Book-a-holics

2012-02-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

THE ICE BALLOON : S. A. ANDREE AND THE HEROIC AGE OF ARCTIC EXPLORATION
by Alec Wilkinson

For some reason, the North Pole has always been an enigma for explorers. Why anyone would want to venture to a place that is made up of solid ice, freeze in below zero temperatures, worry about whether you're going to survive or not (many died) doesn't sound so tempting to me.
Between the fifteenth century and the nineteenth century, 135 expeditions (mostly from Europe) went to the Arctic. They all thought that they would see what nobody else had seen.
S. A. Andree was a Swedish aeronaut who, in 1897, decided to do something completely different from the other adventurers. His idea was to fly to the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon. The planning would take two years. He would be accompanied by two young men. Newspapers all over the world wrote about his departure.
Andree figured that he would arrive at the pole in forty-three hours. Wishful thinking.
In The Ice Balloon Alec Wilkinson not only delves into what made Andree tick and his whole background but also writes about other Arctic explorations. These accounts give you an idea of why these men dared to go in the first place.
Wilkinson's prose is lovely. One chapter, in particular, just talked about all of the different names for types of ice. Some examples: Ice attached to the shore was land ice. Ice that didn't move with the tides was an ice foot. New ice was called young ice.
Throughout the book are black-and-white photographs of Andree, his balloon, the men who accompanied him and other explorations.
This is a great story by a terrific writer.
Recommended.

2012-01-31T14:46:00.000-08:00

TOLSTOY : A RUSSIAN LIFE
by Rosamund Bartlett

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy lived many Russian lives for eighty-two years. He was not only considered to be one of the world's greatest writers, but he also influenced the people of Russia with his unconventional ideas about literature, art, education, religion, society, and government.
Tolstoy was born into the privileged class, had foreign tutors and was waited on by serfs. At nineteen, he became a wealthy landowner and then squandered his inheritance. Whole villages had to be sold to pay off his debts. Then Tolstoy went into the army and that is where his writing began to surface. At first, he was embraced by fellow colleagues but when Tolstoy refused to join any kind of literary organization, they avoided him. Soon enough, he aligned himself with the intelligentsia and then began to feel guilty with his previous superiority over the peasants. One way he felt that he could help them was through education. Tolstoy started many schools to teach the children how to read and write. He would become the spokesperson for the impoverished peasants and dress as one himself.
His next venture was to become an apostle of Christian teaching (he read all of the original sources and then basically rewrote them with his own beliefs). He would castigate the Russian Orthodox Church (they would excommunicate him) and then the monarchy. They were powerless in their efforts to stop him.
Tolstoy had quite a following and he was revered by thousands. But, even though he tried to lead a life of piety, he was a contradiction. His family was less than enthralled with all of his doings. Tolstoy had thirteen children with his wife, Sofya (also called Sonya). His daughters were devoted to him but the sons did the opposite of what he preached. Sonya bore the brunt of everything and Tolstoy treated her pretty badly. (He didn't think highly of women.) When he wrote War and Peace, their marriage was the happiest. Anna Karenina took him thirty years to write and the marriage deteriorated. His ego always got in the way yet to those outside of the family, he could do no wrong.
What a masterful biography! Rosamund Bartlett has written quite an in-depth portrait of a huge subject. The amount of information that is packed into this heavy book (454 pages) is astounding. She is very familiar with the material and knows how to create text that is immensely readable. Bartlett is an authority on Russian cultural history (she also wrote a biography on Chekhov) and is working on a translation of Anna Karenina.
If you love Russian history and know nothing about Tolstoy, this is the definitive book to read.
Highly recommended.

2012-01-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

MAMAN'S HOMESICK PIE : A PERSIAN HEART IN AN AMERICAN KITCHEN
by Donia Bijan

Coming from a family where food embraces their heritage, Donia Bijan knew by the age of five that she wanted to be a chef. The kitchen door was always open and Donia would watch her mother create these incredible feasts. Soon enough, as she got a little older, Donia was doing tasks to help out with the food preparation. This was no ordinary home, though. The Bijans lived on the top floor of a hospital in Tehran (Donia's father built the place himself). Both of the parents were in the medical field: he, an obstetrician and she, a nurse and midwife. All of the meals were prepared by Donia's mother and their cook, using what was grown in their garden or bought fresh from the market. In due course, this unusual lifestyle would come to an abrupt halt.
The summer of 1978, the entire family went to Spain for a vacation. In their tiny apartment, Donia's mother whipped up fabulous meals. They never went out to eat because Donia's father didn't trust restaurants. Instead of going to the usual tourist attractions, he would rather forage for the best places to buy local ingredients. During their idyll in Majorca, the uncle called and told them not to return to Iran. The revolution had begun.
By this time, Donia took leave of her family and went off to a private school in Michigan to study. Being a foreigner was a difficult enough adjustment but the food was a whole different entity.
A few years later, she went to college in California and reunited with her parents. Her mother's cooking brought her back to her roots. Donia would go off to Paris in 1984 and attend the Cordon Bleu (she studied under Madame Brassart who had made Julia Child so miserable back in 1949). After graduating, she apprenticed in France at three-star kitchens. She knew that she wanted to have her own restaurant and it finally came to fruition when she opened L'Amie Donia in San Francisco.
Maman's Homesick Pie is such a delight to read. Donia's writing style is fluid and she seamlessly weaves everything that happens to her, effortlessly. It's truly charming, honest and savory. At the end of every chapter are a couple of recipes. If you're up to it, challenge yourself. This is not the typical food you are used to seeing. Her cuisine is a fusion of French and Persian, so for many of the ingredients, you would have to shop in specialty stores.
A mouth-watering gem.
Recommended.

2012-01-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

THE KING OF VODKA : THE STORY OF PYOTR SMIRNOV AND THE UPHEAVAL OF AN EMPIRE
by Linda Himelstein

The Russian word for vodka is voda, which means water and before it became the national beverage in Russia, it was used for other purposes. Back in the 1500s, vodka was a disinfectant for wounds and could be massaged into the back and chest. Soon enough, though, more people were drinking it especially if they needed something to calm them down. (It was actually given to women in labor.) The Russian monarchy encouraged the imbibing of vodka because it increased the revenue for them (they controlled its economy).
There were many vodka retailers during the 1880s but only one led the way and made him very wealthy. His bottles would grace the tables of royalty from the Russian tsar to other countries in Europe. Pretty outstanding for an ex-serf.
Peter Arsenievich Smirnov was born into poverty; his parents were basically slaves working on a farm and tending the fields of their landowner. Everything that they earned they had to share with their master. It was certainly not the kind of life that any of them wanted forever and Pyotr's uncle would be the first family member to gain his freedom. Grigoriy had the idea of opening up a drinking establishment near Moscow. In no time at all, he was successful and his status changed from serf to trading peasant. Soon he had many pubs, a brewery and a wine cellar. It was into this environment that Pyotr arrived and learned everything from the ground up. His stamina, determination, aggressiveness and great business sense would spiral him upwards to an incredible legacy.
The King of Vodka is a terrific book. Linda Himelstein brings you right to the world of nineteenth-century Russia where you learn about how vodka was produced (Smirnov had different varieties such as fruit-flavored drinks), the monopolization of the trade, the enforcement of sobriety pushed by Chekhov and Tolstoy, what happened to the brand during and after the Russian revolution, and the Smirnov family's involvement.
Himelstein's quite diligent research is very good and and she certainly knows how to tell a fascinating tale.
Recommended.

2012-01-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

BREAKING THE CODE : A FATHER'S SECRET, A DAUGHTER'S JOURNEY, AND THE QUESTION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
by Karen Fisher-Alaniz

As a child, Karen listened to stories of her father's time in the Navy but never really paid attention to what he said. They were meaningless to her and he told them over and over again. That changed in 2002 on his eighty-first birthday. While at her parents' house to celebrate, her father, Murray, placed two notebooks on her lap. Inside were 400 pages of letters that he wrote during World War II. That night and every night afterwards, Karen became immersed in them and discovered a man that she scarcely really knew. For fifty years, he kept secrets buried inside him. By reading the letters and eventually drawing her father out by asking him questions, the truth was revealed.
Breaking the Code is a fast read (two days) and at times can be quite moving. There are photographs from postcards at the beginning of every chapter and, of course, the letters. For people who have relatives still living that fought in WWII, it's an important book. Many could not talk about what happened to them after they returned from the war and suppressed it. As the "Greatest Generation" dwindles, retrieving their stories for others to read should be written down before it's too late.
Recommended.

2011-12-28T17:22:00.001-08:00

EXTRA VIRGINITY : THE SUBLIME AND SCANDALOUS WORLD OF OLIVE OIL
by Tom Mueller

In order for olive oil to have an extra virgin grade, it must be fruity, bitter and peppery, have a pleasant taste, and leave a clean feeling in the mouth. It can't be rancid, vinegary, greasy, or smelly. Unfortunately, most of what is on the supermarket shelves currently is not extra virgin (even though it's marked that way right on the bottle) but adulterated oil. Any flaws and it's classed as lampaste which means that it can only legally be sold as fuel. Fake olive oils are worldwide (many are not even made with olives) and the United States sells tons of it.
Some of the scams are taking soybean or canola oil, dyeing it green, adding beta-carotene for flavor and then putting it in tins or bottles with Italian flags across the front of it and cutesy names of fictitious producers. Most of this fraud is not regulated so it's rampant.
There are still, fortunately, artisan oil producers who mill (press) their own olives using ancient traditions where making excellent, superior extra virgin olive oil has been done in their family for generations. These are the people where you would buy your oil from. Of course, the majority of us don't live near a mill so the next best thing is to find a seller who has oil in bulk rather than in bottles or tins (decay sets in, immediately, as soon as oil is encased) and stores it in containers that are temperature-controlled. If you can find a store where you can taste olive oils before purchasing them and find out where they came from and how they were made, so much the better.
Tom Mueller has written quite an astonishing book. Besides writing about the ever present corruption, he relates the oil's history in regards to health (it's high in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory); it's use in soaps, salves and creams; how Olympiads would slather their bodies to give them more energy; even textiles, leather and yarn were infused with oil.
At the end of the book, there's a Glossary and an Appendix on how to choose good oil and a large range of websites on all kinds of information that have to do with extra virgin olive oil, such as: research centers, olive associations, where to buy the best oils, olive oil chemistry and tasting, etc.
Mueller didn't miss a thing and it's quite comprehensive. Some great trivia is interspersed, too. If you're crazy about olive oil, this would be a good book to own. It's definitely an eye-opener.
Recommended.

2011-12-25T12:58:00.000-08:00

CATHERINE THE GREAT : PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN
by Robert K. Massie

She was the only female that ever ascended to the Russian throne. Considered to be on par with Peter the Great, Catherine, in her reign of thirty-five years, accomplished a staggering amount of feats.
Born Sophia Augusta Fredericka von Anhalt-Zerbst to a minor noble family, she certainly was not favored. All of the attention was centered on her younger brother. This would change when she became an adolescent. Suddenly she's marriage material and that was fine by Sophia. She wanted to get away from her dominant mother and rise above her. When Sophia turned fourteen, a letter arrived from St. Petersburg written by Empress Elizabeth (the younger daughter of Peter the Great) inviting both mother and daughter to the court and to introduce Sophia to Peter, Elizabeth's nephew. Two years later, Sophia (now Catherine after she converted from her Lutheran faith to the Orthodox Church) and Peter married. Now her obligation was to produce an heir. For nine years nothing happened because Peter was a total mess psychologically and physically. It wasn't until Catherine took a lover (there would be a total of twelve) that she finally felt fulfilled. These men gave her companionship, (they would be called "favorites"), passion, and love. Even though her private life was considered scandalous, what she presented to the public was brilliance, a quick wit, astuteness, fairness and power.
Catherine the Great was quite a remarkable woman. She dealt with rebellion, foreign wars, violence and at the same time tried to ameliorate the situation with serfdom and to help the Russian people live better. Catherine was an avid reader and was influenced heavily by Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu. She used his theories and others during her rule. Catherine also loved art and created quite a collection; brought literature, sculpture, education, medicine, architecture (many buildings and magnificent structures were built) to Russia; opened up the Black Sea to expand the ports for trade and commerce. She left quite a legacy.
Robert Massie, without a doubt, really knows how to present Russian history in an enjoyable format. There's so much information (the book took him eight years to write) but what you read is absolutely fascinating. It's quite hefty at 574 pages which does not include the Notes and the Index. There are several pages in color of Catherine, Peter, and Elizabeth.
The last time I read anything by Massie was when I was in high school and that was his superb Nicholas and Alexandra.
He has done justice, again, with Catherine the Great.
Highly recommended.

2011-12-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

CHARLES DICKENS : A LIFE
by Claire Tomalin

He was considered to be the greatest novelist of the nineteenth century. As a writer of twenty novels, several short story collections, poetry, plays, and stories for two separate magazines, Charles Dickens was quite prolific. The public loved him because his works portrayed their life. He was a keen observer and nothing went to chance. Everything about English society entranced him.
Dickens was born into poverty. His father could never hold a job and the family constantly moved to escape creditors. When his father was sent to prison, Dickens had to work in a factory. He hated it and didn't last long there. His next major job was as a court reporter. Some really sorry cases were tried and were quite upsetting to Dickens. He would use them in his writings (all of his fiction had many autobiographical elements in them, particularly David Copperfield). Ideas for novels came to him and he was off running never stopping until the end.
It was truly fascinating reading about this over-the-top persona who had such greatness but at the same time was very flawed. Dickens was extremely generous with friends, was a philanthropist (he financed a home for fallen women), gave to the needy, supported other writers by editing their writings and having their works published, gave readings of what he himself had written to adoring crowds (he was quite theatrical and if he hadn't become a writer, he would have been an actor). The flip side was that Dickens was a terrible father (he had ten children) and most of the time ignored them and would complain years later about having so many. His long suffering wife was treated miserably by him (they shouldn't have been married in the first place). So while he was perceived as being a humanist and virtuous, Dickens would destroy his own life betraying and deceiving the ones closest to him.
Claire Tomalin has written an impeccably researched biography on Charles Dickens. At 417 pages (not including 70 pages of Notes), the book is quite hefty. Starting with the beginning, there are maps with their own separate Key; and a Cast List of the families on both sides and every single person who came in contact with Dickens.
Although there is tons of information, the book is quite readable. If you're a fan of Dickens but don't really know much about him, check this one out.
Recommended.

2011-12-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

THE ORCHARD : A MEMOIR
by Theresa Weir

To spray, or not to spray, that is the question. If you have an apple orchard, the only choice is to use pesticides otherwise the codling moth will destroy all of the crops. To go organic is not an option.
Theresa Weir, while working at her uncle's bar, fell in love with Adrian Curtis, the son of local farmers in Iowa when she was twenty-one. They got married and she was forever rejected by his family because she was an outsider. She will only be accepted if she follows their ways. The farm has existed for generations and it must continue. Dangerous chemicals permeate everything around them and it's not a life that neither Theresa nor Adrian want their children to experience.
The Orchard is both a beautiful and dark book. It's beautiful due to the simple, spare, and honest writing. There is an undercurrent of suspense throughout (no suprise, there, because Weir writes under the pseudonym Anne Frasier and she's well-known for her tales of mystery).
In her current book, there are chapters about her earlier life with her mother and siblings. It's good to see these interventions so as to get an idea of Weir's personality and where she came from. Once you start reading, you are immediately absorbed. It's a small book and can be finished in one day.
Haunting, hypnotizing, mesmerizing are the best words to describe this tale.
Very highly recommended.

2011-12-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

MURDER IN THE FIRST-CLASS CARRIAGE : THE FIRST VICTORIAN RAILWAY KILLING
by Kate Colquhoun

British trains during the 1860s were nothing like their American counterparts. The Victorian trains were comprised of carriages and each one of them were divided into separate box-like compartments. There were doors on both sides that opened onto the station platform but no corridor or door was between them. So, if a passenger had an emergency or needed to call somebody for assistance, they were out of luck.
Thomas Briggs would become that one unlucky man and for him, it would be fatal.
Briggs boarded the North London railway on a first-class carriage at 9:45 pm. Soon afterward, two bank clerks entered this same compartment but Briggs was not there. What was discovered, instead, was blood on the cushions, floor and windows. A walking stick, an empty leather bag and a broken watch chain were left. The most conspicuous object was a hat which was not the kind that Briggs normally wore.
In due time, the hunt for the killer began. The police force used their best detectives and were able to figure out the identity of the murderer from different witnesses and by offering rewards to help solve the crime. They found out where he lived and were ready to arrest him but the killer had taken off to America where a sister of his lived. Now the chase was on for the inspectors to take a ship, themselves, and try to nab the fugitive as his prospective ship landed at the ports of New York. They would be successful and would bring him back to Britain for a trial.
This crime caused quite a sensation and shocked the world at that time. People would eagerly read the newspapers, every day, as the event unfolded.
Kate Colquhoun has written quite a suspenseful book and it's very hard to put down. How she describes the case, the characters involved, (there's a complete list at the end), the railway system, and the use of capital punishment makes for mesmerizing reading.
It's definitely a quirky tale and if you like true-to-life mysteries, this one is quite a winner.
Highly recommended.

