Nonfiction Book Reviews: 11/16/2009

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour Lynne Olson. Random, $28 (396p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6758-9

The Anglo-American alliance in WWII was not inevitable, writes former Baltimore Sun correspondent Olson (Troublesome Young Men). In this ingenious history, he emphasizes the role of three prominent Americans living in London who helped bring it about. Best known was Edward R. Murrow, head of CBS radio's European bureau after 1937. His pioneering live broadcasts during the blitz made him a celebrity, and Olson portrays a man who worked tirelessly to win American support for Britain. Most admirable of the three was John Winant, appointed American ambassador in 1941. A true humanitarian, he skillfully helped craft the British-American alliance. And most amusing was Averell Harriman, beginning a long public service career. In 1941, FDR sent the wealthy, ambitious playboy to London to oversee Lend-Lease aid. He loved the job, but made no personal sacrifices, living a luxurious life as he hobnobbed with world leaders and carried on an affair with Churchill's daughter-in-law. Olson, an insightful historian, contrasts the idealism of Winant and Murrow with the pragmatism of Harriman. But all three men were colorful, larger-than-life figures, and Olson's absorbing narrative does them justice. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Feb.)

Johnson gained national attention as America's first black female prisoner of war. She was in the 507th Maintenance Company convoy ambushed on March 23, 2003, in Nasiriyah, and captured with five other soldiers including Jessica Lynch. One might call Johnson's presence in a firefight a compound accident. She was a cook who had enlisted in 1998 hoping to earn money for her education and perhaps “meet a nice guy,” and was a cook with the 507th, which existed to maintain Patriot missiles. But she was sent with the convoy, and the bullets Johnson took in both ankles did not ask for her military occupational specialty. Though objectively treated well enough by her Iraqi captors, she was wounded, female, and black: three reasons for being afraid. Rescued three weeks later in a daring raid, Johnson emerged with a Bronze Star, a case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and an unwanted celebrity status sufficiently resented by the system that she left the army. Johnson endured her captivity with courage and emerged with honor. With the help of former army reservist Doyle, she vividly, simply, and unpretentiously tells her tale . (Feb.)

The authors of this scattershot treatise believe in evolution, but think that the Darwinian model of “adaptationism”—that random genetic mutations, filtered by natural selection, produce traits that enhance fitness for a particular biological niche—is “fatally flawed.” Philosopher Fodor and molecular-biologist-turned-cognitive-scientist Piattelli-Palmarini, at the University of Arizona, launch a three-pronged attack (which drew fire when Fodor presented their ideas in the London Review of Books in 2007). For one thing, according to the authors, natural selection contains a logical fallacy by linking two irreconcilable claims: first, that “creatures with adaptive traits are selected,” and second, that “creatures are selected for their adaptive traits.” The authors present an ill-digested assortment of scientific studies suggesting there are forces other than adaptation (some even Lamarckian) that drive changes in genes and organisms . Then they advance a densely technical argument that natural selection can't coherently distinguish between adaptive traits and irrelevant ones. Their most persuasive, and engaging, criticism is that evolutionary theory is just tautological truisms and historical narratives of how creatures came to be. Overall, the scientific evidence and philosophical analyses the authors proffer are murky and underwhelming. Worse, their highly technical treatment renders their argument virtually incomprehensible to lay readers. (Feb.)

This unruly book mixes a wonderful mystery- wrapped story with the larger picture of Chinese immigration into the American West. The central story concerns a young Chinese woman sold by her family in 1872 into indentured prostitution. She turns up as a concubine in Idaho, is said then to have been won by another man in a poker game, and became Polly Bemis, the winner's legal, beloved wife in the remote wilderness of Idaho. Polly emerged into public view only in 1923, a tiny old woman on horseback, her identity and story known only to a few old-timers. Corbett wisely sets Bemis's life into the context of Chinese immigration, gold- country anti-Chinese prejudice, and life in the mining communities and remote fastnesses of Idaho a hundred years ago. The trouble is that Corbett also gives us over and over again every tale about Bemis, many of them conflicting, many more incomplete, and many no doubt apocryphal, clogging the work and making it longer than necessary. We need more of former AP editor and novelist Corbett's (Vacationland) own reflections, less of every one else's surmises and tales. (Feb.)

