Web Exclusive Reviews: 10/5/2009

-- Publishers Weekly, 10/5/2009

Nonfiction

 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. Morrow, $25.99 (288p) ISBN 9780061730320
American readers will have their imaginations challenged by 14-year-old Kamkwamba’s description of life in Malawi, a famine-stricken, land-locked nation in southern Africa: math is taught in school with the aid of bottle tops (“three Coca-Cola plus ten Carlsberg equal thirteen”), people are slaughtered by enemy warriors “disguised… as green grass” and a ferocious black rhino; and everyday trading is “replaced by the business of survival” after famine hits the country. After starving for five months on his family’s small farm, the corn harvest slowly brings Kamkwamba back to life. Witnessing his family’s struggle, Kamkwamba’s supercharged curiosity leads him to pursue the improbable dream of using “electric wind”(they have no word for windmills) to harness energy for the farm. Kamkwamba’s efforts were of course derided; salvaging a motley collection of materials, from his father’s broken bike to his mother’s clothes line, he was often greeted to the tune of “Ah, look, the madman has come with his garbage.” This exquisite tale strips life down to its barest essentials, and once there finds reason for hopes and dreams, and is especially resonant for Americans given the economy and increasingly heated debates over health care and energy policy. (Oct.)

Dear Sound of Footstep
Ashley Butler. Sarabande, $15.95 paper (136p) ISBN 9781932511758
This prose collection from Virginia-born newcomer Butler is haunted by her emaciated, cancer-ridden mother, confined to her Richmond, Vir. Hospital bed, even while the author embarks on wild flights of escapist fancy. Alternating descriptions of physical disintegration with fascination over flight and space, Butler names “Sea Vixen Heart Gloster Javelin” for the first postwar aircrafts to dazzle audiences with aviation techniques—but which also produced fatal, breathtaking accidents. As her mother deals with her fatal illness over the course of years, Butler and her sister attend high school (where Butler is often reprimanded for being “in the clouds”), grow estranged from their absentee father, and venture into the world outside. Much of the work has the immediacy of notebook entries, such as Butler’s poignant return to her childhood beach house in “Stingray Point”; the affecting, scattershot anecdotes of “The Book of Concealed Hearts”; and the title story’s meditation on spatial relationships and illusion, which enlists quotes from forward-thinkers like Goethe and Yves Klein. Butler’s slapdash use of punctuation effectively bolsters the not-unpleasant feeling of distortion, disorientation and weightlessness that pervades these pieces. (Oct.)

Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life Without Opening the Fridge
Valerie Bertinelli. Free Press, $26 (304p) ISBN 9781439141632
In her latest memoir, TV personality (and Jenny Craig spokesperson) Bertinelli explores questions of change and identity after having lost 40 pounds, a personal project she described quite publicly in 2008’s Losing It. Newly svelte, Bertinelli’s next challenge is facing the fact that weight loss is not exactly a cure-all: “I discovered that the life I want isn't about reaching a single goal.” Bertinelli’s obsession with food and weight maintenance is all-consuming, and, once pleased with her body, she finds herself unable to conceive of what’s next. What she reveals about life at 48, aside from weight loss issues, is enjoyable and oftentimes hilarious: struggling with the adulthood and sexuality of her son Wolfie, searching for God, and waxing regretful over her lack of formal education. She shouldn’t: her talent for humor, candor and fostering intimacy with readers is apparent on every page. Looking at middle-aged life with a boyfriend and a mixed family, Bertinelli is ceaselessly honest and pretense-free, and should get readers cheering for her accomplishments—even if they’re no more than looking fantastic in a bikini at 48. (Oct.)

