Nonfiction Reviews: 7/13/2009

Burroughs's holiday-themed memoir lacks the consistent emotional intensity of his earlier work, despite a few gems. Arranged roughly chronologically, the vignettes begin with concrete Christmas memories (preparing a detailed, multipart list of desired presents in “Claus and Effect”) and move toward musings on the spirit of the holiday (facing a flooded house with an atheist partner in “Silent Night”). While the childhood stories have Burroughs's trademark dry wit—he once gnawed the face off a life-size Saint Nick made of wax—they aren't particularly memorable. It's when he turns his attention to the less tangible essence of the holiday that the writing comes alive, especially in the final two pieces, “The Best and Only Everything” and “Silent Night.” In the former, Burroughs (Running with Scissors) remembers a long-ago Christmas spent with a former lover dying of AIDS and in the latter, which takes place a decade later, he describes dealing not only with a burst water pipe but also feeling ready to celebrate the season with a tree for the first time since the death of his old boyfriend. (Nov.)

Waldfogel (The Tyranny of the Market) delivers a badly needed poke in the eye at holiday-time consumer madness, positing that not only is compulsory gift giving stressful and expensive, but it's economically unsound. Purchases are usually a zero-sum game—a $50 sweater is bought only when it is worth $50 or more to the consumer. But most gifts are relatively worthless to the less-than-enthused recipient, thus severing the link between the buying decision and the item's value. Addressing the $66 billion in retail sales during the 2007 Christmas season, the author's bewilderment is evident when he asks—would anyone buy this stuff for himself or herself? does anybody want it?—and answers his own question with a quote suggesting that gift giving may be too firmly entrenched to budge: “There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got.” That's Harriet Beecher Stowe back in 1850. This lively, spot-on book may be the one gift that still makes sense to buy come Black Friday. (Nov.)

Noted film biographer Spoto (Spellbound by Beauty) gives readers a previously unseen glimpse into the life of Grace Kelly (1929–1982), who went from Academy Award–winning actress to princess of Monaco. Drawing on hours of personal interviews with Kelly as well as with her numerous co-stars including Cary Grant and James Stewart, Spoto traces the star's life from her childhood in a wealthy Philadelphia neighborhood through her brief but noteworthy career in Hollywood to her years as the wife of Monaco's Prince Rainer. Kelly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, where she developed a love of theater, nurtured by her uncle, the actor and playwright George Kelly. Though she spent less than seven years in Hollywood, Kelly became an icon of the era. Spoto, as an expert in the films of Alfred Hitchcock and one of the late director's few confidantes, spends considerable time revisiting the trio of films Kelly made with the master of suspense: Dial M for Murder (1953), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Though she admitted to missing acting, Kelly settled into her life as a royal, raising three children until her death in a car crash. Cinephiles will love Spoto's insider look at Hollywood in the 1950s, and even those unfamiliar with Kelly's films will be drawn to the author's warm and generous portrayal of a woman who was more than a pretty face. (Nov.)

Eliot, biographer of stars ranging from Walt Disney to Bruce Springsteen, tackles the life, career and artistic challenges of Clint Eastwood. In 1954, at age 24, Eastwood was married and working at an Oakland, Calif., gas station when he was brought to Universal by director Arthur Lubin and signed to a learning contract. After years of uncredited appearances and bit parts in B films, he finally got his break when he was cast as Rowdy Yates on CBS's Rawhide, seen for eight seasons (1959–1965). His role as the poncho-clad Man with No Name in Serge Leone's innovative westerns triggered a solid movie career, followed by the popular Dirty Harry series. In 1971, he made his directorial debut (Play Misty for Me) and later racked up multiple nominations and awards, including Oscar wins for directing Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. Updating previous biographies, Eliot analyzes both box-office bombs and successes while also probing the “never-ending drama” of Eastwood's modus vivendi, his “financial empire” and his personal relationships. Married twice, Eastwood has seven children by five different women. Although Eastwood did not consent to be interviewed and key sources asked not to be named, Eliot documents a wealth of details in this well-researched, comprehensive biography that will not disappoint Eastwood's fans. (Oct.)

“This is a book about Jewish food,” Sax's prologue reminds, “and it would be a shame to read it on an empty stomach.” It's true; just a few chapters in, and you'll find yourself hungry for hot pastrami sandwiches, matzo ball soup, maybe even ready to try some gribenes (chicken skin fried in chicken fat). As freelance writer Sax explains, however, it's getting harder and harder for even the best delicatessens to stay open; the profit margins on sandwiches are atrocious, and young Jewish families tend not to embrace the food the way their ancestors did. Still, Sax has found a few truly outstanding delis, and not just in New York City—joyful moments in this otherwise elegiac travelogue come with the discovery of delicious schmaltz in Colorado, or the legendary smoked meats of Montreal. Along the way, he interviews deli owners, meat cutters and customers, digging deep into local histories wherever he visits. The well-crafted portraits don't string together perfectly, but individual chapters shine—such as the passages on the death and rebirth of Manhattan's Second Avenue Deli or the disappointment of Poland's attempts to reinvigorate a Jewish culture almost obliterated by the Holocaust. A helpful appendix includes addresses of all the delis Sax discusses and then some; readers in the right cities are sure to start planning visits straight away. (Oct. 19)

In January 2008, acclaimed oenophile and wine writer Taber set out in search of Bacchus—the Roman god of wine and theater—by exploring wine tourism in 12 of the world's most important wine regions. For the next six months, he visited wineries in familiar locales—Napa Valley, Calif., and Bordeaux, France—and not-so-familiar places, such as Central Otago, New Zealand, and Kakheti, in the country of Georgia. Taber weaves the history of a winemaking region with the history of various wineries in the place. For example, after chronicling all the challenges that the South African wine industry has faced since the 1950s (although the first winery there, Constantia, dates to 1699), he points out that the heart of South African wine tourism is the region around Stellenbosch and the best example is Vergelegen, a 7,413-acre estate producing outstanding wines that compete in quality with any in the world. In Georgia, Taber discovers numerous wineries, including Teliani Valley, which has won awards at the London International Wine Fair and other competitions, and observes sadly that the present state of Russian-Georgian relations has prevented the Georgian wine industry from flourishing and getting the international recognition it deserves. In a valuable appendix, Taber lists five wines from each region, and their prices, for those armchair travelers who cannot follow in his peripatetic footsteps and visit each region themselves. (Oct.)

