About Netsurfer Books

Netsurfer Books is an e-zine offering short reviews of books and related items. We include listings based on recommendations from our staff and reviews from other individuals. Are we bribed to include any of these items? No. Do we receive a commission if you purchase an item through one of the links included here? Yes. Are we waiting to hear from you about what you'd like to see reviewed? Definitely.

ENTERTAINMENT DARK AND DELICIOUS

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

CBS/Fox Home Video

We've observed that readers often have very specific tastes in what they'll watch on television. Not only that, but they can be just the teensiest bit obsessive about those programs. We're no exceptions. We most certainly will dissect episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for clues about past and future events. And, we appreciate the availability of such sources as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer script books for Season Two, in which Spike and Drusilla make their appearance and Angel wears lots of leather. The first season doesn't soar quite so high, but it's still an affective interpretation of teenage angst peopled by invisible girls yearning for attention and the substitute teacher from Hell. Check out the first season script volumes one and two. Finally, see scripts translated to screen in the first season on DVD, scheduled for release in mid-January.

Homicide: Life on the Street: The Unofficial Companion

Homicide: Life on the Street: The Unofficial Companion
David P. Kalat
Audio Renaissance; ISBN: 1580630219

Then there's the late, lamented "Homicide: Life on the Street". Could there be a better hour of television than the wrenching predicament of Vincent D'Onofrio, caught fatally in rush hour? The book features a behind the scenes history of the series and the people involved. Avid fans already know that the series was based on the award winning non-fiction " Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets".

The Sopranos: A Family History

The Sopranos: A Family History
Allen Rucker
New American Library Trade; ISBN: 0451202465

The Sopranos' stories aren't finished yet, but that won't stop devoted fans from poring over their family history. This is a typical slick Hollywood tie-in product, but don't let that put you off. It's a journey into the past, present and future of Amreica's most famous mobster family.

The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater (book with 2 audio CDs)

The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater (book with 2 audio CDs)
Sheldon Patinkin, Robert Klein (Narrator), Alan Arkin
Sourcebooks Trade; ISBN: 1570715610

Belushi. Radner. Murray. Myers. Joan Rivers. George Wendt. Chris Farley. The ever more bizarre Martin Short. These comics found the first real audiences on a Second City stage. This book isn't the tell-all that you might hope for. However, it's a satisfying look at the earliest beginnings of people who became icons of SNL and stage performances. The book includes two CDs narrated by Robert Klein.

CHARACTERS PRICKLY AND SWEET

Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485-1917

Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485-1917
Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson, John Lloyd
Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140296085

From England comes Rowan Atkinson and his hysterically reprehensible toady to power, his snarly incarnations chronicled in this epic work. Oh, how we love that theme song! As Edmund himself says in the Amazon editorial reviews "The greatest work of fiction since vows of fidelity were included in the French marriage service".

Absolutely Fabulous Complete DVD Collection

Absolutely Fabulous Complete DVD Collection

Warner Home Video

Cruelty was never so funny as it is in our next selection. We looked for a book title to satisfy our cravings for the completely politically incorrect Absolutely Fabulous; sorry, it's not available yet through Amazon ('though it's on Canadian booksellers' shelves). But, you might find that the object of your affection thinks that the DVD set is just darling, Sweetie.

Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to Absolutely Fabulous

Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to Absolutely Fabulous
Garry Berman
Taylor Pub; ISBN: 0878331603

Speaking of cruelty, the real connoisseurs on your list are bound to find something to suit them in this little gem. Just thinking about Basil Fawlty tearing about in his Mini cracks us up. For that matter so does thinking about Patsy casually selling Saffron into white slavery for a bit of extra shopping cash.

This Is Spinal Tap: The Official Companion

This Is Spinal Tap: The Official Companion
Karl French
Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA; ISBN: 1582341257

For the big screen aficionados of classic rock (stone?) we offer this book, with lot's of behind the scene goodies, including a transcription of the entire mostly ad-libbed rocumentary. It may be, though, that you'd prefer to crank your DVD up to 11.

Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman
Christopher Guest, Director
Warner Home Video

Contrast Chris Guest's Spinal Tap with this more sedate, sweetly observed comedy work, and its spiritual bedfellow " Best in Show". Though they are both cult favorites, they both deserve much wider exposure.

FANTASIES OLD AND NEW

Gormenghast

Gormenghast
DVD
Warner Home Video

Real cultists - no doubt ones who shun all things Roddenberrian - will be hypnotized by both the DVD and The Art of Gormenghast, a marvelous look at the art direction and costuming of the miniseries. Of course, the whole thing was based on Mervyn Laurence Peake's magnificently lush prose - slow moving though it may be - in " The Gormenghast Novels: Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone".

Sir Apropos of Nothing

Sir Apropos of Nothing
Peter David
Pocket Books; ISBN: 0743412338

If there are awards for titles, we're nominating this neat book. Fans of the fantasy genre shouldn't be put off by Peter David's background in Star Trek writing. (And, by the way, if he's any relation to our editor, it will come as a complete surprise to both of them.) This novel is a cunning mix of the moral journeys that mark fantasy fiction and unexpected complexities that set this particular story apart.

The Ill-Made Mute (The Bitterbynde, Book 1)

The Ill-Made Mute (The Bitterbynde, Book 1)
Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Aspect; ISBN: 0446528323

The first book of a new series, this work follows a scarred, mute slave so battered by life that she doesn't even realize she's not a boy. This first title sets up more of the series, rather than resolving anything within its own pages. But, what a fine start it is. (Note, for instance, that with 60 reviews, it still holds a 4-star rating among Amazon readers.)

REFINED INSTINCTS

Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife

Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife
Don E. Wilson (Editor), David Burnie (Editor)
DK Publishing; ISBN: 0789477645

When we first looked at the premise of this volume, we thought it was just a tad ambitious. After all, documenting the world's animals keeps whole cable channels in business. Then, we realized that one of the book's partners was The Smithsonian Institution. Who better to make it work? This book covers some 2000 species, opening with a scholarly but accessible explanation of the ways in which science organizes the animal world. You won't be shortchanged, though, if you like to read a book for its pictures. This is a beautiful work that lives up to its ambitions.

Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking Sense About Sex

Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking Sense About Sex
Deborah M. Roffman
Perseus Books; ISBN: 0738202932

Is a little advice or self-help in order? Parents struggling with the oldest human problem might be deeply thankful for this book. It's not preachy and it's not unrealistic. We can't say it better than the book's jacket, which states that Roffman's aim is to make parents "secure in the knowledge that their children have been raised with all the information needed to make the right decisions for themselves - decisions that will result in a sexual health that blends their emotions, minds, and bodies with ultimate success". We should all be so lucky.

Wedding Kit for Dummies

Wedding Kit for Dummies
Marcy Blum, Laura Fisher Kaiser, Stacy Collins (Editor)
Hungry Minds, Inc; ISBN: 0764552635

More to the point for some people is advice about planning "their big day". The title makes us cringe a bit, but the fact is that this book forgoes the dreamy Martha Stewart excesses to instead offer real and useful planning advice that will smooth that trip down the aisle. And if you plan on having that June wedding, now's the time to start reading.

ORIENTAL ARTS

Origami Extravaganza: Folding Paper, a Book and a Box

Origami Extravaganza: Folding Paper, a Book and a Box

Charles E Tuttle Co; ISBN: 0804832420

One of the most solitary and graceful of hobbies is the art of Japanese paper folding. Beginners should take note of this book - the title says it all. There's more than enough paper for novices to try the art and the presentation box doubles as a storage box. Our editor abandoned origami several years ago when her work took too much time from it. This set re-introduced her to the quiet satisfaction in it.

