Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 6/18/2007

-- Publishers Weekly, 6/18/2007

NONFICTION

AWKWARD: A Detour
Mary Cappello. Bellevue Literary (Consortium, dist.), $16.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9781934137017

This vivid collection from English professor Cappello (Night Bloom) is a rare and insightful series of meditations that takes readers to Russia, Italy and Australia, through the literary and cultural landscape, and into the uncomfortable corners of the human condition: "Why is there nothing more right, in terms of an image of awkwardness, than shoes on the wrong feet?" Titling each short essay with a single evocative word ("Spasmodic," "Untoward," "Tactless," "Jamesian"), the author finds more than 70 ways to approach her subject, from Emily Dickinson's "efforts to perfect an awkward idiom" to Capello's accidentally eating dog treats in Northern Italy. The huge range of experiences here prove endlessly fascinating, and her prose never loses its grace or delicacy, even as she suffers the embarrassment of a party faux pas: "a wringing of hands to the tune of the memory of my insensitive blurt." With keen skills of observation and careful attention to language, Capello has crafted an elegant illustration of her conclusion that "awkwardness isn't something to grow out of but to grow into." (June)

BAD GIRLS: 26 Writers Misbehave
Edited by Ellen Sussman. Norton, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780393064636

In 26 hit-or-miss essays, women writers provide confessions ranging from the mildly naughty (Roxana Robinson forging a parental permission slip during high school) to the grimly personal (Jennifer Gilmore suffering from acute bulimia). Few of these writers cop to behavior that is genuinely, inexcusably bad (none are currently languishing in prison), but many of these stories prove intriguing and occasionally brave, nonetheless. Joyce Maynard explains her reasons for penning a memoir about her long-ago love affair with J.D. Salinger (she calls him "Jerry"), and Laura Lipmann's hilarious tale of employee abuse recounts the months of spite-fueled work at a newspaper that produced some of her best articles. Pam Houston writes movingly of the complicated relationship she shared with her late father, and Kaui Hart Hemmings's sharp "Author Questionnaire" pokes fun at the self-involved world of San Francisco moms. Though the themes are familiar (Susan Casey's Christmastime blues especially so), and some essays could have used more fine-tuning (Tobin Levy's point gets lost among an entertaining catalog of former lovers), this is a lively assortment with enough variety to hook a wide range of readers. (July)

THE DIANA CHRONICLES
Tina Brown. Doubleday, $27.50 (560p) ISBN 9780385517089

Princess Diana was "the best thing to happen" to the British royals "since the restoration of Charles II," concludes Brown in this dishy biography, and the royal family's error was not realizing that. It's tough to pigeonhole a peacock, but Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, tries, calling the late Diana a diva, "a siren of subversion" who "even as a small girl… had been dangerous when hurt." Brown shows how Diana excelled at manipulating the media; her in-laws could only stand by helplessly as she captivated the cameras by batting her eyes or lowering them in her trademark "Shy Di" look. So enamored of herself was Diana, according to Brown, that she claimed not to understand why a certain cardiologist preferred his work at the hospital to seeing after her. Brown interviewed more than 250 people, from Mikhail Baryshnikov (who found the late Princess "so much more beautiful than any photographs or TV") to a friend of Diana's late mother, who says that mum disapproved of her daughter's too hasty royal marriage and tried talking her out of it. In the battle of unpleasant revelations made by both sides in the Di-Charles battles, Brown speculates that Squidgy-gate was the product of MI5 bugging the royal phones. Brown gives her book a tabloid-lingo touch and can fall into melodrama (while everyoneo saw Di's life as a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, the author says, it "was becoming more like something out of Hitchcock"), but then, given the nature of the subject matter, a little melodrama is entirely fitting. However, the final portrait of Diana as a heroine who broke free of the royal bonds and changed the monarchy forever will be familiar to most readers. (June 12)

EXPOSING THE REAL CHE GUEVARA: And the Useful Idiots who Idolize Him
Humberto Fontova. Sentinel. $23.95 (256p) ISBN 9781595230270

