|
|
New Books
January 2004
NONFICTION
The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town
- Smith, Helmut Walser
Smith, associate professor of
German history at Vanderbilt University, has chronicled an episode that occurred
in 1900 in the relatively enlightened East Prussian town of Konitz. Here, approximately
300 Jews, most of them comfortable with their German nationality, lived in a
relatively tranquil coexistence with their gentile neighbors in a town of 10,000.
When the remains of a murdered, dismembered boy was discovered, the facade was
dropped. Mobs screamed for revenge against the Jews, Jews were attacked, and
the army was called in to restore order. The real perpetrator of the murder
was never found, although Smith provides compelling evidence that suggests the
culprit. This is a disturbing and often downright frightening examination of
how easily "civilized" societies can succumb to their prejudices and
cross over into hysterical barbarism. - Booklist
Children of the Western Plains: The Nineteenth-Century Experience
- Holt, Marilyn Irvin
Describes immigrant expectations
of the West and the realities of everyday life in an often-harsh environment,
and how children, often considered adjuncts to women until they joined the adult
workforce, informed and helped develop plains settlements. Children gave schools,
libraries, and social gatherings purpose, and children contributed economically
through such chores as egg gathering, butter churning, and cattle herding. With
everyone working the land, and distinctions between women's and men's work blurred,
prairie children were freer from convention than their urban counterparts. Nevertheless,
though Easterners saw prairie children as wild and illiterate, prairie mothers
taught them effectively before government-funded schools were established. Diaries,
letters, and published reminiscences help Holt point out that life wasn't all
work, however, and prairie children fished, played cards, built tree houses,
and pulled pranks, too. Chapters on overland emigration, medical care, and family
structures round out this meticulous, yet accessible, work of popular history.
- Booklist
Damage Them All You Can: Lee's Army of Northern Virginia -
Walsh, George
Although the military exploits
of the Army of Northern Virginia are familiar to Civil War scholars and aficionados
alike, this unique history by journalist Walsh (Public Enemies: The Mayor, the
Mob, and the Crime That Was) uses evocative vignettes to explore the lesser-known
human side of this remarkable fighting machine. From the army's early victory
at First Manassas to its final rout at Sailors Creek, the reader is introduced
to the farmers, craftsmen, laborers, businessmen, teachers, and other professionals
who comprised the officer corps and enlisted ranks. The author pulls no punches
in detailing the army's weaknesses: Longstreet's unprofessional rivalry with
Lee over who should command the Eastern theater; Lee's tendency to issue ambiguous
orders that were frequently misinterpreted, with dire results; the common practice
of scapegoating among field grade officers; and the broad swings in battlefield
behavior among the defense-minded Longstreet, the foot-dragging Johnston, Ewell,
Beauregard, and Bragg; and the impulsiveness of Powell Hill, Stuart, and even
Lee. The overriding strengths of its men, according to Walsh, lay in their adherence
to a warrior's code of honor, their devotion to the Cause, and their own perceived
role in the unfolding of God's will. This persuasively detailed work is recommended
for all Civil War collections and public libraries. - Library Journal
Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to
Mercy - Scully, Matthew
Looks like the reviewer at Library
Journal was impressed! "This is one of the best books ever written on the
subject of animal welfare. Scully, a journalist and former speechwriter for
President George W. Bush, chooses to fight on his own ground, and he rightly
argues that the important thing is not insisting upon equal "rights"
for animals but in treating them with a modicum of respect and dignity. His
book is as close as a philosophy can come to representing "animal rights"
goals while not proclaiming animals to be equal in status to humans, as do classic
works like Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. As a journalist, Scully personally
investigated several major animal industries, including those of hunting, whaling,
and factory farming. He asks penetrating questions and shows the logical and
political inconsistencies used to defend cruel industries. Although some may
balk at the author's sarcasm, it adds an emotional element to his unequaled
depth of insight. Scully has a remarkable grasp of the issues and a unique perspective
on our societal treatment of animals. Every library should purchase this book.