Ikebana: Step by Step Japanese Flower Arrangement

Ikebana: Step by Step Japanese Flower Arrangement
Reiko Takenaka
Japan Pubns; ISBN: 0870409581

At least as equally contemplative as origami, ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging. It fell from favor a while ago when massive floral arrangements began to look like fragrant furniture. It's back, though, as graceful as ever. Begin with this book, which concentrates on simpler and more modern arrangements.

The Bonsai Kit

The Bonsai Kit
Robert W. King
Running Pr; ISBN: 0762410426

Our problem with bonsai is a lack of faith in our skills. A tiny tree that might be several times older than we are? Now, that's a responsibility. We've started with something a little more manageable. The kit is complete for amateurs, including scissors, stones, seeds, and wire. Yes, we feel much better about commitment to a new plant than to one that might be our grandmother.

Kites

Kites
David Pelham
Overlook Press; ISBN: 1585670170

More social then the solitary arts of origami, ikebana and bonsai, but just as satisfying, is kite flying. It's among the activities we've enjoyed most with kids in our family and in a school. This book is one of the bibles of this artful science, first published over 20 years ago. You get a bit of kite history, leading up to plans for the construction of various kite types.

A ROWDY TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia

Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
Tony Bacon, Dave Burrluck (Contributor), Paul Day (Contributor), Michael Wright
Thunder Bay Press; ISBN: 1571452818

Contemplative introspection isn't necessarily the first priority of people who will enjoy this book. Where abiding interests are concerned, our tastes run more to the quieter arts, but we've been known to attend a Ramones concert or three in our time. An A-to-Z guide to 120 different guitars illustrated with over 1,200 photos.

Putting a Roof on Winter

Putting a Roof on Winter
Michael McKinley
Greystone Books; ISBN: 1550547984

At least equally as raucous as 120 guitars is the sport of hockey, first played indoors at the three-quarters mark of the 19th century. Since then, it's grown into a massive business in most of North America, northern and eastern Europe, and Russia. Baseball's tactics change gracefully and patiently with each pitch. Hockey, instead, rewards the prescient player like Gretzky, whose strength was in his ability to envision the game the same way the rest of we mortals would were we sitting in the rafters. This book traces the history of hockey from its origins on frozen ponds to its modern arenas for winter's gladiators.

HOW FRAGILE WE ARE

Sting - All This Time

Sting - All This Time
Sting
Uni/A&M

One of the more unexpected artifacts to come out of the events of September 11 is footage from a documentary being shot in support of Sting's planned live performance album, " All This Time". Let's not attach too much weight to the documentary itself in comparison to the tragedies in the United States, but it is nonetheless a surprising record of how people doing rather extraordinary jobs reacted to appalling circumstances, especially people who felt that artistic expression had a place in the way they responded. The CD itself is a compilation from the abbreviated concert that night and the dress rehearsal on the previous evening. Sting and his bandmates repeatedly refer to their ambition to find new meanings and sounds in what have become rock standards, an ambition they fulfill in aces. Quite unexpectedly, the first track Fragile found a completely new significance.

Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka)

Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka)
Isao Takahata, Director
Cpm/Us Manga Corps

We'll also point you to what is, to us, one of the most potent antiwar films ever made. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's anime. It's the story of a brother and sister trying to survive in World War II Japan will leave you sick at heart, as a war movie should. We mention this film in relation to Sting because a savvy fan of both film and music has created a perfect marriage between the two in a heartrending video that came to our attention not long ago. Kestrel is the name, and the website has many more videos worthy of your attention.

GOOD TASTE ABOUNDS

World Atlas of Wines

World Atlas of Wines
Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson
Mitchell Beazley; ISBN: 1840003324

Jancis Robinson's decidedly down-to-earth attitudes to the often heady subject of wine make her our favorite commentator on the subject. With wine authority Hugh Johnson, she's co-author of the 5th edition of this wine reference. The book was last updated in 1994, before wine producers such as Australia and Canada really began to hit their stride in some of the specialized markets where they excel. Fine wine (or, at least, decent) is also being resuscitated in former communist states and the writers credit their revival. The price for the book is a bit steep, but think how much you can save if you buy wine from knowledge instead of just going by the price.

