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Editor's Choice

Senator Mansfield: The Extraordinary Life of a Great American Statesman and Diplomat

Senator Mansfield: The Extraordinary Life of a Great American Statesman and Diplomat Don Oberdorfer Smithsonian Books; ISBN: 1588341666 An exemplary public figure, Mike Mansfield is less known than he should be because he was motivated by a true sense of public service rather than ego. Mansfield lived 98 years, his life spanned the 20th century, and as a senator from Montana and for 13 years Senate Majority Leader, he was engaged in both the great and the tragic actions of the US in the second half of the century. He brilliantly managed Senate passage of the great civil rights legislation of the 60s. An opponent of the war in Vietnam, he kept a card in his pocket, updated daily, of the death toll and wrote a steady flow of private memoranda, first to Kennedy, who seemed to hear him, then to Johnson, who obstinately rejected his counsel, and Nixon, who kept his plans hidden. While still in his teens during WW I, he served in the Navy, the Army, and the Marine Corps and learned not to expect resolution from military action, but he also realized his dream of seeing China. Returning to Montana where he spent nine years working as a copper miner, he met his future wife Maureen who encouraged him to pursue education full time. Once equipped with a PhD in Far Eastern History, he taught at the University of Montana for ten years before his successful run for Congress, where his expertise was soon recognized. Throughout his career, including 13 years as the universally-admired Ambassador to Japan after he retired from the Senate in 1976, he lived modestly, worked for rational, humane, transparent discourse, was scrupulously honest, and avoided public recognition. This is a book full of interest for anyone concerned with US political and diplomatic history or the life of an admirable public servant. [CW]

History, Biography, Society

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea Robert K. Massie Random House; ISBN: 0679456716 Here is a book that should be on the shelf of anyone with an interest in the Great War. No less than a comprehensive history of the war at sea between Germany and England, France and the United States, this volume accomplishes the rare feat of being both thorough and captivating. Starting with the period just prior to the war, Massie provides a psychological portrait of the Anglophile German emperor William, and his need to emulate his relatives in England and their tremendous navy. Germany's rapid fleet building was one of the de-stabilizing factors contributing to the ignition of WWI, and an important factor in England's support of France against Germany, much to the surprise of the Kaiser. Germany was never able to do much with its great armada, principally due to the efforts of Admiral Jellicoe, Winston Churchill, and Jackie Fisher. The latter two were responsible for the development of the Navy, and Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet, understood that the best use of that Navy was to keep the German Fleet bottled up and out of play. This defensive strategy did not sit well with many politicians and the public, who lionized the aggressive but reckless Admiral Beatty, commander of the Battlecruiser Squadron, who eventually assumed command of the Grand Fleet. This is the rare combination of a terrific read and valuable reference. [MA]

Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage

Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage Kenneth S. Deffeyes Princeton Univ Pr; ISBN: 0691116253 "Peak oil" is a term you don't hear politicians talking about because it's election season, and nothing turns off voters quicker than bad news. It's not brought up in casual conversation because few consumers want to admit that driving solo in their 15 mpg SUV is directly contributing to the future misery of their children. What is peak oil? It's the world's dirtiest little secret. Peak oil is a well-researched concept that world oil production will reach a maximum output level in the VERY near future (if it hasn't happened already). Geophysicist M. King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil production would reach maximum in about 1970 and would permanently decline thereafter. "Experts" scoffed and his views were chastised until it became apparent (in the early '70s) that U.S. production was definitely on the decline. Deffeyes has taken the same statistical concepts as Hubbert and extrapolated them to apply to world petroleum production. It's not good news. According to Deffeyes, world oil production will peak somewhere between 2004 and 2008. He is no crackpot, but a former Shell Oil geologist and current professor at Princeton University. This well written and engaging treatise describes foundational concepts of the geology of oil deposit formation, the process of oil field discovery and the technology of extraction. He also discusses alternative forms of energy and how we can best use the limited resources that remain for damage control. We are not going to run out of oil any time soon but will find it increasingly difficult to extract what is left. The U.S. government IS positioning us to be a leader in the future energy turmoil: not by conservation, but by invasion. Our foot is in the door in the Middle East through Iraq, the saber rattling at Iran is just beginning, and Saudi Arabia is a close neighbor. It's no coincidence that these are three of the top oil producers in the world. China just became a net importer of energy; use there is skyrocketing. The era of cheap and easy oil is over; how we handle the transition to renewable sources of energy will determine our children's pain. This book has opened my eyes to one of the most frightening realizations of my life. [GB]

