Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 3/30/2009

-- Publishers Weekly, 3/30/2009

Nonfiction

Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama
Tim Wise. City Lights, $13.95 (128p) ISBN 9780872865006
Wise, a white anti-racism activist and scholar (and author of White Like Me), pushes plenty of buttons in this methodical breakdown of racism's place in the wake of Barack Obama’s victory. In the first of two essays, the author obliterates the canard of the US as a post-racial society; bigotry and insititutionalized discrimination, he contends, have simply morphed into “Racism 2.0,” in which successful minorities are celebrated “as having 'transcended' their blackness in some way.” While racial disparities in employment and income, housing, education and other areas persist, Obama has become an amiable sitcom dad like Bill Cosby, putting whites at ease by speaking, looking and acting “a certain way”—not to mention avoiding discussion of race. In his second, more incendiary essay, Wise concludes that whites must take responsibility for racism. What the majority of whites fail to grasp, he says, is that they continue to benefit from a system of “entrenched privileges” centuries in the making, and that racism remains a serious obstacle for millions of African Americans. There’s no sugar coating here for whites, nor are there any news flashes for Americans of color, but Wise bravely enumerates the unpalatable truths of a nation still struggling to understand its legacy of racist oppression. (Feb.)

  Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counterculture
Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo. Univ. Press of Kansas, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780700616336
Author and history professor Lemke-Santangelo (Abiding Courage: African American Migrant Women in the East Bay Community) examines the history and impact of the "hippie women” of the 1960's and 70's counterculture, whose contributions to the second wave of feminism “have been shrouded in popular misconceptions and stereotypes.” Using memoirs and interviews (eight new), as well as extensive analysis and personal photos, Lemke-Santangelo illuminates the way figures like author Lenore Kendall and beat poet Diane DiPrima "altered the social, political, economic and cultural landscape” and brought everything from “natural childbirth and mothering to New Age spiritual beliefs, eco-feminism, holistic health, and sustainable agriculture" into the national discourse (sowing seeds for the current “green” movement). Though most were white and "children of prosperity," Lemke-Santangelo addresses and dispels stereotyped notions of “earth mothers” and “love goddesses”—an oppressive vision promoted even in the (male-dominated) counterculture press—to present an unobstructed view of their day-to-day lives, finding a lifestyle at once progressive and strikingly similar to that of their hard-working great-grandmothers. Filling a gap in the scholarship of feminism, this history presents (and preserves) stories from a wide range of counterculture women with lively, populist prose and little academic posturing. (Apr.)

Galileo's New Universe: The Revolution in Our Understanding of the Cosmos
Stephen P. Maran and Laurence A. Marschall. BenBella (Perseus, dist.), $14.95 paper (224p) ISBN 9781933771595
On the occasion of the telescope's 400th birthday, author and former NASA scientist Maran (Astronomy for Dummies) and physics professor Marschall (The Supernova Story) examine how Galileo's invention led to ground-breaking discoveries and the confirmation of the heliocentric Copernican hypothesis. Alternating between Galileo's perspective and that of 21st century astrophysics, Maran and Marschall dramatize the "profound novelty" of Galileo's first steps and the enormous distance we've come since: astronomer s now collect more information in an "eyeblink" than Galileo could in three years of systematic observation. Though a Dutchman fashioned the first rudimentary telescope ("two disks of glass and a piece of lead pipe"), the improvements Galileo developed in 1609 turned the humble spyglass (a military and shipping aid) into a precision instrument for studying the heavens. Galileo's first astonishing discovery was that the Moon, previously thought to be an ethereal body entirely unlike the earth, had a landscape. Just two years later he was observing sun spots and tracking Venus. A charming peek into astronomy's “family album,” this lively history is ideal for armchair scientists and stargazers. (Mar.)

Kiyo's Story: A Japanese-American Family’s Quest for the American Dream
Kiyo Sato. Soho (Consortium, dist.), $25 (352p) ISBN 9781569475690
In this memoir, originally published as Dandelion Through the Crack, first generation Japanese-American Sato chronicles the tribulations her family endured in America through the Great Depression and WWII. Emigrating from Japan in 1911, Sato's parents built a home and cultivated a marginal plot of land into a modest but sustaining fruit farm. One of nine children, Sato recounts days on the farm playing with her siblings and lending a hand with child-care, house cleaning and grueling farm work. Her anecdotes regarding the family’s devotion to one another despite their meager lifestyle (her father mending a little brother's shoe with rubber sliced from a discarded tire) gain cumulative weight, especially when hard times turn tragic: in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the Satos find themselves swept up by U.S. authorities and shuffled through multiple Japanese internment camps, ending up in a desert facility while the farm falls to ruin. Sato’s memoir is a poignant, eye-opening testament to the worst impulses of a nation in fear, and the power of family to heal the most painful wounds. (Apr.)

