Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 10/23/2006

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 10/23/2006

Palestine: A Personal History
Karl Sabbagh. Grove, $24 (384p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1842-4

Sabbagh, a writer and television producer of English and Palestinian descent, combines his family history and the political history of Palestine, tracing what he forcefully argues is the much misunderstood story of the resistance and dispossession of 700,000 Arab Palestinians in the face of a European-centered Zionist movement. Sabbagh has a colorful family past to draw on, as the son of Isa Sabbagh, a well-known voice on the BBC's Arab Service in the 1940s and a direct descendant of Ibrahim Sabbagh, unsavory chief minister to Daher al-Omar, a local 18th-century ruler labeled "First King of Palestine." But the personal narrative serves a larger purpose: to underscore the continuity of a predominantly Arab Palestinian presence and culture going back centuries (in contrast to Zionism's biblical claims to the same land). While the narrative also uncovers a century of ill treatment and injustice meted out to Palestinians, Sabbagh emphasizes the long-standing harmony between Arabs (Muslim and Christian) and the small indigenous Jewish population in Palestine, including many acts of solidarity amid growing tensions. Carefully researched and engaging, his memoir offers a vital yet unfamiliar perspective on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a heartfelt, judicious invitation to dialogue. (Mar.)

In 1950, Michael Dillon, a dapper, bearded medical student, met Roberta Cowell, a boyish-looking woman, for lunch in a discreet London restaurant. During the lunch, Dillon announced that five years earlier he was a woman named Laura, and Roberta stated she was on her way to full womanhood from being Robert. Eventually, Cowell (a former Royal Air Force captain) would garner fame as a glamorous woman and author of the 1954 bestseller Roberta Cowell's Story, while in 1958 Dillon began a long, rocky journey to become a Tibetan monk. But Kennedy (Black Livingstone) does far more than detail their short-lived, topsy-turvy transgender romance. She gives us an enlightening tour of how mid-century science conceptualized gender, hormones and transsexual surgery, as well as how advances in plastic surgery for men maimed in WWI became the basis for sex change operations. Kennedy's slangy style—she describes presurgery Dillon as living in the "slushy canal between sexes"—also suits the material. Though her effort doesn't surpass other books on the topic—especially Joanne Meyerowitz's How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States—it's an entertaining and informative popular history. (Mar.)

On the evening following the 1996 acquittal of Snoop Dogg on charges of murder, Newsweek entertainment writer Samuels attended a party thrown by the rapper, where an "obviously drunk fifty-something white male took the microphone... and began to deliver an ill-advised and unfortunate freestyle rap." Upon closer examination, she identified the man as one of the jurors who had granted the musician his freedom that morning. Moments like this abound in Samuels's casual, honest rumination on her career reporting on black Hollywood. Her short chapters include profiles of athletes, actors and musicians such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Angela Bassett, Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and the artists of Suge Knight's Death Row record label, a group with which Samuels established a close, long-running relationship. The challenges of fame, success and journalism are touched upon, though only superficially. While the issue of race is given attention, the collection's main draw is the insider observations and anecdotes, which range from telling (in response to being told that an article featuring him is no longer front-page material, a precomeback Eddie Murphy asks, "But don't they remember?") to bizarre (Mike Tyson showing off the letters JFK Jr. wrote him during his incarceration). (Mar.)

British playwright and novelist Frayn has nursed a serious interest in philosophy since studying it at Cambridge in the 1950s, a fact that won't surprise fans of the writer best known for his 1982 farce, Noises Off, and award-winning 1998 drama, Copenhagen. This bold, original spin on the role of the human imagination in the construction of reality reflects the same robust intellectual curiosity, keen powers of observation and ingenious sense of humor that characterize all his work. Ranging over science, mathematics, philosophy, psychology and linguistics—with a grasp that would be admirable in a professional but is astounding in a self-confessed amateur—Frayn rigorously exposes the human scaffolding propping up what we like to see as a detached, neatly ordered universe. Gazing both outwardly at the indeterminate cosmos suggested by relativity and quantum mechanics, and inwardly at the slippery constructions of consciousness and our sense of self, he focuses on the narrative compulsion that arises from the continual "traffic" between human beings and their ever-changing, ephemeral surroundings. Frayn's dogged unraveling of determinist assumptions and the occasionally mind-bending minutiae of theories, arguments and counterarguments can get taxing, despite lucid and witty prose. But Frayn's ecstatic embrace of a human-made universe is a fascinatingly persuasive ride. (Feb.)

