Monday's Reviews Today: Nicholson Baker's 10th & An Early Mobster
-- Publishers Weekly, 5/21/2009 3:04:00 PM
In Nicholson Baker's "lovely" new novel, The Anthologist, a writer, with a looming deadline and credit card debt, has been dealt a dual blow—he has writer's block and was just dumped. Per our review: "Baker pulls off an original and touching story, demonstrating his remarkable writing ability while putting it under a microscope." And in Mike Dash's The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, the bestselling historian "presents an enthralling account" of Giuseppe Morello, a man who, after arriving in New York City in 1892, went on to become one of the city's most powerful crime overlords. Says PW: "Readers may think they know the mob, but Morello’s ruthless rule makes even the fictional Tony Soprano look tame."
The Anthologist
Nicholson Baker. Simon and Schuster, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4165-7244-2
In Baker’s lovely 10th novel, readers are introduced to Paul Chowder, a “study in failure,” at a very dark time in his life. He has lost the two things that he values most: his girlfriend, Roz, and his ability to write. The looming introduction to an anthology of poems he owes a friend, credit card debt and frequent finger injuries aren’t helping either. Chowder narrates in a professorial and often very funny stream of consciousness as he relates his woes and shares his knowledge of poetry, and though a desire to learn about verse will certainly make the novel more accessible and interesting, it isn’t a prerequisite to enjoying it. Chowder’s interest in poetry extends beyond meter and enjambment; alongside discussions of craft, he explores the often sordid lives of poets (Poe, Tennyson and Rothke are just some of the poets who figuratively and literally haunt Chowder). And when he isn’t missing Roz or waxing on poetics, he busies himself with a slow and strangely compelling attempt at cleaning up his office. Baker pulls off an original and touching story, demonstrating his remarkable writing ability while putting it under a microscope. (Sept.)
The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia
Mike Dash. Random, $27 (416p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6722-0
Decades before the Five Families emerged and more than half a century before Mario Puzo wrote The Godfather, Giuseppe Morello and his family controlled all manner of crime in New York City. Bestselling historian Dash (Satan’s Circus; Tulipomania) presents an enthralling account of this little-known “boss of bosses,” dubbed “the Clutch Hand” because of his deformed arm. Arriving with his family from Corleone, Sicily, in 1892, Morello soon set up a successful operation counterfeiting American and Canadian bills. His empire expanded to include extorting local businesses, insurance scams and kidnappings. The Mafia—a term that Dash underscores was used by outsiders, not members—was in its infancy when Morello came to America, but by the time he was gunned down in 1930, families had cropped up in all five boroughs and in cities across the country. Dash depicts the balance between loyalty and betrayal as an ever-changing dance and nimbly catalogues the endless gruesome murders committed in the name of revenge and honor. Readers may think they know the mob, but Morello’s ruthless rule makes even the fictional Tony Soprano look tame. Maps. (Aug.)