In this disjointed memoir, Holland describes her nine-year odyssey as a doctor on the night shift at New York City's Bellevue hospital, a name that has become synonymous with insanity. Holland met a bewildering assortment of drunks, sociopaths, schizophrenics and homeless people malingering in hope of a warm place to crash. As the physician in charge of the psychiatric emergency room, the hard-boiled Holland acted as gatekeeper, deciding who would be sent upstairs to the psych ward, to Central Booking or back to the streets. The book also covers Holland's personal life from her student days as a wannabe rock star to her psychotherapy sessions, her sexual escapades and her marriage and birth of her children. Holland captures the rhythms and routines of the E.R. with its unbearable suffering, petty jealousies and gallows humor. She is less successful at maintaining any kind of narrative continuity. Chapters generally run only a couple of pages and often depict random anecdotes that most likely sound better than they read. (Oct.)

At first, the worst week of Janzen's life—she gets into a debilitating car wreck right after her husband leaves her for a guy he met on the Internet and saddles her with a mortgage she can't afford—seems to come out of nowhere, but the disaster's long buildup becomes clearer as she opens herself up. Her 15-year relationship with Nick had always been punctuated by manic outbursts and verbally abusive behavior, so recognizing her co-dependent role in their marriage becomes an important part of Janzen's recovery (even as she tweaks the 12 steps just a bit). The healing is further assisted by her decision to move back in with her Mennonite parents, prompting her to look at her childhood religion with fresh, twinkling eyes. (She provides an appendix for those unfamiliar with Mennonite culture, as well as a list of “shame-based foods” from hot potato salad to borscht.) Janzen is always ready to gently turn the humor back on herself, though, and women will immediately warm to the self-deprecating honesty with which she describes the efforts of friends and family to help her re-establish her emotional well-being. (Oct.)

December 30, 2006, was the night Esfandiari's nightmare began. Traveling by car to the Tehran airport, following a visit with her elderly mother, the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., was robbed. The 67-year-old felt lucky, not to have been injured in what she initially thought was a simple snatching of her belongings, including her passport. A few friends warned of more dire consequences. Esfandiari (Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution) did not realize that upon returning to her childhood home, she was entering a maelstrom, “fueled by the long-standing animosity between Tehran and Washington”—which contributed to her eight-month interrogation, four of which were spent in Evin Prison in solitary confinement. Most disconcerting was the shattering of Esfandiari's feelings for her native land: “I felt the country I had cherished all my life was no longer mine. I had loved Iran with a passion.... Yet these horrible people had made me feel alien in my own homeland.” In this engaging memoir, Esfandiari weaves together strands of her family and professional life, the problematic and complex history of American-Iranian relations, along with a reasoned eyewitness account of being held as a political prisoner. (Oct.)

Although he's often uncomfortable about it, as a clinical geneticist, Marion (The Intern Blues) examines his patients' genetic secrets—information they sometimes don't reveal even to close relatives—in order to help them make family planning decisions . His ability to solve medical mysteries can be a blessing: after a mother is accused of child abuse, Marion is able to use genetic analysis to diagnose brittle bone disease in the baby and to help return the infant to her mother. But his diagnostic skills become a curse when he tells his former college roommate that his toddler isn't just a slow starter but likely has Bardet-Biedl syndrome: the enraged friend never speaks to Marion again. In a headline-making case, he tries to explain why a pair of twins joined at the head lack speech. Although his short pieces lack the depth and finesse of essays by other physician-writers like Oliver Sachs, and Marion's case studies would frighten even the steeliest of would-be parents, Marion, director of clinical genetics at Montefiore Medical Center and Blythedale Children's Hospital in New York State, is a sympathetic advocate for his patients who lucidly interprets complex medical conditions for lay readers. (Oct.)

As Californians battle over Prop. 8's hotly contested ban on same-sex marriage, ACLU veterans Elinson (coauthor of The Development Debacle) and Yogi (co-editor of Highway 99) offer crucial perspective on the history of minority rights in a state long considered a political trendsetter. Beginning in the mid-19th century—amid the expulsion of Chinese communities from hundreds of California towns and state-sponsored genocidal campaigns against indigenous tribes—the authors describe, in hefty but clear and cogent detail, the shifting patterns of fear, xenophobia, white supremacy and economic competition and exploitation that have repeatedly motivated majorities of Californians to undermine the civil liberties of minorities. But the silver lining to this shameful history is boldly painted: from the free speech fights on behalf of workers by the IWW or on behalf of artists by poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Californians have relentlessly asserted their constitutional rights in cases and campaigns that have often strengthened the rights of all Americans. Readers will find this an essential reference in navigating the slogan-riddled civil rights issues of the day. (Oct.)

Byrne is fascinated by cities, especially as visited on a trusty fold-up bicycle, and in these random musings over many years while cycling through such places as Sydney, Australia; Manila, Philippines; San Francisco; or his home of New York, the former Talking Head, artist and author (True Stories) offers his frank views on urban planning, art and postmodern civilization in general. For each city, he focuses on its germane issues, such as the still troublingly clear-cut class system in London, notions of justice and human migration that spring to mind while visiting the Stasi Museum in Berlin, religious iconography in Istanbul, gentrification in Buenos Aires and Imelda Marcos's legacy in Manila. In low-key prose, he describes his meetings with other artists and musicians where he played and set up installations, such as an ironic PowerPoint presentation to an IT audience in Berkeley, Calif. He notes that the condition of the roads reveals much about a city, like the impossibly civilized, pleasant pathways designed just for bikes in Berlin versus the fractured car-mad system of highways in some American cities, giving way to an eerie “post apocalyptic landscape” (e.g., Detroit). While “stupid planning decisions” have destroyed much that is good about cities, he is confident there is hope, in terms of mixed-use, diverse neighborhoods; riding a bike can aid in the survival of cities by easing congestion. Candid and self-deprecating, Byrne offers a work that is as engaging as it is cerebral and informative. (Sept.)

