Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 1/7

-- Publishers Weekly, 1/7/2008

NONFICTION

Doomsday Men: The Real Doctor Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon
Peter D. Smith. St. Martin’s, $27.95 (576p) ISBN 9780312373979
Weaving together biography, science and art, Smith has created a compelling history of physics in the 20th century, focusing on the long-lasting search for ever more destructive weapons—from the development of chemical warfare in World War I Germany through the arms race of the Cold War. Explaining “why some of the most gifted and idealistic men of the twentieth century spent so much effort trying to destroy the planet,” Smith’s dynamic, riveting narrative reveals details of people, places and events that are rarely covered in textbooks, bringing to life not just scientists like Robert Oppenheimer and Leo Szilard, but the horrors of chemical and atomic warfare. Time and again, “it seemed that a giant leap forward for science also meant a step backward for mankind,” and contemporary film and fiction echoed this sentiment with “clear signs… [of] genuine resentment towards scientists for betraying the high ideals of their profession and, indeed, the best interests of humanity.” Ironically, the goal of many of these scientists was peace, not war: “Many scientists were convinced that the terrible reality of atomic superweapons would force nations to resolve their disputes and work for world peace.” Captivating and thoroughly referenced, this chronicle should interest a wide audience, from science and history buffs to armchair politicos. (Dec.)

Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower
Cynthia Cooper. Wiley, $27.95 (384p) ISBN 9780470124291
In Cooper’s thorough and efficient narrative about the fantastic collapse of telecommunications giant WorldCom there are two distinct themes: her insider’s view of the corporation’s widespread wrongdoing and the life experiences that led Cooper to becoming a courageous whistleblower. Cooper, former vice president of WorldCom’s internal audit department, is most successful with the former. She brings us into the boardrooms, the backrooms and, somehow, into the heads of key players as some struggled with and others embraced the deceptions that would bring WorldCom down. Less engaging are Cooper’s autobiographical anecdotes, which offer everything from her high school math scores to clichéd advice from Mom and Dad (“when you are unkind, you can’t go back and change the hurt”). Other unnecessary personal details—like the fact that 12-year-old Cooper called her violin teachers first when she was moving away—and mundane meanderings about haircuts and gender differences take the reader off course. Too, many of these folksy anecdotes paint the author as a goody two-shoes. Cooper is better and trumps other WorldCom accounts with a perspective available only from a business-smart insider with a conscience. (Jan.)

Flory: A Miraculous Story of Survival
Flory A. Van Beek. HarperOne, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 9780061176142
A Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivor now living in California, Van Beek recalls her harrowing experiences at the mercy of the Nazis. In 1939, fearing a German invasion of Holland, the 18-year-old Van Beek left her Rotterdam family for Argentina with her German-Jewish boyfriend, Felix. But German mines sank their ship; seriously injured, they recuperated in England, but were refused permanent residency there and arrived back in Holland right before the Germans. In the panic of the invasion, Van Beek’s aunt and her family attempted suicide, with one cousin succeeding. Anti-Jewish pogroms and deportations escalated, and in 1942 Van Beek, now living with her mother’s family in the Dutch town of Amersfoort, received a summons to report to a German work camp. A chance meeting with an altruistic Resistance member resulted in hiding places for the couple and some family members. But Van Beek’s mother was deported to Westerbork and a poignant letter that she threw from the train headed to Auschwitz, where she was murdered, managed to reach Van Beek. Although the author’s rudimentary writing skills hinder her memoir, this has intrinsic value as a Holocaust survivor testimony. (Apr.)

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
David W. Anthony. Princeton, $35 (568p) ISBN 9780691058870
In this study of language, archeology and culture, Hartwick College anthropology professor Anthony hypothesizes that a proto-Indo-European culture emerged in the Ponto-Caspian steppes 4,000 years ago, speaking an ur-language ancestor to the Romance, German and Slavic family of languages, Sanskrit and modern English. Citing discoveries in the Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan made possible only after the fall of the Iron Curtain brought together Soviet and western scientists, Anthony combines evidence from radioactive dating, demographic analysis of migration patterns, linguistic analysis and the study of epics such as the Iliad and the Rig Veda to substantiate his contention. Central to his thesis is the role of the horse, originally domesticated for food and first ridden to manage herds; only later, with the development of the chariot, were they ridden during combat. Anthony provides a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of his subject, complete with a history of relevant research over the past two centuries (including evidence and opinion that counter his own, such as the now-discredited Aryan race hypothesis). A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony’s book is a fascinating look into the origins of modern man. (Jan.)

