Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 8/6/2007

-- Publishers Weekly, 8/6/2007

NONFICTION

The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries
Alistair Campbell. Knopf, $35 (794p) ISBN 978-0307268310

Tony Blair was one of Great Britain's youngest and longest-serving Prime Ministers, and Campbell was Blair's Press Secretary from 1994 to 2003, accompanying Blair through his initial, hugely succesful campaign for Prime Minister, the reform of the Labour Party, the death of Princess Diana, the Clinton presidency, 9/11 and the war in Iraq. The style of Campbell's diaries, full of shorthand and acronyms ("TB" for Tony Blair, "BC" for Bill Clinton), takes some getting used to but pays off in immediacy and candor; rather than a polished account of events, Campbell gives readers refreshingly unvarnished impressions of what occurred at the time it was occurring, free of spin or second-guessing. People behave badly—swearing, losing tempers, perspiring, dressing inappropriately and lusting after women—and political fortunes, as well as marriages, suffer the strain. Appearances by Bill Clinton (in the midst of the Lewinsky fallout) are remarkable for the vulnerability they reveal, and the arrangements for Diana's funeral, made by the Blair cabinet and the Royal Family together, exhibit a fascinating mix of compassion and calculation (Blair comments, shrewdly, "She will become an icon straight away. She will live on as an icon.") As readers watch Blair navigate the shoals of political life, they, like the author, will emerge admiring him, and appreciating the frank and ultimately flattering portrait that Campbell provides. (Aug.)

The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know is Wrong
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. Harmony, $19.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0307394910

If you think you're a trivia expert, British TV men Lloyd (producer of the hit comedy shows Spitting Image and Black Adder) and Mitchinson (writer for Quite Interesting) may disabuse you of the notion that you're a true scholar of random facts—and quickly. Their surprisingly lengthy tome is jam-packed with real answers to a number of less-than-burning questions—camels store fat, not water, in their humps; only five out of every 100,000 paper clips are used to clip papers; the first American president was in fact Peyton Randolph—that you nevertheless may be embarrassed to have completely wrong. Although some of the entries rely on technicality more than actual excavation of obscure fact (Honolulu is technically the world's largest city, despite the fact that 72% of its 2,127 square miles is underwater), these page-length entries prove entertaining and informative, perfect for trivia buffs and know-it-alls; it also makes a fine coffee table conversation piece and a handy resource for prepping clever cocktail party banter. (Aug.)

Bug: Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution
Christopher Jon Heuer. Gaullaudet University, $21.95 paper (232p) ISBN 978-1563683572

A lot of things bug Heuer, not least the insensitivity of the hearing and the narrow-mindedness of many in the deaf—or is it Deaf—community. The small "d"/capital "D" question is not a small matter; Heuer uses them to differentiate between those who have a hearing impairment and people who define themselves as part of a deaf culture with its own language (American Sign) and traditions. Heuer was born with impaired hearing but suffered continuing hearing loss throughout his childhood, becoming almost entirely deaf early on. An English teacher at Gaullaudet, a Washington, D.C. university for the deaf, Heuer proves an intriguing, dynamic guide: though he learned to speak as a young child, he now chooses to sign; though he identifies strongly with the Deaf Pride movement, he deplores its insularity. Collecting 116 opinion pieces—most from The Tactile Mind Weekly, some from the National Association of the Blind website, a few new—Heuer proves angry, lively and convincing whether discussing the complacency of the Deaf toward illiteracy in their ranks, or the failure of hearing parents to learn Sign when their hearing impaired children are young. Despite his serious intent, Heuer is always entertaining, and his insights into discrimination and "the soft prejudice" have a powerful reach. (Sept.)