Highly recommended." - Library Journal
The Great Movies - Ebert, Roger
Culled from essays
famed film critic Ebert has been writing biweekly for the last two years, the
100 pieces here tell us what's so great about Casablanca, The Seventh Seal,
The Wizard of Oz, and more. - Library Journal
Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers
of Cyberspace - Nuwere, Ejovi
Growing up in a disadvantaged
neighborhood in New York City, Nuwere could have followed the same path as so
many of his peers: drugs, jail, or violent death on the streets. But such a
future may have been averted when a school administrator introduced Nuwere to
computers at a young age. With the encouragement of an uncle who had a computer
and let him use it, Nuwere learned quickly and was soon introduced to the hacker
underground by a friend. Constantly improving his skills, graduating from entry-level
exploits to more difficult hacks, Nuwere learned, in the process of attacking
networks, how to defend them. Now a systems security expert in Manhattan, he
tells a rare and inspirational story of how he beat the limitations of his childhood
environment. With a voice that is at times abruptly frank and other times emotional,
Nuwere narrates reflections on life that create a moving and cathartic experience
for the reader, too. An impressive autobiography from a young man who fought
the odds and succeeded. - Booklist
Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom, and
How Learning Can be Saved - Oppenheimer, Todd
The other side of the much-ballyhooed
promise of technology in improving education is the reality that it often distracts
from real education, provides new opportunities for commercial interests, and
only contributes to growing inequities and lack of performance. Oppenheimer
sorts through the concerns of advocates and critics of technology in the classroom
and examines the ways that schools actually use computer technology and the
Internet, from absorbing research projects to typing drills to games. Part 1
focuses on the false promises of technology, citing past failures to deliver
improved academic performance. Part 2 examines the hidden troubles of high-tech
kinks, from system incompatibilities to the shifting of funds for books into
computers. In part 3, Oppenheimer examines successful technology programs at
schools, businesses, and even the U.S. Army. He concludes with suggestions on
how schools can maximize the benefits of technology and integrate computers
into effective educational programs. This is a helpful resource for educators
and parents weighing issues concerning computers and education. - Booklist
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices - Xinran, Xue
When Deng Xiaoping’s efforts
to “open up” China took root in the late 1980s, Xinran recognized
an invaluable opportunity. As an employee for the state radio system, she had
long wanted to help improve the lives of Chinese women. But when she was given
clearance to host a radio call-in show, she barely anticipated the enthusiasm
it would quickly generate. Operating within the constraints imposed by government
censors, “Words on the Night Breeze” sparked a tremendous outpouring,
and the hours of tape on her answering machines were soon filled every night.
Whether angry or muted, posing questions or simply relating experiences, these
anonymous women bore witness to decades of civil strife, and of halting attempts
at self-understanding in a painfully restrictive society. In this collection,
by turns heartrending and inspiring, Xinran brings us the stories that affected
her most, and offers a graphically detailed, altogether unprecedented work of
oral history. - from the publisher
Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief's Story of Survival and Escape
from the World Trade Center - Picciotto, Richard
This gripping, first-person account
of a 9-11 survivor provides a firefighter's view of the World Trade Center catastrophe.
An invaluable eyewitness to history as well as a professional just doing his
job, Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto was inside the North Tower when it
collapsed. Determined to be the last man down, Picciotto coordinated the rescue
effort of several dozen incapacitated civilians. Stranded on the landing between
the sixth and seventh floors when the building came tumbling down around and
on top of him, Chief "Pitch," a small band of fellow firefighters,
and one grandmotherly civilian improbably survived the collapse in a small vacuum
created by the placement of the twisted debris. Collaborator Paisner, a best-selling
biographer, allows Pitch to tell his harrowing story in his own no-nonsense
voice. - Booklist
The Last Ranch: A Colorado Community and the Coming Desert
- Bingham, Sam
Mr. Bingham spent a year in the
San Luis Valley of Colorado, where encroaching desertification threatening both
ranchers and farmers led to attempts to understand the process and to slow or
even reverse it by natural means./// It is altogether a hugely informative and
very well written examination of a widespread problem that has only recently
begun to receive serious study and for which there is not yet a hint of a remedy.
- Atlantic Monthly
Medical Microbiology, 4th edition - Murray, Patrick R.
Succinct and focused, this book
presents today's most important facts and information about the microbes that
cause diseases in humans. This text delivers balanced coverage of immunology,
bacteriology, virology, mycology, and parasitology in a user-friendly and organized
format. An extensive 4-color art program illustrates the text. The 4th Edition
has been meticulously revised and updated to incorporate new knowledge, new
treatments, and new illustrations. - from the publisher
The Millennium Problems: The Seven Greatest Unsolved mathematical Puzzles
of Our Time - Devlin, Keith
In May, 2000, the Clay Mathematics
Institute posted a million-dollar prize to anyone able to solve any of what
it considered the seven most important mathematical problems of the 21st century.
They were chosen not for theoretical beauty alone, but because many of them
deal with concepts in fields like physics, computer science, and engineering,
and exist because practitioners in those fields are already using theoretical
or practical design solutions that have not been mathematically proven. Devlin,
"The Math Guy" from NPR's Weekend Edition, does a good job explaining
the background of the problems and why theoretical mathematics as a discipline
should matter to a general audience. Each problem has a chapter of its own and
is given a treatment that, where applicable, extends back to the ancient Greeks.
