Nonfiction Book Reviews: 11/2/2009

Novelist Hustvedt (The Sorrows of an American) has been puzzling for years over the cause of her physical distress, from migraines to convulsions, and in this wide-ranging hodgepodge of technical jargon, research, memory and narrative, she tries to get at the root of what ails her. Since the death of her father some years before, the author has been beset by tremors, often before she has to speak publicly about him; she sensed that her shaking was hysterical, in the sense used by Freud, now called conversion disorder, a psychiatric illness whose manifestations often mimic neurological symptoms such as paralysis, seizures, blindness or deafness. Hustvedt immersed herself in the literature, visited psychiatrists and other specialists, volunteered to teach writing to psychiatric patients, tried antishaking medicine such as lorazepam, analyzed her dreams and submitted to tests like MRIs of brain and spine—all in order to try out “theories and thoughts that are built on various ways of seeing the world.” The more she delved, the more fractured the possibilities of explanation, as the self has many facets, conscious and otherwise, similar to the voices in a novel she might write. Indeed, Hustvedt's probing of the question “What happened to me?” taps at the source of the creative process, as such famous victims of migraine, epilepsy and bipolar disorder as Dostoyevski and Flaubert have documented. The barest of personal detail holds Hustvedt's narrative together, in favor of a dryly detailed academic treatise on etiology that is by turns elucidating and tedious. (Mar.)

What do a political philosopher and an Indian emperor from the third century have to teach the modern world? “A global system, grounded on reverence for life, nonviolence, toleration,” argues Rich (Mortgaging the Earth). In the Arthashastra, the world's first treatise on economics and governance, statesman Kautilya laid out a realpolitik thesis that became the basis of the great emperor Ashoka's empire, which “presided over the high point of the first economic globalization.” Ashoka tempered Kautilya's Machiavellian maneuverings with his embrace of dhamma—a Buddhist ethic of nonviolence and compassion. Ashoka's monolithic pillars and rock edicts proclaiming his principles of governance and listing protected animals and plants still survive all over India and as far west as Afghanistan. The book's message is inspiring and wise, but factual errors and minor mistranslations—there is a deer park at Sarnath, but the word itself does not mean “deer park”; Chanakya (son of Chanak), Kautilya (the wily one) and Vishnugupta are all names that refer to the author of Arthashastra, so it is meaningless to refer to Chanakya as the “mythical name”—provide jarring notes. (Mar.)

Life imitates art—and even literary theory—in this scintillating collection of essays. Stanford lit prof Batuman (recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award) gleans clues to the conundrums of human existence by recalling scenes from her grad-student days in academe and exotic settings like Samarkand. A Tolstoy conference sparks her investigation into the possible murder, both physical and metaphysical, of the great man. She spends a summer in Samarkand reading impenetrable works in Old Uzbek as a window into Central Asia's enigmatic present. (Her baffled précis of one legend reads in part, “Bobur had an ignorant cousin, a soldier, who wasted all his time on revenge killings and on staging fights between chicken and sheep.”) The book climaxes in a Dostoyevskian psychodrama that swirls around a magnetic grad student in the comp-lit department. Batuman is a superb storyteller with an eye for absurdist detail. Her pieces unfold like beguiling shaggy dog tales that blithely track her own misadventures into colorful exegeses of the fiction and biographies of the masters: she's the rare writer who can make the concept of “mimetic desire” vivid and personal. If you've ever felt like you're living in a Russian novel—and who hasn't?—Batuman will show you why. (Feb.)