How does one raise children to be the best they can be, instead of the best of who you want them to be? Former San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Ryan (Little Girls in Pretty Boxes) wrestled with this question for most of her adopted son Ryan's life, never quite feeling as if her mothering instincts fit the boy she loved. His early childhood diagnosis with sensory integration dysfunction gave her analytical side a roadmap of therapies and teaching tools, but the heartbreak of watching him struggle endlessly in school and at home left her emotionally exhausted and unsure of herself. Then their lives changed: after falling from his skateboard just blocks from their home at age TK, her son suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him unable to walk or talk, requiring multiple complex surgeries and months of rehabilitation. Her story of supporting him through this experience, with expert medical teams and tremendous aid from family and friends, is a testament both to her stamina and to his strength. Given the perspective that sometimes only a crisis can bring, Ryan learns to forgive herself for the smaller struggles of her son's earlier years, to take each day's challenges as they come and to trust herself to be the only mother that he needs. (Sept.)

Nine years ago, from her home in Connecticut, Marchese, then a creative director for a giftware company, became a beekeeper and honey entrepreneur. In this engaging, delightfully informative work, she recounts how visits to the apiaries of the neighboring community's Back Yard Beekeepers overcame her initial trepidation of bees as she learned about the industry and craftsmanship of these insects and became bowled over by the taste of fresh honey. Step by step she explains how she got started as a beekeeper, from studying bee anatomy and hive organization, to ordering equipment online such as her Langstroth hive, a smoker (to calm the bees while working) and protective clothing. She had to learn to “pour“ her three pounds of live Italian honeybees into the hive (the first time she got stung six times), while carefully introducing the all-powerful queen. Marchese is fascinated by the marvels of bee behavior—pollen foraging, dances, swarming—and imparts as well a goodly bit of bee history. She offers plenty of her own honey-beeswax concoctions, both edible and cosmetic, with excellent appendixes on the varietals of honey. (Sept.)

In this terrifically lively account chockfull of elegant, Old World recipes, Bullock-Prado, a former Hollywood film developer and sister to actress Sandra Bullock, recounts the joys and heartbreaks of running her own patisserie in Montpelier, Vt. Having fled the “soul-sucking” routine in Los Angeles with her husband, Ray, for the simpler pleasures of a small town near the Green Mountains, the author opened her own bake shop, Gesine Confectionary, in 2004, mostly on the fame of the macaroons she refashioned from her German mother's favorite almond treat, mandelhoernchen (and the casual mention in an interview her sister did for In Style). Although a law school graduate, Bullock-Prado always relished “playing with sugar, butter, and flour” and concocts an affectionate homage to her mother, who recently died from colon cancer, and grandmother. Her memoir follows one day in a busy baker's life, from waking at three a.m. to prepare the batter (croissants, scones, sticky buns) and bake before opening shop at seven; through the hectic lunch (focaccia); and the three p.m. tea time. In subtly compelling prose, the master baker conveys her touching sense of responsibility for the “emotional needs of [her] patrons,” and offers mouthwatering recipes. (Sept.)

Billick, the former longtime coach of the Baltimore Ravens, presents what at first appears to be a gloomy treatise on the future of the NFL. He argues that the organization's unresolved collective-bargaining agreement is threatening to alter pro football as we know it in 2011, and Billick sees the time before then as “a pitched battle for the soul of football.” Thankfully, the book mostly eschews this potentially preachy stance, as Billick details the workings of professional football, both on and off the field. Among the more interesting tidbits: free agency is a crapshoot for teams because football is “much more interdependent than other sports,” while despite all of the analysis and preparation for the NFL draft, many teams essentially go with their gut feelings when choosing players. Billick also examines the difficulties of being a head coach, who has “to find a rhythm that fits his personality.” He even breaks down the increasing complexity of offensive and defensive schemes in the NFL. Billick, with the help of numerous interviews and humorous anecdotes, emerges as an authoritative, affable guide. The book may lack focus (is it investigative, a treatise on the future of football or a collection of Billick's professional memories?), but the Super Bowl–winning coach's keen observations and informed opinions will engage any football fan. (Sept.)

Pat Buchanan once said that George W. Bush was no Marcus Aurelius, while Bill Clinton claimed that he read and reread Aurelius' Meditations as president. McLynn, author of biographies of figures from Napoleon to Jung, argues that the emperor and Stoic philosopher satisfies a thirst for guidance that modern philosophers have largely abandoned. But McLynn fails to make his case in a book that veers between biography and a defense of an emperor more famous for his words than for his actions. Drawing on Aurelius' Meditations, letters with his tutor and other ancient sources of disputed authenticity, McLynn ploddingly narrates Aurelius' rise to emperor in 161 C.E.—a role to which he was, McLynn acknowledges, temperamentally unsuited—and the challenges he faced, mostly unsuccessfully, during his 19-year reign. Attempting to protect the Roman Empire from the German barbarians, for example, he gave land to these foreign tribes. This strategy backfired, creating new economic and social divisions. Marcus Aurelius emerges from McLynn's biography as a disappointing political figure who could do nothing to unite the Roman Empire in its waning days and who remains most memorable for his aphorisms, such as “By a tranquil mind I mean a well-ordered one.” 8 pages of b&w photos. (Sept.)

The once common idea that the lights went out on classical and Western civilization when Rome fell in 476 C.E. has long since been debunked, but Brownsworth weighs in to illustrate that the Roman Empire's center of power simply shifted to Constantinople. In a narrative by turns spellbinding and prosaic, Brownsworth marches us through centuries of history, beginning long before the fall of Rome, and introduces the successive rulers of Byzantium, from Christian emperors to Muslim sultans, detailing a culture he describes as both familiar and exotic. He follows religious, political and cultural change up through the Islamic conquest of 1453. Christian refugees fled Byzantium into Europe, taking with them their longstanding love of ancient culture and introducing Western Europe to Plato, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Aeschylus and Homer, fanning the flames of the renaissance of Hellenistic culture that had already begun in various parts of Europe. Although Brownsworth admirably illustrates the ways that the Byzantine Empire lives on even today, Judith Herrin's Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire offers a more compelling and thorough history of this empire. Maps. (Sept.)