One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World
Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann. Free Press, $26 (272p) ISBN 9781416559085
Though many Americans may think their country abounds in places free from human interference, acoustic ecologist and professional sound recordist Hempton readily proves otherwise. Armed with sound monitoring equipment and a well-defined goal—to find a spot that has “no audible human noise intrusions of any kind for a minimum of 15 minutes”—Hempton drives his VW bus from Seattle to Washington, D.C., visiting national parks and other anticipated sources of silence. Along the way, he contemplates the intricacies of his vehicle, the decline in songbird populations and the effects of noise stress in hospitals, while filling readers in on the basics of audio science. From rural Montana, and what may be the nation’s quietest town, to his final hike through the C&O canal, beneath Ronald Reagan National air traffic, Hempton’s travelogue is filled with absorbing descriptions of the nation’s natural treasures, inviting readers to consider the effects of rare silence against chronic noise, and the difference a single law, to “prohibit all aircraft from flying over our most pristine national parks,” could make: “If a loud noise… can affect many square miles, then a natural place, if maintained in a 100 percent noise-free condition, will likewise affect many square miles around it.”. (Mar.)

Snakebit: Confessions of a Herpetologist
Leslie Anthony. Greystone, $29.95 (292p) ISBN 9781553652366
Part memoir, part sociological investigation of herpetologist culture, Anthony explores what it means to be “snakebit” from a young age, having collected his first garter snake at age six, in the suburbs of Ontario. Chapters describe the adventures of the herpetology Ph.D.-turned-nature writer, including trips into the field to go “herping,” Anthony’s made-up term for “tromp[ing] around outdoors looking for reptiles.” Focusing on his student days at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and Montreal’s Redpath Museum, Anthony details his education and the ecological role of reptiles through time. A late chapter about a New Orleans convention of herpetologists and ichthyologists includes discussing of new research on deformed amphibians and current, baffling reptile extinctions. He also looks at taxonomic issues, fossil evidence behind reptilian evolution, and how the evolutionary relationships among birds, dinosaurs and crocodiles (all descended from the same ancient tetrapods) remain unexplained. As Anthony joins scientists in the field, his old passions frequently draw him out of his reporter role, happily landing him (and readers) back in the thick of things, collecting vipers in Armenia or king cobras in Vietnam. Unfortunately, this thorough, informative look at a fascinating field is often marred by prose as purple as an Amazonian snail-eater. (Apr.)

Stories from Candyland: Confections from One of Hollywood’s Most Famous Wives and Mothers
Candy Spelling. St. Martin’s, $25.95 (248p) ISBN 9780312570705
Readers hoping for spicy gossip or retaliation against her disapproving daughter Tori will be disappointed with mother Spelling’s mild mannered, saccharine memoir. Spelling, nee Carole Gene Marer, married the late prolific TV producer Aaron Spelling (whose shows accounted for one-third of ABC’s 1984 prime time schedule) in her early twenties, and spent their 36 years together making up for her humble beginnings. Apparently devoting much of her time to amassing collections of everything from American Sterling Peacocks to sugar sifters (a list of her collections takes up three pages), she also devotes inordinate space to discussing (and defending) “The Manor,” the Spellings’ legendary 56,000+ square foot home, featuring a “gift wrapping room” and a basement bowling alley. Very little time is spent on relationships or people; a few cursory nods are all that allude to the verbal lashing she’s received from actress daughter Tori, and one chapter is set aside, bizarrely, for limited input from family, friends, and her therapist. Twenty-three pages of irrelevant recipes, as well as tone-deaf statements like “there’s a big celebrity culture that you’d have to be here in L.A. to appreciate or truly understand,” further confuse the point of her endeavor. Unfortunately, Spelling’s admitted insecurity (“What am I doing? Can I write a book?”) proves well-founded. (Mar.)