The author of Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap, Orenstein now offers a very personal account of her road to becoming a mother. Orenstein was a happily married 35-year-old when she decided she wanted to have a baby. While she knew it might not be easy (she had only one ovary and was heading into her late 30s), she had no idea of the troubles she'd face. First, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, fortunately treatable. After waiting the recommended recovery period, she miscarried with a dangerous "partial molar pregnancy," so she had to avoid becoming pregnant for at least six months. Soon she was riding the infertility roller coaster full-time, trying everything from acupuncture to IVF and egg donation. She endured depression and more miscarriages while spending untold thousands of dollars. Even her very understanding husband was beginning to lose patience, when, surprisingly, she got pregnant with her daughter, Daisy. While readers don't have to be fertility obsessed to enjoy this very witty memoir (with its ungainly subtitle), for the growing number of women struggling with infertility this book may become their new best friend. (Feb.)

Born into a spiritually ambiguous family (his parents are nonpracticing Jews who follow the "Infinite Way"), Gartenstein-Ross grew up in the 1980s, in Ashland, Ore., a bucolic, posthippie paradise with a live-and-let-live ethic. Spiritually adrift through his teens, he discovers Islam through a classmate at Wake Forest University. Gartenstein-Ross—young and searching, like so many Americans of his socioeconomic class—quickly falls under the spell of fiercely committed Muslims. He begins working for al Harman, a radical Islamic charity that would eventually be linked to al-Qaeda, and soon starts a simultaneous process of being drawn deeper into the world of radical Islam and being repulsed by its brutal realities. Gartenstein-Ross fights an inner battle between his idealism, shaped by his socially conscious if somewhat scattered liberal upbringing, and his sense of the growing gap between his personal notion of Islam and the mounting list of rules and limitations its practice entails. This would seem compelling stuff, but throughout the story seems blunted. Even the chapters near the end that deal with Gartenstein-Ross's role as an informer for the FBI after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, lack tension and real insight into the dilemma faced by so many cut adrift in Western secular culture. (Feb.)

Suburban white kids' increasingly ubiquitous fascination with hip-hop culture is the subject of this thoughtful and often insightful work of long-form journalism. Tanz, a young white man himself and an editor at Fortune Small Business, is an apt chronicler of the racial and cultural obstacles that stand between the producers and consumers of rap. He has an obvious passion for the music at hand, and he demonstrates his connoisseurship through brilliant evocations of the power of the band N.W.A. and the often painful history of white rappers. Tanz is most successful when he lets himself get tangled up in the complicated tendons of mass culture: his chapter about hip-hop marketing and commercialization displays a keen understanding of the advertising forces at work without ever devolving into simplistic damnation. Other aspects of the book are less satisfying, most notably the framing devices for each chapter in which Tanz chooses seemingly arbitrary instances of white appropriations of hip-hop culture—such as a hipster dance party in Williamsburg—to illustrate larger points. Nevertheless, Tanz solidly displays his strong grasp of the broad cultural significance of the rise of hip-hop. (Feb.)