 How to Be a Mentsh (And Not a Shmuck)
Michael Wex. Harper, $24.99 (190p) ISBN 9780061771118
Yes, the Yiddish words “schmuck” and (to a lesser extent) “mentsh” have entered the popular English lexicon, but few people in the general population have a more than cursory understanding of their meanings. Novelist, professor and performer Wex (Born to Kvetch) has an intimate knowledge of the Yiddish language and Jewish culture, and here explains both terms in the context of Jewish and non-Jewish life. Though its title might suggest a satirical self-help, Wex is a committed Yiddish revivalist, and this lesson in language and culture is rooted in a shocking degree of scholarship; happily, it’s also blessed with humor, grace and a well-developed sense of contemporary pop culture (references range from Genesis to Groundhog Day). The end result is a consistent pleasure: entertaining, educational and only minimally pedantic, with more than a few thought-provoking suggestions for achieving mentsh-hood (or at least avoiding shmuck-itude). (Sept.)

How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance
Jacqueline Edelberg and Susan Kurland. Rowman & Littlefield, $24.95 (212p) ISBN 9781442200005
Parents living in the Chicago district served by the notoriously run-down Nettelhorst School—not necessarily failing, but with an unshakeable reputation for it—faced a too-typical dilemma: try to get their children into ultra-competitive magnet schools? Find a way to pay for private school tuition? Move to the better-served suburbs? Instead, a small group of motivated parents, including author Edelberg, decided to take a whole new approach—work with principal Kurland to turn Nettelhorst into the school they wanted. Sooner than anyone expected, they had turned the flagging institution around; chronicled here, their process for revitalizing the local school provides an inspirational blueprint for any parents determined to make the most of public education. Edelberg and Kurland offer a lot of inspirational ideas in this memoir of their work but, aside from acknowledging the distinct advantage of a parent population with extra time and finances, they provide little perspective for those working for the same goals but with fewer resources. Still, this volume is an admirable achievement that will doubtless be looked to as a model for school districts in need. (Oct.)

Insatiable Wives: Women Who Stray and the Men Who Love Them
David J. Ley. Rowman & Littlefield, $39.95 (278p) ISBN 9781442200302
Clinical psychologist Ley forges into new territory to examine the long-lived, but little-known “hotwife phenomenon.” In extensive interviews with couples, Ley discovers educated, successful individuals with strong, healthy marriages in which wives are allowed, and expected, to sleep with other men. These couples demonstrate high degrees of communication and mutual respect while also asserting that the lifestyle, initiated by the wives, has strengthened their marriages. Interviews lead Ley to track the origins of monogamy and the reasons why “female sexuality was constrained in our society and history,” including analysis of the term “cuckoldry,” the evolution of laws designed to protect the family, and the Madonna/whore dichotomy, alongside the medical and societal costs of keeping women under sexual lock-and-key. Well-written and thoroughly researched, Ley’s survey of an evolving marriage lifestyle highlights qualities vital to any relationship, especially honest and consistent communication. (Oct.)

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King
Brad Matsen. Pantheon, $26.95 (336p) ISBN 9780375424137
In his latest research effort, Matsen (Titanic's Last Secrets) aims to produce a “respectful, honest remembrance” of beloved oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, with admirable results. An adventurer, inventor, explorer, environmentalist and filmmaker, Cousteau, along with his talented crew and family members, developed groundbreaking tools for diving and filming underwater. Matsen traces Cousteau’s career and personal life from his 1911 birth throughout the twentieth century, as he pursued military and, later, civilian life, two marriages, attempting to answer questions about the individual beneath the public figure: “How could a man of such immense power have allowed his children… to turn against each other? Was he a tragic character hidden behind the veil of celebrity? Does he deserve our enduring love?” While he doesn’t uncover all the answers, Matsen examines Cousteau with a sensitive eye, qualifying his astounding career and lasting legacy (just in time for 2009’s anticipated restoration of Cousteau’s vessel Calypso). Readers will learn the particulars of Cousteau-designed Aqua Lungs and wetsuits, as well as the underwater living experiment and nonprofit corporations that Cousteau founded, without neglecting the challenges of funding his adventures. Environmentalists, divers, and armchair ocean lovers will all soak up this work. (Oct.)

Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox, and Unusual
Edited by Loren Rhoads. Scribner, $14.99 (320p) ISBN 9781439124666
Originally published in the San Francisco-based magazine Morbid Curiosity, edited by founder and multivariate writer Rhoads from 1997 to 2006, this anthology tackles a range of topics falling under the rubric of “all the dark adventures that make life worth living.” Beginning appropriately enough with “Why,” artist explains her fascination with gross objects: “What could possibly inspire me to make art from hundreds of photos of dog crap… or a collage from bloody squares of gauze?” Elsewhere, Michael Hemmingson recalls playing doctor with his cousin Veronique when they were barely into double digits; Simon Wood chronicles the time he hit a bicyclist with his car; Dana Fredsti writes about a desperate job she took in an L.A. strip club; and George V. Neville-Neil recounts his landlord’s suicide. For all the dramatic goings on, however, none prove particularly memorable and most feel detached, lacking in empathy and emotional depth. Though that might be (part of) the point, conflating the tragic and the everyday, this disturbing volume ultimately disappoints. (Oct.)

The New Vampire’s Handbook: A Guide for the Recently Turned Creature of the Night
Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, Chris Pauls, Anita Serwacki and Scott Sherman. Villard, $14 paperback (240p) ISBN 9780345508560
Ostensibly edited by “the Vampire Miles Proctor” (nee Miles Mrockofijev, a New Yorker since 1907) this tongue-in-cheek (fang-in-neck?) volume should net a broad audience among just about every sector of the pop culture landscape: fans of Twilight, TV’s True Blood (or Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse) and those works’ legion of facsimiles in books, TV, movies, video games and the internet. A guide for freshly minted vampires attempting to navigate a new world of near-unlimited power, this work is supposed to be the end-product of 450-plus years of vampire experience. In reality, this cavalcade of vampire satire draws from some of the talented minds behind The Onion, arguably America’s finest satirical news source, covering topics from health (oral hygiene kits typically include a file, pliers and a flathead screwdriver) to relationships ( “What to Do if You See a Human You Knew Decades Ago”) to practical matters (relocating, faking your way through a meal) with grim silliness. Maintaining a dead-serious tone, this guide takes a giggle-inducing, undeniably comprehensive look at the absurdity of life among with undead. B/w photos and illustrations throughout. (Oct.)

On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York
James T. Fisher. Cornell Univ., $29.95 (392p) ISBN 9780801448041
The true crime story behind Elia Kazan’s award-winning 1954 film On the Waterfront is exhaustively detailed in this new history from Catholic historian Fisher (Communion of Immigrants), who follows the tight web of dockworkers, union organizers, crime bosses, politicians and church leaders bound for decades to the corrupt Irish-controlled ports. Fisher begins just after the Civil War, when Irish Tammany assumed control of Manhattan’s Lower West Side waterfront with a mob-like system of violence and intimidation. Trading in bribes, fees, and exploitive labor that impoverished the communities they helped build, the crime bosses finally met their match in the 1940s, with the Jesuit priest John M. “Pete” Corridan. A hard-drinking, foul-spoken, yet unimpeachable leader hewn from the same rock as the wicked men he opposed, Corrigan possessed a knowledge of dock dynamics and a tactician’s skill to rival any of the crime bosses’; in his effort to retake the ports, Corrigan played politicians, the media, and even Hollywood powerbrokers while converting thousands to the cause. Possibly the most thorough genealogy of Irish-American waterfront crime to date, this dense work may put off some readers, but will more than satisfy anyone devoted to this singular slip of New York history. (Sept.)