Fontova gets right to the work of debunking familiar notions of Argentinan revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevera; by the end of the preface, he's pinned 14,000 executions on Guevera and credited positive portrayals to the public relations work of Castro and the laziness of biographers. The critical attack continues throughout, combining the testimonies of former revolutionaries and Cuban refugees to assemble a damning portrait of a man lauded by everyone from Jean-Paul Sartre to Jon Lee Anderson. According to Fontova, the real Che was "a revolutionary Ringo Starr" who "fell in with the right bunch and rode their coattails to world fame." Presenting a failed physician, an inept guerrilla and a hapless sycophant, Fontova adds insult to injury by claiming Che was "deathly afraid to drive a motorcycle." Fontova's charged language keeps things interesting, if occasionally dubious; midway through the book, after asserting that Che enjoyed killing dogs, Fontova concedes that, "You might put down your book here and think, this has to be propaganda." Though propaganda probably colors any consideration of this controversial figure, Fontova makes a convincing case that, in the words of one former political prisoner, "There was something seriously wrong with Che Guevera." (May)

HAPPIER: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment
Tal Ben-Shahar. McGraw Hill, $21.95 (192p) ISBN 9780071492393

Though everyone wants to be happier, how many of us can actually define what that means? In his class, "Positive Psychology," one of the most popular courses at Harvard University, Ben-Shahar teaches that happiness isn't as elusive a concept as people think, and can actually be learned; he commits the fundamentals of his course to paper in this primer on getting happy, which he defines as a combination of pleasure (short-term happiness) and meaning (long-term). Divided into three parts, "What is Happiness?", "Happiness Applied" and "Meditations on Happiness," Ben-Shahar provides insight and exercises, prodding reflection in readers ("Do you accept negative emotions as natural?" "Do you see your work as a job, a career, or a calling?") while explicating the relationships among happiness, motivation and goals. Though it sounds simple, Ben-Shahar insists on keen self-awareness and purposeful action to overcome entrenched patterns of despondency and/or disbelief. For answer-seekers, this is definitely a good start. (June)

LIBERALISM FOR A NEW CENTURY
Edited by Neil Jumonville and Kevin Mattson. Univ. of Calif., $19.95 paper (252p) ISBN 9780520250710

Alan Wolfe, in his essay on the "promise of national greatness," claims that "liberal intellectuals and policy makers in recent decades have turned their backs on the strong programs that won them the trust of Americans"; eschewing the current trend among lefties to drop the term entirely ("progressive" having gained popular cachet), editors Jumonville and Mattson look instead to restore the former value and power of "mid-century liberalism," that era at the beginning of the Cold War when New Deal ideas dominated the American political landscape. Essays range from Peter Berkowitz discussing America's powerful liberal tradition to Danny Postel considering Iran's burgeoning democratic movement; in between writers cover requisite hot-button issues like religion (Amy Sullivan), family values (Mona Harrington), the environment (Alan Wolfe) and the war in Iraq (Michael Tomasky). Other essays of interest include "What Liberals Owe to Radicals" (Michael Kazin), "Liberalism and the Conservative Imagination" (Jennifer Burns) and a critique of the Enlightenment (John Patrick Diggins). Anyone interested in keeping liberalism relevant will find much enlightenment and encouragement in these strong, well-focused pieces. (June)

POOP CULTURE: How America is Shaped by its Grossest National Product
Dave Praeger. Feral House, $14.95 paper (232p) ISBN 9781932595215

The mastermind behind poopreport.com, first-time author Praeger takes a scatological and sociological look at what we so thoughtlessly leave behind. As the title might suggest, Praeger isn't one to mince words (his tone is captured well in the opening line, "With enviable ease, poop slid out of the mechanical anus and onto the conveyor belt below"), but neither does he let the subject matter devolve to sophomoric humor. Instead, Praeger meticulously excavates the politics of poop, societal attitudes toward it and how both affect our culture and everyday lives. Propelled by a keen nose for trivia, Praeger chronicles everything from the rise in epidemics that led to better sanitation practices, culminating in the widespread adoption of the toilet, to the use of feces in art. Readers will also learn about the history of toilet paper, why toilets weren't commonplace in England until World War I and how to use a bidet properly. Happily, Praeger keeps things light but respectful throughout, even in a discussion of scatological satire; as such, his enlightening guide may very well represent the ultimate in bathroom reading material. (July)

PULP WRITER: Twenty Years in the American Grub Street
Paul S. Powers, edited by Laurie Powers. Univ. of Neb., $19.95 (274p) ISBN 9780803259843