The son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother, Matthews tells of growing up racially mixed in Baltimore, Md., during the 1970s and '80s. Soon after his birth, Matthews's mother, a victim of schizophrenia, disappears from his life, and his father, "a prominent black journalist," moves through a series of jobs and relationships as Matthews begins a lifelong struggle with the circumstances of his ambiguous racial heritage. Adults in various states of mental and emotional disarray pass through Matthews's life. Some of his father's girlfriends are abusive ("She passed her cigarette from her clipping hand to her mouth, and... plunged a dinner fork into the bony flesh between my shoulder blades"); some are kind. As his father spends more and more of his time at work, Matthews comes into the care of his beloved grandmother. Until her death, this kindly woman will be at the eye of the storm that is his life. Unsurprisingly, Matthews drifts—into drugs, petty crime and a general slackness—which is the central problem here. While Matthews piles up nicely crafted anecdotes and a list of intriguing characters, there is a lack of tension, leaving a flat narrative. This memoir is long on adolescent male observation ("Julie, an Art Institute coed with apple cheeks and honeydew breasts...") and rather short on resonant revelation. Matthews builds a lot of momentum through the course of his tale, but with little genuine payoff. (Feb.)

Gruman brings thorough research, interviews and personal experience to this informed, accessible guidebook for responding to news of poor health. Diagnosed four times with serious illnesses including cancer and a heart condition, Gruman, a medical journalist and president of the Center for the Advancement of Health, knows firsthand how such information can overwhelm a patient. Her advice is concrete but delivered with empathy and enlivened by testimony of other patients. In clear language, she explains how to educate oneself about the disease, treatment options and specialists; how to obtain the best care, involve the support of family and friends, and handle career-related issues. Gruman includes a useful chapter on dealing with potential health insurance and financial problems, and she suggests strategies for coping with stress caused by living with a disease, such as finding distraction, exploring spirituality or seeking counseling. The detailed appendixes on resources for finding the appropriate doctor and hospital, nonprofit organizations, clinical trials and second-opinion services, among others, are helpful tools for patients and caregivers. (Feb.)

For those already slashing through multifaceted professional lives, Alboher's collection of profiles of people juggling multiple roles may offer the comfort of knowing others are doing the same. For those recently separated from a job or seeking greater fulfillment from life, Alboher's fascination with people working through dual existences may reveal an alternate path to success. Like the psychotherapist/violin maker she interviews, Alboher has abandoned an easily described career as an attorney to become a journalist, author, speaker and writing coach. Her book is less about making career changes than changing how one defines a career and making adjustments for a more satisfying life. After focusing a bit too intently on how multilayered careers get their start, she segues into more action-oriented advice, including experimenting with different identities before making career-altering changes; how to keep income flowing; and how to market oneself once one adds a slash or two to one's job description. When the disparate threads of one's life are woven together in this way, she argues in this creative and satisfying guide, "the whole of you comes out." (Feb.)

As in Hull's novel Pale Morning Done, fishing really is a lens through which Hull sees the world. And fortunately, the waters for this former fishing guide certainly run deeper than the Montana rivers and coastal flats where he fishes. Almost all the chapters, which read as individual essays, begin like an average outdoor magazine article, with Hull "obsessed with Permit" or chasing a record blue shark or a "legendary giant trout." But what makes these tales special and gives them the intensity of fine literature is that real life always intervenes in Hull's idyllic fishing trips. Sometimes the interruption is as simple as a missed connection with a dream girl at a bar or as newsy as environmental conservation, but oftentimes they are more dramatic, like the death of Hull's brother or his own stay in a psychiatric hospital. These pauses lend Hull's work a melancholy air, but they also allow Hull to outline his hope that life can also change for the better. Unlike many fly-fishing writers, Hull isn't afraid to let his guard down. Add in Hull's ability to bring his scenery and characters to life, and you have a book that will burrow into the hearts of anglers and nonanglers alike. (Jan.)

