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We
Are Their Heaven
by
Allison DuBois (Simon & Schuster)
The medium upon whom the TV show Medium is based, DuBois
claims to be able to read minds, talk to the dead, predict
the future and channel past crimes to help investigators.
Her book details her cases from her perspective and the
perspective of the people she has helped. Also fascinating
is her recounting of the experiments she has participated
in - she may not be legitimate, but she makes a pretty good
case for believing.
Chew
On This
by Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin)
The author of Fast Food Nation has a new book, targeted to
students - adults will lose nothing reading this one, too
- about the fast food industry. His main complaint is that
fast food is marketed to kids, toddlers, even infants! My
audience reaction was surprisingly hostile to him. We eat
bad food, but they didn't see it as McDonalds' fault. Either
way, for a quick overview of the industry, the book is good
read.
The
Mighty and The Almighty
by Madeline Albright (HarperCollins Publishers)
The former Secretary of State to President Clinton talks about
the importance of religion to world affairs. She discusses
how badly we prepared for the aftermath of the war in Iraq
and suggests that this war at that time was not necessary.
Shanks
for Nothing
Rick Reilly (Doubleday)
The back page columnist for Sports Illustrated has another
humorous novel about a group of golf buddies. Their local
course is about to be paved over and the solution to this
- and other dilemma they face - is for one of them to qualify
for the British Open. If you liked Who's Your Caddy or his
other works of fiction, you'll recognize his tone and wit
and you'll love every page.
Clemente
by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster)
You might not be thinking about the late Hall of Fame Pittsburgh
Pirate right fielder Roberto Clemente these days. More likely
you are thinking about immigration, spoiled baseball stars,
steroids, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa and other topics in the
news. Maraniss has you covered. The fabled story of Clemente's
rise resonates as much now as 25 years ago. Clemente's shocking
death in a plane crash punctuates many of the points in the
book.
Does
Anything Eat Wasps
by the editors of New Scientist Magazine
(Simon & Schuster)
What a smart and fun book to troll through! This is the compilation
of many Q & A's from the magazine's readers over the years.
Odd questions from science (witness the book's title) are
answered by smart readers and, with editorial fact checking
and oversight, reprinted here. Imagine Wikipedia that you
could always trust.
Whiteman
by Tony D'Souza (Harcourt Brace & Co.)
D'Souza is the white man who walked across Africa's Ivory
Coast. His thoughts on our show were surprising and fresh.
About poverty in Africa, for instance, he suggests that we
not send money; too much of our largess is hijacked by corrupt
government officials. His is a Big Picture view from the trenches.
Death
In Belmont
by Sebastian Junger (Norton)
Imagine that. The author of perfect storm grew up in a house
that was worked on by the Boston Strangler. Junger discusses
a murder committed in his town of Belmont; was it the Strangler?
He can't say for sure and won't speculate. You'll love that
facet of this book - or hate it.
An
Ordinary Man
by Paul Russessbegina (Penguin Group)
The manager of the hotel depicted in Hotel Rawanda. Russess...tells
the now famous story from his perspective. It is hard to imagine
how any of us would respond to these life and death situations,
but his skills as a hotel manager saved many lives. Bargaining
for the lives of his "guests," he used flattery
and cunning and cash and good booze. Surprisingly, there are
everyday-life lessons to take from this book. Sadly, the larger
lessons of Rwanda may be lost on many. Not only does Darfur
continue to consume thousands of lives, but Russess isn't
sure that this sort of violence couldn't erupt in Rwanda,
again.
State
of War
by
James Risen
(Free Press).
Subtitled
"The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,"
this book answers many of the questions you may have had about
current events. Why is the Bush administration so intent on
sidestepping or supplementing FISA with this domestic spying
business? And how does that work? What did the CIA know about
WMD prior to the war in Iraq and how did our intelligence
gathering break down? We shared an anecdote Risen tells about
the CIA recruiting spies to go to Iraq. Angering, fascinating
and sometimes just plain sad.
Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)
Subtitled the Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Gladwell's
book is filled with bright, fun, intuitive-except-you-didn't-think-of-it-until-now
observations. We spoke about the way of judging (early on)
successful marriages and the chances that a doctor will get
sued. Only 260 pages; thicker books aren't as smart. He is
the author of The Tipping Point, which describes how
and why certain businesses, concepts, products or people go
from just existing to being very popular. They "tip."
Knowing the nuts and bolts of that process would do us all
well.
The
Greatest Story Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish,
Bewilder, and Stupefy
by
Rick Beyer (Harper Collins)
This 2003 book comes up once in a while on our show. Beyer's
unearthed short (2-page) anecdotes about famous events (the
Olympics, WW II) and the not so famous (creation of the safety
pin, the playing of the National Anthem at baseball games).
Along with photos and clever drawings and illustrations, the
book is maddeningly short on detail but fun still. If it makes
you want to find out more, that's not such a bad thing, eh?
The
Top 10 of Everything 2004
by Russell Ash, Nicki Lampon
(DK - A Penguin Company)
For info geeks or to settle bets and disputes, here's a good
gift idea. Top 10 is broken down by category, has plenty of
slick graphs and pictures. It's not the book you'd take to
the beach, but if you want to know the #1 book ever taken,
that sort of thing is in here.
The
Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest
Person In The World
by A.J. Jacobs (Simon and Schuster)
What a terrific book! Jacobs reads the 33,000 pages of Encyclopedia
Britannica so you don't have to. The book charts his year
of nearly non-stop reading, weaving summaries of the encyclopedia's
entries in from acappella to Zywiec. You'll learn much here.
And you'll be touched by Jacob's quest, as a child, to actually
become the smartest person in the world. Except that it appears
his dad is smarter. And his wife is at times annoyed by the
enterprise. And his favorite high school teacher tells him
it is, in fact, the opposite of learning. Every page has a
laugh and a lesson.
Forever
Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from a Forensic
Pathologist
by Janis Amatuzio, MD (New World
Library)
John
retold the first chapter of this book Thursday, 11/11/04.
In it, a 3rd year medical student relates the story of her
first patient: a patient 66 year-old farmer with cancer. It's
a short, warm, sad, redeeming chapter. We cried. The review
on the whole book is still pending John's finishing the book,
but some of you want to follow along so here you go!
Real
Chicago: Photographs from The Files of The Chicago Sun-Times
by Richard Cahan, Neal Samors, Michael Williams
(Chicago's Neighborhoods, Inc.)
Cahan is a former photo editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and
it shows. His eye for this collection of Sun Times photos
is a newsman's, but an artist's, too. From the 1940's to the
present, the book is page after page of big black and white
snapshots. You'll recognize some, but mostly you'll be seeing
these for the first time. If you know someone who really knows,
loves or misses Chicago, this is a good book.
The
Experts Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To
Do
created by Samantha Ettus (Potter
Books).
Ettus cold-called 100 experts, asking them how to best make
scrambled eggs, give a speech, shake hands, apologize, balance
your checkbook and on and on. The book is alternately helpful
(I didn't know how to test a watermelon for freshness) to
reaffirming (I want my kids to shake hands that way, too!).
Though there are no great revelations here, the list of
experts is impressive: Arthur Sulzberger Jr. on newspaper
reading, Bobbi Brown on applying lipstick, Tucker Carlson
on tying a bow tie, Donald Trump on negotiating, Suze Orman
on saving money.
Chain
of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
by Seymour M. Hersh (Harper Collins)
Immediately
after 9/11, Hersch and his editor determined that he would
follow the story where ever it went, for as long as necessary.