Powers (1905-71) was the consummate pulp writer: from 1928 to '43, he wrote hundreds of stories under various pseudonyms for magazines like Wild West Weekly and Weird Tales. He also lived the life of an itinerant cowboy, making his home in towns throughout the West, squatting occasionally in ghost towns to soak up residual spirits of the cattle rustlers, vigilantes and dirty sheriffs he wrote about. Without the efforts of his daughter, editor Laurie Powers, all of this history would have been lost; she knew almost nothing about her father's career when she decided to write about Doc Dillahay, his only published novel, for a college course in literature. The paper would grow into this book, which sent her across the country piecing together Powers' life from the remnants of long-defunct publishing houses and boxes of unpublished materials. In the process, she finds not only Powers's lost memoirs but a measure of security lacking in her much-diminished family circle. This work is a treasure for pulp fans, and a fine introduction for those looking to learn more about an underappreciated American art form. (June)

THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM: A 4,000 Year History
Eli Maor. Princeton Univ., $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780691125268

Maor, an author and Loyola University math history instructor, has crafted a charming tour through math history, introducing the many ways that the Pythagorean Theorem (in a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter sides are equal to the square of the hypotenuse) has been proven, interpreted, described and used over four millennia. Despite its name, there's no solid evidence that Pythagoras, born in 570 BCE, formulated the theorem; tablet fragments from 1700 BC show that the ancient Babylonians knew it so well they had devised algebraic tables of Pythagorean triples, and Hindu writings from the sixth and seventh centuries BC show the theorem at use on the Indian subcontinent. Modern understanding of the theorem comes from Euclid, whose Elements were translated and studied by Muslims and Christians alike, and helped formed the foundation for the European Renaissance. Throughout, Maor leads readers through progressively more complicated proofs, some of them real brain-teasers, and though his text is welcoming, it's likely a few steps beyond the purview of casual readers. The numerically-minded will appreciate Maor's look at mathematics as part of the unstoppable human drive to suss out the patterns of nature and understand them, though math junkies may find themselves setting the book aside to take a crack at its tricky proofs. (July)

THE ROSETTA STONE AND THE REBIRTH OF ANCIENT EGYPT
John Ray. Harvard Univ., $19.95 (224p) ISBN 9780674024939

A wonderful introduction not only to the Rosetta Stone and its story, but also to the growth and development of modern Egyptology, this slim book begins with Cambridge professor Ray's childhood encounter with the stone in the British Museum in 1958. From there, Ray traces the history of the stone from the time of its discovery in 1799 to its deciphering in 1822 by Jean-François Champollion, a journey populated with big personalities and world events. Balancing the stone's present-day life with its ancient one, Ray gives readers enough information about the world of Ptolemy Epiphanes—during whose reign the stone was forged—to understand the larger context, but doesn't slow the narrative with extraneous details. Ray also offers an illuminating overview of dead language studies and the colorful figures who devote their lives to it. Like the rest of editor Mary Beard's Wonders of the World series (Richard Jenkyns's Westminster Abbey, Robert Irwin's The Alhambra, etc.), this informative text has an appealing, conversational tone that non-specialists should find especially welcoming. (June)

WHY DON'T PENGUINS' FEET FREEZE?: And 114 Other Questions
Editors of New Scientist. Free Press, $14 paper (224p) ISBN 9781416541462

A sequel of sorts to the bestselling Does Anything Eat Wasps?, this compilation of readers' questions and answers published in "The Last Word" column of New Scientist Magazine prove there really is no such thing as a stupid question: reader questions "Why is nasal mucus often green?"; "Why doesn't superglue stick to the inside of its tube?"; "Why is red meat red and white meat white?"; and "What time is it at the North Pole?" all draw serious consideration from their fellow readers, as well as personal stories, myths, jokes and even a poem (on why the sea is salty). Readers will learn that helium atoms are small enough to diffuse through the elastic material of a balloon, which is why balloons deflate; they'll also learn how to hypnotize a mynah bird and why "fish don't fart"; the conflagration of trivia, knowledge, anecdote and humor should entertain just about anyone. (June)

LIFESTYLE

BETTER SEX THROUGH YOGA: Easy Routines to Boost Your Sex Drive, Enhance Physical Pleasure, and Spice Up Your Bedroom Life
Jaquie Noelle Greaux and Jennifer Langheld. Broadway, $17.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9780767920582

