Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 11/6/2006

-- Publishers Weekly, 11/6/2006

NONFICTION

CHOICES UNDER FIRE: Moral Dimensions of World War II
Michael Bess. Knopf, $27.50 (400p) ISBN 9780307263650

Bess, who won the George Perkins Marsh prize in environmental history for his last book, The Light Green Society: Ecology and Technological Modernity in France 1960-2000, challenges the belief that WWII was modern history’s most righteous war. Pointing out that governments and individuals at war do not shelve their morality, he cites three areas where moral choices at all levels of power determined the nature of the war. Race was a central issue in Nazi policies of genocide, the mass internment of Japanese Americans and the segregation of English pubs to accommodate anti-black prejudice. Brutality developed after initial shock at air attacks on civilians gave way to acceptance of thousand-plane raids on cities and applause for the nuclear incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On a more positive note, Bess believes World War II generated a permanent commitment to developing international institutions committed to justice and humanity that rose above the nation-state. While choices in these areas were sometimes clear, he observes that they more often involved compromises, doubt and shame; the challenge was—and is—to choose compassion and cooperation above all. Highlighting both the enduring presence of free will, and the paradox that justice and ambiguity coexist, Bess reminds us that strong moral choices are always possible. Author Tour. (Nov. 10)

THE FROZEN SHIP: The Histories and Tales of Polar Exploration
Sarah Moss. Blue Bridge, $24.95 (244p) ISBN 9781933346038

Moss’s book is primarily a literary historical examination of the myth and reality of Antarctica and the Arctic from the point of view of European settlers and explorers, including the history of Norse settlements in Greenland; the expeditions of Parry, Nansen, Franklin and others; and Arctic myth and imagery in literature from the likes of Donne, Mary Shelley and Lewis Carroll. Well-written and interesting in terms of cultural criticism, Moss’s work suffers from a number of factual and bibliographic omissions. Part V, on the experience of European women in the Arctic and their interactions with Inuit women, presents new material and a point of view entirely absent from the writings of male explorers. But, when discussing the Norse in Greenland, she relies on ambiguous archaeological data from the 1920’s and 1930’s, ignoring newer, more conclusive research. University of Alberta research on the Franklin expedition is also ignored, and her discussion of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner fails to note that Coleridge met Samuel Hearne and had knowledge of his experiences in Northern Canada. Further, Moss admits that her own northernmost visits were to Tromsø, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, all markedly different in landscape and climate from the Siberian Coast, Greenland, and northern Canada; yet she writes as if her perceptions of these relatively benign places is correlative. Though worth reading for the casual historian, readers should bear in mind that the record here is far from complete. (Nov.)

GRANDMOTHERS COUNCIL THE WORLD: Wise Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet
Carol Schaefer. Shambhala/Trumpeter, $18.95 paper (160p) ISBN 9781590302934

In October, 2004, 13 grandmothers from around the world came together in a historic gathering, fulfilling an “ancient prophecy, known by many of the world’s indigenous tribes: ‘When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming.” This somewhat mystifying book documents that gathering, which also included such celebrities as novelist Alice Walker, feminist Gloria Steinem, former U.S. senator Carol Moseley Braun, and Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller, who are here called “women elders,” not “grandmothers,” despite their equally strong voice in the proceedings. The first half of the book consists of biographies of the “grandmothers” and “women elders,” followed by “guidance for our perilous times,” with sections on “prophecies,” “women’s wisdom,” “our mother earth,” “oppression,” “nature’s pharmacy,” and “prayer.” The advice is mostly valid, sometimes extreme, and generally predictable: “the imbalance of male and female energies could cause the destruction of …the Earth;” “the human race and all of nature is really one great family” that needs to live in peace together. Readers interested in indigenous female viewpoints may be intrigued, but Schafer’s writing style is so awkwardly journalistic that she makes even brilliant communicators like Steinem and Walker sound inarticulate. (Nov.)

