Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 9/8/2008
-- Publishers Weekly, 9/8/2008
nonfiction| Web Pick of the Week |
 Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart Pauline Nguyen, with recipes by Luke Nguyen and Mark Jensen. Andrews McMeel, $40 (344p) ISBN 9780740777431In this moving culinary account of her family’s immigration from their native Vietnam, restaurateur Nguyen of Sydney, Australia begins: “In my family, food is our language…[when] we cannot speak the words “I am sorry”—we give this bittersweet soup instead.” Luckily, Nguyen is also skilled in written language; her moving, honest and painful story follows her family’s dramatic exodus from their war-ravaged homeland to the safety of Australia. There, Nguyen’s parents opened the restaurant that would give Pauline and her brother Luke the foundation for their current enterprise, The Red Lantern, one of Sydney’s most popular dining destinations. Worth the price alone is Nguyen’s masterful storytelling, including a warts-and-all look at her family and the immigrant experience. The book’s arc is entirely film-ready; indeed, color images of people, places and dishes are striking. And then there’s the recipes: more than 275 traditional Vietnamese dishes, all relatively simple to prepare (though some might require some tenacious shopping). Nguyen’s wide net catches classic comfort food like Pho Bo Tai Nam, the traditional beef noodle soup, and slow-cooked pork shoulder; fish dishes like Crispy-Skin Snapper with Ginger and Lime Fish Sauce; easy appetizers like Tom Nuong (Soy and Honey Grilled Shrimp); and exotic fare like Durian Ice Cream. Whether you buy it for the story, recipes or both, this is an essential volume for those interested in Vietnamese cooking and culture. (Sept.) |
NONFICTION
Free-Range Chickens
Simon Rich. Villard, $17 (144p) ISBN 9781400065899
Rich, an author and Saturday Night Live writer, delivers a punch-and-jab gigglefest in his follow-up to the similarly chaotic Ant Farm. A slim book of short takes, Rich doesn’t stray far from his formula—many of these pieces would work as mercifully brief (and funny) SNL skits—but it’s a formula that delivers a laugh on every page. Split into thematic sections—Growing Up, Going to Work, Daily Life, Relationships, Animals and God—Rich’s twisted observations are often dark, especially in the Growing Up portion; “terrifying childhood experiences” include “peek-a-boo,” and the people hiding in 7-year-old Rich’s closet (Freddy Krueger, Chucky, a murderer, his dead uncle, and his doctor) pine, “Man, I cannot wait to kill this kid.” Rich offers this brand of humor in a wide range of flavors, going, for instance, directly from Pheidippides of 490 B.C. to an “All-you-can-eat buffet fantasy” in the Daily Life portion. Still, there isn’t much here that’s not laugh-out-loud funny, perfect for rainy-day/toilet-top browsing or one long, painful guffawathon. (Sept.)
Icarus At The Edge Of Time
Brian Greene. Knopf, $19.95 (34p) ISBN 9780307268884
Be forewarned: this is not like anything else the bestselling physicist Greene (The Elegant Universe) has written. Nor is it a children’s book, though it looks like one, with simple, didactic text and Chip Kidd’s design for spectacular photos, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, of nebulae, galaxies and other cosmic phenomena, all on thick board. So what is this strange book? According to the publishers, it’s a science title, but really it’s a retelling of the myth of Icarus for the Star Wars generation. In Greene’s version, Icarus, like his father, will live out his life on the starship Proxima, headed on a 23-trillion-mile journey to a planet that had sent intelligible radio signals to Earth. But the 14-year-old yearns to escape the Proxima’s confines. So he gears up his Runabout—with a “micro-warp-drive engine” of his own design—and flits nimbly to the edge, not of the Sun, but of a black hole. But Icarus has forgotten about gravity’s ability to warp time, and he will never reunite with his father or the Proxima again. Greene’s impulsive teenager embodies well our insatiable desire to explore the universe, and Greene offers an ingenious transposition of the Icarus myth for the modern era. Yet the lesson Greene wants readers to take away is unclear: rather than dying, this Icarus is granted a stunning, if unbelievably optimistic, view of the future. (Sept.)