While most yoga books promising an invigorated sex life emphasize the Tantric approach, Greaux and Langheld believe one can also get mind-blowing bedroom results from the regular use of traditional poses. Essentially a fill-in-the-blank approach (regular exercise translates to a more limber physique translates to better sexual performance), the authors focus on the power of weight loss and increased muscle tone to inspire self-confidence and increase attractability. To those ends, Yoga instructor Greaux and television producer Langheld pack their book with poses ranging from the familiar (Sun Salutation, Upward Dog, Bridge) to the more exotic (the Tabletop), and common exercises repurposed with names like "Sex Kitten" (leg lifts) and "Yogacycles" (modified situps), meant to strengthen and tone all muscle groups. Clear instructions and illustrations ensure those new to yoga won't injure themselves, and each pose or exercise includes an explanation of its bedroom utility. Though poses rightfully dominate, the authors also include a handful of routines and abbreviated poses (for office-bound yoga enthusiasts). This book won't offer much for longtime practitioners, but those new to yoga will find this guide helpful and instructive, questionable claims of sexual satisfaction notwithstanding. (Aug.)

THE CHEAT TO LOSE DIET
Joel Marion. Crown, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 9780307352248

The basic concept of this diet is simple: eat healthy, low-calorie foods six days a week, and cheat on the seventh. Fitness consultant Marion encourages readers craving blueberry pancakes to "fire up the griddle" on day seven and "top them with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream, more blueberries." Marion backs up his "cheating" philosophy with lots of tedious scientific-sounding explanation, personal accounts and success stories, but there's nothing particularly radical about it: common sense tells people who eat wisely and exercise regularly they can afford to indulge once in a while. Nevertheless, the author hammers on his point throughout, while knocking other diet plans: low-fat diets might be related to "muscle loss, lethargy, and sexual side effects," and low-carb diets "fail to produce the results necessary to make such an extreme diet worthwhile" No matter what kind of diet readers are looking for, the recipes in the back of the book will appeal: a tasty Tomato-Basil Omelet, filled with herbs and garlic, creamy Pumpkin Pancakes and luscious Lamb Chops with Beet-and-Orange Salad are good enough to make "cheating" an afterthought. (Aug.)

JIM GOAD'S GIGANTIC BOOK OF SEX
Jim Goad. Feral House, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 9781932595208

After his release from prison (he was in for assaulting his lover), literary provocateur Goad (Answer Me!, The Redneck Manifesto) returned to Portland, Ore., and found a job writing for a free weekly devoted to the city's sex industry. That experience provided grist for this book, a self-help miscellany with a hyperactive design that veers from The Onion-style parody ("Man Uses Photoshop to Give Himself Bigger Penis," "Pug Porn," etc.) to confessional essays ("Pleasuring Myself in Prison") to product tests (Viagra, porn) to anatomy lessons ("In search of…the Prostate Gland"). Goad's savage wit is matched only by his enthusiasm, both of which are a bit of an acquired taste; sensitive readers may find themselves repeatedly and unapologetically offended. Though he's been criticized as a misogynist, Goad is just as critical of himself as he is of the opposite sex, if not more so, detailing his pitiful attempts to photograph his privates ("it looked like a shriveled pink egg roll") and warning female readers, "You'll be very, very disappointed the first time you have sex with me." This self-effacing humor gives the book depth and makes Goad more likable; his decidedly un-P.C. take on all things sexual brings a welcome bit of pointed, occasionally venomous satire to the sex manual genre. (Aug.)

UPTOWN COUNTRY
Donald G. Lewis. Sterling, $14.95 (192p) ISBN 9781602390539

In a field crowded by the wildly popular likes of the Lee Brothers, Edna Lewis and Paula Deen, it's difficult to stand out as a Southern cook; unfortunately, Lewis's middling entry, an attempt to "dress up" traditional southern dishes, does not rise to the challenge. Lewis starts off strong with solid, reliable appetizers that are easy to make, such as Savory Cheese Straws, Gruyere Cheese Puffs and Crab Cakes with Herb Mayonnaise, but hits a wall when it comes to main courses: a Corn Chowder comprised of two pounds Velveeta, four cans creamed corn and one-and-half cups of margarine is hard to describe as "uptown." Lewis's chicken enchiladas, which calls for more Velveeta, as well as cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups, yields a dish better served to unwanted houseguests than loved ones. He fares much better with desserts, which make up roughly half the book; Coconut Toffee Bars, a solid pie crust recipe and classics like Red Velvet and Hummingbird Cake are this volume's best bets. Short recipe descriptions give the book a rushed feel (especially in complicated dishes like multilayered brownies), and there's little in the way of storage advice for concoctions like pizza dough and herb oil. (July)