Casa Nostra: A Home in Sicily
Caroline Seller Manzo. HarperCollins, $25.95 (260p) ISBN 978-0061189210

The renovation of a massive, decaying villa in Sicily ostensibly spurred the writing of this uneven, predictable memoir from first-time author Manzo. Married into a Sicilian family struggling to maintain its hold on the family property, London-born Manzo is compelled to help rebuild it, becoming a fixture of the neglected house and its multi-generational members. Photographs reinforce the grandeur of the property, which includes crenellated towers and arched doorways, but the story of the renovation itself is thin and uneventful, populated with predictable delays and a few oddball stories of contractors and broken water pumps. As expected, the domestic project frames the story of each family member, particularly the aging matriarch, though there are long chapters on architecture and the Mafia which often serve to slow what little momentum there is. Despite this, some charming moments shine through, particularly concerning the brothers who share the villa and the food they eat together, but without any major disasters or truly comic mishaps, the book flounders; still, readers looking for a light escape will agree there's worse places to flounder than sun-drenched Sicily. (July)

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products: Who's at Risk and What's at Stake for American Power
Mark Schapiro. Chelsea Green, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1933392158

Americans' confidence in their government-sanctioned environmental and consumer protections receives another blow in investigative reporter Schapiro's exposé, which explores such discomforting information as the 2005 U.S. Centers for Disease Control tests that found 148 toxic chemicals "in the bodies of 'Americans of all ages.'" The U.S.'s unique tendency to take no action against businesses and their products until a disaster occurs keeps them tied to 1970s standards—"exposed to substances from which increasing numbers of people around the world are being protected"—while "the principle of preventing harm before it happens, even in the face of imperfect scientific certainty," guides an increasing number of countries; by "creating legal and financial incentives," governments in Europe and Japan have kept citizens relatively safe from what contributes to the deaths "of at least 5 million people a year," according to the World Health Organization. Schapiro (co-author, with David Weir, of Circle of Poison: Pesticides and People in a Hungry World) discovers toxins in personal care products, toys, electronics and foods which are, in some cases, manufactured solely for U.S. consumption, and traces them to the people and events responsible. Though a look at growing support for change in the U.S. provides some hope, a guide to action would have been an appropriate addition to Schapiro's prescient muckraking. (Sept.)

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything… In Business (and in Life)
Dov Seidman. Wiley, $27.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0471751229

Although the tone of this business primer suggests a commercial version of St. Paul's epiphany on the road to Damascus, consulting firm CEO Seidman hems so closely to the familiar earmarks of the genre—powerpoint diagrams, catchy acronyms, buzzwords and inspirational stories of successful, sane corporate culture—as to engender cynicism early on. Among some compelling accounts of exemplary work environments—the General Electric Durham aircraft engine assembly plant, where nearly flawless products are turned out on flexible schedules and the honor system is arranged by self-governed aircraft technicians, represents one such utopia—Seidman fails to explore the roots of those practices or why they aren't more widely imitated (GE hasn't attempted to reproduced the Durham plant model). As such, Seidman falls short of his goal—teaching leaders how to imbue their corporate culture with moral purpose—which is sure to leave readers frustrated. (July)

Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the Nixon White House
Egil "Bud" Krogh with Matthew Krogh. PublicAffairs, $25 (240p) ISBN 978-1586484675

Although the Watergate scandal covers well-trod ground, Krogh has the perspective to provide a new angle on the Nixon administration and the perpetration of one of the most infamous political crimes in American history. Part of the book's appeal stems from the fact that Watergate itself is not the central focus, since Krogh was no longer involved with Nixon's "plumbers" at the time the scandal occurred. Instead, the political decisions leading up to the creation of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the motivations of the individuals in that group and the break-in to Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office take center stage in Krogh's account, giving the reader a novel slant on a well known story. From his position as one of three leaders of the SIU (along with E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy), Krogh has a singular vantage point, and 30 years later he's had plenty of time to dissect the ethics and effects of the momentous decisions that led to the Nixon presidency's downfall. Krogh's conclusion is that the crimes have their roots in a breakdown of integrity, giving it wide applicability to the current age of government scandal and high crime. (Sept.)