Buckley (Christina, Queen of Sweden) serves up a superior biography of a remarkable woman who, most improbably, became the Sun King's second wife. Françoise d'Aubigné (1635–1719) was born in a grim prison, the daughter of a disinherited nobleman and traitor and a mother incapable of loving her. These facts, and a financially uncertain childhood, including a three-year sojourn in the Caribbean, contributed to the intelligent Françoise's resilience but also to a deep emotional insecurity. A marriage of convenience to a renowned but crippled scholar brought her new social connections, which she, a lovely, popular young woman, exploited when she was widowed, becoming the governess of the secret illegitimate children of Louis XIV and Athenais de Montespan. Françoise, aged 39, succumbed to being Louis's mistress after resisting for a year, ambitiously supplanted Athenais, who was implicated in the infamous poisons affair, and after the queen died in 1683, Françoise married Louis, although the marriage remained secret. Buckley trains her intent gaze on 17th-century France—from the civil and religious wars that plagued the Bourbons to lively Parisian salons— offering a graceful, vivid portrait of a woman of intelligence and dignity. 16 pages of color illus. (Sept.)

The wives of abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld, Confederacy president Jefferson Davis and Union commander Ulysses S. Grant don't fit comfortably between one book's covers. Though they lived during roughly the same period, they differed in disposition, situation aspiration and gifts. But Baruch College and CUNY Graduate Center historian Berkin (Revolutionary Mothers) isn't out to create a group portrait. Instead, she wants to catch the realities of three “privileged, yet restricted” women and thus to reveal how even the most fortunate of wives—at least fortunate in the importance and celebrity of their husbands—struggled, not always successfully, to face down the difficulties of their sex. In this, Berkin is entirely successful. Her engaging prose and sympathetic posture bring the three women vividly to life. Weld, Davis and Grant were unrepresentative in their marriages but typical in their struggles to use their sharp minds to break free of the era's restrictions on married women. Even if they weren't, contrary to Berkin's hackneyed word, “heroes,” they pointed the way to what women's lives might—and eventually did—become. 6 photos. (Sept. 9)

Warren Harding's philandering while in the White House has already been documented, but Cleveland litigator Robenalt reveals an earlier, perhaps more unwise love affair by the Ohio politician and then U.S. senator. More than 100 love letters reveal Harding's jealous affair with Carrie Phillips—an alleged German spy—between 1905 and 1917. As Harding's political career rose, so too did his proximity to America's eventual Great War adversaries as Phillips's extended family was tried for espionage and suspicions alighted on her. This dangerous liaison illuminates a public figure at his most intimate, human and vulnerable, jealously begging for fidelity from his mistress even as he debated in letters her vocal pro-German stance and publicly addressed the nation to decry Germany's “contempt for neutral rights and horrifying disregard of the rights of humanity.” The richness of previously sealed, highly personal correspondence compensates for Robenalt's abrupt meandering between the history of Harding's affair and that of the espionage trial of Phillips's in-law, Baroness Iona Zollner. However, Robenalt fails to frame the Harding affair as one with political or historical repercussions. (Sept.)

The gloom of the Depression fed a brilliant cultural efflorescence that's trenchantly explored here. Dickstein (Gates of Eden), a professor of English at the CUNY Graduate Center, surveys a panorama that includes high-brow masterpieces and mass entertainments, grim proletarian novels and frothy screwball comedies, haunting photographs of dust bowl poverty and elegant art deco designs. He finds the scene a jumble of fertile contradictions—between outward-looking naturalism and introspective modernism, social consciousness and giddy escapism, a hard-boiled, increasingly desperate individualism and a new vision of singing, dancing, collective solidarity—which somehow cohered into “extraordinary attempts to cheer people up—or else to sober them up.” Dickstein's fluent, erudite, intriguing meditations turn up many resonances, comparing, for example, the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will to Busby Berkeley musicals and Gone with the Wind to gangster films. While tracing the social meanings of culture, he stays raptly alive to its aesthetic pleasures, like the Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers collaboration, which expressed “the inner radiance that was one true bastion against social suffering.” The result is a fascinating portrait of a distant era that still speaks compellingly to our own. 24 illus. (Sept.)

Biddle, a former New York Times reporter with a Pulitzer Prize to his credit, intertwines the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany with scientist Wernher von Braun and his role in the creation of Germany's deadly V-1 and V-2 rockets, and his postwar apotheosis as a leader of the United States space program. Biddle's primary purpose is to debunk the view—created at least in part, Biddle believes, by von Braun himself—that he was merely a pawn in the Nazi regime whose work on the V-2 weaponry was secondary in his own mind to his goal of building rockets to send humankind into space. While much of von Braun's role in the Nazi Party is shrouded in darkness, the facts and circumstantial inferences that Biddle finds convincingly contradict von Braun's self-exoneration regarding his wartime work. Biddle offers damning evidence—including testimony by slave laborers that puts von Braun inside the V-2 factory and well aware of, and participating in, the brutal treatment of the workers. Biddle also criticizes the U.S. space program for its embrace of von Braun despite his documented membership in Hitler's SS corps. 12 illus. (Sept.)

One of the true global cultural exchange programs that paid huge dividends, the African American Students Foundation (AASF), is the timely topic of Shachtman's (Rumspringa) new book. The brainchild of Kenyan politician Tom Mboya and American businessman William Scheinman, the AASF's goal was to bring top African students to America between 1959 and 1963 in order to establish a group of accomplished young Africans to staff government positions and the educational system in their native countries upon the fall of colonialism. Called the “airlift generation,” prized students from Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Rhodesia, among them President Obama's father, Barack Sr., and Wangari Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize, were chosen to study in American colleges and universities. Shachtman relates the political controversies surrounding the program and U.S. government involvement, as African nations gained independence and became proxies in the cold war. A memorable and poignant recounting of a significant endeavor that is still scoring successes around the world, this book is not to be missed by African and American history buffs. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Sept.)

Playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote's illustrious career was capped shortly before his death in 2009 with the highly acclaimed play Dividing the Estate, which like so much of his work, reflects Foote's smalltown Texas origins and draws on the stories he heard from his wealthy grandmother, black neighbors and servants. In this authorized biography, Hampton, Foote's friend and a New York Times theater critic, reviews the life and career of the man who also won Oscars for his screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies and a Pulitzer for his play The Young Man from Atlanta. Born in 1916 in Wharton, Tex., Foote shifted gears from an unsuccessful acting career when, in 1939, choreographer Agnes de Mille suggested he write a play. According to Hampton, the 1980s was Foote's most satisfying professionally, with the huge success of the film Trip to Bountiful, and the attention of New York Times theater critic Frank Rich, which helped bring Foote back to Broadway. Charting the highs and lows of Foote's remarkable career, this respectful and genial biography will best be appreciated by Foote's devoted fans, theater enthusiasts and budding playwrights and screenwriters. (Sept. 8)

One of the most famous scientists of antiquity, Archimedes was renowned for his wizardry in pure mathematics as well as for applied science, building defensive devices that helped ancient Syracuse temporarily hold off a Roman assault.University of Massachusetts Dartmouth science prof Hirshfeld (The Electric Life of Michael Faraday) offers a lively look at the work underlying Archimedes' renown. The second part of the book shifts gears to trace the fortunes of the so-called Archimedes Palimpsest, a parchment with a Byzantine-era religious work written over an ancient text by Archimedes. Since it was rediscovered in the early 1900s, scientists have used ultraviolet and X-ray scanning techniques to identify the original underlying works, long believed lost, and uncover the startling fact that Archimedes discovered the calculus almost 2,000 years before Newton and Leibniz. Science fans will find this a quick read, and readers interested in the transmission of ancient manuscripts will be fascinated by Hirshfeld's account of the palimpsest (a tale also recounted in 2007's The Archimedes Codex). 8 pages of color illus., 15 b&w illus. (Sept.)

The word “skullduggery” finds a new meaning in Dickey's well-vetted account of those obsessed with owning the skulls of the highly talented and famous. Fiction and nonfiction writer Dickey (co-editor of Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices) takes the reader back to the plucky grave robbers who stole the craniums of famed composers Haydn and Beethoven, Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, artist Francisco Goya, the English doctor and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne and others to sell, study or put on public display. The skull obsession was triggered by the infamous “Gall system,” created in the late 18th century by Franz Joseph Gall, who theorized that the bumps and dents of the skull could provide a measure of intelligence. The author not only describes the profitable trade of grave robbing, but the chemical technique of cleaning a skull, the patronage of medical schools and the complex scientific debates about whether the size and shape of skulls and brains tell us anything about human intelligence or personality. Blending science with historical drama, Dickey's book illuminates the mystery and controversy of a bizarre tradition throughout the ages. (Sept. 3)

Collin (Altered State) combines history, political analysis and personal interviews to paint an intriguing picture of former Soviet bloc societies in transition—and the role of youth movements and peaceful resistance in dismantling undemocratic regimes. The narrative begins in Serbia, where the student group Otpor waged a dissident campaign against then president Slobodan Milosevic using traditional media-savvy tactics, successfully “selling resistance like Coca-Cola, running the movement like a corporate brand.” From the successful push to defeat Milosevic in the presidential elections of 2000, the book shifts focus to Ukraine's much publicized Orange Revolution and a Georgian group, Kmara, appropriated Otpor's tactics and iconography in its struggle against the ruling “liberal autocracy” of Eduard Shevardnadze. Collin's extensive research and vivid style provides an almost sociological snapshot of a political dissident in 21st century post-Soviet society, and while his sympathies clearly lie with the dissidents, he acknowledges the movements' seamier sides—the internal squabbling, murky funding sources and accusations that they are supported by the CIA. The result is a valuable overview of the political movements that sought to renew democracy in a region frequently overlooked by the Western press. (Sept.)

Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, updates the commission's report in this thorough and bipartisan analysis. Drawing on newly declassified records and recent investigative reports from the departments of defense and transportation, the author concludes that the failure to detect and prevent the attack “lay in the [bureaucratic] nature of modern government.” Most significantly, “rules proscribing information-sharing” within and among agencies meant that no one had complete access to all available intelligence or information—typical “bureaucratic inertia” that presaged the government's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. Farmer faults the disconnect between decision-makers and operational employees, concluding that “leadership was irrelevant on 9/11” and the official version of events “was almost entirely, and inexplicably, untrue.” Farmer's conclusion that bureaucratic government “does not adapt fast enough to changing missions to be effective” is not original, but in his careful exegesis of the events of 9/11, he transcends easy generalizations to expose the fault lines in contemporary governance and point the way to fundamental reform. (Sept.)

Bosco, former senior editor at Foreign Policy, examines the United Nation's global salience—from its roots in the League of Nations to its controversial decision to sanction military action against Saddam Hussein that nearly splintered the organization's collective political clout. Founded on the principle that a permanent Security Council comprising WWII's victors could and should preserve peace worldwide, the organization's constitution and relative importance has evolved with every major shift in international politics—European decolonization in Africa and Asia that resulted in dozens of new political entities, the ongoing Middle East conflict and the threat of terrorism. Bosco punctuates formal details of U.N. resolutions with balanced analysis and entertaining anecdotes about the personalities behind iconic historic events. He concludes with well-reasoned and plausible suggestions for how the organization can change to better reflect political realities, such as the introduction of a dedicated seat for the European Union, a regional organization that takes an increasingly unified position on security issues. (Sept.)

They tend to obsess over work projects, don't like to be told what to do and need lots of space. They are video-game designer Will Wright, iMac creator Jonathan Ive and Louis Vuitton brand rejuvenator Marc Jacobs. They are the “clevers,” the “highly talented individuals with the potential to create disproportionate amounts of value from the resources that the organization makes available to them.” Goffee and Jones, professors at the London School of Business, present a smart and surprisingly entertaining manual on identifying and handling these employees for optimum benefit, complete with a dos and don'ts chart. They advocate building a corporate culture catering to these individuals—following the lead of Cisco Systems, Nestlé and Google—and argue that the stagnant economy demands creative approaches to inspire productivity: the particular skills of exceptionally gifted workers can be harnessed by entire businesses, creating clever teams and corporations. The book is balanced in its treatment and also explores the flip side of cleverness, making the important caveat: “the clever economy is not a utopian capitalist idyll,” in its illustration of how unchecked and glamorized cleverness contributed to Wall Street's implosion. (Sept.)

The brawny and heavily tattooed bikers constituting Rescue Ink, formed officially in 2008, have put a bounty on abusive dog (and other animal) owners. For almost a year, Flaim (The Holistic Dog Book) rode along with Batso, Big Ant, Johnny O, Angel, G and their five intimidating compadres on “in your face” missions to rescue abused and neglected animals, track down stolen dogs, teach compassion toward animals to high school students, rescue an estimated 180 cats from a house and—in one harrowing account—confront a cruel recluse who was killing squirrels, birds and strays in his backyard for sport. Flaim ably blends colorful profiles of the individual members—Joe Panz “is the kind of guy who could break out in hives just from saying the word frappuccino”—with journalistic accounts of their interventions with “trappers, torturers and garden-variety dirtbags.” Starring in a National Geographic reality television show premiering this fall, the all-volunteer group's commitment inspires and endears. Photos. (Sept.)