The French art critic and author of the sensational erotic memoir The Sexual Life of Catherine M. follows up with a somewhat similarly salacious, achingly candid, though more rueful chronicle of how she felt after discovering her longtime partner's pattern of philandering. Opening an envelope one day on his desk in their shared Paris apartment, Millet discovered that he had taken naked pictures of another woman; once on the scent, she sifted through his notebooks finding numerous instances of his having slept with other women. The irony here is that the author is a self-described libertine. She had been open to taking on lovers outside of her committed relationship with novelist Jacques Henric since before they even began living together, back when she wrote art criticism in the late 1970s. In fact, she prided herself on her availability, becoming a “floating,” flexible body at the pleasure of others, with “several relationships on the go at once.” Discovering the truth about Jacques precipitated a physical sea change: already a practiced masturbator and voyeur, Millet filled in the details of Jacques's infidelity with a masochistic pleasure and self-abasement, even prompting him about details and scouring his novels for clues. Her jealousy became an “addiction,” and over almost three years the crisis endured, during which the couple kept a bruising tally of grief. Millet is a closely detailed, unflinching self-scrutinizer. (Feb.)

No great figures are now without multiple biographies, so why not slice up their lives into smaller subjects? Since that seems to be the current way, we're lucky to have a serious slice like this one. Kranish (a Boston Globe reporter and coauthor of John F. Kerry) focuses on Jefferson's much criticized yearlong governorship of Virginia during the last throes of the American Revolution. The British had invaded Virginia, the state militia was weak, and regular forces had not yet arrived. So Jefferson and the state legislature had to flee westward to avoid capture. By the time American forces, aided by the French, had forced a showdown at Yorktown in 1781, Jefferson's term in office had ended. Yet many held him responsible for Virginia's near disaster. That's allowed critics ever since to assail his behavior as cowardly and incompetent. Without making his book an open argument for the defense, Kranish relates the historical context and musters the facts that absolve Jefferson of the charges against him. It's hard to see how a stronger case could be made. Fluid prose makes the book readable; solid research makes it dependable. 21 b&w illus., 1 map. (Feb.)

Contrary to the rosy picture of race embodied in Barack Obama's political success and Oprah Winfrey's financial success, legal scholar Alexander argues vigorously and persuasively that “[w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” Jim Crow and legal racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration as “a system of social control” (“More African Americans are under correctional control today... than were enslaved in 1850”). Alexander reviews American racial history from the colonies to the Clinton administration, delineating its transformation into the “war on drugs.” She offers an acute analysis of the effect of this mass incarceration upon former inmates “who will be discriminated against, legally, for the rest of their lives, denied employment, housing, education, and public benefits.” Most provocatively, she reveals how both the move toward colorblindness and affirmative action may blur our vision of injustice: “most Americans know and don't know the truth about mass incarceration”—but her carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable book should change that. (Feb.)

In her second year as cohost of MSNBC's Morning Joe, TV news veteran Brzezinski is on fire, after enduring her share of professional setbacks and personal hardships. In this straightforward, frank account of her career trajectory, Brzezinski, the daughter of President Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, does not bother to disguise her hard-fought ambition to secure a top news anchor position or hide the fact that she is not satisfied (nor very good at) being a stay-at-home mom of two daughters. From the beginning of her TV career, working her way up at local affiliates in Hartford, to her big break, getting hired in 1997 for an overnight CBS network anchor program in New York, Up to the Minute, the author resolved to make the frantic pace work, despite the increasing toll the late hours and absences from her family were taking. Distracted, pressured to return too early to work after the birth of her second child and exhausted, she took a bad fall down the stairs of her Yonkers home while holding her infant. The trauma scared her into slowing down, but not for long. Opportunity has seasoned Brzezinski but not hardened her, and having found her venue and voice with Morning Joe, she shares a refreshingly pragmatic approach for the professional woman: don't wait to have children and don't let your job treat you like a bad boyfriend. (Jan.)

No one is better equipped to take readers on a rollercoaster ride through time, space, and the origins of the universe than Caltech theoretical physicist Carroll, cofounder of Cosmic Variance, one of the top science blog sites. “We're not thinking small here,” Carroll announces with glee before launching into his topic. Time is a medium we move through and a way to sequence events. But the “Arrow of Time' is also the only feature of the universe with one irreversible direction: time goes forward. This fact plays an important role in the second law of thermodynamics: the entropy (disorderliness) of an isolated system either remains constant or increases with time. This has implications for our understanding of the “Big Bang” origins of the universe. We may not be able to travel back in time, but we can find ways to peer back across it and see clues to how the universe evolved, thanks to such discoveries as quantum mechanics and relativity theory. Carroll writes with verve and infectious enthusiasm, reminding readers that “science is a journey in which getting there is, without question, much of the fun.” Illus. (Jan.)