The Tea Box: Book and Cards

The Tea Box: Book and Cards
Gilles Brochard
Barrons Educational Series; ISBN: 0764174940

Starbucks notwithstanding, tea is still the popular alternative to coffee - even if people tend to forget that it, too, harbors dreaded caffeine (mmmmm, caffeine....). That shouldn't stop you from enjoying yet one more beautifully presented beverage guide. The package contains a 32 page booklet and 40 illustrated cards with recipes, serving ideas, and facts about tea. It's worth noting that Gilles Brochard is one of France's foremost experts on tea, a country where they take their beverages seriously. So you know you're not getting one of those doily-and-flower motif abominations.

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, David Nussbaum, Christopher Hirsheimer (Photographer)
Knopf; ISBN: 0375404317

In some ways, Julia Child has much in common with Britney Spears and N'Sync. While they tour to promote and support their CD sales, La Julia just stays at home and accomplishes the same goal on PBS. She and Jacques Pepin make an engaging pair, she faintly cranky, he faintly amused as they collaborate on dishes simple and complex. You'll lose some of their charm but none of their skills in this large volume. We also like Julia's voice better than Britney's.

GOOD OLD FASHIONED LUST

The Art of Sensual Massage

The Art of Sensual Massage
Gordon Inkeles, Robert Foothorap (Photographer)
Arcata Arts; ISBN: 0966914937

Now we're getting to the good stuff. We've recommended this book before and we're going to do it again because it remains one of our favorite how-to manuals - not to mention that its technique yield very satisfied readers. We like very satisfied readers. Maybe someday we can offer a subscription to a remotely satisfy readers.

Acupressure for Lovers: Secrets of Touch for Increasing Intimacy

Acupressure for Lovers: Secrets of Touch for Increasing Intimacy
Michael Reed Gach
Bantam Books; ISBN: 055337401X

A little trendy perhaps, but still happily effective. We're not convinced of all the underlying theory in the book, to the extent that the theory works, it's good; to the extent that intimate touch is intimate touch, it's great.

Lust, Love and Longing

Lust, Love and Longing
Eileen Morgan
Red Rock Pr; ISBN: 0966957318

Yet another entry in publisher Red Rock's Sin Series, this book is an eclectic reference work for the libidinously inclined. It's basically a historical romp through the history of sex, illustrated with sensual museum art. It's carnal and sensual, and revels in it all. A romantic gift for when you're not quite ready to admit your desire for a few rounds of leather covered four on the floor.

A History of Celibacy

A History of Celibacy
Elizabeth Abbot
Da Capo Pr; ISBN: 0306810417

It's odd, isn't it, how we are so often prepared to talk about sex, but reluctant to speak about celibacy. On the other side of the sexual coin, there's this book. Celibacy is generally associated with religion, but it extends well beyond that realm. Isaac Newton. Gandhi. Operatic castrati. Woman Chief, a warrior of the Crow Nation, bore men's duties by refusing to bear children. Experience has produced a community of born-again virgins (harking back to mischievous cynic Oscar Levant's boast about Doris Day, that he "knew her before she was a virgin"). Abbott, who declares herself a practitioner of voluntary celibacy, has written a droll account of one of life's more interesting choices.

BIOGRAPHIC ROAD TRIPS

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences
Truman Capote
Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679745580

The parents of one of the editor's friends are retired. Each summer they take a tour by car, planned with the precision of a military operation. Our friend's father is a avid reader with a strong sense of place. He often plans these tours around locations that he has read about. Truman Capote's description of the Kansas farmland was so strongly palpable for him in this book that one tour included a trip to the roads around Holcomb.

Hunting Badger

Hunting Badger
Tony Hillerman
Morrow Avon; ISBN: 0061097861

Equally compelling for our friend's peripatetic father have been the mysteries of Tony Hillerman, set on a Navajo reserve, featuring police officer Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. So detailed and real is Hillerman's work that our Purposeful Tourist found many of the sites familiar, just as the author described them down to the smallest hillock. Hillerman is himself the son of an Oklahoma homesteader, and an unlikely candidate to write so intimately about life on American Native reserves. He fell into the life entirely by accident, but has done it proud. " Seldom Disappointed" is his memoir.