A passing knowledge of mathematics is important for taking in Devlin's work
but a major in the subject is not, and this book should satisfy anyone looking
for a layman's guide to modern theoretical mathematics. Or hoping to win a million
dollars. - School Library Journal
The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought - Muller,
Jerry Z.
The author, a professor of history
at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., examines the moral, social,
and political implications of capitalism through the eyes of more than a dozen
European thinkers. Some--such as Adam Smith, Joseph Schumpeter, and Friedrich
Hayek--are conventionally regarded as economists, while others--including Voltaire
and Karl Marx--were philosophers who wrote in either support or criticism of
the market-based society. A recurrent theme is the early Christian belief that
commerce (the trading of goods produced by others for profit) and finance (profiting
from money itself) were immoral. However, once these activities became a necessary
part of society, the anti-Semitic environment of Europe forced the Jews, who
were traditionally farmers and craftsmen, into the roles of money handlers.
This work is an in-depth study of the origins of thought about markets and their
effects on people. - Booklist
Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002 - Rushdie,
Salman
A New York Times Notable Book.
Condemned to death by Iranian Islamic extremists
for his novel The Satanic Verses, Rushdie was essentially hijacked from his
life and held hostage. Driven by conscience and circumstance to speak out for
freedom of expression and intellectual liberty, and compelled by his artist's
soul to write imaginatively, he has managed to continue writing exciting fiction
while developing a potent nonfiction voice in which he gracefully parses politics
and art with equal vigor, knowledge, and, most remarkably, irrepressible joy.
A world-class writer and perceptive witness to international politics, personal
valor, religious intolerance, and artistic transcendence, he has written stirring
and significant essays about his harrowing, often surreal life in the wake of
the fatwa, and sharp editorials on Kashmir, northern Ireland, Kosovo, and Islam
and the West before and after September 11. But he has also composed an enrapturing
essay about the film that made him a writer, The Wizard of Oz, and incisive
looks at rock and roll, reading, artistic influence, photography, and commercial
hype, as well as inspiring discussions of why literature and freedom of speech
matter. Rushdie's literary mind is vibrant and generous, his heart stalwart,
his pen mighty. - Booklist
The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun: Re-Opening the Case of Egypt's
Boy-King - Doherty, Paul
Although the glorious riches of
the young King Tutankhamun's tomb have been displayed in museums around the
world, his death at age 18 remains shrouded in secrecy. Why was his burial so
hasty? Why was he buried initially in a storeroom rather than in a splendid
pharaonic tomb? Why did he die at such a young age? British historical novelist
Doherty answers these and other questions in a splendid historical thriller.
He skillfully re-creates the political intrigue, the religious controversy and
the military exploits of Egypt's 18th Dynasty as he searches for clues to Tut's
mysterious death and burial. Zestfully told, Doherty's historical reconstruction
of Tut's death is a first-rate page-turner. - Publishers Weekly
The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch, 1743-1933
- Elon, Amos
This meticulously researched history
begins with the reign of Frederick II and ends with the rise of Adolf Hitler.
According to the author, the German Jews--never more than 1 percent of the population--never
ceased in their efforts to merge German and Jewish identity. He cites their
many contributions to literature, the arts, theology, politics, industry, and
the natural sciences, and chronicles the lives of such eminent German Jews as
Salman Schocken (founder of Schocken Books), poet Nachman Bialik, Nobel laureate
Shmuel Agnon, Franz Kafka, Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem, Albert Einstein, and
Moses Mendelssohn. Although their history is recounted as one in which--for
most of the time--they suffered indignation and humiliation, culminating in
the Holocaust, Elon writes: "We must see the German Jews in the context
of their time and, at the very least, appreciate their authenticity, the way
they saw themselves and others, often with reason. For long periods, they had
cause to believe in their ultimate integration. It was touch and go almost to
the end." - Booklist
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA - Maddox, Brenda
Her photographs of DNA were called
"among the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken,"
but physical chemist Rosalind Franklin never received due credit for the crucial
role these played in the discovery of DNA's structure. In this sympathetic biography,
Maddox argues that sexism, egotism and anti-Semitism conspired to marginalize
a brilliant and uncompromising young scientist who, though disliked by some
colleagues, was a warm and admired friend to many. Franklin was born into a
well-to-do Anglo-Jewish family and was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge.