2011-12-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

AND SO IT GOES : KURT VONNEGUT, A LIFE
by Charles J. Shields

While he was alive, there were no entries in dictionaries about him. Critics were always hard on his writings dismissing them. He was much loved, though, by the young (college-aged) crowd. But his life in public and what he wrote in his books was a complete contradiction to his private persona. He was never a happy camper and always felt lonely.
Kurt Vonnegut grew up in a home with servants. His father, Kurt Sr., was an architect and his mother, Edith, was barely a parent. They entertained quite lavishly but never hugged their children. Kurt Jr.'s older brother, Bernard, was favored because he was gifted (he became a scientist), so he got the attention. The only time Kurt Jr. felt wanted was during the summer when the Vonnegut family would go to Lake Maxinkuckee in Indiana. Other relatives would be there for him lending support and sympathy. (Having an extended family was one of the features in his books.)
Nobody listened to him (he was the youngest child) and the only way he could change that was to tell ridiculous stories that made people laugh. Humor became one of his strengths which he would use later in life when he would appear at events.
High school is when he began to write and it would become all-consuming to him. He also picked up two bad vices: alcohol and cigarettes (he smoked only Pall Malls) and could never shake off these addictions.
By the time Vonnegut was in college (Cornell and a science major), he was writing pretty steadily. He never graduated and enlisted in the army and became part of the 106th division that were captured by the Germans. (He saw the bombing of Dresden.) All of the POWs were housed in a huge slaughterhouse (supposed to be used for animals). The name of the compound was Schlachthof-Funf: Slaughterhouse-Five.
When Vonnegut returned from the war, he got married and he and his wife had four children. Soon enough, there would be four more but they would be his sister's boys. She died of cancer and her husband was killed in a train crash. Vonnegut was a terrible father. He ignored his kids (they thought of him more as a friend) because he was always holed up in his study writing. His relationship with his wife wasn't much better (he had dalliances on the side). They lived pretty meagerly since he was the sole breadwinner. He had written quite a few articles for magazines and a couple of novels but nobody knew who he was. Slaughterhouse-Five finally put him on the map and he really never had to write another book again. At the age of fifty, he was wealthy.
Having read Vonnegut's novels in high school and college, I never really considered what the man was like behind his writings. Charles J. Shields has brought him to the surface and it's very revealing. It took Shields five years to compose his research from interviews with Vonnegut, friends, family, neighbors and fifteen hundred letters. He gives you such a bird's-eye view that you feel as if you are a part of an intimate story.
The book is a real page-turner and very engrossing.
Highly recommended.

2011-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

RUNNING AWAY TO HOME : ONE FAMILY'S JOURNEY TO CROATIA IN SEARCH OF WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE CAME FROM, AND WHAT REALLY MATTERS
by Jennifer Wilson

Why not go to Croatia for a sabbatical? Life is much simpler in this country and you can live off the land. This is what Jennifer Wilson, her husband, Jim, and their two children, Zadie and Sam did in 2008. They had lost half of their savings in the stock market crash and were stuck in a rut in Des Moines, Iowa. Jennifer's great-grandparents had left Croatia over one hundred years ago for America and she thought about returning to the homeland to discover her roots, find the graves of the relatives, talk to people who might have known them, try and look for their residences.
They spend four months, during the summer, in Mrkopalj living amonst 800 people, cavorting with the locals, drinking quite a bit of booze (adults only), attempting to learn the near impossible Croatian language, taking trips to the coast, attempting to milk the neighbor's cows, learning about the difficult history with the wars and the privation that followed, chopping wood, eating plenty of potatoes and sausage.
Running Away to Home is a fun, down-to-earth book about reconnecting with family no matter where you search for them.
The writing is very good and though it's difficult, at times, to read the names of people and places in Croatian, there is a glossary at the end with the phonetic pronunciations.
I really enjoyed the book. It's one of those feel-good reads.
Recommended.

2011-10-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

THE STORY OF CHARLOTTE'S WEB : E. B. WHITE'S ECCENTRIC LIFE IN NATURE AND THE BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
by Michael Sims

Charlotte's Web has sold millions of copies. It's the best children's book ever published in the United States according to a poll of librarians, authors, teachers, and publishers. Since 2010, it has been translated into thirty-five languages. For a very shy man who didn't like being in the limelight, that changed abruptly with the book's publication.
Elwyn Brooks White was always happier around animals than he was with humans. Growing up in Mount Vernon, New York, there was a stable behind the house with horses, chickens, geese, and rabbits. The darkness, the strong smells, the earthiness would be his refuge.
Elwyn began writing at an early age and was transfixed by nature. When he was ten, he wrote a poem about a mouse, sent it off to a magazine and was awarded a prize for it. Very soon, he was contributing to a periodical for children and joined a whole parade of, at that time, unknown teenagers: Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, E. Vincent Millay, and others.
When Elwyn went off to Cornell University in 1917, he changed his first name to Andy because one of the college's cofounders was named Andrew and Elwyn never liked his given name.
Journalism was his calling and when he graduated, he submitted his writings to different columnists. The New Yorker would be the magazine to hire Andy in 1927 and there he would write his columns for over thirty years.
Andy would buy a farm in Maine with his wife, Katharine, (she was the editor of The New Yorker) and it's here that his imagination blossomed. Charlotte's Web would be conceived from his experiences with animals and all of his cherished memories as a child and as an adult.
What a wonderful book. Michael Sims captures all of the nuances of White's character; why the spider was called Charlotte; how he created the story (it took him six years to write); who was used as an illustrator; how natural history about arachnids was brought in.
The latter part of the book is when Andy started on his classic. It's interesting to read his sentences especially when he crosses out words but you can still see them underneath the markings. He was a perfectionist and was forever making revisions.
Besides his masterpiece, Andy wrote seventeen other books. Remember Stuart Little? And there's The Elements of Style which students use in college.
It's obvious that E. B. White was quite prolific and Sims, seamlessly, brings everything together.
Beautiful writing and a pure delight to read.
Very highly recommended.

2011-10-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT : THE SERIAL KILLER OF NAZI-OCCUPIED PARIS
by David King

For four years, during World War II, Paris was in the throes of the Nazi Occupation. The French would suffer from hunger, fear, tyranny and terror. It would become their darkest time in history. Admist all of this wretchedness, one man would inflict the most heinous crimes on the innocent. He was true evil incarnate.
On a particular night in March of 1944, thick black smoke streamed out of a town house in the fashionable district of the 16th arrondissement. The smell was especially putrid. Nobody was home and nobody could enter. Firemen were called to the scene and a window was smashed open. The horrific odor was traced to the basement where a coal stove was burning. Dismembered human body parts were scattered throughout. It got worse and there were more nightmares discovered.
The owner of this illustrious place became the instant suspect. He was Dr. Marcel Petiot who, ironically, was called "The People's Doctor" because he was kind, generous and gave free medical treatment to the poor. Supposedly, he was a member of the French Resistance (Petiot constantly bragged about that) and saved many by his vast network. He would charge an exorbitant amount of money with no questions asked of him. The evacuees were so anxious to leave that they readily agreed. They were never seen or heard from again. The number of missing persons kept increasing. At the time of Petiot's arrest, it was up to twenty-seven murders but the total, many believed, was even higher.
The trial was a total farce due to the prosecution's negligence of asking questions that missed the main points, ignoring the convoluted and contradictory answers and never seeming to be in control of the situation.
Petiot, on the other hand, was in his element. He was the star of the show being both brilliant and arrogant which the spectators ate up.
Death in the City of Light is quite a book. The amount of research (incredible details) is astounding. At times, it can be quite grisly but the tale is so absorbing that you cannot turn away.
If you like to read true-crime, this one is a winner.
Highly recommended.

2011-10-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

ASSASSINS OF THE TURQUOISE PALACE
by Roya Hakakian

In 1992, on a beautiful autumn evening in Berlin, eight men who were members of an Iranian and Kurdish opposition group gathered for dinner at a small restaurant. This event was something that they had all looked forward to for days. It would be short-lived. No sooner had they started eating, when two men walked in and shot twenty-six bullets in two rounds. There would be four survivors.
The next day began the guessing game concerning the perpetrators. It would not take long for the federal prosecutor to focus in on the regime of Iran. Since 1980, one year after Khomeini rose to power, a list was created for "enemies of Islam." Anybody who was considered an opponent: artists, writers, intellectuals, political activists were silenced, thrown in prison or executed. A total of five hundred people were being hunted down all over the world.
The eventual trial would last four years and the verdict caused quite a shake-up.
The book is superb with both riveting and beautiful writing. I was captivated from just reading the first page. Author Roya Hakakian is a Persian poet and her previous book, a memoir, "Journey To The Land Of No" is gorgeous and lyrical. So, she obviously knows how to dazzle the senses.
Not to be missed.
Very highly recommended.

2011-10-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC : A TALE OF MADNESS, MEDICINE, AND THE MURDER OF A PRESIDENT
by Candice Millard

Four months after being shot by a crazed individual named Charles Guiteau and close to death, James A. Garfield wondered what kind of legacy he would leave behind as the president of the United States. Had he lived, he could have been, most likely, the best man to ever serve in the White House. Up until this time, his life had been truly extraordinary. Born into abject poverty (his father died when Garfield was barely two years old) his mother instilled dignity, an incredible work ethic and a solid educational background in him. This would be his backbone.
As a student, he loved to be challenged and was always pushing himself. Garfield turned out to be quite a scholar. When he couldn't pay the tuition for his schooling during his first year, he worked as a janitor. By the second year, Garfield was promoted to assistant professor and taught literature, mathematics, and ancient languages along with three other subjects.
His brilliance continued when he became a general in the Union Army and won an important battle. Soon after, Garfield was elected to Congress. He fought for the equality of freed slaves.
His speeches were legendary. People would listen spellbound, so when he took the podium at the Republican National Convention in 1880 to nominate John Sherman for the presidency, his oratorical skills so completely captivated the audience that at the end of the speech, they were screaming for him not Sherman. Their reaction stunned him. He tried to put them off to no avail.
Garfield was nominated and won the presidency most reluctantly.
What a tremendous book! The writing is absolutely superb. Candice Millard captures everything that went on during that time period so astutely and you just cannot stop reading nor do you want to. There's so much fascinating information that will not be divulged but here are some tidbits: the doctors who treated Garfield and what they did and did not do is very disturbing and appalling; Alexander Graham Bell attempts to save the president (not by the telephone) and works long hours trying to perfect his latest invention; the madman's reason of why he shot the president; the political infighting behind the scenes.
If you're a history nut or just want to be blown away by exceptional storytelling, get a copy of this book. You won't be disappointed.
Very highly recommended.

2011-09-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

THE ARROGANT YEARS : ONE GIRL'S SEARCH FOR HER LOST YOUTH, FROM CAIRO TO BROOKLYN
by Lucette Lagnado

Four years ago, Lucette Lagnado wrote The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit which was a portrait of her father, Leon, who walked the boulevards of Cairo so proud of himself and of what he had accomplished. The book was a terrific story and now a follow-up memoir has just been published.
In The Arrogant Years, Lucette writes about her mother, Edith and herself. Edith grew up in Old Cairo rather poor. There was no father (he had left early on) and Edith's mother, Alexandra, obsessively doted on her daughter. A lover of French literature, Edith would become a schoolteacher and a librarian. She was beautiful, vibrant, intelligent and charming and caught the eye of a much older man one day in a cafe. They got married and she had to give up her career much to her dismay.
By the early 1950s, the political situation had changed in Egypt. King Farouk was forced to abdicate. The Jews were terrified (under the kings they were protected) and started leaving the country in droves.
Lucette was born during the chaos in 1956. Seven years later, the entire family would try and rebuild the hearth in New York. Being an immigrant in a new country was tough and Lagnado tried desperately to fit in. Her many trials and tribulations (at the age of sixteen, she would be quite ill with Hodgkin's lymphoma) only made her that much stronger. While her confidence grew, her parents' struggles deepened.
I didn't want this book to end, at all. I read everything even the Acknowledgments which, most times, are long-winded with a million names. She makes it interesting breaking sections up by countries because the people who helped in her research were all over the world.
Lagnado is a wonderful writer and really knows how to showcase a family's history with such honesty and emotion.
Very highly recommended.

2011-09-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

FINDING EVERETT RUESS : THE LIFE AND UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCE OF A LEGENDARY WILDERNESS EXPLORER
by David Roberts

Seventy-seven years after disappearing from the face of the earth, Everett Ruess has become somewhat of a cult figure. For five years, he wandered around the Southwest in the early part of the 1930s, by himself, with two burros. His voyages would last for several months. Ruess was quite young when he started at the age of fifteen. He was so passionate about the wilderness that he wrote, painted and did engravings about it. His dream was to live independently and to showcase his art. In 1934, Ruess vanished. What remains are letters, journals, poems and artwork. Ironically, the fame that he pursued as a vagabond is very much alive and he has quite a following. But it's the mystery of what happened to him that is the most puzzling and theories abound.
I thought this book was terrific. It's extremely well written and quite readable. In no time at all, you are absorbed in the tale. The author has a background in writing about adventure and history (22 books) and he does justice with this one.
Recommended.

2011-09-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

THE LONG NIGHT : WILLIAM L. SHIRER AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH

It's still known as "The Big Book" (over 1,000 pages) and when it was published in 1960 one million copies were sold. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich would become William L. Shirer's one true masterpiece and it would sustain him, financially, for the rest of his life. (He wrote it because he had no solid employment and needed money, badly.) The way Shirer envisioned it, nobody else could could produce such a monumental tome on the Nazis' rise to power and then their ultimate defeat. He lived it, in Berlin, for six years broadcasting all of the important events working for CBS news.
Shirer would never have imagined that one day he would become the first American reporter giving eyewitness accounts of the German Army's conquests in Austria (the annexation), France (the armistice), and anything else that showed Germany's superiority. People all over the world listened to the broadcasts. What Shirer read, though, was not what what he had originally planned to say. He would write up a script and the censors would cross out just about everything. Shirer wanted to speak the truth but instead most of what came out of his mouth were lies: sheer propaganda. It drove him crazy. Fortunately, he was able to document anything that he heard either from officials or other foreign correspondents via letters and journals. He kept a diary in which he laid out his true feelings (most of this would be used in his master work).
In The Long Night Steve Wick was able to recreate William Shirer's incredible experience by using his collection of papers held at the library of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa ( Shirer's alma mater). The book is both an eye-opener and a page-turner.
Recommended.

2011-09-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

WE IS GOT HIM : THE KIDNAPPING THAT CHANGED AMERICA
by Carrie Hagen

1874 was a pivotal year for Philadelphia. The city was going to host America's centennial celebration. They were thrilled to have taken it away from New York. Amidst the planning stages, a horrific crime took place that almost derailed the historic event.
Charley Ross was playing in his front yard, in Germantown, when he was kidnapped (enticed by candy). The following day the first of many (23) ransom notes arrived demanding $20,000.
For months the police in both Philadelphia and New York searched for the little boy (four years old) inspecting every building. The public was only able to follow the news via newspapers and the search became nationwide.
Carrie Hagen does a tremendous job in laying out the characters, showing the ineptitude of the police force, the despair of the family, the frightened hysteria of the citizens, the depravity of the criminals. Some great tidbits concerning the origins of Germantown and other parts of Philadelphia are woven into several chapters.
There's eight pages of black-and-white illustrations and the Appendix gives the unabridged versions of all the ransom letters.
She is got me. From page one to the end, I was hooked.
Very highly recommended.

2011-08-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

NOTHING DAUNTED : THE UNEXPECTED EDUCATION OF TWO SOCIETY GIRLS IN THE WEST
by Dorothy Wickenden

In 1916, two close friends from childhood, Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamund Underwood, left their home in Auburn, New York to teach in Elkhead, Colorado. Their actions scandalized family and friends because they were "society girls" and were expected to settle down and marry well, not gallivant off to the Wild West. They were bored with their cosseted life and were ready for adventure. Neither of them had ever taught before yet they were up to the challenge.
Dorothy and Rosamund lived with a homesteading family and rode on horseback to the school every day even in blizzards; deflected amorous cowboys who hoped to marry them; learned how to break up fights amongst contrary children.
Until the end of their lives, they never forgot that year and how it influenced them.
Author Dorothy Wickenden (granddaughter of Dorothy Woodruff) found letters (written almost one hundred years ago) in an old desk and from these she wrote the story of the women's incredible journey.
I did not want this book to end. The writing is superb and Wickenden captures the picture of the American West succinctly. Life was hard but the two women embraced the environment that surrounded them and in turn the lives of the children and their families were enriched.
Very highly recommended.

