Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 4/23/2007

-- Publishers Weekly, 4/23/2007

NONFICTION

BIG MEDICINE FROM SIX NATIONS
Ted Williams. Syracuse Univ., $29.95 (256p) ISBN 9780815608639

Native American healer Williams (1930-2005) shares incredible stories of vision quests, songs of power and the healing abilities of Indian Medicine in the follow-up to his much-lauded 1976 title, The Reservation. A member of the Tuscarora Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy, Williams gives the unitiated a fascinating glimpse through the Longhouse door into Iroquois history and spiritualism. The reader learns of the Peacemaker, who founded the Iroquois Confederacy; of Hiawatha, who cured all psychological illness; of the Great Law of the Great Peace; and of the Thanksgiving Address that starts and ends each ceremonial event. Williams explains how Indian Medicine is a cross-discipline ability—at once physical, spiritual and psychical—to tap into and use the energy of the universe. Many of these short tales involve the supernatural world: witches, ghosts, scrying, shape shifting, energy spots and healing by hands; for instance, Williams relates the time he healed his own back—broken in an encounter with a falling tree—with energy from his hands. Williams provides many such compelling, campfire-story glimpses into everyday events of Iroquois society that modern Americans would consider something close to miraculous. This enjoyable read will prove both challenging and heartening for those with an open mind. (Apr.)

BIG PAPI: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits
David Ortiz with Tony Massarotti. St. Martin's, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780312366339

"If you hear something bad about David Ortiz, it's a lie." So says Ortiz's former teammate Torri Hunter, summing up the general consensus on Ortiz, one of baseball's most beloved superstars. With help from Boston Herald columnist Massarotti, Ortiz tells his tale: growing up poor in the Dominican Republic, struggling through the minor leagues in an unfamiliar country and ultimately finding success as a late-inning hero for the Boston Red Sox. Alternating between Massarotti's third-person summaries and Ortiz's first-person accounts, the book paints a portrait of Ortiz as confident and driven, despite the doubt of scouts and managers. Even though he relies on clichés ("Life is unpredictable, bro") and occasionally mismanages a sentence, Ortiz's voice is charming—even glowing—throughout. Ortiz's affability makes the book a quick read, but devoid of dirt or controversy; though he does air grievances toward the Minnesota Twins, who first changed his swing before releasing him, Oritz gives Twins general manager Terry Ryan space to explain his decisions. A good book by a good guy, this will please fans, but won't reveal much they don't already know. (Apr.)

A CROWD OF ONE: The Future of Individual Identity
John Henry Clippinger. PublicAffairs, $25 (272p) ISBN 9781586483678

Why do drivers warn people they'll never meet of police traps by flashing their lights? How did eBay's community of trust make it victorious over the competition? Why do terrorists tend to come from richer, better educated families? These are some of the questions posed by Clippinger, a senior fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. Calling on philosophers, scientists and economists for support, Clippinger looks to human evolution for answers, and expounds on how human phenomena like language and social customs evolved not for individual advancement, but for the benefit of the group. Along the way, the author finds evolutionary forces at work in Renaissance Florence and Enlightenment-era Edinburgh, the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes in the presidency of George W. Bush and the genius of the human immune system in the case of identity fraud Mark Spengler. Despite the data-heavy material, Clippinger has a breezy pace, an impressive breadth of knowledge and a knack for clear explanation that recalls Malcolm Gladwell. The volume's prime weakness is its overbroad range; Clippinger leaves no doubt he's willing to ask interesting questions, but without a central thesis it's hard to hook a reader—much less a crowd. (Apr.)

Paul L. Williams. Prometheus, $25 (300p) ISBN 9781591025085

Islamic Jihadists have replaced the Soviets in the American nightmare of nuclear annihilation, and journalist/author Williams is back to report that such a scenario is closer at hand than one (or one's government) might think. Picking up where his last few titles left off (2006's Dunces of Doomsday, '05's The Al Qaeda Connection, '04's Osama's Revenge), Williams reveals the underlying narrative of news updates on terrorist activity, tying isolated acts to bin Laden's overall strategy to carry out an "American Hiroshima." Among profiles of purported Al Qaeda supporters (including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Brazil's Lula de Silva), Williams examines interesting items like bin Laden's alleged location(a small village in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier); Al Qaeda's purchase of a nuclear "suitcase bomb," a Soviet leftover; and the role of Pakistan's Interservice Intelligence in the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (allegedly investigating nuclear trafficking between Al Qaeda and a Pakistani scientist). Though absorbing, Williams' approach reduces the proponents of Islamic jihad to violent, irrational stereotypes rather than exploring their worldview. A noteworthy guide to the workings of Islamic terrorism, this volume's colorful style obscures its serious intent. (Apr.)

FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE
Howard Gardner. Harvard Business, $24.95 (196p) ISBN 9781591399124

Psychologist, author and Harvard professor Gardner (Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons) has put together a thought-provoking, visionary attempt to delineate the kinds of mental abilities ("minds") that will be critical to success in a 21st century landscape of accelerating change and information overload. Gardner's five minds—disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical—are not personality types, but ways of thinking available to anyone who invests the time and effort to cultivate them: "how we should use our minds." In presenting his "values enterprise," Gardner uses a variety of explanatory models, from developmental psychology to group dynamics, demonstrating their utility not just for individual development, but for tangible success in a full range of human endeavors, including education, business, science, art, politics and engineering. A tall order for a single work, Gardner avoids overly-technical arguments as well as breezy generalizations, putting to fine use his twenty years experience as a cognitive science researcher, author and educator, and proving his world-class reputation well-earned. Though specialists might wish Gardner dug a bit more into the research, most readers will find the book lively and engaging, like the fascinating lectures of a seasoned, beloved prof. (Apr.)

GRANDE EXPECTATIONS: A Year in the Life of Starbucks' Stock
Karen Blumenthal. Crown Business, $24.95 (272p) ISBN 9780307339713

Blumenthal, a business journalist with more than 25 years of experience, puts her prodigious talents to work distilling a solid drama from the 2005 stock performance of steaming-hot coffee company Starbucks. Having been given access to the Starbucks' corporate office, the annual shareholders' meeting and other inner sanctums, Blumenthal (Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX) provides an outside expert's colorful, considered viewpoint on the caffeinated personalities behind the company's success, and the stock they propel, during a particularly tumultuous year: Hurricane Stan in Central America, a Starbucks stock split and the IPO of rival Caribou Coffee. Alongside prescient data analysis, Blumenthal provides intriguing glimpses of the culture: "[S]hareholders huddled around tables bulging with stacks of muffins… [and] lined up ten deep at espresso bars. Emergency medical personnel actually tended to an older man who appeared to be having heart problems." Blumenthal's transition between statistics and scenes of corporate color can be abrupt, but the intimate detail into which she delves makes this book stand out from the business-profile pack, and it's got enough narrative finesse to make it a fun read for both committed investors and the NYSE-curious. (Apr.)

THE POLITICS OF LIFE: 25 Rules for Survival in a Brutal and Manipulative World
Craig Crawford. Rowman & Littlefield, $17.95 (176p) ISBN 9780742552500

Washington journalist and author Crawford (Attack the Messenger) gives Machiavelli a user-friendly 21st century update with this guide to life's struggles for the unwary, the good-natured and the "never met a man I didn't like" gang. Though his perception of the world and his cautionary stance can be glum, Crawford's wisdom, for the most part, is unarguable. A veteran of the barracuda business world, he regales readers with Art of War-like rules from the get-go: "Life is a Filthy Battle," "A True Enemy Should Be Eliminated, Never Tolerated" and "Never Postpone the Inevitable Conflict" among them. The author maintains that people often follow Machiavelli's militant advice without considering the philosopher's admonitions for balance: "People get their way simply by asserting something…with believable-sounding support," whether or not it's true, "manipulating people…not unlike training dogs." To buck up for the fight, Crawford encourages "a positive outlook on pain will help you ease the harm that you must occasionally do to another…cast the experience on character-building." Though his advice isn't groundbreaking, Crawford is adept in his use of anecdotes to illustrate tough truths in a logical framework, providing excellent advice for launching endeavors, moving in a positive direction, surviving the scoundrels and embracing life. Crawford's tone can be harsh, but the slight flinching reaction one might begin with segues to enjoyment and identification as Crawford presents recognizable real-life scenarios, prompting plenty ah-ha moments of practical discovery. (Apr.)