MY FATHER IL DUCE: A Memoir by Mussolini’s Son
Romano Mussolini, translated from the Italian by Ana Stojanovic, intro. by Alexander Stille. Kales, $27.95 (190p) ISBN 9780967007687

Author Mussolini, a jazz pianist who toured with the likes of Chet Baker and Dizzy Gillespie, may not have shared entirely his father’s bellicose sensibility, but as the youngest son of Italian dictator Benito, Mussolini admits that he was entranced by his father’s stature and charisma—making for a complicated and conflicted memoir, a bestseller in Italy. Indeed, the introduction by Columbia professor Stille warns of the “half-truths, evasions, and self-deceptions that characterize this memoir,” a book “laced with a series of absurdly revisionist accounts … aimed principally at absolving Mussolini.” In the book’s first chapter, the author explains his two-pronged mission: “I wanted not only to share my memories as a son, but also … to help shed light on certain aspects of Il Duce’s life.” Only in the first endeavor—sharing details only a son “extremely attached to [his] father” could provide—does he really succeed: Benito was a captivating storyteller, a man of simple tastes (“he also liked boiled chicken quite a bit”) and, above all, a man whose children idolized him. As for shedding meaningful light on the towering figure, there is little Mussolini’s son can offer to mitigate history’s account of his father’s role as a war-mongering fascist. Perhaps in part because his father was so “skilled at keeping the public Mussolini and the private Mussolini separate,” it seems the author has no real grasp of his father’s real impact. It makes for an interestingly incomplete portrait of the reviled leader, and a more interesting self-portrait of faith, denial and the blinding power of a son’s love. (Nov.)

SCAMBUSTERS!: More than 60 Ways Seniors get Swindled and How They can Prevent It
Ron Smith. Collins, $14.95 paper (258p) ISBN 9780061120237

From health care shams to identity theft, Smith provides smart, straightforward ways to keep from being swindled, aimed at seniors but applicable to anyone. Smith, a business author in his early 70s, notes that because seniors make up the fastest growing demographic, and are generally perceived to be wealthy, “seniors are a major target for con artists.” The scams included run a wide gambit, from overcharging to identity theft to “lonely hearts” con men to work-at-home schemes. One of the biggest areas where seniors are vulnerable is in health care, and he includes a hefty chapter of health-related topics, including health clubs, living wills, medicare fraud, nursing homes, medical breakthroughs and prescription drug plans. Each scam profile includes an explanation of the scam, how to spot it and how to prevent it. He also uses real-life case studies to demonstrate how scams are pulled off, not only by con men but by telephone companies, web sites and investment advisors. “Awareness is the first line of defense against scams,” he writes in the preface, and this easy-to-read reference provides some powerful illumination. (Nov.)

WALT WHITMAN AND THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN CELEBRITY
David Haven Blake. Yale Univ., $35 (252p) ISBN 9780300110173

Smart without being dense, clever without being smarmy, this cultural history is an engaging, at times eye-opening read. Blake, an English professor at the College of New Jersey, views Walt Whitman and his work in relation to the rise of celebrity culture in the nineteenth century—the time of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Fanny Fern, and PT Barnum—paying particular attention to the emerging ideas of publicity, promotion, and society’s changing conceptions of fame. But this isn’t the story of Whitman’s personal experience of fame; as Blake points out, that would make for a slim volume. Rather, he writes, “Whitman’s relation to American celebrity is a story about how the poet’s thinking responded to the culture he observed developing around him.” While the book is emphatically not a work of literary criticism, it nonetheless offers new and enjoyable ways of reading Whitman’s work, particularly when viewed through the prism of advertising and self-promotion. For example, according to Blake, the most significant antebellum advertisements came from the patent medicine trade, and “‘Song of Myself’ directly invokes the language of patent medicine advertising in describing the poet’s astonishing impact.” To the many critics and students who idolize Whitman, this may seem nothing short of blasphemous, but Blake insists this shouldn’t be the case: “Whitman’s immersion in publicity does not rival or compromise the aspects of his work that readers have praised since the nineteenth century.” Indeed, this enlightening study elevates all involved, especially the dubious legacy of that perennial beast, the American idol. (Nov.)

WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN: Life in the Shadow of Watergate
Alicia C. Shepard. Wiley; $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780471737612

In this double career biography, Shepard takes one of the most famous and influential episodes in twentieth-century journalism and shows how it affected the lives of the two Washington Post reporters who gave it life, chronicling the lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein from their pre-Post days to the present. Using a plethora of interviews with all the leading characters, as well as newly-unearthed archives, Shepard picks up where Woodward and Bernstein’s All the President’s Men leaves off, filling in the parts of the story that have been obscured by that title’s massive popularity—”[m]any have misread their fascinating story as being the only story”—and providing welcome context through vivid cultural snapshots. Shepard shows how the long shadow of their first book and its blockbuster film adaptation led to the duo’s 1977 breakup, and how it haunted the rocky solo careers pursued by each. Separating the men from the myth, journalism professor Shepard provides an insightful, highly readable study for fans of journalism, U.S. politics and the work of “Woodstein.” (Nov.)

LIFESTYLE

THE BEAUTY BUYBLE: The Best Beauty Products 2007
Paula Conway and Maureen Regan. Regan, $13.95 paper (132p) ISBN 9780061172083

This guide to beauty cremes, lotions, powders, sticks and wands is like an extended magazine article in the best possible way: like many women’s glossies, it rates everything from lipstick to shampoo, but as a book, it’s more comprehensive; as a bonus, the book comes with a re-useable box bearing 33 product samples of items mentioned in the book. Beauty writer Conway and literary agent Regan surveyed experts, beauty editors and “real women” to find the best products for women’s hair, face and body. For each type of product, they list three or four favorite products that fall into various price categories (outrageous, high, medium, low). The writing is snappy (“this is a very groovy dryer because it comes in a super cool shade of blue”), and frequent third-person sidebars reveal the authors’ favorites, from nail polish that costs less than $5 to a bottle to a $38 lip balm made by Prada. (Nov.)

FOOD & BOOZE: A Tin House Literary Feast
Edited by Michelle Wildgen, illustrations by Nicole J. Georges. Tin House, $16.95 paper (272p) ISBN 9780977312771

Tin House magazine contributor Wildgen collects essays on apples and odes to martinis. In the provocatively titled “Up Your Goose with a Boneless Duck,” Chris Offutt describes an unusual dish he wanted to prepare for “a grand autumn feast” in Missoula, Mont. In “The End of Laughter,” Lan Samantha Chang recalls meals with an unnamed friend: “We ate for love, for sympathy and fun. We ate out of confusion and emptiness and lust. We ate our meals in public and kept our true hungers a secret.” Essays are supplemented with recipes for, among others, Steve’s Ultimate Maple Crunch Chicken Salad, Eggs with Mushrooms and Truffles, Khoresht Bademjan and Oxtail Soup with Porcini Mushrooms. Not all selections work as well. “Dinner with the Borgias: Power, Politics, Passion, Provender, and Poison in the Italian Renaissance,” by Lisa Grossman, proves less than satisfying, and Mark Statman’s “Mezcal” fails to gel. However, the bulk of the collection is a gourmand-worthy spread. (Nov.)