I’ll Have What She’s Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies
Daniel M. Kimmel. Ivan R. Dee, $26.95 (304p) ISBN 9781566637374
Film writer Kimmel (The Dream Team, The Fourth Network) goes behind the scenes of 15 genre classics to examine what made them great romantic comedies, still able to work their magic years later. Beginning with 1932’s Trouble in Paradise and ending with 2003’s Love, Actually, Kimmel dishes the dirt on everything from creative teams birthing miracle scripts to sets locked in such tension it’s a wonder a movie got made at all. On-set drama is plentiful, including director Billy Wilder driving Humphrey Bogart up the wall with rewrites on Sabrina, and Marilyn Monroe driving Billy Wilder up the wall—and his film half a million dollars over budget—showing up seven hours late to the set of Some Like it Hot. Not all the films suffered such turmoil, evidenced by Katherine Hepburn’s 1940 comeback vehicle The Philadelphia Story and Julia Roberts’ star-making Pretty Woman, both of which are recalled with candor and affection. There’s lots of minutiae and last-minute tweaks that make a film (like When Harry Met Sally’s signature happy-couples interludes) to broaden readers’ appreciation; the reading experience is akin to watching a classic with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic friend, and sure to revise readers’ to-rent lists and Netflix queues. (Sept.)
Letter to My Daughter
Maya Angelou. Random, $25 (192p) ISBN 9781400066124
From the mellifluous voice of a venerable American icon comes her first original collection of writing to be published in ten years, anecdotal vignettes drawn from a compelling life and written in Angelou’s erudite prose. Beginning with her childhood, Angelou acknowledges her own inauguration into daughterhood in “Philanthropy,” recalling the first time her mother called her “my daughter.” Angelou becomes a mother herself at an early age, after a meaningless first sexual experience: “Nine months later I had a beautiful baby boy. The birth of my son caused me to develop enough courage to invent my life.” Fearlessly sharing amusing, if somewhat embarrassing, moments in “Senegal,” the mature Angelou is cosmopolitan but still capable of making a mistake: invited to a dinner party while visiting the African nation, Angelou becomes irritated that none of the guests will step on a lovely carpet laid out in the center of the room, so she takes it upon herself to cross the carpet, only to discover the carpet is a table cloth that had been laid out in honor of her visit. The wisdom in this slight volume feels light and familiar, but it’s also earnest and offered with warmth. (Sept.)
Mike’s Election Guide 2008
Michael Moore. Grand Central, $13.99 paper (272p) ISBN 9780446546270
With his characteristically smug, sarcastic, nudge-and-wink style, Moore shows how Democrats can score a slam-dunk in November in a guidebook comprised of half-kidding essays, all within Moore’s prescribed range: wry humor, pissed-off rants and sweeping generalizations. In Moore’s book, Obama’s victory is a more-or-less forgone conclusion; naturally, he offers Obama a list of 10 Presidential Decrees for his First Ten Days (bring back the draft, but just for rich kids; ban high fructose corn syrup; free HBO for everyone). His opening salvo, “Ask Mike,” includes questions like “Why should I vote? It only encourages them,” and explanations that include a possibly inflammatory take on McCain’s stint in Vietnam as a pilot and prisoner of war; Moore points out that if McCain’s military service is up for discussion, why won’t anyone ask what McCain did to the Vietnamese? Sure to provoke, Moore covers his back with a bibliography and an index of sound bites his right-wing opponents can attack him with (“Long live Chairman Mao!”). Readers will get what they expect; Moore’s guide probably won’t change any minds, but it’s an entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking take on this year’s big event. (Aug.)
Obamanomics: How Bottom-Up Economic Prosperity Will Replace Trickle-Down EconomicsJohn R. Talbott. Seven Stories, $16.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9781583228654
Author, media commentator and former investment banker Talbott (The Coming Crash in the Housing Market) gives fiscal politics a shot of excitement and, yes, hope as he explores presidential nominee Barack Obama’s proposed bag of economic tricks. With reasoned but brutally blunt arguments, topics like corporate lobbying turn improbably fascinating; Talbott explains the system and its problems, and provides simple charts that will make average Americans blanch. Talbott delineates the differences between top-down and bottom-up economics, explaining the latter’s advantages and how Obama’s proposed policies will take us in the direction of greater economic justice and opportunity for average citizens. Quoting Obama at length, Talbott gives the impression of a man with the wisdom and will to reform many areas: healthcare, social security, housing and labor. Talbott does warn, however, that “[i]f Obama goes after the special interests, he will be taking on almost all of corporate America… [and] the most powerful political organizations,” and that “common sense would dictate that you would have to bet against him”—but only if “you had not heard Obama speak.” Even if one disagrees with the solutions, Talbott will illuminate in quick order some vital issues for voters and taxpayers. (Aug.)