SCANDALS, VANDALS, AND DAVINCIS: A Gallery of Remarkable Art Tales
Harvey Rachlin. Penguin, $14 paper (368p) ISBN 9780143038351

Readers may find an entirely new appreciation for art and its creators after reading Rachlin's dishy tales of the people behind and beyond 26 famous canvases. Using Caraveggio's David with the Head of Goliath, Rachlin explores how an artist might "deal on canvas with his own emotional crisis," in this case the years Caravaggio spent as a fugitive following a victorious (but deadly) duel. In A Convalescent, a painting by artist James Tissot, Rachlin sees an artist "unwittingly predict[ing] on canvas the strange circumstances that…befall him many years later," a story of love, death and the supernatural. And using the Mona Lisa, Rachlin deconstructs the perfect crime: the masterpiece's 1911 heist from the Louvre. The only problem with this fun title are the black and white painting reproductions, which make Rachlin's frequently hyper-detailed descriptions a bit frustrating. Still, it's an entertaining read full of good, gossipy tales for art aficionados or those interested in sounding like one. (Apr.)

THE SHAPE OF LOVE: Discovering Who We Are, Where We Came From, and Where We're Going

Masaru Emoto, trans. from the Japanese by Noriko Hosoyamada. Doubleday, $18.95 (160p) ISBN 9780385518376

Even the most open-minded reader will become frustrated with Emoto's follow-up to his bestseller, The Hidden Messages in Water, in which he observed how different conditions—in particular, the exposure of water samples to different words, thoughts and feelings—influence the formation of ice crystals. Here, Emoto explains the metaphysical implications of those observations, and proves too fascinating by half; certainly, mysteries at the core of modern physics might be elucidated if his results were replicated by other researchers, indicating an empirical link between human thought and what we perceive as material reality. But the "doctor of alternative medicine" jumps the gun, stretching those untested results to the breaking point in the service of broad and ultimately unsupportable conclusions. Though the moral philosophy he offers is in fact laudable, it isn't clear at all how it stems from his examination of ice crystals; the same can be said for the cosmology explicated in the book's second half. Though readers may find some inspiration, Emoto's decision to ground so much far-out speculation in scientific observation will turn off any serious researcher who might wish to reproduce Emoto's admittedly fascinating experiments. (Apr.)

SIX WORDS YOU NEVER KNEW HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH PIGS: And Other Fascinating Facts about the English Language
Katherine Barber. Penguin, $13 paper (224p) ISBN 9780143038122

Editor-in-chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and celebrated word nerd Barber has put together a suitably snappy compendium of word origins. Organized by seasons, this snore-free guide to etymology presents more than 500 paragraph-long histories on everything from sports terms to teen-speak to Yiddish. Curious minds will learn that the modern definition of "bidet" comes from the 1300s French verb "bider," meaning "to trot"; the bathroom fixture in the 1750s took the name because of the straddling action one performs while using it. The word "dunce" was derived from the name of a once-revered medieval theologian, John Duns Scotus, who fell out of favor; his disciples were called "Duns men" or "Dunses" for short. And who knew that the first recorded usage of the phrase "as if" was in Frank Morris's 1903 novel The Pit (" 'Maybe he'll come up and speak to us.' 'Oh, as if,' contradicted Laura. ")? No matter what word she puts under the microscope, Barber clearly takes its history seriously, but her light, witty descriptions make each discovery a pleasure. Ideal for dinner party discussions or bathroom reading. (Apr.)

WATCH THIS, LISTEN UP, CLICK HERE: Inside the 300 Billion Dollar Business Behind the Media You Constantly Consume
David Verklin and Bernice Kanner. Wiley, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780470056431