After beginning her research career in postwar Paris she moved to Kings College,
London, where her famous photographs of DNA were made. These were shown without
her knowledge to James Watson, who recognized that they indicated the shape
of a double helix and rushed to publish the discovery; with colleagues Francis
Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he won the Nobel Prize in 1962. Deeply unhappy at
Kings, Rosalind left in 1953 for another lab, where she did important research
on viruses, including polio. Her career was cut short when she died of ovarian
cancer at age 37. Drawing on interviews, published records, and a trove of personal
letters to and from Rosalind, Maddox takes pains to illuminate her subject as
a gifted scientist and a complex woman, but the author does not entirely dispel
the darkness that clings to "the Sylvia Plath of molecular biology."
- Publishers Weekly
The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works - Highfield,
Roger
"Science in the Harry Potter
books?" "Yes," Highfield, science editor of London's Daily Telegraph,
emphatically answers, approaching the topic in a thoroughly playful manner.
He is dead serious, however, about using the Potter corpus as the launching
pad for a wonderful foray into genetics, biology, quantum theory, behaviorism,
mythology, folklore, and more, bolstered by drawing on and extrapolating from
the work of a great variety of scientists and scholars. Magic, like science,
he states, affords many insights into the workings of the human brain, which
he designates as the greatest wizard of all. Whether dealing with flying broomsticks,
Quidditch, or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Highfield demonstrates how Muggle
science has a leg up on many of the phenomena in Harry's world. The book's second
half focuses more on the origins of magical thinking. Obviously well versed
in the Potter books, Highfield deconstructs and reassembles them to make his
points. Fans of such science popularizers as Gould and Asimov will certainly
get a kick out of Highfield's utterly fascinating take on the subject. - Booklist
A Small Nation of People: W. E. B. Du Bois and African American Portraits
of Progress - Lewis, David L.
W. E. B. DuBois was charged with
preparing an exhibit to represent the lives of black Americans for the 1900
International Exposition in Paris, a task the U.S. government had ignored. DuBois
approached the assignment as an opportunity to counteract negative stereotypes
of black Americans, presenting instead photographs depicting the industry, intelligence,
and diversity of African Americans in their lives--at church, school, and work,
and in family portraits. Daniel Alexander Payne Murray, a man born to freed
slaves who became the personal assistant to the Librarian of Congress in 1871,
maintained the collection and left it to his employer. In this impressive book,
the library offers 150 of the collected photographs, accompanied by essays providing
historic context and analyzing the significance of DuBois' efforts to provide
an accurate portrayal of the accomplishments, aspirations, and lives of black
Americans at a time when racism and stereotypes abounded in the U.S. Readers
interested in African American history from the turn of the twentieth century
will love this rare glimpse of photographs from that era. - Booklist
The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece
- Cartledge, Paul
To project civic-mindedness or
combativeness, American towns and school teams have appropriated the name of
Sparta--so who were the Spartans and why do we care? So asks Cartledge, a Cambridge
University scholar whose engaging narrative tries to discern the authenticity
of events and personalities known only through fragmentary written or archaeological
evidence, which can be mythical, partisan, or propagandistic. Cartledge spans
Sparta's entire existence but concentrates on the century from the Persian invasions
to its collapse following its triumph over Athens in 404 B.C.E. Presenting Sparta's
military and diplomatic policies, the author studs his account with lively sketches
of Spartan leaders, above all Leonidas. As embodiments of Sparta's warrior caste
at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.E.), Leonidas and his 300 hoplites have
redounded down the millennia, most recently in the historical novel Gates of
Fire by Steven Pressfield (1998), which will soon be made into a movie. In his
panorama of the real Sparta, Cartledge cloaks his erudition with an ease and
enthusiasm that will excite readers from page one. -Booklist
Star-Spangled Manners: In Which Miss Manners Defends American Etiquette
(For a Change) - Martin, Judith
For a country infamous for airing
its dirty laundry on Jerry Springer and embarrassed by headlines recounting
egregious cases of road rage, airplane rage, and even express-checkout-lane
rage, America must appear to those watching as the Land of the Etiquette-Averse.
And so it is with tongue firmly planted in cheek that America's arbiter of all
things civilized, "Miss Manners," finds herself in the unusual position
of defending a nation whose ostensible lack of breeding furnishes her raison
d'etre. Beginning with Founding Fathers Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson,
Martin's history of American etiquette reveals just how and why we became a
nation that eschewed European pomp in defense of colonial circumstance. While
proposing that the prevailing penchant for political correctness is, essentially,
etiquette run amok, Martin skewers the hypocrisy that has stripped that most
basic model of American manners, the Declaration of Independence, of its "all
men are created equal" premise. Only she could uncover the paradox between
our country's actions and words. Her insights remain peerless. From cradle to
grave, Martin analyzes every aspect of American life and the rituals that both
define and undermine our culture to show us that, although we still may not
know what to do, we can at least know why we do it. - Booklist
When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the
Battle Against Pollution - Davis, Devra
Epidemiologist Davis documents
the struggle to force the auto, oil, coal, and chemical industries to come to
terms with the environmental consequences of their unregulated release of toxic
substances into our air and water-in particular high cancer rates, heart and
lung diseases, infertility, brain damage, and death. She sets the stage by describing
the perpetual health problems and deaths in her home town of Donora, PA, caused
by toxins from coal, steel, and zinc processing. Her accounts of the devastating
black smog that blanketed the town for several days in 1948 and other black
smogs in Liege, London, and Los Angeles reveal the global nature of the problem.
