Web Exclusive Book Reviews: Week of 11/2/2009

-- Publishers Weekly, 11/2/2009

NONFICTION

Breaking the Sound Barrier
Amy Goodman. Haymarket, $16 paper (220p) ISBN 9781931859998
In this collection of her best online columns, award-winning investigative journalist Goodman showcases a broad knowledge of history and a carefully considered point-of-view, left-leaning but driven by principles rather than party affiliation. A talk radio host and columnist, Goodman takes an anti-establishment stance that eschews experts and sound bites to get to the center of highly charged stories: illegal detention of journalists at the 2008 Republican National Convention, murder by the thousands in East Timor, silver-tongued politicians and executives caught in lies, and more. Fans may be disappointed that no new material has been included, but those unfamiliar with Goodman’s work will discover a bold voice that refuses to mince words regardless of the topic or target, along with a wealth of behind-the-headlines reporting. (Oct.)

 Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine
Andrew Smith. Columbia Univ., $29.95 (384p) ISBN 9780231140928
With an incisive style, food writer and editor Smith (Hamburger: A Global History) cuts deep into the origins of modern American culture with 30 succinct servings of U.S. food history. Beginning with Oliver Evan’s automated mill in 1784 and ending with the present-day development of food conglomerates like Kraft Foods, Smith offers ample context for the way Americans currently consume (and think about) food. Easy-to-digest prose and modest portions make these stories compulsively readable, and reveal new angles on old stories, like Sarah Hale's successful efforts to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, the first food magazine (recently-shuttered Gourmet), to a recurring examination of the American obsession with French cuisine. Exhaustively researched by a professional expert, Smith can be slowed by lists of names and numbers (especially in the mergers section), but anyone interested in food will learn much, especially about the serious consequences of decisions regarding our food supply. (Oct.)

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence. Thomas Dunne, $24.99 (384p) ISBN 9780312565787
In 1998, prize-winning conservationist Anthony (Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo) purchased Thula Thula, “5,000 acres of pristine bush in the heart of Zululand, South Africa,” transforming a rundown hunters’ camp (dating to the 19th century) into a wild animal preserve and a center for eco-tourism. In 1999, Anthony agreed to take in a herd of “troubled” wild elephants, the first seen in the area in more than a century. Winning their trust, becoming deeply attached, and even learning how they communicate (deep, rumbling “whispers,” sensed rather than heard), Anthony took enormous risks in the form of enraged elephants, distrustful neighbors, and poachers. Over time Anthony succeeds in his larger goal, winning support from the six Zulu tribes whose land borders the reserve (“most Zulus … had never set eyes on an elephant”); they eventually join Anthony’s venture as partners in a larger conservation trust. An inspiring, multifaceted account, Anthony’s book offers fascinating insights into the lives of wild elephants in the broader context of Zulu culture in post-Apartheid South Africa. 8 page color photo insert. (Nov.)

Erotic City: Sexual Revolutions and the Making of Modern San Francisco
Josh Sides. Oxford Univ., $29.95 (304p) ISBN 9780195377811
This cultural history makes a sound and stimulating case for including the fraught public negotiation of sexual desire in our assessment of the transformation of the postwar urban environment. Sides, professor of California history, in part does for San Francisco what cultural historians like George Chauncey have done for New York: resurrect the semi-hidden antecedents to the flourishing of sexual expression in the 1960s in adult entertainment, prostitution and public performance of sexual desire including among homosexuals (Chauncey’s specific subject). But rather than emphasize the way the city shapes sexual identity, Sides is keen to emphasize how public displays of and trade in sexual desire as well as the reaction to them—by individuals, civic leaders, neighborhood organizations, churches and those in the political and legal systems—together fundamentally defined the physical and social shape of the metropolis. This measured, fascinating and politically timely study of sex radicals and their reactionary counterparts, in a city long considered (however accurately) as a haven for libertinism, will prove a vital and welcome addition to the study of urban culture in general and San Francisco history in particular. (Nov.)