Former Los Angeles ad exec Evans takes a humorous approach to a serious subject as he addresses the depression that descended on him over various periods of his life, leaving him dangerously immobilized. A recent bout of depression precipitated a more aggressive approach to his mental illness: a few days before 9/11, Evans was suddenly laid off from his fancy job at an ad agency and offered two weeks' severance; soon he became anxious about how to support his wife and children in their new house in suburban Southern California. Watching the news about the World Trade Center attack only compounded his sense of helplessness and grief, and he clearly recognized that he had “hit rock bottom.” His account—by turns grossly humorous, extremely self-critical and brutally honest—depicts months of indulging in porn, beer and denial before forcing himself to seek professional help and mend the precious relationships in his life such as with his wife and two young children. Therapy prompted him to ponder his own childhood growing up a good Jewish boy in Simi Valley, Calif., and the issues of anger and agency he wrestled with. Evans addresses feelings of fear and confusion that men are often not allowed to express, and readers may find his wisecracking memoir most useful. (Aug.)

The author was 16 in 1994 when he fled for his life as Hutus set out to eradicate Tutsis in Rwanda. Those 100 days of genocide left more than one million people dead and also left 120,000 orphans. Irivuzumugabe survived by hiding for 15 days in a cypress tree, watching from above as Hutu killers combed the brush, killing anyone they found. He wondered about the fate of his family; he wondered if he would survive the lack of food and water. Fifteen years later, the author shares his story—and the stories of other survivors—with American readers. “I want you to know of my struggle so that you too may feel the call to forgive,” says the young man who in 2005 founded Humura Ministries to help fellow orphans in Rwanda. This story mirrors many told by those who came through Rwanda's genocide, yet the power of this book comes from a call to forgiveness worldwide as well as from the author's understanding of suffering. Americans can only benefit from this story of God's provision and grace. (Sept.)

Lucado, called by some “America's pastor,” offers his faithful base a timely primer on living fearlessly. The author, whose sales exceed 65 million books, provides those within the Christian faith (and without) an inspirational can-do appropriate for the turbulent times Americans are facing. Citing key common fears—violence, overwhelming challenges, sickness and other worst-case scenarios—Lucado offers welcome wisdom about those solely internal battles individuals face daily. People are afraid their lives don't matter; they're afraid of disappointing God; they're afraid of an afterlife; and they're even afraid God is not real, Lucado says. Skillful as a surgeon, he discerns and identifies the cancer of fear that touches every human being, and with like precision speaks healing words that cut right the heart. While there exists no fast fix or simple cure for the fear-bound individual, Lucado's tempered counsel and faith-driven remedies will offer day-by-day spiritual medicine of the most potent kind. (Sept.)

Those who are discontent and hopeless, unsure of whether God is listening, will find ample reassurance from author andfreelance writer Gregory (Messy Faith). In each chapter of this book, she tackles reasons why Christians may feel as if God issilent in their lives. She then asks them to dig deep into their hearts and open their eyes to the everlasting presence of God. Those who can't hear God speaking to them may simply be too busy to listen; those who seek flashy miracles may be missing God's appearance in small wonders. While she readily admits she doesn'thave all the answers, Gregory's grounded sense of hope will inspire readers to keep believing. She wrote the book during her own emotional collapse and struggle with bulimia and depression. The 30-something author's juxtaposition of pop culture and teen-speak against old hymns and adult wisdom makes for a frenzied composition that reflects the author's own frustrationsand eclectic style. Young and mature audiences alike can surely benefit from her honest, youthful optimism. (Sept.)

As in his previous books (Holy Blood, Holy Grail; The Jesus Papers), Baigent tries to uncover the dark forceshiding in the shadows of religion and ferret out fundamentalists whose dogmatism often turns to violence. Focusing on the end times, he warns that powerful fundamentalist sects in Christianity, Judaism and Islam are working to bring about the battle of Armageddon, when the forces of darkness will be destroyed by the Messiah, who will then bring about a new reign. All three groups want Jerusalem, where each lays claim to a physical spot, the Dome of the Rock, as a sacred place in its history; all three want a state in which politics are subservient to religion. Baigent makes the same mistake that the fundamentalists make when reading the book of Revelation. It is not a book of prophecy and “manual for frightening sinners back into the fold”; it is apocalyptic literature that uses symbols as secret codes for the state of affairs in the lives of first- and second-century Christians, offering them hope for escaping from their plights. Regrettably, Baigent's well-intentioned exposé turns out to be little more than a screed against fundamentalism that is based on a misreading of his central text. (Sept.)

The subtitle declares that these collected essays, published from 1972 to 2001, are still relevant. Readers confronting the planetary degradation that Berry chronicles in later essays and those recognizing a basic human need for spirituality will likely agree. Berry, a Catholic priest and author of The Dream of the Earth, devoted his life's work to connecting modern people with a spirituality that respects and is fed by our relationship with nature. In four parts, this book addresses how the history and diversity of world religions offer ways to engage with Earth; how it is necessary to connect with a spirituality that is Earth derived; how science can be in conversation with the religious sensibilities of wonder and awe; and how our relationship to the natural world is crucial to our spirituality. In the earliest essays, Berry sounds most optimistic and urges readers to reconcile modern impulses and technology with religious traditions. The later essays strike a more imperative tone, pressing for a change of mind and soul to deeply engage our sacred universe. The essay collection acquires even more significance and urgency in light of Berry's death in June. (Sept.)

An author and retreat leader, Gateley has led a fascinating life—an exceptional blend of contemplation and action that has taken her to places as divergent as the Sahara desert and the streets of Chicago, where she created a refuge for prostitutes. In this memoir, she recounts her journey in poetry and prose, beginning with a spiritual experience at age five, when she awoke in the night to see a “beautiful shining woman” she later concluded was the Virgin Mary. A devout Catholic child, Gateley decided as a teen to give her life to God. After teaching in Africa, she returned to her native England to found the Volunteer Missionary Movement, an organization of lay missionaries. By 1993, Gateley had become a popular speaker, but an incident in which she was photographed holding a chalice at an altar—which, she explains, she did by invitation and not as a priestly act—led to her being barred from some Catholic dioceses. Today, she writes, she increasingly faces exclusion from doing what she most feels called to do. Despite this, her writing is remarkably absent of bitterness, and she manages to end on a hopeful note. (Sept.)

