Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The Tipping Point
by Malcolm Gladwell
review by N. Sosulski
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do."
Although I first read this a few years ago, I enjoy rereading it. Gladwell’s account of how events “tip” over into trends, is enlightening and entertaining reading. As of March 17, 2006 the paper edition had been on the bestseller list for 82 weeks. The cloth The Tipping Point spent 28 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and more than two years on Business Week's, and today there are almost 800,000 copies in print. Companies from The New Yorker to Starbucks purchase it for their employees.
review by N. Sosulski
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do."
Although I first read this a few years ago, I enjoy rereading it. Gladwell’s account of how events “tip” over into trends, is enlightening and entertaining reading. As of March 17, 2006 the paper edition had been on the bestseller list for 82 weeks. The cloth The Tipping Point spent 28 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and more than two years on Business Week's, and today there are almost 800,000 copies in print. Companies from The New Yorker to Starbucks purchase it for their employees.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Insatiable
Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess
by Gael Greene
review by N. Sosulski
The title of this book by New York magazine food critic and columnist Gael Greene says it all. It seems that the books of reminiscences I have recently read by food critics and chefs have been paeans to hedonism, and Greene’s accounts fit that description more than most. Juxtaposing interludes at table with interludes with her varied amours (or at table with said amours) the book has two audiences: foodies (who will be very happy with the recipes also included in the book), and fans of voyeuristic prose.
by Gael Greene
review by N. Sosulski
The title of this book by New York magazine food critic and columnist Gael Greene says it all. It seems that the books of reminiscences I have recently read by food critics and chefs have been paeans to hedonism, and Greene’s accounts fit that description more than most. Juxtaposing interludes at table with interludes with her varied amours (or at table with said amours) the book has two audiences: foodies (who will be very happy with the recipes also included in the book), and fans of voyeuristic prose.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Return of the Prodigal Son
by Henri J.M. Nouwen
review by B. Hemphill
Henri J. M. Nouwen is a widely recognized spiritual writer. He has written over twenty-five books. His most famous work is the Wounded Healer. Rev. Nouwen has taught at universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame.
The Return of the Prodigal Son contains nine chapters. It begins with the story of the two sons and their father. The prologue describes the encounter the author has with the painting by Rembrandt. Nenri Nouman draws from the scriptures and describes each movement of the parable: the younger son’s return, the father’s restoration of son - ship, the elder son’s vengefulness, and the father’s compassion. It is the reflection of Rembrandts’ life in light of the authors’ own spiritual journey. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation are reminders to the reader of their own experience of loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger. For those who prefer a more traditional reading this book is seen as the “ultimate revelation of the parable known to Christians throughout time.” According to the New Oxford Review, “…is a beautiful book, as beautiful in the simple clarity of its wisdom as in the terrible beauty of the transformation to which it calls us.”
review by B. Hemphill
Henri J. M. Nouwen is a widely recognized spiritual writer. He has written over twenty-five books. His most famous work is the Wounded Healer. Rev. Nouwen has taught at universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame.
The Return of the Prodigal Son contains nine chapters. It begins with the story of the two sons and their father. The prologue describes the encounter the author has with the painting by Rembrandt. Nenri Nouman draws from the scriptures and describes each movement of the parable: the younger son’s return, the father’s restoration of son - ship, the elder son’s vengefulness, and the father’s compassion. It is the reflection of Rembrandts’ life in light of the authors’ own spiritual journey. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation are reminders to the reader of their own experience of loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger. For those who prefer a more traditional reading this book is seen as the “ultimate revelation of the parable known to Christians throughout time.” According to the New Oxford Review, “…is a beautiful book, as beautiful in the simple clarity of its wisdom as in the terrible beauty of the transformation to which it calls us.”
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Heroes of a Different Stripe
How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq
by Olga Bonfiglio
review by M. Meyer
A first-person, journalistic account of how ordinary small city (Kalamazoo) Americans tried and continue to stand for peace and a more just society amid the taunts and intimidations of their fellow citizens. This personal account of the war in Iraq and how a group of people in Kalamazoo reacted takes place from January 2003 to June 30, 2004(the day of the U.S. handover of Iraq).
by Olga Bonfiglio
review by M. Meyer
A first-person, journalistic account of how ordinary small city (Kalamazoo) Americans tried and continue to stand for peace and a more just society amid the taunts and intimidations of their fellow citizens. This personal account of the war in Iraq and how a group of people in Kalamazoo reacted takes place from January 2003 to June 30, 2004(the day of the U.S. handover of Iraq).
