Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 8/13/2007

Greig, a novelist, mountaineer and poet, is not the first to view the vexing paradoxes of life through the lens of golf, but his gentle lyricism and distinctly Scottish outlook make this round a unique pleasure. After lifesaving surgery left the author with an uncooperative memory, he called upon the game he'd given up long before to help him regain his grip. Greig brings the reader along to 18 Scottish golf courses as he relearns golf and life. An accomplished poet, he lends lyrical depth to blades of grass and existential musings alike and manages to cast new light on a lot of life's oldest questions. Greig understands the limits of his metaphors, acknowledging that “life is not golf, and love for an ageing parent isn't trying to play a tricky shot out of the rough.” Laundry lists of maxims and aphorisms, central to the golf experience, are occasionally impossible to avoid, but Greig approaches each life lesson with inspiring passion and humility. (Dec.)

This fascinating collection of previously unpublished letters from the creator of Sherlock Holmes offers a revealing glimpse of a Renaissance man fated to be overshadowed by his most famous character. Beginning with correspondence from Doyle as an eight-year-old in 1867, the editors offer a warts-and-all picture of his life until 1920, 10 years before his death, covering the author's frank accounts of life at a boarding school, his struggles as a young doctor and aspiring writer, and his political advocacy. Those seeking insights into the creation of Holmes may be disappointed; while Doyle's ambivalence toward Holmes is well known, this collection reveals the extent to which he viewed his character principally as a source of income rather than a lasting legacy. The editors—Doyle experts Lellenberg and Stashower, and Doyle's great-nephew Foley—have nicely balanced the content: the letters reveal Doyle's stiff upper lip when he lost a son during the Great War, and his sense of humor, as in a hilarious report to his mother on the birth of his daughter Mary. This will be essential reading for all fans of Conan Doyle and his sleuth. (Andrew Lycett's biography of Conan Doyle, The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, is due from the Free Press this fall.) Illus. (Nov. 1)

Saviano has created a perfectly realized, morally compelling journey through the brutal world of contemporary Italian mob life in this ceaselessly violent tale of the Camorra, a network of thugs, exploiters and killers who run Naples and the surrounding countryside. Armed with a police band radio, Saviano visits one crime scene after another, recording the final words and circumstances of the dying and dead. The murders described are savage, cruel and senseless: “The head... hadn't been cut off with a hatchet, a clean blow, but with a metal grinder: the kind of circular saw welders use to polish soldering. The worst possible tool, and thus the most obvious choice.” Jewiss's translation of Saviano's intense prose flows beautifully from the pestilence and degradation of everyday life in the teeming Neapolitan slums to the futile efforts of the police to control the rich, organic chaos that is the only way the Camorra know how to live. A stunning achievement, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the state of contemporary Europe. (Nov.)

Beer-swilling Aussie backpacker Sheward and her best mate, El, set off on a jejune journey across Southeast Asia with the agenda of “having a look and annoying the world.” The dyspeptic duo succeed at both dubious goals, screaming at the locals and belittling other travelers as they barrel along an unplanned, madcap tour of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. They omit no traveling cliché (right down to overcharging cabbies and a stolen camera) and pass up no opportunity to misconstrue or poke fun at local religions and culture. Sheward's writing lacks the satirical prowess that would make the self-absorbed duo more likable, though occasional hiccups of elegant prose help to balance the contradicting metaphors and near-endless whining. A reader who manages to hang on to this freewheeling bitchfest to the end will get the paltry reward of watching Sheward and El swallow an overdue dose of humility on a trip to Cambodia's Killing Fields, at last gaining some insight—however self-serving—from their disorganized travels. (Nov.)

Perkins and her husband have always led a life filled with mountain climbing and other athletic activities. Strong, active 30-year-old women rarely end up in hospital cardiac units, but when Perkins discovered she had contracted a viral infection that lodged in her heart, it soon became clear that substantial intervention was needed. She received a defibrillator implant, a pacemaker, numerous drugs and eventually a transplant. Perkins decided to live her post-transplant life to the fullest, scaling Mt. Fuji, the Matterhorn, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Whitney in an effort to bring attention to the need for organ donors around the world. While at times her writing can become treacly, there are some truly heartwarming moments. Much like Laura Evans's 1996 cancer survival memoir by the same title, Perkins's engaging tale provides valuable inspiration for others struggling to return to an active life after a dire illness. (Nov.)

This gently humorous essay collection by Outdoor Life columnist McManus (The Bear in the Attic) explores hunting and fishing in the Pacific Northwest. As he wryly explains in “The Kind of Guy I Am,” McManus's literary persona is an aw-shucks middle-aged married guy with four daughters who dreams of his flies, reels, waders and snowshoes while on vacation with his wife in Venice. Hoping to someday be like Rancid Crabtree, an old man who lives in a “slab shack” against the mountain and does nothing all day but hunt and fish (“The Ideal Life”), McManus and his buddy Fenton Quagmire jettison the high-tech camping gear and attempt to rough it Thoreau-style (“Back to Basics”), with predictably hilarious results. Other tales involve learning how to be patient while fishing (“A Dimple in Time”) and enlightening one's fishing partners on how the moon determines the tides (“Where's Mr. Sun?”). McManus narrates his woodsy stories with a laid-back style that will earn many smiles of fond recognition from anyone who's heard a guide say, “I know there used to be a trail here.” (Nov.)

A resident of Hood River, Ore., an emergency room physician and a member of Crag Rats (“the first official volunteer mountain rescue group in the nation”), Van Tilburg (Emergency Survival: A Pocket Guide) has divided his fast-paced account of Mt. Hood rescues by season. In the winter, he explains the dangers of tree wells, patches of loose snow that can snare skiers and snowboarders. One hot Fourth of July, he takes a trek through icy black water in a box canyon, engineering the tricky retrieval of a cliff jumper with a back fracture. Detailing each rescue operation from the first call mobilizing teams of volunteers to grateful notes from the families of those rescued, Van Tilburg also offers snippets of environmental history and outdoor law. For readers who are unfamiliar with the rugged and beautiful Hood River area, he balances its undeniable perils with the joys of its scenic wonders, noting that “the thrill of risk is an inseparable aspect of adventure sport.” 8 pages of color photos not seen by PW. (Nov. 13)

This evocative memoir is a joyous, rhythmic history of the 11 sisters who formed the fabled Cuban orquesta Anacaona. Forced to abandon her studies after political events prompted university closings in 1932, Cuchito Castro got six of her younger sisters together to play son, a blend of African rhythms and Spanish melodies, even though women were thought incapable of mastering the complex style. The band attracted attention on the radio and at night in Havana's open-air cafes. As Cuchito's other sisters grew into their teens, they joined Anacaona, and the group soared to international fame with recordings, films, TV, appearances with jazz greats and triumphant European tours, as seen in the 140 ads, menus, photos and posters scattered throughout the text. Saxophonist Alicia, now 87, regales her niece Ingrid with tales of the sisters' romantic escapades, Havana nightlife and sensual melodic midnights. The Castro sisters' story reverberates with exotic echoes of a fabulous long-ago era. (Nov.)