Weinberg, a co-recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize for physics, is well known for his articulate essays on many subjects. In this collection, he aims his laser gaze primarily on three areas: science, Israel and religion. Weinberg has been on the realist side of the science wars (asserting that science explains, rather than merely describes, the world), and he revisits that battlefield here. He also ventures into science and politics, expressing skepticism about the need for a missile defense system. Elsewhere he argues against manned exploration of space, saying that probes and robots will always be faster, better, cheaper and certainly safer. Weinberg, long known for his support of Israel, comes out with guns blazing against British academics who organized a short-term boycott of Israeli academic institutions. In the last essay, “Without God,” Weinberg expresses his atheism without the shrillness of a Dawkins or a Hitchens. These essays started out as dinner speeches, book reviews (some from the New York Review of Books) and other occasional pieces that feel slight (such as a pep talk to postdocs). Nevertheless, Weinberg fans will find nuggets of insight and wisdom. (Jan.)

The dramatic tale of James (Jemmy) Annesley inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped and four other novels. Now Virginia Tech history professor Ekirch (Day's Close) presents the intriguing, complex true narrative of the 18th-century travails of the rightful earl of Anglesea. Ekirch describes young Annesley's near abandonment to the Dublin streets through the greed-induced maneuvering of his father, Baron Altham, and Altham's mistress. Upon Altham's death, Jemmy's Uncle Richard perpetuated the lie that the boy was illegitimate and, later, that he had died. In 1728 Richard had 12-year-old Jemmy kidnapped and transported to the colony of Delaware as an indentured servant. After 13 years of virtual slavery, Jemmy escaped and returned to the British Isles. His claim to gentlemanly birth was endorsed by numerous former acquaintances, but denied by a few key individuals. Eventually, his cause was championed by Daniel Mackercher, a self-made Scottish merchant who dedicated his life to the defense of Jemmy's birthright. Lengthy and sensational legal proceedings resulted in a less-than-timely vindication of the claim. Confusing because of excessive use of frequently changing noble titles, Birthright is nonetheless a fascinating read. 26 illus., 3 maps. (Jan.)

Linde (Of Spirits and Madness), clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California–San Francisco medical school, performs a remarkably successful balancing act by presenting both the theory and practice of emergency room psychiatry in a compelling manner. He personalizes his cases and demonstrates how essential the human dimension is in high-quality care. Using 10 fascinating case studies from his 17-year career—with patients manifesting symptoms from suicidal behavior to catatonia—Linde discusses the medical, legal, philosophical and ethical implications of treatment options. He brings the reader along as he is forced to make almost immediate diagnoses and determine courses of treatment, including incarceration, that have the potential to shape (or end) these patients' lives. It becomes abundantly clear that there are rarely simple, straightforward answers. Linde quotes a professional bromide: “[t]he only thing that two psychiatrists can agree on is that a third one is wrong.” He's a talented writer and a compassionate doctor who understands what works best for him and his patients: “while my head works pretty well, my real strength as a physician comes from the heart.” (Jan.)

Sociologist Joffe elaborates on the violence, stigmatization and legal actions perpetrated against those providing, receiving or even tangentially involved with abortion, despite the protections due under Roe v. Wade. Joffe elucidates the human component of this contentious issue through exploring the hardships of medical professionals and health-care administrators, yet the author's near apotheosis of abortion providers weakens the credibility of her arguments. Furthermore, while criticisms of flamboyantly reactionary rhetoric might be warranted, at times Joffe's own language, such as references to women's health clinics as ”ground zero in the abortion wars,” can seem similarly overwrought. Joffe is at her best taking a more nuanced approach to the issue, as when she discusses her interviews with one nurse who considers herself prochoice but refuses to take part in the medical procedure. While the book provides ample confirmation of damaging actions taken by the movement against abortion providers and receivers, it fails to critically examine prolife ideology or substantiate claims that antiabortion activists have “distract[ed] from fully identifying an appropriate sexual and reproductive agenda.” (Jan.)