Lifestyle

10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea
Suzy Welch. Scribner, $24 (240p) ISBN 9781416591825
Journalist Welch, coauthor of Winning (with her husband, former GE CEO Jack), offers an in-depth look at the decision making process that has brought her success and formed the basis of her work-life advice column in O, The Oprah Magazine. By imagining a decision's impact in the short and long term—in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years—readers will discover not just their innermost values, but the wisdom to pursue them with confident and empowering choices. While easy to follow and simple in theory, the process can raise painful and challenging issues, illustrated in numerous case studies, Welch's personal story and the science behind 10-10-10. Welch also demonstrates how poor decisions are often the result of stress and guilt, rather than a lack of understanding or knowledge; the practical upshot of her approach is the ability to break through the often paralyzing ambivalence that keeps people in dead end jobs and relationships. Anyone who feels stuck, rushed or simply too emotional to make important life decisions should find Welch's technique surprisingly useful, and her guide to it both rallying and rational. (Apr.)

Exactly as I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice With Today’s Girls On What It Takes to Believe in Yourself
Shaun Robinson. Ballantine, $20 (160p) ISBN 9780345511959
With the voices of teenaged girls as well as successful women on issues ranging from body image and sex to self esteem and independent thinking, this book of motivational advice and anecdotes presents quotes and stories from role models notable for confidence, determination and generosity. A co-host of TV's Access Hollywood and a board member of advocacy non-profit Girls Inc., Robinson's concern and respect for teenage girls shine on each page, even if the advice she shepherds for them tends toward the generic. It isn't for lack of trying; a wonderful breadth of women contribute, from Alicia Keys to Nancy Pelosi, and they all have something worthwhile to say, ensuring at least one positive message will connect with girls of varied interests. An encouraging “reality check” with the brevity and range to keep adolescents' attention, this charming work should make a popular gift buy for moms, aunts and grandparents. (Apr.)

The Genius of Instinct: Reclaim Mother Nature’s Tools for Enhancing Your Health, Happiness, Family, and Work
Hendrie Weisinger. FT, $24.99 (272p) ISBN 9780132357029
Author and psychologist Weisinger (Nobody’s Perfect), an executive educator specializing in organizational psychology, posits the idea that human beings are “hard-wired for success” (not simply for survival) by mechanisms in our brain developed over ten million years of natural selection—instinctual mechanisms like emotion and empathy which we devalue against higher functions like reason and analysis. In this lively self-help, Weisinger offers fairly standard advice (maximize attractiveness, keep learning, practice reciprocity), but his approach is frequently counterintuitive, often with illuminating results. Locating the hardwired center for emotions in the face (rather than, say, the brain stem), he suggests that the way to get yourself out of a bad relationship is to use “your angry face,” which communicates feelings not just to your partner but to the rest of your body, “giv[ing] you the energy to rid yourself of something that is toxic to you”—literally, the strength to walk out the door. Elsewhere, Weisinger explains why contentment often prevents growth, and why “tending,” giving care to others, is a “life enhancer for the entire family” and/or the office staff. (Mar.)

Stepping Out of Line: Lessons for Women Who Want It Their Way in Life, in Love, and at Work
Nell Merlino. Broadway, $14 paper (240p) ISBN 9780767924849
The daughter of a lawyer and a community activist, Merlino describes herself as "chubby from the age of nine and generally known as 'outspoken' (if you liked that sort of thing) or 'bossy' (if you didn't)." Her go-getting resume includes a Fulbright Scholarship, a non-profit she started to foster women’s entrepreneurship, and work on three presidential campaigns (including Bill Clinton's). In this self-help memoir, Merlino recounts those and other adventures while tracing the path to her crowning achievement, the 1993 founding of Take Our Daughters to Work Day. Looking at the idea from conception to execution, Merlino illustrates ways in which any woman can actualize her desires. Imagination and dedication are key; Merlino insists that no matter what “the system” you're up against may be—courtship, marriage, politics, law, workplace power structures—it's “more malleable than you think.” Citing role models ranging from the women of Rwanda to Eddie Murphy’s character in Coming to America, Merlino's extended pep-talk should inspire readers to envision and pursue their ideals: “Whatever you can imagine for yourself, you can achieve.” (Mar.)