The legacy of Dutch novelist and playwright de Hartog (1914–2002) is fittingly capped with this remarkable account of his mother's life and death. His mother was devoted to his clergyman father until he died in 1938, when she “came into her own.” Although war threatened, she booked passage to the Dutch East Indies to spend time with her oldest son. De Hartog himself only barely survived the war; any faith he'd had was shattered by the senselessness of the deaths he'd seen. Yet his mother returned from a Japanese prisoner of war camp with her spirit and love for her family intact. She lived a quietly religious life in postwar Amsterdam until cancer brought her to the hospital, where her sons attempted to comfort her through the agonies of dying. After her death, de Hartog heard a quotation from Quaker movement founder George Fox, about “an infinite ocean of light and love” flowing “over the ocean of darkness.” This vision, he realized, was his parents' legacy to him, just as this powerful, luminous elegy is de Hartog's last gift to his many readers worldwide. (Nov.)

Austrian Jack Unterweger was many things to many people—celebrated author, well-known bon vivant and loyal friend. To prostitutes plying their trade in Vienna, he was a ruthless killer. When he hanged himself in his jail cell after being convicted of murder in 1994, Unterweger brought to a close a story of cold-blooded murder that crossed social boundaries and international borders. As told in page-turning, savagely intimate style in this debut by translator and editor Leake, Unterweger's vicious killing spree comes alive in horrifying detail. Released from prison in 1990 for an earlier murder, Unterweger quickly began killing again. Passing himself off as a journalist, he took to calling the relatives of his victims. “At 5:00 p.m. the same voice called back and said, 'They lie in the place of atonement, facing downward, toward Hades, because otherwise it would have been an outrage.' ” His 1991 murder of a hooker in Los Angeles proves his undoing as the American police, working with Austrian authorities, track him down. Leake gets bogged down in the minutiae of the 1994 trial in Vienna, but this is a minor glitch in an otherwise cracking good true-crime tale that, while demonstrating respect to the victims, conjures a character in Unterweger that readers will not soon forget. (Nov.)

Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's entry into major league baseball, which broke the sport's color barrier, this absorbing collection of letters reveals new facets of the icon's sometimes private nature. The correspondence ranges from 1946 to 1972, with such pen pals as Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Barry Goldwater. Among the more fascinating exchanges are Robinson's dialogues with Richard Nixon over civil rights; his conciliatory responses to damning missives from Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell accusing him of an “Uncle Tom” stance; his blistering note to Mississippi segregationist James Eastland on prejudice; and his quest to make the Republican Party color-blind with notes to Nelson Rockefeller and Goldwater. Assembled by Elizabethtown College religious studies professor Long, the letters trace Robinson's political life, seeking to rationalize the schism between his equal rights fantasies and the reality of a tarnished American dream. Fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers star will find this collection more satisfying than much other published work about him. (Oct.)

Social critic Hutchinson (The Emerging Black GOP Majority) deftly explains the challenges posed by immigration to an African-American audience wary of a Latino threat played up by the media. As the growing Latino electorate gains political favor, Hutchinson observes that the black community is wondering where new immigrants stand nationally on key issues of education, housing, jobs, health care and political empowerment. A backlash has mobilized black protests on amnesty and border enforcement, he adds, while many Latino immigrants, as well as former Mexican president Vicente Fox, have embraced negative stereotypes about African-Americans, causing a bitter schism between the two cultures. Though Hutchinson tends to emphasize the conflicts that have defeated coalition-building and compromise, and some of his opinions are delivered in very broad terms (such as suggesting that Latinos support the Iraq war), this abbreviated book generally invites a fruitful dialogue on the obstacles to unifying black and brown communities. (Oct.)

This is the third volume in a history of nuclear weaponry that began with the award-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb, but despite its subtitle, this installment might also be described as a chronicle of the unmaking of the arms race. Paralleling the careers of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, Rhodes builds up to a detailed account of the 1986 Reykjavik summit, at which the two leaders—both eager to achieve peace—nearly came to an agreement on eliminating their nuclear arsenals, before the accord, he says, was sabotaged by then-assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle. The insistence of Perle and other advisers that the U.S. required a strong deterrent against the Soviet Union is held up for particular contempt. “There has never been a realistic military justification for accumulating large, expensive stockpiles of nuclear arms,” Rhodes argues. Far from keeping America strong, decades of nuclear arms production have seriously eroded the nation's domestic infrastructure and diminished its citizens' quality of life, he believes. The clarity of the historical record reinforces Rhodes's fiercely held political convictions, ensuring widespread attention as he returns to this critically and commercially successful subject. (Oct. 11)

Although the subject matter is dead serious, the picaresque subtitle reflects the defiant wit at the heart of this highly revealing memoir by the colorful and prominent former British ambassador to Uzbekistan. Murray's brief term (2002–2004) belies his influence as a scrupulous administrator who, whatever his personal failures (and he's refreshingly up-front about them), proved incorruptible in pursuit of social justice in a nation suffering under a sadistic regime. In addition to competence, wit and considerable daring, Murray displayed a rare integrity in Tashkent that stood out among his counterparts, which was precisely what got him into trouble with both dictator Karimov's brutal totalitarian state and with his own government, which eventually resorted to an eye-opening campaign to oust him. A deluge of bureaucratic and personal information occasionally blurs the focus in this book, but Murray uses the full weight of his ambassadorship to hold a key ally of the U.S. accountable for deep-seated economic corruption and human rights abuses—including pervasive use of torture— and runs headlong into some of the fiercest contradictions in the “war on terror.” (Oct.)

The American-Iranian relationship has been fraught for years—indeed, for far longer than most Americans realize—USA Today diplomatic correspondent Slavin shows. Interweaving history with current events, she demonstrates how decades-old American perfidy continues to color Iranian expectations, much as the 1979 hostage crisis continues to affect Americans today. Without losing sight of the brutality with which the Islamic Republic was established—and is often maintained—Slavin skillfully presents its surprisingly multifaceted culture and political establishment, where mullahs are sometimes on the side of reform, and Western-minded businessmen might support systematic corruption and repression. The driving theme, however, is one of decades of missed opportunities, on both sides, to achieve rapprochement. Providing little-known details of the various contacts and arguments both between and within the American and Iranian leaderships, Slavin argues that the Bush administration badly misjudged Iran's leadership; by the time it offered to talk with Iran about its nuclear program, “Iran had been so emboldened by other U.S. policies that it felt little pressure or inclination to accept.” This articulate study helps clear the fog between two nations that have long and systematically demonized each other. (Oct.)

