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July/August
2001 Book Sense 76 Picks
Unique and provocative selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by the independent booksellers of America.
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| History, Current Events, and Biography |
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 Augusta
Gone: A True Story
by Dudman, Martha Tod
(Simon & Schuster, 0743204093) "This is the harrowing story of a mother's
enduring love for her out-of-control teenage daughter. Set in a small coastal
Maine town, the author tells of her experiences with insight and honesty."
- Marcia Rider, Capitola Book Cafe, Capitola, CA
Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation
by Queenan, Joe
(Holt, 0805067205) "Okay, this book will irritate, irk, and even infuriate
some people, but as that great social critic Homer Simpson once said, 'It's funny
'cause it's true.' Queenan's hilarious indictment of Baby Boomers may strike too
close to home for some, but anyone who has relatively thick skin and is fed up
with generational self-importance will find this book too good to put down."
- Candler Hunt, Olsson's Dupont Circle, Washington, DC
Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the FBI, and the Devil's Deal
by Lehr, Dick and Gerard O'Neill
(Perennial, 0060959258) "This is a compulsively readable account of the incredible
career of the Boston mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger -- whose brother Billy was
the powerful president of the Massachusetts senate -- and the FBI's role in the
Boston Mob's power. This true tale has stuff in it that wouldn't even make it
into a novel!" - Bob Deloria, Kepler's, Palo Alto, CA
 Botany
of Desire, The: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by Pollan, Michael
(Random House, 0375501290) "With clarity and wit, Pollan explores our obsessions
with four specific plants: tulips, apples, marijuana, and potatoes. Read and be
seduced by a book guaranteed to entertain gardeners and non-gardeners alike."
- Kathy Ashton, The King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, UT
Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain
by Paterniti, Michael
(Dell, 038533303X) "Part travelogue, part memoir, part history, part biography,
and part meditation, this offers the story of one of the most unique road trips
in modern literature." - Christopher Hubbuch, Ruminator Books, St. Paul,
MN
Final Season, The: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark
by Stanton, Tom
(St. Martin's, 031227288X) "This is a very personal account of one man's
coming to terms with the closing of Tiger Stadium. Replete with personal anecdotes
and stories of baseball heroes, it is a heartfelt lament for the end of an era
in American sports, and the role that baseball played in generations of fathers
and sons in his own family." - Connie Geverink, Little Professor Book
Center, Chesterfield, MI
 From
Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life
by Barzun, Jacques
(Perennial, 0060928832) "This book is without question one of the great intellectual
achievements of the year. Historian Barzun's magisterial cultural history is written
with extraordinary confidence and penetration. Barzun is a cultural pessimist
who sees modern history as a story of cultural retreat." - Andy Ross,
Cody's, San Francisco, CA
Informant, The
by Eichenwald, Kurt
(Broadway, 0767903277) "The inside story of how Archer Daniels Midland became
the most powerful company in America by buying politicians and using its influence
to gouge billions from consumers. It reads like a Grisham novel and it's all the
more suspenseful because it actually happened. Truly gripping!" - Erik
Johnson, Book Soup, W. Hollywood CA
Italian Affair, An
by Fraser, Laura
(Pantheon, 0375420657) "Evocative, tenderly amusing, and worthy of a thoughtful
read -- and I, too, fell in love with some of the men here. The description of
the author's progress through a tough transition in life rang true to me, as I'm
sure it will to anyone who has had a relationship fall on difficult times, but
has gone on to a more fulfilled life. It would make a great choice for a book
group." - Nicola Rooney, Nicola's Books Little Professor, Ann Arbor,
MI
 Of
Beetles and Angels
by Asgedom, Mawi
(Megadee Books, 0970498268) "This incredible young man's autobiography is
powerful. Mawi was born in Ethiopia, fled with his family to a Sudanese refugee
camp, and arrived in this country at the age of seven. Overcoming hardship and
placing great value on education, Mawi's life has much to teach us. Now a graduate
of Harvard, his story is an inspiration." - Jane Stroh, The Bookstore,
Glen Ellyn, IL
Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina
by Hajdu, David
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 0374281998) "Hajdu takes the reader through the
early days of folk music (Guthrie, Leadbelly, Seeger) right up through the birth
of rock. Most interesting is the material on the Farinas (he was a novelist and
a friend of Pynchon's), a musical couple about whom little has been written. This
is the stuff of modern music myth made fresh for all of us today." -
Corey Mesler, Burke's Book Store, Memphis, TN
Tulip
by Paord, Anna
(Bloomsbury, 1582341303) "This is a wonderfully researched book tracing the
history of one of the world's most renowned and beautiful flowers." -
Kristi Ehrig-Burgess, Macdonald Bookshop, Estes Park, CO
 Uphill
Walkers: A Memoir of a Family
by Blais, Madeleine
(Atlantic Monthly, 0871137925) "I thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to
the Blais family. Loved the biting wit, references to those 'feisty 50s' nuns,
and reminiscing over the incredible social innocence of the times." -
Susan H. Waite, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, Brookfield, WI
Uphill with Archie: A Son's Journey
by MacLeish, William H.
(Simon & Schuster, 0684824957) "Archibald MacLeish was one of the predominate
poets of the 20s, in the company of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. William MacLeish
does a great job telling an interesting story about these people, combining it
with the challenge of growing up within the company of his father, who was at
times sharp and controlling, but also very charming." - Roxanne Coady,
R.J. Julia's, Madison, CT
Voyage for Madmen, A
by Nichols, Peter
(HarperCollins, 0060197641) "Our pick of the summer for BOTH of us! The intensity
and passion of the round-the-world, single-handed, non-stop race in 1968 by nine
very different men in nine very different sailing vessels is captured in this
compelling, fascinating, and full-bodied book. With a novelist's ear and a sailor's
vision, Nichols gives us the adventure book of the year!" - Paul Haskins
& Alaine Borgias, Village Books, Bellingham, WA
Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses
by Feiler, Bruce
(William Morrow, 0380977753) "A wonderful book that takes readers on an
unforgettable journey. Walking the Bible brings the Old Testament to life and
makes it accessible to all." - Brian Lapidus, Chapter 11 Books, Atlanta,
GA
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