Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 2/16/2009
-- Publishers Weekly, 2/16/2009
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Web Pick of the Week: Presidents' Day Collection |
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Abraham Lincoln
The Best American History Essays on Lincoln
In Lincoln’s Hand: His Original Manuscripts
What Obama Means: For Our Culture, Our Politics, and Our FutureNONFICTION
BodiesSusie Orbach. Picador, $14 paper (224p) ISBN 9780312427207
Noted psychoanalyst and feminist thinker Orbach, author of The Impossibility of Sex, Fat is a Feminist Issue and once-counselor to Princess Diana, takes a critical look at the modern notion that “biology need no longer be destiny.” Rather than liberating individuals, Orbach contends that this has only made the body another competitive realm for personal achievement: “The individual is now deemed accountable for his or her body and judged by it.” This “obsessive cultural focus” leads to a host of psychological problems, making “body anxiety” as fundamental a threat to the modern psyche as emotional anxiety (leading to self harm, obesity, anorexia, etc.). Body anxiety has also driven the beauty industry to become a $160 billion, fully-globalized industry with customers from the U.S., U.K. and other advanced sector economies traveling abroad for discount reconstruction (Nose jobs in Tehran, eye surgery in Asia). Orbach provides a rich, nuanced context for the present moment, looking through time and across cultures at (among other topics) child rearing regimes, body-shaping techniques (tattoos, bound feet) and standard mechanical activities like walking. Orbach makes a powerful case that, because people today have been seduced by a one-size-fits all Western (celebrity) body image, we deprive ourselves—body, mind and soul—of the body’s most simple pleasures and rewards, up to and including sexual intimacy. (Mar.)
D.H. Lawrence and Frieda: A Portrait of Love and Loyalty
Michael Squires. Andre Deutsch, $29.95 (200p) ISBN 9780233002323
In this lively, exhaustive account of their intense marriage, (in)famous author D.H. Lawrence and his uninhibited wife Frieda von Richthofen frolic through a life that was often sparse and “always in motion,” set in enchanting villas, borrowed cottages, seaside retreats and great Western ranches across England, Italy, Germany, America and elsewhere. Squires, a long-time Lawrence scholar, draws on previously unpublished letters from Frieda to craft a sensitive portrait of the dissimilar, individualistic and fiercely loyal lovers whose colorful renegade style could easily turn disagreeable (Frieda left her husband and three children to elope with Lawrence) and whose betrayals revealed the crushing insecurity that hid in each—partly revealed in Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Lawrence’s thinly-veiled account of the marriage. Friends (and hangers-on) were crucial to the couple, who were seldom alone; the book is graced with literary figures and exotic locales, as the couple’s search for an earthly paradise (in part to relieve Lawrence’s lifelong but unmentionable tuberculosis) takes them to exotic locales like Capri and Taos, New Mexico. Fans of the notorious novelist and early 20th century literature in general will find this account fresh and illuminating. (Jan.)
How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth and Success in Business
Dave Hitz. Jossey-Bass, $27.95 (208p) ISBN 9780470345238
Silicon Valley success story Hitz, co-founder of tech consulting company NetApp, takes readers through the three stages of a developing business in this “memoir of a company and of a man,” with lessons. Hitz’s well-organized chronology outlines the net start-up’s 1990s childhood, dot-bust adolescence and triumphant adulthood, centered around three easy-to-grasp themes: risk, growth and success, consecutively. Breezy and entertaining throughout, Hitz’s text is also graced with efficient sidebars and a succinct, well-considered time-out capping each chapter. Chapters on his team’s struggle to raise funds, find the right CEO for the job and go public are complemented by lessons from ancient Egyptians on data storage and NetApp president Tom Mendoza on public speaking. Though there aren’t any lessons here that can’t be found in other books, Hitz’s personal and professional story encompasses solid business values, common mistakes, a bit of insider lore and some decent outta-left-field jokes (says the engineer to the frog princess: “Who has time for a girlfriend? But a talking frog: that’s really cool”). (Jan.)
Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the StreetsCadillac Man. Bloomsbury, $25 (304p) ISBN 9781596914063
Writer, veteran and native Manhattanite Cadillac Man exposes the hidden world of the homeless in this riveting collection of stories from his sixteen years on the streets of New York City. Following the heartbreaking deterioration of his marriage, Cadillac finds himself wandering New York with no destination, comforted by the memories of his young daughter and haunted by his failures. With an uncanny sense of humor and invention, Cadillac uses everyday objects most take for granted (soda cans, discarded beach chairs, toy wagons) to build a life for himself, literally, from the ground up. Cadillac guides readers through streets most people don’t (or choose not to) see, introducing the outcasts he comes to value most: singers, teen runaways, pimps, prostitutes and a few unlikely angels. Excruciating details of fist-fights and romantic escapades leave little to the imagination, rendering Cadillac’s world intimate, scary and touching; it becomes clear that his survival and sanity depend not only on crafty methods of making money, but also on journaling (excerpts from which have appeared in Esquire magazine). A surprising find, Cadillac lets readers in on a rarely seen community, revealing the compassionate hearts that beat even in the most despairing circumstances. (Mar.)
LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious
Stanislav Grof. Inner Traditions/Park Street, $18.95 paper (304p) ISBN 9781594772825
In 1955, psychiatrist Grof (The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death), then a Czech medical student, began studying the effects of LSD on human subjects (including himself) in pioneering experiments focused on schizophrenia symptoms. Over time, Grof’s interest shifted to diagnostic and therapeutic use of psychedelics, in part because of his first visit to the U.S. (where he now lives) in 1965, when “the [American] psychedelic movement was profoundly influencing contemporary culture.” First published in 1975, this book foresees the psychedelic experience causing a “radical revision of the current scientific worldview” comparable to the 20th century “conceptual cataclysm” in Newtonian physics—a view Grof appears to hold still. Though the LSD experience can encompass virtually “any perceptual, emotional or psychosomatic manifestations,” and varies wildly among individuals and individual trips, Grof finds subjects’ reported experience entirely credible, and indicative of complex mental processes at work: some subjects relive childhood and “perinatal” experiences, some “regress” to previous lives and non-human life forms. Whether or not one accepts his case studies at face value, Grof’s engrossing state-of-the-science overview argues convincingly that continued LSD research will help patients, parents, policymakers and even spiritual seekers. (Mar.)
Painting a Hidden Life: The Art of Bill Traylor
Mechal Sobel. Louisiana State Univ., $34.95 (256p) ISBN 9780807134016
Born a slave in Benton, Ala. in 1853, legendary outsider artist Bill Traylor married twice and fathered over a dozen children before moving to Montgomery alone in 1928 and picking up paints. There, the octogenarian established a corner (literally), and before long, was discovered by (white) Montgomery artist Charles Shannon, who would organize two shows for Traylor and ensure his work’s preservation. Traylor was both illiterate and estranged from his entire family, and so what little is known of his thoughts come from Shannon; though his journals contain some telling moments (“‘[W]hen the [ruler] touches the nose and the chin but it doesn’t touch the lips, it’s a white man.’ [Traylor] said, ‘If it touches all three, it’s a black man.’”), unfortunately there’s very little that’s conclusive. Sobel’s attempt to decode Traylor’s iconic paintings is thus an interesting but unsubstantiated look at the artist’s societal context and the various cultural symbols he may be invoking. Though Sobel is on point with the basics (Traylor “composed a lengthy, complex, life narrative in over 1,200 pictures”) and helps fill a significant hole in American art history, fans of the folk artist won’t learn much new. (Mar.)
Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the SoulStuart Brown with Christopher Vaughan. Avery, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 9781583333334
Doctor, psychiatrist and public speaker Brown (founder of the National Institute for Play) disagrees with conventional wisdom stating that success depends on keeping your nose to the grindstone. Now 75 years old, Brown condenses decades of first-hand experience and research, cautioning that “play-deficient” lives can burn out adults as well as children; in fact, Brown says, it’s serious like a heart attack: “when we lack that feeling of lightness in what we do it should be… as alarming as chest pain.” He makes several convincing cases for play’s importance: that social play—joking, teasing, flirting—is “the lubrication that allows human society to work and individuals to be close to each other”; that today’s college-bound adolescents often lead lives over-structured by parents and teachers, leading to instability and worse (working with “young murderers,” he found they were often deprived of “rough-and-tumble play” in childhood); that play “lies at the core of creativity and innovation” for all animal species, especially humans. This close psycho- and sociological examination will yield insights for parents and educators, adults who have a hard time opening up, and anyone else curious about the everyday games people play. (Mar.)
Where We Find Ourselves: Jewish Women Around the World Write About Home
Edited by Miriam Ben-Yoseph and Deborah Nodler Rosen. SUNY, $65 (286p) ISBN 9781438325214; $19.95 paper ISBN 9781434825221
In this poignant collection of essays, excerpts and poetry, associate professor Ben-Yoseph and poet/editor Rosen deliver a multifaceted definition of home. With work from some 40 Jewish women from all corners of the globe, this volume conveys a broad range of experiences with vibrant clarity and a shared understanding that home is more than a physical place. In Viva Hammer’s essay, “America,” the Australian-born New York lawyer reveals that for her feeling at home depends on neighbors who sharing her beliefs and interests, regardless of any one person’s birthplace; other contributors testify that the idea of home will always be embodied by their birthplaces or first abodes, regardless of current residence. Other essays tackle travel; on her dream trip to England, Romanian psychologist and social activist Maria Roth divulges her acute loneliness, relieved only by memories of family, comfort food and familiar locales. Though the authors share a common religion, each piece is clearly differentiated by geography, ancestry and tradition. Though sometimes cheerless, this thoughtful, humbling and undeniably spirited collection makes a comforting touchstone. (Mar.)
LIFESTYLE
Thinking Simply About Addiction: A Handbook for RecoveryRichard S. Sandor. Tarcher/Penguin, $14.95 paper (208p) ISBN 9781585426881
Sandor, a psychiatrist specializing in addiction, has put together a thought-provoking, compassionate guide for alcoholics and other addicts to understand and overcome their disease. Sandor explains addiction as a disease of “automaticity,” a change in the functioning of the central nervous system “that cannot be eliminated but can be rendered dormant.” Total abstinence, Sandor asserts, is the only way to control this automatic mechanism. He compares alcoholism to allergies, both of which involve a “pathological reaction to a substance,” and discusses the biological, sociological and psychological factors that make some vulnerable. In Sandor’s view, medical intervention is necessary for withdrawal symptoms, but the goal of treatment is “dedicated, active member[ship in] a 12-step group” like Alcoholics Anonymous for life (in large part for the spiritual component, which necessitates “turning our will and lives over” to a higher power). Though understanding, practical and enlightening, the handbook’s broader message, that addiction teaches “the same timeless lessons that bring meaning to all human suffering,” is bound to be controversial. (Mar.)
FICTION
Vienna Triangle
Brenda Webster. Wings (IPG, dist.), $16.95 paper (240p) ISBN 9780916727451
Webster’s fourth novel is an involving, if overly mannered, literary mystery centered around an ambitious young woman’s unknown ancestry, the love life of Sigmund Freud and the death of Freud’s rival, Viktor Tausk. A chance run-in with legendary psychoanalyst Helene Deutsch, once a member of Freud’s inner circle, sends young American scholar Kate Berg on a journey to uncover the familial roots her mom has long kept hidden. Through Helene, Kate discovers secrets that tie Freud to her long-lost grandfather; the chaotic story of Freud, Tausk and their fight over the alluring Lou Andreas-Salomé, unreels with the Vietnam War raging in the background, immersing Kate and readers in two generations of love and loss. Both smart and charming, Webster’s latest delves into the history of psychology with sordid details and a surprising conclusion, in which Kate may lose more than she gains. (Jan.)
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