Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 2/09/2009

-- Publishers Weekly, 2/9/2009

NONFICTION

The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution
Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending. Basic, $27 (256p) ISBN 9780465002214
Arguing that human genetic evolution is still ongoing, physicist-turned-evolutionary biologist Cochran and anthropologist Harpending marshal evidence for dramatic genetic change in the (geologically) recent past, particularly since the invention of agriculture. Unfortunately, much of their argument—including the origin of modern humans, agriculture, and Indo-Europeans—tends to neglect archaeological and geological evidence; readers should keep in mind that assumed time frames, like the age of the human species, are minimums at best and serious underestimates at worst. That said, there is much here to recommend, including the authors' unique approach to the question of modern human-Neanderthal interbreeding, and their discussion of the genetic pressures on Ashkenazi Jews over the past 1,000 years, both based solidly in fact. They also provide clear explanations for tricky concepts like gene flow and haplotypes, and their arguments are intriguing throughout. Though lapses in their case won't be obvious to the untrained eye, it's clear that this lively, informative text is not meant to deceive (abundant references and a glossary also help) but to provoke thought, debate and possibly wonder. (Feb.)

CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation
Stephen C. Lundin. McGraw-Hill, $19.95 (192p) ISBN 9780071602211
In his first solo effort, management consultant Lundin (co-author of the bestselling Fish! series of business titles) presents a collection of self-awareness and thought exercises to help both managers and underlings become more innovative and involved in their personal and business lives. Lundin delineates four obstacles that limit creativity in all kinds of environments: negative feedback, habit, fear and failure of leadership. He then describes nine techniques for overcoming those obstacles, which include organizing, understanding creativity (“Know that innovation isn't normal”) and the power of provocation. Though none of these concepts are new (essentially lifted from the creative arts), much may be unfamiliar to a business audience. The CATS concept itself is rather weak—a CAT (not an acronym) is “anyone working to develop his or her capacity to innovate”—and serves less as a metaphor than a set up for puns in section titles and asides: “CAT Nip,” “CAT Pause,” “We have let the CAT out of the bag!” Though people with workplace problems like heavy-handed management, narrow-minded thinking or oppressive corporate culture can certainly benefit from Lundin's advice, his repetitive and overly enthusiastic text is more interested in following self-help formula than efficiently helping busy, uninspired execs. (Jan.)

The Coolest Race on Earth: Mud, Madmen, Glaciers, and Grannies at the Antarctica Marathon
John Hanc. Chicago Review, $22.95 (224p) ISBN 9781556527388
What happens when runners tackle a marathon over slush, ice and naked rock on an Antarctic island? Yes, their race times are much slower, but this bizarre exercise has, over the past 10 years, raised concerns far beyond the typical marathoners'. Author and Runner's World contributing editor Hanc (The Essential Marathoner) devotes the sea lion's share of this ice-bound marathon memoir to these concerns, especially in examining the determined, colorful runners competing alongside him (including “bicycle-riding grandmas” and a wheelchair-bound marathoner from Singapore). The 50-year-old writer became interested after speaking with a recently returned friend (“'It feels like I just got back from another planet,' Lipsky said”) and soon found himself considering the race in spite of his better sense—improbably, the devoted runner had pushed himself to the point where running 26.2 miles on the streets of New York, Chicago or London was just too cushy. The Antarctic, of course, provides all the challenge he could ever want, and his sharp, fun and funny account captures well the incredible ferocity of life there. Though a special treat for runners, travel readers and non-athletes interested in extreme human experiences will also find this a bracing read. (Jan.)

Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine
Guy L. Clifton. Rutgers Univ., $26.95 (352p) ISBN 9780813544281
In this insider’s polemic, neurosurgeon and clinical investigator Clifton warns that the U.S. health-care system is dying on the table, the victim of an insurance system using unnecessary, high-tech medical procedures and diagnostic tests to generate more fees, and a pharmaceutical industry pushing two-dollar prescription pills where a 24-cent Aleve would do. Clifton estimates that 30 percent of all delivered health care services (about $700 billion a year) qualify as unnecessary treatment; the results are skyrocketing costs, growing ranks of the uninsured crowding the nation’s emergency rooms, and an underserved, often in-the-dark patient class. On the basis of his 30-year career as a neurosurgeon and administrator, with a two-year stint in Sen. Orin Hatch’s office, Clifton advocates an independent agency, financed by congress, that would work with doctors and hospital administrators to set standards for treatment and fees, aiming for no less than a “high-performance [U.S.] healthcare system… [providing] quality care at lower cost to all its citizens.” An eye-opening, sausage-maker’s perspective on contemporary medicine, Clifton’s thorough text deserves the attention of policy makers, health professionals, and anyone regularly shuffled (or shoved) through the maze of U.S. health care. (Jan.)

