC teams during the reelection campaign. The result is a compulsive page-turner that's bound to be divisive. (Sept. 12)

Anyone wondering what that "values" buzz after the 2004 election was about, and what it means for business, religion and politics, will find solid answers in this analysis by a former Clinton aide, one of the masterminds behind the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and a senior Associated Press political correspondent. In a unified, third-person voice, the three declare their intention to "help twenty-first-century American leaders think anew about the people they serve—a people that, despite an increasingly multiracial society, "seem to be seeking more homogeneity in their lifestyle choices." Since the 1990s, they argue, the key to winning the hearts, dollars and votes of the American public and its leaders is appealing to "the three C's, connections, community, and civic engagement." Drawing on interviews with the middle class "exurb" residents who eat at Applebee's restaurants, as well as their own inside knowledge, the authors declare that the pattern holds across the greater part of the American spectrum. Though their narrow interview sample is a weakness, they draw conclusions about the political arena, where lifelong Democrats voted for Bush in 2004 on "gut instinct"; the business world, where customers at the more than 1,700 Applebee's restaurants deem it "a second home"; and in megachurches, which fulfill Americans "need for belonging and purpose in a new century." Illus. (Sept.)

This absorbing review of newsworthy events and intriguing people by an award-winning reporter is also a subtle manual about journalism. Even as Burnett looks back at his nearly 30 years as a newsman, the essays remain immediate. In "Katrina: The Big One," not only does he detail how "the bizarre becomes normal," he explains how satellite phones work. When embedded with the First Marine Division Band in Iraq, he conveys the disorientation of a sandstorm as well as the difficulties faced by reporters in handling misinformation, bad news and "the lubricant of war fighting"—profanity. Turning to Waco, Tex., Burnett assesses contrary depictions of David Koresh's and the FBI's actions and considers the implications of the journalists' adoption of the terms "cult" and "compound." In Guatemala, he suffers the disquieting sense of "imperiling everyone we interviewed" and the frustration of being "an eyewitness to history [while unable to] get through to my editor." In reporting from Kosovo, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Burnett places his translators and fixers in the foreground: "People don't realize how much of what they learn about foreign news involves this invisible but indispensable link in news gathering." Radio depends on words, not pictures, and Burnett, an NPR regular for 20 years, brings that auditory clarity, imagination and freshness to all he touches. (Sept.)

Rowan, a Canadian humanitarian aid worker,sought out Ahmed Shah Massoud in 1998, well before the legendary leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance met his death with two suicide bombers disguised as reporters on September 9, 2001. This rare and honest portrait is rooted in the two weeks Rowan spent camped among Massoud's men in the Panjshir valley stronghold, where they fought the Taliban after helping to bring about the invading Russian army's defeat. Rowan's brief face time with the alternately icy, graceful and passionate Massoud offers some perspective on how Massoud became a product and an instigator of the political turmoil that has defined Afghanistan for more than 20 years. But Rowan's personal narrative is interspersed with long passages of history and analysis, which are less convincing. Whether or not there's truth in statements like "Oil is the means to world domination that the U.S. seeks" or that CNN is "corporate America's version of recent world events," they come off as tendentious and lacking in nuance. The author's rehash of familiar theories about the 9/11 attacks will also disappoint readers looking for new insight into why things happened the way they did. B&w photos not seen by PW. (Sept.)

Since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, binding its billion-plus population more tightly to the global economic system, the Asian giant's prodigious appetite for food, technology and natural resources has dramatically accelerated profound changes already well underway across the planet. Kynge, the Financial Times's former Beijing bureau chief, makes the voracious "appetites" of the new China his constant concern, as he uncovers the sources of and limitations on the giant country's epochal growth. Beginning with a scene in Germany's postindustrial Ruhr—where a steel mill is sold, deconstructed and shipped more than 5,000 miles for reassembly near the banks of the Yangtze River—Kynge assesses the socioeconomic transformations of China's low "Industrial Revolution–era" labor costs and modern production technology at home and abroad. But for all its world-shaking potential, notes Kynge, "China's endowments are deeply lopsided." Key weaknesses—such as a shortage of arable land, serious environmental devastation and pollution, systemic corruption and a dearth of resources—are conversely helping to ensure that China will have to manage its growing hegemony in a symbiotic manner with partners on the economic and geopolitical playing fields. Despite the subtitle, and a chapter devoted to China's acquisition of U.S. technologies, Kynge focuses at least as much on China's significance for Western Europe. Overall, Kynge's crisp assessment of the dynamics involved is both authoritative and eye-opening. (Sept. 27)