Foreign correspondent Winslow (Sowing the Dragon's Teeth) depicts the universal cost of Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands in excruciatingly human terms in a memoir detailing 30 months spent on the West Bank with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Describing the fear, humiliation and violence routinely faced by people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Winslow balances the Palestinian struggle to maneuver through an ever-growing web of walls, checkpoints and Israeli military operations in the West Bank, with close attention to Israel's legitimate defense needs and the fear created by Palestinian terrorism. The multilayered narrative demonstrates unusual compassion for the human side of the conflict, sympathizing with both the Palestinian citizens and the Israeli soldiers in the clear understanding that the latter, too, are dehumanized by the violence that surrounds them. Using resonant descriptions of the occupation's daily routines, the account searches for moments of human kindness that can bridge the chasm created by civil discord, admirably achieving the author's goal to paint “pictures of what armed conflict does to humanity.” (Oct.)

When satirist/novelist/musician Friedman declared his independent candidacy for Texas governor, nobody expected him to win—and he didn't. But he did get nearly 550,000 votes, or 12% of the total cast. He also collected rich material for his sendup of politics in Texas and other jurisdictions. Friedman's always irreverent, sometimes profane and occasionally sophomoric commentary won't appeal to everybody, but even those who refuse to laugh out loud can find verities worth repeating. His chapter about improving schooling for all children, for example, includes the observation that “No good teacher wants to teach to the test; no great teacher ever will.” The emphasis on classroom assessment, Friedman says, risks creating “a whole generation of supposedly college-bound kids who aren't quite sure if the Civil War took place here or in Europe. It wasn't on the test.” Given Texans' independent streak, Friedman correctly calculated his messages would get a hearing on the campaign trail. After all, he noted, professional wrestler Jesse Ventura won the governorship of Minnesota. Too bad he lasted only one term, Friedman quips: Ventura “never figured out that wrestling is real and politics is fixed.” (Oct.)

Boyles (Vile France), who now lives in France, comments on contemporary American politics, using his childhood stomping grounds in rural Nebraska and Kansas as his touchstone. Boyles is more partial to Republicans than Democrats largely because he identifies Democrats with dysfunctional urban areas and condescension toward rural residents. Offended by Thomas Frank's 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, he dismisses the argument that rural Republicans frequently vote against their own interests in the name of social conservatism, such as opposition to abortion. Yet Boyles covers much of the same ground as Brian Mann's better-reasoned and more skillfully written 2006 response to Frank, Welcome to the Homeland: A Journey to the Rural Heart of America's Conservative Revolution. Still, Boyles shares memorable character sketches, and his diatribes against alleged elites can be both amusing and piercing: “There's a reason why even smart people voted for George Bush, a man whose rhetorical style is best suited to a pickup truck window, instead of John Kerry, a man who was clear and erudite in most of what he had to say. They simply liked what Bush said badly more than what Kerry said well.” Mostly, however, Boyles treats those he disagrees with as condescendingly as they supposedly treat rural sages. (Oct.)

Cashill declares that “California served as a beachhead in the humanistic war on faith,” but his argument reads more like a series of familiar right-wing talking points slapped on California. Showing little interest in one of the country's most dynamic population centers, he launches bold attacks on notorious Californians like Charles Manson and Jim Jones. He sidesteps the global influence of Silicon Valley and in his discussion of Hollywood focuses mostly on a few movies he dislikes. That these influential industries might owe something to Californian rootlessness doesn't occur to Cashill. In many cases he bases his points on anecdotal evidence, such as that he did not see any U.S. flags in San Francisco's gay district. The book often rambles, diluting the crankiness that might otherwise distinguish Cashill. The intended audience of liberal bashers may miss Ann Coulter's wit. (Oct.)

Beckel and Thomas, political analysts and columnists for USA Today, examine the problem of political polarization by asking, “Why are you reading this book?” The answer: “Bottom line... you are ticked off at politics.” Rigid partisan beliefs, they think, have become “more than a product of opposing ideologies”—they have created an “environment for the sole purpose of retaining political power, raising money, or making more money... benefit[ing] a few at the expense of many.” Using a mix of arguments and anecdotes, Beckel and Thomas (a liberal and a conservative, respectively) assert that polarization creates conscientious nonvoters and congressional roughhousing and deceit. The book's ultimate purpose is to disarm partisan warfare by encouraging voters and candidates to align themselves with principles that directly benefit the largest possible number of citizens. The lucid political discussion between a conservative and liberal is refreshing, but their proposals are too utopian to realistically be widely embraced. Their proposition that independent thinking can be more effective than an adversarial pack mentality is a step in the right direction, though. (Oct. 9)

Media mogul Black, president of Hearst Magazines (Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar and O), delivers a memoir masquerading as a guide to career and life. Enthusiastic and hard-working, Black was one of the first women to take a major role in American magazine and newspaper publishing. She came to Hearst by way of New York magazine, where she was the first woman publisher of a weekly consumer magazine, and USA Today, which she helped build from a small upstart into one of the country's most widely read daily papers. Though she positions herself as a role model for professional women, her advice is slim and scattershot. The book mainly consists of anecdotes from her working life and fawning praise for Al Neuharth, retired chairman and CEO of newspaper publisher Gannett Co. and her unofficial mentor. It's an interesting portrait of a groundbreaking career, but Black backs up her own story with only a note or two of advice, waiting until nearly the end of the book to tackle what she originally claims is her main point: the “360 Life,” or the difficulty of balancing work with personal life. While the author's life is an interesting one, readers looking for tips will do better with a more pointed book. (Oct.)

Brady and Woodward offer a detailed examination of what defines a leader, the qualities necessary to fulfilling the role and the common path previous leaders have traveled toward achieving personal greatness. Initially self-published, this effort follows up the duo's earlier bestselling effort, Leading the Consumer Rebellion. Contending that “each of us has a natural wellspring of talent and ability buried within” and will eventually be thrust into a moment requiring leadership skills, they lay the groundwork for being prepared to perform when that opportunity arises. The leadership concepts are strengthened by anecdotes like one involving the New England Patriot's quarterback Tom Brady, who led his team to three Super Bowl wins despite a resounding lack of confidence in his ability to do so. But quotes on leadership from sources as diverse as Mark Twain and golfer Tiger Woods, often three and four to a paragraph, can get distracting. The authors also occasionally get carried away with charting their concepts and awkward metaphors (e.g., driving against the “traffic of mediocrity”; avoiding the “shoulder of frustration”). But overall, this manual is one from which any potential leader—whether of a country, corporation or a small staff—could draw insight. (Oct. 22)

Covel (Trend Following) revisits a famous financial trading experiment conducted by Wall Street trader Richard Dennis and extracts its lessons with mixed results. Dennis, who quickly learned how to trade after starting as a runner at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 1966 at age 17, had made a reported $200 million by 1983. To settle an argument with fellow trader William Eckhardt about whether trading ability was innate or could be taught, he put an ad in the Wall Street Journal offering to teach candidates how to trade in two weeks, and then backed them with his own money. Of the thousands of people who who applied, 23 “turtles” were accepted. Their trading made $100 million for Dennis, leading some to become highly successful traders in their own right. Having tracked down most of the people involved, Covel describes the turtle training, including rules for entering and exiting trades as well as Dennis and Eckhardt's personal lessons, and speculates on why some turtles succeeded more than others. However, there are too many characters with competing interests, and many missing facts. Covel's own strong views can also get more emphasis than the voices of the principals. Still, the book is a useful training manual distilling the lessons of a fascinating experiment. (Oct.)