This is an expos on how industrial polluters deceived the public, belittled
scientists and academics, and pressured government agencies to stifle regulations.
Davis acknowledges that today's environmental regulations are a tribute to those
who fought the polluters and demanded change, but the battle continues. - Library
Journal
Wind Toys That Spin, Sing, Twirl & Whirl - Burda, Cindy
Featuring more than 35 projects,
this guide is filled with appealing designs that bring color and sound to your
garden, yard, patio, or window. In addition to thorough step-by-step directions
for every item, the introductory section explains the basics of working with
each of the materials: fabric, metal, wood, polymer clay, glass, and potter's
clay. Windsocks sport butterflies and dragonflies. Wind vanes appear in the
shape of flying pigs, trumpeting angels, and a winged Mercury. Banners are painted,
batiked, and appliquéd. A collection of PVC pipes becomes a shape-shifter
mobile. - Amazon.com
Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age -
Crouch, Tom D.
Aviation buffs will love Crouch's
history of the industry's century-long technological ascent from gliders to
jetliners and stealth bombers. Better yet, the author incorporates the business
side of the industry into his narrative, reminding admirers of particular planes
that they express attempts to make flying pay (except for military and research
planes, of course). Making money has always been a challenge in aviation; the
Wright brothers did so, barely, but their company and hundreds of successors
in manufacturing have vanished. Crouch tracks the shakeouts and mergers as much
as he does the development of classics such as the DC-3 and Boeing 707. The
evolution of military aircraft and, particularly, their pilots also receives
his attention. The still-famous aces of World War I are recalled in the most
detail, as are aviators of the 1920s and 1930s such as Bessie Coleman, Charles
Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart. - Booklist
Words to Outlive Us: Eyewitness Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto -
Grynberg, Michal
The 29 never-before-published
diaries, letters and personal accounts in the late historian Grynberg's vital
collection offer a devastating portrait of life in the Warsaw Ghetto between
1940 and 1943. Less than 1% of the almost 500,000 Jews confined there survived
the disease, malnutrition and deportation to concentration camps; a handful
of the contributors escaped the ghetto by navigating the sewer system to the
"Aryan" side of Warsaw. These skillfully translated records by shopkeepers
and doctors, dentists and schoolgirls are extremely powerful. Ghetto residents
write of needing to get permission to bake matzoh, longing for the patter of
autumn rain or hiding in a room with 200 stifling, hot, dirty, stinking people.
Several of the diarists are members of the Jewish police, who express the agony
of trying to provide for their families while collaborating with the enemy.
The diversity of the contributors' cultural and economic backgrounds adds to
the mural of a variegated Jewish Warsaw during Nazi occupation; mostly translated
from Polish, the different voices include assimilationists, traditionalists,
communists, socialists and Zionists. Some are despairing; others, like the brilliant
Helena Midler, whose parodic "Bunker Weekly" stuck out its tongue
at hardship, find ways to laugh. Many of the accounts note the meticulous planning
behind the Nazis' dizzying regulations, and the editor adds relevant data, including
maps and detailed rosters of laborers. If one can read only one book on the
Warsaw Ghetto, this is it. - Publishers Weekly
The Wrong Men: America's Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions
- Cohen, Stanley
Cohen's criticism of the U.S.