Hugo Chavez has put Latin America back on the U.S. radar with his outspoken attacks on American imperialism and his leadership in forming economic ties among Latin American nations outside U.S. influence. To many in the southern hemisphere, he represents a welcome alternative to the U.S., whose efforts to heal the region's economic woes through the World Bank and the IMF have largely failed. In the northern hemisphere, he is often seen as a threat to free-trade agreements and democracy in the Americas. Kozloff, a senior research fellow for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, tries to neutralize the latter image as he recounts recent Venezuelan history and analyzes Chavez's rise to power. Paying equal attention to Chavez as a man and as a political phenomenon, he inserts slow-moving anecdotes among dense historical details, making for an uneven read. Kozloff's use of sources like the Nation, the New Left Review and the International Socialist Review, as well as his participation in the antiglobalization movement, also reveal a leftist bias toward Chavez. He offers little criticism of Chavez's policies or the nondemocratic means—a 1992 failed coup—through which he first garnered public favor, before winning office in a 1999 election and 2002 reelection. But while this bias might make for some one-sided storytelling at times, it also makes for a thoughtful, well-researched alternative to the majority of information available on Chavez in the English-speaking world. (Sept. 19)

The fatal inundation of New Orleans was no natural disaster, argues this hard-hitting investigative report. Wall Street Journal reporters Cooper and Block finger two very man-made causes of the tragedy. The first was the decades-long failure of local officials and the Army Corps of Engineers to fix New Orleans' poorly designed and constructed levees and floodwalls, which collapsed under moderate hurricane conditions. The second and more spectacular was the breakdown of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after its incorporation into the Department of Homeland Security, which cut FEMA's funding and authority and reoriented it toward the national obsession with terrorism. The result, when the flood came, was a bumbling federal response hobbled by complacent planning, miscommunication, red tape (even recovery of the dead was delayed by paperwork) and an inability to deliver promised supplies and transportation. The authors' exhaustively researched account slogs through the intricacies of this bureaucratic nightmare and goes beyond the usual pillorying of FEMA head Michael Brown to criticize higher officials in the White House and, especially, DHS. Cooper and Block manage to thread a readable, coherent story through the morass of detail and acronyms, with disquieting implications about the government's ability to cope with catastrophe. Photos. (Aug. 8)

Note: Publication of Hamid Karzai's Letter from Kabul (Reviews, July 10) has been postponed.

Lifestyle

Food & Entertaining

Were this book not to share a name with Florence's Food Network show, its existence would be a puzzle. As it is, it's hard to make heads or tails of this jumble of decent but not spectacular recipes that share only one thing in common: a forced "guy talk" manner. Chapters are arranged by type of dish, with titles like "Surf" for fish, and each opens with a throw-away introduction of a couple of paragraphs: "noodles are a great way to put a smile on somebody's face." Recipes are equally casual: once you've started the sauce for Coconut Shrimp with Basmati Rice and Apricots, you're told to "jump to the rice," and in the headnote to Angry Lobster with Tomato-Chile Butter and Arugula, Florence reminisces about working "at a mafia joint in Tribeca" patronized by men "from Jersey with pinky rings... and girls decked out in big hair and gold." Despite this sometimes off-key tone, instructions are clear, and each recipe helpfully comes with an estimated cooking time, most of them quick. Still, one can't help wishing that despite offering truly helpful advice (such as the tip not to shake the pan when making Oven Fries for crispier results), Florence would, in his own parlance, tune down the 'tude, dude. (Nov.)

