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| October
2002 Daily Picks |
| Monday
through Friday, daily book recommendations to fill up your reading life.
At BookSense.com no book shall remain unconsidered for your reading pleasure. |
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Ancient
Sorceries and Other Weird Stories
By Algernon
Blackwood
H.P. Lovecraft called him “the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird
atmosphere,” and Blackwood was indeed a master of evoking the macabre and
the bizarre. This new collection of nine classic stories offers a superb
overview of the English author’s relatively short career as a horror writer.
Included is Blackwood’s most famous tale, “The Wendigo,” and one of Lovecraft’s
favorite stories, “The Willows.” Additionally, “Ancient Sorceries” formed
the basis for director Jacques Tourneur’s moody 1942 classic “Cat People.”
The collection’s other six tales are not as well known, but are just as
spooky! Creepy, unnerving, and viscerally menacing, Blackwood’s early-20th-century
work stands as some of the horror genre’s earliest and most fascinating.
Boo! |
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it!
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Bread
Alone
by Judith
Ryan Hendricks
"During a visit to her best friend in Seattle, a scorned wife rediscovers
the therapeutic process of breadmaking, as she recalls her apprenticeship
in a French boulangerie. This is a polished first novel filled with tantalizing
descriptions of places and foods." - Mary Burns, The BookWorks, Marysville,
WA
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Last
Train to Paradise
By Les
Standiford
From 1913 to 1935, the Florida East Coast Railway connected Key West with
mainland Florida. Crossing more than 150 miles of open ocean, the Railway
was an engineering marvel on par with the Panama Canal, and at the time
was lauded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World.” John D. Rockefeller’s partner
Henry Flagler conceived the idea in 1904, and was the main driving force
behind the construction of a project that was at first deemed utterly impossible.
In this fast-paced and engaging popular history, Standiford, the bestselling
author of the thrillers Bone
Key and Black
Mountain, follows the life of the Railway through its controversial
development to its ferocious annihilation at the hands of the most destructive
hurricane in U.S. history. |
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The
Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby
Edited by Eric
Evans and Milo
George
The first in a series of publications that promise serious critical and
historical evaluations of the comic book medium’s greatest creators, Jack
Kirby takes an insightful look at one of the most important comic book
artists ever. Kirby’s
prolific career ran from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, and has influenced
everything from the Pop Art movement to George Lucas’ Star Wars films. With
writer Joe
Simon he co-created Captain America, and later he helped a young Stan
Lee develop and write the 4-color adventures of the Fantastic Four,
the Hulk, and the X-Men. Profusely illustrated with both color and black
and white examples of Kirby’s art, Milo George’s essential volume comprises
three in-depth interviews, a series of analytical essays (including one
by The Dark Knight Return’s Frank
Miller), and a detailed history of Kirby’s monumental legal battles
with Marvel Comics over creator rights. |
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it!
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Bad
Press: The Worst Critical Reviews Ever!
Edited by Laura
Ward
”Two things should be cut -- the second act and the child’s throat.” -
From a review by Noel
Coward on a play with an apparently very irritating child actor.
The truth
of the matter is that bad reviews are a lot more fun to read than good
ones. Good reviews may influence the reader or listener to experience
something, but the best bad reviews cater to the wicked cattiness inherent
in everybody. Luckily, Laura Ward has gathered together a huge assortment
of the cleverest and most caustic bad reviews in history, and arranged
them by subject: movies, literature, television and radio, music, food
and drink, and theater. Hilarious barbs from revered authors like Dorothy
Parker and Oscar
Wilde, and revered critics like Robert
Benchley and Pauline
Kael are just a few of the personalities to be found in this venomous
volume.
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The
Good Women of China
By Xinran
Xinran began broadcasting her ground-breaking radio program “Words on the
Night Breeze” from a Nanjing, China, radio station during the late 1980s.
