Web Exclusive Reviews: 8/18/2008

-- Publishers Weekly, 8/18/2008

Web Pick of the Week

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope Eleanor Herman. Morrow, $25.95 (452p) ISBN 9780061245558 In this engrossing “forgotten story” of the Vatican, Herman (Sex with the Queen) relays not only the life of 17th Cenutry Papal puppet-master Olimpia Maidalchini, but the political and social history of her age, including glimpses of art and architecture, family relations, medical care, religious traditions and daily life. Born into a family of average means, Maidalchini rebelled successfully against her father’s plans to place her in a convent. This early triumph gave her a will that she’d eventually use to grab the ultimate seat of power in 17th century Italy, the Papacy, through the likely accomplice of her indecisive brother-in-law, a lawyer with holy orders who was dazzled by Maidalchini’s intelligence, planning and accounting capabilities. He submitted to the her plans, and she eventually ushered him into power as Pope Innocent X. As her wealth and strength grow, so does the resentment around her, but her fate would be sealed by the bubonic plague. Exhaustively researched, with historical vignettes interwoven seamlessly, Herman’s latest provides a window into an age of empire, nepotism and intrigue that rivals any novel for fascinating reading. (Aug.)

NONFICTION

Blue Sky July: A Mother’s Story of Hope and Healing
Nia Wyn. Dutton, $23.95 (208p) ISBN 9780525950837
In this poetic, heartrending memoir, UK journalist and first time author Wyn relates seven years of personal struggle and small victories trying to raise and heal a son with severe cerebral palsy. Diagnosed in his first year with the most extreme form of the disability, Joe was born blind, without any hope of ever walking or communicating: “He won’t even know you,” the neurologist tells them. Joe’s seemingly hopeless condition quickly takes over Wyn’s world: “It is like death.” Desperate for a cure (“Impossible,” her doctor says), Wyn pursues every possible therapy—from faith healers and prayer to physical patterning and swimming—losing both her marriage and career as she falls deeper into Joe’s world. Along the way she discovers the fate of other babies with cerebral palsy, given up to foster care or institutionalized as wards of the state by parents unable to cope. This difficult-to-face story is carried along effortlessly by Wyn’s elegant, fractured prose and hard-won moments of triumph: “Today,/ for the very first time,/ I saw the way he seemed to prefer/ to lift his face to the wind.” Any parent is sure to be enthralled, encouraged, and deeply touched. (Aug.)

Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas
Edited by Sarah Brown. Crown, $22.95 (240p) ISBN 9780307393586
Drawn directly—as in direct reproductions—from the adolescent diaries, notes, letters and writing projects of average twenty- and thirty-somethings, this book from blogger Brown, founder of the Cringe reading series in Brooklyn, should elicit the correct reaction. Consisting of original entries, many scrawled in cryptic handwriting, coupled with present-day commentary, they hash out the anxiety, confusion and melodrama of adolescence in a number of familiar forms: “Whatever. I totally have a math test tomorrow and I’m so close to being grounded it’s not even funny. My mom is a total PSYCHOTIC. Seriously.” Unfortunately, the excerpts are largely unexceptional (and unfunny) and the commentary only intermittently engaging; nostalgic value, unfortunately, does not carry it nearly as far as recent, similarly-themed volumes that benefit from outrageously awkward, instant-classic photos (Camp Camp and Bar Mitzvah Disco by Roger Bennett and Jules Shell), clear presentation and canny editing (David Nadelberg’s Mortified), or a singular (and whip-smart) viewpoint (Lesley Arfin’s Dear Diary). In a time of internet-driven over-sharing, it seems there’s still some things best left in the boxes and drawers they came from. (Aug. 26)

Future Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas
Ronald A. Lindsay. Prometheus, $28.95 (313p) ISBN 9781591026422
In his first book, lawyer and philosopher Lindsay, a PhD in bioethics, presents thoroughly researched arguments concerning several well-known and emerging bioethics issues: genetically modified foods, physician-assisted death for the terminally ill, conscientious objection by healthcare workers, genetic enhancement of human beings, and stem cell research. To start, Lindsay discusses common morality, that which is accepted by “virtually everyone” throughout time and cultures, and how that morality plays out with regard to new biomedical techniques: “Any attempt by humans to control and shape their lives in ways not previously contemplated by some religious tradition results in the claim that we are trying to ‘play God.’” Looking at “substance, not semantics,” Lindsay’s preference for “a well-reasoned, pragmatic approach” doesn’t preclude strong words for policymakers (“Saving embryos for the trash—that’s the essence of the Bush administration policy on embryonic stem cell research”), but is largely apolitical and science-based. Though it reads a bit stiff, Lindsay’s everyday-life analogies make this an interesting and accessible volume not only for those involved in biological sciences and healthcare, but for anyone concerned about these issues, and particularly public legislators. (Aug.)