criminal justice system is harsh and specifically grounded in the wrongful convictions
of so many death-row prisoners. From the initial use of DNA to free convicted
rapist Gary Dotson after his victim recanted her story to the death-row reprieve
of Anthony Porter as a consequence of an investigation by a Northwestern University
professor and his students, our criminal justice system has failed on a number
of levels. Cohen details the weak areas, including false confessions, eyewitness
errors, jailhouse informants, corrupt practices, lack of evidence, and flawed
science. Although some may argue that the recent surge in the release of death-row
prisoners reflects a justice system that works, Cohen successfully argues the
opposite. The story of the death-row victims of our criminal justice system
are horrific and, by all indications, not as unique as we would hope. Cohen
reports that there are hundreds of such cases. This book is a must-read for
those concerned with the inequities of our criminal justice system. - Booklist
FICTION
Child of My Heart - McDermott, Alice
In Alice McDermott's first work
of fiction since her best-selling, National Book Award-winning Charming Billy,
a woman recalls her fifteenth summer with the wry and bittersweet wisdom of
hindsight. The beautiful child of older parents, raised on the eastern end of
Long Island, Theresa is her town's most sought-after babysitter--cheerful, poised,
an effortless storyteller, a wonder with children and animals. Among her charges
this fateful summer is Daisy, her younger cousin, who has come to spend a few
quiet weeks in this bucolic place. While Theresa copes with the challenge presented
by the neighborhood's waiflike children, the tumultuous households of her employers,
the attentions of an aging painter, and Daisy's fragility of body and spirit,
her precocious, tongue-in-check sense of order is tested as she makes the perilous
crossing into adulthood. In her deeply etched rendering of all that happened
that seemingly idyllic season, McDermott once again peers into the depths of
everyday life with inimitable insight and grace. - from the publisher
Come Go Home with Me: Stories - Adams, Sheila Kay
A collection of true stories about
Sheila Kay Adams' childhood in the kind of fast-disappearing North Carolina
mountain community.
Disgrace - Coetzee, J. M.
This novel about a disgraced professor
in South Africa who goes to live on his grown daughter's farm won the author
an unprecedented second Booker Prize and was a finalist for The National Book
Critics Circle Awards. Here's part of what The Christian Science Monitor had
to say in its review: "It may be that 200 pages have never worked so hard
as they do in Coetzee's hands. He's a novelist of stunning precision and efficiency.
"Disgrace" loses none of its fidelity to the social and political
complexities of South Africa, even while it explores the troubling tensions
between generations, sexes, and races. This is a novel of almost frightening
perception from a writer of brutally clear prose."
Fitcher's Brides - Frost, Gregory
In this superb retelling of Bluebeard,
the essentials remain intact: a wealthy man with a string of former wives, a
mysterious key the latest wife is forbidden to use, a room with a lock the key
fits into, the young wife's overwhelming curiosity and horrifying discovery,
and the fate of the wicked husband. The main difference is Frost's chillingly
realistic Bluebeard figure. Fitcher is the megalomaniacal, charismatic leader
of a religious cult in New York's Finger Lake district in the early 1800s--a
cruel, controlling serial murderer who has seduced hordes with his last-days
doctrine, including the stepmother of three beautiful daughters. Her religious
fervor leads her to take her family to the Fitcher's secluded haven, where a
community of true believers awaits the last day. As soon as he sees them, Fitcher
knows he must have all three daughters and stepmother, too. The story proceeds
to its bloody end by means of a wonderfully updated plot and intriguing details.
Well-researched and extremely well-written, including the fascinating introduction
on the origins of the Bluebeard tale. A ripping good read. - Booklist
Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle - Miles, Rosalind
Miles, author of the best-selling
Guenevere trilogy, breathes new life into another fascinating medieval legend.
In the first installment of the Isolde trilogy, Isolde, a princess of Ireland
and a famous healer, nurses a wounded Tristan back to health after the young
knight is wounded in battle. Though their two countries are at odds, Tristan
and Isolde fall deeply in love. When Tristan's uncle, the king of Cornwall,
and Isolde's mother, the queen of the Western Isle, arrange a political match
between King Mark and Isolde, a disconsolate Tristan is ordered to accompany
Isolde to Cornwall to meet and marry the king. During the course of the voyage,
the ill-fated lovers mistakenly drink a potion that binds them together for
eternity. Jam-packed with intrigue, treachery, and romance. - Booklist
The Last Girls - Smith, Lee
The four women of the title are
the "last girls" because they came of age at a women's college in
Virginia just as young women ceased to enjoy being referred to as "girls."
This group of former coeds, who once traveled down the Mississippi on a raft
of their own construction, reunite to make the same trip on a fancy steamboat
to scatter the ashes of one departed member. Along the way, we learn the stories
of the unmarried Harriet, wealthy romance writer and once-poor West Virginia
girl Anna, straying society wife Courtney, and Catherine and husband Russell.