Zeppelin. The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft

Zeppelin. The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft Ernst Lehmann, Leonhard Adelt, Charles Rosendahl, translator Jay Dratler Longmans, Green & Co., 1937 Darn it, I'm going to review this book, even though there's no trace of it on Amazon (we're linking to Abebooks for this rare copy); it doesn't even have an ISBN number. Nevertheless it is such a vivid book I hope you can pick it up somewhere, or perhaps some publisher will pick it off the scrap heap for a profitable printing. I inherited this from Uncle George, and more than just a history of the Zeppelin, it is a first-person memoir by Captain Ernst Captain Ernst Lehmann, one of the first Zeppelin pilots, and one who was instrumental in the development of these leviathan airships. Perhaps if it were about trains it might not create such incredible mental images, but Lehman's descriptions of life aboard these enormous hydrogen airships offer an absolutely unique vision of the skies. His accounts of trying to deliver mail during a Brazilian revolution are gripping. His experiences as a Zeppelin pilot during the First World War are amazing. He also includes first-person accounts of other airship captains' wartime adventures. The book concludes with the last and most glorious phase of his career, the triumphant launching of post-war intercontinental Zeppelin passenger service. Tragically he literally could not write his last chapter (which was written by Charles Rosendahl), as he was on board the Hindenburg when it went down in flames in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Someday this will make a fantastic graphic novel, and perhaps then someone will make the movie. [MA]

Rules for Radicals

Rules for Radicals Saul Alinsky Prentice Hall; ISBN 0679721134 Alinsky wrote this book in 1971 as a veteran organizer and activist to pass his vision and approach on to radical activists. Times have changed but most of what this book concerns has not. Leaving aside a few specific strategies and context, the material remains cogent. Alinsky explains why he chose the path of a radical agitator. He opposed the social and economic inequities in the United States as well as U.S. militant activities abroad. He presents a number of ways how those with similar dissident views can actively and effectively work for change. The core of this book describes a variety of techniques, remarkable for their theatrical aspect as well as their insights into leveraging small resources against The Powers That Be. Still more interesting is Alinsky's assessment of the frame of mind that activists need to foster in themselves and their organization. The arguments seem directed as much at allaying the qualms of intellectual middle class progressives as giving this audience direction how to win the hearts and minds of the less fortunate who (apparently) lack the vision, drive and organizing skills to fend for themselves. He teaches that one must remain practical in order to succeed, to set realistic goals, and above all to study one's allies and enemies in order to work effectively on their terms. It is fascinating to see American Pragmatism applied to subversiveness! [EG]

Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series

Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series David Pietrusza Carroll & Graf; ISBN: 0786712503 Rothstein was the Moriarty of crooked Manhattan in the Twenties and Thirties, only he had no Sherlock Holmes to bring him down, he had only himself. This intensively-researched biography of Arnold Rothstein transforms him from the New York City criminal best remembered as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, to one of the most important criminal intelligences of the twentieth century. Known as the Great Brain or the Big Bankroll, Rothstein was a loan shark, race fixer, political operator, and he ran gambling houses in New York City and Saratoga. He was intimate with the high and mighty and the low and mean. Nearly everyone of any notoriety of the era appears in this book, including Damon Runyon (one of his closest friends) Meyer Lansky, Funny Girl, George M. Cohan, Legs Diamond, and Fats Waller just to name a few. The author makes a convincing case that the secretive Rothstein was not just involved in, but was the force behind the fixing of the 1919 World Series. He has less evidence, but good arguments, to show that Rothstein founded the first international drug-smuggling cartel and developed the business model on which the illicit drug industry operates today. Given how enormously publicity-shy Rothstein was, Pietrusza admirably captures this elusive criminal genius, the times in which he lived, and the way in which he died—gunned down in a seedy hotel room for a trifling gambling debt. [MA]

