Blink Little, Brown
by Malcolm Gladwell
Reviewed by Deborah Beckers
Have you ever made a snap judgment or assessment about a person or a situation and been right? Have you ever just KNOWN that something was about to happen? Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell explores the rapid cognition phenomenon, how it works and how we can apply it to our everyday lives. In the book we meet art forgers, cops, musicians, relationship experts and a fireman who is convinced his ESP has saved his life on countless occasions. Gladwell tells us their stories, and then shows us how cognitive thinking figured in on their actions and reactions, applying the science that he calls "thin-slicing" in a way that makes it easy for the lay-person to understand.
It's hard to review non-fiction. Generally you can't discuss plot or character development, so you're left with facts and sentence structure - struggling to find the right angle. I didn't have this problem with Blink.
This book is one of those rare non-fiction finds that actually reads like a novel. The research is presented and dissected in a way that reads more like short stories as opposed to a hard, factual research paper. Gladwell starts each section with an interesting true story that may or may not have an obvious connection to the point at hand. Gladwell sometimes appears to jump from story to story (even sometimes from chapter to chapter) seemingly loosing track of the initial point of the story. Then he surprises you by bringing the first point back so that it pulls everything together in a neat package. He draws the parallels between the examples and drives the information into your brain with a sledge hammer by bringing his arguments around to the point time and time again. Repetition is a great teacher.
The pacing of the book is quick, leaving little chance for the reader to get bored. Gladwell's writing style is easy to read and, although the content is technical in nature, he never talks down to or over the average person's head.
Blink does exactly what it sets out to do - it makes you think. The examples are relevant, easily applied to your own life and offer fresh perspectives on situations like the Rodney King beating and the current situation in Iraq. Blink is a good book if you want a taste of what rapid cognition is about. It is an excellent jumping off point for further research and study should you wish to do so. The only thing I would have added to the book would be a section on exercises aimed at improving your cognitive abilities. As Gladwell points out in his final chapter, the more you practice "thin-slicing" the better you get.
Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking is Malcolm Gladwell's second book; his first is the New York Times best seller The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. He is currently a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. Learn more about Malcolm at http://www.gladwell.com/
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The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury William Morrow
by Sam Weller
Reviewed by Chris Catania
"Live Forever!" This is Ray Bradbury's life motto. He really believes it will happen, too! And it should now that it's all written down thanks to The Ray Bradbury Chronicles. Sam Weller, a teaching professor at Columbia College in Chicago, award winning journalist and frequent contributor to Chicago Tribune Magazine, has successfully written the only authorized biography by the sci-fi writer who pushed cultural and literary boundaries with his poetic and nostalgic storytelling, influencing future generations of inventors, writers and storytellers.
The work was created over the course of five years. Weller first proposed the idea to Bradbury in 1999 and then after six months of pestering, Bradbury gave in. Bradbury, now 84, had never wanted to do a biography because to him it signalled that the end was near and he felt he had much more to write and accomplish. And apparently he does. The work ethic of Bradbury is startling. He has not stopped writing since high school, sticking to writing one short story a week for the last sixty years-which has amounted to over six hundred short stories, numerous teleplays, screenplays and novels. His career was cap stoned with the National Medal of Arts from President Bush in November 2004.
Weller begins Chronicles with the Bradbury family tree, which makes sense since the core of Bradbury's work is a nostalgic dip into the well of his nomadic childhood. Weller's thesis was to prove that Bradbury has had more impact on popular culture than any other writer in history. The quotes from cultural icons -- such as Steven Spielberg, Stan Lee, Steven King, Elton John's lyricist and Steven Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers, who stated it was Bradbury's work that made him want to do great things with computers - which begin each chapter are almost as fun and interesting as Bradbury's own recollections, and do prove Weller's point.
At times, the storytelling does shy away from tough subjects and Weller was forced to leave out many interesting stories from a whopping 700 page initial manuscript. But Bradbury trusted him, Weller explained at the book signing in Chicago, and never even asked to read any of the manuscript until it was sent to the publisher. Weller did uncommon amounts of research, employing numerous assistants and even filing a request with the government to obtain the protected three month 1950s investigative file from the FBI after Bradbury took out a full page advertisement in the Hollywood reporter to voice his displeasure with the blacklisting of his Hollywood co-workers.