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Garlic and Sapphires
The Secret Life of a Food Critic in Disguise
by Ruth Reichl
review by N. Sosulski
I admit to being a foodie, one who loves to read cookbooks for fun, who has more cookbooks on my shelf than I will ever cook my way through. Therein lay the motivation the first time I picked up a book written by Ruth Reichl, currently the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. Why I keep doing so is less about the prandial wonders she describes (and they are phenomenal) but because of her infectious style that draws the reader into her experience, be it travel in Morocco, or in the case of Garlic and Sapphires, her tenure for most of the 1990s as chief food critic for The New York Times--one of the most outrageously powerful positions in gastronomy. Because of the influence this person wields, in order that the critic might not accidentally dine at their established unremarked and unpampered, New York restaurant staff are routinely given dossiers about the critic that would rival those produced by the CIA: descriptions, photos, likely dining companions, previous reviews and at at least one place a $500 reward for being the first person to spot the critic in the restaurant. When the critic is “made”, phenomenal service unlike that of all other diners results: “the King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready.”
Reichl devised a defense in which she assumed six different disguises for her restaurant trips, each with a detailed identity and backstory and each gaining a different response from waitstaff and other diners. Her tales of these undercover missions to 21, Daniel, Tavern on the Green make great reading. The reader has a sense of complicity in putting one over on these temples to Bacchus—even if the fanciest place he or she ever eats is TGI Fridays. Reichl is a method actress who lives these alter egos, and her musings on how it feels to be inside each character are insightful. The format--expedition, critic’s review, recipe--is highly effective. A fun book.
by Ruth Reichl
review by N. Sosulski
I admit to being a foodie, one who loves to read cookbooks for fun, who has more cookbooks on my shelf than I will ever cook my way through. Therein lay the motivation the first time I picked up a book written by Ruth Reichl, currently the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. Why I keep doing so is less about the prandial wonders she describes (and they are phenomenal) but because of her infectious style that draws the reader into her experience, be it travel in Morocco, or in the case of Garlic and Sapphires, her tenure for most of the 1990s as chief food critic for The New York Times--one of the most outrageously powerful positions in gastronomy. Because of the influence this person wields, in order that the critic might not accidentally dine at their established unremarked and unpampered, New York restaurant staff are routinely given dossiers about the critic that would rival those produced by the CIA: descriptions, photos, likely dining companions, previous reviews and at at least one place a $500 reward for being the first person to spot the critic in the restaurant. When the critic is “made”, phenomenal service unlike that of all other diners results: “the King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready.”
Reichl devised a defense in which she assumed six different disguises for her restaurant trips, each with a detailed identity and backstory and each gaining a different response from waitstaff and other diners. Her tales of these undercover missions to 21, Daniel, Tavern on the Green make great reading. The reader has a sense of complicity in putting one over on these temples to Bacchus—even if the fanciest place he or she ever eats is TGI Fridays. Reichl is a method actress who lives these alter egos, and her musings on how it feels to be inside each character are insightful. The format--expedition, critic’s review, recipe--is highly effective. A fun book.
The Last of Her Kind
by Sigrid Nunez
review by J. Nuzzo
The Last of Her Kind recounts the story of Georgette George and her seminal relationship with freshman college roommate Ann Drayton. Both girls come of age during the climax of the turbulent and politically charged 1960’s and early 1970’s in New York City. Georgette and Ann first meet at Barnard College. Ann, a brilliant student who totally shuns the world of wealth and class from which she hails, ingratiates herself with Georgette, whose own origins are decidedly less-than-ideal. Georgette struggles to understand why Ann would negate her privileged past, and replace it with a nearly clinical obsession with social and political activism and the fight for those ostensibly less fortunate than she. Though the actual friendship is short-lived, the powerful presence of Ann’s willful personality and idealism continues to reside in Georgette as she navigates her way through life in the increasingly banal aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and Woodstock. Grappling with her own desire to have essentially that which Ann abhors, Georgette’s stream of conscience recollection meditates on the enigmatic influence of the curiously singular Ann: the last of her kind.