Billed as a "user's manual for understanding the media around you," authors Verklin and Kanner (1949-2006) deliver a largely stale barrage of data-laced anecdotes outlining the techniques that marketing and advertising pros employ to capture your attention and dollars. Verklin, CEO of the independent media buying firm Carat, and Kanner, a marketing expert and author (The Super Bowl of Advertising), test the stability of old media marketing pillars—newspaper ads, television ratings services, blocks of TV commercials—and find they're collapsing under pressure from online services like Craigslist and commercial-excising technology like Tivo. At the same time, the authors demonstrate the marketing bonanza available to firms willing to push the envelope. Examples of niche marketing and experimental strategies for it abound: Google has diversified, using not just a search engine, but maps, e-mail, spreadsheets and the like to deliver customers to its advertisers; the U.S. Army has made video games the 21st century recruitment poster; and even the venerable New Yorker recently experimented with a lone-advertiser model, in which Target bought an entire issue's worth of ads. Unfortunately, this book doesn't pull back the curtain very far. This catalog of trends is more like a paean to the industry than a look inside it, with pedestrian observations (Wikipedia as "Darwinian process," "the embodiment of the Web's potential and a roadmap for knowledge creation") filling in for fresh insight. (Apr.)

 WATCHING BASEBALL SMARTER: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-Experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
Zack Hample. Vintage, $13.95 paper (272p) ISBN 9780307280329

"Professional fan" Hample (How to Snag Major League Baseballs), who falls squarely in the "deeply serious geek" category, has put together an invaluable resource for armchair fans. A former college shortstop, four-time attendee of Bucky Dent's Baseball School and an obsessive baseball collector, Hample covers basics like what to watch for in pitchers, catchers, hitters, fielders and base runners; he also provides answers to such nagging questions as why spectators stretch in the seventh inning and why most ballplayers grab their crotches. He explains the difference between a change-up and a split-finger fastball, breaks down a box score and offers an extensive glossary of baseball slang that defines both a "courtesy trot" and a "dying quail." Other sections address free agency and fair balls, umpires and uniform numbers, stadiums and superstitions. Trivia abounds, including the names of the 10 switch hitters honored in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and a record of inside-the-park homeruns. Hample hits the equivalent of a reference-book homerun with his witty, loose and readable style—taking a friendly for-a-fan-by-a-fan approach that doesn't hide his enormous depth of knowledge. Highly recommended for baseball watchers, Hample also schools amateur players and coaches with well-illustrated examples of some complex pitching, hitting and base-running scenarios. (Apr.)

WHAT BECOMES YOU
Aaron Raz Link and Hilda Raz. Univ. of Nebraska, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 9780803210813

A blend of essay, memoir and intergenerational dialogue, this title is stranger—and smarter—than the average transsexual memoir. Link narrates his transition from female to male over the first 200 pages, interspersed with his views on everything from taxonomy to the difference between L.A. and Nebraska. His writing is hilarious, thoughtful and often poetic, but also frequently challenging. Discussing the general-knowledge concept that transsexuals feel "trapped" in their bodies, he points out that "If I'd dealt with my discomfort by getting rid of my body, I would now be dead." He deftly avoids gender stereotypes at the same time he demonstrates the new chance at life his transformation has given him. Link's mom, Raz, takes over for the next 100 pages, reflecting on her part in her daughter's transformation, her feelings and how they've changed, and her eventual acceptance of the son Link became. Even without the narrative hijacking two-thirds through, Link and Raz's book is a weird one; Link's looping narrative and lectures about gender theory see to that. The last 100 pages turn the book into a dialogue on any number of topics, including feminism, politics and, of course, the bonds of family. The result is oddly moving, more illuminating and memorable than a straightforward memoir could have been. (Apr.)

WHERE'S MY JETPACK? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived
Daniel H. Wilson. Bloomsbury, $14.95 paper (192p) ISBN 9781596911369

Clinically depressed fans of Star Trek and The Jetsons, take heart: the future you've been dreaming of—ray guns, robot maids, unisex jumpsuits, space vacations—is ready for production. Sort of. That's the premise of this tongue-in-cheek look at all the techno-wonders that 21st century man was promised by sci-fi dreamers of the past. In his introduction, author and robotics expert Wilson (How to Survive a Robot Uprising) sets forth a pledge: "If the technology is possible—even remotely so—this book will lay it out," gamely ignoring "any potentially catastrophic consequences." Happily, this Ph.D. isn't trading in idle speculation; among plenty of jokes and silliness he deals in solid—and fascinating—science. For instance, it turns out that teleportation can work, and in fact already has: exploiting an obscure (and complicated) rule of quantum physics, scientists achieved, under lab conditions, the teleportation of a single photon in 1993. Wilson goes on to explain (or debunk) much-anticipated wonders like robot pets, food pills and cryogenic freezing ("the chance of being reborn in the future as a brain-dead humanoid zombie surely beats having no chance at all"). Though readers of this slim guide may not be inspired to "raise your voice, and demand your personal jetpack," it's got plenty of encouragement and info for frustrated futurists. (Apr.)