The Ray Bradbury Chronicles felt at times like Weller was a little too close to Bradbury to do such an all encompassing biography. But if you're a fan of Bradbury and you want to know the stories behind the stories and the man who created classics like Dandelion Wine, The Martian Chronicles and who helped design the inside of the giant silver golf ball known as the symbol for Epcot Center then you won't mind the closeness Weller achieved in order to tell the story of Ray Bradbury's career. It's even funny to read how Bradbury's memory and Weller's research often don't match up.
As a fan of Bradbury, Chronicles made the stories I know deeper and richer. Weller's work makes you want to take a fast rocket ship back to the same short stories that made you forget the world around you when you first read them.
To celebrate the completion of the book, on April 18th - also part of Ray Bradbury in Chicago - Bradbury spoke to a capacity crowd in the Chicago Public Library Auditorium via a conference call from his home in Los Angeles. He gave all his fans the same electric life-changing jolt that Mr. Electro gave him when he was a young Waukegan boy, admonishing all to "Go! Live forever! Write what you love! And that is love!"
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Dark Secret Jove
by Christine Feehan
Reviewed by Deborah Beckers
Colby Jansen's step-father's long illness and subsequent death have left her in dire straits. His plea to his family in South America at the beginning of his illness went unanswered, and now, five years later, Colby has single-handedly kept the ranch operating and her family together. Now her uncles, the Chevez's, have arrived demanding she give up her claim to the ranch and to hand over her younger brother and sister to the family so that they can be raised properly in South America.
Accompanying the Chevez's are Nicholas and Raphael De La Cruz, powerful allies of the Chevez family. They will stop at nothing to see that the children and the ranch are in Chevez hands, where they belong.
But the De La Cruz brothers are not what they seem. They are Carpathian, spending centuries hunting vampires, and now they are barely clinging to their souls as each year they get closer to becoming the monsters that they hunt. They are more powerful than Colby can imagine. When Raphael sets his sights on Colby, needing to possess her as his life-mate, the fires of hell itself will not deter him from his task.
Dark Secret is not Christine Feehan's best work. The book left me disappointed. I have read some of Christine Feehan's Carpathian stories before and had enjoyed them. Feehan has a gift for description that transplants the reader deep into her stories, allowing you to experience the settings, despair and the ecstasy along with her character. Unfortunately Dark Secret didn't benefit from this.
Dark Secret is a bit of a departure for Feehan. The setting is in the United States (rather than her usual settings in the jungles of South America), the land is not as lush and her characters are just not as vivid as they could have been.
Raphael, the hero, is a stereotypical alpha male which, while nice in some scenes, gets grating pretty quickly. The way he treats the heroine is, at times, unforgivable in my opinion and made it difficult for me to be sympathetic to his plight. There are also way too many secondary characters and all of them are undeveloped and one dimensional.
I will say one good thing about Dark Secret: the action scenes, especially the tunneling one, are breathtaking. I was there, in the action, right alongside the characters - it was quite a ride. But overall this book was a disappointment - I'd give it a miss.
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Gilgamesh Free Press
by Stephen Mitchell
Reviewed by Casey Moore
Like Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf from a few years ago, Stephen Mitchell's translation of the epic poem Gilgamesh brings the writing and translation into a modern age.
Gilgamesh is the story of the king of Uruk who is part god and part human. Gilgamesh is on a bit of a tear in the town of Uruk, so to give him some competition the gods create Enkidu, an almost perfect equal of Gilgamesh. The two become friends and set off on adventures together. That is about as simple a plot outline as there is for the poem. The poem covers so much more than that though.
All of those currently trying to censor and stamp out violence and sex in modern media should read this epic. Gilgamesh is one of the oldest stories on the planet and is full of sex and violence. Mitchell's translation pulls no punches and all is displayed before the reader in a very modern way.
This is also very much a story of friendship. Gilgamesh and Enkidu become like brothers and are extremely close. Those who felt uncomfortable with the relationship between Sam and Frodo in the Lord of the Rings movies and books will probably be very uncomfortable with the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. These men hold hands. They comfort each other in times of fright and sadness. Some might see a homosexual undertone to the relationship, but what I saw when reading the work was a close friendship between two men who had been through horrible struggles together.
Mitchell's translation works both for the casual reader and the scholar. The poem is very accessible to all readers. There are also copious amounts of notes in the book. In fact, the notes section is actually longer than the poem itself. Mitchell also writes a very detailed introduction to the poem. The introduction starts off right away by telling the reader this poem is set in ancient Iraq.