Rucker (The Sopranos: A Family History) has written many TV shows, including the 2005 Peabody Award–winning Vietnam documentary, Two Days in October. At 51, he became a victim of transverse myelitis, a rare neurological disorder that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Opening with an entertaining, sarcastic glimpse at the TV industry and his struggles to script amusing "patter for splashy Hollywood ego fests," he interrupts the fun with a chilling account of the two hours in 1996 when he suddenly became paralyzed. Learning to reprogram his life at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he felt "fear, guilt, loss, more fear" and had crying jags plus the shame and embarrassment of bowel accidents. Listing a litany of "pride-bruising indignities,"such as being gawked at and carried up stairs "like a beanbag chair," he explains how he confronted each new challenge. With many pages devoted to dealing with the "overly kind" able-bodied and their self-conscious attitudes, this potent memoir is also an effective how-to guidebook for anyone who is disabled. Rucker is a gifted observer-humorist, unleashing a straight-arrow honesty and a vibrant, penetrating wit while probing the most intimate aspects of contemporary life and human behavior. (Jan. 9)

This coming-of-age memoir is not only about the author but Ireland itself. Ireland's state-run television—called Radio Telefis Éireann (RTE)—was introduced on the last day of 1961. Doyle (now a TV critic for a Toronto newspaper), weaves tales of Bat Masterson along with everyday life in Nenagh, County Tipperary, where priests, begrudgers and busybodies prevail in a country not much changed from when Frank McCourt escaped it more than a decade before. "Nenagh was full of religion," according to Doyle, and he successfully escaped a nation where priests and the fear of sex—not to mention poverty, immigration, revolution in the north and lack of birth control and divorce—reigned by tuning in such shows as Gunsmoke and Monty Python. Doyle does a marvelous of job of dissecting the cultures of each county by what kind of programming they provided. As the book ends, we see the walls of old Ireland collapsing as the Catholic Church loses its place of prominence and new laws on birth control and divorce are introduced into the country, just as Ireland's economic prominence is in its ascendancy. A marvelous read, with keen insights and laugh-out-loud moments, that explains how Ireland, with the help of the TV set, has evolved over the past 40 years. (Jan.)

It's fitting to find a tribute to Lester Bangs halfway through this collection of film and music reviews, as Hampton appears to be a qualified successor to Bangs in the realm of pop cultural criticism. In these essays, written for alternative newspapers and art magazines, Hampton charts a freewheeling path through Hong Kong cinema, riot grrl albums and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That last show is something of a touchstone for Hampton: in one essay, he links it to Nirvana as part of the same cultural moment; in another, he views the series through the prism of D.H. Lawrence. The book is filled with similarly unlikely pairings that wind up making perfect sense, from the connections between Dennis Potter and punk rock to a revelatory description of Meat Loaf as a B-movie version of Bruce Springsteen. And when something offends Hampton's sensibilities, watch out. Pans of Forrest Gump and the "perfumed gunk" of Sting cut with a scathing fury. For the most part, though, Hampton chooses to devote his energies to music and movies he loves—and no matter how eclectic your tastes, there's bound to be at least one artist in this collection he'll make you want to track down. (Jan.)

This intense look at the fierce competition in what first-time author Pope slyly calls "the extraordinary underworld of shipwrecks" focuses on the effort in the late 1990s to recover a hoard of precious 15th-century porcelain from the sunken Hoi An ship in the Dragon Sea, a stretch of "typhoon-torn" water off the coast of Vietnam. Pope is equally adept at illuminating "the peculiarly powerful allure of shipwrecks" that drives the Hoi An team as he is in explaining the larger and more difficult context of modern excavation efforts, where "maritime archeologists who were regularly leading excavations around the world could be counted on the fingers of one hand, but the number of looters, souvenir-seekers, and well-equipped treasure-hunters was in the high hundreds." But Pope's strength in detailing the Hoi An story comes from his fascinating in-depth portraits of the main players in what became an unprecedented and expensive recovery effort: Ong Soo Hin, a Malaysian businessman who helped launch the project; Mensun Bound, the director of Oxford's Maritime Archaeological unit; and Dilip Tan, the operations manager under "nightmarish pressure" to finish the project. Pope expertly shows how the same ocean that can terrify and enrich can also "lay bare the very nature of man." (Jan.)