The Human Factor: Inside the CIA’s Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture
Ishmael Jones. Encounter, $27.95 (383p) ISBN 9781594032233
What’s wrong with the CIA? A number of authors have tackled this question lately, and the pseudonymous Jones brings what could be a unique vantage point: a career operative, Jones claims he was “America’s number one producer of intelligence reports on terrorism.” Unfortunately, the book is more memoir than expose, privileging personal complaints (Jones is frequently underutilized and underappreciated) over actual accounts of the intelligence community’s accomplishments and setbacks. Even as he hops the globe, Jones revels in woefully familiar aggravations: the Agency fails to reimburse his expenses in a timely fashion, wastes his time in team-building exercises, etc. He convincingly labels headquarters a haven for burnt-out, risk-averse pension-seekers, but he spends just as much time getting in digs at difficult landlords, surly cab drivers and airplane travel. Though Jones levels many serious charges against those running the CIA, he doesn’t follow through and offers just a few pages of suggestions; his self-concern and attention to mundane details make this more suitable for those considering a career at the Agency than those wishing to understand it. (July)

Jungvolk: The Story of a Boy Defending Hitler’s Third Reich
Wilhelm Gehlen and Don Gregory. Casemate, $32.95 (326p) ISBN 9781932033878
In his first effort, Gehlen, born in 1933 Germany, provides a firsthand look behind Axis lines that unfortunately suffers from a diminished perspective. Too young for the Hitler Youth (though his big brother attends every meeting), Gehlen’s account doesn’t reach very deep into the Nazi education machine, focusing mostly on his home-life: the trials of his overworked mother, the deployment of his father, and the companionship of a Nazi platoon operating weaponry in the fields near his home. Eventually, Gehlen becomes a messenger for the field fighters during multiple attacks, and he recounts intriguing conversations with Nazis, Nazi sympathizers, and Allied soldiers. Although the memories Gehlen shares are narrow, and offer little insight into the Reich itself, they’re remarkable for the child’s perspective they bring to bear on a warring country’s ferocious struggle. B&w photos. (July)

The New Frontiers of Jihad: Radical Islam in Europe
Alison Pargeter. Univ. of Pennsylvania, $34.95 (256p) ISBN 9780812241464
Rejecting the conventional wisdom that the European jihad is monolithic and rooted in local conditions (alienation, marginalization), Pargeter argues that it is instead “plagued by division, petty infighting, and battles of ego,” and is “shaped by powers outside the continent.” The book’s careful analysis demonstrates that the initial wave of radical Islam in Europe in the 1980s was rooted in political struggles against secular governments in the Middle East and that the continent evolved over time into a base “to assist the struggle back home.” Even after 9/11, the author claims that the popular notion of a global jihad remains a myth, and after analyzing the terror attacks in Madrid and London, concludes that the evidence linking the perpetrators with al-Qaeda is speculative at best. Pargeter is careful to note that the radicals are a minority within a minority, and her prescription for understanding and combating radical Islam in Europe is to look first to “conditions in the Islamic world.” Local “counter-radicalization strategies,” she argues, can not work in isolation. Provocative, timely and well-reasoned, Pargeter’s iconoclastic views deserve a wide audience. (Aug.)

On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam
Joyce Hoffman. Da Capo, $26 (448p) ISBN 9780306810596
Journalist Hoffman spent years creating this history, a series of profiles that go deep into the professional lives of female Vietnam War correspondents. The women—some experienced “war dogs,” others young and untried—are drawn with honesty, and though each is a product of her background, they were all changed by the physically and psychologically treacherous assignment. While stateside newsrooms were asking women to report lighter stories, Hoffman’s subjects plunged into the battle with vigor—even relish—and unstinting dedication. Aside from dozens of new interviews, Hoffman excerpts some stunning journalism; included are Gloria Emerson, a socialite-turned-New York Times correspondent; Beverly Deepe, who planned to stay for two weeks and remained for seven years; photojournalist Dicky Chapelle, self-proclaimed “interpreter of violence,” who died in battle; and Liz Trotta, who fought her bosses to become the first female war correspondent on broadcast TV. Hoffman’s research presents the Vietnam experience from an unusual angle, and her inside stories of newswomen under fire is harrowing and highly satisfying. (July)