2011-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

STEALING REMBRANDTS : THE UNTOLD STORIES OF NOTORIOUS ART HEISTS
by Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg

Rembrandt van Rijn is the most stolen artist in history. He put out over 2,000 pieces of which 80 of them have been taken from museums, galleries and private homes. Rembrandt was quite prolific because he worked in three mediums: oil paintings, drawings, and metal etchings. Everything that he produced encompassed Dutch life in the seventeenth century. Whatever he saw would become a work of art: autopsied bodies, children playing, hangings, beggars, hay farmers, artisans, blacksmiths, etc.
He had such an eye for detail. His portraits are superb. The faces are not flat but are full of emotion and you can see the creases in the forehead, the lines in the cheeks, the cleft in the chin. Due to the fact that he painted anything, his art is very recognizable and encourages theft.
Stealing Rembrandts is quite interesting. You are taken on a tour around the world at all of the locations where the heists took place; how the robbers planned their M.O. (Motive of Operation); how museums that are steeped in security are still stymied by multiple break-ins; the investigations of the police, the FBI and INTERPOL. There's actually an interview between one of the authors, Tom Mashberg, with Myles J. Connor Jr., a well-known art thief. Museums should take notice and pay close attention.
Even if you're not well-versed in art, this book will definitely keep your interest afloat. Some historical information about Rembrandt's life is included and to make it even more appropriate, his home in Amsterdam has been robbed numerous times.
The other author, Anthony Amore, is head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum (they had thirteen works of art stolen back in 1990 that have never been recovered) and is very knowledgeable about the shady dealings of priceless masterworks.
Amore and Mashberg did a great job in presenting all of the information. There's even a website for updates and more details: www.StealingRembrandts.com.
A very good read.
Recommended.

2011-08-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

THE PERFECT NAZI : UNCOVERING MY GRANDFATHER'S SECRET PAST
by Martin Davidson

What did Bruno Langbehn do during World War II? For the family, it was always a deep, embarrassing secret. Not until he died was the truth finally discovered by author Martin Davidson, his grandson.
Bruno's childhood was heavily influenced by the military. Columns of marching soldiers were a part of his life right outside his window. His indoctrination began with the uniform. School lessons were mostly about fighting in wars. By the time World War I was over and with the humiliation of Germany's defeat, Bruno knew that he wanted to join some kind of group that could give him the fulfillment that he needed.
On May 17, 1926, Bruno joined the Nazi Party at the age of nineteen. He also affiliated himself with the SA (storm troopers). Several years later, Bruno would be in the SS.
His fanaticism, egotistical views, unwavering support for National Socialism and unrepentant attitude lived on within him until his last dying day.
The Perfect Nazi is both an important and disturbing book. Davidson is a terrific writer and seamlessly weaves together the history of the two world wars. (His background is an editor for the BBC and has produced many documentaries.)
Anyone who is interested in the Third Reich must read this story.
Recommended.

2011-07-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

SEASON TO TASTE : HOW I LOST MY SENSE OF SMELL AND FOUND MY WAY
by Molly Birnbaum

Although she majored in art history while in college, Molly Birnbaum spent most of her time reading cookbooks and checking out recipes on the Internet. Being a chef was her passion. Before being trained at the Culinary Institute of America, she got a job at a restaurant and started to learn the true basics in the preparation of food. Molly loved being challenged. Soon she would get more than she bargained for.
While out running, Birnbaum was hit by a car: her pelvis was broken, her knee totally torn up and her skull was fractured (it went through the windshield). Everything eventually healed except her sense of smell. There went her dreams of being a great cook. If she can't smell, she can't taste.
Birnbaum goes to doctors who tell her that there is no hope, no medications, that she has to live with her loss. Not content with this news, she visits scientists who study olfaction and pheromones; meets neuroscientists, one of them being Oliver Sacks; goes to a flavor lab in New Jersey; and takes a two week course in southern France at a renowned perfume school. She is determined to understand what is going on with her nose and how to compensate.
Who knew how important scent is in our lives? Just reading about her descriptions of rosemary, cinnamon and lavender and how the brain processes each molecule for a complete entity is fascinating. Never take your nose for granted.
Birnbaum's writing is superb. Her perseverance and strength brought her success. She changed careers but didn't lose her love of cooking and can obviously do each one quite well.
Recommended.

2011-07-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

CHASING APHRODITE : THE HUNT FOR LOOTED ANTIQUITIES AT THE WORLD'S RICHEST MUSEUM
by Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino

Museums have dirty little secrets and American ones are the worst offenders. For years, they spent millions of dollars buying classical art that was stolen from ancient tombs in Greece and Italy. Curators dealt with deceptive middlemen, smugglers and corrupt art dealers. The objects had fake histories of ownership (known as provenance) and would be displayed with a short commentary of where the piece originated, how old it was, and where it was bought from. Everything was a lie. The CEOs, the directors, the board members, all knew that the antiquities were looted and yet they approved the purchases. All they cared about was buying the next big masterpiece.
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles took center stage with their acquisitions. Over forty years, they spent an enormous fortune to get a bronze athlete, a funerary wreath and many others. The seven-and-a-half-foot statue of Aphrodite would cause the Getty's demise and create a huge scandal.
Felch and Frammolino are investigative reporters and they did a heck of a job exposing what goes on behind the scenes that the public never gets to see. What they found, through their intensive research, is astonishing. Over and over again, antiquities were bought, illegally, and international laws were violated through greed, arrogance, hypocrisy and deception.
Chasing Aphrodite is a terrific read. It's quite a tale and will make you think twice the next time you walk into a museum.
Recommended.

2011-06-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

MY KOREAN DELI : RISKING IT ALL FOR A CONVENIENCE STORE
by Ben Ryder Howe

A preppy editor who works for George Plimpton's Paris Review is married to a Korean-American, a former corporate lawyer. The two of them live in the in-laws' basement (in Staten Island) so that they can save money and get their own place some day. Gab, the editor's wife, decides to give her mother a gift for what she had sacrificed in coming to America. They blow thirty thousand dollars and buy a deli in Brooklyn.
From looking to find the right store, dealing with the customers and the regulations, it's enough to make you never want to buy one in the first place.
Kay, the mother-in-law, is one tough cookie whose energy level is nonstop; Dwayne (he came with the store) is a great employee but very rough around the edges; Gab, so devoted to her mother, will keep the store open during a blizzard while everyone around them is closed. As for Ben, he thinks that the whole idea is terrific but when it comes to the cash register he's all thumbs.
My Korean Deli is both a funny and quirky book. Between residing in someone else's basement where people just barge in without knocking, learning about Korean culture and the characters that congregate in the deli makes for very enjoyable reading.
Recommended.

2011-06-25T07:27:00.001-07:00

HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY : A FAMILY'S PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, ONE MEAL AT A TIME
by Amy Finley

Back in 2007, Amy Finley sent in an audition tape for season three of The Next Food Network Star totally on a whim. She was a professional cook and stayed home with the kids while her husband worked. Amy thought her life was mundane and decided to try something different. She was stunned when she won but only did six shows and then walked away from it. Why? Her French husband, Greg, was not happy and didn't want her to do this in the first place because of the celebrity status and their life being open to prying eyes. He wants her home with the children and their marriage falters. So, to revive and reunite, Amy suggests they move everyone to France (that is where, after all, she and Greg first met). Ironically, he is the one who paid for her cooking classes from hard-earned money.
They live in the Burgundy region in an old farmhouse and food, of course, is the central theme. Traveling all over rural France savoring the known specialties of the different regions, you salivate with every bite. Upon their return to their rustic abode, Amy cooks what she ate on their adventures.
Amy's writing is terrific. Besides talking about the cuisine, she describes the towns, the history, the people and how the way of life that used to be is disappearing. Modernization is taking over (one store, called Picard, sells only frozen food), raw cheese is falling by the wayside with the old-timers hanging up their aprons and retiring, many products are not even produced in France and are now being imported (aghast!) from China and elsewhere and restaurants that used to be creme de la creme are now only mediocre with indifferent waitstaff.
If you're a foodie, you'll love diving in. There are no exact recipes printed but Amy describes how she prepares the cuisine so that you get the gist of what to do.
Absolutely delicious and a wonderful read.
Recommended.

2011-06-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

EVERY DAY BY THE SUN : A MEMOIR OF THE FAULKNERS OF MISSISSIPPI
by Dean Faulkner Wells

She came from a family of murderers, racists, thieves and liars. Sprinkled in that midst was an FBI agent, a president of a bank, a builder of a narrow gauge railroad, a lawyer, authors and four pilots (all brothers). They were all bred in Mississippi. The most famous relative was William Faulkner, the author's uncle. He always tried to keep the family together by hosting gatherings at his home. As is obvious from the first sentence, they didn't get along too well with one another. They couldn't even agree on the spelling of their last name: Falkner, Faulkner, or Fa(u)lkner.
Dean Faulkner Wells never knew her father. He died four months before she was born in a plane crash. She was named for him. The oldest brother, William, took on the responsibility of helping to raise his niece. "Pappy" would give her security, love, emotional stability and much wisdom.
Every Day by the Sun is a marvelous story. Writing is most definitely in the genes. Not having known much about the Faulkner family (they kept to themselves and protected their privacy), in this book you are given a wide glimpse into what made them tick.
There are two family trees printed at the beginning and the author pretty much covers all of the main characters and their fascinating history. Although William Faulkner is the one individual people are the most interested in (besides his many novels for which he won a Nobel Prize, he also was a screenwriter for MGM), the rest of the gang are equally entertaining.
The book is sad, funny and a delight to read.
Highly recommended.

2011-06-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

THE MAN IN THE ROCKEFELLER SUIT : THE ASTONISHING RISE AND SPECTACULAR FALL OF A SERIAL IMPOSTER
by Mark Seal

How far could somebody with the name Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter accomplish himself in America? The only way would be to change yourself completely, become, say, a Rockeller (Clark) and make up all these brilliant stories so that everyone would just gravitate to you.
Over thirty years ago, a German seventeen-year-old left Bavaria and came to the United States posing as a foreign exchange student. His documents were dubious and would continue to be so. Along the way, he began changing both his name(s), professions and stories deceiving all who came across his path. Gerhartsreiter was quite a con man slipping in and out of identities like a chameleon. He would charm wealthy widows and promise them the world; work in the financial field trading bonds; had an art collection worth millions of dollars. His living arrangements were always bizarre: no furniture except lawn chairs in beautiful, expensive townhouses. He would brag about his collection of antique cars yet he drove an old broken-down jalopy without a driver's license.
For twelve years, he was married to a very successful business woman who believed everything he said even though she thought he was eccentric. (He had no Social Security number and no checking account.) Alas, his deception finally came to an end when he kidnapped their daughter (he and his wife were divorced by this time).
What a story and what an ingenious mind! How this man used people to get what he wanted and their gullibility worked to his advantage. "Rockefeller" lied his way from California, to Connecticut, New York and finally to Boston. There are so many ridiculous tales he told that if he tried any of this stuff, in today's world, nobody would believe him.
Gerhartsreiter would change information about his parents, constantly. One minute his father was an industrialist and his mother an archeologist. The next day, his parents died in a car crash. Or, his mother was an actress and they lived in Virginia.
He bragged about going to Yale at the age of fourteen; said that Lord Mountbatten was a cousin (this is when his name was Christopher Mountbatten); claimed to have produced movies and worked with Alfred Hitchcock; etc.
If you like true crime, you must read this book. The author interviewed two hundred people who would have had contact with the imposter.
There are numerous photographs so you can see what he looks like. In many of them, he is actually trying to disguise himself.
Very well-written and quite a page-turner. You won't be disappointed.
Highly recommended.

2011-06-12T17:06:00.001-07:00

TREASURES FROM THE ATTIC : THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF ANNE FRANK'S FAMILY
by Mirjam Pressler

In 2001, in the attic of a home in Basel, Switzerland, a treasure trove of over six thousand documents consisting of letters, photographs, poems, telegrams, drawings and postcards was discovered by Gertrude Elias, wife of Buddy. The historical significance was tremendous due to the fact that all of this correspondence had to do with the Frank family. Buddy Elias was Anne Frank's cousin. His mother, Helene or Leni, as she was known, was Otto Frank's sister.
The Frank family was very close-knit. There were four siblings: three brothers and one sister. They all enjoyed writing letters to each other and were quite good with composing poetry. Even as the family became separated and the children lived elsewhere, they all continued to correspond. Then, World War II began and the letter writing became one-sided. Whatever was sent to Amsterdam was not answered for two years. The Elias family had no idea that Otto Frank, his wife, Edith and their daughters, Anne and Margot were in hiding from the Nazis.
A year and a half later, when the war was over, Otto came to Switzerland for a three-week visit, alone. It was quite a reunion.
Treasures From the Attic is a fascinating read because you learn about the rest of Anne Frank's family that you never knew about. It actually starts with ancestors back in the 1700s (there is an extensive family tree in the back of the book), discusses their lives and how they influenced the generations to come.
When Otto Frank discovered Anne's diary in the Secret Annex and read it, he was stunned. He realized that he never really knew who his daughter was having always treated her like a child. Her diary revealed another side to her: maturity, intelligence, sensitivity and sympathy to all mankind. Otto decided to have the diary published to let the world see the gift that his daughter had.
There are many photographs of the entire family including Anne and Margot when they were young and when they became teenagers. When I look at the girls, I start tearing up. It was such a tragedy. Otto survived while Edith and her daughters were murdered in the concentration camps.
Being able to read the original letters, translated from German into English, you get a rich portrait of what shaped Anne Frank and you get to experience her warm, wonderful, tremendous family.
Recommended.

2011-06-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

THE GREATER JOURNEY : AMERICANS IN PARIS
by David McCullough

They came from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Louisiana, Ohio, North Carolina and almost all of the twenty-four states. Having never crossed the Atlantic before, these Americans were determined to have a new and different life in Paris between the years 1830 and 1900. They were almost all men, except for a few intrepid women; some came with their entire families, some came alone. Having accomplished so much, already, in America, their dreams were to be even more successful in the City of Light.
Medical student Oliver Wendell Holmes and Elizabeth Blackwell (the first female doctor in America) would learn from retired practicing doctors attending patients in twelve hospitals; writer James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel F.B. Morse (the best of friends) would go every day to the Louvre where Morse would paint his masterpiece (he didn't come up with the idea of the telegraph until he returned home); the American ambassador Elihu Washburne remained at his post during the Franco-Prussian war and the horrible Siege of Paris when the Germans invaded and kept an incredible diary of these events.
Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gardens, the painters Mary Cassatt (she was from Philadelphia although born in western Pennsylvania) and John Singer Sargent, were three of the greatest American artists ever and would flourish and be greatly accepted by Paris and its people.
Author David McCullough writes about so many people but highlights their brilliance, prowess, and creativity. He really knows how to tell a story. I have learned an incredible amount of history from the time span and the adventures that our countrymen went through. Paris enriched their lives and affected each and every one of them.
There are scores of paintings and sculptures throughout the book (Samuel Morse's painting is astounding) in both color and black-and-white with photographs of artists, historians, the Eiffel Tower, scenes of Paris, etc.
Phenomenal research is on display here. A truly stupendous read.
Very highly recommended.

2011-05-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

AN EXCLUSIVE LOVE : A MEMOIR
by Johanna Adorjan

Vera and Istvan were Hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust (they were both interred at Mauthausen). Istvan never spoke about it when asked. They left Budapest in 1956 due to the Soviet Invasion and went to Denmark. There were many immigrants from Hungary and the Danish citizens welcomed them quite warmly. It seems that Vera and Istvan were quite happy in their new environment and didn't have too much trouble adjusting. They learned the language, acquired a dog named Mitzi, entertained, gardened, and listened to classical music. But all was not to be.
In 1991, the couple was found in their bed, hands entwined. They had committed suicide together.
Granddaughter and author, Johanna Adorjan, tries to reconstruct the last day of their lives. She interviews relatives, friends and neighbors who knew her grandparents much more than she did, herself. Johanna only has fleeting memories.
Istvan was a doctor, Vera a physiotherapist. They did quite well and lived comfortably: a nursemaid for their children, a cook, fancy cars, plenty to eat. This changed when they had to leave Hungary.
Those who knew Istvan said that he was introverted and didn't reveal too much. He absolutely adored his wife and would never do anything contrary to upset her. They were inseparable.
Vera lived for her husband. On the surface, she seemed happy but in reality, she was not and was very insecure thinking that nobody loved her.
When Vera was in her seventies and still quite healthy, her husband, in his eighties, was declining. He was getting worse by the day and his breathing was labored. The thought of living without him was not something she would even consider even though the family invited her to stay with them.
So, the two of them made a pact to commit suicide. Vera bought the book Final Exit which she followed, meticulously. Istvan wrote out the prescription. They gave the dog away. She cleaned the house from top to bottom and baked a cake. The doors were locked. Vera left all the lights on. They were discovered four days later.
Who would have thought that a story about a couple who take their own lives could be so powerful? The way it is written in exquisite, simple prose makes the tale both intense and beautiful. The book is not very long (under 200 pages) and it doesn't take long to read. It's very hard to stop.
Theirs was a quite a romance both in life and in death.
Highly recommended.