Belfort, who founded one of the first and largest “chop shop” brokerage firms in 1987, was banned from the securities business for life by 1994, and later went to jail for fraud and money-laundering, delivers a memoir that reads like fiction. It covers his decade of success with straightforward accounts of how he worked with managers of obscure companies to acquire large amounts of stock with minimal public disclosure, then pumped up the price and sold it, so he and the insiders made large profits while public investors usually lost. Profits were laundered through purchase of legitimate businesses and cash deposits in Swiss banks. There is only brief mention of Belfort's life before Wall Street or events since 1997. The book's main topic is the vast amount of sex, drugs and risky physical behavior Belfort managed to survive. As might be expected in the autobiography of a veteran con man with movie rights already sold, it's hard to know how much to believe. The story is told mostly in dialogue, with allegedly contemporaneous mental asides by the author, reported verbatim. But it reports only surface events, never revealing what motivates Belfort or any of the other characters. (Oct. 2)

This portrait of the eccentric family that brought the world Tabasco sauce isn't exactly hot, but it's certainly flavorful. Rothfeder digs deep into “one of the most profitable and oldest family businesses in U.S. history”—McIlhenny Co., founded in 1869 on a salt-mine island off Louisiana—and has fun sorting family legend from fact. The early years—including setting up a plantation with workers' housing that remained in operation until only a few years ago—were the company's most eventful. After winning a dubious legal battle to trademark “Tabasco,” McIlhenny Co. settled in as a sluggish one-product manufacturer relying on word of mouth. So it's a good thing for readers that the McIlhennys have left such colorful and controversial legacies as collectors, conservationists, citizens and especially CEOs. Granted, with its unique circumstances and “relatively simple, one-dimensional Tabasco business model,” McIlhenny Co. is of little use as a corporate case study, except perhaps as an example of how family ownership can destabilize even a sure thing. Despite the company's “ebbing sales and profits” even in the midst of a hot-sauce craze, Rothfeder's tale is balanced and always entertaining, and may please at least some of those who shake a few drops of Tabasco on whatever they're eating. (Oct.)

The first international ballet superstar, Rudolf Nureyev (1938–1993) made headlines when he defected from Russia in 1961. His onstage partnership with the Royal Ballet's ballerina assoluta Margot Fonteyn received legendary acclaim. Formerly a Kirov star, trained by the famed ballet teacher Alexander Pushkin and inspired by Nijinsky and Stanislavsky, he shocked and seduced the West with his charismatic stage presence and his passionate, sometimes rough-edged dancing. British ballet critic Kavanagh (Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton) captures his phenomenal work ethic, his hunger for new dance experiences (with Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham and Paul Taylor) and his flamboyant life. Her writing style is both readable and sophisticated, showing Nureyev's wit and generosity alongside his carelessness and cruelty. She dissects ballet arcana like the Bournonville and Vaganova techniques—but doesn't stint on celebrity dish. Nureyev's affair with the celebrated Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, his desperate need to dance for George Balanchine and his competition with the younger ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov are detailed, alongside his relationships with Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger. Kavanagh presents a definitive and moving portrait of one of the 20th century's most hypnotic, ruthless and hedonistic artists. Photos. (Oct. 2)

Azar Nafisi meets David Lipsky in this memoir/meditation on crossing the border between the civilian world of literature and the world of the military during 10 years of teaching English at West Point. Samet's students sometimes respond to literature in ways that trouble her, but she lauds their intellectual courage as they “negotiate the multiple contradictions” of military life. Considering the link between literature and war, Samet insightfully explores how Vietnam fiction changed American literary discourse about the heroism of military service. Beyond books, Samet also examines how televised accounts of the Iraq War have turned American civilians “into war's insulated voyeurs,” and discusses the gap separating her from the rest of the audience watching a documentary on Iraq. Lighter, gently humorous sections reveal Samet's feelings about army argot. She has been known to ask her mother to meet her “at 1800 instead of at 6:00 p.m.,” but she forbids the use of the exclamation “Hooah!”(“an affirmative expression of the warrior spirit”) in her classroom. Samet is prone to digressions that break the flow of great stories, like an account of her West Point job interview. But this meditation on war, teaching and literature is sympathetic, shrewd and sometimes profound. (Oct.)

Emmy Award–winning sportscaster King has written a bittersweet love story that will resonate with many readers (and may even remind some of Calvin Trillin's bestselling About Alice). King's wife, Maggie Smith, born in 1948, was his childhood sweetheart, whom he recalls as “an awkward tomboy with hearing aid wires tangled in her dress at the play lot” and later “a blossoming beauty.” Married in 1970, they stayed “crazy in love” for 32 years until her death from cancer in 2002. Those were challenging years spent overcoming adversity: “She was a woman who battled poverty, severe hearing loss at an early age, progressive blindness, melanoma, breast cancer and finally ovarian cancer. Yet she was the happiest person I've ever known.”Remembering the happy times, King also covers their fears as darkness and death loomed. He details diagnoses and looks back at such frightening moments as Maggie's fall from a train platform in downtown Chicago. Along with the sad setbacks, he captures Maggie's free spirit and her “childlike zest for living.” People with disabilities and those in relationships with them will find this an inspirational book. 15 pages of b&w and color photos. (Two thirds of royalties will go to the American Cancer Society and the Chicago Lighthouse.) (Oct. 13)

Unbeknownst to most readers today, Austen and Dickens each wrote a satiric history of England. Austen's The History of England from the Reign of Henry the 4th to the Death of Charles the 1st—written in 1791 when she was 16—is a deliberate parody of the intellectually vapid histories to which girls of her class were routinely subjected. Reprinted in its entirety, Austen's juvenilia is witty, cold-blooded and contrarian: during Henry V's reign, she writes, “Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I forget what for,” and the history's purpose is supposedly to vindicate Mary Queen of Scots and “abuse” Elizabeth. Dickens was already a bestselling novelist when he published A Child's History of England in the early 1850s, which was part of the British school curriculum for decades; an excerpt appears here. Using plain language, sharp if heavy irony and evocative detail, Dickens is radical and opinionated: Elizabeth is “coarse, capricious, and treacherous” and James I is a greedy, dirty drunk. Although a knowledgeable introduction by historian and TV presenter Starkey (Elizabeth) offers interesting biographical tidbits and puts each book in its proper context, American readers will find these to be amusing minor works by a pair of English national treasures. (Oct. 2)

Dewey, a writer of fiction and nonfiction (James Stewart), explores the evolution of American political cartooning from its origins in the 18th century through its proliferation in the 19th and up to its current state, beleaguered by, among others, litigation and political correctness. Dewey's review of racist portraits of blacks and Jews is commonplace, but elsewhere he explores less familiar territory, such as attempts to censor political cartoons. After a lengthy introductory essay, Dewey presents five thematically organized chapters with more than 200 cartoons. The chapter on presidents includes Bill Mauldin's mournful response to JFK's assassination and Doug Marlette's portrayal of Jimmy Carter as the cowardly lion and Ronald Reagan as the tin man in the 1980 presidential election. The most surprising and clever cartoon in the “Wars and Foreign Relations” chapter is a 1902 skewering of American imperialism, showing Uncle Sam, dressed as Santa Claus, presenting a gift bag to a suspicious Filipino child. Dewey's chapter prefaces occasionally shed fascinating light; in the chapter on “Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Issues,” he observes that most 20th-century newspapers have shied away from “cartoonists with skeptical views of mainline churches and their espoused Christian values.” This will make a nice coffee-table title for political junkies. (Oct.)