Garson, a strategy and transaction consultant, tackles starting your own business in this information-laden, overly rosy guide for the would-be entrepreneur. He covers everything from creating the right executive team to marketing and branding before addressing the ins and outs of deal making, pricing the business, and getting to a close. Unfortunately, Garson's ambitions get the best of the book; he tries to pack in too much information and certain sections are tedious. Furthermore, despite attempting to be as comprehensive as possible, Garson rarely addresses the multitude of risks involved in running a privately held business. He makes the process sound relatively direct and easy; while he presents a few crash and burn stories, for the most part the entrepreneurs in his case studies take his advice and end up with success. While entertaining and informative, the book may mislead wannabe entrepreneurs into believing that selling a business for millions is not only possible but probable. (Mar.)

Business strategists and consultants Joni and Beyer argue that carefully created and managed tensions in the workplace can be a propulsive aid in driving performance. The authors state that alignment—agreement on mission, strategy, and company goals—gets a business only so far; strategically steered conflict can create breakthrough performance, deliver lasting innovation, and groom the next generation of leaders. The authors offer six guiding principles: make sure the fight matters; focus on the future; pursue a noble purpose; keep conflict sport, not war; structure formally, but work informally; and turn pain into gain. Elucidating key points are numerous case studies of successful creative tension (Julie Taymor's production team for the Broadway play The Lion King, Doug Conant's management of Campbell Soup) and failures (Larry Summers's overly aggressive leadership style at Harvard University). The authors also provide a series of questions for managers to determine if the fight is worth pursuing. Joni and Beyer make a convincing and counterintuitive argument that instigating dissent, if done selectively, can produce big results. (Feb.)

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus says, “To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Based on this enigmatic statement, the sociologist Robert K. Merton labeled the tendency of the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer “the Matthew effect.” St. Mary's University sociology professor Rigney (The Metaphorical Society) presents evidence from science, technology, the economy, politics, public policy, education, and culture to show that, generally speaking, this dynamic is so strong that it might be considered a social law: initial advantages position one for further advantages. The writing is terse, cataloguing study after study in a few paragraphs to establish the tendency of inequality to grow with the passage of time. A concluding chapter examines the ethical and policy implications of Matthew effects—for example, should socially disadvantaged students be given more aid than the advantaged? Rigney's summary of the latest research findings should contribute to a much needed discussion between policy makers, social scientists, and the general public. (Feb.)

In 2005, 20-something Canadian Borel and her 60-something French-born hotelier father set out by car on a days-long French wine “safari.” Borel, who works at the Canadian Broadcasting Company, desired a deeper connection to her father, but was also seeking escape from both the aftermath of a recent breakup and slightly older memories of a fatal car accident for which she bore responsibility. The trip's early stages were strained by travel sickness and father-daughter bickering, and as the abundantly detailed tour improved and progressed, the shadow of her father and his mortality fell ever sharper, if sometimes self-consciously. Borel's father emerges as a storytelling curmudgeon with a penchant for public humiliations who instinctively retreats into inappropriate humor; the narrator, meanwhile, comes across as emotional if not downright maudlin, and candid if not completely narcissistic. She lacks her father's knowledge of wine, a shortfall she covers with seemingly childish behavior. But then her wine-tasting experiences lead Borel to genuine breakthroughs, making her more confident and, in effect, bringing her relationship with her father to a breaking point. The narrative ends in a reconciliation that, like the whole book, is refreshingly unsentimental, grounded, perhaps to an extreme, in flashes of candor and humor. (Feb.)

A fiction writer and former editor at the New Yorker and Random House, Menaker (The Treatment) regards conversation as “a human art of great importance produced by all people everywhere.” His witty approach is evident almost immediately, as he speculates on the creation of human language, moving on to the general rules of conversation, London coffeehouses as a forum for ideas, greetings, and name-droppers: “They wrap the pig of name-dropping in a blanket of casualness, or even criticalness, and seem to actually believe you won't taste the inner wiener.” At the book's core is a conversation between Menaker and an anonymous female writer. Taped in a Brooklyn restaurant, this lengthy transcript is analyzed in detail to show how the participants take risks, seek a “common ground,” interject humor, and discover perceptive insights about each other. Interview tactics and prepared remarks are covered, along with e-mail embarrassments, dating stratagems, sarcastic barbs, compliments, and interruptions. However, what makes a lasting impression is the parade of anecdotes about life in the corridors of the New Yorker and Random House, leaving the reader yearning for a full-scale Menaker memoir. (Jan.)