Impaired: A Nurse's Story of Addiction and Recovery
Patricia Holloran. Kaplan, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 9781427798626
Though Holloran's memoir may read familiar for anyone with an addiction memoir under his belt, what makes her story unique is her insider's view of the health care and recovery fields. A nurse suffering an addiction to Stadol, a little known painkiller, Holloran kept her addiction a secret from everyone—even from her husband—while stealing from the hospital where she worked, moving on to abuse prescription nasal spray, and later to shooting illicit drugs. Confronted by the Health Department's Drug Control agents, Holloran buckled, joined rehab and a support group called Nurses for Nurses, and began the arduous process of fighting to hold her life and career together. A poignant rendition of the addiction-recovery narrative, Holloran's most important work exposes the failure of the U.S. health care system to protect even its own. Though little here will surprise (as addiction behavior goes, hers was fairly tame), readers will respond to Holloran's honest, personal, unexpectedly complex tour of the U.S. health and rehab industries. (Feb.)

Lincoln Speaks to Leaders: 20 Powerful Lessons for Today’s Leaders from America’s 16th President
Gene Griessman and Pat Williams with Peggy Matthews Rose. Elevate, $19.99 paper (186p) ISBN 9781601940285
Though the unofficial Lincoln Bicentennial Publish-palooza is a crowded field, this stultifying leadership primer may be the most egregious entry to date. Switching off writing duties, Griessman (author and Lincoln portrayer) and Williams (public speaker and senior VP of the NBA's Orlando Magic) manage in 20 chapters to nullify the power of Lincoln’s writing, reduce his accomplishments to a checklist of office to-dos, and yoke the 16th president's voice to tired self-help-speak like, “If you want to be successful... you must will that success into existence.” Frequent, tone-deaf passages written by Griessman in Lincoln's voice aren't helped by his professional experience; in-character lines include “My name is Lincoln—Abraham Lincoln. And I’ve been dead for well over a century”; “I am a possibility thinker”; and “I began to learn to value diversity in the little settlements of the frontier.” (Excerpts from Lincoln’s own writing serve only to show up Greissman's act.) Williams, meanwhile, recounts stories from the front offices of various basketball teams, bizarrely synthesizing Lincoln's ideas with his own advice about visualization, thinking things through, and staying positive. Like unwelcome carpetbaggers in the reconstruction South, these authors seem less interested in spreading the word of Lincoln than in exploiting his moment. (Feb.)

The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today
Andrew J. Cherlin. Knopf, $25.95 (288p) ISBN 9780307266897
Johns Hopkins University sociologist Cherlin (Public and Private Families) analyzes “the profound changes” that have occurred in American family life, especially during the past half century. Although heterosexual marriage as the bedrock institution for raising children remains a strong cultural value, it is challenged by the increasing stress placed on individualism and self-fulfillment. The book presents a comprehensive historical overview of marriage and family in the U.S. and compares American behavior with that of people in other Western countries (Americans have the highest levels of moving from partner to partner). In light of relationship instability, the author suggests that children are likely to fare better in a single parent family than in a step-family, a structure that tends to be unstable. While Cherlin delineates the stress points created by the conflicting values of marriage and individualism, he offers few suggestions for dealing with the problems identified. To suggest that the “marriage merry-go-round” can be “slowed down” by not starting or ending relationships so quickly is to restate the problem, not offer insight for its resolution. (Apr.)

Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
Jeff Mapes. Oregon State Univ. (Univ. of Arizona, dist.), $19.95 paper (288p) ISBN 9780870714191
In a time of climate change and car-worship, bicycle riding has become a political statement and a policy issue, with its own grassroots movement working “to seize at least a part of the street back from motorists.” After a dry but brief history of the bicycle and its political significance (Susan B. Anthony said bicycles have “done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”), Mapes reports from the world capitals of bicycle culture. Mapes explores Amsterdam, marveling at the ease with which cyclists, motorists and pedestrians share the road. In San Francisco and New York City, he finds cycling groups at their most hip and radical, and joins them on a “Critical Mass” protest, in which cyclists take to the streets en masse to block traffic and take over rush hour streets; they've caused siginificant headaches for the NYPD, especially during the 2004 National Republican Convention. Focusing largely on the cyclists themselves, Mapes puts a passionate and pragmatic face to the “new urban bike movement” while connecting the dots between cycling culture and a host of quality of life issues. (Mar.)

A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century
Jane Vandenburgh. Counterpoint, $25 (320p) ISBN 9781582434599
In her memoir, novelist Vandenburgh (Failure to Zigzag) tells of her dysfunctional Protestant family, rebellious adolescence, a flirtation with lesbianism, a survived car crash and famous friends. She begins the narrative at age nine, barefoot and scrappy, skipping school and wreaking unsupervised havoc with her two brothers (aged 13 and five) in 1950s Redondo, Calif. Their bohemian bliss sours when their father, who had been arrested several times for hanging around gay bars, commits suicide, sending Vandenburgh’s already fragile, mentally unstable mother off the deep end. She loses custody, and Jane and her brothers are sent to a suburb of L.A. to live with their aunt, a fervent Christian who has four children of her own, as well as an adulterous husband. Then comes suburban ennui and rebellion: short skirts, shoplifting, watching porn. Vandenburgh’s story is engaging, though feels familiar—in fact, Vandenburgh has written parts of it before (Failure to Zigzag features a crazy, often negligent mother; The Physics of Sunset focuses on an adulterous affair in Berkeley, Calif.). In a neat narrative twist, she has an affair with a person who ends up being the publisher of her book. (Mar.)

Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There
Tom Davis, intro. by Al Franken. Grove (PGW, dist.), $24 (320p) ISBN 9780802118806
Writing for Saturday Night Live during the sketch show’s legendary early seasons may be Davis’s claim to fame, but this captivating memoir is about much more, including his suburban Minneapolis childhood, couch-surfing through his hometown, San Francisco, and New York City during the 1970s, and a life-long friendship with comedian-turned-political commentator-turned (probable) Senator Al Franken. Of course, that doesn't stop Davis from hooking readers at the outset with the true Coneheads origin story, involving Dan Aykroyd, LSD and a trip to Easter Island. Later, Davis recalls poignantly Aykroyd’s eulogy at John Belushi’s funeral, which began, “I so did not want to have to do this.” Davis also speaks reverently of Lorne Michaels, despite their (often hilarious) professional differences. Davis’s portrait of Franken, though, is most endearing. Fellow Minneapolisians, Franken and Davis were a comedy team throughout their young careers; Davis recreates their partnership in rich, funny details, bolstered by transcripts of their recent e-mail correspondence. Though it features some lurid and hysterical SNL stories, Davis's memoir is less a backstage expose than a winning coming-of-age story featuring a funny Midwestern kid following his unlikely dream to the top. (Mar.)

LIFESTYLE

Paul Gayler's Sauce Book
Paul Gayler. Kyle Cathie, $29.95 (224p) ISBN 9781904920847
Though hardly the first book on the topic, Gayler (The World in Bite Size, Pure Vegetarian, The Gourmet Burger) has certainly crafted one of the most accessible guides to sauces, organized by region (French classics, the Americas, Asia, etc.) and ready to enhance meals in 300 different ways. Tentative cooks will benefit from Gayler's straightforward approach and often simple recipes—most call for only a handful of ingredients—and should be whipping up classics like Greek Avgolemono, Argentinian chimichurri or Mornay sauce in no time. After mastering basic sauces like veloute, bechamel and mayonnaise, Gayler uses just a few adjustments to expand new cooks’ repertoire with red pepper bearnaise, remoulade and a lusty saffron beurre blanc. A handful of complementary recipes are also provided, giving cooks plenty of excuses to whip up a sauce: garlicky, black-olive laced tapenade is paired with sea bass on toast, zesty Romescu makes a solid match for a swordfish entree, and hoisin is a natural for roast duck. Readers long mystified by the creation and proper employment of sauces will find this an indispensable resource, and those who've been discouraged by aggressively technical sauce manuals will find Gayler a highly approachable guide. (Mar.)

Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach
Jeannette Bessinger and Tracee Yablon-Brenner. Ten Speed/Celestial Arts, $19.95 paper (256p) ISBN 9781587613357
Dietician Yablon-Brenner and holistic health counselor Bessinger, who consult and teach as the “Real Food Moms,” offer tips for improving the family diet in this well-meaning, if repetitive, volume. The duo argues that decades of declining health in American children and adults can be blamed squarely on the “Standard American Diet”—more a lifestyle than an actual diet—characterized by processed food, stress and too much time in front of TV and computer screens. The authors’ remedies—fresh foods, plenty of water, more exercise, etc.—will surprise nobody, yet the duo have an irritating habit of repeating themselves on those very topics. A lengthy guide to vegetables and pantry staples proves helpful for readers wondering how to incorporate fennel, beets or buckwheat into the family meal, but the duo's recipes often fall short. Sautéing is their go-to method for seemingly all greens, and their mix-and-match dish-crafting approach (a couple items from column A, an item each from columns B and C) might work for salads, but comes off as lazy and impractical anywhere else. Passages on industrial farming, restaurant eating and the American experience of satiety are interesting diversions, but not enough to break the volume’s monotony; one comes away thinking it could have worked better as a magazine article. (Mar.)

Vodou Love Magic: A Practical Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships
Kenaz Filan. Inner Traditions/Destiny, $14.95 paper (192p) ISBN 9781594772481
Readers tired of the usual dating avenues—websites, bars, reality television—may want to check out this compilation of Hatian Vodou love spells. Author Filan warns away skeptics and the easily discouraged; the longtime Hatian Vodou practitioner (and managing editor of newWitch magazine) advises leaving yourself open to “a quiet miracle,” and good-old fashioned practice, to “overcome the hurdle of disbelief.” Filan introduces readers to a number of Iwa, the everyday spirits of the vodouist, explaining how and for what reason to tap into their powers. Summoning methods vary from Iwa to Iwa, as do spell casting techniques: summoning “the Iwa of beauty and luxury,” Freda, involves sprinkling water on the ground; Papa Ogou, Iwa of strength and honesty, requires a machete and rum. Those looking more for a love’s lusty approximation will want to break out their seven-day candle and Nightmare Before Christmas doll before turning directly to the chapter on Ghede, the “bringer of booty calls.” Aside from some interesting cultural history, Filan’s text is largely dry and instructive, not a bad thing given many spells’ inconvenient steps. Though long in tradition, even Filan admits these time-consuming methods shouldn’t replace “reconnecting with the people around you”; to borrow from another tradition, Iwa often help those who help themselves. (Feb.)

Will Marry for Food, Sex and Laundry: How to Get Him—and How to Keep Him
Simon Oaks. Adams, $12.95 (256p) ISBN 9781598697902
Though he doesn't have any credentials beyond a happy marriage of 10 years, Oaks gets a leg up in the crowded field of find-that-man self-help with a rare male voice and an endearing sense of self-loathing. Having been plucked from confirmed bachelorhood himself, Oaks has hit upon what it takes to get and keep a man finally and forever. The answer is in Oaks's title: all men want is food, sex and clean laundry. In extensive, self-deprecatory detail, Oaks explains exactly how simple men really are, and what women can best do to fulfill their basic (only) needs. While much of this advice amounts to cheap (though funny) chauvinism, Oaks offers some intelligent commentary and advice—though nothing that can't be found elsewhere. Depending on one's reaction to Oaks's snarky, self-reflexive veneer and admittedly “throwback” gender politics, readers should find this a friendly guide to getting out there with a gratifying less-is-more approach. Others might do well to find a similar book in a less glib register. (Mar.)