Gearheads: The Turbulent Rise of Robotic Sports

Gearheads: The Turbulent Rise of Robotic Sports Brad Stone Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0743229517 History has shown us many warrior-heroes in a variety of forms: they range from Roman gladiators to NFL linemen. A common thread linking these disparate types is money. They had/have sponsors, agents, and promoters whose function was/is to extract the greatest amount of wealth from their human product. Today, there is a new kid on the block in the form of remote-controlled mechanical bringers of destruction. You may have seen them on television: Robot Wars, Robotica and BattleBots have seen extensive air play lately. While the players have changed with the technology, the basic human characteristic of greed has not. Stone presents a detailed history of the creation of robotic sports from its origins with small enthusiastic techno geeks (I mean that in a good way) and explores its fast and painful expansion into the mass media "events" seen today. It's a well-researched and engagingly written (but disheartening) look at business ventures gone awry through greed and avarice that nearly prevented robotic competitions from reaching their current state. Yet through it all, we see that the core of designers and operators survived in spite of the distractions. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the beginnings of something that has the potential to become huge. [GB]

The Practice of Programming

The Practice of Programming Brian W. Kernighan, Rob Pike Addison-Wesley Pub Co; ISBN 020161586X A (now graying) generation of programmers cut their teeth on The Unix Programming Environment. That superlative book introduced readers to the rich facilities, interrelated tools and infrastructure of Unix. For many, these have served as their basic tools of the trade ever since. Years later, Kernighan and Pike wrote a second book. Gathering their practical wisdom of decades, these masters of the craft have now produced yet another remarkable text. The basic topics covered include everything from design through development, testing, fixing, and refining software. For veteran readers of The Unix Programming Environment there are few big surprises in this book. The spare, clear and focused writing can serve to hone already developed instincts and skills. The primary audience should again be junior programmers who can benefit immensely from each and every page. I have often found specific passages in this book invaluable when coaching programmers or to lend support to my position during a technical discussion. All in all, this is by far the most useful software engineering resource I have encountered. [EG]

Country Guitar Chords and Accompaniment: Your Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Country Rhythm-Guitar

Country Guitar Chords and Accompaniment: Your Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Country Rhythm-Guitar Yoichi Arakawa Six Strings Music Publishing; ISBN: 1891370146 Get yourself a guitar, get a copy of this book, give yourself some practice time, and you'll find yourself a country chord strummer in a matter of weeks. This is a book for the guitar beginner. You'll get music basics, instrument basics, and then start right in learning chords and strumming techniques. Arakawa's methods are simple and easy to understand, you really don't have to have any prior knowledge of music (although a prior love of country music helps). Starting with the basics you'll learn how to make simple chords and strumming techniques. Then move on to the 12-bar blues, the Carter Family style, Finger Style Country and various other styles. If you stick to your practicing you'll be able to play songs such as that old favorite Wabash Cannonball, and maybe even sit down with better players and riff along as a rhythm guitarist. This book won't take you to the end of your musical journey, but it's a mighty fine place to start. [MA]

Bob Hope: My Life in Jokes

Bob Hope: My Life in Jokes Linda Hope, Bob Hope Hyperion Press; ISBN: 1401300952 He was the quintessential humorist: sometimes biting, often sarcastic, but always topical and hilarious. This gifted jester served in our armed services, on the silver screen, and in vaudeville. His life saw the beginnings of flight through our initial explorations of space, giving him a wealth of material to explore through his wit. His daughter Linda has captured the essence of Bob in the only way possible: through this collection of jokes and stories as told by the master himself. Organized into decade-long chapters, this compilation includes his childhood, "There were so many in my family, I was eight years old before it was my turn in the bathroom," through his USO years of WWII "Some of the islands we landed on were really little. One island we hit was so small, the gophers hadda take turns coming up," and on through more modern pursuits "It [the Concorde] is so fast that they don't have time to lose your luggage." This is a fitting tribute to a true master. Bob may have left this world last July, but his legacy will continue to serve us for generations. [GB]

Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets

Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets Steven M. Barrett Intrepid Traveler; ISBN: 1887140441 If you were to list some of the biggest challenges when visiting a Disney theme park, it's very likely that "long lines" would be near the top of the list. Disney's FastPass might help, but getting your young ones to stop asking "are we there yet?" while queuing for Pirates of the Caribbean just got a whole lot easier. Steven Barrett has turned drudgery into an engaging and entertaining pastime, accessible to those with a discerning eye. It seems that creative Disney Imagineers have hidden hundreds of complete and partial images of Mickey Mouse (and others) throughout their many theme parks. This book focuses strictly on Disney World in Orlando, Florida and organizes the search for these hidden Mickeys into several scavenger hunts for each theme park. Both young and young at heart will be scanning every visible detail of each park for signs of another Mickey to be checked off the list. Copious textual details (photos would have been nice) are included for the search in each park, giving even more separate hints should you be unsuccessful. This may seem like a silly and strange diversion, but those planning a family outing to Orlando will find this pocket-sized book (4x9x.5 inches) an incredibly valuable investment towards family harmony. [GB]

Natural History

Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind

Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind David Quammen W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN:0393051404 First, let's get out of the way any notion that this book is sensationalistic, as its title might lead you to believe. It's not. If you're interested in scary, hair-raising, spine-tingling true stories about great white hunters blasting away big cats who have been eating the local peasants, try J. H. Patterson's The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, or Jim Corbett's Man-Eaters of Kumaon. David Quammen has given us a quite different kind of book, a beautifully-written piece blending anthropology and natural history, an exploration of the behavior of various kinds of big carnivorous predators when they interact with us, and of our perception of that behavior and our responses to it. Mostly they ignore us or purposely avoid us but occasionally, to our great woe, they see us as conveniently-sized and easily-taken parcels of meat and eat us, or see us as threats to their territories, their children, or themselves, and just kill us and move on. Mostly, now, we are driving them to extinction. It's happening. Here in California, where the grizzly is the state animal, the last one was shot in 1922. The present consensus of wildlife biologists, even very conservatively construed, is that all large predators will be extinct in the wild by the year 2150, most species much sooner. Quammen has done a lot of very intelligent thinking about this subject, and a lot of fieldwork: with people and lions in India, with people and bears in Romania, with people and tigers in Russia, with people and crocodiles in Australia and Kenya, and with other folks and beasts elsewhere. This is a thought-provoking book and very highly recommended. [WW]

Totem Salmon

Totem Salmon Freeman House Beacon Press; ISBN: 0807085499 With an emphasis on the ex, Freeman House is an ex-hippie and ex-commercial-salmon-fisherman who lives in Petrolia in the Mattole River Valley of coastal northern California. Wild salmon are his passion. For the past twenty odd years he has worked to preserve and regenerate their very threatened spawning grounds along the Mattole River and its tributaries. It has been a struggle, battling the forces of evil (the Maxxam Corporation of Houston, Texas, for example), bad weather (El Nino, for example), and a whole lot of simple ignorance even on the part of the well intentioned. The outcome of this struggle is still far from clear, but not yet without hope. The book House has written is a very personal memoir containing roughly equal amounts of personal history, salmon biology, bioregional ecology, ethnohistory, sociology, and political observation, all as seen from House's, I guess you might term it, nouveau Zen point-of-view. In short, what House believes is that if we help wild salmon regenerate their natural habitat, they will help us rediscover our place in the ecology of our own local environment. If you are interested in natural history and the protection of endangered species and their environments, this is a book for you. If you like to click on things, try clicking on: http://www.mattole.org/index.shtml. [WW]