In this smart, subtly honed set of 11 autobiographical essays, Rooney, a 20-something Chicago native, teacher of writing, and U.S. Senate aide, seems poised for a really good revelation but never quite delivers. Riffing on subjects as diverse as getting a Brazilian bikini wax on the eve of her marriage (“a huge gender betrayal” for this self-described feminist); making a pilgrimage to the sites inhabited by a favorite poet, Weldon Kees, in New York City; and feeling pleased by the flirtations of her students at a small religious college in Washington State, the author chronicles the years of her early professional youth as she and her novelist husband move from job to job, from Chicago to Tacoma, Wash., and back. Rooney is well read and has a wily, understated style, as she describes her Christian parents; trying to teach her younger Senate interns how to execute metaphors and good manners; and resisting the urge to go from being a “fun-time happy party girl” drinking with guy friends at McSorley's Ale House in New York City to being a “total bitch” when having to complain of a man's drunken importunate groping. The last, and most substantial, essay, involving her cousin Jennifer's decision to become a nun, underscores the author's overall longing to attain a validated life, rooted in mission and meaning. But in the end, the essays leave the reader hungry for more substance. (Jan.)

Veteran sailor Arms (Servants of the Fish) writes a notable collection of essays of the sea and sailing in the far reaches of the Great Northern Ocean, braving the frigid waters and dodging the dangerous ice fields. His trusty boat, Brendan's Isle, and his sturdy crew, which includes his youngest son, Steve, move through these cold crossings with few perilous incidents , maintaining watch and the standard sea responsibilities. Arms's narrative is rich, descriptive, almost poetic, and full of voyaging on the water as he journeys along the fiords of northern Labrador to western Greenland and among the fishing villages of the Faroe Isles. Much more than a slight travelogue, the book hits its stride when Arms cautions against “expanding human waste, changing atmosphere chemistry, disappearing species, rising sea surface temperatures, thinning sea ice, and melting glaciers.” (Jan.)

Over a long career, from the big-band era to today's contemporary sound, Philadelphia-born jazz saxophonist Heath puts all of the peaks and valleys of a rigorous professional life in a unique memoir that speaks volumes to the values of discipline, tradition, and perseverance. Aided by a foreword by jazz fan Bill Cosby and an introduction by top brass man Wynton Marsalis, Heath's story is told in a classic call-and-response manner, with his family members and fellow musicians such as Benny Golson, Clark Terry, Barry Harris, and Art Farmer chiming in about the quality of the man and the performer who rose through the musical ranks to become a peerless arranger-composer of big bands and small groups. His struggles with drugs, shady club owners, Jim Crow, and his work and influence with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon are discussed candidly, along with his popular work with his famed brothers, Percy and Tootie in the 1970s. A true jazz milestone, this bold account by Heath and Hofstra English professor McLaren further illuminates the seldom-told story of our creative homegrown music. (Jan.)

In this, the second of three planned memoirs, McMurtry takes a laconic look back over a life in letters that now includes some 40 books and an equal number of screenplays. Best known for the popular movies made from his novels, including Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show, McMurtry also co-wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain and served two terms as the president of American PEN. This makes for a lot of literary living, and McMurtry reminisces about interactions with such luminaries as Norman Mailer, Susan Sontag, and John Updike, as well as lesser-known figures like Michael Korda and Grover Lewis. Throughout his career, McMurtry has mostly written about his native Texas and the American West, and the early chapters provide a fascinating look into the artistic development of smalltown boy into writer during the 1950s and 1960s. Further on, the book declines into a series of hit-and-miss literary anecdotes, with McMurtry's side business as a bookseller providing many of the highlights. McMurtry's understated style is charming and deceptively sophisticated, although at times it is so laconic as to lack a pulse. Still, the old master proves entertaining. (Jan.)