Caggiano's pleasing collection allows home cooks to follow the current fashion of spotlighting regional Italian cooking by sampling recipes from five cities—Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan and Venice. She offers full menus, from antipasti to dessert, with multiple options for each course so one can choose between familiarity and novelty: for example, with Venetian appetizers, she suggests comforting Whipped Creamy Salt Cod, or piquant Salame with Honey and Wilted Radicchio. From Tuscany, she offers recipes for Rigatoni Dragged with Florentine Meat Ragù and Ricotta-Parmigiano-Spinach Dumplings. Caggiano (Biba's Taste of Italy) emphasizes seasonality, as with a Milanese Roasted Capon with Pancetta, Sage, and Rosemary, or Rome's delightful "La Vignarola," a springtime stew of fava beans, peas and artichokes. Though simple, many of the recipes are time-intensive, but are worth the effort. Along with the recipes, Caggiano includes brief but tantalizing descriptions of eating traditions in each city and recommendations for wines and ingredients. (Sept.)

Daunted by the task of selecting the year's best recipes, James Beard Award–winners McCullough (Low-Carb Cookbook) and Stevens (All About Braising) realized that "our fellow home cooks were confronted with the same hopeless task" and decided to create the cookbook they themselves would want to have. The result: a well-written compendium of standout recipes from culinary stars (Jamie Oliver, Alice Waters), newspapers, magazines and lesser-known chefs and Web sites. Rick Bayless's foreword includes a recipe for Black Pepper French Toast that exemplifies the book's goal: to suggest new twists on classics, unexpected flavor combinations and dishes that work at a party or on a traditional Thanksgiving table. Highlights include Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce (Gourmet), Mussels with Smoky Bacon, Lime, and Cilantro (Food & Wine) and Bitter Orange Ice Cream (Nigella Bites). Each recipe has a brief introduction, and "notes from our test kitchen" offer savvy advice. This book will please a range of palates, and suit every skill level. It's a resource to keep near at hand, whether for special events or daily meals. 60 color photos. (Sept.)

In this practical, encouraging volume, Raymond demonstrates the ease, as well as the pleasures, of a diet free of animal-derived foods. The author of Student's Vegetarian Cookbook offers helpful suggestions about stocking the vegan pantry—with whole grains, dairy-free milks, fresh fruits and vegetables, and meat substitutes such as tofu, seitan and tempeh—and notes that the staples of a vegan diet are low-fat, cholesterol-free and rich in fiber and nutrients. Recipes include dips, wraps, soups, pastas and desserts from a variety of cuisines. Crunchy Blueberry Pancakes are light and sweet, with a satisfying cornmeal crunch; Basic Baked Tofu, with its gingery, garlicky marinade, is anything but basic. Other winning dishes include the rich, almost meaty Shallot and Mushroom Gravy, the refreshing Millet Salad with Curry-Ginger Dressing, the fragrant Indonesian Tempeh Stew and the savory Caramelized Onion, Walnut and Sage Pizza. The recipes are homey, simple and quick: with no-rise Rustic Olive Rolls, for example, fresh bread is ready in less than half an hour. For anyone interested in good—and good for you—vegan meals, Raymond's book should be required reading. (Aug.)

Parenting

Perlmutter, a neurologist and physician, helps parents utilize that "brief window of opportunity in a child's life when parents can help create a brain that is built for optimal performance." Some of the book's advice ought to be common knowledge—establish a healthy diet, avoid toxins and limit television and video games—but Perlmutter's detailed guidelines take the guesswork out of smart parenting. Even more helpful is the inclusion of several simple, age-appropriate games that parents can play with their small children to help them develop the skills they will need, without resorting to dull test-and-drills (which, he argues, stifle creativity). Perlmutter offers clear solutions to real-life childhood issues that can affect the brain (such as food allergies, ear infections and the overdiagnosed ADHD) without preaching or talking down to parents who may be overwhelmed by the conflicting advice of doctors, psychiatrists and the media. The book's intuitive structure, helpful graphs and lists, and a comprehensive appendix supports this information in a hands-on, accessible form. (Sept.)