Expanding on his analysis and recommendations in Stuffed and Starved, which located the horrifying imbalance in the world's food system in its profit-driven framework, activist and academic Patel critiques “free market culture” at a moment of universal crisis, both economic and environmental. Beginning with a historically grounded account of market society's operative assumptions, “the way capitalism sets the terms of value,” Patel takes aim at the notion of “Homo economicus”: a vision of human beings as self-interested utility-maximizers integral to market society's dollar-valuation of everything. Through a shrewd and absorbing discussion, Patel exposes the flaws in the “model of the world in which people are... prepared to override their own better judgment in service of their selfish natures” and the nominal separation of the economy and the state, describing the relationship as compromised but also more “plastic” then we are often led to believe. With due attention to the developing world as well as Europe and North America, the author offers examples of the “countermovement” underway and urges us to build on a vision of ourselves far more extensive, generous and hopeful than that confined to market society's Homo economicus. (Jan.)

The rising tide of populist outrage over the recent economic crisis fuels a series of essays, diatribes and manifestos in this compendium of left-wing economic alternatives. Editors Ransom and Baird have brought together journalists, economists, politicians and intellectuals to take the global capitalist market to task for everything from foreclosures and national economic collapse to global warming. Naomi Klein replays scenes of popular unrest in Iceland and Argentina; master financier Tarek El Diwany explains the history of interest and argues against usury; and, in case the stakes were unclear, Bolivia's President Evo Morales offers a 10-point plan for saving the markets and humanity. Ann Pettifor, a fellow at the New Economics Foundation, best sums up the ideological thread that unites the book when she quotes a 1944 British Labour Party tract saying that finance must be returned to its role as the intelligent servant of the community, not its stupid master. If ever these criticisms were to be taken seriously, now would be the time, and voices such as Noam Chomsky's and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich's lend the volume plenty of heft. (Jan.)

Naisbitt, author of the 1982 bestseller Megatrends—an analysis of the economic, political, social and cultural transition taking place in the U.S.—collaborates with his wife and turns his focus to our competitor to the east. Why, the authors ask, has “autocratic” China succeeded while many democratically governed states have failed to make economic progress? He tells a compelling story of a country that is maturing in hyperdrive and can concentrate on economics partially because it isn't distracted by election cycles and national soul searching. The book runs down the eight “pillars” of a new society, the strategic moves that have maneuvered China forward, and examines Chinese values, artistic and intellectual ferment, freedom and fairness, media and the swift changes that have brought a country in which wealth was unthinkable and education derided into a place that values entrepreneurism and boasts a business school enrollment comparable to middle-income countries. A thoughtful, ambitious overview sure to be of interest to all those curious about world economics. (Jan.)

In this fascinating exploration of economic civil disobedience, Dodson (Don't Call Us Out by Name) introduces readers to teachers, supervisors, health-care professionals and managers who bend the rules—and even break the law—to support those in need. Dodson shares stories of individuals like Linda, a health-care supervisor who has, against hospital policy, “driven an employee to court on work time” and allows her low-wage employees to manipulate the schedule so they can attend to child-care needs. The author interviews Cora, a restaurant manager, who came up with a “double talk system,” in which she keeps two sets of time sheets so that workers can attend to family issues and who says, “helping women meet their kids or do what they have to do is more important” than her chain restaurant's rules. Dodson's study is gripping and her argument is persuasive: we should not have to put compassionate Americans in a position where they have to choose between following rules and helping those who are trying to help themselves. (Jan.)