In 1942 the liquidation of the Jewish-Polish ghetto of Wierzbnik sent 4,000 Jews to their deaths in Treblinka and enslaved another 1,600 at factory camps in the nearby town of Starachowice. Wierzbnik at its peak had 5,400 Jews, of whom 600 to 700 survived the war, and half of these left testimonies in memoirs or others forms. National Jewish Book Award–winning historian Browning (The Origins of the Final Solution) bases his study primarily on survivor testimonies from the slave-labor camps at the Starachowice factory. Willi Althoff, the first commander of factory security whose killings of Jews were theatrically staged and who killed all Jews infected with typhus, was succeeded by pragmatist Kurt Baumgarten, who preferred keeping workers alive to increase factory production and line his pockets by extorting. Nuanced survivor accounts from live interviews, memoirs and archived accounts depicts some Ukrainian guards as sadistic anti-Semites while others were lenient, well-behaved, or corruptible. As the Soviets approached, the Germans deported the slaves to Auschwitz-Birkenau before retreating. Although too specialized for the casual reader, Browning's authoritative, lucid, and subtly analyzed microhistory of a relatively obscure area of Holocaust history will be of considerable value to scholars. 10 photos, maps. (Jan.)

Cartledge, professor of Greek culture at the University of Cambridge, has created an intriguing overview of Greek history by providing synopses of 11 key city-states, each representing a different facet of Greek life and culture, such as politics, gender, and philosophy. Beginning with the earliest example of the successful polis, proto-Greek Cnossos on the island of Crete, and continuing through the near-mythical city of Mycenae; Argos; doomed Miletus; Massalia (present-day Marseilles), the first of the great Greek “colonies”; and through to the rise of laconic Sparta, it is easy to trace the development of Greek civilization. Classical Greece is examined in the descriptions of Athens, Syracuse, and Thebes. The description of Hellenic Alexandria is symbolic of the transition of the classical period into the Hellenistic age. A final discussion of the polis of Byzantion notes the decline of city-state independence. A list of significant individuals, a glossary, and a time line are beneficial. Other than labeling Athens, Ga., as that state's capital in comments on the proliferation of Greek city names throughout the world, errors are few. 20 b&w illus., 4 maps. (Jan.)

Re-evaluating what has been called the first battle of the cold war, noted presidential biographer and syndicated columnist Reeves (President Kennedy) takes a closer look at the courageous young American and British pilots who, in order to bring food, fuel, and medicine to a Berlin blockaded by Russia, flew aging cargo planes into Soviet airspace in the fragile post-WWII years. Vying with the West for control of Berlin and Germany , Stalin choked off the defeated German capital with 400,000 Red Army soldiers, and the Washington hawks called for war with Moscow. But Truman, whom Reeves calls a hero for persevering against skeptics, pursued the airlift instead. Using diaries, letters, and government documents, Reeves shows the suffering of the vanquished German people, the calculated coldness of Soviet officials, and the individual pilots who risked their lives to save their former enemies. This probing book reveals the intricate talks that led to the unraveling of Stalin's demands, the partitioning of Germany, and the creation of NATO. Reeves gives us a mesmerizing portrait of America at its best when challenged by Russia's tyranny. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Jan.)

Despite the lurid title, this is a superior addition to the diseases-of-famous-men genre. Journalist Fettmann and neurologist Lomazow assert that they've discovered the true cause of FDR's 1945 death, building on a 1979 medical paper by Dr. Harry Goldsmith and revelations in the 1995 publication of the diary of FDR's cousin Daisy Suckley. A lifetime smoker, Roosevelt suffered from extremely high blood pressure. In 1944, a cardiologist found him in severe heart failure. Although historians blame these for his fatal stroke at the age of 63, the authors point out that photographs show a dark spot over his left eyebrow that grew throughout the 1930s. Experts nowadays agree it resembles a melanoma, a highly malignant skin cancer that often spreads to the brain. Metastatic cancer, not heart disease, may have produced the increasing frailty, weight loss, and confusion that alarmed observers during his final year. We will never know the truth, but the authors make a reasonable case. As a bonus, they recount Roosevelt's numerous medical problems and questionable care at the hands of a personal physician who relentlessly assured the public of the president's excellent health and possibly destroyed FDR's medical records after his death. (Jan.)

One unexpected aspect of the Iraq war was how quickly it developed into a struggle for control of the roads against an enemy increasingly expert in every kind of ambush technique, from remote-controlled improvised explosive devices to civilian-screened ambushes. Not for a century had U.S. forces' responses been so correspondingly ad hoc. Lynch, a retired master sergeant, is a marine of the old school who brought 23 years' experience as an infantryman to the problem. His solution was to create a convoy security force, the Majestic Twelve (which borrowed its name from the purported committee of scientists formed to investigate UFO activity). They were volunteers, individualists impatient with the routines of straight duty and bonded by a mission. The team made over 200 escort runs, never lost a man, and had a set of dramatic combat experiences and run-ins with higher authorities. Lynch, however, controls his narrative by blunt honesty about even his sexual urges after a fight. This is a useful addition to a growing body of Iraq War combat literature. 10 b&w photos. (Jan.)