Madison, author of a popular sex column in the Tufts University newspaper, offers candid answers to questions young girls feel uncomfortable asking parents or teachers. Madison realizes she was lucky to grow up in a home where sex was discussed openly, but saw many of her friends without resources when it came to sex education beyond the old condom on the banana in health class. Now, at age 22, Madison is still young enough to remember what it was like as a young girl, but experienced enough to offer advice for real-life sexual situations. Sex-positive, empowering and very funny, Madison writes in chatty prose, without eschewing fact or medical accuracy. Starting with the basics ("Vaginas: What the Hell?") she covers menstruation, STDs and birth control before moving onto more complicated issues like how to handle a guy who complains about wearing a condom, what to expect when you do it for the first time and what exactly constitutes a rape. Sensitive issues are approached with humor and realism: when is the right time to lose your virginity? what do guys really think about relationships? what if you find yourself attracted to another girl? This is the book you wish you'd had as a teenage girl. (Sept.)

Health & Hobbies

Daughter of bestselling cardiologist Mehmet Oz (You: The Owner's Manual), the young Oz struggled with weight as a teen. Now a Princeton sophomore, she offers a range of advice for college girls hoping to sidestep the "Freshman 15." Those late-night study binges, tailgating and sports events, parties, TV watching and heavy talks can lead even clever Ivy Leaguers down the road to weight gain. No doubt inspired by her dad (who penned the introduction), Oz offers an eight-step program that advocates sensible, healthful eating, exercise and vitamin use. While warning against the pitfalls of high-calorie foods like alcohol, full-fat cheese and simple carbs, she okays coffee in moderation, bread dipped in olive oil, and chocolate. Balance is crucial, Oz notes, pointing out that one night of partying won't spoil everything if it's followed by healthy eating the next day. Punctuating her text with practical tips (stock up on wholesome snacks such as almonds and veggies before snuggling in for a study marathon, the author addresses her female peers in a breezy, conversational style. This is a great book to pack between the extra-long twin sheets and study lamp. (Sept.)

Fashion hipsters Rannels, Alvarado and Meng are co-owners of San Francisco's Stitch Lounge, a drop-in sewing center where would-be fashionistas can rent sewing machines by the hour, take lessons and compare notes on design and technique. They are enthusiastic teachers and, in their first book, give beginning sewers all the basics, plus 22 tempting projects. Their mission—"subverting" fashion—is all about "embellishing and customizing clothes—refashioning them to make them uniquely your own." This can mean anything from altering the fit of a blouse with pin tucks and sewing ribbon stripes onto an old pair of jeans to whipping up a sun dress out of a pillowcase. They start with a solid chapter on hand sewing (mending rips, hemming skirts), then tell you everything you've ever wanted to know about sewing machines but were afraid to ask. T-shirts are torn apart to make mini skirts, shoulder bags and tube tops. It's true that the results have a shaggy and informal look, definitely suited to a young audience, but the projects are quick and fun and get the creative juices flowing. With its casual approach and offbeat creations, this is definitely not your mother's sewing book. (Sept.)

This blistering j'accuse has vitriol to spare for George Bush—calling him a "spoiled brat" and "blowhard"—and his policies, but its main target is the PR machinery that promoted those policies to the American people. New York Times columnist Rich revisits nearly every Bush administration publicity gambit, including Iraqi WMD claims, Bush's "Mission Accomplished" triumph, the Swift-boating of John Kerry and the writing of fake prowar letters-to-the-editor from soldiers. He uncovers nothing new, but his meticulously researched recap-cum-debunking—complete with appended 80-page time line comparing administration spin to actual events—builds a comprehensive picture of a White House propaganda campaign to bamboozle the public, smear critics, camouflage policy disasters and win the 2002 and 2004 elections through trumped-up security anxieties. Along the way, he pillories a sycophantic media (Bob Woodward gets spanked hard), spineless Democrats and an infotainment culture that happily accommodates the Bush administration's erasure of the line between reality and fiction. Sometimes Rich's critique of Republican politics as cynical image-manipulation goes overboard, as in his "wag the dog" theory of the Iraq war as a Karl Rove electoral maneuver; more often, though, it's on target. The result is a caustic, hard-hitting indictment of the Bush administration, timed to make a splash in the upcoming election campaign. (Sept. 19)