Justice and Science: Trials and Triumphs of DNA Evidence
George “Woody” Clarke, foreword by Janet Reno. Rutgers Univ., $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780813541921
From his work as part of the prosecution in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial to his star billing on TV’s America’s Most Wanted, former San Diego prosecutor Clarke has been party to some of the justice system’s most visible, controversial and melodramatic moments. He puts that populist knack to work in this nonfiction page turner that should appeal just as much to true crime buffs as those concerned with the workings of the criminal justice system. Now a leading world expert on the use of DNA in establishing probable guilt or innocence, Clarke describes himself as an unlikely pioneer; after avoiding science in college, one of his early assignments as a legal researcher was to defend the admissibility of DNA typing in a rape case. Helpfully, his sketchy science background allowed him, once he had mastered the material, to make a presentation that’s easily understandable by judges and juries, as well as readers. Full of suspenseful true-crime accounts tracing the capture and conviction of murders and rapists, as well as the successful exoneration of the wrongly convicted, this title has real best-seller potential. (Jan.)

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic
Darby Penney and Peter Stastny, photographs by Lisa Rinzler. Belleview Literary (Consortium, dist.), $25 (208p) ISBN 9781934137079
When New York's 120-plus-year-old mental institution Willard State Hospital was scheduled for demolition in 1995, New York Museum curator Craig Williams found a forgotten attic filled with suitcases belonging to former inmates. He informed Penney, co-editor of The Snail’s Pace Review and a leading advocate of patients rights, who recognized the opportunity to salvage the memory of these institutionalized lives. She invited Stastny, a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker, to help her curate an exhibit on the find and write this book, which they dedicate to “the Willard suitcase owners, and to all others who have lived and died in mental institutions.” What follows are profiles of 25 individual patients whose suitcase contents proved intriguing (there were 427 bags total), referencing their institutional record—including histories and session notes—as well as some on-the-ground research. A typical example is Ethel Smalls, who likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her husband’s abuse; misdiagnosed and institutionalized against her will, she lived at Willard until her death in 1988. While the individual stories are necessarily sketchy, the cumulative effect is a powerful indictment of healthcare for the mentally ill. 25 color and 63 b&w photographs. (Jan.)

Off the Page: Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings, and Everything In Between
Edited by Carole Burns, intro. by Marie Arana. Norton, $14.95 paper (232p) ISBN 9780393330885
As host of “Off the Page,” a literary chat program on Washingtonpost.com, Burns has interviewed more than 40 authors—from Pulitzer Prize winners Edward P. Jones and Richard Ford to newcomers Doreen Baingana and Hannah Tinti—and here she collects those Q&A moments “when I knew I was hearing something extraordinary,” including A.S. Byatt noting that she sees her writing in blocks of color and Martin Amis referring to himself as a “yob.” Burns organizes her bon mots into 16 highly readable chapters, each covering a different aspect of fiction writing: beginnings, characters, influences, language and style, novels vs. short stories, sex scenes, revision, fact vs. fiction, critics, muses and endings. Most authors speak eloquently, more like prose writing than casual conversation, with only an occasional dash of high-brow condescension. Readers will surely find familiar names among the 43 writers contributing, many of whom refer to their own best-loved works (though a dash of humility from the likes of Paul Auster—“I would never tell anyone to read my books”—is much appreciated). Author biographies, including each writer’s own favorite quote about writing, round out this treat for avid readers and writers. (Dec.)

Paris Café: The Sélect Crowd
Noël Riley Fitch, illustrations by Rick Tulka. Soft Skull, $17.95 (128p) ISBN 9781933368856
This charming biography takes as its subject Le Sélect, a Paris café that thrived for eight decades as a “microcosm of the best of the coffeehouse tradition… and the human rhythm of a living place.” Since the1920s, Le Sélect has been a favorite haunt for heroes and mavericks of the art world: Anais Nin and Henry Miller, Ernest Hemingway and Miro, Bill Murray and Kristin Scott-Thomas. But celebrities are just the first of Le Sélect’s charms, revealed as “a small gem of a place” through brief looks at the characters who inhabit it, a number of telling anecdotes and brilliant illustration; Tulka’s moody, exuberant caricatures of the waitstaff and the regular crowd are even better than the famous faces that precede them. Anyone with a soft spot for Paris or café culture will find much to love. (Jan.)