2011-05-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

AL JAFFEE'S MAD LIFE
by Mary-Lou Weisman

Al Jaffee has been an icon at MAD since 1955 and is still going strong at the age of eighty-nine. The magazine drips with adult hypocrisy and has been read by three generations of American children (including yours truly) and continues to delight many more. Who better to create such satire than Al? His life is pretty much like one large comic strip.
Jaffee's parents were from Lithuania and when they first came to the United States, they lived in New York. Then they moved to Savannah, Georgia because Al's father, Morris, became the manager of a large department store. He did very well, but the same could not be said for his wife, Mildred. She never adjusted.
In 1927, Mildred uprooted all four sons and transported them and herself back to Lithuania. Jaffee was six years old. They went from having indoor plumbing, electricity and plenty of food to eat to a shtetl from the nineteenth-century and had to deal with outhouses, extreme hunger and abuse. Two years later, Morris, would come to rescue them (he lost his job due to the expense of bringing everybody home). In little more than a year, Mildred brought them back again to Lithuania and stayed there for four years. They would return to America without their mother and the youngest son, David.
While in Lithuania, his father would send the boys cartoon strips that left them enthralled. Morris was talented in his own right (too bad he didn't use it). He could replicate anything that he saw. His two oldest sons inherited his incredible artistic gift.
When Al came back to America, for good, it was quite an adjustment. He spoke with a Yiddish accent and was constantly ridiculed. The teachers saw his amazing abilities, though, and when he attended New York City's High School of Music and Art, his life changed for the best.
Somehow, Jaffee retained his tremendous sense of humor all through his tumultuous childhood and beyond.
What a story! Amidst such angst and suffering, there is plenty to laugh at. The entire book is illustrated by Jaffee so you can see what he went through in his artwork. The pages are very heavy and glossy but it's well worth it to see what he produced. Truly outstanding, very visual, and with meticulous detail, the pictures literally jump out at you.
It's a very fast read (I finished the book in two days) and the author did a tremendous job in her biography of a man who survived a horrendous, dysfunctional life and still came out ahead.
Recommended.

2011-05-18T12:04:00.001-07:00

IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS : LOVE, TERROR, AND AN AMERICAN FAMILY IN HITLER'S BERLIN
by Erik Larson

William E. Dodd was a mild-mannered professor at the University of Chicago from 1909 to 1933. He loved history and was an authority on the American South. Eventually he hoped to finish a four-volume series, but time constraints and duties always got in the way. Dodd felt that he was stagnating at the university and thought that his career needed an uplift. He got it. Franklin D. Roosevelt chose Dodd to be America's first ambassador to Germany in 1933.
The entire family goes: Dodd, his wife, Mattie, his son, Bill, and his daughter, Martha. Dodd is a very humble man and prefers to not to live in a luxurious environment. He is so frugal that he brings over his old Chevy from America but will never drive it. Dodd leaves that to his son. He prefers to walk to work every day and he is constantly teased about that from his staffers. Their residence is a mansion with four floors (the family lives in the first three) and it's actually quite beautiful.
While Dodd is acclimating himself to Germany (he speaks the language fluently), his daughter, Martha, is totally enamored by the country and its inhabitants. She has no morals, goes to many parties and has one affair after the other, one of which will be with Rudolf Diels, the chief of the Gestapo. She will become quite an embarrassment to the family and the German government who keep tabs on her.
That first year will become quite pivotal because that is when Hitler becomes chancellor. Subtly and then, not so subtly, the climate changes as freedoms are restricted, rules are enforced, Americans are attacked for not bearing the Hitler salute, Jews are persecuted, the press is censored and new frightening laws are instituted.
In the Garden of Beasts is quite a tremendous story. I was riveted from the first page to the last. You get a true glimpse of what Berlin was like at that period of time.
Erik Larson fleshes out the weird and dangerous personalites of Hitler, Goring and Goebbels in such a way, that it literally makes you shudder.
I thought the title of the book was very appropriate. The family lived across the street from the Tiergarten, a beautiful park, which was really the only place anybody could go and not be watched and to have a private conversation. The name means "animal garden" or "garden of the beasts." Yet, all of Berlin would become paralyzed from the Nazis, the SS, and the Storm Troopers who would behave like monstrous beasts and terrorize the citizens.
Truly a superb narrative of a horrible time in history brilliantly written.
Very highly recommended.

2011-05-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

SACRED TREASURE, THE CAIRO GENIZAH : THE AMAZING DISCOVERIES OF FORGOTTEN JEWISH HISTORY IN AN EGYPTIAN SYNAGOGUE ATTIC
by Mark Glickman

In Jewish law, it is forbidden to discard any sacred document. Words are powerful, especially those of the Torah. They must be handled with great care. In order to preserve Hebrew books and papers, they should be kept in a repository, such as a designated room in a synagogue called a genizah. Whatever was kept here would be safe, even though they were unusable. Originally, only documents bearing the names of God were allowed then any document with Hebrew on it.
From the tenth through the nineteenth centuries, the Ben Ezra Synagogogue, in Cairo (a Jewish community thrived and flourished here back in the day), stored an amazing collection of sacred scraps. It was a dark room in the attic. Scarcely anybody knew that these papers existed.
If it wasn't for Rabbi Solomon Schecter, the importance of what he found would have completely disintegrated in a matter of time.
Some of the incredible finds were: early copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls; the last letter to Moses Maimonides from his brother David who was lost at sea; twelfth century Jewish sheet music composed by an Italian priest who converted to Judaism; the list continues.
Sacred Treasure is one fascinating gem of a book. Mark Glickman keeps your interest from the beginning to the very last page. He reveals some really startling facts about early Jewish life that is a contradiction to what is written today in modern Jewish history, who picked up the torch from Schecter to carry on the genizah research, the scholars who wrote and published works on their discoveries, the preservationists and their methods trying to prevent parchment from crumbling into dust, and the digitization that would provide instant access to people from all over the world to instantly see ancient manscripts on the Internet.
Truly a remarkable account of a forgotten and little known period in history and a terrific read.
Recommended.

2011-04-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

MY FATHER'S FORTUNE : A LIFE
by Michael Frayn

Tom Frayn was an ordinary man who lived his life extraordinarily. He grew up in a house consisting of two rooms with six other people all of whom were extremely deaf in North London. Tom left school at the age of fourteen and became an asbestos salesman. Everyone liked him. He was smart, quick on his feet, used very interesting vocabulary and had an enchanting smile.
In a few years, he is married and then a son and a daughter are born. By the time he is middle-aged, he has lost his hearing.
Tom pulled himself out of poverty and became a self-made man. He was not much for emotions and kept his feelings to himself. Through all of his trials and tribulations, he never once complained.
My Father's Fortune is a beautiful tribute to a humble, hardworking man who never asked for much and always made do with what he had. It's both funny and sad and the writing is terrific.
Highly recommended.

2011-04-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

THE EICHMANN TRIAL
by Deborah E. Lipstadt

It was the trial of the century. All over the world, newspapers printed the event on their front pages. In May 1960, Adolph Eichmann was captured by the Mossad in Argentina and brought to Israel to be tried. When Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced this news to members of the Knesset, there was, at first, stunned silence and then joyful celebration.
Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt, a renowned Holocaust historian (she was sued for libel by Holocaust denier David Irving), writes about how Eichmann was discovered in the first place, how he was kidnapped and debunks Simon Wiesenthal's claims that he was the one responsible for helping in his capture.
In Lipstadt's analysis, she writes about the arguements over what country the trial should take place in, whether survivors should testify, the languages that were spoken, the attorneys for the prosecution and the defense, the judges (three of them) who would make their own decisions, and Eichmann, himself, who came across as ordinary looking.
Hannah Arendt would write articles for the New Yorker and the critics' responses were all over the place: magnificent, outstanding, claptrap, half-truths, brilliant, inaccurate, etc. She almost caused more controversy than the trial itself.
Though a small book, The Eichmann Trial is steeped in facts and evidence. Lipstadt clarifies and examines all that went on during this tumultuous time.
An important read of a horrendous time in history that must not be forgotten.
Recommended.

2011-03-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

ALMOST A FAMILY : A MEMOIR
by John Darnton

John never knew who his father was and his brother, Robert only had faint memories.
Byron Darnton was killed in World War II. He was a war correspondent (known to everyone as Barney) for The New York Times. Why a man with a wife and two very young sons (eleven months and two years old) would leave them to go overseas and report on the fighting, at the age of forty-four, had many people scratching their heads. The soldiers on the ship that he was on couldn't understand why he was there with them. (Barney had permission to join the forces.) John's mother tried to regroup and give her children a life worth remembering. She often spoke of Barney as this larger-than-life hero who was held in such high esteem.
When John Darnton retired from working at The New York Times (yes, he followed in his father's footsteps) in 2006, he decided, with his brother, to investigate their parents' past.
Almost a Family socks you in the jaw. It is such a powerful story. The writing is absolutely superb. Darnton has such a way with words that for much of the book, you are kept on the edge of your seat. The truth about his father is a real eye-opener.
Get this book. You won't be disappointed.
Very highly recommended.

2011-03-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

MURIEL'S WAR : AN AMERICAN HEIRESS IN THE NAZI RESISTANCE
by Sheila Isenberg

Do you remember when Lillian Hellman wrote Pentimiento back in the early 1970s? It was a collection of stories that included a portrait of a woman named "Julia" who was purported to be a friend of Hellman's. "Julia" was involved with the Austrian resistance during World War II. Hellman never knew this woman, was never a friend of hers yet she took the liberty of borrowing a life to write about it to make herself look good. Luckily, the real woman had more class.
Muriel Gardiner was born into wealth. The family of Swift and Morris were involved in the meatpacking industry in Chicago. Muriel did not know anything about the business; nobody at home ever talked about it. When she was twelve, her father died and Muriel became a millionaire inheriting $3 million (this was in 1913). By the time she went off to college and entered Wellesley, she disengaged herself from her life of luxuries. When Muriel graduated, she took a trip to Europe, studied at Oxford and then went to medical school at the University of Vienna. She became interested in psychoanalysis and although she never met Sigmund Freud, she went into therapy with a protege of his. War clouds were gathering by this time and when Hitler marched into Austria, Muriel began to help both Jews and anti-Fascists escape using both her unlimited stores of money and connections. She risked her life many times, but she had incredible courage. When she left Europe for New York, she continued to help rescue hundreds of people still trapped behind enemy lines.
Muriel Gardiner was an incredibly selfless woman and quite a hero to everyone she saved. She kept on giving to others until the day she died. Muriel financed education for aspiring students, bought homes for people in need, paid for vacations for friends and relatives; the list goes on.
Although she rebelled against her family for their wealth, she finally realized that by having an inordinate amount of money she could accomplish much more by passing it on to others in dire straits.
Sheila Isenberg has produced a book about a virtually unknown woman and has done a terrific job. Her writing is fluid and absorbing. Between the extensive number of people she interviewed who knew Muriel, the amount of archives she perused (twenty-six pages of Notes) and over one hundred books and articles, Isenberg has brought the tale of a very gutsy woman into the limelight.
Not many libraries own this book. (Pennsylvania has four copies.) I made a special request at my local library having read about it on the Internet. It's worth your while to read it.
Recommended.

2011-03-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

THE GOOD DAUGHTER : A MEMOIR OF MY MOTHER'S HIDDEN LIFE
by Jasmin Darznik

It all started with a photograph. The young girl pictured was thirteen years old and she was wearing a wedding veil. She was none too happy to start a life with a man that she barely knew who was so much older than her. It was common for the families to have these arranged marriages.
Jasmin Darznik found this photo when she was helping her mother, Lili move into a new abode in California. When Jasmin showed her mother the photograph, Lili refused to say anything. Six months later, the first tape (there would be ten, altogether) arrived in the mail and Lili's story of her previous life in Iran was revealed. It was quite tumultuous.
Males are favored much more than females in that kind of society. They are fawned over and treated like royalty and can do no wrong. The opposite sex, in the minds of the men, are only good for being a domestic servant and the earlier they are married off, the better.
And, so it was with Lili. When she was eleven years old and going to school, she was spotted by a man who decided that she was going to be his wife. (He was twenty-six at the time.) Two years later, barely an adolescent, the ceremony takes place. Lili has a daughter, Sara, at fourteen. Her life is a living hell. She is granted a divorce but is not allowed to take her daughter.
Lili goes back to school, which had been interrupted, and she soon goes to Germany to join her brother and studies to be a midwife. Her plan is to be able to support herself, go back to Iran and finally be a parent to Sara. Things don't always happen the way you want them to.
What an incredible book! I read it in two days mainly because I just could not put it down. Jasmin writes so beautifully about the women in her family and what they went through in their own personal lives.
The Good Daughter perfectly captures Iranian culture via its delectable food, the living arrangements amongst families, the age-old traditions and the inner strengths of females who are continually abused and yet always seem to rise above it.
The story captivated me until the very last page.
Highly recommended.

2011-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

THE LAST GREATEST MAGICIAN IN THE WORLD : HOWARD THURSTON VERSUS HOUDINI & THE BATTLES OF THE AMERICAN WIZARDS
by Jim Steinmeyer

"I wouldn't deceive you for the world" was a sentence that was uttered by Howard Thurston at every one of his magic performances. What the audiences saw were so complex and spectacular that they were left spellbound and completely mystified.
Thurston was a contemporary of Harry Houdini but their accomplishments were quite different. Houdini was known as an escape artist and Thurston was an illusionist. Their personalites were also disparate. Houdini was brazen and overbearing and Thurston was a true showman with a mellifluous speaking voice, who charmed both children and adults and was much more refined (at least on stage).
Thurston started his career in vaudeville performing card tricks. He soon left it behind because he wanted to expand his act and make it into one incredible extravaganza with all kinds of apparatus and multiple costumes.
For thirty years he toured all over Europe and the United States. The public couldn't get enough of him. When Hollywood started making films (a different kind of magic) that was the beginning of the end.
The Last Greatest Magician in the World is a fascinating story of a man who is considered legendary to the magicians today but virtually unknown to the rest of us. The author is no slouch in this department as he is a designer of magic illusion and has quite a portfolio. (You can read about him on www.jimsteinmeyer.com.) He describes how the illusions were performed and what went on backstage with the preparations in building everything.
You are introduced to scores of other magicians, in the book, and the rivalry that went on amongst them all.
There are some great black-and-white photographs of Thurston doing his magic, his family and fellow magicians that gives you a true flavor of the past.
A great read.
Recommended.

2011-03-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

THE WITNESS HOUSE : NAZIS AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS SHARING A VILLA DURING THE NUREMBERG TRIALS
by Christiane Kohl

When the Nuremberg trials were about to begin, in 1945, the people who were testifying needed a place to stay. The Americans requisitioned a house (the owner and her son had to sleep in the basement) and supplied all of the food. Due to the tenuous and strained circumstances (Germans high up in the hierachy and former Holocaust survivors) somebody had to come in and manage the household. Countess Ingeborg Kalnoky took the task and was able to keep everything running smoothly even though the tension was extreme.
Some people stayed for a couple of days, while others stayed for weeks. When they left, they signed a visitor's book. There were soldiers posted outside the villa. A few of the guests were under house arrest and not allowed to leave the premises. One such man was Rudolf Diels, who was the former head of the Gestapo. (All of the women found him quite charming.) Journalists, lawyers, resistance members, Goring's private secretary, Hitler's personal photographer and the Messerschmidt airplane constructor were just some of the fascinating folks that resided at the house.
I have read plenty of books on the Holocaust but I've never seen a story quite like this one before. How everyone lived together in close circumstances under one roof and were civil to one another is amazing in itself.
The author, who is German, found out about the "witness house" from her parents' boarder (he had been an interpreter during the trials) and was shown the visitors' book with all kinds of comments. She became intrigued and wanted to know more and by doing quite a bit of research was able to create a tale that almost seems more like fiction than fact.
The Witness House is quite a book. There are some great photographs of the guests, the villa, the Countess, the courtroom, Himmler, Goring, etc.
A very good and different read.
Recommended.

2011-02-12T21:56:00.001-08:00

THE ENVOY : THE EPIC RESCUE OF THE LAST JEWS OF EUROPE IN THE DESPERATE CLOSING MONTHS OF WORLD WAR II
by Alex Kershaw

Hungary was the last country, in 1944, where Adolf Eichmann planned to finish off his duty by sending the rest of the Jews to extermination camps. In just a couple of months, Eichmann had already deported half a million people to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. Before he could carry it out though, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Budapest to rescue the Jews that remained. He issued "Schutzpasses" (safe passage passes) and was able to save thousands this way. Wallenberg defied Eichmann, the other Nazis and the violent Arrow Cross and risked his own life for the safety of others. When the war was finally over, Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviets and disappeared into the gulag.
Eichmann fled and headed towards Austria. Eventually, he was captured by American soldiers who had no idea that they were holding a mass murderer (he used a false name) and was shunted around for two years in various POW camps. He escaped in 1947, got a passport and went to Argentina. Many years later, after much hunting and investigation, Eichmann was brought to Israel for trial. Justice was finally achieved.
Wallenberg was never found. His parents spent years trying to find him writing letters to Stalin and other leaders. Nobody really knows what happened to him except the Soviets and they're mum on that fact.
The Envoy is a terrific, riveting story of two men, one who was quite evil (although he said that he was only following orders) and another who had incredible courage and in the eyes of the survivors, a tremendous hero.
I have read many books on the Holocaust and about these two particular men. There's new information here (some quite startling) that I've never seen before. Alex Kershaw brings everything together, quite smoothly, from all of his sources (both documentation and interviews) for one exciting read.
Highly recommended.