A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain
Paul Richardson. Scribner, $24 (288p) ISBN 978-0743284936

Traveling from the coasts of Spain to the agricultural interior and the cuisine-crazy cities of San Sebastian, Barcelona and Madrid, British-born food journalist Richardson (a 15-year resident of Spain) achieves ably his goal of "hunting down the people and landscapes that had shaped the eating habits of the nation" by "working[ing] from the outside in, as I had gotten to know the country in the first place." In each section, Richardson (Indulgance: Around the World in Search of Chocolate) visits a restaurant of renown and converses with its chef, revealing the evolution of Spanish food from garlic-heavy infusions to the current, bold trend toward wily deconstruction of familiar dishes. Richardson also attends to home-cooked Spanish food, discovering genuine paella and the majestic olive oil of Spain's interior, and remaining fearless in the face of such dishes as a Catalonia soup "from which various ingredients could be seen to emerge as from a swamp: a bird's leg, a sausage, the piece of cod looking like a dirty iceberg." Spain is a big country with many food traditions, and while Richardson goes admirably in-depth on a number of topics, his scope is outsized; a divide-and-conquer approach—narrower focus, multiple volumes—might have proved more satisfying. (Aug.)

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly
David Meerman Scott. Wiley, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0470113455

Though it may not yet have affected the value of 30 seconds of Super Bowl advertising, PR insider Scott argues that understanding the growing irrelevance of marketing's "old rules" is vital to thriving in the new media jungle. Already apparent in newspapers and magazines (with sharp downturns in circulation and ads), radio (on the losing end of the iPod revolution) and direct mail (digitally replaced by spam), the imminent fall of traditional mass media marketing means new opportunities for legions of smaller companies and independent professionals who need to reach niche markets cheaply and effectively. The way Scott sees it, this is also good news for consumers: the online culture of integrity and information tends to produce quality content for less, as opposed to the vapid, one-sided and pricey advertising of print media and television. Scott provides the technical novice a thoughtful and accessible guide to cutting-edge media arenas and formats such as RSS, vodcasts and viral marketing, without neglecting the fact that technological wizardry can't substitute for a well-thought out marketing program. Besides emphasizing fundamentals like defining one's audience, Scott also drills home the ethos and etiquette of the web, encouraging content that's both useful and unobtrusive. This excellent look at the basics of new-millennial marketing should find use in the hands of any serious PR professional making the transition. (July)

The Pedant's Return: Why the Things you Think are Wrong are Right
Andrea Barham. Bantam, $15 (176p) ISBN 978-0553384918

In 2006's The Pedant's Revolt, Barham focused on the false information and bad advice in well-known folk wisdom ("starve a cold," one human year equals seven dog years, etc.), but in this follow-up she takes the opposite tack, examining old wives' tales and famously outlandish anecdotes that are actually true. She tackles literature, nature, food, history, medicine and famous figures, among other topics, putting the facts to stories like Virginia Woolf's affinity for writing while standing up (in emulation of her older sister, a painter). Other stories, like the origin of Saint Nicolas's gift-giving tradition, get shocking makeovers: as it turns out, the jolly fat man began his career by buying children out of prostitution. Surprisingly true legends also include the skin-coloring effects of eating too many carrots, the absence of the resurrection in the original version of Saint Mark's gospel and the fact that the "S" in Harry S. Truman doesn't stand for anything. Imminently browsable, this volume should provide the trivially inclined with lots of fun (and perhaps some late nights worrying, for instance, about bugs living in one's inner ear). (Aug.)

Sides
Peter Straub. Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com), $25 (310p) ISBN 978-1587671654

Bestselling horror master Straub's first collection of non-fiction, a mixed bag that will appeal mostly to die-hard fans, includes two decades' worth of introductions (e.g., to an edition of The Stepford Wives) and a series of odd short essays by Straub's alter ego, fictional critic and academic Putney Tyson Ridge. While the introductions, especially the essay on Dracula, contain some useful and original material, the quirky and self-deprecating Ridge commentaries provide little insight into Straub's approach to his work. Straub's many admirers will be left hoping for his eventual equivalent to Stephen King's Danse Macabre. (Aug.)