Creative process guru Cameron continues to guide readers on the "spiral path" of their artistic journeys in this eloquent third book (after Walking in This Water) in the series that began with her influential, bestselling creativity manual, The Artist's Way. For those who missed earlier installments, Cameron—an author, teacher and aspiring musical theater lyricist/librettist—rehashes basic tools to get creative juices flowing while also delving into her ongoing personal creative struggle. Structured as a 12-week course in regaining one's relationship with one's own work, whether it be writing, painting or music, the volume grapples with the symbiotic relationship between art and spirituality. Cameron posits a benevolent universe waiting to support the artist in his or her endeavors; the artist simply has to get out of the way and become a channel for the work to speak through them. Toward this end, she instructs readers in exercises for uncovering a sense optimism, balance, resilience, perspective and discipline, among other strengths. Woven through with confessional anecdotes from her life as a writing teacher and oft-blocked artist wrestling with self-esteem and faith in her work, this guidebook's combination of action-oriented steps and heartfelt revelations will speak to legions of struggling artists. (Jan.)

Evans respectfully traces Reagan's change from New Deal liberal to economic conservative to his eight-year stint (1954–1962) as spokesman for General Electric, when he hosted GE's Saturday night television show, General Electric Theater, and toured GE plants nationwide. It was on tour that Reagan delivered early drafts of the 1964 pro-Goldwater "time for choosing" speech that would eventually thrust him onto the national political scene. As the mouthpiece for GE policy, Reagan was immersed in a free market ideology that stressed limited government and low taxes, explains Evans, an attorney who chaired the Reagan administration's national symposium on partnerships in education. The most intriguing chapters explore the tensions between Reagan's leadership of the Screen Actors' Guild—which went on strike in 1960—and his role as the public face of a company determined to prevent its unionized employees from striking. In the last chapter, Evans explicitly connects some of Reagan's presidential decisions—his insistence on restructuring taxes without cutting military spending, for example, and his oversight of the National Labor Relations Board—with his GE education. This fascinating study sheds new light on Reagan's ideological evolution. (Jan.)

For those brought up on the genteel novels of Jane Austen, Gatrell (The Hanging Tree) has a rude surprise in store. Drawing heavily on Gillray, Cruikshank and Rowlandson's famous satirical prints, Gatrell vividly demonstrates the maliciousness and ribaldry of Georgian London. What made Londoners laugh was less the polished wit of the literary salon than a combination of drunken frat-boy–style jokes, toilet humor and nasty political satire. Gatrell notes that few of the tens of thousands of prints that appeared between 1770 and 1830—the heyday of satire—dealt with "social change" or high literature, except in the most condescending terms. They instead reflected "the subjects of everyday observation and conversation," at least of the artists' middle- and upper-class patrons, and "remind us that the views of most comfortable Londoners were then as unexamined and as bound by daily preoccupations as they are now." By 1830, the satirical impulse had been tamed by the rise of pietism, the idealization of female virtue, the coronation of a new king, steps toward voter franchise and the execution of leading radicals. Better manners and respectability, Gatrell sadly concludes, killed the fart joke. 300+ b&w and color illus. (Jan.)

The bestselling author (The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands), columnist and talk show host does not deviate from her strong belief that women are largely responsible for happy marital unions, which should be their first priority. For Schlessinger, "feminism robbed women of their essence and their ability to find pure joy and happiness," but the fair sex can regain that by promoting a traditional relationship with their husbands. Many of Schlessinger's golden rules recall suggestions from previous books: avoid interfaith marriage, stay together for the sake of the children and never say no to a husband who wants sex. Never insist that a man wash his own dishes, either; both women and men should respect the division of labor and a woman's status as homemaker. Although Schlessinger acknowledges that men have a responsibility to communicate and recommends that they express gratitude to their wives for domestic attentions, she clearly delineates a successful marriage as one between a male financial provider and a female emotional caregiver. She includes a digression on the differences between the sexes and the masculine/feminine polarity. Though this latest guide will confirm Dr. Laura's retrograde views for many, devotees will continue to look to her for answers. (Jan.)

