Jan 11, 2010
NONFICTION Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging Blood Revenge
A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name
Ann Nixon Cooper with Karen Grigsby Bates. Atria, $27 (294p) ISBN 9781439158876
In this remarkable life story, the 107-year-old woman hailed by President Obama in his Election Night speech reflects on the times she lived through on the eve of her heath in December, 2009, with help from NPR news correspondent Bates (author of the Alex Powell mystery series). In Obama’s speech, the new president remarked on a life that spanned segregation, the Civil Rights Era, and voting (electronically) for the first African-American president. Though Cooper describes that moment as “plenty exciting,” her story is more than that milestone: "I had a life before CNN and the rest 'discovered' me." Though Cooper's story doesn’t boast the groundbreaking events or distinctive voice of her most famous forerunners—ie, the Delany Sisters’ Having Our Say—this volume will capture readers with tales of Cooper’s mother, who had been taught to read by white plantation owners, and stories about her husband, who was a successful Atlanta dentist during the 1930s and ‘40s. A spry, inspirational figure, active and alert into her second hundred years, Cooper’s world is also animated by extensive photographs that complete the feel of a particularly thorough and well-written family scrapbook that’s also a testament to life well-lived in difficult times. (Jan.)
A Common Pornography: A memoir
Kevin Sampsell. Harper Perennial, $13.99 (256p) ISBN 9780061766107
A memoir in collage form, this frank but fragmented narrative chronicles the author’s early life in the Pacific Northwest. Told in a series of small pieces, some less than a quarter of a page long, Sampsell follows a stream-of-consciousness series of memories centering loosely around a collection of family secrets unearthed after his father’s funeral. Replicating the effects of memory, Sampsell’s chronicle begins piecemeal and becomes more detailed as it goes, emphasizing the unfiltered honesty of the story and his efforts to tell it. Though it can be frustrating waiting for the pieces to add up, there’s enough bathos, dysfunctional family antics and coming-of-age adventures—naked photoshoots, psychiatric hospitalizations, late-night donut shops and the tri-city New Wave scene—to keep readers turning pages. Sampsell’s eye for detail and deadpan delivery envliven a dark personal history with bathos and a powerful desire for understanding. (Jan.)
Bringing his signature wit and insight to the field of biogerentology, Critser (Fat Land, Generation Rx) produces a vigorous report of frontier science, charlatanry, and hope for a new, much longer, way of life. Beginning with a discussion with his septuagenarian parents, who receive “compounded hormone” treatment from a “longevity doctor,” Critser travels the U.S. to investigate the enterprises “forging onward into a brave new pro-longevist world.” (Crister’s own horse in the race—besides finding the natural aging process “cruel, capricious and unrelenting”—is a “form of accelerated brain aging” he suffers as a result of a concussion.) Crister’s first stop is a gathering of the Caloric Restriction Society, which advocates minimal caloric intake as a way of slowing cell damage; a conference breakfast consists of five blueberries and three potato chips. More trendy, and pricey, is hormone treatment, which claims to “add thirty years to maximum life span,” backed up by promising trials on mice (though more recent studies have called the science into question). Critser’s own course of treatment turns out ambiguously, but sends him to an intriguing third line of research, bio-engineering replacement body parts and other tissues from a patient’s own cells. A light and critical eye makes this excursion into front-end science an entertaining, enlightening trek. (Jan.)
Great Bastards of History: True and Riveting Accounts of the Most Famous Illegitimate Children Who Went on to Achieve Greatness
Jure Fiorillo. Fair Winds, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 9781592334018
Though informative, this volume profiling famous figures were born out-of-wedlock is an example of hodge-podge history at its most head-scratching; tackling the entire length of Anglo-Saxon history, it’s understandable that some well-known bastards won’t make the cut, but why include Alexander Hamilton and not Thomas Paine? Why Eva Peron, but not Confucius? Why Billie Holiday, but not Edith Piaf? Among those he does cover, beginning with William the Conqueror and ending with Fidel Castro, Fiorillo labors unconvincingly to make illegitimacy a meaningful part of their stories (on da Vinci: “It is unlikely his achievements would have been so spectacular if he weren't trying to overcome the stigma caused by being a bastard"). Human psychology isn’t so clean cut as Fiorillo would like to imagine: subjects like Alexandre Dumas and Jack London enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence with single parents; Billie Holiday and Alexander Hamilton were haunted more by poverty than by illegitimacy; and Queen Elizabeth I was beloved by her father, mother and stepmothers all (and, as her parents had been married when she was born, doesn’t actually qualify as a bastard). A handsome design doesn’t make up for clumsy writing, a narrow scope and some questionable editorial decisions. 125 color photos. (Jan.)