Phony!: How I Faked My Way Through Life
Andrea Stanfield. Prometheus, $16.95 paper (240p) ISBN 9781591026556
Ten years ago, at the age of 25, first-time author Stanfield was involved in a bitter custody battle with her ex. Although an experienced bookkeeper, she lacked a college degree and couldn’t make enough money to support her daughter and her lawyer. And so, by fudging her resume with a nonexistent business administration degree, Stanfield founded an improbably successful managerial career on a lie. After struggling to make money on commission as a stockbroker, she lands a Business Manager position in the accounting department of an engineering firm, and eventually climbs her way to “success, respect, and moolah,” not to mention a 300-person staff. Unfortunately, Stanfield was so used to “faking it,” she couldn’t stop even for “making it.” Already suffering from anxiety attacks, Stanfield’s situation goes from bad to worse when her boss is discovered to have swindled $50 million from the company, and all the employees come under close scrutiny. Unfortunately, Stanfield’s plunge to the bottom, “overwhelmed with guilt, humiliation and regret,” and climb back to a happy medium—she’s now a happy dog trainer—make a somewhat overblown addition to the confessional memoir genre. (Sept.)
Pressure is a Privilege: Lesson’s I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes
Billie Jean King. Lifetime, $19.95 (192p) ISBN 9780981636801
Tennis champion King uses her 1973 Battle of the Sexes match against Bobby Riggs as a foil to illuminate 13 life lessons in this self-help quasi-memoir. Part business advice, part personal advice and all motivation, King’s insights aren’t novel (seize opportunities whenever they arise, do your best and visualize success), and her advice (shared family meals with all cell phones turned off) is standard but sound. For a radical figure in sports and women’s equality, King treads the safe and narrow throughout the brief book (her first since the 1982 autobiography Billie Jean), and coasts on repeated references to an important but particularly dated match. Tennis fans may want to give it a perusal, but those seeking fresh inspiration can pass. (Aug.)
Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: Why Women’s Lives Aren’t Getting Any Easier—And How We Can Make Real Progress for Ourselves and Our DaughtersCarolyn B. Maloney. Modern Times, $24.95 (254p) ISBN 9781594863271
Rep. Maloney, a U.S. congresswoman from New York since 1992, has spent her career fighting for women’s rights. Though women are now an accepted and unremarkable part of the workforce, Maloney documents some surprisingly grim realities, among them: the gap between men and women’s wages is still widening, working mothers are still penalized for dealing with family obligations, and affordable quality child care is in short supply nationwide. Health care issues, life-work balance issues and equality issues, Maloney reports, are only getting more difficult for women, with real quality-of-life results: studies show a “growing ‘happiness gap,’” as “women have become less satisfied with their lives over the past 30 years.” “Take Action Guides” punctuate the (largely) bad news, offering concrete steps to create “A Workplace that Works for Families” (“Demand what you’re worth,” “Urge your congresspeople to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act”), and help push back against community and domestic violence (“Educate yourself and others about how to prevent rape,” support activist and treatment organizations like RAINN and H-E-A-R-T). Though she admits that “documenting [the] stark reality… is much easier than abolishing it,” this comprehensive look at the contemporary American woman is an important and impassioned report, especially eye-opening for those who insist the fight for women’s equality is already won. (Aug.)
Scattershot: My Bipolar FamilyDavid Lovelace. Dutton, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 9780525950783
As a twenty-something in the 1980s, Lovelace discovered that he had bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic-depression), a shattering mental illness shared by both his parents and, they would find later, his younger brother. Growing up, his parents went largely undiagnosed—his mother’s initial breakdown was in 1949, the days when “psychiatrists diagnosed almost all delusional illness as schizophrenia,” and the only treatment was electroshock. Members of his family spent years in deep, undiagnosed suffering, largely from depression (“Denial wasn’t difficult, not yet. No one in my family had experienced mania”), and Lovelace spent years running from his illness through Mexico, South America and later to New York, accompanied by drugs and alcohol: “I've denied my own illness and I've loved it almost to death.” Lovelace's poetic prose is both matter-of-fact and haunted, capturing the unpredictable rhythms of mental illness: “Alone in the bathroom I made a smile in the mirror and it strangled my eyes.” Readers will get a real sense of the interior world of a single patient, and a family, on the verge of a mental breakdown. (Sept.)