Earlier this year, when astronomers officially "demoted" Pluto from its status as the ninth planet in our solar system, they little expected the public rancor that followed the decision. Vanderbilt astronomer Weintraub places the Pluto controversy in context in his judicious, lively account of the development of our solar system and the evolution of the meaning of the word planet, from Aristotle's theories to recent decrees by the International Astronomical Union. Assuming a geocentric universe, Aristotle argued that Mercury, Venus, the Moon, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were the only seven planets in the celestial realms. Later scientists—notably Kepler, Copernicus and Galileo—revolutionized astronomy by demonstrating that Earth and the other planets revolved elliptically rather than in perfect circular movements around the sun. By the mid-18th century, astronomers discovered other celestial bodies—comets, asteroids and moons—that often acted like planets by orbiting the sun and threw the definition of a planet into even more confusion. Weintraub effectively shows that Pluto is a planet by most definitions, but so are several other objects in the Kuiper asteroid belt. Weintraub's provocative, engaging study points to the richness and complexity of our solar system and its many possible planets. (Jan.)

Whiffen's fine introduction to depression places the disease in the context of women's interpersonal relationships, simply and methodically underscoring the correlation between a woman's formative connections with her parents, her romantic relationships as an adult and her emotional well-being and sense of self. For many patients, "feeling depressed is better than admitting a truth about a relationship with someone important that would lead to profound feelings of sadness," theorizes the author, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Ottawa. She examines various stages of development to illuminate how parenting styles and early life attachments affect a child's ability to cope with stress or conflict in intimate relationships later in life. Throughout, Whiffen enhances the accessible, instructive text with the stories of three of her patients. The volume includes thought-provoking, workbooklike questions at the end of each chapter for readers to consider their own behavior and feelings. Whiffen encourages women suffering from depression to undergo therapy, and information about treatment options, with a brief mention of antidepressants, rounds out the book. Readers are left with an encouraging mantra: "Remember that our lives don't change; we change our lives." (Jan.)

Software is easy to make, except when you want it to do something new," Rosenberg observes—but the catch is that "the only software worth making is software that does something new." This two-tiered insight comes from years of observing a team led by Mitch Kapor (the creator of the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet) in its efforts to create a "personal information manager" that can handle to-do lists as easily as events scheduling and address books. Rosenberg's fly-on-the-wall reporting deftly charts the course taken by Kapor's Open Source Applications Foundation, while acknowledging that every software programmer finds his or her own unique path to a brick wall in the development process. (The software is still in development even now.) With equal enthusiasm, Rosenberg digs into the history of the computer industry's efforts to make programming a more efficient process. Though there's a lot of technical information, it's presented in very accessible terms, primarily through the context of project management. Even readers whose computer expertise ends at retrieving their e-mail will be able to enjoy digressions into arcane subjects like object-oriented programming. (Jan.)

In recent years, the Federal Communications Commission has come under fire from advocacy groups and, increasingly, the general public for its regulatory decisions (or, in many cases, lack thereof). Writing in the tradition of critic Robert McChesney, media watchdog Jeff Chester examines the FCC, charting the close network of lobbyists, trade associations and other industry representatives in which it is embedded. Through close analysis of recent FCC moves and decisions on media consolidation and network neutrality, Chester makes a damning and important case for sweeping reform in governmental regulation, culminating in a series of policy recommendations that would adjust the balance of power between media corporations and customers. Unfortunately, Chester is mostly preaching to the converted; the general tone of the book is so stridently (even antagonistically) polemic that it's more likely to turn off uninformed or dissenting readers than persuade them. While offering red meat for those already concerned about issues of personal privacy and media choice in an era of growing corporate media oligarchy, Chester doesn't do much to reach beyond them, limiting the book's appeal both as a book and as a piece of advocacy. (Jan.)