2011-02-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

AMERICAN ROSE : A NATION LAID BARE : THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GYPSY ROSE LEE
by Karen Abbott

She was born with the name Ellen June but then when her sister was born, a few years later, the names were switched. When Mama Rose laid eyes on her newest child with those big, beautiful blue eyes and curls in abundance, she named her June (she would always be a baby in her mother's eyes). The eldest daughter would be named Rose Louise.
The two girls spent their childhood performing on the stage doing vaudeville. Baby June could do everything: sing, dance, act. Louise was the complete opposite. (She was creative, though, and made all of the costumes.)
Rose wanted everything for her children. She worked them to the bone (mostly June). Her tantrums with directors, producers and the like became legendary. With her daughters, she could either be loving or a raving lunatic. Eventually, June had a nervous breakdown (at the age of twelve) and two years later, she left the act and eloped.
Attention is now drawn to Louise. She didn't have any talent, wasn't terribly attractive, was overweight, but she did have long legs and the gift of gab. All Rose cared about was making money so she scouted around for someplace that would make her daughter a star. Vaudeville was pretty much dead and the only other option was burlesque. Enter "Gypsy Rose Lee."
What an amazing story! It took author Karen Abbott three years to write (one of her interviews was with Louise's sister June Havoc two years before she died).
All I ever knew about Gypsy Rose Lee was the musical that I saw as a child with Ethel Merman playing the mother's role. (The show was based on Gypsy's memoir and most of that stuff was invented.) A young girl with no talent reinvented herself to become the biggest star that America had ever seen. She hid behind this persona and it totally enveloped her.
The book captures the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, vaudeville, the Great Depression, the seedier side of life, and a whole cast of characters: Fanny Brice, Jimmy Walker, Fiorello LaGuardia, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, et al.
Running parallel to this cultural history, Abbott delves into the four Minsky brothers who brought burlesque to the people.
Spectacular pictures are scattered throughout the book and takes you back to that era.
It was quite a life and the writing transports you there. Meticulous research and nuanced details makes for an exciting read.
Highly recommended.

2011-01-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

THE MEMORY PALACE : A MEMOIR
by Mira Bartok

Norma Herr was destined for Carnegie Hall. She was a child prodigy of the piano. By the age of nineteen, she was struck with schizophrenia and Chopin was erased by madness. Norma loved her two daughters but her mental state made her, more and more, impossible to be around (she had a fear of them being raped, kidnapped, or murdered and would incessantly say that to them). No father was around (he had left when the children were quite young).
When the girls went to college, their mother's badgering did not cease. Norma would call at any time, show up at their residences or jobs and threaten sucide if they did not return home to her.
Finally, when it all became just too unbearable, Mira and her sister Rachel severed contact with their mother and changed their names to harbor their safety. (Mira's first name had been Myra and Rachel became Natalia.)
Seventeen years later, the daughters reconcile with their mother who is dying.
What a magnificent story! Mira Bartok writes in such lyrical prose. It's absolutely gorgeous. She is an artist and at the beginning of each chapter, Mira has painted an object that has to do with some aspect of the text. From Chapter 3 to the end are diary entries written by her mother. You see the brilliance with lucid moments and you also see the craziness.
Through art, writing, travel (Italy, Norway, Israel), the harrowing memories of living with insanity are revealed.
The book is honest, powerful and disturbing. Don't miss it.
Very highly recommended.

2011-01-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

THE DISCOVERY OF JEANNE BARET : A STORY OF SCIENCE, THE HIGH SEAS, AND THE FIRST WOMAN TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE
by Glynis Ridley

Herb women, through the centuries, have possessed an infinite knowledge of the curative powers of plants. Many educated men were unwilling to learn from them (call it pride) even though male botanists, druggists, and physicians relied on the supply of herbs to keep them in business. One botanist, the eminent Philibert Commerson would intentionally seek out local herb women due to his endless passion of flora. (He would acquire a medical degree but then would leave the profession and immerse himself totally in the field of plants much to his father's distress.)
In 1765, Commerson was asked to join an expedition which would be known as the first French circumnavigation of the world. As he would be collecting a vast array of resources, he would need an assistant.
Jeanne Baret, a twenty-six-year-old herb woman who had met Commerson, worked and lived with him (she became his mistress), wanted to join the voyage. Women were not allowed so she disguised herself as a young teenage boy and joined the crew of 330 men.
How a poor working-class woman survived amongst suspicious crewmates (a pistol always at her side) with some real interesting characters aboard the ship makes for one hell of a story. She, more than Commerson, would contribute more to botany than he would even though, as a woman, those findings would be dismissed or written out of history. A newly discovered notebook written in Baret's own handwriting has proven that she was a scientist in her own right. (One of her discoveries would be the bougainvillea which was named after the commander of the ship.)
Through scrupulous research author Glynis Ridley has pulled a virtual unknown botanist from the original journals of French naval officers and published works to the forefront.
Truly the first woman to sail around the world, Baret had an incredible amount of courage, strength and stamina to persevere through all kinds of trials.
A great read.
Recommended.

2011-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

THE SECRET OF CHANEL NO. 5 : THE INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS PERFUME
by Tilar J. Mazzeo

Within the fragance industry, it's known as le monstre: the monster. For ninety-one years, this particular perfume has had a life of its own. Considered to be the world's most seductive scent and bought by millions, Chanel No. 5 is known as the most famous and successful perfume ever created. The brilliant, flawed woman who created it would be unbelievably wealthy until the end of her life.
Gabrielle Chanel grew up as an orphan (her mother had died of tuberculosis) in a convent for girls. It was not a happy time for her, but it would define her future. Here, in Aubazine, France is where she learned to sew, where her keen scent took root (smells of cleanliness and flowers abounded), and where numbers were mystical to her (numerology was embedded in the ancient architecture).
At the age of eighteen, Gabrielle left the small village for the big city of Moulins (near Paris) and began work as a shopgirl and seamstress. She started meeting men who took her out to the cabarets which were pretty provocative. Gabrielle loved the shows so much that she decided to make a career of it herself. Her famous nickname, Coco, would be coined at this time. Soon enough, Coco Chanel would meet the first of many lovers (most supported her financially) who let her open up her own shop making hats and ten years later this less than astute businesswoman would launch Chanel No. 5.
What a terrific story! It's hard to believe that a perfume could be so interesting, but in Mazzeo's deft writing, you can't stop reading. Why the number five was used, how the scent was determined, where the specific elements were to be found, who made the formula and several pages discussing the chemistry of fragrance molecules called aldehydes keeps your eyes fixated on the pages.
While the perfume was exemplary, Coco Chanel was embroiled in controversies. During WWII, she had a Nazi lover and was accused of being a collaborator (Coco was a virulent anti-Semite). How ironic that she would sign away her rights to two Jewish brothers (Les Parfums Chanel) so that the perfume could be marketed in America and elsewhere.
A great tale that is not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

2011-01-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

NOTHING LEFT TO BURN : A MEMOIR
by Jay Varner

Denton Varner was a volunteer fire chief in McVeytown, Pennsylvania. Everyone in the community knew him. He was thought of as a hero. His dedication to the fire department was extraordinary. Before his family, that came first. Denton's priorities were screwed up. When his pager sounded, off he went whether he had been eating dinner, working or sleeping. His family thought that he was obsessed by fire and took incredible risks. Consequently, his son, Jay, never had a father that he could do things with. Fire had some kind of allure for him just as it had for Lucky, Jay's grandfather. Whenever he showed up, Jay always felt uneasy and was afraid of him. He had reason to. Lucky was a serial arsonist.
What a legacy.
Nothing Left to Burn is a powerful memoir. It's both honest and painful. The writing is beautiful. A fast read (only took me two days) because you cannot put this book down. I loved it.
Very highly recommended.

2011-01-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

THE INVISIBLE HARRY GOLD : THE MAN WHO GAVE THE SOVIETS THE ATOM BOMB
by Allen M. Hornblum

The qualifications to be a Soviet spy are: above-average intelligence, very good memory, detail-oriented, extremely motivated and a large capacity to lie. All of these attributes encompassed Harry Gold who spent fifteen years as an espionage agent supplying the Soviet Union with both industrial and military secrets. Physicist Klaus Fuchs, who worked on the atom bomb, gave Gold the plans which were then handed over to the Russians.
Gold was arrested in 1950 and spilled the beans. His testimony and confession were huge. Forty-nine people were named and brought to justice. His knowledge of all the Americans who had spied for the USSR during the 1930s and 1940s was a godsend to the FBI. For all of Gold's willingness to comply with the government, coming clean and telling everything he knew, his sentencing was severe.
How and why an innocuous, mild-mannered, shy, introverted, chemist became a master spy is finally brought to light in The Invisible Harry Gold. Scrupulous research from archives, congressional hearings, articles, books (sixty-one pages of Notes) plus interviews and a comprehensive Index shows that this is a serious portrait of a gullible man who went down the wrong path so that he could help out his family in a time of need.
An important read that is a real eye-opener. There has been no other book ever written on Harry Gold before. If you're nuts about spies, you won't be disappointed.
Recommended.

2010-12-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

MY READING LIFE
by Pat Conroy

His mother turned him on to books at a very early age. She could tell stories like nobody else and was a voracious reader. At the age of five, she read him Gone with the Wind (it was this book that made him become a "Southern" novelist). Her voice mesmerized him by the way she spoke the words with her Georgian inflection. He then became so enthralled with the English language that he began to keep notebooks of words taken from other books that so entranced him.
Reading saved Pat Conroy's hellish life. Writing took him to another level.
My Reading Life is about who and what influenced him to become such a passionate storyteller.
Each chapter has a different theme. His English teacher, in high school, was truly an incredible man (loved by so many) who introduced Conroy to great literature and was more of a father to him than his own; the Old New York Book Shop in Atlanta where he learned how to be a collector of antiquarian books from the owner; taking a modern poetry course taught by James Dickey (he wrote Deliverance) because a book of his poems brought Conroy to his knees.
He talks about how he came to write his own books and the stories behind them. Conroy lists authors that have swept him away, such as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. (He could easily write another whole book just on his favorite writers.)
I have never read any of Pat Conroy's books before and this one blew me away. It is unflinchingly honest and extremely personal. His writing is gorgeous. One of the last chapters in the book "Why I Write" is absolutely fabulous. How he puts words together is awe-inspiring.
He can be very funny, also, and obviously has a great sense of humor.
So, either get this book from your local library or go out and buy it. Even though the size is small, it's definitely worth the price. Superb.
Very highly recommended.

2010-12-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

PORTRAITS OF SUCCESS : CANDID CONVERSATIONS WITH 60 OVER-ACHIEVERS
by Burt Prelutsky

Not everyone knows how to interview people. You have to have the knack, technique, personality and good communication skills to extract information that is not usually forthcoming.
Being witty, having an open mind and knowing what to ask doesn't hurt, either.
Many books have been written on celebrities, but they have only scratched the surface and not dug deep enough.
In Portraits of Success author Burt Prelutsky uses his inimitable finely-tuned talents to reveal surprising facts about what makes 60 people more successful than others. They are from all walks of life, such as authors, professors, writers, athletes, ministers, governors, land developers, theater managers, etc.
Each entry is a couple of pages and is arranged alphabetically. It displays the profession, the name of the person, the birth date and a very funny paragraph about the interviewee which then leads into the question and answer format.
Their responses on their favorite book, what makes them laugh, best and worst advice they ever received, and what their fathers did for a living are truly fascinating. Whom they would choose to invite to a dinner party (eight people only), either living or dead, is revelatory.
If you like quirky stuff and are a trivia nut, there's enough here to satisfy. For example, comedian, David Steinberg, was a guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show 140 times; reporter/journalist, John Stossel, has had a stuttering problem; TV political commentator, Tony Blankley, was a child actor and taught violin.
Now, if you need an extra jolt and just can't squelch that inquisitiveness, you're in luck. Burt's previous book, The Secret of Their Success: Interviews with Legends & Luminaries, is just as rewarding and entertaining. It's set up the same way, but the beginning synopsis is made up of a couple of paragraphs. The profession is not listed in the entries; that is found in the CONTENTS pages. The questions are just as astute. Some of the entries have an addendum at the end, especially if it was the last interview ever given (Jack Lemmon, Dinah Shore, Henry Mancini).
Both books are quite enjoyable and I learned things that I wouldn't have known otherwise.
Recommended.

2010-12-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

UNBROKEN : A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE, AND REDEMPTION
by Laura Hillenbrand

He never could sit still; his energy level knew no bounds. At the age of two (sick with pneumonia), he climbed out of his bedroom window and ran down the street chased by a policeman. Later, on a train, he jumped out of the moving caboose. He was a true juvenile delinquent constantly getting into trouble with daring feats and a clever mind. Eventually his defiance and energy would be channeled into running and he began training in high school. Soon he was shattering records and his next goal was the Berlin Olympics. But then, the war came and Louis Zamperini (known as Louie) enlisted and joined the Army Air Corps (ironically, as a child, he had gone up in a plane and it scared him so much that he never wanted to have anything to do with them) learning how to be a bombardier.
In May of 1943, Louie was in a B-24 bomber looking for a lost plane. He and the rest of the crew were flying in the Green Hornet which had seen better days and should never have gone back up in the air. The engines failed and the plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. For forty-seven days, Louie and two other men drifted on a tiny raft dealing with thirst, starvation, and leaping sharks. When they finally spotted an island, they were overjoyed. It was short-lived.
Oh, my God, what a book! Seven years of research has produced quite a masterpiece. Author Laura Hillenbrand (her previous bestseller was Seabiscuit) can write a story of a forgotten hero that leaves you gasping, amazed, horrified, and inspired. It's absolutely riveting and truly a stupendous read.
Very highly recommended.

2010-12-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS
by Rebecca Skloot

Her cells have helped develop a vaccine for polio; been used for cloning, viruses; studied for appendicitis, sexually transmitted diseases; instrumental in creating medicines to treat hemophilia, leukemia; and have even gone up in space. There are billions of them in laboratories all over the world. They are known, to scientists, as HeLa cells and became the first "immortal" human cells grown in culture. The reason they are called immortal is because the cells have lived outside the body, have never died and have never stopped reproducing. They came from a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks who had cervical cancer. Before she died, in 1951, samples of her cells were taken from her tumor without her knowledge.
Twenty years after Henrietta's death, her family found out and it was not a pretty picture.
Rebecca Skloot takes the reader on an incredible journey which started for herself when she was sixteen taking biology. It was here that she first heard of Henrietta Lacks and her amazing cells. Eventually, Rebecca would meet the family and through many years of research would uncover both devastating and remarkable stuff.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a stupendous story. Although a science writer, Skloot is able to explain all the intricacies of cells in such beautiful detail.
She writes about ethics, racism, poverty, experimentation as one story and intertwines the Lacks family as another story to create one magnificent tale.
I loved this book. It made me both laugh and cry.
Not to be missed.
Very highly recommended.

2010-11-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

DISCONNECT : THE TRUTH ABOUT CELL PHONE RADIATION, WHAT THE INDUSTRY HAS DONE TO HIDE IT, AND HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY
by Devra Davis

There are five billion cell phone users in the world half of which are under the age of twenty-five. What an incredible gadget! You can listen to music, talk to anyone, anywhere, send text, photos, videos, get results from sporting events, etc. But, there is a major problem: they are not safe and have never been tested for safety. Cell phones emit microwave radiation. They can damage DNA (completely unraveled), increase memory loss, cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. Children are especially vulnerable because their brains are smaller than adults and their skulls are thinner which means that exposures to radiation can be absorbed much faster and more deeply.
Standards for cell phones, today, date back to 1993 when a hypothetical model named SAM (Standard Anthropomorphic Man) was used. SAM was six foot two inches, weighed more than two hundred pounds and had an eleven-pound head. Certainly, not your average guy. He only spoke on the cell phone for six minutes. Beyond this time, the tissues inside the brain start to heat up.
Dr. Davis, an epidemiologist, writes about how the industry suppressed earlier studies of scientists (back in the 1970s), who discovered devastating results of how cell phone radiation damages human cells. For many, it cost them their careers. The data is both disturbing and frightening.
You read about some people that survived brain tumors and others that were not so lucky.
Just about every country, except the United States, is on top of this issue by testing to reduce the amount of radiation absorption. Many of them ban the use of cell phones by children.
At the end of the book is an appendix advising people how to keep themselves and their family safe from cell phone use:
Do not keep a phone turned on next to your body all day. (Check out the manual for your cell phone. There are warnings to keep the phone away from the body.)
When texting (don't dare do this while driving) place phone on a book so it can be used as a barrier.
Don't use your phone in a train, car, or an elevator. Because the area is confined in metal, microwaves radiate out in all directions.
Turn off phone when not in use.
Only use phone for emergencies. (The six minutes still applies.)
Use a landline at home and not a cordless phone as this emits the same radiation as that of cell phones.
Disconnect is a book for everyone to read who owns a cell phone. If you're still skeptical or just want more information, check out the author's website at: www.devradavis.com.
Strongly recommended.