In 1905, the year after his older brother Anton's death, Mikhail Chekhov began publishing a series of biographical recollections about his famous sibling . More than 20 years later, the younger Chekhov compiled many of the most important stories from his collections into this volume, appearing here in English for the first time. In Alper's competent translation, Mikhail provides some useful and interesting glimpses into the Chekhov family life and his older brother's personality and playful sense of humor. He also relates events behind the plots of some of Anton's more famous stories and of his play, The Seagull. In a fit of madness, and perhaps jealousy, a friend of Anton's went out to the lake with his shotgun, killed a seagull, and threw the dead bird at the feet of his lover, without any explanation. But this volume reveals as much about Mikhail as about his celebrated brother, so the book will appeal only to deeply devoted Chekhov fans who have not been able to read Mikhail's recollections in Russian . (Jan.)

There is probably no single figure better suited to embody both the successes and excesses of the late 1990s tech bubble than Credit Suisse First Boston technology banking leader Frank Quattrone. The man behind some of the hottest technology IPOs of the decade, Quattrone's rise from South Philly street tough to the highest echelons of the banking industry, and the questionable practices that took him there and ultimately landed him in court for obstruction of justice, is the stuff of modern-day myth. Unfortunately, in the hands of Wall Street Journal reporter Smith, Quattrone's story is buried under a thicket of detail and minutiae without a clear line of analysis to help lay readers understand exactly what went wrong (for example, the author details instances where stock analysts were pressured to give positive coverage of companies doing business with Quattrone's group, without explaining what an analyst does or how their work affects the stock market). While an important and frequently compelling account, the book conveys little about the central personalities and reads very much like the court transcripts upon which it is based. (Jan.)

Poundstone (Gaming the Vote) dives into the latest psychological findings to investigate how and why prices are allocated. Beginning with the controversial lawsuit in which a jury awarded $2.9 million in damages to a woman who had spilled a scalding cup of McDonald's coffee on herself, the author presents a readable history of how we are subtly manipulated into paying more (or less) for goods and services—and the research that attempts to explain our baffling and irrational susceptibility to pricing. The idea of “anchoring and adjustment”—setting an arbitrary number to subconsciously drive higher or lower estimates—is just one of many research areas explained at length. While Poundstone's case studies are vivid, the abundance of theories and experiments might prove overwhelming for the casual reader. Nevertheless, the scope of the analysis—its attention to economic abstractions as well as real-world consequences—braids together theory and practice to leave an indelible impression on the reader. Grocery shopping will never seem so simple again when one realizes how much work goes into assigning a price to a box of cereal. (Jan.)

Ryan (60 Seconds & You're Hired!) offers authoritative advice for the over-40 job hunter, and in the process supplies tips that would be useful for anyone (or everyone, these days) looking for work. Addressing those entering the job market after a hiatus—those recently laid off from a long-term position or who have been staying home with children— she cautions, “Times have changed, and you must, too.” With suggestions gleaned from a survey of 600 hiring managers across the country, Ryan emphasizes the computer and Internet proficiencies universally demanded, shares tools for job searching online, advises job candidates to get a makeover to look more professional, and—in the book's most useful sections—shows how to fine-tune a résumé (she advises that each résumé and cover letter be tailored to the particular job and that the job title be explicitly listed in a “career objective” line). Her suggestions are candid, sensible, and refreshingly specific. With actual examples of résumés and cover letters, a résumé quiz and a companion Web site with salary tools and other online resources, this book is essential reading for job seekers. (Jan.)

Armed with vivid case studies and a populist axe to grind, Columbia economics professor Adler debunks the conventional economic wisdom that what's good for the rich and powerful is good for the economy through discussions of economic efficiency and how wages are determined. His main target is “the critical building block of modern economics”—Pareto efficiency—the theory that no one can be made better off without someone else being made worse off. Pareto efficiency balks at equitable resource allocation (especially from rich to poor); Adler argues that the model, carried to its extreme, proves that poor people should not be allowed to breathe clean air and that rich people pay far too many taxes, leading into a fascinating discussion of wage disparity. The claim that a person earns an amount determined by the value of what she produces is fundamentally flawed, he maintains, and the evidence shows that wages are determined by the powers a worker possesses—or does not possess—at the bargaining table. Adler's frustration with wrongheaded economic thinking is as entertaining as it is thought provoking. (Jan.)