A professor of theology, Malesic offers a theological and philosophical treatise on the need for Christians to resist mass culture and its corrupting accommodation to worldly ideas by keeping their faith a secret. Malesic traces this idea to fourth-century St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who, in an effort to inspire awe in candidates for conversion, hid from them certain doctrines until after their baptism. The book then explores the thought of Søren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also argued for secrecy lest Christianity fall prey to consumerism, comfort or complacency. The book will be appreciated by theologians who worry that the evangelical zeal to make converts may inevitably conform more to American capitalism than to Christian creeds. But the book is more interested in a theological exploration of the concept of secrecy than in arguing for any modern-day solutions. Malesic's many repetitions and inelegant use of language make this book a hard read, though it rewards readers interested in the ideas of a trio of Christianity's most complex theologians. (Sept.)

Media personalities tend to have big egos. Brown, a sports broadcaster and host of The NFL Today, does not fit this mold. The author presents his life story, warts and all, hoping to inspire readers to embrace a fulfilling life. In college, Brown had a promising NBA career ahead of him, but his admitted complacency ushered him off the Atlanta Hawks' squad in the early '70s. When he recovered from grieving the death of his life dream, he committed himself to achievement and fulfilling his adult responsibilities even in the face of racism and the often cutthroat world of television. At times, Brown's attempt to glean life lessons from organized sports becomes clichéd. The most genuine passages are those in which Brown writes from his heart about the partnership he cherishes with his wife, his faith life and the pride he feels about his daughter. For all his success, it is clear that Brown's primary motivation in life is to be a constructive role model. One need not be a professional sports fan to appreciate and even share this desire. (Sept. 24)

In this challenging, intellectually rigorous culmination of his body of theological work, retired Episcopal bishop Spong (Jesus for the Non-Religious) provides a lucid historical analysis of the development of human religious thought from the onset of self-conscious awareness to the present, and a compelling argument for the creation of a new religious paradigm. Offering deeply personal reflections on his own Christian journey and priestly career, Spong reviews a lifetime of passionate engagement with biblical study and with questions of faith, charting his growing discomfort with language that seemed “limited, falsifying and inadequate.” Arguing that modern scientific understanding necessitates dismissing outdated metaphors and assumptions by which faith seeks to calm human anxiety, Spong suggests an understanding of God “not as a person, but as the process that calls personhood into being.” Spong's examination of the gospel resurrection accounts includes an intriguing interpretation of John's portrayal of Jesus as “a being so courageously present that he was open to the ultimate reality of life, love and being.” This work, bound to be influential, offers new insights into religion's big questions about life and death, making an invaluable contribution to both religious scholarship and faithful exploration. (Sept.)

Passionately, articulately and with sometimes winsome self-confidence, Belcher seeks to chart a “third way” between the often divided factions within the traditional and emerging wings of American evangelicalism. The author, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., asserts that it is possible to forge a “new ecumenism” and unity based in creedal orthodoxy, while also respecting the particularities of denominations and faith communities. After defining what impels the emerging church movement, he analyzes the “seven protests” leveled by the movement against traditional churches within the evangelical movement, from being too caught up in the rationalism of the Enlightenment, to overemphasizing doctrinal purity and an unwillingness to engage modern culture. Following that, he responds to each critique with an alternative solution that blends both reform and tradition to create a new body of Christian gospel–centered believers. A caveat: readers who think that mainline Protestantism has anything to contribute to this dialogue will not find any encouragement. Focused on the internal struggle within the American Christian evangelical wing, Belcher barely mentions this other flank of Christianity. (Sept.)

This gently encouraging book by popular teacher Chödrön (When Things Fall Apart; The Places That Scare You) applies Buddhist wisdom to the problems of deeply ingrained reactions. An American Buddhist nun in the lineage of Tibetan master Chogyam Trungpa, she writes that “we already have what we need” to change and heal. Chödrön focuses on the preverbal moment—called shenpa in Tibetan—in which individuals are “hooked” into harmful stories, emotions and actions within the flux of their experiences. Clear descriptions of how this process works are accompanied by simple techniques to begin to break the cycle. Her suggestions can be easily practiced by anyone at any time without meditation training, although she presents the benefits of sitting meditation. With anecdotes from her teachers and examples from her own and others' lives, Chödrön demonstrates that people can stop their suffering and access their natural intelligence, warmth and openness. Throughout, she emphasizes the global implications of personal change. Among her strengths are compassion for the difficulty of human existence and her willingness to acknowledge her own failings. This short guide provides valuable tools for change in uncertain times. (Sept. 8)

Despite the title of this guide, it is essentially a handbook as to how Jews and others ought to act during their lifetimes. Although Judaism has little to say about what happens after we die, educator Wolfson (God's To-Do List) asserts that on arrival in the next world, we are judged by a “Heavenly Court,” which reviews our behavior on Earth by our answers to seven questions. Three rabbis from the fourth, 18th and 19th centuries are the source of these questions: were you honest? did you leave a legacy? did you devote time to study? did you have hope in your heart? did you get your priorities straight? did you enjoy your life on earth? were you the best you could be? Using anecdotes and citing contemporary authorities, the author asserts that positive answers to these questions will prepare us for getting to heaven. This ingenious approach to proper conduct will appeal to those who believe in an afterlife, and possibly even a few who don't. (Sept.)

New York City pastor Selmanovic synthesizes his upbringing in a Muslim-atheist household and his own conversion to Christianity as a young adult to create this concise and entertaining interfaith memoir. The author vividly describes his childhood in Yugoslavia, where his Muslim father and Christian mother reveled in multicultural cooking and entertaining. Essentially raised to be an atheist, Selmanovic shattered his parents' world when he converted to Christianity at age 18 during his required army service. Searching for his own Christian identity, he eventually came to the United States in 1990, only to become frustrated that American organized religion confirmed some of his father's criticisms. Selmanovic's story goes much deeper while still being respectful of, and fair to, all faiths and beliefs. An active member of the interfaith movement, Selmanovic actually moves beyond just creating harmony between faiths toward achieving a détente between people of faith and atheists. He challenges clergy to reclaim a space outside institutional walls and Christians to tone down conversion rhetoric. Sprinkled throughout are Selmanovic's entertaining and illustrative anecdotes, including the quite memorable “Theology of Hemorrhoids.” (Sept.)