Previous Convictions: Assignments from Here and There
A.A. Gill. Simon & Schuster, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 9781416572497
In this boisterous, profane and unfortunately lopsided travelogue, British author and columnist Gill (The Angry Island) unleashes caustic opinions from 32 spots, both “Here” (the UK) and “There” (everywhere else). From Haiti to Oman, Brazil to Vietnam, Gill’s vivid, vigorous prose—especially in his uproarious verb choices—enchants and enthralls. The author’s powers of description are also keen, transporting readers to the “brilliant, benighted, argumentative, inspiring” Calcutta, as well as the “stamped on, bitten, battered and clawed” post-war Baghdad. At times Gill becomes preachy (“Travel should question, not confirm”), and occasionally offensive (“What’s in it for female suicide bombers? The promise of seventy adolescent virgin blokes[?]”), but he also educates from the less-traveled corners of the world (Pakistan, Sudan, Greenland and others), albeit with a guilty sense of awareness. As a whole, Gill is far more interesting when reporting from “There,” demanding careful attention from an international audience; dispatches from “Here,” though they may appeal to a British audience, don’t quite measure up. (July)

Rock and Roll Cage Match: Music’s Greatest Rivalries, Decided
Edited by Sean Manning. Three Rivers, $13.95 paper (288p) ISBN 9780307396273
Providing journalists, humorists and artists the opportunity to weigh in on rivalries across the music spectrum, this compendium from Manning (The Show I’ll Never Forget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience) tackles match-ups obvious (Elton John vs. Billy Joel, Van Halen vs. Van Hagar, Britney Spears vs. Christina Aguilera) and idiosyncratic (Ennio Morricone vs. Bernard Herrmann, Devo vs. Kraftwerk, Michael Jackson vs. Prince), if not downright agenda-driven (former Bob Marley publicist Vivien Goldman pitting her client and friend against Bob Dylan). The impressive range of acts is matched by its variety of styles, from Matt Diehl’s academic approach to Radiohead vs. Coldplay, to the rock snobbery of Marc Spitz’s The Smiths vs. The Cure, to the stand-up comic ramblings of Russ Meneve on a Bruce Springsteen-Bon Jovi “Battle a da Jerz.” Though some essays suffer from overkill (Katy St. Clair’s nonsensical Abba vs. The Bee Gees, the graphic novel treatment given The Album vs. The Single by Daphne Carr and Scott Gursky), well-executed pieces like Manning’s intimate Phil Collins vs. Sting pick up the slack. Sure to start more arguments than it settles, this is a fun book for music fans with a broad palette. (Aug.)

Sex, Science, and Stem Cells: The Right Wing Assault on Reason
Diana DeGette with Daniel Paisner. Lyons, $24.95 (248p) ISBN 9781599214313
U.S. Congresswoman DeGette, of Colorado, doesn’t mince words regarding religious conservatives in congress who have been pushing, since Reagan, for abstinence-only sex education, a ban on stem cell research, and other ways of “undermin[ing] scientific progress in the name of God.” Calling this “political malpractice” of a “malignant, self-serving, and unconscionable” sort, DeGette’s riveting insider’s account reveals how conservatives have controlled the agenda on woman’s issues, especially after the 2000 election. Though her opponents are largely Republicans, DeGette works with moderates and conservatives across the aisle while facing opposition from anti-choice Democrats, as in a crucial vote to prevent a ban on stem cell research. DeGette also writes movingly about her daughter’s diabetes, which made stem cell research a personal cause; sadly but predictably, her triumphant legislation, crafted across party lines and with the support of Nancy Reagan, is dashed by a Bush veto. DeGette’s report from the D.C. front lines is often infuriating, but her exposure and takedown of conservatives’ more outrageous arguments (against, for instance, insurance coverage of government workers’ birth control) provide reason to hope for a backlash. (Aug.)