Each has had troubles and romances, and as they trace their stories with plentiful
flashbacks to their college days, personalities are gradually revealed. This
entertaining novel should be popular with readers who enjoy tales of women's
lives. - Library Journal
The Little Friend - Tartt, Donna
Tartt's second novel (following
The Secret History, 1992) is well worth the long wait. It is an exceptionally
suspenseful, flawlessly written story fairly teeming with outsize characters
and roiling emotion, and at its center, in the eye of the storm, is a ruthlessly
clever, poker-faced 12-year-old named Harriet. When she was just a baby, her
nine-year-old brother, Robin, was murdered. In the years since, her mother has
been entirely defeated by her grief, often lying in bed with a headache, while
her father has been absent, working in another town. Harriet's stern grandmother
and dithering aunts have idealized and exalted Robin, leaving Harriet and her
sister feeling wholly inadequate. After suffering an immense loss--the firing
of her "beloved, grumbling, irreplaceable" black maid and surrogate
mother--Harriet decides to get revenge on Danny Ratliff, the man she believes
murdered her brother. She thinks she can resurrect the happy family she knows
only from photographs. With muscular, visceral descriptive prose and a relentless
narrative drive--the climax is almost unbearably tense--Tartt details how a
young girl exacts street justice with cold cunning. And the abusive Ratliffs
are a stunning creation; hopped up on methamphetamine and twisted dynamics,
they are a modern-day version of Faulkner's Snopes family. Tartt's first novel
was a surprise runaway best-seller; this time around, no one should be taken
by surprise. - Booklist starred review
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind - Ross, Ann B.
Charming Southern eccentrics breathe
life into a story of a proper Presbyterian wife ("Miss Julia") who
finds her true self after the sudden death of her husband of 44 years, wealthy
but parsimonious banker Wesley Lloyd Springer. Julia is becoming accustomed
to the role of rich widow when another shock intrudes: Hazel Marie Puckett appears
on the front porch wearing "heels too high, a dress too short, and hair
too yellow," with a nine-year-old boy in tow whose "eyes were so much
like Wesley Lloyd's it was like looking at her husband before she ever met him."
Along with its homespun appeal, the novel offers an interesting take on gender,
race and family in the South; it's fast-paced and funny despite Ross's persistent
asides to readers and reference to serious issues (the church's stance on homosexuality
and abortion). - Publishers Weekly
Miss Julia Takes Over - Ross, Ann B.
Imagine Aunt Bee from the Andy
Griffith Show with a lot more backbone and confidence, and drop her smack in
the middle of a humorous, rollicking plot akin to that of the movie Smokey and
the Bandit and you have the tone and pace of Ross's entertaining second novel
(after Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind) starring the feisty Southern heroine. When
the sheriff won't help Miss Julia find Hazel Marie, she takes over, determined
to rescue Hazel Marie from danger. Miss Julia quickly finds herself embroiled
in car chases, scandals, and illegal activities as she gallivants all over North
Carolina. - Publishers Weekly
Miss Julia Throws a Wedding - Ross, Ann B.
The inimitable Miss Julia pushes
an indecisive couple toward matrimony in this Southern comedy-of-manners series'
latest [third] installment, which begins with the protagonist frustrated at
the inability of her friend, Miss Hazel, to get her beau to propose. But another
opportunity surfaces when Sheriff Coleman Bates proposes to his lawyer girlfriend,
Binkie Enloe. Miss Julia immediately plows into the wedding plans, which get
derailed when a major fight causes Binkie to back out. Ross' cheeky style works
flawlessly once Miss Julia digs into the romantic intrigue and begins to ply
her unique combination of common sense and old-fashioned, smalltown wisdom.
The book should please followers of this series and perhaps draw new ones who
enjoy throwback romantic comedies. - Publishers Weekly
Pompeii - Harris, Robert
Popular thriller writer Harris
(Enigma, 1995) sets his sights on one of the most famous natural disasters in
history: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It starts innocently enough:
two days before the eruption, Marcus Attilius Primus, the engineer in charge
of the massive Aqua Augusta Aqueduct, is summoned to the estate of Ampilatus.