Franciscan priest and spirituality author Rohr (Everything Belongs) again brings his energy to the reclamation of the Christian mystical tradition. He has a lot of scripture on his side, with many citations from the gospels and epistles. He also offers a distinctive definition of prayer as “a nondualistic way of seeing the moment.” To see as a mystic sees is to pray continually, as scripture enjoins. Some of his criticisms of institutional forms of religiosity as a barrier to seeing with insight are familiar. Yet his understanding of prayer as a tool for contemplation and transformation is forcefully argued. The somewhat theoretical re-reading of Catholic Christian tradition is brought down to earth by a series of appendixes that contain practices for those who want to know what to do; attaining insight is not self-evident nor is it easy. Rohr is enriched by other world religious traditions, but clearly knows his own. Those interested in contemplative Christianity, and particularly Catholics interested in their own tradition, will benefit from this book. (Sept.)

Kunzman, a professor at the Indiana University School of Education, goes behind the scenes with six conservative Christian families who have decided to homeschool. The book has a remarkably balanced tone, with Kunzman heralding homeschooling's inherent flexibility—in a ranching family, children have anatomy lessons by butchering livestock, and in another, one of seven children has followed her own drummer by enrolling in public high school with her parents' blessing. Conversely, the lack of governmental oversight can be detrimental, as when Kunzman meets a 12-year-old who doesn't know what three times three is or documents a mother ignorantly berating a child who obviously has a learning disability. Between family portraits, Kunzman offers short expositions about various aspects of the growing homeschooling movement, drawing upon his attendance at conventions and political action meetings, but also—in an intriguing section that could have used more development—analyzing race among homeschooling families. This engrossing ethnography puts a human face on Christian homeschooling. (Aug.)

Internationally known Christian evangelist Hinn weaves his own Middle Eastern heritage into a presentation of what he believes will happen in the region in the next few decades in this wide-angle commentary about past, current and future events affecting the Middle East. Hinn believes in the indestructibility of Israel, even in case of a predicted nuclear attack. He argues that regardless of political agreements about the Palestinians, God owns the land and will ultimately return it to Israel completely in keeping with his covenant. While Hinn is sympathetic to people of all faiths, he believes all must believe in Christ to be saved. His writing is straightforward but prosaic. Hinn interacts in life and in the book with global leaders as a prophet, foretelling conflicts that only God can intervene in to bring peace. For those who want to understand a charismatic Christian prophetic worldview and that kind of interpretation of the Bible, and current and end time events involving the Holy Land, look no further. (Aug.)

Signature

Reviewed by Jonah Lehrer

Richard Dawkins begins The Greatest Show on Earth with a short history of his writing career. He explains that all of his previous books have naïvely assumed “the fact of evolution,” which meant that he never got around to laying “out the evidence that it [evolution] is true.” This shouldn't be too surprising: science is an edifice of tested assumptions, and just as physicists must assume the truth of gravity before moving on to quantum mechanics, so do biologists depend on the reality of evolution. It's the theory that makes every other theory possible.

Yet Dawkins also came to realize that a disturbingly large percentage of the American and British public didn't share his enthusiasm for evolution. In fact, they actively abhorred the idea, since it seemed to contradict the Bible and diminish the role of God. So Dawkins decided to write a book for these “history-deniers,” in which he would dispassionately demonstrate the truth of evolution “beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt.”

After only a few pages of The Greatest Show on Earth, however, it becomes clear that Dawkins doesn't do dispassionate, and that he's not particularly interested in convincing believers to believe in evolution. He repeatedly compares creationists and Holocaust deniers, which is a peculiar way of reaching out to the other side. Elsewhere, Dawkins calls those who don't subscribe to evolution “ignorant,” “fatuously ignorant” and “ridiculous.”

All of which raises the point: who, exactly, is supposed to read this book? Is Dawkins preaching to the choir or trying to convert the uninformed? While The Greatest Show on Earth might fail as a work of persuasive rhetoric—Dawkins is too angry and acerbic to convince his opponents—it succeeds as an encyclopedic summary of evolutionary biology. If Charles Darwin walked into a 21st-century bookstore and wanted to know how his theory had fared, this is the book he should pick up.

Dawkins remains a superb translator of complex scientific concepts. It doesn't matter if he's spinning metaphors for the fossil record (“like a spy camera” in a murder trial) or deftly explaining the method by which scientists measure the genetic difference between distinct species: he has a way of making the drollest details feel like a revelation. Even if one already believes in the survival of the fittest, there is something thrilling about learning that the hoof of a horse is homologous to the fingernail of the human middle finger, or that some dinosaurs had a “second brain” of ganglion cells in their pelvis, which helped compensate for the tiny brain in their head. As Darwin famously noted, “There is grandeur in this view of life.” What Dawkins demonstrates is that this view of life isn't just grand: it's also undeniably true. Color illus. (Sept. 29)

Jonah Lehrer is the author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist.

Much American foreign policy has been shaped by the centuries-old disagreement between Islam's two main factions, and yet Americans in general, and our politicians in particular, often can't tell Sunnis from Shi'ites. With the publication of this outstanding book, we no longer have any excuse. Hazleton (Jezebel) ties today's events to their ancient roots, resurrecting seventh century Arabia with reverence and vivid immediacy. Here are rich recreations of the lives of the Prophet Muhammad and his beloved wife Aisha; here are often overlooked details (why is green the color of Islam? why do some Muslim women veil?) filling in the contours of the narrative. The battle to name Muhammad's successor is gripping—but it is Hazleton's ability to link the past and present that distinguishes this book: “the main issue is again what it was in the seventh century—who should lead Islam?—played out on an international level. Where Ali once struggled against Muawiya, Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia today vie with each other for influence.” Anyone with an interest in the Middle East, U.S.-international relations or a profound story masterfully told will be well served by this exceptional book. (Sept.)