LIFESTYLE
David Suzuki’s Green Guide
David Suzuki and David R. Boyd. Douglas & McIntyre/ Greystone, $19.95 paper (192p) ISBN 9781553652939
Suzuki is a Canadian scientist and environmentalist, known best for his CBC television science show The Nature of Things. With Boyd, a Canadian environmental lawyer and writer, he provides concise but thorough advice, in clear and readable text, for those who want to live greener but are overwhelmed by confusing media reports. Broken down into sections on home, food, travel, waste management and green citizenship, Suzuki and Boyd cover all the major and most of the minor issues, showing how everyday steps (like label-reading, on which they provide a tutorial) can reduce one’s carbon footprint. Focusing on well-being and the big picture, Suzuki turns around the conventional wisdom that living green means sacrificing comfort and convenience; providing information that the green life is frequently healthier and happier, he argues that unsustainable practices in housing, transportation and food production present a greater threat to day-to-day comfort and convenience, as well as to survival. Summarized in a simple-if-broad Twelve Guiding Principles of Sustainable Consumption, Suzuki’s approach is easy and joyful, ideal for the person who thinks going green is impossible or who is at a loss on how to begin. (Sept.)
FICTION
Big Juicy Lips
Allison Hobbs. Atria/Strebor, $15 paper (368p) ISBN 9781593092078
Misty and Brick, the lusty and scheming duo last seen in Double Dippin’, are back in Hobbs’ eleventh novel. The partners both had a thing for the handsome but now deceased Shane and are trying to make it again in the gangsta culture of Philadelphia. Misty introduces Brick to online porn and escorting to pay for their high-flying lifestyle. But Misty’s mother, Thomasina—a straight-arrow with a job who’s always disapproved of Misty and Brick’s choices—holds some sway because her good credit has often gotten the pair out of trouble. Out pursuing attractive and gullible men and women to add to her escort stable, Misty happens upon Dane, the spitting image of Shane, and she struggles to keep her head while falling madly in love with this new man in town. The once-loyal Brick soon realizes that Misty is more concerned with her own needs than those of their tenuous partnership. On the raunchier end of the mainstream romance genre, Hobbs’s ‘hood romp is chock-full of graphic sex, but these scenes, and the profanity-ridden interludes in between, can’t overcome the predictable plot. (Oct.)
AUDIO
Fisherman’s Bend
Linda Greenlaw, read by Sandra Burr. Brilliance Audio, unabridged, six CDs, 7 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 9781423361770
Sandra Burr offers a cool, understated reading of Greenlaw’s second nautical mystery (following 2007’s Slipknot), which finds 42-year-old marine insurance investigator and deputy sheriff Jane Bunker investigating some vandalism aboard a research vessel that leads to a missing person case, a fatal drug overdose and an attempted murder. Burr’s dialects are sure: whether she’s playing a Maine fisherman or a Native American oysterman, she sounds like the real thing. Burr also creates a sympathetic portrait of the very vulnerable Bunker, holding listeners’ attention during Greenlaw’s slow buildup. A Hyperion hardcover (Reviews, May 5). (July)
The Glimmer Palace
Beatrice Colin, read by Justine Eyre. Penguin Audio, unabridged, 12 CDs, 14.5 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 9780143143215
Covering the life of Lilly Nelly Aphrodite from the turn of the century until World War II, this overly familiar historical novel takes the listener inside the clubs and film industry of Berlin. German accents depict most of the characters; it probably would have been wiser for Justine Eyre and her director to take the Berlin setting as a given, for little attention is paid to class differences. Only an American movie mogul sounds genuine. Eyre portrays Lilly as delicate and sweet; unfortunately, she reads Ilya, Lilly’s main love interest, in much the same way, except with a Russian accent. Lilly’s best friend Hanna has a gruffer voice that predictably imitates Marlene Dietrich. Though the narrative is clear enough to avoid confusion, most of the women sound exactly alike and boredom is inescapable. A Riverhead hardcover (Reviews, May 5). (July)
The Gingerbread Girl