review by J. Nuzzo
The Last of Her Kind recounts the story of Georgette George and her seminal relationship with freshman college roommate Ann Drayton. Both girls come of age during the climax of the turbulent and politically charged 1960’s and early 1970’s in New York City. Georgette and Ann first meet at Barnard College. Ann, a brilliant student who totally shuns the world of wealth and class from which she hails, ingratiates herself with Georgette, whose own origins are decidedly less-than-ideal. Georgette struggles to understand why Ann would negate her privileged past, and replace it with a nearly clinical obsession with social and political activism and the fight for those ostensibly less fortunate than she. Though the actual friendship is short-lived, the powerful presence of Ann’s willful personality and idealism continues to reside in Georgette as she navigates her way through life in the increasingly banal aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and Woodstock. Grappling with her own desire to have essentially that which Ann abhors, Georgette’s stream of conscience recollection meditates on the enigmatic influence of the curiously singular Ann: the last of her kind.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
by John Berendt
review by E. Dowson
In May of 1981, John Berendt, the editor of New York Magazine, took a leave of absence from his job and rented an apartment in Savannah, Georgia. Having visited the city on several previous vacations, he became so fascinated with the city and its denizens he decided to live there full time for a year and write a book about his experiences. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil chronicles those experiences.
The story begins with Berendt researching his novel by driving around town, interviewing prominent citizens, and soaking up the local culture. If the book had continued in that fashion, then a nice little book about Savannah would have been published, probably informative, but not that interesting. But fate decided to step in during Berendt’s visit to Savannah. The nice little book about Savannah turned into an absorbing first hand account of one of Savannah’s most prominent citizens and the murder scandal he became involved in during Berendt’s stay.
You still get a lot of information about Savannah’s citizens, culture, history, and landmarks in this story as John Berendt gathers information, but the wonderful thing about the book is that all of the information is woven in between the front stage story of the murder and the trial that follows. Instead of reading like a textbook, the book reads like a novel, both entertaining and educational. You will also get a great understanding of the city’s strange dynamic -- the city’s small town feel despite being a city of over 150, 000 people and their unique blend of hospitality and xenophobia. As one citizen says in the novel, “We may be standoffish, but we’re not hostile. We’re famously hospitable, in fact…”
When you meet the characters in the novel, you’ll be simultaneously moved and tickled by them; the genius who may or may not contain a means of killing the entire city, a sane man who walks an invisible dog, a priestess of the voodoo country, debutant societies and clubs, the main entertainer in the city’s gay bar, and a conman who has an ongoing party in his home all appear. So singular are these characters that I had to constantly remind myself while reading that these were all real people who lived in Savannah during this time.
The writing of this book is also one of its assets. The beautiful and strong description and imagery of Savannah’s structure, landmarks, and populace is interspersed with witty dialogue and unbiased information, which must have been difficult to achieve, considering the author is the narrator. His writing of the murder case and trial was handled brilliantly, lending itself to suspense in the right places without giving too much away. In the first chapters when Berendt is interviewing the man who will eventually become the center of the murder scandal, he says, “Don’t be taken in by the moonlight and magnolias…” and goes on to hint that Savannah has an underlying dark side. That line alone made me want to read the rest of the book.
Though John Berendt admits in the author’s notes that he took liberties with some of the sequences of events, the book is classified nonfiction. As someone who seldom reads nonfiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe it to be highly worth checking out. One warning, however: the book does contain strong profanity at times, some sexual themes, and sexual dialogue. But this book that could have been one of a thousand other informational materials about Savannah, Georgia, offers something for everyone. History buffs, fans of murder mysteries, fans of courtroom dramas, nonfiction readers, and people who just like a good story about love, hate, prejudices, humor, standing up for what’s right, and the age old showdown of good versus evil will take pleasure in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Copyrighted in 1994. Also made into a disappointing 1997 movie starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.
review by E. Dowson
In May of 1981, John Berendt, the editor of New York Magazine, took a leave of absence from his job and rented an apartment in Savannah, Georgia. Having visited the city on several previous vacations, he became so fascinated with the city and its denizens he decided to live there full time for a year and write a book about his experiences. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil chronicles those experiences.
The story begins with Berendt researching his novel by driving around town, interviewing prominent citizens, and soaking up the local culture. If the book had continued in that fashion, then a nice little book about Savannah would have been published, probably informative, but not that interesting. But fate decided to step in during Berendt’s visit to Savannah. The nice little book about Savannah turned into an absorbing first hand account of one of Savannah’s most prominent citizens and the murder scandal he became involved in during Berendt’s stay.