Maltby, president and founder of the National Workrights Institute, provides chilling insight into personal rights in the workplace and existing laws, which, with rare exception, side with employers. Such liberties as freedom of speech, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, protect us only from governmental intrusions and do nothing to safeguard us from private enterprise. Maltby relays shocking stories of employer abuses, including tracking employees through cell phone GPS locators, placing hidden cameras in restrooms, and asking potential employees for details on everything from religious beliefs to sex lives. A staggering 20% of employers now require employees to agree before being hired not to go to court if the corporation violates their legal rights. Maltby shows employees how to protect themselves as much as possible under the existing laws and urges them to fight for bringing the Bill of Rights to apply to the private sector. Appendixes provide sample letters to elected representatives and human rights organizations as well as an Employee Bill of Rights. A disturbing and essential exposé that may be a catalyst for change. (Jan.)

Berlin (Many Thousands Gone) offers a fresh reading of American history through the prism of the “great migrations that made and remade African and African American life.” The first was “the forcible deportation” of Africans to North America” in the 17th and 18th centuries, followed by their “forced transfer” into the American interior during the 19th century. Then came the migration of the mid-20th century as African-Americans fled the South for the urban North, and the arrival of continental Africans and people of African descent from the Caribbean during the latter part of the 20th century. Berlin sees migration and the reshaping of communities to their new environments as central to the African-American experience. Movement is a matter of numbers, and Berlin provides them in detail kept fully readable by his attention to the cultural products of the shifts. In particular, he follows the church as it moves, the music as it takes on new themes, and kinship as it broadens. Berlin's careful scholarship is evidenced in his rich notes; the ordinary reader will be pleased by the fluidity and clarity of his prose. (Jan.)

Sandbeck (Green Housekeeping) offers “domestic strategies both ancient and modern” to help the ecologically minded reduce their carbon footprints. She convincingly argues that ruthless advertising has made us squeamish, timorous, unnecessarily germophobic, and sick—she links environmental contaminants to the increasing prevalence of asthma and ulcerative colitis. Despite some advice that's more silly than serious (e.g., rather than using napkins, wipe your hands on a slice of bread that you can eat later), she ably demonstrates that real bravery is required to “break free from the siren call of stuff.” Sandbeck lambastes Americans' addiction to shopping as well as the expected suspects: big pharma, hormone- riddled milk and meat, the cottonseed oil lobby, and factory-style egg production. She roots for kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut as natural immuno-boosters and anticarcinogens, bacteria (as partners in producing Belgian beers and French cheeses), locavores, Seedsavers, composting, “freeganism,” the cleaning properties of some kinds of dirt, and vaccination and male circumcision as low-cost preventive health care. Even if there is a schism between Sandbeck's championing of local eating and her salivating over French Roquefort, her book promotes greener and cheaper living with skill, wit, and conviction. (Jan.)

Here are tips on how to stop being a frownie face.

The first foray into writing from two accomplished gynecologists is all substance but no style. There's a hefty dose of informative, even eye-opening facts about women's health and the negative effect stress has on it. The authors present four stress types based on physical symptoms, and advice targeted at each type. But in the end, there's too much information on too many topics—packaged in the comatose tone of the medical profession. Prescription: take in small doses. (Jan.)

This hands-on workbook for those seeking emotional well-being, is not for the faint of effort. Friedman, who says the inability to forgive underlies all emotional ills, peppers his years of psychotherapeutic research with affirmations, exercises both mental and physical, and writing assignments designed to improve one's ability to forgive. The trouble with Friedman's book is not his scholarship but finding the inordinate amount of time required to complete all the exercises aimed at eliciting insight. (Jan.)

Whitbourne, a professor of psychology at UMass-Amherst, has put her entire life's work in the pages of her new study, a full 40 years' worth of research, focused on a single group of human subjects. The data Whitbourne has gathered in this “28-UP-style” journey are distilled into an enlightening compass to guide readers through the various possible “pathways,” as she calls them, to happiness and to making the changes necessary for a meaningful life. Whitbourne deserves commendation for both the hopeful message she delivers and the elegant prose with which she conveys her complex research. (Jan.)