Stephen King, read by Mare Winningham. Simon & Schuster Audio, unabridged, two CDs, 2 hrs., $19.95 ISBN 9780743571180
Em has become a runner. Maybe it’s to get away from her unheroic and all-too-sensitive husband, the memory of her baby, who died, or maybe even her passive life. Inevitably, her training provides the endurance she needs to escape the sadistic and psychopathic tendencies of the man named Pickering. While not venturing into new territory, King’s novella has all of his trademark tension, violence and catharsis with a spackling of misogyny. Mare Winningham’s determined tone adds to Em’s strong character, and she also provides good pacing and tension that flows well with King’s style. Her straightforward reading doesn’t overdramatize the intense moments; instead, she lets King’s words create those anxious moments. Her matter-of-fact vocalization of Pickering makes the villain even more chilling than King’s text. Winningham’s portrayal of this character will stick with listeners long after the end. (June)
The Magician’s Assistant
Ann Patchett, read by Karen Ziemba. HarperAudio, unabridged, 10 CDs, 12 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 9780061438332
After working as his assistant for more than 20 years, Sabine marries her beloved boss, Parcifal, knowing that he’s gay and has just lost his lover. What she doesn’t find out until after his death from AIDS is that Parcifal was actually Guy Fettera from Alliance, Neb., and had a family he never spoke about. Karen Ziemba creates an appropriately light tone for the narrator, despite some dark events that Sabine discovers when she visits Parcifal’s sweet, dysfunctional family. She crafts clear, flat Midwest accents for the magician’s mother and sisters and her pace and annunciation are excellent. Ziemba’s men all sound alike, but they play minimal roles. She is an experienced and professional reader with just the right stuff for Patchett’s 1997 novel, which probes the complex motives of Parcifal and his assistant. A Harcourt paperback (Reviews, July 14, 1997) (June)
Gossip of the Starlings
Nina de Gramont. Algonquin, $22.95 (276p) ISBN 9781565125650
In this poignant novel, de Gramont explores a loyal and destructive friendship between two girls at a New England prep school. Catherine Morrow, the book’s relatable protagonist, can’t believe her luck when Skye, the popular daughter of acclaimed senator Douglas Butterfield, befriends her. A symbol of idealistic American wholesomeness, Skye is quick to push the boundaries at the Esther Percy School, and soon she joins Catherine in a blur of drunken nights and cocaine binges. But as Catherine cleans up and focuses on school work and extracurricular activities, Skye spirals deeper into her addiction and has an affair with a teacher. Despite Catherine’s efforts, she can’t untangle herself from Skye’s daring escapades, and soon the girls are again involved in dangerous situations. Though Catherine warns the reader of the story’s tragic finale from the opening chapters, the ending still reverberates with heartbreak. De Gramont’s coming-of-age story distinguishes itself with sincere prose and complex characters. (June)
Selected Shorts: Readers & Writers
Ray Bradbury, Molly Giles and others, read by a full cast. Symphony Space, unabridged, three CDs, 3 hrs., $28 ISBN 9781934033081
For once, readers outshine writers in this collection. Ray Bradbury’s “Exchange,” read by Rochelle Oliver, and Audrey Niffenegger’s “The Night Bookmobile,” read by Christina Pickles, are fantastical homages to the relationship between readers and their librarians. Oliver gives the better performance, especially in her rendition of the precise, caring librarian. Pickles’s voice lacks the Chicago flavor so essential to many of Niffenegger’s works. The best story, Molly Giles’s “The Writers’ Model,” wryly narrated by Blair Brown, explores the limits of men penning real women’s lives. The rest is barely entertaining. Leonard Nimoy is totally out of touch with the British origins of the jungle explorer in Evelyn Waugh’s “The Man Who Liked Dickens,” though the title character comes across as appropriately crusty and manipulative. Walter R. Brooks’s story about a naughty talking and reading horse, Ed, is overly long and puerile, despite Tony Robert’s best equine efforts. Fans of this series will be disappointed, and newcomers should start elsewhere. (Aug.)
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