Noted Lincoln scholar Steers (Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln) succinctly and eloquently debunks 14 popular myths about the Great Emancipator's life and death. Is the so-called “Birthplace Cabin” in Kentucky the real thing? Probably not, save for a few random boards that might linger from the original structure. Was Lincoln's father of record, Thomas Lincoln, actually his father, or was Lincoln the bastard son of Nancy Hanks and another man? According to Steers, Thomas Lincoln sowed the seed in his lawfully wedded wife. Did Lincoln and Ann Rutledge have a love affair? No, says Steers. He also takes on such questions as whether Mary Lincoln was a Confederate spy (nope), whether the famous “lost draft” of the Gettysburg Address is real or a forgery (forgery) and whether the infamous Dr. Samuel Mudd was guilty of duplicity in the Lincoln assassination (guilty as charged). Additionally, Steers dismembers the myth that Lincoln was gay. Throughout, the author backs up his pronouncements with solid documentation: the surest tool for clearing the smoke of fantastic folklore that envelops the 16th president. Photos. (Oct.)

In 1989, after Canadian science writer and photographer Lynch (Owls of the United States and Canada) saw his first penguin on Phillip Island in southern Australia, he spent the next 18 years in search of all 17 penguin species, traveling over 300,000 miles to Antarctica, the Galápagos, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and remote island clusters in the Southern Ocean. The result is this beautifully illustrated and delightfully written look at Lynch's discoveries about these “flightless seabirds” in the field and in scientific journals, during day-to-day as well as birth-to-death observations, and from the smallest to the largest type. While Lynch presents detailed descriptions of everything from mating rituals to eating habits, the best parts of his book are the photographs. Lynch's gorgeous and gorgeously printed images—such as that of the head of a young penguin chick disappearing inside the throat of a parent as it reaches for a meal—display such a refined visual sensibility that even without accompanying text, the images would still achieve Lynch's goal of presenting “the scientific and aesthetic appeal of this unique family of birds.” (Oct.)

Many Americans' only memories of their country's excursions into space are of the space shuttle program, inaugurated with the launch of Columbia in 1981. Twenty-two years later, Columbia's disintegration over the Southwest played a major role in the decision to end the program. NPR journalist Duggins reviews the 25-year saga of the shuttle missions, some of which have been shrouded in mystery, as astronauts took secret military payloads into space; others received worldwide attention and acclaim, as when the Hubble Space Telescope was restored to 20–20 vision. The author repeats the oft-made charge that the shuttle is a space vehicle in search of a true mission. Too often shuttle administrators have settled for running a billion-dollar short-distance trucking service to ferry supplies to the International Space Station. The book's first chapter is a look forward at what NASA plans for the next quarter century, but this misplaced preview delays launch of the main story. Readers also might wish Duggins had shared more of his reporter's experiences in covering the shuttle program. Nevertheless, this history is a worthy addition to the recent torrent of books about the American space program. Illus. (Oct. 21)

Short story author Hamilton (in the Journal of Kentucky Studies, SoMa Literary Review, etc.) “became consumed in writing [his neighbors'] darkly humorous and often tragic stories” after many years of living at New York's infamous Chelsea Hotel. Arrayed here are 68 of his columns for ''Living with Legends,” the Hotel Chelsea blog (www.hotelchelseablog.com). Hamilton skillfully interweaves his memories of residents with a history of the 23rd Street hotel, longtime proprietor Stanley Bard (who stepped down reluctantly this year) and the neighboring restaurant, El Quijote. Built in 1883, the Chelsea became a residential hotel for theater luminaries in 1905. Tenants since then have run the gamut from O. Henry and Dylan Thomas to Kerouac and Madonna. Famed books have been written at the Chelsea, including William Burroughs's Naked Lunch, but the establishment has also attracted a great many eccentrics, hustlers and crazies. Recent management changes and the Chelsea's uncertain future make this nostalgic portrait of the hotel's “fabled madness” all the more poignant. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct. 15)

Motion, Britain's poet laureate, was 16 in 1968 when his beloved mother fell into a coma after a hunting accident and his childhood “ended suddenly.” After this shock opening, Motion recounts the scenes and events of that childhood, which range from warm early memories of growing up “country gentry” in Hertfordshire to being sent off to a Dickensian boarding school—with disgusting food, terrible sanitation and a headmaster who enjoyed beating little boys—at age seven. The book soars into the extraordinary when Motion recounts his early teens. A new boarding school brought a sympathetic headmaster who recognized the potential in the unread country boy's love for Dylan and Hendrix and encouraged him toward poetry. (A heartwrenchingly beautiful scene describes his slow, awed discovery of Thomas Hardy.) By age 15, Motion had made his first real friend and entered a new relationship with his mother, who read eagerly in partnership with him. Motion perfectly conveys the “new faster time” of adolescent thinking and subtly conveys us back to his mother's tragedy with a new understanding of its importance to his entire life. (Oct. 1)

An associate professor at the University of Hawaii, Yoshihara (Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism) delivers a comprehensive cultural, historical and ethnographic study of Asians and Asian-Americans who pursue Western classical music in the United States. At age three, she began piano lessons in Japan. After moving to California at 11, she started more rigorous musical training. Passing up the conservatory, she chose to major in American studies at the University of Tokyo, eventually returning to the U.S. as an academic. This study is the result of her in-depth interviews with 70 orchestra members, soloists and university and conservatory faculty, as well as her own experiences of master classes, auditions, a recording session, workshops and some 100 concerts. Describing Asian musicians' personal histories, roots, gender dynamics, experiences and goals, she dispels common misconceptions, such as the assumption that Asians have a natural affinity for Asian music. Yoshihara's scholarly background and musicianship merge in this probing, authoritative survey. The extensive bibliography lists sources in both English and Japanese. 18 b&w illus. not seen by PW. (Oct. 28)

Halter, a noted architect of Israel's Holocaust memorial, builds his memoir of “hell” under Hitler's regime with unadorned prose and steel resolve. In the late 1930s, anti-Semitism infects the Polish village of Chodecz, where Halter had lived in a tight Jewish clan rocked only by sibling spats. Synagogues are torched; Jews endure humiliations; and after the 1939 invasion, Halter, a schoolboy, is pressed into service as a flunky for the German town kapo. Slipping into prayer to staunch his panic, Halter braves deportation to the Lodz ghetto, where his family survives on scraps while somehow keeping its dignity; Halter's dying grandfather recites grace even over his last morsels. Halter ascribes his survival to the resilience shared by other child prisoners who “after every knock-out blow, sprang back to life.” After being sent to Auschwitz, Stutthof and Dresden, where he barely survived the bombing of early 1945, Halter risks an audacious escape and returns to Chodecz, his bittersweet homecoming cut with profound sorrow for a town irrevocably changed and bereft of Jewish community. Halter stubbornly conveys both harrowing loss and hunger for renewed life with measured matter-of-factness that allows his ordeals to speak for themselves. (Oct.)