LIFESTYLE

THE DEEN BROTHERS COOKBOOK: Recipes from the Road
Jamie and Bobby Deen with Melissa Clark. Meredith, $24.95 (224p) ISBN 9780696233968

Fans of Food Network personality Paula Deen are well acquainted with her sons Jamie and Bobby through her program, as well as their own culinary travel show, "Road Tasted." This companion piece to the series recounts their visits to mom-and-pop establishments across the country, alongside the Deens' own take on featured establishments' signature dishes. Readers need not be familiar with the program to find the book useful, as the brothers offer a selection of dishes ranging from regional specialties such as Lobster Rolls and Brats to Truffles and Rosemary Lamb Chops. Some recipes, such as a basic cole slaw, require little preparation, and more involved recipes like Crab Corn Cakes with Basil-Jalapeno Sauce are still relatively easy to prepare. The book's focus on specific locales and their dishes elevates it a step above most of its type; instead of offering a basic recipe for grits, for example, the Deens offer a twist: two ounces of goat cheese. Traditional thumbprint cookies benefit from ground pecans incorporated into dough which is then rolled in chopped pecans; and corn bread is greatly enhanced by the chopped bacon and sautéed apples folded into the batter. These memorable touches guarantee that this cookbook quickly becomes dog-eared from regular use. (Apr.)

ELEMENTS OF THE TABLE
Lynn Rosen. Clarkson Potter, $15.95 (128p) ISBN 9780307339331

In her introduction to this slim dining etiquette reference, author Rosen (The Dinner Table) sets the tone: "It is one thing to possess elegant tableware, it is quite another to know how to put it to proper use." While she certainly covers basics like setting places and wrangling utensils, it's her passion for trivia that sets the book apart. Readers will learn that that the tradition of giving a gift spoon to an infant originated in the Middle Ages, that Cardinal Richelieu introduced the concept of the butter knife in 17th Century France (he found sharp knives to be threatening), and that the wife of President Grover Cleveland found it necessary to melt down Dolly Madison's silver to have it molded into a new design. Rounded out with a list of common dining mistakes and step-by-step instructions for a handful of different napkin folds, Rosen's primer on entertaining and dining with decorum is a welcome reference. (Apr.)

WHEN HE'S MARRIED TO MOM: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts to True Love and Commitment
Kenneth M. Adams with Alexander P. Morgan. Fireside, $14 paper (288p) ISBN 9780743291385

Psychologist Adams and scientist/writer Morgan revisit territory covered in Adams' first book, Silently Seduced: parents and children becoming too close. Here they focus on "men who have excessive emotional ties to their mothers. They feel trapped, guilty, and disloyal when attempting to follow their own wishes and lead their own lives." Half of the chapters are dedicated to case histories from Adams' psychological practice, outlining seven species of mother-enmeshed men (MEM): commitment-phobe, womanizer, perpetual adolescent, burned-out caretaker, cybersex addict, disappointed hero and lost man. These are followed by a questionnaire designed to determine if the reader is an MEM, and a chapter on seeking therapy. The final third of the book is dedicated to advice: for MEM to improve their interpersonal relationships, for women romantically involved with MEM, and for parents who want to avoid raising MEM. Authors Adams and Morgan offer a logical and practical survey of the Oedipus complex in the modern world. (Mar.)