Featuring calls and letters from everyday women about their lives, the show
gave Chinese women a rare public forum in which to describe their often
harrowing, painful, and bleak existence. In The Good Women of China,
Xinran collects a varied group of these intimate stories, and describes
the emotional effects they had on her and her colleagues. The abused girl
whose live is so devoid of love that she keeps a fly for a pet...the woman
who gets separated from her lover during the Cultural Revolution and searches
for him in vain for 45 years...a woman whose unhappy marriage was arranged
by the Communist Party...a young girl who becomes nearly catatonic after
watching her adopted family undergo torture from the Red Guard. Full of
unspeakable brutality, violence, cruelty, and suffering, Xinran’s moving
book is not an easy read, but it is a revealing and valuable portrait of
modern China. |
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it!
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When
the Emperor Was Divine
by Julie
Otsuka
"This elegant and important novel is an absolute gem. In crystalline prose,
Otsuka tells the story of a very American Japanese family in California
during WW II, Outrage shimmers just below the surface of this lovely and
heartbreaking novel, but it is kept there by the quiet dignity of this
family. Every American should read this book, both for its beauty, and
as a cautionary tale for our times." - Bobby Tichenor, Annie Bloom's,
Portland, OR
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Dear
Professor Einstein
Edited by Alice
Calaprice
This unique book provides intimate insight into the personality of one of
the 20th century’s greatest scientists. Collecting more than 60 letters
from children to the beloved mathematician/physicist/professor/celebrity
and some of his replies, Dear Professor Einstein reveals a gentle
and patient man who genuinely enjoyed the precocious and curious nature
of children. Einstein-expert Calaprice includes a short Einstein biography
and chronology, and a number of revealing photographs featuring the scientist.
The well-rounded book also contains a foreword from Einstein’s granddaughter
Evelyn, and an essay by Einstein scholar Robert
Schulmann. |
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The
Best American Poetry 2002
Edited by Robert
Creeley
The latest edition of this highly respected anthology collects more than
70 poems from dozens of America’s brightest and most thought-provoking poets.
Often abstract, experimental, and sometimes wickedly humorous, editor Creeley’s
tastes tend to lean toward the avant-garde and unusual. Curiously, the events
of September 11, 2001, are never addressed specifically, but they seem to
haunt many of the works. Some of the poets included in The Best American
Poetry 2002 are: John
Ashbury, Amiri
Baraka, Donald
Hall, Mong-Lan,
Maggie
Nelson, and Charles
Wright. Renowned poet Robert Creeley is a professor at the State University
of New York at Buffalo, and was New York State Poet from 1989 to 1991. Among
his many volumes of poetry are Life
& Death and Memory
Gardens. |
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it!
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Rodeo
Queens and the American Dream
By Joan
Burbick
Like gunfighters, ranchers, and cattle drives, rodeos are a distinct and
historically masculine aspect of both the real and the mythological American
West. Joan Burbick gives the West a refreshing and melancholy spin in her
exquisite new book by revealing the untold story of rodeo queens. Part skilled
athlete and part princess, the queens are meant to represent the ideal Western
woman. In order to understand how this perception has changed through time,
Burbick traveled hundreds of miles and interviewed dozens of women...women
who grew up when the West was still “wild” in the 1930s and 1940s...Native
American and Caucasian women from the golden age of rodeo in the 1950s and
60s...and finally, women from the 1970s to today who are a part of rodeo’s
mass commercialization. |
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it!
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Cages
By Dave
McKean
McKean is most famous for his artistic contributions to Neil
Gaiman’s hugely popular Sandman series of graphic novels, and
his long out-of-print masterpiece Cages was first serialized in the
early 1990s. Intertwining the stories of four tenants -- a painter, a writer,
a musician, and a lonely housewife -- living in a peculiar London apartment
building, Cages doubles as an insightful treatise on and profound
interpretation of art, life, love, and the act of creation. Although the
basic plot and characters can get a bit thin, one gets the idea that plot
and characters aren’t really the point; they’re mainly just vehicles for
McKean’s mesmerizing artistic talents. Over the course of the 500-page opus,
he successfully unleashes a flurry of styles: black-and-white drawings,
full-color paintings, three-and two-dimensional collages, photography, woodcuts,
poetry, and prose are all accomplished to great effect. Atmospheric, provocative,
and ingenious, add Cages to the growing list of graphic novel “must-haves.”