Invisible
Hughes de Montalembert. Atria, $21.99 (144p) ISBN 9781416593669
Blinded in a senseless attack in his New York home in 1978, de Montalembert, then a filmmaker and painter, was violently forced out of his intensely visual world. In this raw memoir, more a brainstorming session than a narrative, he approaches his new life with stunning directness, navigating the environs of Manhattan and, not much later, Bali and Greenland, with precocious new confidence and ability. He’s also painfully honest about the affects of his blindness, refusing the comfort of standard tropes about spirituality but finding wonder in the kindness of absolute strangers, isolation from those closest to him, and other un-thought-of moments of triumph and despair stemming from the way his condition affects his closest relationships. A French-born artist, de Montalembert will draw inevitable comparisons to Jean-Dominique Bauby (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), and de Montalembert’s effort is certainly a more challenging read, stylistically: broken, brief, at times like a prose poem. It depends on the reader whether this approach makes for a cumulative impact, or just gets tiring. Still, de Montalembert vital, determined voice is worth attending. (Jan.)
Life After Favre: A Season Of Change With The Green Bay Packers And Their Fans
Phil Hanrahan. Skyhorse, $24.95 (327p) ISBN 9781602397736
Hanrahan’s chronicle of the 2008 Green Bay Packers—the Green and Gold’s first season in 17 years without three-time MVP quarterback Brett Favre—has a bit in common with the team that limped to a depressing 6-10 season: namely, a lack of focus. A Wisconsin native, L.A. freelance writer Hanrahan temporarily relocated to a Green Bay hotel (which, decades earlier, had housed the Packers’ offices) to cover the whirlwind aftermath of the summer 2008 decision by team management to trade the 38-year-old, freshly returned from retirement, to the New York Jets. While Hanrahan remains surprisingly objective regarding the most dramatic episode in Packers history, enthusiasm leads him to overstuff his narrative with unnecessary detail regarding individual games and peripheral players. Told primarily through game summaries and the voices of fans that Hanrahan meets in bars—including not just Green Bay’s Stadium View Bar & Grille, but the Broke Spoke in Favre’s hometown of Kiln, Miss.—this volume manages a colorful team history and a comprehensive career overview of Favre’s replacement, Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately, the book ends prior to Favre’s second “retirement,” renounced in the summer of 2009 when he joined Green Bay’s hated rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.(Dec.)
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Ian Mortimer. Touchstone, $26 (352p) ISBN 9781439112892
In this compelling volume, Medieval history expert Mortimer (The Fears of Henry IV) transports readers to jolly, squalid old England for a thorough survey of everyday 14th century life. Going beyond the "nasty, brutish and short" of it, Mortimer's immersive visitor’s-guide approach to popular history gives readers a seamless sense of being there. The population is young—"Half of the population is aged twenty-one or less"—but incredibly diverse. The idea that social classes were distinct and few—fighters, prayers, and farmers—gets exploded in Mortimer’s examination society and the Medieval character, including everything from humor and juggling to mariners to doctors. Mortimer even argues, convincingly, over relative standards of hygiene ("to regard a medieval kitchen as 'dirty' because it has not been wiped down with modern detergent is to apply our own standards inappropriately"). He also looks at the role of period’s four greatest writers of the time , and reveals the horrors of contemporary medicine (with terrifying descriptions of the plague) and law (the outskirts of every town were decorated with the hanged corpses of minor criminals). Mortimer's toungue-in-cheek vistor’s guide is an impressive accomplishment, turning 600 years of history transparent to give 21st century audiences a clear view on Medieval life. (Jan.)
Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less
Alexander Aicman and Emmett Rensin. Penguin, $12 (208p) ISBN 9780143117322
The age of Twitter has arrived, and precocious young writers Aicman and Rensin have taken it upon themselves to redo the world’s most beloved literary classics for the Status Update generation. Taking the point of view of the protagonist (sometime several), the duo translate everything from The Old Man and the Sea to The Aeneid to the graphic novel Watchmen in under 2800 characters (20 “tweets” of up to 140 characters each). Splitting the focus between succinct mimicry and anachronistic wackiness (from The Great Gatsby: “Two bad drives met. :O,” “Gatsby is so emo. Who cries about his girlfriend while eating breakfast… IN THE POOL?”), Aicman and Rensin can reach moments of inspired hilarity; from Oedipus: “this woman is ALL OVER ME! Total MILF.” Juvenile comic asides and texting abbreviations abound (“WTF is Mercutio talking about?”), as do titter-worthy internet cultural references (from Frankenstein: “Just did a bit-torrent-style grave robbery”), though the target audience probably won’t have much interest in running commentary on Goethe, no matter how clever (or brief) it is. Readers who persevere will find structured wit and classic charm that belie the authors’ 19 years, making this a promising curiosity for the wired literary enthusiast. (Dec.)