True Grizz

True Grizz Douglas H. Chadwick Sierra Club Books; ISBN: 1578051002 Gorillas, whales, grizzly bears—these intelligent large mammals are trying to carry on in spite of the relentless invasion of their habitats by humans. Grizzlies once roamed meadows and valleys up and down California, the Northwest, the Great Plains, the Sonoran deserts of Arizona and northern Mexico. Chadwick is a wildlife biologist who observes grizzlies in the wild and in their former habitat now sprinkled with cabins in Montana. He thinks humans need to respect the critters whose habitat they've invaded and learn how to co-exist with them. The book follows Carrie Hunt and her crew of wildlife managers who work to train both grizzlies and humans to behave civilly when they meet. People who build cabins in the wilderness can't leave dog food on porches or put out bird feeders or other food items, since a bear preparing for hibernation will be attracted, especially in a bad year for wild fruits. And bears who form a habit of searching for food around cabins are met with Hunt's Karelian bear dogs, loud noises, and rubber bullets on the rump to convince them that it's no fun to put up with humans just to get some dog kibble. The book follows the travels of individual bears as they forage over great distances between Yellowstone and Glacier Parks and southern Canada. It records human-grizzly depredations and successes as well as the playfulness of these creatures. Hiking north of the Bob Marshall Wilderness one spring, Chadwick came upon a grizzly mother and two cubs glissading down a patch of snow. After their ride they trooped up the hill, the mom sat down, the cubs clambered on, and down they went, again and again. An entertaining and constructive book about efforts to preserve a great animal. [CW]

Chasing Science: Science as a Spectator Sport

Chasing Science: Science as a Spectator Sport Frederik Pohl Tor; ISBN: 0765308290 Frederik Pohl has been a major contributor to science fiction in its many guises since the 1950s, as author, editor, collaborator, professional organizer and general promoter. Probably his single best-known novel is Gateway which was the first of his Heechee Saga and which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards on publication. What we have here, Chasing Science, his second nonfiction book out of about forty books total, is subtitled "Science as a Spectator Sport," and is noted on the cover as being about "Exploring Natural Science and All Things Mechanical." The Library of Congress catalogs it in under "Science-Popular works." Don't be misled. This is a travel guide. It goes on the shelf next to your Frommer's Vienna, Fodor's London, and Berlitz French for Travelers. It lists about 600 publicly-accessible sites around the world which Pohl has visited and thinks scientifically or technologically interesting: museums, laboratories, volcanoes, meteor craters, earthquake faults, big dams, big telescopes, big caves, Star City, the Great Wall of China, Cape Canaveral and other such curiosities and attractions. This book seems intended for your average really bright and curious sixteen-year-old who has a lot of spare time, a valid passport, and unlimited travel funds, but others will find it useful too. Check it out the next time you plan a trip. There may be something you will want to see that is not listed in your usual hotel-restaurant-shopping-museum travel guides. [WW]

The Raccoon Next Door: Getting Along with Urban Wildlife

The Raccoon Next Door: Getting Along with Urban Wildlife Gary Bogue; illustrations by Chuck Todd Heyday Books; ISBN: 1890771716 Bogue writes in an inviting way about the critters whose habitat we've appropriated, and how they manage to co-exist with us. With new strip malls and housing tracts being built every year in formerly wild or agricultural rural land, we can't ignore the consequences to the creatures who live on these lands. Bogue's book is full of amusing anecdotes and good advice, both for those who enjoy sharing their yards and gardens with wild creatures and those who'd prefer not to. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area, but most of the wildlife he writes about can be found across the country. His chapters cover songbirds, scavenger birds, game birds and waterfowl, raptors, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and exotic wildlife: what to do when someone's pet parrot escapes and appears in your yard. Having worked for some years at a wildlife museum, he has stories about orphaned wild animals, such as a tiny Great Horned Owl chick who became in effect a member of the museum's staff for 25 years, giving schoolchildren some sense of what it is to be an owl and allowing them to come close enough to touch his feathers. Bogue provides resources at the end of the book for wildlife rescue organizations, alternatives to pesticides, nonprofit lands trusts, and a list of books for further reading. With its appealing illustrations, this is a good book to dip into with a child ready to be introduced to the wild creatures that can be spotted close to home (like the pair of deer my husband and I occasionally see walking down the sidewalk on our street late at night). [CW]