 Final Voyage: A Story of Arctic Disaster and One Fatal Whaling Season
Peter Nichols. Putnam, $26.95 (304p) ISBN 9780399156021
Chronicling the downfall of the vast whaling industry developed in New England over the 18th and 19th centuries, author Nichols (A Voyage for Madmen) presents both an illuminating portrait of Quaker life and industry, and a heart-pounding tale of danger on the open sea. Nichols has a rich understanding of the whale oil (“oyl”) industry, and recreates the atmosphere of whaling voyages and villages, particularly wealthy New Bedford, Mass., in sensuous detail: “Emissions of greasy particulate settled over the town like a glaze and gave it the permanent odor of burnt flesh and fat.” A collection of ships’ logbooks and letters from whaling captains give character to the phenomenal victories and challenges the seamen—and their family—faced. There is a lot to admire in the whalers; their captains “were master mariners and navigators, among the canniest and most skillful in human history,” and their task enormous. Although death and loss were common in the hunt, the 1871 season recounted here marked the beginning of the end for the oyl industry, a major disaster in which an entire fleet was caught in a diabolical arctic weather system. (Oct.)

Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation
Elissa Stein and Susan Kim. St. Martin’s Griffin, $27.99 (272p) ISBN 9780312379964
Written like a sassy young women’s magazine with first-person narrative and the occasional astonished exclamation point, a normally taboo topic claims attention with the surprising—and sometimes horrifying—history of cultural reactions to menstruation (Pliny believed menstrual blood was toxic to flora and fauna), feminine "hygiene,” and the enticing yet under-researched future of period-free birth control methods. Sprinkled throughout with entertainingly naïve ads from each era of the 20th-century as well as many references to scientific findings, author and graphic designer Stein and Kim, a graphic novelist (Circle of Spies) and writer of the play adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, evoke a light-hearted tone about their serious subject. They cover everything from menarche to menopause, including what menstruation is (which receives an outstandingly clear explanation) plus an enlightening discussion of the pad v. tampon debate, which at bottom was a sophisticated marketing strategy. Perfect for a preteen’s introduction to adulthood and for women of all ages, this is guaranteed to spark conversation about old early sanitary technology (belts and pins), the pad’s evolution, during WWI, when nurses found cellulose bandages more absorbent than plain cotton, and whether this universal female experience is a blessing, a curse—or just part of life. (Nov.)

Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams
Robert Englund with Alan Goldshur. Pocket, $26 (352p) ISBN 9781439150481
The actor behind A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger recounts his early years in theater and Hollywood before hitting it big as the razor-fingered killer. Intent on pursuing a stage career, California native Englund went to Cal State and Michigan’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied classical theater. After being inspired by Martin Scorsese’s debut film, Boxcar Bertha, Englund headed to Hollywood and soon landed small roles alongside stars like Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds and Sally Field. But it wasn’t until Wes Craven offered the role of Freddy Krueger, a sadistic murderer who haunted victims’ dreams, that Englund broke into cult stardom. He recalls in vivid detail the hundreds of hours spent in the makeup chair for the film and its six sequels, most recently 2004’s hit Freddy vs. Jason, where Krueger is resurrected from hell and battles Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise. Englund also appeared in the acclaimed 1984 miniseries V and 1995’s The Mangler, from Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. While readers who didn’t grow up with the Elm Street films may be a bit lost, Englund’s memoir will appeal to those who still can’t shake Freddy from their nightmares. (Oct.)

Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me: The True Story of a Domesticated Princess
Lisa Fineberg Cook. Pocket/Downtown, $15 paper (304p) ISBN 9781439110034
In her debut memoir, Beverly Hills native Cook takes an honest look at the life of a young, privileged, Jewish woman who relocates to Japan with her new (American) husband, leaving the life she knows behind—largely spent out with friends, shopping, eating, or abusing nail salons and spas. Suddenly, she’s immersed in a world she doesn’t understand, from the language to the housework to the friendships. Much is made of her severed relationship with her best friend Stacey, but before long, Cook lands some teaching jobs, meets friendly co-workers and a few enthusiastic students, and finds her relationship with her new husband blossoming. Through her struggles, Cook offers a genuinely funny and honest fish-out-of-water narrative without ever veering into broad or tone-deaf territory (not after the title, anyway). (Oct.)