He is in the process of executing a slave for killing his fish. Attilius finds
sulfur in the water and immediately realizes the problem is bigger than a few
dead fish. With rich historical details, breakneck pace and scientific minutiae,
Harris vividly brings to life the ancient world on the brink of unspeakable
disaster. - Booklist
Rumpole Rests His Case - Mortimer, John Clifford
The seven delectable short stories
in this collection feature one of the best-loved characters in British crime
fiction, barrister Horace Rumpole. The cranky, crusty, delightfully droll Rumpole,
despite his wiliness before the bar at the Old Bailey, London's main criminal
court, defers in all domestic matters to his wife, whom he calls "She Who
Must Be Obeyed." Nevertheless, here he navigates his imperturbable way
through such legal situations as "Rumpole and the Actor Laddie," in
which Rumpole's client, a too-long-in-the-tooth actor, takes the stand to testify
at his own robbery trial, untruthfully admitting to the crime in order to give
one last, fine public performance. With Mortimer's greatly felicitous style
and careful plotting, these stories are sheer, absolute reading pleasure. -
Booklist
Sapphire's Grave - Gurley-Highgate, Hilda
This saga of several generations
of black women begins with the capture of an African woman in Sierra Leone in
1749. The enslaved woman is pregnant and defiant, evidencing the seeds of strength
and perseverance that will mark the generations of women that follow her. Her
daughter, Sapphire, faces rape and brutality and kills her own infant daughter
to save her from a similar future. Sapphire's surviving daughters must find
their own methods of survival. That legacy of the survival instinct is traced
through successive generations of black women, sexually abused by black and
white men; enduring humiliation for the sake of their children; suffering through
poverty, loneliness, and scandal. Despite their travails, the women manifest
hope in each succeeding generation. Gurley-Highgate's writing is vivid and powerful
as she details the spiritual and emotional consciousness of these women individually
as well as collectively through their link to their African foremother. In doing
so, Gurley-Highgate also evokes the larger story of black women in America since
slavery and their search for dignity and identity. - Booklist
Two for the Dough - Evanovich, Janet
Evanovich's first novel, One for
the Money, introduced Stephanie Plum, a gutsy heroine who wormed her way into
a job with her bond-agent cousin Vinnie. With the aid of vice cop Joe and her
Grandma Mazur, Stephanie pursues a bail jumper and knows that a vice cop wants
them both. A winning adventure. - Library Journal
The Justification of Johann Gutenberg - Morrison, Blake
"This book is a kind of penance,
a confession of perfect sorrow, and by it I hope to save my soul," declares
the protagonist--though he doesn't really mean it. In failing health, nearly
blind, the man who invented the printing press dictates his life story because
he fears death will erase his name from the rolls of history. Morrison's first
novel is an inventive delight, a richly imagined portrait of a key historical
figure about whom only the sketchiest details are known. His Gutenberg is complicated
and real, a ruthless but shortsighted businessman who struggles to promote a
heretical technology. Gutenberg's world--the medieval cities of Mainz and Strasbourg--is
surprisingly nuanced. As Gutenberg pauses to question his memory or address
his scribe, Morrison playfully explores the very act of the book's--or any book's--creation.
Another theme, the meaning imposed by the medium (i.e., handwriting vs. print),
will resonate with contemporary debaters who feel the printed page is somehow
more honest than an electronically rendered one. Quite likely Gutenberg would
favor the latter. - Booklist
REFERENCE
Ideas That Changed the World - Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe
This copiously illustrated book
begins more than 30 millennia ago and portrays human history as the product
of a series of intellectual and conceptual discoveries. The author shows how
our ancestors pulled themselves out of prehistory by realizing that symbols
could be used to express ideas; by grasping that what we see is not necessarily
what is--by, in short, having the big idea that the world operates according
to rules that can be understood. By extending the history of ideas to prehistory
(most histories of ideas "start late in the day, with the invention of
writing"), Fernandez-Armesto offers a wealth of insights and new ways of
looking at human evolution. That's not to say, however, that he doesn't cover
more modern ground. Key intellectual moments in the development of science,
government, society, and religion are all surveyed in accessible prose and with
hundreds of fascinating illustrations. This is obviously not the last word on
the history of ideas, but it makes a fascinating place to start. - Booklist
Thematic Guide to Modern Drama - Abbotson, Susan C. W.
"Ninety-nine plays are discussed,
covering a broad range of works spanning more than a hundred years by such playwrights
as George Bernard Shaw, Clifford Odets, and Henrik Ibsen, as well as more contemporary
works by playwrights like David Mamet and Neil Simon. The selection of surveyed
plays includes many of the canonical works most frequently assigned to students,
such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for
Godot. Varied cultural perspectives are offered through chapters devoted to
the experiences of African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish
Americans, and Latino Americans." This resource will be helpful to students
identifying dramatic works of related themes, and to educators developing thematic
units for the classroom. Students are encouraged to compare and contrast themes
in works from different playwrights and time periods. An index allows users
to search for works by title or author. - from the publisher
Insiders' Guide to North Carolina Mountains - Richards, Constance
E.
Offers travelers, newcomers, and
locals the best, most comprehensive information on what's happening in Western
North Carolina. From the Biltmore Estate's architectural grandeur and Asheville's
nightlife, to vast national forests and the Cherokee Indian Reservation, this
region has much to offer. Use this guide to discover the Blue Ridge Parkway,
one of America's most scenic drives, as well as limitless opportunities for
fun, dining, recreation, and adventure. - from the publisherf
Time Almanac 2004 - Editors of Time Magazine
World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004 - World Almanac Books
|
|