2010-10-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

PEARL BUCK IN CHINA : JOURNEY TO THE GOOD EARTH
by Hilary Spurling

When The Good Earth was published in 1931, it became a worldwide bestseller. Depicting the lives of illiterate rural Chinese opened the door between the American and the Chinese worlds. The author would spend the rest of her life cranking out fiction portraying the reality of the Asian people.
Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born in West Virginia in 1892 the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries.
Absalom was a mostly absent father while Carie, who had been an idealistic bride, learned to live without him and manage their ever growing brood.
Before Pearl was even two years old, the entire family moved to China. Pearl would learn to talk from Wang Amah (her nurse), play with the children of neighboring farmers, eat the simple food of the poor and therefore, considered herself to be more Chinese than American. That is until the Boxer Rebellion forced them all to flee. Many more flights would happen before Pearl finally returned to live in the United States.
Hilary Spurling has crafted a magnificently written book. I didn't really know much about Pearl Buck and what is revealed here is absolutely riveting.
Pearl Buck was a woman ahead of her time. Her life was transposed in her writings. This biography has brought her out of the shadows.
Highly recommended.

2010-09-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF WALWORTH : A TALE OF MADNESS AND MURDER IN GILDED AGE AMERICA
by Geoffrey O'Brien

Saratoga Springs, in its heyday, was a tourist destination. Its healing waters brought people there in droves. For the aristocratic, it was an exclusive club.
The Walworth family ruled over by Chancellor Reuben Hyde was the most prominent family that fit right in with the romance of the place. Judge Walworth rose to fame by his legal successes and amassed quite a fortune. While he was virtuous, strict and orderly and ran his home that way, his son, Mansfield, was the complete opposite. Mansfield, who considered himself to be a spectacular writer (pulp fiction) would marry his stepsister Ellen and then later would abuse her, for years, with threatening letters.
In due time, their private lives would become public all because of a shooting.
American Gothic meets Poe. Corruption, religious conflict, madness (all hereditary), marital problems, violence, prisons, asylums.
O'Brien is brilliant in how he sets up the characters with all of their strange personalities and quirks. He effortlessly writes about 19th century New York and holds you spellbound from the first page to the last.
Not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

2010-08-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

OPERATION MINCEMEAT : HOW A DEAD MAN AND A BIZARRE PLAN FOOLED THE NAZIS AND ASSURED AN ALLIED VICTORY
by Ben MacIntyre

It was 1943. Hitler assumed that the Allies would target Sicily and that would be the next big attack. In order to throw off this thought, a plan had to be put in place to deceive the Nazis.
Two brilliant intelligence officers put their heads together: Charles Cholmondeley (pronounced "Chumly") of MI5 and Ewan Montagu, a British naval officer. Though opposite in temperament and style, their partnership created quite a tour de force.
The idea was to get a corpse, attach false papers to it of where the invasion would be, then drop the body off the coast of Spain. The Germans fell for it bait hook, line, and sinker.
Ben MacIntyre is a phenom of an author. The details of how a corpse had to be found, creating an identity, how it was to be outfitted, bringing in an imaginary fiance are some of the inventions and facts that MacIntyre writes about flawlessly. Spies, double agents, heroes and scoundrels abound.
If you like intrigue, WWII, behind-the-scenes information, then grab this book. You won't be disappointed.
Highly recommended.

2010-07-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

JENNIEMAE & JAMES : A MEMOIR IN BLACK & WHITE
by Brooke Newman

"Most every man be good, but not every man be good for everything."
"You can hide a fire, but what do you do with the smoke?"
"Trouble is what troubles."
"When you dream, that dream is the truth, and when you wake, that truth is nothin' but a dream."
These words of wisdom were constantly spoken by Jenniemae Harrington, an illiterate, black woman from Alabama, who was hired as a maid for the Newman family in 1948. Although devoutly religious, she played and won an illegal lottery ("policy") quite frequently. Her uncanny love of numbers impressed James Newman, who was no slouch in that category. He was a mathematical genius. At the tender age of five he was already considered a prodigy. James would be known as the man who brought the concept of "googol" and "googolplex" to the world.
The friendship and relationship between these two people endured through political upheavals, cultural changes, technological advances, and racial divisions.
The author writes in simple prose about the complexities of her father, her beautiful, intelligent, but tormented mother, Ruth, and Jenniemae who settled the chaos that surrounded the family.
Jenniemae & James is a loving tribute that is both inspiring and compelling. A truly, wonderful book.
Recommended.

2010-07-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

LOST RIGHTS : THE MISADVENTURES OF A STOLEN AMERICAN RELIC
by David Howard

The year was 1789. James Madison had just pushed through a Constitution. Citizens were not too happy about it. Freedom of speech and religion were not guaranteed. Back to Congress it went and was debated upon for six days. Finally, the amendments were passed, but they had to be in a separate document. There were fourteen handwritten copies; one for each of the original states and one for the federal government. They would come to be known as the Bill of Rights.
Fast forward to 1865. The Civil War is ending. Robert E. Lee surrenders, Abraham Lincoln is shot, and Sherman's army marches into Raleigh, North Carolina. The Capitol is in shambles. Soldiers have destroyed whatever they could find, which included pillaging, inside the building and have left it in total disarray.
One unknown man walks off with a folded piece of parchment paper.
Lost Rights follows the saga of this document in the course of 138 years. The book is so exciting that it's impossible to put down. The tale involves antique dealers, historians, investors,
manuscript experts, auction houses, attorneys, governors, the FBI, and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Phenomenal research (Sources consists of 24 pages) and superb writing makes for one heck of a read.
Highly recommended.

2010-07-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

MY GRANDFATHER'S SON : A MEMOIR
by Clarence Thomas

"Play the hand that you're dealt." "Any job worth doing is worth doing right." These words of wisdom would forever remain fixed in the mind of Clarence Thomas and he would strive to adhere to them his entire life.
Thomas was born in Pinpoint, Georgia and lived in dire poverty (the house was a shanty with no electricity) until he was seven. He and his brother were then sent to Savannah and raised by their grandparents. Myers Anderson (his mother's father) was a very proud man with a strong work ethic who was determined to mold the two boys in his own image. He was Daddy to Thomas as his own father was nonexistent. His grandmother was Aunt Tina who created a loving home for them.
These two people would be his greatest influences as he grew up.
My Grandfather's Son is a tribute to Clarence's grandfather, his hero, who made him the man that he is today. Thomas writes honestly and openly about his life. What is really interesting is how his ideology changed and how much of an individual he is.
I found this book to be awe-inspiring. Clarence Thomas has grit, determination, courage, ambition and integrity.
Highly recommended.

2010-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

APPETITE FOR AMERICA : HOW VISIONARY BUSINESSMAN FRED HARVEY BUILT A RAILROAD HOSPITALITY EMPIRE THAT CIVILIZED THE WILD WEST
by Stephen Fried

If you mention the name Fred Harvey to most people, the response will be a blank stare. Most of them have no idea that this visionary created this huge hospitality empire in the western half of the United States from the 1870s through the 1940s.
His birthplace was England, but he left, at the age of seventeen, to come to America. Fred's first job was a dishwasher (the lingo at the time was a pot walloper) and he worked his way up acquiring culinary chops at the same time. Always looking forward, Fred knew that he wanted to be a businessman and when the Santa Fe railroad was founded, so was the Harvey House.
Eventually there would be restaurants, hotels, retail shops, newstands and bookstores from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Fred Harvey brought tourism to America.
Appetite for America is brilliantly researched with superb writing. It is jam-packed with trivia and details, such as: background information on Howard Johnson (he was a cigar salesman), George Mortimer Pullman (cabinetmaker and a side business of moving buildings), J. Williard Marriott (started out with an A&W Root Beer stand), how the Harvey Girls, the country's first female workforce began, the Grand Canyon, Native American arts and crafts, plus so much more.
Sixteen pages of photographs grace the pages. There are three appendices which comprise the trip that Stephen Fried took with his wife to look for what remains of Fred Harvey's empire; recipes that the all-star chefs cooked with very precise instructions; a list of all the locations of Harvey's operations, whether the building still exists, is restored, functioning or closed.
Not to be missed. A terrific read.
Very highly recommended.

2010-04-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

FLAWLESS : INSIDE THE LARGEST DIAMOND HEIST IN HISTORY
by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell

Valentine's Day is the most romantic holiday of the year. Retailers spend months marketing diamonds and nowhere is it busier than in Antwerp home of the Diamond Center. The building that houses these sparkling gems is considered to be the most secure fortress, anywhere. Between 24/7 video surveillance, armed patrols, a couple of police stations, aboveground and sensors, closed-circuit television cameras, video cameras, magnetic alarms, a locked, bombproof steel door, underground, the vault is supposed to be impenetrable. A perfect set-up for a robbery.
On February 15, 2003, four Italians, known as "The School of Turin," entered the site and with cunning and ingenuity took off with close to a half billion dollars worth of valuables.
The investigators thought, at first, that the culprits would be impossible to find. One day after the heist, though, the local police received an astonishing phone call.
If you're a fan of true crime, then this is the book for you. From the Epilogue to the Prologue, you're in for one hell of a ride. Flawless is quite a page-turner. Impressively researched, the authors traveled throughout Europe for clues, documents, and sources to discover how the thieves planned and executed the heist of the century. Not to be missed.
Recommended.

2010-04-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

MARK TWAIN : MAN IN WHITE : THE GRAND ADVENTURE OF HIS FINAL YEARS
by Michael Sheldon

He caused quite a sensation at the Library of Congress on a cold day in December of 1906. Copyright legislation was being discussed at a meeting with lawyers, authors, and publishers.
The famous guest removed his overcoat revealing a white suit that shocked everyone in the room and was written about in all the newspapers. Wearing this particular color was intentional.
Mark Twain was used to being the center of attention, so he decided, at the age of seventy-one, that he was going to wear white until the end of his life. To him, it signified eternal youth and he didn't care what people said or thought.
The last three and a half years of his life, Twain lived large. He picked fights, wrote, visited Bermuda, played billiards, had a mansion built in the style of an Italian villa in Redding, Connecticut, got in trouble, stayed out late partying, and was almost swindled out of everything that he owned. His acerbic wit never faltered and wherever he appeared, there was always a crowd.
Mark Twain: Man in White is a superb biography. Extremely well-researched and written, effortlessly, Michael Sheldon has produced a masterful tale.
Between the incredible photographs and Twain's irreverent anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter, this book is an absolute joy to read. I loved it.
Very highly recommended.

2010-03-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

FINDING OZ : HOW L. FRANK BAUM DISCOVERED THE GREAT AMERICAN STORY
by Evan I. Schwartz

On November 3, 1956, The Wizard of Oz was aired, for the first time and was watched by millions of people on black-and-white television sets. Thirteen years later, it was shown, again and people were now able to see it in color. It became an annual event and was the most watched movie ever.
The author, though, of the original story, has not been given due credit.
L. Frank Baum (how he hated his first name, Lyman) always dreamed of becoming a writer for children. But, he had to make a living for his wife Maud and his four sons. He tried all different kinds of endeavors: breeding chickens, owning a store, a publisher and editor of a newspaper, selling fine china on the road. Baum failed at each effort and was constantly on the move.
Lurking within him, though, was the urge to set his tales down.
In 1898, these images came to Baum and a year later, he wrote, feverishly, on envelopes and scraps of paper using a pencil stub. The manuscript was called The Emerald City.
1900 was a banner year for Baum. The book hit the stores and he became an overnight success.
If you're an Oz fan and want to know all the tidbits that inspired L. Frank Baum to write his masterpiece, then this is the book for you. Between the trivia and how Baum created his characters makes for fascinating reading. The Chicago World's Fair of 1893, Baum's mother-in-law, the number 4, Theosophy, had a huge impact.
Finding Oz is a terrific story and Evan I. Schwartz did a fantastic job of bringing Baum's brilliance to the printed page.
Highly recommended.

2010-03-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

BIRTHRIGHT : THE TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED KIDNAPPED
by A. Roger Ekirch

James Annesley (known in his youth as Jemmy) had a rather bleak life growing up. Even though he was born into a quite wealthy family, he certainly was not involved with the goings-on. He lived, mostly, like a waif crusing the streets of Dublin and fending for himself.
Soon after his father, Baron Altham died, his uncle, Richard, kidnapped Jemmy and shipped him off to America. For thirteen years, he was an indentured servant in Delaware. Eventually, James escaped and returned to Ireland and took his uncle (now the Earl of Anglesea) to court to gain what was rightfully his. (Five aristocratic titles and estates in Ireland, England, and Wales.)
The trial was truly sensational and one of the longest in eighteenth-century England. (It lasted twelve days.) After being away for so long, James had to prove his identity. He was accused of being a "pretender" and many attempts were made on his life.
Birthright is an incredible story superbly researched by A. Roger Ekirch, a professor of history at Virginia Tech University. He uncovered 400 legal depositions at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin and the National Archives near London. With these documents and numerous newspaper reports, Ekirch has written an amazing tale.
Recommended.

2010-03-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

CHERRIES IN WINTER : MY FAMILY'S RECIPE FOR HOPE IN HARD TIMES
by Suzan Colon

After being laid off as a magazine editor, with a six figure salary, in 2008, Suzan Colon had to cut down her budget. Shopping at Whole Foods and specialty stores were no longer in the picture.
While rummaging in the basement, one day, she found her grandmother's recipe file. Here was Suzan's sustenance.
Nana, as Grandmother Matilda was called, either handwrote or typed specific directions for the recipes. She would add comments along the edges. At times, newspaper clippings would be torn out and attached.
Suzan's grandparents lived through the Great Depression, barely. They survived by Matilda's ingenuity. This resilience was passed down through the family and cooking became the way to get through hard times.
I loved this little gem of a book. It's warm and comforting with beautiful writing. Every section has the original recipe in very tiny print. If you are so enamored, you can prepare the dish, yourself. Nothing is difficult. Very simple. Don't worry. No need to strain your eyes. On the next page is the recipe in a normal font.
Cherries in Winter is just delightful.
Recommended.

2010-03-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

THE POKER BRIDE : THE FIRST CHINESE IN THE WILD WEST
by Christopher Corbett

The gold rush of 1849 attracted people from far and wide to the American West. Only men came. Some became quite rich, while others died trying.
The Chinese arrived in the thousands. They were poor, illiterate and spoke no English. Their intention was to stay for a couple of years, make some money and then return to China to live off their proceeds. Consequently, they were called "sojourners." The name that was used most often, as the Chinese stayed longer, was "celestials" due to their exoticism.
At first, the Chinese were welcomed and praised for their industriousness. They were savvy and frugal and would work long hours. Chinatowns started sprouting up, first in San Franciso and then, later, in small cities, elsewhere.
When competition started to arise for work among the sexes, the Chinese were no longer wanted. (They had jobs as laundrymen, restaurant workers and servants, which were all positions originally done by women, not men.)
The Poker Bride is one hell of a story. Interspersed within the history of the gold rush, is a tale of a young Chinese concubine, named Polly, who is smuggled to San Francisco (riding on a pack horse) and eventually won in a poker game. Her new owner, Charlie Bemis, a gambler, after several years, marries her and they settle on an isolated ranch in Idaho.
Christopher Corbett is a terrific writer with quite an eye for details. Mark Twain and Bret Harte make appearances along with a whole slew of characters.
Not really interested in the Wild West, this book, hands down, changed all of that.
Highly recommended.

2010-01-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE : MY FAMILY'S JOURNEY TO AMERICA
by Kati Marton

They were the last independent journalists reporting from Budapest during the Cold War.
Endre Marton worked for the Associated Press and his wife, Ilona, was a correspondent with the United Press. (In actuality, he filed reports for both the AP and the UP. She was no writer, but a shrewd commentator.)
Their friends were American diplomats and they led a bourgeois life. Even as they were much admired by other colleagues, though, the Martons' anti-Communism and dangerous risks taken, daily, eventually led to their arrests.
Several decades later, Kati Marton returns to the country of her birth and discovers, through the reading of secret police files, how her parents were spied on and betrayed.
Enemies of the People is quite a page-turner. The wealth of information that she discovered about her mother and father is quite astounding. Most of what she read, Kati never even knew about. Whenever she asked her parents about their lives, they preferred not to say anything.
The book is extremely well-written and a terrific story.
Recommended.