 Lift: A Memoir
Rebecca K. O’Connor. Red Hen, $18.95 (208p) ISBN 1597094603
Novelist and nature reference author O’Connor (Falcon’s Return) crafts a lyrical tribute to the spiritual connection between humans and birds in this memoir of the excruciating, transformative process of training a peregrine falcon: “Falconry is a religion, a way of thinking, a means of experiencing life.” Indeed, readers will find almost as much spiritual content as natural. Despite O’Connor’s icy-clear voice, her descriptions of training a young male falcon are fascinating for bird lovers and civilians alike: “when the falcon connects a high-speed dive… the duck remains a piece of the sky and only its body careens to earth.” Surprisingly, periodic flashbacks to a troubled childhood—an abusive stepfather, an absentee mother—bolster her story rather than distract, turning a falcon’s “serious and unmerciful” eye back on her own life, and discovering inexplicable wells of generosity and forgiveness for the family who wronged her. O’Connor packs a lot of intelligence, poise and feeling into a few pages, making this a consistently rewarding read. (Nov.)

Mad About Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization
Daniel Griswold. Cato Institute, $24.95 (203p) ISBN 9781935308195
In 10 well-organized chapters, international trade expert Griswold, director of the Cato Institute’s trade policy center, reaches out to low- and middle-class readers to make a persuasive case against U.S. protectionism by illustrating how have-nots are the most likely to benefit from the global marketplace in the form of lower prices, greater variety and better quality of goods. Criticizing everyone from President Obama to CNN’s Lou Dobbs for fostering anti-trade sentiment, Griswold presents a “clean view” of “America’s changing place in the world economy.” Bringing complex issues home, literally, Griswold opens his examination with a survey of his closet, containing items from Australia, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, and Vietnam, but little from the U. S. How and why these faraway items wind up here is something few Main Street Americans think about, but Griswold explains the complicated mechanisms of world trade with brisk, easy-to-read prose. Griswold also claims that, despite the loss of American jobs to other countries, most new U.S. jobs (created in part by free trade) are in well-paying service industries that form the backbone of today’s middle class. Griswold also presents an eight-point “trade agenda for a free people,” but doesn’t miss an opportunity to tout his organization’s public policy efforts. (Nov.)

Not a Chimp: The Hunt to Find the Genes that Make Us Human
Jeremy Taylor. Oxford Univ., $27.95 (256p) ISBN 9780199227785
Taylor, a science writer and documentary producer, has a serious beef with scientists and activists who want to equate chimps and other apes with humans, claiming that the fundamental distinctions between the biological and social development of men and chimps is consistently overlooked by anthropomorphizing primatologists and comparative biologists. Taylor’s arguments are generally well-reasoned, supported by clear analyses and ongoing genetics research, and he’s adept at explaining complex molecular processes and their study for non-geneticists (though more illustrations would have helped). Taylor also describes studies of chimp behavior in the lab, for example, attempting to discover if chimps are able to link cause and effect in daily events (“folk physics”). Taylor also compares lab-based tool-use in chimps with that of birds, particularly New Caledonian Crows (the geniuses of the corvid clan). Unfortunately, Taylor’s tone is frequently abrasive; his criticisms are generally valid, but scientists who agree with him get off easy, while those who disagree are subject to severe examination. Taylor certainly has more than a few worthy points, but it’s hard to swallow them with so much bitter sentiment in the mix. (Oct.)

Postville, USA: Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America
Mark A. Grey, Michele Devlin, and Aaron Goldsmith. GemmaMedia, $14.95 (200 pages) ISBN 9781934848647
One of the effects of globalization is to bring vast numbers of diverse peoples to traditionally homogenous small towns almost as easily as urban centers. Postville, Iowa, is such a town, attracting newcomers from 50 nations looking for work. Until 2008, when government immigration enforcement moved in, the town seemed to be a successful, harmonious experiment in social adaptation. Postville’s financial and social success stemmed largely from a bond with Agriprocessors, the Kosher meatpacking plant that employed much of the town. The powerful sense of unity common to factory towns overcame differences in the population, even among its white residents. In May, 2008, for the sake of political points, the government made an example of Agriprocessors, arresting every undocumented worker—a full 20 percent of the town’s population—and dismantling its business. In the process, it unmade the town. The authors build their case study around interviews with residents, putting together a picture of multiculturalism at work; tellingly, however, the authors (an anthropologist, a public health professor, and a city councilman) avoid the question of immigrant exploitation and corporate greed—indeed, the lack of testimony from undocumented laborers themselves speak volumes. (Sept.)

Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges
Byron Pitts. St. Martin’s Press, $24.99 (290p) ISBN 9780312577667
Anyone who’s watched 60 Minutes correspondent Pitts on television will be hard-pressed to reconcile that collected, intelligent reporter with the “functionally illiterate” elementary school boy he once was. Pitts’s authorial debut tells his inspiring against-the-odds tale, one that begins in inner city Baltimore and ends at CBS’s venerable news institution. Enduring bullies and humiliation through grade-school, Pitts also struggled with reading, and stuttered until he was 20 years old. Even after scratching his way to Ohio Wesleyan Univ., his freshman literature professor told Pitts he was wasting everyone’s time. Pitts credits his enviable determination to the strong women in his life, including his wise, spiritual mother (whose first question in any situation is always, ‘Did you pray yet?’”), and OWU professor Ulle Lewes (who, Pitts says, not only “changed my life, she saved it”). Further, as an African-American, Pitts had to overcome startling racism in nearly every newsroom he encountered. Pitts shares spare but illuminating stories, such as his encounter with Dan Rather just before departing for Afghanistan; Rather advised him to write letters “to all the people you love most in the world,” just in case. Pitts’s story is refreshing and worth a read for fans of journalism and rags-to-riches memoirs. (Oct.)

The Story About the Story: Great Writers Explore Great Literature
Edited by J.C. Hallman. Tin House, $18.95 paper (432p) ISBN 9780980243697
In Hallman’s first collection, he delivers a set of critical essays from writers on their favorites, great literature that has had lasting personal influence for influential writers and critics including Nabokov, S.H. Lawrence, Salman Rushdie and Susan Sontag. In her classic “An Essay on Criticism,” Virginia Woolf assesses the prejudices of critics, particularly sexism, regarding works across the spectrum of fiction; elsewhere, contemporary author Dagoberto Gilb delivers a stirring examination of his fatherless childhood, imagining a perfect stepfather through the lens of Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. Hallman’s collection of reader-focused criticism focuses on the spirited, positive defense (or outright celebration) of authors and works; broad in scope and full of personal, passionate writing, this volume makes a fine reader for contemporary critics and other literati. (Oct.)

The Union of Their Dreams: Power, Hope, and Struggle in Cesar Chavez’s Farm Worker Movement
Miriam Pawel. Bloomsbury, $28 (384p) ISBN 9781596914605
In this historical reevaluation of the Cesar Chávez and the United Farm Workers, Pawel keeps the narrative bouncing between alternating and key figures like Eliseo Medina, an early recruit turned organizer; Chris Hartmine, a protestant activist minister ; and Ellen Egger, an intern who stayed for the long haul. This technique allows Pawel to convey the complexity of a movement often identified with a single man. Steeped in the recordings and primary source materials from these years, Pawel recreates the era—but with an awareness of the ironies and contradictions made plainer by hindsight. While noting Chávez’s instrumental charisma, she also records heretofore cloaked internal conflicts among disgruntled union leaders chafing under Chávez’s strict concept of sacrifice, his social conservatism and his adamant hold on power, which in the 1970s led to damaging purges of leaders he accused of disloyalty . The book’s unexpected scar tissue and its arc of decline present some contrast to the continuing if dispersed legacy trumpeted in Randy Shaw’s recent Beyond the Fields, but these accounts are ultimately complementary and necessary historical revaluations of this important labor and social history. (Oct.)

Woman From Shanghai: Tales of Survival From a Chinese Labor Camp
Xianhui Yang, trans. from the Chinese by Wen Huang. Pantheon, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 9780307377685
Imagine being hungry enough to eat rats, worms, or human flesh to stay alive. These were the modes of survival for 3,000 plus of China’s intellectual and political elites, known as “Rightists”, who became the victims of Chairman Mao’s policies in years 1957-1960. Written in short-story form, Xianhui reveals the astounding stories of 13 survivors of a forced labor camp in the northwestern region of China. Prisoners were forced to grow crops and raise livestock in the harsh environment of the Gobi Desert. Camp conditions were horrendous and treatment from the guards was brutal. The situation became so ghastly that by 1960, the sand dunes surrounding the camp were littered with corpses and officials closed the camp. Only 600 people survived. The government then orchestrated a cover-up, rewriting the medical records of those who had died—failing to mention starvation. Moving and powerful, these stories are written as documentary literature, a form of reporting involving fictional elements created by Chinese journalists to disguise the truths and to escape repercussions from a still powerful government. The narratives also preserve the record of a regime’s unspeakable inhumanity towards its own people, events which were unrecorded for decades. (Sept.)