Fiction

Bunco Babes Tell All
Maria Geraci. Berkley, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 9780425227589
A north Florida realtor with an abysmal romantic history continues her quest for a suitable man in Geraci’s formulaic debut. Kitty Burke is the only single gal in her circle of friends who get together every week to gossip, play dice and drink. But then she meets Steve, a plumber and multiple divorcé who seems like a horrible Mr. Right, but an excellent Mr. Right Now. As Kitty’s personal life heats up, her professional life does, too: she is offered a chance to broker a new condo development, something that will be very unpopular in her town, but very good for her pocketbook. Things, however, are not as they seem, in love or business. While genre fans will feel at home with Kitty, who is attractive, somewhat successful and, like her pals, full of quirks, her story is woefully unoriginal. This disposable diversion’s good for a few laughs, but not much more. (May)

Everything is Now: New and Collected Stories
Michelle Cliff. Univ. of Minnesota, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 9780816655939
Cliff’s body of short fiction is amassed in this elegant collection in which ancestral misdeeds—slavery, witch hunts—return to haunt the present. In “My Grandmother’s Eyes,” a Jamaican immigrant’s grandson pieces together the story of his grandmother, who came to America illegally by banana boat in 1923. Plucky and resourceful, she made her way as a dancer in Harlem, had fabulous adventures and many marriages, and bequeathed to her descendants a flair for the unconventional. The title story, echoing a quote by Toni Morrison, records a poignant meeting of a psychically gifted narrator, who is anticipating a rendezvous with her lover, and a bereft woman who seems to have time-traveled from the 1940s, still holding the telegram informing her that her soldier-lover was killed in action. “While Underneath” is the chilling account by an academic teaching at a Connecticut college who discovers that the school’s subterranean network of tunnels (allegedly part of Underground Railroad) was the site of a hushed-up gang rape. Cliff is undeniably in control of her material, and even if some pieces feel too stylistically mannered, she uses fiction to elucidating effect. (May)

It’s Never Too Late
Donna MacQuigg. Five Star, $25.95 (276p) ISBN 9781594147784
After years of writing historical romance (including Honorable Intentions), MacQuigg’s attempt at contemporary women’s fiction makes for a mixed effort; unfortunately, well-rendered characters (especially fussy supporting player Norman) can’t save it from a been-there-done-that plot: a jilted middle-aged woman, recently divorced after discovering her husband’s infidelity, takes an extended break from her regular life to rediscover herself. The predictable story finds self-blaming Kathryne Sheldon visiting her estranged father’s ranch in New Mexico, and there returning to life with the help of widowed Native American ranch hand John Hawkins. Financial complications throw John’s plans for the future into jeopardy, but he manages to keep what’s his through hard work, sacrifice and Kathryne’s support; before long, the two are romantically entangled. Though it can get bogged down in detailed descriptions of big-rig driving and stall-mucking, the narrative’s realistic, understated tone makes a nice fit for Kathryne and John’s day-to-day, but a dissonant subplot involving Kathryne’s dastardly ex-husband becomes increasingly preposterous over the course of the novel. (May)

Pow Wow: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience—Short Fiction From Then to Now
Edited by Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank. Da Capo, $19.95 (503p) ISBN 9781568583426
With help from writers such as Benjamin Franklin, Grace Paley and Wanda Coleman, novelist/poet/essayist Reed puts together a captivating, multifarious look at the American experience through its short fiction (a “cousin” to his lauded poetry anthology From Totems to Hip-Hop). From the ins and outs of a young Latino’s struggle in an Anglo-dominated Catholic school (Nash Candelaria’s “The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne”) to Haight Street during the Summer of Love (“Wormwood” by Conyus), Reed’s selections will draw readers into American cities, suburbs, prairies and mountains with vivid, precise, at times documentary description and bold, personal questions of American identity and purpose. At the same time, the overwhelming role of love, loss, and growth can render them almost allegorical; a perfect example is Wajahat Ali’s “Ramadan Blues,” in which a young boy is first introduced to the traditional holiday fast. The boy’s fear and self-deprecation over his meager battle with hunger balance the personal detail and honesty of the autobiographical with the sweep of America’s religious legacy. A “gathering of voices from the different American tribes,” this highly varied collection doesn’t neglect important works from the likes of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, George S. Schuyler, Gertrude Stein and Mark Twain. (Feb.)