Thugs: How History's Most Notorious Despots Transformed the World Through Terror, Tyranny, and Mass Murder
Micah D. Halpern. Thomas Nelson, $26.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1595550736

Not for the faint of heart, this volume examines the lives and dreadful reigns of 56 infamous characters, both current and long gone, who shaped history with mass horror. Written in short, easy-to-digest sentences, columnist and historian Halpern fills his brief sketches with colorful, terrible details in the manner of that rare, beloved history teacher whose lectures stir rapture in a nap-prone student body. Sit-up-and-take-notice lessons include the story of jealous King Herod, who not only had his wife murdered, but pickled her in honey "to preserve her sweetness"; the dinner party of Idi Admin, who invited the families of men he had murdered to sit and eat surrounded by their relatives' decapitated heads; and the contributions Hitler made to hypothermia knowledge through heinous experiments on captive human beings (Halper notes that, with the possible exceptions of Amin and Pontius Pilate, even the "totally, purely evil" contribute some good). Readers with an interest in the more appalling side of history, and its lasting effects, will find much to appreciate here (and perhaps more to argue in the area of omissions, oversights and Halpern's assertion that "Our freedom has become a foil against their evil"). (Aug. 21)

To Follow the Water: Exploring the Ocean to Discover Climate
Dallas Murphy. Basic, $26 (278p) ISBN 978-1582433509

Marine journalist Murphy, a life-long "dock rat," rescues physical oceanography from dull classroom lectures (a sore spot among aspiring oceanographers) with this romantic, accessible work that makes difficult concepts like water-mass movement engrossing and inspiring. Chronicling his seafaring adventures with physical oceanographers ("fizzos") from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Murphy has done an enormous service for general readers interested in the science and politics of climate change by asking and, more importantly, re-asking detailed questions until he can produce jargon-free explanations. Organized around the history of oceanography, beginning with Viking, Portuguese and Spanish explorers, Murphy recounts the gradual discovery of the North Atlantic gyre and how this influenced the history of New World colonization, the groundbreaking work of 20th century fizzos such as Henry Stommel, Walter Munk and Maurice Ewing, and the latest developments in the research they begat. Along the way, Murphy provides a fascinating look at the shipboard research experience: the life of a scientist at sea, the use of instruments and a myriad of other details. Murphy's conversational style can make for some overlong sentences, but his background research is close to impeccable; unfortunately, a less-than-thorough editing job overlooks some obvious mistakes (as in the passage misidentifying "phytoplankton" and "zooplankton") and fails to reference the well-chosen charts and illustrations within the text. (Aug.)

A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy
Sara Bongiorni. Wiley, $24.95 (236p) ISBN 978-0470116135

Journalist Bongiorni, on a post-Christmas day mired deep in plastic toys and electronics equipment, makes up her mind to live for a year without buying any products made in China, a decision spurred less by notions of idealism or fair trade—though she does note troubling statistics on job loss and trade deficits—than simply "to see if it can be done." In this more personal vein, Bongiorni tells often funny, occasionally humiliating stories centering around her difficulty procuring sneakers, sunglasses, DVD players and toys for two young children and a skeptical husband. With little insight into global economics or China's manufacturing practices, readers may question the point of singling out China when cheap, sweatshop-produced products from other countries are fair game (though Bongiorni cheerfully admits the flaws in her project, she doesn't consider fixing them). Still, Bongiorni is a graceful, self-deprecating writer, and her comic adventures in self-imposed inconvenience cast an interesting sideways glance at the personal effects of globalism, even if it doesn't easily connect to the bigger picture.(July)

LIFESTYLE

The Great American Eat Right Cookbook: 140 Great-Tasting, Good-for-You Recipes
Jeanne Besser and Colleen Doyle. American Cancer Society, $29.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0944235935

According to food writer Besser (The First Book of Baking) and Doyle, Director of Nutrition and Activity for the American Cancer Society, moderation, fresh herbs and infused oils can satisfy diners without expanding waistlines or endangering health. The authors have a two-pronged approach for balancing healthy cooking with satisfying flavors: substitutions and portion control. Tips for reducing fat and calories include using ground turkey for beef in tacos, low fat milk and cheese in macaroni and cheese and rosemary-infused oil instead of butter on popcorn. Portion control is made simple with dishes like indivdually-sized Mini Meatloaves, Coffee Baby-Cakes and Two-Bite Brownies. Though bulk of the recipes are unsurprising (bran muffins, black bean and corn salad, vegetable soup, etc.), a few tasty tricks can be found in Mock-Berry Crème Brulee, employing yogurt in place of custard, and their Oven-Baked Potato Chips, which hold their own next to the fried variety. Nutritional information is provided for each dish, as are suggestions for what staples to keep on hand; cooks looking for basic, healthy methods and standard dishes will also appreciate the book's modest variety and user-friendly format. Color photos. (Sept.)