LIFESTYLE
Pure & Simple: Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
Vidhu Mittal. Interlink, $29.95 (208p) ISBN9781566567701
Diners hesitant to attempt Indian dishes will be reassured by the steady, reassuring voice of culinary expert Mittals. In this collection of over 100 classic and contemporary dishes, readers are guided, literally, through step by step instructions for Aloo Gobi, a litany of lentil dishes, and other vegetarian fare, with the inclusion of color photos illustrating key steps. Approachable enough for a beginner (dominated by staples such as pilafs, fritters, and stews), Mittal has an eye for presentation as well, evidenced by the multicolored Sweet Coconut Squares, coconut cakes topped with silver leaves and chopped pistachios; Spicy Chat Bowls that cradle a variety of fillings; and domed Semolina Cakes. Though most recipes come together fairly quickly, those new to Indian cooking will likely need to invest in a pressure cooker and a handful of other items, not to mention spices and key ingredients, in order to complete many of Mittal’s dishes. Once properly equipped, home cooks will find this a handy, confidence-building guide to vegetarian fare. (Dec.)
ILLUSTRATED
Native American Clothing: An Illustrated History
Theodore Brasser. Firefly, $65 (368p) ISBN 9781554074334
Brasser, a retired curator and an expert in the art and design of indigenous North Americans, has picked some 300 examples (from among thousands of artifacts residing in museums and private collections) for this lush, beautiful volume. Brasser breaks the collection into 12 regional groups which represent unique habitats, from the semi-tropical cultures of the Southeast to those of the High Arctic, moving in the direction of European contact, from south to north and from east to west). Each chapter includes a detailed map, the names and localities of various tribal groups, and relevant history, including what is known of pre-contact histories and the region’s interaction with Europeans. Throughout, Brasser includes paintings made by European artists (from the early 16th through the mid-19th centuries) illustrating how native peoples were clothed and decorated at the time of initial contact. Historical essays describe a series of mostly tragic events, emphasizing the improbable survival of so many beautiful garments, bowls, rugs, bags, belts, and other artifacts. Featuring an amazing breadth of clothing design, motif, and technique, Brasser’s volume makes an excellent cross-collection resource for anyone interested in indigenous art or Native American history. 300 color and b&w photos. (Dec.)
FICTION
Burdened early on by rapid-fire locale shifts and enough characters to populate a 19th century Russian novel, Thor’s debut thriller follows two Chinese-American siblings out to wreak vengeance on the U.S. with the help of a friend from North Korea and a vaccine-resistant strain of the smallpox virus. After three monstrously scarred victims turn up on an oil platform off the coast of Alabama, the smallpox diagnosis immediately triggers action from the CDC, the U.S. Army, and the World Health Organization. Murder, kidnapping and high-tech terrorism add tension to the action-packed good-versus-evil faceoff, but Thor’s abrupt style, along with the dizzying array of characters and locales, will keep readers confused for much of the action. (Nov.)
Nibble & Kuhn: A Novel
David Shmahmann. Chicago, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780897335928
In his latest, author and attorney Shmahmann creates a world of cutthroat partners and sordid love affairs in the law firm of Nibble & Kuhn. Our protagonist Derek Dover is a cold but admirable professional (TV fans will find more than an initial resemblance to beloved but beguiling Mad Men hero Don Draper) struggling to become a partner while wrestling with a seemingly impossibly case, trying to prove that a leaky chemical plant has caused cancer in a group of young boys with virtually no evidence. With the help of a wacky scientist and a backwoods lawyer, Dover heads to court accompanied by the firm’s beautiful new lawyer, Maria. An illicit affair with Maria brings further complications to bear, but Dover keeps his cool and prevails. Despite a slow start, Shmahmann’s skilled character development guides this courtroom potboiler to a neat finish. (Dec.)
|
Our Reviewers |
|||
|
| Guilty Wives | Audio Fiction |
| Killing Lincoln (unabr.) | Audio Nonfiction |
| Chomp | Children's Fiction |
| Duckling Gets a Cookie!? | Children's Picture Book |
| Hunger Games | Children's Series & Tie-ins |
| Blue Exorcist, Volume 3 | Graphic Novels |
| Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel | Hardcover Fiction |
| Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power | Hardcover Nonfiction |
| The Lucky One | Mass Market Paper |
| Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | Trade Paper |