Mitchell did take some liberties with the epic. There is no one definitive copy of the ancient epic poem and Mitchell had to fill in the gaps to make the story readable. The casual reader will probably not notice where the changes and additions have been made. I know I didn't notice on my first reading of the poem, and if that doesn't bother you, Mitchell's translation is a great place to start.
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I Am Charlotte Simmons Farrar, Straus & Giroux
by Tom Wolfe
Reviewed by Susan Brooks
The advance notice for Tom Wolfe's newest book, I Am Charlotte Simmons, promised a biting commentary on the hollow morés of today's elite college youth, set at fictional Ivy League DuPont University. But after an introduction paralleling dysfunctional student patterning with that of deliberately brain-damaged animals in a lab, the metaphor sputters. The story follows socio-economically disadvantaged freshman Charlotte Simmons, a scholarship student from the Deep South, through her travails at this snobbish school. Charlotte is supposed to be brilliant, beautiful and sheltered by her country upbringing, a jewel amongst callow people who cannot see her worth past her circumstances.
Well, she doesn't act brilliant. She fumbles her classes, which can happen to any young adult, but nothing in her behavior suggests the increasing adaptation of high intelligence. As to her beauty, a fraternity boy tells her that she looks like Britney Spears. Britney is indeed pretty, but she is a cipher with nothing original to say, recycling the provocative antics of her idol Madonna mindlessly, without the art that Madge mustered. As an exemplar of the lowest common denominator Wolfe is supposedly criticizing, Britney is perfect, but I thought the point was that Charlotte is different and better. Sheltered? Yes, but even here in Charlotte's inner dialogue, the writing has the tone of a middle-aged man of the literary elite trying to get inside the mind of an innocent. It doesn't work, because Charlotte is just not very nice. You are meant to care about her as a Cinderella figure, and the passages describing her social awkwardness and extreme poverty are affecting, but she ultimately reveals herself to be as emotionally constricted as the rest.
After an emotional breakdown during which her friend Adam (secretly in love with her but motivated by at least some level of selflessness) takes care of her, she in turn resents him when he has his own crisis. She does stick around, but begrudges it. This is not endearing, however hard she is struggling. She has learned from her environment that loyalty is a cheapened coin and does not try to attain a truer gold. The title comes from Charlotte's silent mantra of self-definition - when she is having a bad moment, which is most of the time, she repeats it to remind herself of her own worth. However, she finally sells herself out in the end, with increased status attained through association, but no redemption on her own merits.
This cynical story is presented as a departure for Wolfe into unexplored territory, fueled by research into the modern college scene. But the incident that sets a subplot in motion is a variant of the bad behavior seen in Wolfe's previous bestseller, The Bonfire of the Vanities, with the requisite resultant scandal. In that book, a Wall Street dealmaker and his mistress run over a South Bronx teenager and cover up the deed, to later have it explode into public exposure courtesy of the efforts of a washed-up newspaperman. Here, two privileged upperclassmen spy the governor of California, on campus to deliver a commencement speech, in a compromising position. One of the boys receives a Wall Street job to keep his mouth shut; this becomes explosively public due to the work of an underdog campus journalist. How different is that except in the details? It reminds me of the moment in the movie Topsy Turvy when Gilbert and Sullivan have hit a creative brick wall, repeating themselves with plot devices of magic amulets, potions, etc. G&S rallied to give us The Mikado, but don't expect that kind of miracle from this book. It just doesn't deliver. At six hundred+ pages, I found myself skimming large sections of the novel. If you are going to write a thick tome, you'd better have something compelling to say on every page or risk losing your reader. Wolfe tries, but his story isn't as important as he presumes. I gave I Am Charlotte Simmons one and a half stars: one for at least trying to be sympathetic to the trials faced by today's young people, and the remaining half star for just showing up and writing it. Wolfe is a lion of the literary establishment. He could rest on his laurels and never take the risk of writing another book, but with the same funds, you could buy two paperbacks by promising newcomers, which would be a better use of your book money.
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Nothing's Sacred Simon Spotlight Entertainment
by Lewis Black
Reviewed by Brighid Mooney
Lewis Black's first book, Nothing's Sacred, isn't your typical comedian's tale full of rehashed stand-up material and little else. Nor is it simply an autobiography. Instead, Nothing's Sacred is the best of both worlds, pieces of personal memoir intertwined with familiar jokes from Black's stand-up routine. The result is a book that is both personal and funny, sensitive and crude, and at times quite poignant.