Who the Hell is Pansy O’hara: The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 of the World’s Best-Loved Books
Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy. Penguin, $13 paper (336p) ISBN 9780143113645
From Stephen King’s childhood fascination with gruesome comics to the famous family name behind Peter Benchley, book-lovers and first time authors Bond and Sheedy light up some intriguing angles on many popular authors. Journalists in Australia, the authors deliver their 50 profiles with reportorial vigor, moving quickly through each profile while highlighting the salient and salacious details of, for example, the role played by Mary Shelley’s literary legacy (daughter of two leading British writers) and her free-love husband (poet Percy Shelley) in the genesis of Frankenstein. Surprising words from the authors themselves adorn many profiles; said Harper Lee of To Kill a Mockingbird, “I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of reviewers.” Between the engaging information and the range of popular texts (Pride and Prejudice, The Origin of Species, The War of the Worlds, In Cold Blood, Lolita, Roots, The Cat in the Hat, The Da Vinci Code), this affectionate literary history should appeal to many readers. (Aug.)

RELIGION

In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teachings and Philosophy
The Dalai Lama, edited by Rajiv Mehrotra. Hay House, $14.95 (150p) ISBN 9781401920081
Mehrotra assembles a Buddhist primer in this small collection of the Dalai Lama’s thoughts on meditation, suffering, karma, enlightenment and other issues. Brevity is the book’s greatest strength and greatest weakness: it is accessible, certainly, but the tiny topical sections do little more than scratch the surface of complex issues. His Holiness dispatches with compassion, a foundation of Buddhist thought, in a mere five pages; karmic consequences merit just three. And while the book aims for some practicality—including a chapter on how to meditate, for example—the approach is less hands-on than other Buddhist introductions. Although there are some gems scattered throughout, including a beautiful rumination on death as a spiritual practice, the book’s unfocused structure does not make the most of these. All of the chapters have been cobbled together from the Dalai Lama’s previous talks (with almost no information about where and when those talks occurred), meaning both that there is no truly original material here and that there is often little connection or flow between one chapter and another. (Aug.)

Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life
Ed Cyzewski. NavPress, $14.99 paper (240p) ISBN 9781600062773
Freelance theologian Cyzewski enters into the Emergent conversation from the conservative end of the evangelical spectrum. He urges readers to explore theology while reassuring them that they don’t have to become postmodern philosophers: theology can be considered, as it were, in the coffeehouse. Arguing that “[o]ur local settings and cultural values—in other words, our context—influence how we read God’s Word,” Cyzewski approaches “contextual theology” by weaving together discussions of mission, culture, God, Scripture, tradition and the global church. Personal anecdotes of his own growth in faith are disarming in their honesty. While this accessible work is a useful introduction to aspects of Emergent theology, Cyzewski’s summary of modernism and postmodernism is sometimes too sketchy to be useful; however, each chapter includes valuable suggestions for further reading. Gently nudging his fellow Christians to listen to diverse points of view, Cyzewski doesn’t explain why he is committed to engaging in dialogue with some aspects of culture and not others (say, progressive theologians and secularists). This addition to books about emerging and missional forms of Christianity ends on a hopeful note for unity across denominations. (Sept.)

FICTION

Beside a Burning Sea
John Shors. NAL, $14 paper (448p) ISBN 9780451224927
Shors’ sophomore effort (following Beneath a Marble Sky), set on an island in the South Pacific during three weeks in 1942, features achingly lyrical prose, even in depicting the horrors of war. After a U.S. hospital ship is torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese, a handful of survivors struggle for survival on a remote island. They include the captain and an officer; a Japanese prisoner, Akira, and two ship’s nurses he saved (one of them the captain’s wife); and the ship’s engineer, who saves a Fijian stowaway, Ratu. Akira, a college professor pressed into service, is haunted by what he saw, did, and didn’t do at Nanking. Jake, the engineer, is a black farmer who sees in Ratu the son he never had. Ratu adds a colorful combination of winsome bravado, humor and childish fear; each main character is similarly well-rounded, excepting the single-minded traitor among them, unsuspected by his fellow castaways. Shors pays satisfying attention to class and race dynamics, as well as the tension between wartime enemies. The survivors’ dignity, quiet strength and fellowship make this a magical read. (Sept.)