You still get a lot of information about Savannah’s citizens, culture, history, and landmarks in this story as John Berendt gathers information, but the wonderful thing about the book is that all of the information is woven in between the front stage story of the murder and the trial that follows. Instead of reading like a textbook, the book reads like a novel, both entertaining and educational. You will also get a great understanding of the city’s strange dynamic -- the city’s small town feel despite being a city of over 150, 000 people and their unique blend of hospitality and xenophobia. As one citizen says in the novel, “We may be standoffish, but we’re not hostile. We’re famously hospitable, in fact…”
When you meet the characters in the novel, you’ll be simultaneously moved and tickled by them; the genius who may or may not contain a means of killing the entire city, a sane man who walks an invisible dog, a priestess of the voodoo country, debutant societies and clubs, the main entertainer in the city’s gay bar, and a conman who has an ongoing party in his home all appear. So singular are these characters that I had to constantly remind myself while reading that these were all real people who lived in Savannah during this time.
The writing of this book is also one of its assets. The beautiful and strong description and imagery of Savannah’s structure, landmarks, and populace is interspersed with witty dialogue and unbiased information, which must have been difficult to achieve, considering the author is the narrator. His writing of the murder case and trial was handled brilliantly, lending itself to suspense in the right places without giving too much away. In the first chapters when Berendt is interviewing the man who will eventually become the center of the murder scandal, he says, “Don’t be taken in by the moonlight and magnolias…” and goes on to hint that Savannah has an underlying dark side. That line alone made me want to read the rest of the book.
Though John Berendt admits in the author’s notes that he took liberties with some of the sequences of events, the book is classified nonfiction. As someone who seldom reads nonfiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe it to be highly worth checking out. One warning, however: the book does contain strong profanity at times, some sexual themes, and sexual dialogue. But this book that could have been one of a thousand other informational materials about Savannah, Georgia, offers something for everyone. History buffs, fans of murder mysteries, fans of courtroom dramas, nonfiction readers, and people who just like a good story about love, hate, prejudices, humor, standing up for what’s right, and the age old showdown of good versus evil will take pleasure in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Copyrighted in 1994. Also made into a disappointing 1997 movie starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Author Blogs
It has been suggested that, in addition to reviewing books on our blog, we could review blogs. I will be happy to do so, and I invite blog reviews from our readership. Because I'd like to keep this blog about books, however, I will be sticking to reviewing other blogs about books.
Some of my best light reading, as of late, has been author blogs. There's a half dozen writers whom I read on a rotating basis in the morning, or when I need to rest my eyes during the day. Authors are fun to read: they are used to translating their observations into interesting prose, and that often translates well to blogging.
I had thought, as a sort of warm-up, that I would create a list of author's blogs. However, when I researched the subject on the web, I found that several people had beat me to it! Some of them are quite comprehensive. Because I like my wheels as is, I will not reinvent them.
Also, keep in mind that if you are searching for a specific author's blog, googling their name and "blog" will often do the trick. The links below are best for lazy days and browsing.
However, I will post a list, of lists, of author's blogs. And I'll keep this in the sidebar on the left side of the screen with other blogs about books.
Author's Blogs: The most comprehensive of the bunch, and divided by genre to boot.
Internet Writing Journal - Author's Blogs: Includes Dave Barry and Neil Gaiman.
Random Bytes
Some of my best light reading, as of late, has been author blogs. There's a half dozen writers whom I read on a rotating basis in the morning, or when I need to rest my eyes during the day. Authors are fun to read: they are used to translating their observations into interesting prose, and that often translates well to blogging.
I had thought, as a sort of warm-up, that I would create a list of author's blogs. However, when I researched the subject on the web, I found that several people had beat me to it! Some of them are quite comprehensive. Because I like my wheels as is, I will not reinvent them.
Also, keep in mind that if you are searching for a specific author's blog, googling their name and "blog" will often do the trick. The links below are best for lazy days and browsing.
However, I will post a list, of lists, of author's blogs. And I'll keep this in the sidebar on the left side of the screen with other blogs about books.
Author's Blogs: The most comprehensive of the bunch, and divided by genre to boot.
Internet Writing Journal - Author's Blogs: Includes Dave Barry and Neil Gaiman.
Random Bytes