2009-12-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

IN MY FATHER'S SHADOW : A DAUGHTER REMEMBERS ORSON WELLES
by Chris Welles Feder

Orson Welles was a great filmmaker, who is more famous and revered, twenty-four years after his death, than he ever was when he was alive. His genius at producing incredible works of visual art have been celebrated at workshops, seminars and film forums.
Chris Welles (Orson named her Christopher), the eldest of three daughters, absolutely adored her elusive father. The feeling was mutual between them even as the rest of the family attempted to keep them apart, because they thought that Orson would be a terrible influence.
She never stopped believing in him.
In My Father's Shadow is a wonderful, poignant story of a very lonely girl, who inherited her father's brilliance, but longed for her own identity and eventual independence. It's also a personal yet revealing portrait of a most misunderstood and underappreciated man.
In writing this book, Chris is no longer in the shadow of her father.
Recommended.

2009-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

LOUIS MAY ALCOTT : THE WOMAN BEHIND LITTLE WOMEN
by Harriet Reisen

Although depicted as Jo March in Little Women, Louisa May Alcott was so much more than her alter ego. Louisa's life encompassed deprivation, poor health, tragedy, independence and, eventually, success. (Her book sales would surpass prominent authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a good friend of the family.)
She and her three sisters were the daughters of Bronson and Abigail. The family moved thirty times due to Bronson's incapacity to have a steady job. He was a transcendentalist, with utopian dreams, which always fell short. For a while, he taught, until the parents took their children out of the schools due to his radical thinking.
Alcott had a tumultuous childhood. She was known as a tomboy and was quite boisterous with one hell of a temper. Always the ringleader amongst her siblings and the neighborhood children, she would relish being the center of attention.
Later, when she took up writing, she would harness these experiences in some of her stories.
Harriet Reisen has done a marvelous job of sifting through Alcott's journals, letters, and recollections with family and friends to reveal quite a portrait of a fascinating character.
Here are some less known facts about her: she was a Civil War nurse, an abolitionist, and a feminist, who, secretly, wrote pulp fiction using a pseudonym, A. M. Barnard.
An absorbing account of an extraordinary woman.
Recommended.

2009-11-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE : A MEMOIR
by Nancy Bachrach

While living in Paris and working in advertising (selling antiperspirant to the French) Nancy Bachrach receives a telephone call from her brother. The news is not good. In fact, it's awful.
Their parents have been in an accident while on their boat. Mort is dead and Lola is in a coma.
Nancy is told to prepare for a double funeral.
Paris is now left behind as the three siblings converge, back in Providence,R.I., and decide what is to be done next.
The Center of the Universe is one hell of a ride. What a family saga!
Mort was a repairman who screwed up everything he touched. (The name of the cabin cruiser was Mr. Fix It.)
Lola was considered a genius, but was bi-polar.
All three children have inherited intelligence. Nancy, the oldest, started writing at a very young age. She has a doctorate in philosophy.
Ben, the middle child, is a piano prodigy born with three thumbs. He is a pulmonologist.
Helen, known as the wild one, is an abnormal psychologist.
This book absolutely blew me away. Nancy Bachrach is quite a wordsmith. In no time, you are enveloped and completely wrapped up in the story.
It's dark, humorous, compelling and just downright terrific.
Highly recommended.

2009-10-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

THE MAN WHO LOVED BOOKS TOO MUCH : THE TRUE STORY OF A THIEF, A DETECTIVE, AND A WORLD OF LITERARY OBSESSION
by Allison Hoover Bartlett

When it comes to the realm of books, passions can run very deeply. The bibliophiles, among us, love books, read them, voraciously, and share their wealth with other devotees.
Bibliomaniacs are obsessed with collecting rare tomes and will stop at nothing in acquiring them.
John Gilkey is one of these. An unrepentant thief, he stole a fortune in antiquarian books around the country and hoarded them away.
Ken Sanders, an obsessive collector, himself, strove to catch Gilkey. He set up a stolen-book database for dealers all over the world. Acting as a persistent sleuth eventually paid off.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is fun to read. Allison Bartlett delves into historical figures who collected books, sellers at book fairs, the method that Gilkey used to commit his crimes, and why he did it in the first place.
Suspenseful, humorous and just plain delightful.
Recommended.

2009-10-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

HARRY TRUMAN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE : THE TRUE STORY OF A GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP
by Matthew Algeo

Six months after Harry Truman left the office of the presidency, he and his wife, Bess, decided to take a road trip. Harry bought a Chrysler New Yorker that had all of the latest gadgets. (He loved cars.) But, it had been eight years since he had been behind the wheel of one, so he needed a refresher course learning how to use power brakes and power steering.
They set off, on June 19, 1953. No press. No Secret Service. Just the two of them, traveling for three weeks, alone, hoping to be incognito.
Author Matthew Algeo meticulously details every place the Trumans went and he himself takes the same route, stays at the same hotels and eats at the same restaurants.
Trivia abounds in this book, such as: the origin of the first "mo-tel" in the world; who designed the Holiday Inn and how Irving Berlin was involved; why the Waldorf=Astoria was written with an equal sign, etc.
You will find historical information about presidents, the highway system, the automobile industry and so much more.
A tremendous read. Not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

2009-09-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

ADA BLACKJACK : A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE ARCTIC
by Jennifer Niven

Wrangel Island was a desolate, uninhabited outpost in the Arctic. Nobody had ever been there before, let alone knew who it belonged to.
Vilhjalmur Stefansson decided that it should be colonized, for Canada, and recruited four young men to live off the land with supplies good for only six months. The parents were less than happy, but the sons all idolized Stefansson (an explorer, himself) and would do anything for him.
They were hoping to have some Eskimos join them, but they all backed out, until Ada Blackjack, a 23-year-old Inuit woman from Nome, Alaska, came along. She was their seamstress.
So, in 1921, the party of five set off on a ship and were deposited on the island.
Ada Blackjack is one hell of a story. Jennifer Niven, the author, was able to use Ada Blackjack's diaries, which had never been seen before, unpublished writings from other important characters and interviews with Ada's second son.
Loaded with history and incredible photographs, this book knocks you with a wallop.
Recommended.

2009-09-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

LILI MARLENE : THE SOLDIERS' SONG OF WORLD WAR II
by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller

Every night, at 9:57, a sentimental song was played on Radio Belgrade, a German military station.
It was World War II and both the Axis and Allied soldiers were totally captivated by this sweet melody. The Minister of Culture and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, banned the music from the airwaves saying that the men should be listening to spirited marches instead, while the BBC felt that the soldiers were becoming sympathetic to the enemy.
"Lili Marlene" would become the most recorded tune in the world and would garner much success to the three people who brought it to life.
Hans Leip was the lyricist. He started out being a teacher, but really preferred to write and was known, originally, as a poet. When he wrote the words as a love poem, he never intended for it to become public.
Norbert Schultze, the composer, was a pianist for a group that did quite well playing at a cabaret in Berlin. He then became a solo artist and wrote operas and soundtracks. In order to stay out of the war and not have to fight, he composed military music for Hitler's invasions.
Lale Andersen (not her real name) became the singer who introduced the song to the troops. Her voice, which was considered harsh, still mesmerized those that heard it at the end of a long day of fighting.
Lili Marlene is one terrific read. It's jam-packed with details. The two authors did a tremendous job sifting through all the documentation.
Black-and-white photographs and sketches are found in the first half of the book.
Highly recommended.

2009-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

TO THE END OF THE EARTH : OUR EPIC JOURNEY TO THE NORTH POLE AND THE LEGEND OF PEARY AND HENSON
by Tom Avery

There's been quite a bit of controversy concerning U.S. Naval Commander Robert Peary over whether or not he did make it to the North Pole back in 1909. It took him thirty-seven days. Opponents have argued that his speed was impossible and there was no viable witness.
Tom Avery, a polar explorer, decided to see for himself, along with three men and one woman, if it could be done. So, in 2005, his team re-created the same journey as Peary, using the same equipment (replica wooden sleds tied with cord) and dog teams.
Along the way Avery kept a diary noting the day, the date, the temperature (always in negative degrees), miles made and miles to go.
The journey was treacherous, dangerous, brutally cold (they all suffered from frostbite in one form or another), and almost lost their lives.
The team completed 413 miles in thirty-six days and twenty-two hours, which means they beat Peary's record by four hours.
To The End of the Earth is a terrific story. It's very well-written and Avery did his homework regarding background information on Peary, plus other polar explorers.
Fourteen and a half pages of color photographs of Avery's team, the dogs, the terrain and a couple of black-and-white ones of Peary's journey are sandwiched in the middle of the book.
Right before the index can be found a complete log of Avery's adventure.
If you're looking for a way to cool off during the oppressive heat of summer, get a copy of this book. You won't be hot for long.
Highly recommended.

2009-08-17T19:40:00.001-07:00

PROVENANCE : HOW A CON MAN AND A FORGER REWROTE THE HISTORY OF MODERN ART
by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo

It was the biggest art fraud of the twentieth century. Two hundred new paintings were created in the styles of Giacometti, Nicholson, Braques, Matisse, Chagall, et al, and passed off as originals.
The forger was John Myatt, a single father, struggling for money. He was coerced by a psychopathic con artist, John Drewe, a man with a mellifluous voice who charmed and manipulated everyone around him.
For almost a decade, from 1986 to 1994, these works fooled countless dealers, collectors and auctioneers all over the world.
Even today, many of the fakes still hang in large galleries and famous museums.
Unfortunately, the archives are a bit messy because they were altered to reflect the "genuineness" of the bogus pieces.
Salisbury and Sujo have written a rip-roaring story. A fast-paced page-turner with such fantastic details that you're almost disappointed when you come to the end.
A true masterpiece. The book is, in itself, a brilliant work of art.
Very highly recommended.

2009-08-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

THE DEVIL'S TICKETS : A NIGHT OF BRIDGE, A FATAL HAND, AND A NEW AMERICAN AGE
by Gary M. Pomerantz

Contract bridge was a huge craze during the 1920s in America. Four people sat together at a small table, composed mainly of couples, spending hours with their partners hoping to score the greatest number of points to win the game.
Ely Culbertson was the perfect man (in his eyes) to promote bridge and built a phenomenal empire. He wrote books, lectured and was even on the radio. His favorite partner was his own wife, Josephine. Culbertson knew that, sometimes, the relationship between husbands and wives would be stretched or explode due to miscommunication.
Myrtle and Jack Bennett sat down one night, in 1929, to play bridge with another married couple. Passions became inflamed. Myrtle called Jack a "bum bridge player," he slapped her across her face in front of their friends and started to walk out the door. Within seconds, Jack was shot by Myrtle with his pistol and that was the end of him.
The Devil's Tickets is a mesmerizing tale. There are two parallel stories going on at the same time. The author does a terrific job in introducing each character and effortlessly weaves everything together.
If you want to know how to play contract bridge, you can find it at the end of the book along with a glossary.
It's written extremely well and is just a delight to read.
Recommended.

2009-07-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

PORTRAIT : THE LIFE OF THOMAS EAKINS
by William S. McFeely

It was not until twelve years after his death that Thomas Eakins finally received the recognition that he so deserved. The Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired a huge amount of his paintings donated by Susan MacDowell Eakins, the largest gift a museum had ever received on one artist.
Growing up in the nineteenth century, Thomas was a true Renaissance man. He excelled at everything he put his mind to. Central High School, in Philadelphia, known as the "People's College," put that talent to work. He was fascinated with anatomy, medicine, mechanical engineering and of course drawing and gave the valedictory address at his graduation.
Eakins went off to Paris and then later, Spain, to study art. His fluency in seven languages made him easily fit in.
He returned to Philadelphia and eventually became a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
In Portrait William S. McFeely delves into homosexuality (depicted in Eakins' most famous work Swimming); depression (inherited from his mother); relationships among his wife, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, his family; the pervasive sadness that Eakins' portraits seemed to portray.
There are black-and-white drawings, photographs and sixteen pages of color plates.
In three of his paintings, Thomas Eakins is in the artwork: Max Schmitt in a Single Scull, Swimming, and The Gross Clinic.
Well-researched (the author is a historian and wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning Grant) and revealing, the book is an important work of a true realist.
Recommended.

2009-07-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN EVE : EVELYN NESBIT, STANFORD WHITE, THE BIRTH OF THE "IT" GIRL, AND THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY
by Paula Uruburu

She was known as the "IT" girl and by the time she was sixteen she was known to millions. Her photograph appeared everywhere. She was the first supermodel in America.
Sitting in a multitude of poses, for hours on end, every day became boring, though, and Evelyn Nesbit decided to change careers and become an actress. That was the beginning of her demise.
She ended up in a love triangle between Stanford White, an architect, who designed most of the buildings of New York City and her very jealous millionaire husband, Harry K. Thaw.
White was shot by Thaw and Evelyn was in the middle of it all. It was a huge scandal and the media went wild. Her courtroom testimony was drama in and of itself.
American Eve is one hell of a story. The writing is superb. A tremendous amount of research went into this book; ten years, in fact. The author decided to write about Evelyn Nesbit after going to a postcard show and finding a picture of this young, sultry girl.
Read this book. You won't be disappointed.
Very highly recommended.

2009-06-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

BITTERSWEET : LESSONS FROM MY MOTHER'S KITCHEN
by Matt McAllester

His was a most idyllic childhood. Food was the main centerpiece. Heavenly meals came from a whole dearth of cookbooks, the most important ones being the Elizabeth Davids. She surfaced in 1950 long before Julia Child. Family life was sublime for many years until Matt McAllester's mother started to decline into madness. Her illness was never properly diagnosed. Before she died, the doctors had finally figured it out, but it was already too late. She lasted until the age of 60.
It is very hard for Matt to come to terms with his grief. He keeps looking for her and reads old letters trying to understand what went wrong. Then he inherits most of his mother's cookbook collection. Through these recipes, he realizes that by cooking them, himself, he can find her and bring back his good memories.
Bittersweet was an absolute joy to read. The writing is gorgeous. I didn't want the book to end. Even though it was sad, at times, it was also powerful.
There are recipes interspersed and you just salivate with his descriptions of what he prepares. Family photos appear here and there.
McAllester has crafted a winner.
Highly recommended.

2009-06-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? : A PERSONAL HISTORY
by Danzy Senna

In 1968, two young, intelligent Americans, from totally different backgrounds, were married. She was a white woman and descended from the DeWolfes with pedigrees a mile long.
He was a black man born to a single mother and an unknown father. Both of them were writers.
Eight years later, they would divorce.
Neither parent ever divulged much information as to their respective ancestral history, so Danzy Senna decides to do her own sleuth work. She goes to the Los Angeles Public Library and finds many books on her mother's family. Her father's side is a bit murky. He is a contradiction. The more Danzy digs, the more a family mystery unfolds.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night? is an absorbing tale of race and identity. Writing is, obviously, in her genes and Danzy certainly knows how to weave a terrific story.
Highly recommended.

2009-06-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

THE GOLDEN WILLOW : THE STORY OF A LIFETIME OF LOVE
by Harry Bernstein

At the ripe old age of ninety-four, Harry Bernstein wrote his first book, The Invisible Wall and two years later, his second book The Dream. (Both were reviewed in this blog.)
Now that Bernstein has turned ninety-nine comes the final tale in the trilogy.
The Golden Willow is a tender tribute of his long romance married to his wife, Ruby, for almost seventy years.
They met at a dance, in New York, and instantly fell in love. After marriage, in 1935, their first abode was a tiny rented room (nowadays called a studio apartment) in the Upper West Side. A few years later, they moved to Greenwich Village. Though poor, the two of them managed. Ruby was the one doing all the supporting by working as a secretary at a bookstore. Harry did, eventually, get a job at MGM. He was a reader of books and plays that might be considered as movie material.
Children soon followed and they moved, again, to rear them in the suburbs.
Harry and Ruby shared an incredible love and went through very few bumps in their life together. Then, when Ruby was ninety-one, she contracted leukemia and passed away.
Harry was alone for the first time in his life. The only way he could get through his grief was to write.
A wonderful memoir, just like his previous two. If we're lucky, we might get another one. Bernstein is working on a new book.
Recommended.

2009-05-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

WHEN SKATEBOARDS WILL BE FREE : A MEMOIR OF A POLITICAL CHILDHOOD
by Said Sayrafiezadeh

The socialist revolution is coming. It is imminent. So believed Said's parents who were both comrades in the Socialist Workers Party. His father, Mahmoud, an Iranian and his mother, Martha, a Jewish American, were adamant that eliminating capitalism would dissolve suffering.
When Said was nine months old, his parents separated due to their desire to find that perfect socialist society. He spent his childhood growing up poor, with his mother, in a whole series of derelict apartments in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their poverty was self-inflicted. Martha, who majored in literature in college and dreamed of becoming a writer, worked for 30 years as a secretary at Carnegie Mellon. (Her brother, Mark Harris, was a novelist and best known for Bang the Drum Slowly.) Mahmoud, a mathematics professor at a university, remained absent from his son's life persuing the fight that he intended to lead.
When the hostage crisis surfaces, in Iran, Said is confronted with quite an identity complex and ends up losing friends by espousing the familiar rhetoric that has been ingrained in him.
When Skateboards Will Be Free is a fantastic memoir. The writing draws you in from the first sentence and never lets you go.
Highly recommended.