Gandhi: A Photo Biography

Gandhi: A Photo Biography
Peter RÜhe
Phaidon Press Inc.; ISBN: 071484103X

Mohandas Gandhi seems like an unusual subject for a photo essay. Narcissism was hardly his style. Yet name, if you can, another figure whose inner life seemed so still. This book is unique among biographies in that Gandhi himself shunned posing for photographs, so each moment of his life - a life which he deemed to be his message - captured in these photographs is as close to authentic as we can hope.

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Herbert P. Bix
Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0060931302

Both men may have been nation-builders, but at the polar opposite of Gandhi's life stands Japan's Emperor Hirohito, now the subject of a growing and compelling revisionist history. While Allied forces in Europe went cherry picking among Germany's scientists, the United States' need in Japan was to control the population. Charging the Emperor with war crimes, exposing him to the possibility of execution, was not the way to meet the American anticommunist, antifascist agenda. Evidence of his role in the war was suppressed and he willingly represented himself as a dupe of his military machine and Premier Tojo Hideki. Tojo certainly wasn't innocent of crimes claimed against him, but there's also little doubt among Western scholars that he mounted the gallows step in the Emperor's stead. MacArthur's policy paid off well for the United States. How else would you expect the occupant of the Chrysanthemum Throne to be photographed with Mickey Mouse? With this book Herbert Bix won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award.

Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism

Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism
David I. Kertzer
Knopf; ISBN: 0375406239

Another body reluctant to face its recent history is the Roman Catholic Church, at least in relation to its role in modern anti-Semitism. The history is long, of course, and complex. But, to assume that it arises solely from religious rationale is disingenuous. Read this excellent account of the church's history of relations with the Jewish community leading up to World War II.

The Brother: The Untold Story of Atomic Spy David Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the Electric Chair

The Brother: The Untold Story of Atomic Spy David Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the Electric Chair
Sam Roberts
Random House; ISBN: 0375500138

Just as the United States was fighting communism and, at least in name, fascism abroad, it was waging war with some of its own citizens at home. And, in fact, in the heyday of the Cold War, some of those citizens were decidedly on the other side. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remain among the most high-profile and controversial of espionage cases from the sad McCarthy era. There's been much written about them as political figures. Finally, there's a more intimate picture of what drove and finally betrayed the couple. If appearances were any indicator, Ethel hardly seemed to be a Mata Hari (then again, Mata Hari probably wasn't a Mata Hari). Her brother was also a spy at Los Alamos and his account, combined with newly available documents, sheds new light on the Rosenberg case and the tenor of the times in this book.

EVIL ONLY LOOKS BANAL

Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945

Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945
Richard Overy
Viking Press; ISBN: 0670030082

When Hitler committed suicide, he left behind a collection of henchmen men who revealed just how common and venal they were, almost unequal to the evil that they perpetrated. Some were defiant, certainly, but others were more than ready to sacrifice colleagues in their rush to desert the sunken ship. The gap in time between their capture and their executions after the Nurmemberg trials was filled with interrogations to which they each responded differently. Rudolf Hess, the dark little skeleton with vampire's eyes, claimed amnesia. Others, such as Auschwitz commander Rodolf Hoess, owned up to their actions matter of factly - which we find infinitely more disturbing. This book examined transcripts from those interrogations, many of which formed the basis of the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

THE TRIVIAL RAISED TO HISTORY

Salt

Salt
Mark Kurlansky
Walker & Co; ISBN: 0802713734

Everybody has someone like this on their gift list, someone who revels in minutiae, fascinated by the unexpected. Here's the title for that extraordinary someone. It's Salt, and the subject is just what the title claims it to be. Much like the admirable One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw, this little volume takes the mundane and turns it into fascinating history, flavored with a bit of science.