FICTION

MONTANO'S MALADY
Enrique Vila-Matas, trans. from The Spanish by Jonathan Dunne. New Directions, $14.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9780811216289

The specter of Borges hangs heavily over this inventive novel by Vila-Matas (Bartleby & Co.). The title refers to "literature-sickness," an affliction suffered acutely by the narrator, a famous Spanish writer named José Cardoso Pires, who publishes under his mother's name, Rosario Girondo. The Borgesian tropes, doubles and doppelgängers multiply from there. Presented as pieces of a diary, the book's five parts include a "nouvelle" titled "Montano's Malady"; a memoiristic account of the nouvelle's genesis; a biographical dictionary of the narrator's influences; diatribes at the perceived betrayals by his wife, Rosa; his friend, Tongoy; and by art. The entire novel is suffused with quotations and reflections on the diary form as an alternative to the fiction that the narrator (who travels frequently) is blocked from writing. The diary's fictionality pushes these claims into a narrative mise en-abyme, one from which the action never emerges. From the very first page, Vila-Matas embeds clauses as deeply as he embeds his characters' identities in hallucinatory sets of relations. While the exhaustion of this kind of metafiction is one of his themes, it doesn't save the book from its own devices. (May)

OVER HER HEAD
Shelley Bates. Warner/FaithWords, $12.99 paper (304p) ISBN 9780446694933

When a 14-year-old girl dies in a mysterious drowning accident quickly ruled a homicide, the small town of Glendale and its tight-knit Christian community are thrown into chaos. Laurie Hale, the respected leader of the local women's Bible study group, is not only the woman who found the body but also the mother of Anna Hale—one of the prime suspects in the case. As the town rumor mill kicks into high gear, Laurie's confidence in her daughter's innocence begins to crumble. Waves of guilt threaten to take Laurie under, but "She had to trust her daughter. She had to. Otherwise their family would splinter and fall apart." As Laurie's worst fears about Anna seem to become a reality, the narrative begins to take on a soap opera feel, with Bates (A Sounding Brass) coming down heavy on the teen drama and corresponding parental angst. Though the setting, plot and characters may feel familiar to the mystery genre, readers will likely get swept up in Bates's story anyway, wanting to know just as badly as Laurie and company: who really killed Miranda Peizer? (May)

SUNRISE
Karen Kingsbury. Tyndale, $13.99 paper (350p) ISBN 9780842387477

Welcome back to Bloomington, Ind., where some of Kingsbury's most popular Christian novels are set. Kingsbury's latest feel-good offering launches a new four-book series to follow the Baxter Family Dramas, which have nearly two million copies in print. She introduces a few new faces and follows familiar characters like the Baxters through their mostly sunny lives. Unfortunately, the plot is all but nonexistent. Hunky actor Dayne Matthews and the lovely Katy Hart are engaged to be married, but they face a dilemma: how to plan a private wedding that won't be overrun by reporters desperate for a shot of the Hollywood heartthrob tying the knot. Dayne hires a Tinseltown wedding planner who specializes in secret star nuptials, although Katy frets that keeping the wedding hush-hush may necessitate deceiving some close friends and relatives. Meanwhile, Jim Flanigan, football coach at Clear Creek High, suspects his players are drinking and tries to crack down. Inspirational platitudes litter the pages ("Jim already knew the possibilities. Now it was a matter of trusting God for the outcome"). Readers new to Kingsbury will have a little trouble keeping the characters straight and figuring out the backstory, but her many fans will relish this visit with old and new friends, despite the clichés. (May)

THE WARS OF THE GREEN BERETS: Amazing Stories from Vietnam to the Present
Robin Moore and Michael Lennon. Skyhorse (Sterling, dist.), $12.95 paper (240p) ISBN 9781602390546

Moore's 1965 bestseller The Green Berets helped bring the army's special forces to the U.S. collective consciousness; here he collaborates with special ops staff officer Lennon for this disappointing historical that traces the "Shadow Warriors" from their early days in Vietnam to Operation Desert Storm (1991), Somalia (1993), Afghanistan (2001) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003). Each conflict furnishes the setting for a discrete story of special operations units in combat, the stories loosely linked by a handful of recurring characters. Mike Apin, for example, fights as a young draftee at Dak Pek, a besieged special forces camp in Vietnam; he turns up in Afghanistan with the 5th special forces group fighting alongside native tribesmen and surfaces again in Iraq in 2003 with the CIA searching for WMD sites. The episodes are fictionalizations of real anecdotes gathered by Moore and Lennon, but character, plot and dialogue (on Iraq: "This is going to degenerate into an insurgency against us and probably civil war") get short shrift. Readers interested in the exploits of special forces are better served by recent nonfiction accounts like Linda Robinson's Masters of Chaos and Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts. (May)