2009-05-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

THE PAINTER'S CHAIR : GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN ART
by Hugh Howard

George Washington never did relish sitting for an artist. But, as he had done so for various times, he resigned himself to it. This was the only way painters could produce his likeness on canvas.
In the eighteenth century, art in America was not as popular or current as it was in Europe.
That was soon to change with the emergence of Charles Willson Peale, the man who was everyone's friend; John Trumbull, an aristocrat, who thought very highly of himself; Benjamin West, a mentor to all artists; and Gilbert Stuart, probably the most gifted one. (His unfinished portrait of Washington is on the one-dollar bill.)
These men produced works of their hero, who became an icon to the American republic.
Hugh Howard does an incredible job of depicting the lives of the painters and Washington's interaction with them.
There's some neat trivia, here, too. Both Robert Fulton and Samuel F.B. Morse make an appearance.
The Painter's Chair is a marvelous book, full of history and detailed descriptions of the works. There are sixteen pages of colored plates.
The author's sources for the text were the papers of Washington, the artists, scholars and books. Quite an extensive bibliography (twelve pages worth), notes and an index round out this exceptional book.
Highly recommended.

2009-05-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

CLOSING TIME : A MEMOIR
by Joe Queenan

Joe Queenan is well-known as a humorist, critic, author, satirist, who rants and raves about everything that is not right about America.
In his latest book, his tenth, he turns to writing about himself: growing up in Philadelphia in horrible neighborhoods.
As a young child, he and his sisters lived in a housing project. They are forced to wear clothing considered off-brand (Made in Pakistan, not the label saying Made in U.S.A.) and eat food mostly out of cans. Most of the time, they are starving. Their horrendous existence is due to Joe Queenan Sr., an alcoholic that cannot keep a job for any period of time. His nightly bouts of rage, fueled by liquor, turns him into an emotional ball of terror, which he then inflicts on his children, beating them with his belt.
Joe Jr. knows that this is not the life or future he wants for himself, so he starts looking for ways to get out. When he's eight years old, his first job, at six dollars a week, is working for a man who owns a clothing store that can barely stay in business. Seven years later, he is behind the counter at a pharmacy, filling prescriptions, his boss in the back chain-smoking and cooking gourmet meals for his hungry protege. These men become both his mentors and surrogate fathers.
Joe's love of books and music sustains him and he's an excellent student at school. At one point, he desires to become a priest and enters a seminary. It's short-lived and he is told not to return.
Closing Time is a fierce, dark story about poverty and rising above it. Queenan's writing is superb and even though he's very cynical, there's much to laugh at. He's very detailed, descriptive and honest.
A terrific read.
Highly recommended.

2009-04-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

VANISHED SMILE : THE MYSTERIOUS THEFT OF MONA LISA
by R.A. Scotti

She is the most famous face in the world of art. Millions of people flock to see her every year. They are mesmerized, captivated by her eyes. The French consider her a national treasure.
On August 21, 1911, Mona Lisa vanished from the Louvre. Twenty-four hours passed before the museum realized that she was gone. The news media went wild. Tons of people came to see the empty space on the wall. Everyone was in mourning. Flowers and notes were left. For more than two years, she was missing. Then, she reappeared, a few blocks from where she had originally been painted.
Vanished Smile is a spellbinding story. The skills of R.A. Scotti as a historian makes for fascinating reading. The chapter called The Mystery Woman could be another book in and of itself. Who exactly was this woman, fact or fiction? The methods that Leonardo da Vinci used to paint this portrait, how long it took him, why he chose her, what she wore, etc.
If you like art, mystery, and detective work, make sure to read this one.
Highly recommended.

2009-04-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

MR. AMERICA : HOW MUSCULAR MILLIONAIRE BERNARR MACFADDEN TRANSFORMED THE NATION THROUGH SEX, SALAD, AND THE ULTIMATE STARVATION DIET
by Mark Adams

Bernarr MacFadden was a brilliant, ambitious, eccentric genius, in the early part of the twentieth century, who influenced the world with his take on health and diet. From his humble upbringing, being orphaned at eight years of age, he would eventually become a multimillionaire with Physical Culture, a magazine that dictated exercise, how and what to eat, fasting, alternative medicine (he never went to a doctor) and sex education.
MacFadden would launch the New York Evening Graphic considered to be the worst newspaper in United States history. Walter Winchell was the gossip columnist. The sports writer was Ed Sullivan. At one point, Eleanor Roosevelt was hired to edit articles about babies.
Mr. America is a wonderful biography of a lost American entrepreneur. The book is inundated with a fascinating array of trivia. Upton Sinclair, Charles Atlas, Jack LaLanne, Fiorello LaGuardia, C.W. Post, John Harvey Kellogg and many others all make some kind of appearance within the pages.
The author, Mark Adams, is a terrific writer and has done incredible research. Check out the Acknowledgments on who he interviewed and what he found. The Notes and the Bibliography are quite extensive.
If you want to learn how to live a long and healthy life, read this book and have a good laugh at the same time.
Highly recommended.

2009-04-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

HUNTING EICHMANN : HOW A BAND OF SURVIVORS AND A YOUNG SPY AGENCY CHASED DOWN THE WORLD'S MOST NOTORIOUS NAZI
by Neal Bascomb

He was chief of Department IVB4, following Hitler's orders to annihilate the Jews. His goal was to remove every one of them from Hungary. But then, the war ended, Hitler committed suicide and the operational manager of the Final Solution vanished.
Adolf Eichmann spent the next fifteen years living, incognito (or so he thought), in Buenos Aires.
Many people searched for him and it became an international manhunt.
Eventually, the Mossad captured him and brought him back to Israel for trial.
Hunting Eichmann is an incredible story. Neil Bascomb used newly declassified documents and exhaustive research and has written a masterpiece.
If you want drama and suspense, pick up this book.
Highly recommended.

2009-04-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

THE LOST CITY OF Z : A TALE OF DEADLY OBSESSION IN THE AMAZON
by David Grann

Percy Harrison Fawcett was such a great Victorian explorer that accolades were written about him for decades. His adventures enthralled the public: he lived in the jungles of South America and was attacked by tribesmen; fought anacondas, piranhas, vampire bats and other nasty creatures; drew maps of unexplored regions. Fawcett was called the "David Livingstone of the Amazon." Scientists would flock to hear him speak whenever he returned from his exploits.
In 1925, Fawcett set off for the Amazon convinced that there was an ancient civilization. His oldest son, Jack, came with him. It was a small expedition consisting of only a few men. While they were away, Fawcett sent dispatches that were carried through the jungle and were eagerly gobbled up by every man, woman and child.
Then, messages stopped coming. Nothing further was heard from them.
They had simply vanished.
The Lost City of Z is one hell of a story. David Grann is a superb writer and keeps you riveted.
Using diaries, letters, journals and logbooks, his terrific skills as a reporter enables him to piece together the true-to-life tale of what really happened to Fawcett.
Truly, one of the best books I have ever read.
Highly recommended.

2009-03-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

THE GARDNER HEIST : THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST UNSOLVED ART THEFT
by Ulrich Boser

Isabella Stewart Gardner always dreamed, as a teenager, to be a collector of art masterpieces and have a place to display them. Fifty years later, her dream came true when a four-story palazzo was built, in Boston, and filled with paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, drawings and pieces of antiquity.
On March 18, 1990, two men broke into the museum and stole a Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. It was the largest art heist in history.
Harold Smith was an art detective and he worked on the case for years. After he died, the author, Ulrich Boser, who is a reporter and editor of a crime magazine, tried to pick up where Smith left off. Boser explored the art underworld and met an extraordinary group of personalities. He eventually uncovers the names of the men who burglarized the museum.
The Gardner Heist is a terrific story. Even though the artwork has never been found, just reading about the potential leads is riveting. It's very well-researched with sources for every chapter. There's even a website : www.thegardnerheist.com for anyone interested in knowing more about the case or having information on the locations of the paintings.
Don't miss this one.
Highly recommended.

2009-03-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

THE SECRET OF THE GREAT PYRAMID : HOW ONE MAN'S OBSESSION LED TO THE SOLUTION OF ANCIENT EGYPT'S GREATEST MYSTERY
by Bob Brier and Jean-Pierre Houdin

Of all the seven wonders of the world, only the pyramids still stand and there are one hundred and seven of them dispersed throughout Egypt. The largest one is the Great Pyramid, on the Giza Plateau. It's been photographed and analyzed through the centuries more than any other pyramid and yet mysteries still abound. Nobody knows how it was built. There is no documentation.
What is known is that it took twenty years and 25,000 men to construct it.
The author, Bob Brier, is an Egyptologist, who has researched pyramids and tombs in fifteen countries. He met Jean-Pierre Houdin, a French architect, who became obsessed with how the Great Pyramid was built, spending ten hours a day, on his computer, until he found the secret, unseen for 4,500 years.
The Secret of the Great Pyramid is a terrific story. Brier does a great job, effortlessly, weaving ancient and modern history together.
Highly recommended.

2009-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

THE LAST DAYS OF THE ROMANOVS : TRAGEDY AT EKATERINBURG
by Helen Rappaport

There have been many books written about the Romanovs. Most of them were highly romanticized, with speculations, half-truths, not willing to discuss the flaws of the royal family.
Until now.
In The Last Days of the Romanovs, Helen Rappaport, a historian, gives the most detailed account of their final days. She draws on a wealth of archival evidence that has never been revealed before; the political climate between England and Germany during World War I; the frightening escalation of the Bolsheviks' reign of terror.
Meticulously researched and impossible to put down until the bloody end.
If you're a diehard Romanov follower, you don't want to miss this book.
Highly recommended.

2009-01-31T20:45:00.001-08:00

TAKING AIM AT THE PRESIDENT : THE REMARKABLE STORY OF THE WOMAN WHO SHOT AT GERALD FORD
by Geri Spieler

The only woman to ever shoot a gun at a U.S. president, Sarah Jane Moore was not pictured to be an assassin. She was middle-aged, had a young son and was gracious and charming, but on her own terms. In actuality, Sarah Jane was a woman of many contradictions.
Moore grew up in a small, rural town in West Virginia with extremely strict parents. They had high expectations and were not warm and loving. While in high school, she got involved with the theater, which offered her an escape and with this background, eventually, she was able to mislead people by shifting identities.
She was married five times, abandoned her children (they ended up living with her parents), spied for the FBI and infiltrated radical underground movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
Geri Spieler has written a fascinating tale of an unknown woman, who almost killed a president. For twenty-seven years, the author met with Moore and corresponded with her, plus did her own research.
A good read.
Recommended.

2009-01-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

PEACHES & DADDY : A STORY OF THE ROARING TWENTIES, THE BIRTH OF TABLOID MEDIA, AND THE COURTSHIP THAT CAPTURED THE HEART AND IMAGINATION OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
by Michael M. Greenburg

The Roaring Twenties was a decade of the Charleston, Prohibition, jazz, the Model T, flappers, women's suffrage, and dance marathons. Nice girls smoked cigarettes and hemlines rose. Victorian views were always being challenged. Against this backdrop was the sensational story of Peaches and Daddy.
Edward Browning was a fifty-one-year-old Manhattan millionaire, who fell in love, in 1926, with Frances Heenan, a fifteen-year-old high school student, who worked as a clerk and was never in school. They met at a sorority dance. It was a whirlwind courtship and thirty-seven days later, they were married. Within ten months, they would be in court filing for divorce.
Peaches & Daddy is a rollicking, good tale of a dysfunctional couple, who both loved being in the limelight and entertaining the masses with their eccentricities. The newspapers gobbled it up and tabloid journalism was born.
Michael Greenburg is a terrific writer and captures the "era of wonderful nonsense" effortlessly.
Black and white photographs are interspersed throughout the chapters, plus composographs from the tabloids. There's some great tidbits of fascinating trivia, also. Ed Sullivan is mentioned and how he got his start in the entertainment industry is unbelievable.
A totally enjoyable book.
Highly recommended.

2009-01-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

LOOT : THE BATTLE OVER THE STOLEN TREASURES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
by Sharon Waxman

Should the museums of the West own some of the greatest antiquities known to mankind or should they be returned to their countries of origin? The debate has been raging for decades. Of course, the way these artifacts have been acquired is not exactly kosher. For the past two hundred years, they have been illegally excavated, smuggled and sold to dealers and collectors, who sell the items to the museums. The unsuspecting public is then lied to by the written description (legend) next to the object, the origin never fully explained. Their motto is: "don't ask, don't tell."
Sharon Waxman visits the Met, the Louvre, the British Museum, the Getty and the countries from which the treasures were stolen from. She interviews curators, scholars, smugglers, prosecutors and journalists.
Loot is a tremendous read. Waxman has done a tremendous amount of research and effortlessly weaves history and reporting together.
There are black and white photographs interspersed throughout the chapters and eight pages of color photographs.
A book not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

2009-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

THE ROAD TO RESCUE : THE UNTOLD STORY OF SCHINDLER'S LIST
by Mietek Pemper

Oskar Schindler was a Sudeten German businessman who ran a factory during World War II and saved 1200 Jewish prisoners, from death, by manipulating Nazi leaders. His name became popular due to Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List, which was seen by millions of people. The movie, though, was based on historical inaccuracies and falsities of events that never could have happened.
Mietek Pemper, a Polish Jew, was an inmate at the Plaszow concentration camp, who was forced to work for the sadistic camp commandant, Amon Goth, as his personal stenographer. Because Pemper was also fluent in the German language, he was able to understand the inner workings of the Nazi bureaucracy. In this capacity, Pemper gained access to classified documents and passed them on to Schindler.
The Road to Rescue is a phenomenal expose of one man's exceptional courage, bravery, defiance and eventual victory against a monstrous and murderous regime.
The record is now set right.
Recommended.

2008-12-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

RACE TO THE POLAR SEA : THE HEROIC ADVENTURES OF ELISHA KENT KANE
by Ken McGoogan

Not willing to stay at home, hang up a shingle and practice medicine, Elisha Kent Kane was more interested in adventuring around the world. Even though he had heart problems, he had already been involved in death-defying experiences: being dropped in a volcano in the Philippines and almost getting stabbed in a fight in the Sierra Madre. But, when he went on an expedition, serving as the assistant surgeon on a ship, searching for the lost British explorer Sir John Franklin, in the Arctic, he knew he had found his calling.
In 1853, Kane sailed with his own men to look for the Open Polar Sea and Franklin. Eventually, they would be trapped in the ice, but Kane's enduring friendship with the Inuits taught him how to survive in the extreme cold.
Kane and his team would abandon the ship and escape by sledge, dogsled and then open boats, traveling 1,300 miles in eighty-three days.
Who would have thought that a young, thirty-three year old man, from a prominent Philadelphian family, would return home not only as a hero, but as America's greatest explorer.
In Race to the Polar Sea Ken McGoogan has written a fantastic thriller. From the Prologue to the last page, you are caught up in the story. What is really amazing is that Kane's manuscripts were lost for 150 years. A friend of the author, who owns an antiquarian bookstore, acquired Kane's collection from the descendants of his brother.
There are photographs and drawings (Kane did all of his own illustrations).
A book not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

2008-12-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

FABERGE'S EGGS : THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE MASTERPIECES THAT OUTLIVED AN EMPIRE
by Toby Faber

When you see or hear the name Faberge, what comes to mind, today, is toiletries. But, the family, originally, were jewelers and their pieces were designed with the utmost quality and exquisite craftsmanship.
Carl Faberge was known as the "egg guy." Hs firm created fifty eggs, from 1885 to 1917, for Russia's czars to gve as Easter presents for their czarinas. What made them so special were the surprises hidden inside each one, such as the 1911 Bay Tree Egg, which has a singing bird emerging from the top of a tree when a jewel is pressed. Others have miniature portraits, a clock, a model train, etc.
Unfortunately, the extravagance of the Romanovs led to their demise and after the Russian Revolution, the eggs disappeared.
In Faberge's Eggs Tony Faber has written a marvelous tale about art, Russian history and wealth of a bygone era.
To round out the book, besides the family trees of both the Faberges and the Romanovs, there is a complete list of all the imperial eggs, a glossary, notes, an extensive bibliography with websites, and an index.
A terrific read.
Highly recommended.

2008-12-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

EMILY POST : DAUGHTER OF THE GILDED AGE, MISTRESS OF AMERICAN MANNERS
by Laura Claridge

In 1922, Etiquette : in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home debuted, written by a middle-aged woman, whose name would be recognized as one of the most important Americans in the 20th century.
Emily Post was born a few years after the Civil War ended, the only child of renowned Baltimore architect, Bruce Price and his rich wife, Josephine Lee (her money came from anthracite), whose ancestors sailed on the Mayflower.
After attending numerous balls as a young lady, Emily would meet and then marry Edwin Post, hoping she would have the kind of marriage her parents had. Instead, it ended in divorce with published details in the newspapers.
She now had to support herself and so began the process of writing.
Laura Claridge's Emily Post is a fascinating biography of an authority on good manners, who lived from the Gilded Age through the 1960s and whose book reflected, through numerous revisions, what was expected of people in society.
So, if you want to brush up on etiquette, check out this book. You might learn something.