THE WAR I ALWAYS WANTED: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War
Brandon Friedman. Zenith, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780760331507

Friedman grew up in Louisiana, not far from the Barksdale Air Force Base, watching giant B-52 Stratofortresses thunder overhead. A short talk with a recruiter convinced him to join the army, childhood dreams of glory still dancing in his head. These dreams came to a quick end in Afghanistan the first time he realized death was just a bomb or bullet away. Alternately terrified and rendered euphoric by the adrenalin rush, Friedman chronicles his time in Afghanistan (fighting the Taliban) and Iraq (with the 101^st Airborne Division). Curiously proud of his naivete, Friedman soon discovers that his superiors aren't so bright, his understanding of missions is insufficient and he'ss under-equipped. Friedman sees little fighting, and Friedman's unable to bring any urgency to what action there is—even when a bomb dropped by friendly forces lands close enough to kill Friedman and his whole battalion, but fails to explode. Friedman rarely stops to describe his fellow soldiers, explain the big picture or get close to the locals. When he returns to the US, he discovers his personal life is in tatters; he's angry at those who spout the White House spin on Iraq, but his disillusioned reports from inside the fog of war don't offer much of a counterargument. (Aug.)

ILLUSTRATED

THE SCULPTURE OF LOUISE NEVELSON: Constructing a Legend
Edited by Brooke Kamin Rapaport. Yale, $55 (238p) ISBN 9780300121728

American sculptor and fine artist Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) played an integral role in 20th century art; this, the "most extensive study of Nevelson…in over twenty years," combines large, lush images of Nevelson's work with essays on her art and personal life. Many of the essays mention Nevelson's strong sense of self and the ways—both overt and implicit—that that sense presents itself in her artwork. Observational gems stud these essays, like editor and curator Rapaport's insight into Nevelson's work with foraged wood, "a material that she could command viscerally because of childhood associations with her father's work as a lumberman." Arthur C. Danto's essay, in which he shows how Nevelson struggled with 1960s art criticism, provides a picture of the sculptor both as a famous artist and as a vulnerable human being. For Nevelson newcomers, the best place to start is in the back, with Gabriel de Guzman's succinct but unhurried "Chronology of Louise Nevelson's Life," a year-by-year summary adorned with well-chosen personal photos. Comprehensive and evenly balanced between text and image, this is the volume Nevelson devotees have been waiting for. 140 color illustrations. (May)

FICTION

ADIEU, MY LOVE
Lynn M. Turner. Avalon, $21.95 (256p) ISBN 9780803498365

For all the smuggling and scheming going on in Turner's third novel (Cutter's Wake; Growing Attraction), there's surprisingly little suspense. In 1751 Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, widow Marie Jubert loses most of her inherited fortune when a ship she has a secret interest in is discovered to be carrying contraband. Marie enlists the help of Matthew Carter, one of the arrested smugglers, to determine if anyone knows about her connection to the ship and its confiscated contraband. She's weary of trusting Matthew (who, naturally, turns out to be much more than a mere smuggler), but the sparks between them mitigate her unease. Meanwhile, Capitaine Jerome de Monluc, who captured the bootlegging ship, has marrying eyes for Marie and may be using the smuggling rap as leverage to force her hand in marriage. Will Matthew's true identity be revealed in time to rescue Marie? Turner's prose is serviceable, but her plot takes nary a surprise turn. (June)

ATASCOCITA GOLD
Kent Conwell. Avalon, $21.95 (272p) ISBN 9780803498402

Cowboy drifters Josh Carson and Tiny Hamilton shoot up nearly everything in sight in this wild hayburner from prolific western writer Conwell. These two saddle bums wander into the town of Atascocita where they immediately get into trouble with local gunsels over a poker game. Saved from tar and feathers by the sheriff and an old couple who run a wagon freight outfit, Josh and Tiny find themselves in the middle of a range war with murderous tycoon Cullen Leach. On a freight hauling job, Josh and Tiny befriend a pretty young woman, Marylee Gaston, heir to a large ranch and guardian of two younger brothers after her older brothers are murdered by Leach's men. Rumors of hidden gold on the Gaston Ranch has every owlhoot in the territory sniffing around, willing to kill for it. As Josh and Tiny try to protect the old couple and the Gaston Ranch, ambushes and gun battles whittle down both sides, with well-ventilated corpses sprawled all over the prairie. When the last fusillade of bullets finally slams home only one cowboy is left standing (barely) with the girl and the gold. This is a smart, meaty story with likeable characters, funny gags and some nifty surprises. (June)