Paradoxical Life: Meaning, Matter and the Power of Human Choice
Andreas Wagner. Yale Univ., $28 (272p) ISBN 9780300149234
A biochemist at the University of Zurich, Wagner (Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems) explores the overlap among a wide range of biological phenomenon, including “[t]he making of an embryo, the attack of a deadly virus, the building of a termite’s mound, and human conversation,” and the paradoxes contained therein. Synthesizing a wide range of knowledge—the nature/nurture debate, Dawkin’s “selfish genes” theory, etc.—Wagner examines the two-sided struggle between forces like selfishness and altruism, or creation and destruction, to probe the apparent dichotomy between matter and meaning. In Wagner’s view, paradoxes (i.e., “This sentence is false,” the liar’s paradox) are not just flukes of language or sophisticated mind games, but “built into the foundation of the world and… equally irresolvable in nature where they abound.” For evidence, he mines the “most profound and magical transformation of matter—the creation of an organism,” the mechanics of proteins, DNA and RNA, and more. For all his pontificating, however, Wagner’s conclusion is still a stretch: “the benefits of humility and serenity that come with abandoning final truths” give humans “enormous power.” The general reader whom Wagner claims to address will likely find the book hard-going, and perhaps not worth the effort. (Sept.)

Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture
Darrin Nordahl. Island, $30 (166p) ISBN 9781597265874; $tk paper ISBN 9781597265881
Arguing for a systematic overhaul to the modern American way of growing and processing their food, city planner Nordahl condemns “petrophile agribusiness” as no less than a threat to national security. To combat the growing crisis in health and consumption, Nordhal advocates a common-sense reassessment of local food practices, in which forgotten public spaces like empty lots and curbsides are reclaimed and seeded with fruits and vegetables; public gardens and parks, too, can easily blend aesthetically pleasing plant-life with functional food producers. Considering practical questions of policy and maintenance, Nordahl introduces innovative ways to feed a locality while helping “build revenue and community pride”; he cites cases like U.C. Davis, where groundskeepers transformed the campus’s problematic olive trees (a perennial, path-slicking hazard for bicycles) into a profitable olive oil label. The paradigm shifts necessary to transform a community's relationship to agriculture are, in Nordhal’s explanation, simpler than most would think, beginning with easy steps like public “food festivals” and city measures encouraging the planting of fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Nordhal's vision of a quiet revolution is vividly outlined in this volume, which should doubtless catch on among the slow food, locavore, and community gardening movements. (Oct.)

The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History
John Ortved. Faber & Faber, $27 (352p) ISBN 9780865479883
Freelance writer Ortved tells the story of a cartoon about a dysfunctional family living in the shadow of a nuclear power plant that became the longest-running prime time series in American television history. The Simpsons first appeared as a series of shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show in 1987 and debuted as a full-length series in 1989. Almost immediately it became an international phenomenon, helping to establish the then-upstart Fox network. Since then, The Simpsons has featured dozens of celebrity guests, from Michael Jackson to Tom Wolf, and has become a major influence on the development of television comedy and on a generation of Americans. Ortved has done dozens of in-depth interviews, and they make the book. His oral history approach is particularly compelling through the first 200 pages, where the disagreements over who deserves credit for The Simpsons take on a Rashomon-like complexity. Ortved seems evenhanded in his assessments of principals like Matt Groening and James Brooks—few of whom come through unscathed. As the book progresses, it loses focus, and Ortved inserts more of his own opinions and analyses, which are generally less interesting than the interviews (hatingEverybody Loves Raymond isn’t exactly a radical stance). Nevertheless, Ortved has done a remarkable job of bringing to light the creators of our beloved four-fingered creatures with the bright yellow skin. (Oct.)