ILLUSTRATED

Outsiders: Art by People
Compiled by Steve Lazarides. Century (IPG, dist.), $26.95 paper (264p) ISBN 9781846055461
A slippery and near-ubiquitous term in post-postmodern art, gallery owner Lazarides (who also manages street-art megastar Banksy) uses the “outsider” label here to describe artists working outside of traditional artistic spaces—Mark Jenkins’ amazingly realistic streetside human casts made of packing tape, Invader's colorful reproductions of classic video game characters in tile—but his only qualification for inclusion is “work I admire” (though one might perceive a supporting consideration, “work available for purchase on my gallery Web site”). To wit: Antony Micallef’s exquisite, “deeply troubling” portraits of post-consumer babylonia, Polly Morgan's elevated taxidermy, and the “mischevous and macabre,” “very British” Sanley Donwood (best known for his work with rock group Radiohead). Lazarides pens brief, warm biographies of most contributors, interspersing them randomly in page after page of stunning images. The text concludes with an informative (if abbreviated) index and a list for further reading. 15 b/w, 255 color images. (Apr.)

RELIGION

The 12-Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from Any Addiction
Darren Littlejohn. Atria/Beyond Words, $19 paper (320p) ISBN 9781582702230
According to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, almost 10 percent of people aged 12 or older needed treatment for drug or alcohol problems in 2006. That astonishing number suggests a need for books such as this, written by recovering drug and alcohol addict Littlejohn, who is also a student of Buddhism. The author, who has also studied psychology and research methods, has most definitely been there. Using the Buddhist idea of attachment as a key insight into addiction, Littlejohn correlates the 12 steps of recovery programs with Buddhist ideas and practices, drawing from both Zen and Tibetan traditions. This approach can especially benefit those who may have trouble with more conventional understandings of a Judeo-Christian God as a Higher Power, since 12-step programs depend on acceptance of such a power. Some of Littlejohn’s practical exercises—certain Tibetan visualizations, for example—can be abstruse, and an appended glossary could provide more help with Buddhism, issues that more rigorous editing could have addressed. But the author has guts and clarity; this book is a welcome beacon on the troubling ocean of addiction. (Mar.)

POETRY

The Orphan and Its Relations
Elizabeth Robinson. Fence Books (UPNE, dist.), $15 (120p) ISBN 9781934200162
Robinson’s second collection of poetry for experimental powerhouse Fence Books is a series of lyric meditations on the relation of the self to others. The book’s central figures—some of whom speak, while others are spoken about—all nurse deep wounds, emotional, physical, or spiritual. From the wayward children at the start of the collection to the lovelorn adults who appear towards the end, all of Robinson’s voices speak with the same melancholic consciousness of language. “I have tattooed to myself the synonyms for ‘alone’,” says a twin who seems to have devoured his other in the womb. “I find myself floating face-down in the sea, and am grateful that my hands have been bound behind my back so as not to obstruct my view,” says a nameless child in another poem. Brutality, ever present here, has a kind of beauty in Robinson’s eyes. Punishment is inflicted and received with cool detachment. The narratives hinted at in these prose poem sequences and discreet lyrics are constantly just out of reach. At the center of the book, the poems turn explicitly dreamy: “During the drive home, in the dark, she sits in the back seat sullenly and eats the webbing out from between her fingers and toes.” But no matter what savagery befalls these characters—hauntings, traumas, physical wounds—one speaker says it best: “Only the pain is real.” (Mar.)

FICTION

Blood of Ambrose
James Enge. Pyr, $15.98 paper (416p) ISBN 9781591027362
Enge competently blends a compelling plot and unrelentingly grim prose in this somber stand-alone fantasy debut. The heir to the Empire of Ontil is twelve-year-old Lathmar, a terrified child recently orphaned by his own Protector and uncle, Lord Urdhven. His ancient and powerful relatives, controlling Ambrosia and morosely forbidding Morlock, offer their magical aid to reclaim his throne and defeat the Protector. Slowly growing to manhood, Lathmar struggles to assert himself as the Emperor-to-be while craving his guardians’ parental approval and longing to become more of a participant than an observer. Though the characters are more fascinating than lovable, Enge’s precise and elegant language and some darkly harrowing scenes are sure to tug on readers’ heartstrings. Legends frequently have predictable conclusions, but even with an unsurprising destination, this coming-of-age narrative makes for an engaging journey. (Apr.)