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it!
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The
Blue Shoe
by Anne
Lamott
"Apart from her undeniable talent as a storyteller, Lamott captures valuable
lessons about ourselves, our dreams, and the past in this novel. Highly
recommended for an autumn weekend read. Five stars!" - Emery Pinter,
Chapter 11 Bookstore Gainesville, GA
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Legacy
of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats, and the New Politics of Islam
By Anthony
Shadid
Journalist Anthony Shadid was a correspondent in more than a dozen Middle
Eastern countries, and won an Overseas Press Club award in 1997 for the
series of articles that eventually became Legacy of the Prophet.
A portrait of Islamic politics at the beginning of the 21st century, Shadid’s
book offers an atypical view of the situation that will surprise most readers.
Across the Middle East, Shadid found Islamic activists forming political
parties that renounce violence, and seek peaceful reform in their authoritarian
societies by embracing civil service and grassroots work. A compelling study
of a complex and often misunderstood part of the world, Legacy of the
Prophet doesn’t offer a simple explanation -- but it is a necessary
piece of the larger puzzle. |
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it!
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Crossing
Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail
By Ruben
Martinez
Thousands and thousands of Mexicans illegally cross the United States border
every year, becoming part of the eternally swelling multitudes of undocumented
immigrants that come looking for a better life up north. It's a dangerous
and often deadly endeavor: Early in the morning on April 6, 1996, the three
Chavez brothers were killed in a calamitous border accident. Acclaimed journalist
Martinez traveled down to southern Mexico to interview the remaining members
of the Chavez clan in the small town of Cheran about the tragedy, and found
himself chronicling the rest of the uneasy family's hair-raising migration
to the States. Not content with telling a gritty, first-hand account of
border crossing, Martinez captures how illegal immigration is deeply affecting
both Mexican and American society at their core. |
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it!
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White
Apples
By Jonathan
Carroll
When charming advertising exec Vincent Ettrich discovers he has died and
come back to life, the how or why isn’t clear. Neither is the reason why
nobody seems to know that he died. He later runs into a co-worker with
the same problem, and starts dating a beautiful woman named Coco who knows
much more than Vincent does about his unique condition. Things only get
stranger when Vincent’s beloved ex-girlfriend Isabelle shows up explaining
that she’s pregnant and can communicate with their unborn son, a powerful
being named Anjo. Full of outlandish imagination, sharp wit, and deep
characterization, the entrancing White Apples combines aspects
of Vonnegut
and Orwell
to create a genuinely convincing romance that’s caught in the Twilight
Zone.
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it!
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July,
July
by Tim
O'Brien
"As the Darton Hall Class of 1969 alumni gather for their 30th reunion,
they are mostly successful, but they can't get it together on a personal
level. They are largely divorced or headed that way, and nostalgic for
their college years. O'Brien manages the Shakespearean cast brilliantly,
telling classmates' stories as they settle old scores or just decide to
let them go. A great book about what happened to those rebels who became
the Establishment." - Lyn Roberts, Square Books, Oxford, MS
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Thereby
Hangs A Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins
By Charles
Earle Funk
The term “cannibal” comes from the name the native people of Cuba called
themselves when Columbus first encountered them. The origins of “hazard”
lie in an ancient Arab dice game that became popular across Europe. “Ketchup”
was originally a Chinese condiment made from edible fungi called “ke-tsiap.”
“Sarcasm” is derived from a Greek word used to describe how dogs rip and
tear flesh. First published in 1950, the infinitely fascinating Thereby
Hangs A Tale describes the strange origins of hundreds of strange words,
and doubles as a unique survey of human cultural history. The curious and
scholarly Funk produced a number of other amusing works on the origins of
words and phrases, including Heavens
to Betsy!, Horsefeathers,
and A
Hog On Ice. |
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it!