A World Without Ice
Henry N. Pollack, foreword by Al Gore. Avery, $26 (304p) ISBN 9781583333570
A member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, Univ. of Mich. geophysicist Pollack (Uncertain Science) shares the warning call of Al Gore (his co-recipient), that “humanity has arrived at an historic moment of decision.” According to science, Pollack explains, humanity may soon lose the polar ice caps altogether, with dire consequences. Pollack explains how glacial ice is “a major player” in the climate: snow and ice “account for much of the sunshine reflected from the surface” and their disappearance will only accelerate the rate of global warming. Using geological evidence (800 bore-holes drilled on the earth’s continental crust), Pollack and his colleagues have established that the past 500 years have seen a 2-degree increase in the Earth’s average temperature, and that “fully half of the warming occurred in the 20th century.” While taking account of countervailing forces (like periodic variations in the earth’s orbit, explosive volcanism, and changes in solar radiation) Pollack shows that no single natural force can reverse the present trend, which if unchecked will render the Earth uninhabitable. This important wake up call joins a rapidly growing selection; this volume distinguishes itself with a Nobel pedigree and a sound, straightforward approach. (Oct.)

You’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe: Sarah, Michelle, Hillary and the Shaping of the New American Woman
Lisa Sanchez. Palgrave, $25 (224p) ISBN 978230618169
The most recent presidential election brought on a new era of gender politics, according to political strategist Sanchez. The author’s background in polling, broadcast journalism and consulting to Republican candidates shapes the book: rather than focusing on amorphous public opinion, she hones in on the realities of political power, influence and ability. While Sanchez should be lauded for addressing general sexism and the sexualization of women candidates, she still rehashes the mainstream media storyline, from Hillary Clinton’s seemingly inevitable success and Sarah Palin’s meteoric rise and fall to Michelle Obama’s wardrobe. Shanchez concludes without offering concrete steps for eradicating the deep seated biases that make life difficult for women leaders of any race or class background. The strengths of the book lie in the last chapters, when the author has finished making her case and looks to grassroots, online, and alliance-based responses to sexism in the political arena. (Oct.)

LIFESTYLE

Swine Flu: The New Pandemic
Marc Siegel. Wiley, $6.99 e-book (66p) ISBN 9780470592670
Without minimizing the risk for current strains of H1N1 to become more dangerous, author and physician Siegel (Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic) offers a calming dose of reality regarding swine flu; while “we need to be in awe of the potential for damage,” Siegel prescribes “learning to understand why the likelihood of the worst case coming to pass is awfully low.” A practicing internist, associate professor and newspaper columnist (as well as a parent), Siegel addresses many common concerns over the H1N1 pandemic, giving clear explanations about the nature of the virus, historical examples, risk factors, available treatments, and more. He also explains how the 1918 flu pandemic killed as many as 50 million people—the chaotic aftermath of WWI played no small part—and how the present pandemic is simply incomparable. Breaking down the science of virus transmission, Siegel explains the conditions by which H1N1 could mutate into something more dangerous, as well as the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu, and the swine flu vaccine (and how the vaccine’s safety is being assured).Taking a balanced approach, Siegel offers a realistic and concise guide for any concerned citizen. (Oct.)