Smile as They Bow
Nu Nu Yi, trans. from the Burmese by Alfred Birnbaum and Thi Thi Aye. Hyperion East, $24.95 (160p) ISBN 9781401303372
Myanmar novelist Yi, in her first work translated into English, gives a fascinating glimpse into the life of a gay, transvestite spirit medium caught up in a midlife crisis amid the currents of an annual summer Buddhist festival. A full array of pilgrims, along with their attendant pickpockets, musicians and peddlers, gather in the Burmese village of Taungbyon, eager to throw money at the various shrine natkadaws—mediums, mostly transvestites, who channel spirits known as nats. The narrative offers the stream-of-consciousness voices of several of these travel-worn festival visitors, but mainly dwells on the shrill sadness of one natkadaw in his fifties, Daisy Bond, weary of the obsequious wheedling that his job requires and terrified that Min Min, his bonded assistant of seven years, is going to leave him. A 16-year-old peasant when Daisy bought him from his mother, Min Min has become indispensable as Daisy’s factotum, dresser, gofer and lover, but he’s met a young street girl musician and is resolved to marry her. Yi convincingly portrays the bathos of Daisy’s ludicrous gender-bending charade, though his mercenary quest for love is fully fleshed and affectingly portrayed. (Sept.)

YOUNG ADULT

Breaking Dawn
Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, $22.99 (768p) ISBN 9780316067928
It ought to seem redundant to dismiss the fourth and final Twilight novel as escapist fantasy–but how else could anyone look at a romance about an ordinary, even clumsy teenager torn between a vampire and a werewolf, both of whom are willing to sacrifice their happiness for hers? Flaws and all, however, Meyer’s first three novels touched on something powerful in their weird refraction of our culture’s paradoxical messages about sex and sexuality. The conclusion is much thinner, despite its interminable length. Everygirl Bella achieves her wishes quickly (marriage and sex, in that order, are two, and becoming an immortal is another), and once she becomes a vampire it’s almost impossible to identify with her. But that’s not the main problem. Essentially, everyone gets everything they want, even if their desires necessitate an about-face in characterization or the messy introduction of some back story. Nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily—in other words, grandeur is out. This isn’t about happy endings; it’s about gratification. A sign of the times? Ages 12-up. (Aug.)

AUDIO

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession
Adam Leith Gollner, read by Stephen Hoye. Tantor Audio, unabridged, nine CDs, 11 hrs., $34.99 ISBN 9781400107452
The world is chockfull of fruits and Gollner’s goal is not only to taste as many as possible but to interact and explore those fully immersed in “fruit culture.” From fruitarians (fruit-eaters only) to fruit smugglers, Gollner reveals a side of fruits that many will find astonishing. He also succinctly educates listeners on the wide diversity and appeal of fruits and why so many cultures have such deep emotional—even erotic—relationships with these earthbound wonders. Gollner’s world travels provide many interesting details and explanations about the relationship between fruit and culture. Stephen Hoye captures Gollner’s excitement and energy quite well. Overall, his voice is relaxing, though he has an odd speech pattern of lingering a moment too long at the end of sentences. A Scribner hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 18). (June)

The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington
David Sirota, read by Lloyd James. Tantor Audio, unabridged, 11 CDs, 13.5 hrs., $37.99 ISBN 9781400107551
The signs are out there and Sirota believes they imply a forthcoming wide-ranging insurrection. From shifting politics in Montana’s state government to the influence of a third political party in New York to the role and positioning of socialist senator Bernie Sanders, to the rise of a militia guarding the Mexican border; moments of dissent, resistance, and change are registering all over the United States. Sirota is quick to point out the more problematic and contradictory issues with these blips on the radar, but he also ably explains the significance of these events in relation to the larger picture. Lloyd James delivers a solid rendering of the text with a consistent tone that provides nuance and subtlety, especially in Sirota’s more reflective moments. He provides some personality to characters but not much more than the text dictates, even when dealing with more well-known public figures. A Crown hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 28). (June)

Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters
Richard A. Clarke, read by the author. HarperAudio, abridged, eight CDs, 10.5 hrs., $34.95 ISBN 9780061555879
With more than 30 years of government experience, Clarke knows what he’s talking about when he says government is failing American citizens. He spends a tremendous amount of time exploring how and where specific areas of the government are failing the public. Listeners will be reeling at Clarke’s words; he doesn’t hesitate to assign blame to specific individuals, including himself and others who are still in power. What is missing from his book is legitimate ways of fixing and mending the long-term problems of government in an election-driven political environment. Clarke attempts to address this, but fails to fully comprehend the numerous powers needed to generate some of the transitions that he wants. Clarke has a decent voice, though often his staggered speech reminds one of William Shatner. Like many nonprofessional narrators, the production abounds with body shifting, throat noises and other distracting sounds. A HarperCollins hardcover. (June)