Fiction

The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard

The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard J. G. Ballard Picador USA; ISBN 0312278446 Science fiction typically offers adventure, heroic protagonists and epic stories of social or political redemption. These generally concern overcoming adversity or are cautionary tales of an explorer who has returned from where we must not go. Surprisingly, very few authors besides Ballard have worked within the structure of a futuristic dystopian fable to concentrate on spiritual and psychological character development. Ballard's protagonists usually live in a seriously messed up situation with an unproductive attitude. As creative and resourceful as these characters may be, they can't overcome the world itself nor even come to terms with it. Unresolved and haunting, these stories express the spirit of our times, where in fact dystopian aspects multiply whether we like it or not. Despite the starkness of these tales, Ballard avoids the nihilism of his contemporaries such as Harlan Ellison. The line between being crushed by and coming to terms with unassailable adversity is thin. Ballard's stories occupy this space, concentrating on the internal development of nonconformists in unfortunate times who sometimes manage to transcend their situation. [EG]

Prairie Nocturne

Prairie Nocturne Ivan Doig Scribner; ISBN: 0743201353 Set in Montana in the 1920s, this new novel by Ivan Doig includes some unexpected elements, even to one who knows some Montana history. Its three main characters are a former suffragette with a fine voice, product of a proud, hardworking Scots pioneer ranch family; the scion of a much more successful ranch family, a war hero with whom she had a fling that ruined his political career; and a black cowboy, rodeo clown, and hand on the major's ranch who happens also to have a fine singing voice. The black cowboy is the son of a sergeant of the Tenth Cavalry, the "buffalo soldiers," who were stationed at the old Indian Fort Assinniboine briefly under George Pershing's command, he and his family the only blacks for miles around. The story entangles these three lives and meanders from the prairies of northwestern Montana to Harlem and the mansions of Manhattan and even Carnegie Hall. It encompasses the earthquake that shook Helena in 1925 and the brief career of the Ku Klux Klan in Montana, not to mention more usual occurrences such as the dust storms that followed the droughts that wiped out many small homesteaders who'd come west during the good years. And it conveys the rigor and the rewards of developing the potential of a great singing voice. [CW]

Guys & Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon

Guys & Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon Damon Runyon Penguin USA; ISBN: 0140176594 OK, this isn't exactly the edition I read. After reading the biography of master-criminal Arnold Rothstein (reviewed above in this issue) I had to read some of the works of his close friend Damon Runyon. Rothstein himself appears in these stories as Nathan Detroit, the dapper character from Guys and Dolls. Written relentlessly in the first person present and in the vernacular of the Manhattan criminal streets, these darkly humorous character sketches immerse the reader in the era. You can't read these stories without hearing the dialogue spoken out loud in your head, in glorious black and white. Indeed the cinematic feel of these tales comes from the fact that so many of them were made into movies (IMDB lists 32 movies from Runyon stories). There is a very casual, almost lightweight feel to these short stories. They were written for their time and taken all together may be a bit much for reading in one go. But as another of those perfect night-table books these tales are bite-sized journeys into another time and place. Oh, and the edition I did read? A long out-of-print WWII-era paperback titled Three Wise Guys. It smelled ever so slightly of the vanished past. [MA]

And Where Were You, Adam?

And Where Were You, Adam? Heinrich Boll Northwestern University Press; ISBN 0810111640 During the last months of World War II, the German army collapsed. This novel follows the story of a few soldiers on the devastated front, in Hungary. The senseless and horrible end of character after character elucidates the insane military venture embarked upon by the Germans. A single character, an architect now foot soldier named Feinhals, resurfaces throughout the story. Everything else is caught in the mindless grip of German authority or torn to bits by the destructive Russian advance. This is especially true of the soldiers' love interests which have no place in the mess the Nazis have made of Europe. Feinhals has an acute and observant nature, as does the narrator. Despite the impersonal and objective style, the novel burns with anger at the horror and inhumanity of unfolding events. Low-ranking Nazi officers' senseless cruelty gives rise to the most gripping and terrible sections of this book. Going far beyond a condemnation of Nazi Germany, Boll takes issue with war and considers the issue of collective responsibility. Such intricately woven, moving and penetrating examinations of German society led to Boll receiving the Nobel prize for literature in 1972. [EG]