From age eight, when she discovered she loved skating, to age 19, when she won her Olympic gold medal, Hamill's parents sacrificed and scraped so she could train. This memoir is her homage to them, as well as her frank recounting of the difficulties women faced in professional sports in the 1970s. Hamill's father worked to support the family, so her mother, Carol, would drive her to most practices and competitions, battling “the sport's old boys' network” on her daughter's behalf. After the Olympics, it was up to Hamill to figure out what to do. She was young and unschooled in life off the rink, with no female role models for the professional career she wanted. She struggled to pay back her parents, find a man who'd love her, and keep skating beautifully, but she couldn't do it all. She ended up suffering two difficult divorces and a custody battle, alienating her parents and going bankrupt trying to make the Ice Capades successful. Frequent mentions of Carol's mental problems distract from Hamill's story, but that won't dissuade the skater's fans from devouring this quietly charming book. (Oct.)

At 80, still a popular performer and recording artist, Bennett continues to explore new ideas in his art. Rather than write a traditional biography, interviewer Sullivan (Remembering Sinatra) decided to focus on presenting the Bennett perspective on life, framed by over 200 of Bennett's paintings and sketches. When Bennett recalls Cary Grant advising him not to go into acting, his elegant painting of Grant emphasizes their mutual admiration. A discussion of aboriginal art's similarities to music is illustrated by Bennett's painting of James Moody with an “aborigine-type background.” His portrait sketches alone form a kind of visual history of American jazz and the people who influenced it. A CD of Bennett “pop” classics is also tucked in, including “But Beautiful,” “The Very Thought of You” and four other hits. Readers needing a fuller account of Bennett's life may prefer his autobiography, The Good Life, but to get a feeling for his visual styles, music and totally upbeat attitude to life, this volume is perfect. 200 color illus. not seen by PW. (Oct.)

They met in 1959. Storey, Swiss and quite continental, newly wed, on her first trip to America, was 26; Evans, the famous photographer, was 30 years older. “He seemed to be endowed with everything I liked: charm, taste, style, an unerring eye, humor, and intelligence,” Storey writes. By the time her husband returned from out of town, she “had fallen in love.” Although speckled with famous names and hints of mutual sexual dysfunction, this is a dry, quotidian recounting of Storey and Evans's doomed romance. There is much cooking and eating but little tasting, reading but little reflection, historical markers but little involvement. The memoir contains more than 50 photographs, but nothing from Evans's renowned Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, reprinted with fanfare in 1960. A future biographer may find the sterile detail (“I went to the dry cleaner and shopped for supper”) useful, the brief exchange of letters touching and small notes about photographers' rivalries informing, but both Evans and Storey would have been better served through more aesthetically placed photographs and far fewer words. 50 b&w photos. (Oct.)

Pete Rozelle is often considered the greatest commissioner in sports history. Under his nearly 30-year regime as commissioner of the National Football League, Rozelle essentially turned the NFL from a well-organized recreation league into a business empire. Most sports fans would relish a well-reported look at a man who changed the American sporting landscape, but they won't find it here. Davis (Papa Bear: The Life and Legacy of George Halas) inexplicably devotes entire chapters to events that Rozelle had little involvement in—the controversial death of Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, the Heidi game—and goes on numerous tangents about other people while Rozelle makes only cameo appearances in his own biography. Failing to condense rambling quotes from many of his sources, Davis even inserts his own reminiscences into the narrative, crippling the momentum. There are some revelations (especially on Rozelle's rocky first marriage and his abilities as a father), but they are not enough to make this either a clear picture of a monumental sports figure or an entertaining read. Photos not seen by PW. (Sept.)

Megachurch pastor and bestselling author Osteen follows up Your Best Life Now with this disappointingly unoriginal Christian self-help book. The seven subtitular steps to improvement include instructions to develop good habits, better relationships and an inner life. Osteen balances mind-over-matter pep talks with claims that God wants to bless faithful people with successes. The future is always promising, because “God never performs His greatest feats in your yesterdays.” At the same time, in order to receive God's blessing, one must back up prayers with action, obey, maintain a positive attitude toward life and “do the right thing with the right motives.” Some of Osteen's advice is sound; for example, he suggests that if you are forgiving and kind to colleagues and friends, they'll cut you slack when you have crabby days. Other suggestions—like writing down a big goal and posting it on your mirror or desk—are unremarkable. Laced throughout are anodyne first-person vignettes; Osteen struggled with frustration when his favorite restaurant announced a 45-minute wait. The hurried Osteen went to a nearby burger joint, only to have a brief encounter that changed another customer's life. Voilà—God turned Osteen's disappointment into blessing! Though this book is destined for strong sales, it offers nothing innovative. (Oct. 15)

McLaren, a leader in the emerging church, issues a salvo of arguments for “radical hope” in the face of profound dilemmas. The prolific author and pastor identifies the earth's “four deep dysfunctions” that have created a “suicide machine”: crises in prosperity, equity, security and spirituality. “What could change,” he asks, “if we applied the message of Jesus—the good news of the kingdom of God—to the world's greatest problems?” Here McLaren builds on the theme of his 2006 book The Secret Message of Jesus—that bringing about the kingdom means transforming the world we live in—to propose that we create a “hope insurgency.” Using a close reading of the Gospels to challenge conservative evangelicals' emphasis on individual salvation, not to mention end-times theology and, by implication, the prosperity gospel, McLaren argues for establishing a “beloved community” based on justice, peace, equality and compassion. McLaren's conclusions are not new, but his ability to be clear and persuasive—and get the attention of a segment of America's Christians—are exceptional. While his critics will find yet more material for challenging McLaren's views, his supporters will consider this book a riveting call to a new conversion. (Oct. 2)

Women's conference speaker and professional counselor Rinehart (Strong Women, Soft Hearts) offers Christian women redemptive hope in a world where dreaming can be a dangerous endeavor. Rinehart tells her own story of living in dull “sepia” days, bound by life's disappointments and doubting Christian claims. Such skepticism eventually led her to serious explorations in Jungian psychology, which she now views as a period when she was committing “spiritual adultery.” Wrestling through personal faith issues proved painful, yet incredibly freeing, as Rinehart allowed God's mercy and knowledge of her to permeate every darkened space of her heart. Rinehart lucidly hits the mark about women's most desperate yearnings as she discusses rites of passage in which individuals make a choice to either embrace life with all its interruptions or settle into a paralyzing fear. She challenges readers to act decisively and courageously in their relationships, primarily by inviting vulnerability and loving difficult people, and she shows how to trust God's sovereignty and faithful love even through interminable setbacks. Christian women who are serious about setting a course beyond vague dreaming will appreciate Rinehart's inspiring path to a more hopeful life. (Oct.)