LIFESTYLE

The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die
John Izzo. Barrett-Koehler (Ingram, dist.), $15.95 paper (192p) ISBN 9781576754757
From the pushy title on down, corporate speaker Izzo (president of The Izzo Group) offers lots of insistent but uninspiring advice for an audience presumably unfamiliar with the real value behind clichés like “be true to your self,” “leave no regrets” and “live the moment.” Based on interviews with the 235 wisest individuals Izzo could find (culled from some 15,000 nominees), advice boils down to commonsense sayings and platitudes (“every day is a gift”), illustrated by short anecdotes and personal insights. Those new to the self-help genre will find tried and true advice, but little to motivate a real life change. (Jan.)

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size
Julia Cameron. Tarcher, $19.95 (256p) ISBN 9781585425716
Unlike so many diet books, this cheery addition to the self-help shelves wasn’t written by a nutritionist or a fitness pro, but rather by a “creativity expert” who “accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works” while teaching a creative “unblocking course.” While this might sound like so much snake oil, the optimism and common-sense attitude of author Cameron (The Artist’s Way) are winning. Her system is both simple and inexpensive, promoting exercise, food journaling, and something called “morning pages,” which are stream-of-consciousness passages dieters record after getting out of bed: “A day at a time, a page at a time, we become mindful, acutely attuned to our personal feelings.” The second half of the book is filled with exercises, some more goofy than practical (“if your museum has a gift shop, buy yourself five postcards glorifying the body type you’ve got”), and stories detailing chronic overeaters paths’ to weight loss success. These stories are sometimes inspiring, sometimes repetitive, but should motivate dieters to give writing a try. (Jan.)

ILLUSTRATED

John Sloan’s New York
Heather Campbell Coyle and Joyce K. Schiller. Yale, $50 (208p) ISBN 9780300126198
Looking at New York through the eyes of the Ashcan School painter John Sloan, this book takes a reliable tack, contextualizing his work, describing the city’s issues, problems and events through Sloan’s moody, vibrantly colored lens. Though the wordy foreword is less than revelatory (“Defined by their many inhabitants and visitors, urban settings shape the way city dwellers make sense of the world around them”), the book finds more solid footing when considering the work itself—the painting “Spring Rain” features “the red of her stockings and the acid-green of trees”—revealing a passion and understanding for the artist that takes in the artist’s full range of interests, from the philosophical influence of Robert Henri to his commercial work for newspapers and journals. Illustrations include sharply reproduced paintings, engravings and sketches, each with personality to spare, that ably cover the Ashcan canon: the urban working-class day-to-day, the dynamism of the city street and the foibles of the upper class. Unfortunately, the text looks all the more flabby next to Sloan’s concise, highly evocative art; still, those looking for the full picture of Sloan will definitely find it here. (Dec.)

Reggae Scrapbook
Roger Steffens and Peter Simon. Insight Editions, $45 (152p) ISBN 9781933784236
Though less than comprehensive, Steffens and Simon’s illustrated history of reggae music is nonetheless essential reading on the subject. The duo have spent decades covering the genre (Steffens as the founder of reggae magazine The Beat, Simon as an award-winning photographer), and they enthusiastically share their bounty in this interactive scrapbook packed with pull-out ephemera like stickers, postcards, set lists and flyers. The equivalent of spending a long evening with a friendly, eager collector, it’s hard not to get caught up in the authors’ enthusiasm. Fans will find all their favorites here in bright, full-color photographs, from lesser-known but seminal figures like Joe Higgs to legendary figures like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. The authors frequently share their own vibrant, first-hand experiences with the performers: Judy Mowatt discusses a performance in Zimbabwe with Marley that turned into a riot; eccentric Perry provides a tour of the “Throne Room,” his home studio; and Steffens recounts the time he presented Peter Tosh with a marijuana bud the size of a cricket bat. Augmented with a DVD featuring a handful of interviews with artists and hundreds of candid snapshots, it’s the next best thing to a trip to Jamaica. (Dec.)