Graceland: A Novel

Graceland: A Novel Farrar, Straus and Giroux; ISBN: 0374165890 The Elvis of this Graceland was born in 1967, into an Igbo family in a small town in Nigeria, his mother a school teacher who loved American popular music, his father an administrator who prefers Miles Davis. At the opening of the novel Elvis is sixteen, living in a Lagos slum with his father, a man broken by his wife's early death who has retreated into drunkenness. The novel veers between Elvis's rural childhood, still somewhat shaped by tribal customs, and the harsh, dirty, cacophonous world of the poor in one of the many slums of Lagos in the 1980s. But Elvis reads—all sorts of books, from the library, from used book stalls. He carries his mother's old leather-bound diary. He finds school irrelevant but also finds he isn't ready to live by hurting others. Interleaved between the story of his childhood and of his painful present are fragments from his mother's diary, not a narrative but a collection of traditional Igbo recipes and descriptions of native plants, their Latin and tribal names, and their traditional uses. Through the experiences of its young narrator, the novel takes a tough look at a culture wrenched from its ageless old ways into a present of brutal military coups, civil war, great wealth but disregard for the poor, American movies and music, useless intervention or exploitation by the western powers (including a concise and painfully accurate paragraph on how the World Bank actually functions in third world countries). This is a vivid, affecting novel. [CW]

Way Station

Way Station Clifford D. Simak Orion Publishing Group; ISBN: 0575071389 I fell in love with reading and science fiction at an early age, willingly seduced by Slobodkin's (now out of print) Space Ship Under the Apple Tree and L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. These early forays sparked many "what if?" thoughts in my young mind and contributed greatly to an ongoing sense of awe and wonder about our universe that carries forth to this day. While Way Station wasn't one of my earliest experiences, it remains one of my most beloved. Simak may not be as well known as Clarke, Asimov, or Bradbury, but his Nebula, Hugo and Grand Master awards speak volumes about his skill. This story is simple and sweet: character driven without the zap and zoom found in much of the genre. It's perfect for a young reader who might later appreciate a literary nudge into science fiction. Enoch Wallace is an "old timer" who prefers his solitude to the prying eyes of uninvited earthbound visitors to his remote mountain cabin. Yet unbeknownst to his terrestrial neighbors, Enoch has played host to myriad extraterrestrials who use his cabin way station as a stopping point on their galactic travels. When his low-key operation is in danger of being discovered, what transpires gives us a glimpse of Simak's vision of humanity and hope for our future. This is a true classic that belongs on every sci-fi enthusiast's shelf. [GB]

Dream Park

Dream Park Larry Niven, Steven Barnes Ace Books; ISBN: 0441167306 At long last this classic has been reissued. Niven is a repeat winner of Hugo and Nebula awards with independent works such as his Ringworld series and his well developed Tales of Known Space, but he is a very talented collaborator as well. He has worked extensively with Jerry Pournelle in best-selling books such as The Mote in God's Eye series and Lucifer's Hammer. This book is by far his best collaboration with Steven Barnes, greatly overshadowing the two sequels The Barsoom Project and California Voodoo Game. Dream Park is a high technology theme park of the future, comprised of artificially created holographic settings a la Star Trek's Enterprise holodeck. Participants take on the roles of fictional characters and experience their lives first hand through a series of adventures set in the Dream Park world. Those familiar with role-playing games will recognize many familiar characters, but as with all of Niven's efforts, there is a technological twist to this sci-fi murder mystery page-turner. Originally published in 1991, some of the technology in the story predates much of what we take for granted today, but it doesn't detract from the charm of a classic in the genre. A must have (while you still have the chance). [GB]

Dying for Dana

Dying for Dana Jim Patton Forge; ISBN: 0765306492 It seems as if Elmore Leonard isn't writing nearly enough books these days. How else to explain the surge in Leonardial Fiction by authors other than Elmore himself? Not that this is a bad thing. That distinct gumbo of South Florida/urban Detroit small time hustlers, dopers, thieves and cops may turn out to be an American detective/crime genre comparable to the British Whodunit . Author Jim Patton has caught the easy pace and edgy characters of the style just about right. Perhaps a bit lighter on the comedic turns than a true Elmore, Dying for Dana nonetheless maintains just the right breezy tone as its various homicides, double-dealings, and love triangles keep the night light on quite a bit later than will be good for you in the morning. The damaged hero of the piece is Portland, Oregon (yes, yes, Portland not Miami) Prosecutor Max Travis (from Patton's first novel The Shake) who may be at the top of his game professionally, but is a serious emotional screw-up. When Travis falls in love with a sex-goddess, and her semi-ex-boyfriend robs a friend of his during which a celebrity ball-player gets killed by a whacked-out meth-head accomplice, who falls for a female news anchor . . . Well, you get the idea. [MA]