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Child
of God
By Lolita
Files
To say that the Boten clan of Downtown, Tennessee, is cursed would be an
understatement. The twisted Benny and Amalie Boten have two children: Grace
and Walter, who, because of their parents' dark demons, share an incestuous
relationship. Grace and Walter's daughter, Ophelia, is impregnated by her
older brother, Laertes. Laertes moves to Detroit and becomes a drug dealer,
and Ophelia's child perishes in a fire that may or may not have been caused
by Walter's voodoo-priestess wife. Incredibly, things go even further downhill
from there. It's obvious that this brutal, melodramatic, and macabre Southern
family saga was inspired by Hamlet, and the novel's characters certainly
experience a Shakespearean level of suffering. However, Files consistently
manages to find encouraging fragments of hope in the shattered lives of
her characters. Files is also the author of Scenes
From a Sistah and the bestselling Blind
Ambitions. |
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it!
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Uncle
Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories
By Daniel
Pinkwater
Justifiably revered children’s author and frequent NPR contributor Pinkwater
adores and respects dogs, and he recounts the roles they’ve played and the
effects they’ve had on his life in this warm, informal, and typically comical
memoir. Growing up in a decidedly idiosyncratic family, pets played a bit
of a bizarre role throughout Pinkwater’s childhood, and it wasn’t until
he was an adult that he began owning dogs. Much of Uncle Boris is
devoted to Pinkwater’s first dogs: a couple of loveably insane Alaskan malamutes.
Other parts of the book describe experiences he and his wife (who provides
the book’s sweet-natured drawings) had while operating a training school,
and what happens when Pinkwater is lucky enough to come into contact with
an honest-to-goodness wolf. Any pet owner will appreciate Pinkwater’s honesty,
off-kilter sense of humor, and perceptive notion that pets will improve
your life. |
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it!
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Angel
Rock
By Darren
Williams
Something is amiss in the small Australian town of Angel Rock. Twelve-year-old
Tom Ferry and his step-brother Flynn go missing in the vast Australian desert.
When Tom stumbles back into town a few days later dirty and bloodied, he
has no memory of what happened. At around the same time, a teenage runaway
from Angel Rock commits suicide in a desolate Sydney suburb. When Gibson
-- a Sydney detective fighting his own tragic past -- travels to Angel Rock
to investigate, he uncovers a dark undercurrent of weird obsessions and
consuming fears. Reminiscent of the work of filmmakers David Lynch and Peter
Weir, Williams’ unsettling novel is distinguished by an overwhelming sense
of menace, psychological intimacy, and a touch of the paranormal. |
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it!
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The
Transplanted Man
by
Sanjay Nigam
"Nigam's colorful pantheon of characters includes a mysteriously gifted
medical resident; a wise Indian political leader whose transplanted organs
are an amalgam of his people; a scheming Bollywood superstar; a bibliomaniac
nurse; and a struggling therapist oft mistaken for a mystical guru. A
wise, sexy, laugh-out-loud funny, powerful, and truly exceptional novel.
I regard this book as a dear friend and one of the best I've read." -
Anna Dorian, Esmeralda Books & Coffee, Del Mar, CA
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The
Divine Economy of Salvation
By Priscila
Uppal
Feeling lonely and sad because of a terminally sick mother and absent father,
14-year-old Angela sought solace and acceptance in The Sisterhood, a clique
of students at the St. X. School for Girls. When Rachel, the charismatic
leader of the group, forced Angela to play a cruel joke on another student,
something went horribly wrong. Twenty-five years later, Angela is now known
as the repentant Sister Angela. Unfortunately, the past comes back to haunt
her in the form of a silver candlestick that arrives in the mail. Her faith
quickly begins to dwindle; facing her demons with the help of a young pregnant
woman becomes Angela's only hope for redemption in this brutal, disturbing,
and passionate first novel. |
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