FICTION

The Book of Other People
Edited by Zadie Smith. Penguin, $15 paper (304p) ISBN 9780143038184
“The instruction was simple: make somebody up,” explains novelist Smith in her introduction to this marvelous compendium of 23 distinct, pungent stories that attack the question of “character” from all angles. From David Mitchell’s hilarious rendering of one menopausal woman’s fantasy internet love-affair to ZZ Packer’s heart-wrenching Jewish guy-black girl romance, each story is, as Smith puts it, “its own thing entirely.” There are moments of prosaic precision (Andrew O’Hagan’s eerily incisive “Gordon” is introduced “in the talcum-powdered air of the bathroom muttering calculations and strange moral sums about the cause of Hamlet’s unhappiness”), but this volume is more than a showcase for deft prose and quirky souls. Toby Litt’s lovely, lyrical “Monster,” for example, playfully upends notions of personhood, as does Dave Eggers’ surprising “Theo,” a moving tale of a mountain who falls in love. Also on hand are a number of wonderful graphic shorts: Daniel Clowe shrewdly explores an insufferable critic’s solipsistic lapses, Nick Hornby’s “A Writing Life” gives a knowing wink with a series of writer bios and mock headshots, and “Jordan Wellington Lint” by Chris Ware cleverly chronicles the first 13 years of its hero’s life. With so much to savor—the sensuality of Adam Thirlwell’s “Nigora,” the knowingness of George Saunder’s “Puppy”—this anthology will sate even the most famished short story fan. Sales benefit Eggers’s nonprofit literary organization 826 NYC. (Feb.)

The Perfect Life
Robin Lee Hatcher. Thomas Nelson, $14.99 paper (302p) ISBN 9781595541482
Meet Katherine Clarkson, heroine of Christy Award-winning novelist Hatcher’s latest enjoyable, if not literarily distinguished, domestic tale. Katherine seems to have, as the title suggests, the perfect life—her two grown daughters are both pregnant, and her devoted and handsome husband Brad has just been named Humanitarian of the Year for his work at In Step, a ministry that rehabilitates houses for low-income people. Then disaster strikes—a beautiful young woman who once worked for Brad publicly accuses him of mishandling the ministry’s finances, and of having an affair with her. When Brad denies both accusations, Katherine struggles with whether to believe him. She wrestles, too, with the fact that her church community largely abandons her in the wake of the scandal. Meanwhile, Katherine’s two daughters clash over how to respond to their parents’ crisis. Hatcher (Whispers from Yesterday) is a dab hand with dialogue, which is one reason her characters are so well drawn: readers will feel empathy with all members of the family. Hatcher also gets kudos for creating, in Katherine’s best friend, a sympathetic non-Christian character, something all too rare in faith fiction. This will be a surefire hit with Hatcher’s many fans. (Feb.)

AUDIO

The Conscience of a Liberal
Paul Krugman, read by Jason Culp. Random House Audio, unabridged, eight CDs, 9 hrs., $34.95 ISBN 9780739358665
Economist and New York Times writer Krugman expands on the angry-liberal economic perspective of his newspaper columns, documenting the shrinking of the middle class and the increase in American economic inequality with statistics and well-chosen examples. Krugman’s polemic is read by soap-opera actor Culp with unassuming ease. Culp reads like he imagines an economics professor might sound, but jazzes up the learning with a bit of actorly pizzazz. Having never met a sentence he didn’t like, Culp turns Krugman’s pessimistic diatribe into an oddly jaunty march through economic theory. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; Culp’s voice is pleasant and makes for a nice accompaniment to Krugman’s tome. Without him, consciences might not have been quite so stirred. Simultaneous release with the W.W. Norton hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 17). (Oct.)

Letters from Nuremberg: My Father’s Narrative of a Quest for Justice
Christopher J. Dodd with Lary Bloom, read by Michael Prichard. Tantor Audio, unabridged, 11 CDs, 14 hrs., $37.99 ISBN 9781400105397
While monotonous and slightly repetitive, narrative connoisseur Michael Prichard reads Senator Dodd’s real-life tale in a classic, radio reporter manner that transports the listener back to the mid-1940s. Prichard’s narration is clear as day; his brilliant reading is an ideal fit for the material. The story, composed of letters from Dodd’s father during his time as a lawyer at the Nuremberg trials, is a personal and genuine tale that offers a fresh outlook into a complex moment in human history. The narration is cool and unwavering, never too emotional or sentimental despite the raw emotion of Dodd’s letters. This nostalgic approach will appeal to older listeners, although younger ones might be bored by the sameness of his tone. In the end, the material itself is quite fascinating and Prichard’s old-time narration has a distinct charm. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, July 9). (Nov.)

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Oliver Sacks, read by Simon Prebble. Random House Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 9780739357392
Neurologist and professor Sacks, best known for his books Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, dedicates his latest effort to the relationship between music and unusual brain disorders. Embracing the notion that neurology is an inherently British phenomenon, foreign to the New World, Sacks’s book is read by impeccably polished actor Prebble (PW’s 2006 Narrator of the Year). As befitting so urbane and smooth a reader, Prebble sounds as if his shirt had just been starched and his lab coat carefully pressed before beginning. With nary a word out of place, Prebble steps onto the stage, playing the good Dr. Sacks for this one-time-only performance. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 27). (Oct.)