Children's Books

Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving

Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving William Steig Carolrhoda Books; ISBN: 1575056178 The ability to capture, in both words and drawings, the annoyed kid's point of view is one of Steig's great gifts. Since kids aren't ordinarily invited to express their annoyance, it's a good thing Steig does it so well—good in that it allows the kid a laugh and reminds the parent of attitudes he or she may have forgotten. Here Steig puts together a whole list of grievances, each complete with his inimitable color drawings: in "Grown-ups always want to be kissed," the mum is insisting the kid buss the powdered cheek of some great aunt or other irrelevant strange lady; an anxious adult interrupts the kids' baseball game to check his watch, in "Grown-ups always have to know what time it is." A little girl is making her getaway while she can, as her little brother is being thrown up in the air by a toothy, jovial male visitor in "Grown-ups take liberties." And it may be that same fellow at the center of a trio of amused kids, collapsed in his chair asleep, mouth open, in the eloquent "Grown-ups snore." You get the picture. As with all Steig's books, this will delight both young and old. [CW]

Munschworks 2: The Second Munsch Treasury

Munschworks 2: The Second Munsch Treasury Robert Munsch Annick Press; ISBN 1550375539 When it comes time to pick a book to read aloud, consider this collection of provocative, surreal and amusing tales. In each, children confront the wacky adult world in unexpected ways. Even as situations spin out of control, the kids keep at it, eventually getting a better outcome than they could possibly have anticipated. Here's an example of the fun you are in for. In the first story, a girl named Megan is asked by her father to feed the pigs, but "don't open the gate. Pigs are smarter than you think." She ignores this advice, of course, and the pigs escape. The pigs succeed in taking over her town, creating havoc everywhere they go. Megan becomes increasingly disheveled as she at first resists, then eventually accepts and even revels in the situation. The other four stories are at least as good as this. They mostly concern the strangeness of parental responsibility from a kid's perspective. Marvelous illustrations accompany these well-crafted stories on every page. [EG]

Karate Girl

Karate Girl Mary Leary Farrar, Straus & Giroux; ISBN: 0374339775 If you or your child have wondered about karate and why its practice might be of interest and benefit to kids, here's a story with a straightforward, engaging answer. Motivated by her desire to help her little brother ward off some bullying kids, the young narrator follows her best friend's advice and accompanies her to the karate class she attends each week. At the dojo, the sensei asks why she's interested and lets her know that more than just for self-defense, karate teaches self-control and the kind of confidence that can help one to avoid a fight—and that it takes time and dedication to learn. Leary's lively, colorful illustrations then take her narrator through the process of the class: the breathing and relaxation exercises, warm-ups, and then the moves she'll learn and practice until they become automatic. She also learns from the sensei that one's concentration is best when one works alone, that karate is not for showing off. Leary demonstrates the value to a child of learning something well and gaining confidence in the process—an experience all kids should have. [CW]

Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt Farrar, Straus & Giroux; ISBN 0374480095 If you come across the fountain of youth, stay clear of it! We taste the bitterness of immortality in this original and moving work of juvenile literature. The Tuck family, burdened by the blessing of unending life, maintain an uneasy place in the ceaseless change of America. Winnie Foster, a ten year old girl, meets this charming family as an interesting plot unfolds. Gently, Babbitt relates some important philosophical lessons regarding accepting death as part of the order of life. For such a short book, it bursts with fine elements. The story has sufficient plot twists and adversity for this book to qualify as a page turner. Babbitt's spare style wonderfully expresses the perspective of a ten year old. When Winnie isn't at the center of the story, Babbitt's evocative description and aphoristic observations come to the fore. Although the story has tragic elements, it mixes bravery and sweetness in pleasing measure. For an adult reader, this is something like an inverted Interview with the Vampire. Instead of a nasty undead community of outcasts from destiny, we have a sentimental family and a courageous tale of coming to terms with life. [EG]