SOUTHERN HOMECOMING TRADITIONS: Recipes and Rememberences
Carolyn Quick Tillery. Citadel, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 9780806526836

The fourth installment in Tillery’s African-American Heritage Cookbook series (At Freedom’s Table, A Taste of Freedom), is similar in tone and style: each is really two books in one, a collection of regional recipes as well as a detailed examination of a particular facet of African-American history. In this volume, Tillery focuses on Atlanta’s African-American educational institutions: Morehouse, Spelman, Morris Brown and others. The historical information and accompanying photos are engaging in and of themselves, with detailed information about prominent alumni such as Spike Lee and Julian Bond, as well as less well-known graduates. But the recipes are what really set the book apart. The compilation of over 230 soups, appetizers, drinks, sides and main dishes is a sterling collection of Southern staples with a twist. Mustard Greens with Smoked Turkey, Pickled Black-Eyed Pea Dip and Honeyed Sweet Potato Chips—an ingenious combination of ground honey-roasted peanuts and thinly sliced sweet potatoes seasoned and baked—are just a few of the recipes begging for a turn in the kitchen. One of the hallmarks of southern cooking, and soul food in particular, is regional ingredients used to their fullest potential. Tillery’s book couldn’t exemplify that rule better: fresh peaches, for example, are used to give a piña colada a Southern kick, as an addition to salsa and as a sweetener in a mustard sauce for chicken wings. Even those who consider themselves well-versed in southern cooking will learn a thing or two from Tillery’s book, which deserves space on the shelf of any cook who’s serious about American cooking. (Nov.)

ILLUSTRATED

CENTURY GIRL: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies
Lauren Redniss. Regan, $34.95 (208p) ISBN 9780060853334

Similar in approach to a graphic novel, this biography-in-collage tackles the life of Ziegfeld Follies star Doris Eaton. Each page offers a wild mix of illustrations, doodles, photos and memorabilia from Eaton’s archives, accompanied by handwritten text outlining her fascinating life, which comes across like something out of the musical Gypsy. Born in 1904 to a theatre-crazed Virginia family, Eaton was cast in New York’s famous Follies at age 14, appeared in numerous silent films, worked for years as a dance instructor and earned her college degree at age 88. New York Times contributor Redniss’s surrealist scrapbook approach is striking and unique, captivating readers by twining simple, evocative text with a stunning array of images, splaying words at all angles across the page; though this slows reading, the forced pace gives readers more opportunity to appreciate the book’s charms. A worthy experiment in the genre, the visual approach takes precedence over a considered analysis of Eaton’s life and career, but interview material with the vivacious showgirl survivor grounds the story. Appropriately, it’s an elaborate (and, in the case of the forthcoming limited edition, pricey) spectacle heavy on opulent ocular flash, lighter on substance, and perfect for fans of the Follies. (Nov.)

U.F.O.
Chris Noble, Caleb Scott, Jack Warren and Alex Wright. PowerHouse, $35 (196p) ISBN 9781576873342

Four authors from the Combustive Motor Corporation, a New York-based artist collaborative, journey through the streets and alleys of New York City in search of works by UFO, “one of the city’s most elusive and prolific graffiti artists,” famous for a ubiquitous, deceptively simple glyph: a balloon-headed extraterrestrial riding in a flying saucer. What they find goes far beyond the confines of cheeky vandalism or artist monograph; this illustrated volume also unearths historic evidence of extraterrestrial sightings in the far-flung corners of the world, from ancient paintings in antipodal caves, to Los Angeles street art from the early 1940s. The basic image of the alien is constant: a round head with beady eyes; thin arms and torso; and a saucer-shaped rocket-ship propelled by flickering flames. Like expert sleuths, the authors analyze each specimen, identifying commonalties in color, symmetry, material and surface. Included are photos of the art and the investigation, reproduced notes, a pull-out “Field Guide to UFO Classification,” and letters from the authors to such thinkers and artists as Stephen Hawking, Darryl McCray and David Bowie. No answers are provided, but the imagery is provocative and the scope of artistic and scientific inquiry is stunning—appealing to math and religion, to aboriginal dreams and shamans, to Tesla and Jung—the results of which make for compulsive page-flipping and disquieting rumination. (Nov.)