Don't let the page count on this volume fool you. Ellingsen, a professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, packs in a remarkable amount of history, mostly of Christianity in America. He not only addresses Christianity's roots, but its U.S. evolution, its ebb and flow, all in an effort to illustrate what he calls “the dominance of the Puritan Paradigm on our social psyche.” Complete with explicit (and sometimes excessive) poll numbers on denominational voters, their trends, and their motivations , the argument is well-grounded. With so much attention paid to how we got here, however, Ellingsen neglects where we should go next; the book is more descriptive and diagnostic than prescriptive. This is by no means a light read, but neither is it only for professional politicos and theologians. Readers of Jim Wallis, Michael Lerner, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and others who've addressed the dichotomy between the New Testament Jesus, champion of the poor and forgotten, and the Jesus of the political right will want to add this title to their library, if only for a more in-depth perspective of how American Christianity and politics have changed. (Oct.)

In an absorbing memoir, Moses (Food and Whine) describes her disorienting move from Washington, D.C., to Baton Rouge, a city home to a paltry 220 or so Jewish families. Moses, who had a strong Jewish identity but little connection to religious practice, found herself grappling with her new city's intense Christianity: just about everyone was on intimate terms with Jesus. Moses's move to Baton Rouge, coupled with her mother's deteriorating health, prompted her to study Hebrew and celebrate her bat mitzvah, which she had not done as a girl. Yet this book is not just a spiritual autobiography. It is also an account of a daughter struggling toward the end of her mother's life—chemotherapy and cancer haunt every page. Moses's prose is lyrical and fresh: her daughter, for instance, is “so content within her skin that it's as if she'd been born with the soul of a shaman,” and Moses's childhood, in which tennis games, ski trips and her parents' cocktail parties all somehow culminated in Shabbat dinner, was “like living in a John Cheever novel edited by Isaac Bashevis Singer.” Moses has a vivid sense of humor and never takes herself too seriously. After finishing this book, readers may wish they could sit down over a bagel and grits and visit with her. (Oct.)

Niequist, a 30-year-old mother and first-time author, wants readers to look around their ordinary lives and celebrate all their manifold, quotidian blessings. To that end, she offers 40 short essays, each an exploration of something mundane and wonderful: getting pregnant, throwing parties, collecting champagne flutes. She recalls a breakup that deepened her relationship with God, and explains why moving into a fixer-upper helped her learn that God loves us as we are. A lovely, honest and wistful tone characterizes the title piece, an ode to living a life of gratitude and joy. Essays on a friend's health scare, the power of art and experiencing Christmas with a newborn are especially powerful. Yet Niequist's relentlessly first-person reflections would have been leavened by more fully developing some of the other characters, the relatives and friends who pop up. Sometimes her prose is annoyingly abstract (“if we cultivate a true attention, a deep ability to see what has been there all along, we will find worlds within and between us”), and there are clichéd observations. Still, with a bit of seasoning (and more vigorous editing), Niequist could be a writer to watch. (Oct.)

Welshons, author (Awakening from Grief) and counselor, approaches a perennially difficult topic from an eclectic background; while his sources range widely, his sensibilities lean strongly toward Eastern ideas of karma, nonattachment and oneness with the Divine. Although Welshons describes this book as a “beginner's manual” for dealing with life's curve balls, it is more a meditation on how suffering can exist in the world if God is both all-powerful and all-good. Arguing that unanswered prayers may be an “invitation” to develop a closer relationship with God, Welshons's observations range from the sensible (such as maintaining connections and community) to the banal (hoary chestnuts such as the blind men trying to “see” the elephant). His emphasis on the spiritual value of suffering sometimes verges on narcissism, and occasionally he even seems to suggest that we cause bad things to happen through negative thoughts—which he then contradicts. His most disturbing reflections occur as he tries to make sense of the deaths of children. Overall, this well-intentioned but confusing book lacks concrete writing and compelling examples as well as genuinely helpful advice for those coping with pain and loss. (Oct.)

Lipp, author of The Way of Four and Elements of Ritual, suggests that the reason there are not more advanced Wicca books is because advanced Wicca “happens when you stretch beyond Wicca itself.” She goes on: “When I was trained as a young traditional Wiccan, I was expected to make an extensive study of topics that ranged far beyond Wicca and witchcraft.” For Lipp, the areas beyond memorizing the elements of the pagan calendar and spell casting that young Wiccans ought to be exploring include such obvious topics as the evolution of modern Wicca from Freemasonry and the history of witch hunts. However, she breaks new ground when she encourages readers to explore such traditional spiritual practices as meditation and the study of comparative religion. She writes, “Certain advanced Wiccan skills, such as deep trance or channeling, depend on a greater ability to still the mind, quiet the ego, and reach an inner balance.” Indeed, Lipp invites readers to enter into psychotherapy in order to gain deeper self-awareness. Each of her chapters is supplemented with a helpful “homework” section and an annotated bibliography for further reading. Advanced practitioners of all stripes should be delighted with this enduring contribution to the literature. (Oct.)

Schroth, a Jesuit priest and professor of humanities at St. Peter's College in Jersey City, N.J., tells the story of the Society of Jesus' presence in North America in this account that begins with a martyrdom on the coast of Florida in 1566. From humble beginnings as missionaries bent on converting Native Americans, the society grew over nearly five centuries on this continent into an organization best known today for its work in education and social activism. In between, members have served as war chaplains and antiwar protesters, high school and college educators, and writers and editors addressing church and societal issues through the community's influential magazine America. Blending history and analysis, Schroth chronicles the society's weaknesses and failures, too, including its foot-dragging on racial issues, ranging from its involvement in slavery in the 19th century to slowness in integrating its schools in the 20th. Schroth also discusses the community's decline in numbers, but he ends on a hopeful note, quoting the late Karl Rahner: “There will always be men who... pass by all the idols of this world and dare to give themselves unconditionally to the incomprehensibility of God, seen as love and mercy.” This is absorbing reading for those with an interest in the Jesuits. (Oct.)

Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh usually presents teachings simply and often lyrically. This book, a translation and commentary on teachings of the Chinese master Linji, a founder of the Zen tradition, is not so simple and not very lyrical. But there's a good reason. Linji was one of those Zen masters who was given to paradox, shouting at students and employing cryptic behaviors and words. As Nhat Hanh helpfully notes, “Reading his words is like taking a very strong medicine.” So the contemporary Zen master is, comparatively, a more penetrable guide to his predecessor, as a commentator ought to be. The text calls on Nhat Hanh's scholarly abilities. He is more than a humble monk, and this side of him is much less familiar to his many readers. He is able to encapsulate Linji's philosophy in his characteristically memorable way: the enlightened person has “nothing to do, nowhere to go.” Also true to form, he offers easy breathing practices based on what Linji says. The book could be better organized; the text and commentaries are in separate chapters, necessitating a lot of flipping back and forth. This book is fresh and stimulating for advanced Zen practitioners. (Oct.)

Like his other thorough guides for all things witchcraft, Penczak (The Mystic Foundation) offers fans another comprehensive, user-friendly handbook for the aspiring witch, this time for advanced practitioners—what he calls “continuing education” for followers of his Temple of Witchcraft series. According to Penczak, high witchcraft is quite different from the household magick of the everyday witch. It is known as “god magick,” involving “the use of ritual to align with the divine” and “seeking divine enlightenment while incarnated in a body.” Penczak helpfully likens learning the ceremonies and rituals of high witchcraft to a regular routine of exercise, yet instead of the body, you are “build[ing] your psychic and magical 'muscles.' ” And readers should get ready for a hefty workout. Following several introductory chapters, Penczak provides a highly technical course of 13 lessons designed to provide all the necessary tools and intellectual, academic and ceremonial background information readers need to deepen their “connection to the divine” and self-initiate into high witchcraft. Audiences looking for witchcraft history will certainly find it here, but this is foremost an engaging textbook designed for home-schooling the advancing witch, and it is encyclopedic in its rituals, charts and even homework assignments. (Oct.)

Gottschalk, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, and his former student Greenberg analyze what Islamophobia is and how it is manifested through political cartoons, many of which are included with revealing results. The authors say that Islamophobia—a racistlike bias against Muslims based on stereotypes—is very real, manifesting in some cartoons that are obviously biased and others that appear on the surface to be more sympathetic. Cartoons, symbolic of wider feelings and paranoia about Islam, reflect misunderstandings and prejudice among Westerners and, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, often serve to widen cultural chasms, particularly between Muslims and American Christians. Symbols and caricatures, like the veil, the mosque, scimitars and large-nosed profiles, can be misused or conflicting; for example, the scimitar, frequently used to depict Muslim violence, is of doubtful Muslim heritage but is actually used in American military uniforms. Gottschalk and Greenberg offer a particularly chilling comparison of cartoon depictions of Jews prior to World War II and their Muslim counterpart caricatures today. Even cartoons mocking conservative Christians are more neutral and less intentional in their hatred, say the authors. With its incendiary cover art and on the heels of the Danish cartoon controversy, this book should attract well-deserved attention. (Oct.)

While the roles of American clergy have changed over the past 400 years, this thorough account argues that the “narrative of decline” is unwarranted: in “congregational leadership... the clergy have as much authority now as they did in the 17th century.” According to Holifield, professor of American church history at Candler School of Theology, the gospel is both “world denying and world affirming,” which means that clergy stand in “an irreducibly paradoxical relation to American culture.” After summarizing the roots of Christian ministry from the first century through the Reformation, Holifield traces the shifts in authority from the American colonies through 2005. Using parallel chapters covering Protestant and Catholic issues, he weaves in portrayals of African-American clergy and the contested place of women in the ministry. Topics include the trend toward an educated clergy and their ongoing professionalization; the populist revival, which valued religious enthusiasm over theological accomplishment; increasing tensions between liberal and conservative Christianities; the social gospel; the changing role of the laity; and the impact of Vatican II. Holifield's section on clergy from 1970 to the present is tantalizingly brief but incisive. Full of detailed research, this balanced historical study is clear, well-organized and perceptive. (Oct.)

A rabbi and a psychiatrist, Twerski has an interesting stereoscopic view of the human condition. Author of dozens of books (Waking Up Just in Time), many of his former works could be shelved in self-help. This new volume has that flavor also, especially with its concluding “Ten Steps to Happiness.” This, however, is a spirituality/inspiration title because Twerski asserts that “to be truly happy, we need to live as spiritual beings.” This path calls for humans to be the best they can be, thereby avoiding “Spiritual Deficiency Syndrome.” His core program includes self-awareness, humility, choice, patience, making the most of things, improvement, compassion, perspective, purpose, truth and change. Twerski repeatedly compares and contrasts humans and the animal world to good effect, and his anecdotes make this an easy read. Although potentially useful to believers and nonbelievers of every stripe, Twerski's Jewish perspective comes through in his emphasis on deeds. Along the way many wise maxims crop up, e.g., “No one has control over outcome, only over process.” Readers comfortable with working a plan, such as a 12-step program, will find especially useful material, particularly in the last workbook-style pages. (Oct.)

Kinnaman, president of the Barna Institute, was inspired to write this book when Lyons (of the Fermi Project) commissioned him to do extensive research on what young Americans think about Christianity. Lyons had a “gut-level sense that something was desperately wrong,” and three years of research paints exactly that picture. Mosaics and Busters (the generations that include late teens to early 30-somethings) believe Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered. Rather than simply try to do a PR face-lift, Kinnaman looks at ways in which churches' activities actually may have been unchristian and encourages a return to a more biblical Christianity, a faith that not only focuses on holiness but also loves, accepts and works to understand the world around it. It would be possible to get lost in the numbers, but the authors use numerous illustrations from their research and life experiences and include insights at the end of every chapter from Christian leaders like Charles Colson, John Stott, Brian McLaren and Jim Wallis. This is a wonderful, thoughtful book that conveys difficult truths in a spirit of humility. Every Christian should read this, and it will likely influence churches for years to come. (Oct.)

In this brief sketch of the history of Christmas celebrations and traditions, Forbes draws heavily on previous scholarship by the likes of Stephen Nissenbaum (The Battle for Christmas) and Leigh Schmidt (Consumer Rites), offering an overview that is informed yet concise. Forbes opens by rehearsing biblical scholars' debates about Jesus' birth, showing how little we can glean from the New Testament, then moves into discussions of winter festivals in early church history and the Roman Empire. The more compelling chapters are the latter ones on Christmas in America, discussing its surprising rise to prominence in the mid-19th century. Although this is a secondary work, Forbes does add some tidbits to the debates; for example, he pinpoints cartoonist Thomas Nast as primarily responsible for the mythology of Santa's elf-ridden workshop in a far-off North Pole. Small historical errors mar the text, as when Forbes fails to distinguish between Puritans and Pilgrims, or credits British activist William Wilberforce with the Victorian moral revival, when Wilberforce died before Victoria's accession. However, the book is valuable for its well-proven insistence that Christmas has always been as much a social and commercial festival as a religious one, debunking naïve assumptions that it used to be a purely spiritual holiday in a bygone halcyon age. (Oct.)