Three Feet from Gold: Turn Your Obstacles into Opportunities!
Sharon L. Lechter and Greg S. Reid. Sterling, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 9781402767647
Based on the principles outlined in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, authors and veteran financial officers Lechter and Reid craft an engaging allegory to illustrate Hill’s principals of success. Readers follow everyman Greg as he pursues happiness and success with the help of fictional guru Jonathan Buckland, who arranges a series of meetings and experiences which ultimately guide readers to better understand the mindset which leads to success. Like Hill, Lechter and Reid believe that, though “there are many things you cannot control,” the factors critical to success are within an individuals’ control: namely, “your mind and your attitude.” As such, each short, story-driven chapter includes quotes from Hill and other luminous successes, while taking Greg point-by-point through acquiring knowledge (about vision, opportunity, taking action, following through and more), and applying it. Readers won’t ever get bored with Lechter and Reid’s brisk text, and it’s ameliorated by plenty of review. Big ideas are developed artfully by revisiting and building upon previously introduced concepts. This volume should interest both sophisticated and novice followers of Napoleon Hill, or anyone looking for a practical take on the power of a positive outlook (Oct.)

Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On and Others Don’t
Kevin Maney. Broadway, $23 (224p) ISBN 9780385525947
Joining the nonfiction tradition of redefining simple concepts in terms of more complicated ones, technology journalist Maney presents theories of fidelity (consumer experience) and convenience (ease of getting/using products) to explain the success or failure of marketable goods. Terms like “fidelity swap” and “fidelity belly” are rife, but Maney’s explanations boil down to the conflict between ego gratification and straight-up laziness: visit McDonalds, and you get an easy (cheap) meal while impressing nobody; attend Harvard and you’ll impress people, but at an inconvenience cost of hard work and big money. Maney’s plethora of examples range from Wal-Mart and Starbucks to newspapers and fashion labels: “A big part of fidelity is derived from a product’s aura and identity… [thus,] $20,000 for a Hermes bag.” Some honest insights do crop up—”High convenience is not about love, but about need… about habit”; “Mass is about convenience, and luxury is about fidelity. They can't coexist”—which might clue in general readers to the forces behind their shopping choices, but should prove old hat for experienced business readers. (Sept.)

LIFESTYLE

The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love
Jamie Deen, Bobby Deen and Melissa Clark. Ballantine, $25 (224p) ISBN 9780345513267
Food Network stars The Deen Brothers give home cooks 125 ideas for quick meals in this accessible collection. Emphasizing comfort foods like Cheeseburger Casserole, Mini Meat Loaves and Spaghetti and Meatballs, the Deen brothers give harried cooks plenty of options for getting dinner on the table with a minimum of investment or fuss. A handful of crockpot recipes and a dozen kid-friendly recipes for items like Pecan Catfish Fish Sticks, quesadillas and beans and franks will be welcomed by busy parents. Thoughtful organization—placing suggested sides for for burgers, Honey Mustard Baked Chicken and Grilled Chicken Breasts with Brown Sugar Pineapple Rings on subsequent pages—minimizes in-kitchen page-flipping. Fans of the Deen boys’ mom, Paula Deen, will be pleased to see the apples falling close to the tree, as evidenced by Pimiento Mac and Cheese, Grilled Bacon and Cheese Jalapeno Poppers, Shrimp and Grits and Panfried PB & J. An accessible mix of the familiar and gently tweaked standards (Mini Macaroni Pies, Grilled Tilapia Po Boys), busy fans of Deen family cooking will likely devour this latest volume. (Sept.)

Forking Fantastic
Zora O’Neill and Tamara Reynolds. Gotham, $20 paper (224p) ISBN 9781592405053
Dinner hosts sick of Martha Stewarts and Barefoot Contessas will have a field day with O’Neill and Reynolds’s irreverent, compulsively readable entertaining guide. Veteran hostesses of an underground New York supper club, the two chefs share dinner party secrets emphasizing good times with a minimum of stress, and an informal, refreshingly profane tone that belies the genre’s staid, prescriptive standard. In short, hosts are encouraged to make the party theirs, which means cooking what’s comfortable, rather than catering to the diets of guests; not getting wound up over wine; and even playing the soundtrack you like, rather than worry about ambiance. Practical, empowering tips include hiring a dishwasher (cheaper than you think, especially if guests chip in) and skipping the intensive house-cleaning. Four seasonal menus, complete with timelines and wine tips, give hosts of all experience levels a number of entry points and techniques, including a Baby Step Dinner Party and a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Cassoulet, in which cooks are discouraged from scouring the earth for a particular sausage or bean. The affable, freewheeling spirit can backfire, however, as the authors frequently pause mid-recipe to offer an aside, anecdote or even a different recipe altogether. This volume will fit in nicely next to Amy Sedaris’s I Like You, but even the Contessa would be impressed with these cookbook newcomers. (Oct.)