Sweety Pies: An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, with Pie
Patty Pinner. Taunton, $23 (176p) ISBN 978-1561588480

In this culinary memoir featuring over 50 home-baked pies, Pinner weaves personal stories with recipes for standards such as Apple and Mixed Berry, as well as less common but equally delicious offerings such as Lemon Chess Pie and an ice cream-based Caramel Tin Roof Pie. As in her last, 2003's well-received Sweets: A Collection of Soul Food Desserts and Memories, each recipe is accompanied by an anecdote from the author's childhood, giving readers the feeling of being in the kitchen with Pinner as she reflects on family and friendship, drawing from her stories advice on treating loved ones right; however, as none hint at the taste of the dishes they accompany, bakers might find these tales frustrating, especially in regard to lesser-known dishes like Rice Pie and Sister Chestermae Hayes's Apple Butter Pie. Still, those with a soft spot for pies will find a treasure trove of recipes that prove intriguingly left-of-center; tellingly, the opening pie recipe (following a helpful primer on crusts) might be considered heresy by some: a blueberry peach cobbler that calls for 3 cups of blueberry muffin mix. Pinner's point, repeated throughout, is that the time spent in the kitchen with family and friends matters more than "authentic" ingredients or tricky preparation. (Sept.)

ILLUSTRATED

Diana: The Portrait: Anniversary Edition
Rosalind Coward, foreword by Nelson Mandela. Andrews McNeel, $29.95 paper (242p) ISBN 978-0740767920

Coward's lavish book, updated for the 10 year anniversary of Princess Diana's death, is a rich but frustrating biography featuring iconic and candid photographs of the People's Princess from throughout her life. Those who've read the recently-released biography by Tina Brown, The Diana Chronicles, will find Coward's Diana a much more sympathetic figure, generally characterized as likable and humane in numerous interviews with friends, family and others who witnessed the power of her care and attention. Focusing largely on her good works, the book gets a new foreword by Nelson Mandela, who notes that "we can all insist, as she did, that nobody deserves to suffer from stigma and prejudice on top of their illness and disability." Unfortunately, the book's design is unwieldy, alternating between pages crammed with tiny, single-spaced text and stretches of largely uncaptioned photographs. Coward's thorough research is commendable, but a stronger edit might have cut less relevant interviewees (like Diana's father's neurosurgeon) in favor of a more detailed look at Diana's long love-hate relationship with the press. Still, the photos collected here, particularly the later portraits that open and close the book, highlight what the young Princess of Wales brought to so many: beauty, warmth and compassion. (Aug.)

FICTION

Baby Crimes
Randall Hicks. Wordslinger (www.wordslingerpress.com), $13.95 paper (296p) ISBN 978-0979443008

Adoption attorney Hicks's unremarkable second Toby Dillon mystery (after 2006's Gumshoe Award-winning The Baby Game) offers more of the same: amateur sleuthing by part-time tennis pro and part-time adoption attorney Dillon, with more emphasis on professional dilemmas than detection. This time out, Dillon is hired by Nevin and Catherine Handley, an obnoxious wealthy couple who are seeking to have the adoption of their teenage daughter Lynn, now Dillon's tennis student, belatedly legalized. What should be a fairly routine matter becomes complicated when Nevin is murdered. Hicks also mixes in a subplot concerning Dillon's burgeoning relationship with his childhood friend, famous movie star Rita MacGilroy, whose young children are threatened by a thug. The writing and characterization fail to deliver on the series' potential, and other writers have better translated their professional expertise into engaging fiction. (Aug.)