Therapy Revolution: Find Help, Get Better, and Move On Without Wasting Time or Money
Richard M. Zwolinski and C. R. Zwolinski. HCI, $14.95 (226p) ISBN 9780757314186
A licensed mental health counselor specializing in the treatment of anxiety and addiction, Zwolinski (with help from coauthor C.R.) steps back to take a broad view of the therapy industry, and the growing problem of patients caught in the “therapy trap” by unproductive, inept or unethical therapists who “wallop” a client with inaccurate or exaggerated diagnoses in order keep that client coming back. In this guide to hiring “a great therapist,” Zwolinski reminds patients that they should be “savvy consumer[s]” when considering therapy, just as they would for any other important expense. He suggests a preliminary phone interview to check out prospective therapists’ credentials, references, fee, approach, and other details. He also suggests that, after a few appointments, a patient work with his therapist to develop a written treatment plan, including a proper medical diagnosis (which can be looked up in a professional reference like the DSM IV), a general time-frame for the length of therapy, and agreed-upon “goals.” Zwolinski’s provocative call for a “therapy revolution” is authoritative and instructive, fleshing out the common wisdom stating patients are their own best advocates, and must be proactive in all aspects of healthcare. (Nov.)

ILLUSTRATED

 Planet Ape
Desmond Morris with Steve Parker. Firefly, $49.95 (288p) ISBN 9781554075669
40 years after British zoo curator Morris published The Naked Ape, a controversial 1967 bestseller (primatology’s first), field researchers have generated thousands of hours of observations regarding gorillas, chimps, bonobos, gibbons and orangutans, and a bounty of comparative data regarding social behaviors, family groups, reproductive strategies and food gathering. Morris and Parker fill a huge gap on the primatology bookshelf by compiling this data into a practical, fully illustrated, encyclopedic book for non-specialists. Extended sections on anatomy, diet, communication behaviors, patterns of social life, sex and reproduction, and developmental stages each cover habits of different species and, where applicable, of humans. Copious images includes photos and graphs illustrating comparative anatomy and physiology, postures, internal structure and more; two-page spreads on dietary needs and the daily feeding routine of an orangutan are particularly well-executed. Morris and Parker, a senior fellow at the Zoological Society of London, also describe numerous threats to the survival of non-human primates, and provide conservation agency contact information so readers can get involved. With few exceptions (some dark backgrounds render text hard to read) this is a beautifully organized and visually gratifying guide, perfect for amateur and budding primatologists. (Oct.)

FICTION

Moxyland
Lauren Beukes. Angry Robot/HarperCollins, $7.99. (416p) ISBN 9780007329458
This urban dystopia is set in a futuristic South Africa where having one's cell phone disconnected is tantamount to exile and holding a corporate job is the only way to avoid becoming a "Rural" or worse. Bio-engineered dogs and remote-controlled electrocution help the government maintain control. Beukes writes from the perspectives of four main characters; one of which, Toby, is a reality-show blogger whose coat is both camera and screen, while another, Kendra, is an artist who has rediscovered the film camera. While Kendra has herself injected with new nanotechnology in exchange for becoming a corporate brand sponsor, her friends are hacking computerized billboards and scamming online game companies. But Beukes’ novel is more than "standard anti-corp" protesting youth, it’s reminiscent of Gibson, Stephenson or Doctorow—at times, predictably so. Nevertheless it's a good ride, even with some awkward futuristic slang and a few too many cliffhanger chapters. (Oct.)

 The Sword of Medina
Sherry Jones. Beaufort, $24.95 (272p) ISBN 9780825305207
This able novel, sequel to Jones’s controversial bestseller The Jewel of Medina, continues to examine the history of Islam, a topic unfamiliar to most Americans. Jones imbues her 7th century tale with rich personalities and honorable motives, following a course of events that most Muslims can agree on, taking place between Muhammed's death and the reign of the first four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Aside from the taboo of depicting a fictional Muhammed, Jones also skrits controversy with sexual tension between A'isha (child bride and favorite wife of Muhammed) and her cousin Talha, described with romance-novel breathlessness. Still, Jones largely sticks to what is known, rendering characters human without any irreverence. Sharing narration with A'isha is her brother-in-law Ali; the two tell vastly different versions of events, beginning with Muhammed’s death and culminating in a battle led by A’isha against Ali. Jones handles skillfully the adversaries’ peculiar combination of mutual respect and enmity; the rest of her fictionalized history comes alive with delicate, determined prose. Fortunately for readers, this volume was saved by Beaufort after Muslim extremists forced editors at Random House to pull the plug, making this not just a rollicking lesson in Islamic history but a victory over the forces of censorship.(Oct.)