Reviewing the evidence of how the Bush administration has systematically denied and doctored scientific findings that fail to support its political positions, journalist Shulman adds some new details in this accessible book. Combining thorough research with lucid prose and a sense of mounting outrage, he charges that the president's appointees and advisers are not only threatening the scientific enterprise but also American democracy itself. In human health, for example, he points to censored studies of race-based medical disparities, shows how guidelines on lead regulation have been decided by political appointees with ties to the lead-paint industry and reviews the now-infamous controversies over Plan B birth control and abstinence-only education. He also tells of scientists being questioned about their political beliefs, voting records and support for presidential policies during interviews for committee appointments. Though he cites recent congressional bills supporting scientific integrity, these are only small flickers of hope in a dark partisan landscape. While much of this information has been reported previously, especially in Chris Mooney's 2005 bestseller, The Republican War on Science, Shulman's consolidation of these tales of manipulation, intimidation and deception makes for disquieting reading. (Jan.)

Among the world's most respected and feared intelligence services, the Israeli Mossad encompasses shadowy networks of katsas (case officers) often operating undercover, from Washington to Tehran to Beijing. The third update of this well-received book adds expanded sections on postinvasion Iraq, the black market in nuclear material, and other topics, tying up several loose ends from the earlier editions. Large portions remain unchanged, however, giving the book an uneven quality, as some chapters were written in 1994, some in 1999, some in 2004 and some last summer. Thomas's engrossing stories about assassinations, target surveillance and other skullduggery keep the pages turning, but the serious student of the Middle East may be put off by some purple prose, for example, about Saddam in incarceration: "His shaggy salt-and-pepper beard is trimmed once a week, enhancing his sharp, penetrating eyes.... But he will have an opportunity to state his case—more than he had ever allowed those he murdered." Skeptics will wonder what ulterior motives inspired Thomas's many tight-lipped sources to open up to him and will question their information, particularly regarding the more incredible conspiracy theories he writes about. Overall, however, Thomas provides a rare and valuable glimpse at the inner workings of a very secretive organization. (Jan.)

Bassist and journalist Goldsher chronicles the unexpected rise of Modest Mouse, the Washington State indie-rock band behind the infectiously upbeat 2004 single, "Float On." Like the previously published interviews from which this unauthorized biography was culled, this work spotlights sailor-mouthed, media-loathing front man Isaac Brock, whose songwriting knew much darker beginnings. A decade ago, the trio first built a healthy subgenre following with catchy, morbid and often nonsensical anthems. Brock later struggled with alcohol abuse, rape allegations that ultimately proved false and an assault that left him broken-jawed in the middle of a recording session. In a true-to-form darkest-before-dawn story, Brock served jail time for a DUI; drummer Jeremiah Green left the band for a mental hospital; and both coproducers walked away before Modest Mouse emerged with their most widely appealing album to date. Evoking the lore of Robert Johnson and Kurt Cobain, Goldsher attributes MM's allure partly to a "mythical" reputation Brock designed for himself as a notorious jerk to his fans as well as a starving-artist martyr. Goldsher cuts to the quick of the indie-rock scenester's antisellout, "hipper-than-thou" ethos in a style that's accessible and downright funny. While his reliance on secondhand sources and long-winded ruminations on individual songs may frustrate fans eager for new insight into the band member, Goldsher's book is an aptly titled jaunt through the MM story. (Dec.)

While older readers might not relate to Spencer's dramatic declaration ("I had woken up at age 23 to realize I was living a life I had never planned"), 20-somethings fresh out of college just might cotton to the latest in nanny memoirs as Spencer narrates her journey from cubicle to croissants, traveling to Paris in order to try her luck as an au pair for a wealthy Parisian family. Visions of shopping trips are quickly replaced with the more quotidian aspects of cooking, cleaning and caring for three children in a foreign country where a simple shopping trip can turn into an adventure. Spencer's portrait of the family she works for is not always flattering and can even become uncomfortable as she describes a particular evening sharing a meal and a couple of bottles of wine with the monsieur of the house. A week in the French countryside exposes Spencer to the highs and lows of country life, giving her a new appreciation for the overwhelming bustle of the city. In this light read, Spencer nicely describes the charm of Paris and the quirks of the French, but her constant surprise at being treated as an employee, as well as her repetitive descriptions of her love of espresso grows tiresome. (Dec.)