The Big Bow Mystery
Israel Zangwill. Dybbuk, $13 paper (196p) ISBN 978-0976654636

Whodunit fans who prefer their murders mysteriously committed behind locked doors will appreciate this reissue of the first impossible crime novel, penned by the unlikely Zangwill (1864–1926)—better known during his lifetime as an ardent British Zionist—in the late 1890s. Widowed landlady Mrs. Drabdump and retired Scotland Yarder Grodman batter down a secured and bolted bedroom door to find Arthur Constant, a hero of the working classes, dead from a cut throat. After suicide is quickly ruled out, the puzzle captures the city's imagination, with theory after theory (some poking fun at Poe's solution to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue") floated in the press, until Grodman himself returns to the lists to try to clear the man condemned to death for the crime. The plot device has been used many times since, but Zangwill deserves credit for inventing it and enlisting it in an entertaining and timeless plot. With a sardonic style and vivid, Dickensian characterizations of Victoria-era London, Zangwill still appeals to contemporary readers. (Aug.)

The Gospel of the Knife
Will Shetterly. Tor, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0312866310

Shetterly's sequel to Dogland (1997) finds Christopher Nix, a troubled adolescent, struggling through the cultural turmoil of 1969 Florida. While running from a trio of hippie-hating bullies, Chris manages to ride his bike across a murky pond while a pursuer sinks, but he later finds a hidden branch under the water and tells himself it must have supported him. Running away from home after a fight with his father, Chris winds up romantically and then literally entangled with CC, a wild young woman trying to escape her aunt's obsession with Jesus. Then his life changes radically when a rich stranger offers to fund his education at a fancy prep school. Chris soon learns the reason for the generosity, and the small miracles that appear to follow him wherever he goes: he's actually one of the elohim, a divine being in human guise. Shetterly seems to want to make some sort of point about adolescence and faith, but like the pond, his intent is often occluded, and not every reader will be able to make it to the far side. (July)

Just Beyond the Clouds
Karen Kingsbury. Center Street, $14.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1599956770

In characteristically heart-wringing, tear-jerking style, bestselling inspirational novelist Kingsbury finishes the story of Cody Gunner she began in A Thousand Tomorrows. Elle Dalton is director of an Independent Learning Center for Down Syndrome adults when she meets Cody, her student Carl Joseph's brother, who is intent on removing Carl from the center. Romance ensues between Elle, still brokenhearted over being jilted at the altar four years ago, and Cody, an angry bull rider who still grieves the loss of his wife to cystic fibrosis. Meanwhile, it's up to Elle—and Carl Joseph—to show Cody that Down Syndrome adults are capable of much more than most people believe. Kingsbury handles the many point-of-view changes with aplomb, although the chapter told from Carl's perspective is less successful. Some readers may wonder about the literary value of auctioning off a character spot in a novel to the highest bidder (the money goes to charity), as is done here, and there is some telling instead of showing and repetition in the prose. But the plotline is sweeter than sugar, and Kingsbury makes an admirably strong advocacy statement for Down Syndrome adults. Kingsbury's legions of inspirational fiction fans should find this exactly to their taste; new readers will also discover that it reads well as a stand-alone. (Aug.)

Mommy Tracked
Whitney Gaskell. Bantam, $12 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0553589696

As comfortable as fuzzy slippers and still as sharp as stilettos, Gaskell's latest (after Testing Kate) celebrates motherhood, marriage and friendship with humor and vibrant insight. Four young Florida mothers help each other through trying times in this sparkling example of "mom lit." Anna Swann is a restaurant critic, single mom to a toddler and afraid to date again. Anna's a member of Mothers Coming Together ("MCT"), an informal support group presided over by Grace Weaver, who's happily married with children but obsessed with dieting. Juliet Cole, a third member of MCT, is an attorney who doesn't want to get "shunted onto the mommy track with no hope of making partner." Unfortunately, her ambition is taking time away from her increasingly dissatisfied house-husband and their twin daughters. Newcomer to MCT, pregnant Chloe Truman desperately needs a "mommy mentor" and to knock a bad shoplifting habit. After her water breaks during a party at Grace's home, the four women bond and discover that "Mothers matter… for better or worse," and friendship does, too. The novel's lessons—leaning to balance personal lives with parenthood issues and make important choices—are redeeming, even if Gaskell does play it safe with a predictably heart-warming resolution. (Aug. 28)

Murder in Maine: The Fly Man Murders
Mildred Davis with Katherine and Ren Roome. Hark LLC, $14.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-0979406805