FICTION

EMPIRE
Orson Scott Card. Tor, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 9780765316110

Right-wing rhetoric trumps the logic of story and character in this near-future political thriller about a red-state vs. blue-state American civil war, an implausibly plotted departure from Card’s bestselling science fiction (Ender’s Game, etc.). When the president and vice-president are killed by domestic terrorists (of unknown political identity), a radical leftist army calling itself the Progressive Restoration takes over New York City and declares itself the rightful government of the United States. Other blue states officially recognize the legitimacy of the group, thus starting a second civil war. Card’s heroic red-state protagonists, Maj. Reuben “Rube” Malek and Capt. Bartholomew “Cole” Coleman, draw on their Special Ops training to take down the extremist leftists and restore peace to the nation. The action is overshadowed by the novel’s polemical message, which Card tops off with an afterword decrying his own politically-motivated exclusion from various conventions and campuses, the “national media elite” and the divisive excesses of both the right and the left. (Nov.)

GUILTY PLEASURES
Donna Hill. St. Martins, $19.95 (246p) ISBN 9780312354213

With “fifty published titles to her credit,” Hill checks in with a tepid offering of R-rated crime. Eva and Jake Kelly, an oversexed Manhattan couple who have glamorous day-jobs in the respective worlds of fashion and luxury car sales, moonlight as a high-rolling, con-artist power-couple. Together with Jake’s brother Jinx, an expert hacker, and Eva’s cousin Rita, a master forger, they embark on one last heist that’ll net them enough to retire forever. The requisite crosses and double-crosses involve smuggled diamonds, the FBI and suave South American villains, and proceed at a pace about equal to the speed of the cruise ship on which they all end up. Hill (Getting Hers) injects some emotion into the characters’s various inter-relations and motivations, but dialog is flat (“You have forced me to respect you, beautiful Rita,” says slick thug Xavier Suarez as the two hold off from having sex), and various short sex scenes fail to gloss the lack of meaningful complication. (Nov.)

AUDIO

CHUCK KLOSTERMAN IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
Chuck Klosterman, read by the author. S&S Audio, abridged, five CDs, 5.5 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 9780743554299

Esquire columnist Klosterman may remind listeners of a slacker holding forth at a tailgate party or over a game of beer pong. Klosterman has imbibed a lot of lowbrow culture in his young career and the tone of his sentences are a blend of jaded and amused, with a voice both nasal and deep. The strongest material in this uneven collection of pop culture essays are his celebrity profiles, in which Klosterman employs an offbeat narrative energy. Unfortunately, there is a jarring effect in these pieces when audio actors stand in for the interviewed celebrities such as Britney Spears, Val Kilmar, Oliver Stone and NBA star Steve Nash. The audiobook concludes with a short story, which Klosterman also narrates. Having listened to the author as himself for almost four hours, it’s hard to accept him as the first-person narrator of his own fictional protagonist. In the end, Klosterman IV offers up a casual and relaxed style, but the narration is only as engaging as the material, which unfortunately becomes increasingly ragged as the collection unfolds. Simultaneous release with the Scribner hardcover (Reviews, May 29). (Sept.)

A SPOT OF BOTHER
Mark Haddon, read by Charles Keating. Random House Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 9780739341506

If the reader were to give a voice to Haddon’s protagonist, it would sound just like Keating’s. George is an introverted, mild-mannered 61-year-old newly retired Brit who wants to ignore the emotional undertow of his conventional, middle-class family. Without trying to act out the characters, Keating clearly delineates each: George’s wife (who is having an affair), his daughter (who is about to embark on another disastrous marriage), her fiancé (whose cockney accent highlights class antagonisms) and his son (who fears bringing his male lover to the wedding). To avoid the family fracas, George focuses on his eczema—the "spot of bother" of the title—convinced that it is cancer and that he will die soon. Keating tries to establish a lighthearted tone, but Haddon’s descriptions of the characters’ misery, especially George’s rapid descent into madness, are too graphic to be comical. Tone aside, Haddon writes well and Keating reads well, so many listeners will enjoy this contemporary British family portrait in which everyone will live relatively happily ever after—if only they can learn to communicate with one another. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, July 17). (Sept.)