CANDY KISSES
Jean C. Gordon. Avalon, $21.95 (208p) ISBN 9780803498341

In Gordon's fourth novel (after Mandy and the Mayor), Candy Price isn't quite excited about the prospect of spending yet another summer in her hometown of Albany, working for a histrionics-prone boss and yearning for an opportunity to leverage her job as assistant to a gubernatorial candidate into something more important, perhaps even in Washington. In the absence of a realistic opportunity to "get out of SmAll-bany," Candy settles on the project of improving the love life of her recently-jilted roommate, Mike Wheeler. Mike, in turn, agrees to help Candy find romance of her own. Using a bag of chocolate kisses, Candy and Mike devise a system of rating the real kisses they receive from their dates. Several weeks and an interminable string of candy-related puns later, Candy and Mike begin to arrive at an obvious conclusion. While a subplot about Mike's job at a veterans' home being endangered adds momentum, it fails to elevate this cookie-cutter romance. (June)

THE CURE
Athol Dickson. Bethany House, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 9780764201639

In his follow-up to the Christy Award-winning River Rising, Dickson focuses on a missionary, Riley Keep, who becomes an alcoholic after a devastating experience in the mission field. Blending science fiction and suspense, Dickson sets his novel in the small fishing town of Dublin, Maine. Rich with local dialect and scenery, the novel explores what happens to this bucolic village when dozens, then hundreds, of desperate homeless people descend upon it, having heard that someone there has a miracle cure for alcoholism. As Dublin becomes increasingly dystopic, Riley and the people in his life experience one crisis after another. Dickson's approach is thought-provoking, and his prose beautifully evokes the taciturn spirit of the Mainers who people this novel. As a suspense novel, however, it suffers from a series of implausible misunderstandings. Far too many of the novel's crises involve characters not having discovered facts the reader has known or surmised for some time. Mistaken assumptions about identities, relationships, motives, and culpability for evil deeds serve as a tiresome framework for much of Dickson's plot. His characters seem too smart to not make certain discoveries sooner, and this problem slows down an otherwise well-paced novel that is full of interesting ideas and well-developed characters. (July)

DEMONS ARE FOREVER: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
Julie Kenner. Berkley, $14 paper (304p) ISBN 9780425215388

The breathlessly prolific Kenner checks in with the fizzy third tale of Kate Connor (last seen in 2006's California Demon), wife, mom and Level Four Demon Hunter of sunny San Diablo, Calif. Stuart, her mundane husband, is father of Timmy and stepdad to Allie, Kate's daughter with slain demon hunter Eric Crowe. Recently returned to her job hunting demons for the Vatican's Forza Scura and recovering from rescuing Allie from demonic kidnappers, Kate must now contend with demons who want to liberate their leader, An-dramelech, from within the Stone of Solomon. With the help of David Long, a hunky middle-school teacher who just might house Eric's soul, Kate has tofind the demon-luring Stone and do some major damage control. Also on tap is 14-year-old Allie's intro into demon-hunting and a day of reckoning for Kate's family. Kenner's trademark cliffhanger finale promises further demonic escapades to come. (July)

ENDINGS
'Abd Al-Rahman Munif, trans. from the Arabic by Roger Allen. Interlink, $12.95 paper (152p) ISBN 9781566566698

The late Saudi novelist Munif (1933 – 2004) sets this timeless tale within an Arabic desert village struck by drought and doomed by the thoughtlessness of its inhabitants. Told in the omniscient voice of a storyteller familiar with this ancient land and its people, the tale involves a hunter from the village of al-Tiba, 'Assaf, who acts as the Cassandra of the village, warning of the coming drought and urging the people to learn sustainable hunting methods. The inhabitants laugh at 'Assaf, but come to recognize the efficacy of his hunting prowess when the drought seizes the village in earnest. When a group of people come from the city, 'Assaf leads them on a hunting excursion, but the trip is scuttled by a terrible sandstorm. The group barely survives, but 'Assaf, having taken off alone, is found dead, plunging the village in a period of grief and intense self-examination. A series of folktales follow, encapsulating the relationship between man and nature, and juxtaposing the inhabitants' anxiety over their ancestors' increasingly unsustainable land against the collective pipe dream of modernization, represented by plans for a dam. Munif's work possesses the momentousness of myth. (June)