The Grand Central Baking Book: Breakfast Pastries, Cookies, Pies, and Satisfying Savories from the Pacific Northwest’s Celebrated Bakery
Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson. Ten Speed. $29.95 (208p) ISBN 9781580089531
Davis, daughter of the woman who founded the renowned Pacific Northwest bakery Grand Central, shares secrets for 85 breakfast pastries, scones, cookies, pies and other baked goods in this reliable resource. Would-be pastry chefs looking for culinary showmanship will likely be disappointed by Davis’s rustic recipes, but those with an appreciation for solid, buttery fare will be swooning over the results from recipes like individual bread puddings, Belgian waffles, Lemon Cream Sandwich Cookies and a rich Raspberry Port Trifle. Unfortunately, those results are always thoroughly described in Davis’s instructions—not a problem for the bulk of recipes (tarts, cakes, sticky buns) but problematic for more unusual entries like Dutch Babies or biscuit-like Jammers. Still, Davis makes up for these occasional lapses with useful pro tips like how to freeze pies, pie dough and cake batter to maximize efficiency come production time. She also provides proper techniques for a range of skills, from dough handling to building and decorating the perfect layered birthday cake. Readers passionate about their baked goods are sure to find a wealth of favorites. (Sept.)

Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys
Lucinda Scala Quinn. Artisan/Workman, $27.95 (272p) ISBN 9781579653569
Television host and Martha Stewart Living’s Executive Food Director, Quinn forays into the tricky world of feeding men with this colorful volume, awash in Stewart’s clean, classy and crowd-pleasing aesthetic. Though the emphasis is on men, Quinn’s instructions keep the whole family in mind, especially the woman doing the cooking: tips on shopping with kids, stretching leftovers, stocking the freezer and finding healthy drinks are welcome considerations. Quinn’s tendency to ramble can be amusing (getting fresh eggs from Martha Stewart herself) but are largely unnecessary; when she cuts the chatter and rolls up her sleeves, classic fare such as omelets, Italian Pressed Sandwiches, roast chicken and spaghetti with meatballs (in a from-scratch tomato sauce) make a strong impression. Moreover, her Brined and Oven-Roasted Turkey should become a regular Thanksgiving centerpiece. Still, Quinn isn’t reinventing the wheel here, just offering a hip presentation for a solid list of standards. Aficionados of Everyday Food and Martha Stewart Living will get the most out of the book, but those new to the kitchen will find Quinn a helpful shoulder to lean on in the face of an important family dinner. (Oct.)

Raising Twins: From Pregnancy to Preschool, Advice from a Pediatrician-Mom of Twins
Shelly Vaziri Flais. American Academy of Pediatrics (IPG, dist.), $14.95 paper (208p) ISBN 9781581103441
Raising a single baby is a major undertaking, but with twins there’s often double the work—for the same number of parents. Pediatrician Flais, herself a mother of twins, presents a survival guide for parents in the first weeks and months of twin-rearing, as well as sensible advice for all stages of their children's development. From breastfeeding, napping, toilet training to discipline, her empowering and confident tone is neighborly and down-to-earth, keeping parents attuned to her if-I-can-do-it-so-can-you attitude. Sharing personal experiences and professional insight, each chapter is sprinkled with common sense to-dos and quick activities to expand on topics feeding, scheduling and seeking support. While much of the content here focuses on daily routine of twin care, Flais also encourages parents to foster independent identities in their kids: “give [them] plenty of opportunities to be individuals and pursue their own interests,” and celebrate their different strengths and traits. Loving and bonding remains the most important factor in promoting lifelong well-being, but Flais gives parents sound advice for preparing and maintaining that loving environment while serving double duty. (Oct.)