The purpose of Nothing's Sacred is for Black to tell, in his own words, how he came about his famously antiauthoritarian viewpoint. He achieves this by alternating personal memories of the important, formative events of his life, those that have helped to shape his worldview, with various bits of stand-up which are their hilarious result. So we are treated to stories about his parents, his religious upbringing, and his years as a college student during the radical sixties, alongside jokes about the exasperating state of modern politics and the stupidity of so many organized religions ("If religion is the opiate of the people, how come so many Jews seem more neurotic than sedated?"). The book takes a long look at Black's time in college and how being a student in the sixties while so many other young men his age were being sent to Vietnam to die helped to shape his liberal views on politics. "I was in the very heart of my youth. And my country was bombing the snot out of a little tiny country in Southeast Asia, and there but for the grace of God, I could have been lying in a pool of blood. It made me want to do something." Also getting plenty of space are stories about Black's brief tenure as a government employee and his summer spent working in a post office ("I have never had a worse job."), his attempts to start a theater troupe in Colorado with a group of friends and his experiences with everything from pot to LSD. Given the comedic material woven in between and within these stories, it is not too difficult to see how Lewis Black became the outspoken, outraged satirist we know him for today.
There's plenty to laugh at in Nothing's Sacred, from Black's observations on the "duck and cover" method of survival he was taught as a child of the cold war, to his first diffident attempts at stand-up comedy. But the book also has several more sobering moments, such as Black's heartbreaking description of the loss of his younger brother, and a great collection of personal photographs sprinkled throughout. An easy and satisfying read, Nothing's Sacred is recommended for any fans of Lewis Black as well as all comedy lovers in general.
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The Plot Against America Houghton Mifflin
by Philip Roth
Reviewed by Josh Spilker
A president has kept America out of World War II. No stopping Hitler on his conquest against Europe. Britain and Canada are the only ones able to put up a fight against Nazi Germany. The Plot Against America is a different America -- an America against the Jews in their own country.
There is no American Auschwitz. There is no D-Day on the shores of Cape Cod. There is not a mushroom cloud over Los Angeles. Roth does not give in to the sensationalism of an extremist in retelling World War II. This is not a book of war and strategy; it is a book about how to maneuver patriotism and morality in an anxious Jewish family. But it is a book of fear, a story of alarm, a tale of nightmares and a work of fiction.
It is World War II as directed by President Charles Lindbergh, the great aviator who had not lost favor in America after a heroic flight across the Atlantic in 1927, and the surviving parent of a kidnapped son. Lindbergh charges into the Republican convention in 1940 and steals the nomination. He proceeds to fly (literally) across the country with a message of isolationism and as a fighter for tradition against FDR's bid for a third term. And by God, he succeeds. He wins the election.
Roth follows a working class Jewish, Newark, New Jersey family of his own namesake through the troublesome forties. The Roth family is a cautious family led by a strong father who refuses to allow his own son, wife or nephew to bow to the excitement and pressure of a Lindbergh presidency. The problem with Lindbergh to the Jewish people is his constant anti-Semitic comments and patronization to the Fuhrer in Germany. Lindbergh soon begins programs not meant to physically harm the Jewish, but to separate them from their traditional homes and customs; a sly and seductive way to break up Jewish support for FDR and for a war against Hitler.
The accuracy of the historical figures is unnerving. Their actions are not outlandish; they are believable as a possible true historical account. It's an America that we recognize, but are still wary of involving ourselves in. It's an America we cannot root for or be proud of. Roth makes this new take on historical fiction riveting. As a reader, I am fascinated by the endless possibilities for endings and happenings, and it is exciting to read how another would imagine history and the world. The reader must wonder how far off Roth is, if at all. A twist, a turn, an indecisive moment, and we are forced to wonder where America might have been and what it may have stood for during one of the most terrible times of our history. And we wonder if similar mistakes have been made, like the fictional one that Roth illustrates. Perhaps this "fiction" has been real in Somalia, Rwanda or Bosnia.
The end of the Lindbergh presidency is admittedly disappointing, but classy, and Roth places America firmly back on the ground of true history -- even having a belated Pearl Harbor. By the culmination of the story, the reader recognizes what a marvelous job Roth has done in creating this false America, that any sort of return to normalcy is welcome, but surprising.