Smith, Middle East correspondent for the Weekly Standard, argues that it was tensions within the Middle East—not a clash of civilizations, American policies in the region or the creation of Israel—that prompted the attacks on September 11. He writes, “In believing that 300 million Arabs had really lined up as one against America, we had been taken in by a mirage,” and he takes to task Edward Said and others he feels homogenize Arabs into a monolithic group. In the book's strongest sections, Smith looks at continuities from the pre-Islamic Arab world to the present to trace mores and differences that seep into the modern day, adding a fascinating historical angle. While he undermines his argument with a penchant for proclaiming the condition of the region to be immutable (“In the Middle East, political violence is not an anomaly. It is the normal state of affairs”), he should be lauded for his commitment and careful research. The book is compelling, well written and worth a read even—or perhaps especially—by those who would disagree with the author. (Jan.)

Every two years, chefs from around the world gather to compete in the Bocuse d'Or, a grueling cooking competition that gives participants just five and a half hours to prepare a full menu of elaborate fish and meat dishes (with their own choice of supporting ingredients). As the 2009 contest drew near, restaurateurs Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller were determined the U.S. would send a team that could finally bring back a medal; Friedman (Breaking Back) follows the quest through the selection of two cooks from Keller's French Laundry and stays with them until the final showdown. It's great fly-on-the-wall reporting that captures both the obsessive, perfectionist mindset of great chefs and their creative spontaneity under pressure—as small a matter as the sudden, intuitive selection of celeriac as an ingredient in a tart becomes a moment of high drama. The pace is relentless, but Friedman's observations of Timothy Hollingworth and his assistant, Adina Guest, as they struggle to rise to the challenge will have foodies riveted all the way through. Even those who don't care about the intricate details of a nine-course meal could learn something about entrepreneurship and project management from this story. (Dec. 1)

There was a time when people thought future generations would be living in cities topped by geodesic domes, and that all babies would be born in mechanical incubators, probably after having their DNA selected for better intelligence or physical attractiveness. Milo explains why these and dozens of other predictions never came to fruition in a wide-ranging survey that covers everything from atomic energy (which some scientists predicted would never work out) to Puerto Rican statehood. Sometimes the wrong guesses even contradict themselves: airplanes would never work, conventional wisdom once ran; once they'd proven successful, people believed they'd be fast enough to cover the globe in mere hours. Milo's tone is amiably conversational, filled with casual asides such as the discovery that “the electric car was also the flavor of the month more than one hundred years ago.” He delves into the work of some famous visionaries, from Paul Ehrlich to Hal Lindsey but refrains from mocking even those who were completely off the mark. Readers will come away with a smattering of historical information in several scientific and cultural fields, but it's presented in such a way that they'll feel like experts. (Dec.)

Scicolone (The Sopranos Family Cookbook) turns her attention to the slow cooker (or “crockpot”) for preparing homey Italian dishes. In this accessible cookbook, she presents unintimidating recipes (which often suggest the ingredients simmer around 165 degrees for six to eight hours) that serve up hearty dishes with a minimum of fuss. The wide variety of main dishes—seafood, meats, veggies and legumes—and corresponding soups and sauces, capitalize on the flavor that only slow-cooked food can deliver. The sauces are the book's standouts, with recipes for ragus made with chunky pork shoulder or spicy Tuscan sausage, for example. She also includes recipes for a creamy polenta with gorgonzola and mascarpone; risotto-style farro with parmesan; seafood couscous made with halibut, shrimp and scallops; and braised beef with anchovies and rosemary. While her approach is certainly inventive and appealing, some recipes make one wonder whether a slow cooker is actually necessary (the stuffed peppers might be baked just as easily). That said, this cookbook will certainly relieve the time pressure on busy family cooks. (Dec.)