FANTASY
Edited by Sean Wallace And Paul G. Tremblay. Prime (www.primebooks.net), $6.95 paper (176p) ISBN 9780809556991

Though this anthology is billed as "a little taste" of the work found in the quarterly Fantasy Magazine, the overall flavor of this literary sampler is decidedly bland. Among numerous unremarkable selections, however, are a few excep-tional entries. Sarah Monette's "Somewhere Beneath Those Waves Was Her Home" is a powerfully moving and in-tensely bittersweet story about the sisterhood that develops between a woman trapped in an unfulfilling marriage and a selkie imprisoned by a man who stole her skin, while Maura McHugh's "Bone Mother" brilliantly blends Slavic folklore with the vampire mythos to create a speculative gem of a tale. Cat Rambo's "Sugar" takes an unstereotypical look at the swashbuckling pirate adventure, and Jeremy Tolbert gets in touch with his inner Bigfoot in the wonder-fully weird "The Yeti Behind You." Despite this handful of stellar stories, the majority of entries are not—contrary to the back cover's claims—especially edgy, modern or sophisticated. (July)

FASHIONABLY LATE
Nadine Dajani. Forge, $14.95 paper (400p) ISBN 9780765317421

Plucky, 20-something, Lebanese-Canadian Aline Hallaby has a promising career at one of Montreal's "Big Four" accounting firms; a marriage proposal from her nice (if unexciting) boyfriend; and a closet filled with Cavalli, Chloe, and Christian Louboutin. When she fails her final professional certification exam, the once-dutiful Arab girl plunges headlong into a quarter-life crisis, fleeing to Cuba for a week of heady rebellion (mojitos, men, participation in a beauty pageant) with her two closest friends. There, Ali is forced to decide if she will continue to live according to the expectations of her traditional Muslim parents, or chase her own dreams. The question of how Ali should live is a provocative one, and Dajani's wit, warmth and insight shine through in turning over its nuances, but there are few surprises to be found in how Ali answers it. (June)

FUSE OF ARMAGEDDON
Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff. Tyndale, $19.99 (380p) ISBN 9781414310251

Novelist Brouwer and Christian radio host Hanegraaff team up again (The Last Disciple) to write an absorbing thriller. Mulvaney Quinn is a hostage negotiator who specializes in Israeli-Palestinian disputes, while Kate Penner is a Nevada cop who suspects that Quinn committed a ghastly murder on her turf. She heads to Israel to extradite him, but just before the pair heads back to the U.S., Israeli intelligence begs Kate to let Mulvaney stay in Israel for just a few more days and negotiate a tricky hostage deal: a Palestinian group is holding a leading American evangelical pastor and 29 of his followers. The characters are generally well-drawn, and Kate is especially engaging (though her occasional missteps, like saying "I don't speak Israeli," strike a false note). Kate and Mulvaney's attraction to one another provides a little spice, but never overshadows the political plot. The only irksome feature is Mulvaney being a widower, a character device fast achieving the status of cliché in the Christian thriller genre. This novel is notable because several of the characters explicitly and cogently criticize the premillennial dispensationalist theology that has shaped much of evangelical America's thinking about the state of Israel. Thus, Brouwer and Hanegraaff's latest is sure to both entertain and provoke. (July)

JOYRIDE
Jack Ketchum. Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com), $40 (300p) ISBN 9781587671579

Sex, murder and mayhem are stock in trade for the vastly popular Ketchum (The Girl Next Door), and so are odd coincidences, which abound in this gory reissue. Wayne, a bartender and would-be killer who always chickens out at the last minute, nearly chokes his girl-friend to death while on a hike. After she runs off, he happens to see a couple committing a brutal murder and recognizes one of them as a regular at his bar. The dead man, Howard—done in by his ex-wife, Carole, and her new lover, Lee—is found in a stream by a Boy Scout who is dispassionately curious about the stinking corpse. The pathways coalesce when Wayne forces Lee and Carole into a meaningless drive inevitably complete with senseless murder. These are the actors that make Ketchum's melodrama compelling, nasty but peculiarly irresistible. (July)