The Superior Wife: Why Women Wear the Pants in the Family, Why It’s Bad for Marriage, and How to Restore Equality in Your Relationship
Carin Rubenstein. Touchstone, $26 (352p) ISBN 9781416566786
In this provocative survey of modern marriage, Rubenstein deconstructs the myth of the superwoman: she who holds down a career, serves as caregiver to her children and husband and keeps the home—but at what cost? According to Rubenstein, it’s her psychological health and marital satisfaction. Labeling this woman “the superior wife,” Rubenstein makes readers reconsider their own judgments regarding superiority, men and women, and the perilous state of modern marriage. Drawing data primarily from a set of web surveys of couples, this book may not be entirely scientific, but it paints a convincing picture of women victimized by outrageous expectations. Rubenstein’s common sense solution is surrender: to the idea that she cannot do everything, to the fact that their partners must step up as equal participants in all aspects of marriage and child rearing. Though not exactly revolutionary, Rubenstein’s concept is based in popular studies, and addresses an increasingly popular notion among women that marriage is a losing proposition. Rubenstein’s constant reiteration can leave readers feeling browbeaten, but her relationship anecdotes will definitely give readers pause, as well as some useful strategies for implementing genuine equality between spouses. (Sept.)

ILLUSTRATED

Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation
Gregory Maguire, foreword by Maurice Sendak. Morrow, $27.50 (208p) ISBN 9780061689161
This refreshing gallery of illustrations, developed for a 2003 conference on Sendak, comes with an enthusiastic, expert docent. Maguire, a children’s book authority and the author of Wicked (the basis for the hit musical), is an unabashed fan and friend, recounting his fortuitous first meeting with the maestro in 1977. Maguire arranges a bounty of favorite or rare illustrations into five playful and accessible essays. While constructing a “palace of muses” who influence Sendak, he offers wonderful side-by-side comparisons of Sendak’s work and pieces by William Blake, Randolph Caldecott and Reginald Birch (a 1900 sketch of a boy in a wolf suit prefigures the artist’s wild children). Maguire situates Sendak in children’s literature history, revisiting figures profiled in Sendak’s Caldecott & Co. and reproducing sequential plates from William Nicholson’s seldom-seen The Pirate Twins and cartoonist Wilhelm Busch’s 19th-century Max und Moritz. In the spirit of Sendak’s “graphic anarchy” and theatrical composition of “the page as a stage,” Maguire takes creative license too. He groups the materials thematically rather than chronologically, lists ten absolute must-haves to “drag from a burning museum,” and—in a strangely thrilling capstone—recasts the familiar text of Where the Wild Things Are with alternative Sendak illustrations. This fitting and witty homage gives ample evidence for Maguire’s contention that “the word genius isn’t grade inflation.” (Sept.)

RELIGION

Unfaithful: Hope and Healing After Infidelity
Gary and Mona Shriver. David C. Cook, $14.99 paper (288p) ISBN 9781434765338
Co-founders of Hope and Healing Ministries and a married couple, the authors offer what the subtitle affirms—hope and healing—in this revealing autobiography of their excruciating journey through infidelity. Each author takes a turn giving brutal expression to heartache endured in facing Gary’s adultery and in subsequently working through adulterous betrayal. Movingly, each partner describes the process of looking at themselves, their marriage (before and after the infidelity), and the changes they wanted to make. Though the Shrivers present a strongly Christian perspective on dealing with adultery, their message is also pertinent to those outside the Christian faith community. Readers will appreciate their courage as well as the practical steps married couples can take to move through such a devastating experience and find forgiveness on the other side. This edition revises and updates a 2005 original edition. (Nov.)