The audaciously constructed second Murder in Maine novel (after 2006's The Avenging of Nevah Wright) falls considerably short of its apparent goals. Any of the three narrators would be difficult to carry off successfully: Dilly, a three-year-old child who finds himself inexplicably abandoned and has to cope not only without an adult but with a killer hunting for him; Faith, a homeless amnesiac whose memory returns only in tantalizing wisps that fuel an increasing sense of urgency; and Skip, a horribly abused boy growing up at the mercy of an unloving mother and a sadistic father. Their rather confusing jumble of stories and chronologies is only partially clarified by a bewildering and banal confluence of concluding events. Davis, who won the 1949 Edgar Award for best first novel, published a dozen books before going on hiatus in 1977. Her re-emergence with her daughter (Katherine) and grandson (Ren) as co-authors so far appears to be a faded postscript to her earlier career. (July)

Paper Hearts
Debrah Williamson. NAL, $14 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0451221421

The protagonist of Williamson's (Singing With The Top Down) second novel, Chancy Deel, is a teenager on the lam from an addict mom and the group home where she landed due to her mother's abuse. Hitchhiking across the Midwest and leaving origami in place of the food she steals, Chancy is "mad at herself, for hoping that things could ever be different." She hits pay dirt in Wenonah, Okla., when she breaks into Max Boyle's garage just as he's about to off himself. Max is a grieving widower "caught in depression's claws" who refuses to be packed off to a nursing home by his social worker even after a nasty fall from the tub. Max quickly devises an alternate plan to suicide: he'll hire Chancy as his caretaker and tell the neighbors she's his god-daughter. Chancy jumps at the opportunity to live a "real pretend life," even though it requires she hide her identity. Despite occasionally compelling supporting characters like the rebellious pre-teen and depressed dad across the street, the narrative wanders into treacly territory and gets very comfortable there. If Adult Protective Services is really so easily swayed, maybe teen vagrants everywhere have finally found their calling. (Aug.)

The Worst Years of Your Life
Edited by Mark Jude Poirier. Simon & Schuster, $15 paper (375p) ISBN 978-1416549260

Sometimes sad, often poignant and always painfully honest, the stories in this fiction anthology do away with the rose-colored glasses that grown-ups often employ to make memories of adolescence bearable, drawing them back into the bewildering fog of youth. Beyond a talented group of writers—including George Saunders, Jennifer Egan, Stacey Richter, A.M. Homes and Nathan Englander—author and editor Poirier has gathered a happily diverse set of sad-sack stories. Julie Orringer produces a "Note to Sixth-Grade Self," in which she advises an awkward 12-year-old how to get through excruciating dance classes ("Do not think about Zachary Booth's hand warts"); Mark Poirier contributes the story of an unhappy boy whose compulsive lies hide an unspeakable secret; and Amber Dermont posits a convincing tale of a teenage girl learning to understand her abhorrent mother. For adult readers, this rich, candid collection is bound to stir memories of their own growing pains, and more than a few words of thanks that they're in the past; for those in the thick of it, these stories will, if nothing else, take a little of the sting out of teenage loneliness and confusion. (Aug.)

Wouldn't Miss It for the World
Tara McCarthy. Pocket/Downtown, $13 paper (384p) ISBN 978-1416503255

McCarthy (Love Will Tear Us Apart) illustrates how weddings bring out the best and worst in people in her second novel, a mixed if overstuffed bag. Indie rocker bride-to-be June Siren; her high-strung mother, Alice; the groom's college-bound stepsister, Abby McKay; and best man Dan Eshom each share roving POV duty as Alice presides fitfully over planning the destination wedding in Belize, June mulls leaving her band (her intended, Cash, is a bandmate) to take a big money gig composing music for a kid's show, Abby struggles through late adolescent woes, and Dan is increasingly tormented by his longstanding crush on June. The bulk of the tale takes place in Belize, where a romance helps transform Alice; Abby becomes infatuated with June's brother (for better or for worse); Dan debates telling June that he's in love with her; and June weighs her career options and marries the perfect man. For a chick lit book, there's surprising depth and a finely tuned cast. (Aug.)

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