Media-star physician authors Roizen and Oz have published no less than six bestsellers beginning with You: The Owner's Manual. Having covered optimal self-health, diet and nutrition, longevity and beauty, they now tackle the issues and questions of parents-to-be. In their familiar straightforward, colloquial and often humorous style, and assisted by ob/gyn Margaret L. McKenzie and other expert writers, they take on pregnancy and birth in this brand-extending volume. Like other pregnancy guides, the book covers all the basics: fertility; risks; prenatal nutrition and supplements; managing stress, “pregnancy brain” and mood; physical symptoms; exercise; sex; choosing a birth plan and medical professional; delivery; the postpartum period; and infant care, along with self-tests, sidebars, food plans and recipes, and content-heavy appendixes. Proceeding topic-by-topic instead of the formulaic week-by-week or month-by-month diary approach of most pregnancy books, it also provides interesting biological and physiological information about hormones, digestion, morning sickness and other maternal-fetal interaction. Although the updated edition of What To Expect When You're Expecting is in many ways a more useful reference, this volume will serve as an excellent compendium. (Dec.)

Can the “Me Generation” of baby boomers raise a “We Generation” of consciously compassionate, less self-involved kids? Canadian psychologist Ungar believes so and has written this guide for parents to help them foster in their offspring a spirit of volunteerism, a willingness to “give back” and a directive to do well by doing good. Each of these eight, action-oriented chapters offers anecdotes, self-evaluation tools, lists of activities and boxed tips as it addresses part of a plan for overcoming the problem of self-centered kids, starting with recognizing and learning that kids want to help and make changes; that compassion leads to connection, which leads to responsibility; how grandparents, neighbors and other parents can join forces; why parent-child affection is so important; how to guide kids spiritually and emotionally; how to avoid kids' isolation and anonymity in society; and strategies for generating excitement about being part of a wider world. Critical to all this is parents' commitment to model what they want to see in their kids. While this book may raise more questions than it answers—can kids who do community service only for college application profiles grow a conscience? or what about rebellious kids who do the opposite of their parents?—it is timely. Just as cardigan-clad Mr. Rogers embodied this concept in his PBS neighborhood, Ungar reframes it for today's families. (Dec.)

Massachusetts-based gynecologist and menopause specialist Edelman notes that since the lifespan of the average North American woman has risen to age 84, it's likely that females of the current generation will be spending more than one third of their lives in postmenopause. In order to remain “healthy, energetic, and productive” Edelman urges preventive care and an ongoing relationship with a trustworthy doctor. Although menopause is a “healthy state,” it also holds potential risks, and according to Edelman, the best way to navigate the postmenopausal years is to be knowledgeable. Accordingly, her text resembles a sit-down talk with a trusted physician on a host of health issues associated with this phase of life. Edelman covers hot flashes, sex drive, hormone replacement therapy, heart disease, thyroid disease, cancer and sleep issues. She includes a chapter on bones and the “silent, invisible process of bone thinning,” as well as a chapter on mood, memory and mental health. Edelman offers practical tips on taking calcium (in divided doses), advice about urinary tract or bladder infections and a frank discussion of sexual issues. The importance of lifestyle, including diet and exercise, and cancer prevention strategies, are covered as well. With clarity and confidence, Edelman addresses a wide range of essential and timely topics in this information-packed primer for women entering perimenopause and beyond. (Jan.)

This expanded second edition includes updated information reflecting advances in breast cancer treatment made in the past decade. Weiss, a physician specializing in breast cancer and founder of Breastcancer.org, and her mother, a writer and breast cancer survivor, have included new chapters on “mind-fog,” bone health, intimacy and sex, as well as the latest on hormone therapies, drugs and other treatments, and diagnostic technology. The text also covers topics that seem more suited to those who have been recently diagnosed or are still undergoing treatment (i.e., choosing a physician, hair loss, breast reconstruction and traveling the maze of scans and tests). Some survivors may prefer to race to the later chapters, which focus on life style choices, environmental concerns and genetic factors, homing in and preventing and managing recurrence. The authors explain that while several of the most influential risk factors (family history, being a woman and getting older) can't be controlled, women have the power to modify such other risks as weight gain (a hazard for recurrence as well as lymphedema), exercise, diet, smoking and use of alcohol. Women at any stage of the breast cancer journey, including those grappling with emotional issues surrounding the chance of recurrence, will benefit from the Weisses' up-to-date and uplifting outlook. (Jan.)