An excellent idea, an excellent work, The Plot Against America succeeds in frightening our American sensibilities, but reaffirming our belief in what is right. Roth shows us the failings of our country, but also conveys his belief that America will try and overcome those wrongs.
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Safety of War Coach House Books
by Rob Benvie
Reviewed by Lisa Hood-Anklewicz
If you've been a fan of Canadian music over the past fifteen years, there is a good chance that Rob Benvie's name rings a bell. Benvie is probably best known for the nearly ten years that he was part of Thrush Hermit, a now defunct legend in Canadian independent rock. However, when you factor in Benvie's songwriting capabilities, which are greatly evident in the Thrush Hermit catalogue, it's not such a far fetched cry to find myself with a copy of his first novel, Safety of War.
When Safety of War finally made its way to the top of my reading pile, I had some reservations. I had found myself at a book reading for Safety of War a while back, and despite the fact that there was more live music on the agenda then actual reading, I was quite taken with what I heard. Benvie's short readings demonstrated that his lyrical sensibilities had made it into his novel, thick with description. With that in mind, I was slightly doubtful about whether Safety of War would present an ease of readability; a door in which the reader could find their way in to its world.
That door is very much there, ready to be opened. Benvie's writing style is very description heavy; however, it is that lyrical sensibility that I had witnessed which keeps the book and reader woven together. The story is wound up in symbolism, which Benvie has invoked not just in description but within his character and plot developments. To justly describe Safety of War without giving away too much of its story is nearly impossible, for it is those aspects of the book that make it so enticing and so difficult to put down.
Stripped down, the story is of one young man, trying to make sense of life in a day to day, 9-5 routine. That is until one small event outside of his routine ripples in and what begins as an interruption in routine, spirals into a complete loss of control, and the trip to gain it back. Yet, the true adventures of Safety of War lie in the meat that surrounds this basic description. Benvie's poetic writing is so subtle, that until you read that last sentence, you don't realize how much he really has packed into this book for you to think about.
Safety of War is truly a remarkable piece of fiction. Although Benvie continues in his the musical side of his career, I hope that this is only the appetizer of what is to come from him as an author.
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The Zero Game Warner Vision
by Brad Meltzer
Reviewed by Deborah Beckers
Ten years is long enough for the political game to loose its luster. Matthew Mercer has lost his enthusiasm for his job as chief aide to the congressman who controls the Appropriations Committee; even the power doesn't excite him anymore. His best friend, Harris Sandler, introduces him to "the Zero Game," a top secret society of Washington insiders who use their power and influence to make the political game a bit more interesting. The Zero Game is a series of dares and wagers, a sophisticated game of chicken - a harmless way of adding excitement to the everyday tediousness of politics.
When the opportunity to influence the outcome of a dare and make a lot of money arises, Matthew and Harris empty their accounts and go for broke. It's a sure thing, there's no way they can loose. What neither realizes is that they are risking it all.
One small slip leaves one of them dead on the streets and the other running for his life from a sociopathic hitman who will stop at nothing but total elimination of all the players and everyone the hero comes in contact with. It's a race against time as the hero tries to unravel the conspiracy and save his own life before the clock goes down to zero.
The Zero Game starts out slowly, acclimating the reader to the inner workings of Washington, but once the action starts it's a very difficult book to put down. The book's "...secret so explosive that it will shake Washington to its core..." with Matthew and Harris realizing that the "...game is far more sinister than they ever imagined..." is, on the surface, a flimsy and over done premise. Brad Meltzer manages to make it fresh and interesting.
I really didn't know how the American political process worked, nor did I want to, but Meltzer manages to make the systems' complicated inner workings accessible, understandable and even interesting to the average reader. He is able to describe mundane everyday tasks in ways that make them fascinating.
Every writer wants to be the next Clancy or Grisham; Meltzer delivers and exceeds all expectations. The writing is tight and fast paced (once the action actually starts), the book is meticulously researched (every place the characters go that is real, Meltzer went there to experience what the characters would), and entirely plausible. The realism and the action keep you glued to the pages, wondering what the next twist is going to be.
This novel is a good read, it delivers on its' promises and takes you on a breathless action ride as you try to decipher the riddle of The Zero Game.
Brad Meltzer is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires and The Zero Game. To learn more about the author visit his website at http://www.bradmeltzer.com.
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