Since then, after 26 long New Yorker articles, the Pulitzer
Prize winner told me he was pulling for Kerry in the coming
presidential election "so I can stop!" His book
reminds us of how close we were - or could have been - to
stopping the terrorist attacks of 2001, how ill prepared
we were for the prisoners we captured in Afghanistan and
how badly the administration planned for the aftermath of
the war in Iraq. Bush supporters may not like this book;
it's not exactly a pick-me-up for Kerry supporters either.
Hersch told us that the war is unwinable and pledges by
either to do so are disingenuous.
Why
Courage Matters: The Way to A Braver Life
by Sen. John McCain with Mark Salter (Random
House)
We quoted from McCain's description of courage displayed by
a sergeant in Vietnam. About this and other compelling descriptions
of Courage, McCain asks what is it that drives some to such
super-human feats under fire. He answers his own question
with, "I'll be damned if I know," but then goes
on, with Salter, to talk - for about 200 pages - about the
importance of courage. His way to a braver life won't necessarily
make us war heroes, but might make us stronger, more complete
human beings.
The
Arabs: Journeys Beyond The Mirage
by David Lamb (Random House, 1987).
This is the book we read from that described Islamic justice
as practiced in Saudi Arabia. If some of the facts or figures
are dated, the idea, to generally educate about Arab peoples,
is still a good one. From the root cause of animosity between
Israel and its neighbor states to more recent events, the
book is easy but instructive reading.
1968:
The Year That Rocked The World
by Mark Kurlansky (Random House)
A seminal year in American History. Granted, its not 1776
or even 2001, but 1968 is emblamatic of so many of the issues
we grapple with even today. This is another anecdote filled
read that nicely fills in the blanks of our (okay, mine)
cultural history.
The
Greatest Stories Never Told - 100 Tales from History to
Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy
by Rick Beyer. (HaperCollins Publishers)
From The History Channel, this book spends two pages per
event. Old photos, diagrams, quotes and brief descriptions
count events from 46 BC ("The Men Who Stole Time")
to 1990 (Webmaster.) As an example, this last story tells
- ever so briefly - the story of Tim Berners-Lee who invented
the World Wide Web. (He renounced patent rights to ensure
its growth, by the way.) These events are all intriguing
enough but described in such brevity as to do some of them
a disservice. The end of World War Two in just a few paragraphs?
Staying true to the books format actually hurts the content.
It DOES make you want to read more about history, these
histories specifically, but I also wonder if they couldn't
have done THREE pages per topic.
What
Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? A Remembrance
by
Richard Ben Cramer (Simon & Schuster)
At just over 100 pages, think of this as a really long magazine
article. This is the book I recently described as not wanting
to like - the parenthetic style of asides and reinforcing
statements take some getting used to. Cramer comes right out
of the blocks in the first sentence saying that Williams was
not just a great player but also "a great man."
He so wants you to believe that that the next 100 pages fawn
over the man in spite of himself. Fortunately, the boosterism
fades as the story gets going, and the numbers - baseball
stats and war stats - do speak volumes about Williams' character,
flawed though it may be. What this book lacks in objectivity,
it makes up for in intimacy. Williams is a great story and
this remembrance is entertaining and anecdote rich.
Final
Accounting: Ambition, Greed and The Fall of Arthur Andersen
by Barbara Ley Toffler with Jennifer Reingold
(Broadway) .
And here you thought Enron was the heavy. In fact, Toffler
says Enron merely broke the accounting and consulting giants
back, already straining from previous debacles and a corporate
culture that couldn't see or react sensibly to the rising
tide of trouble. Lot of interesting damn-the-ethics full
speed ahead anecdotes in this one, from the person who ironically
tried to sell Andersen's Ethical consulting services.
Pigs
at The Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption
Are Undermining America
by Arianna Huffington (Crown)
This is the book we referred to and the author Steve Cochran
interviewed. Huffington is no stranger to controversy herself,
but here she details the corporate excesses and outrages of
the last decade or so. It's fascinating as it is maddening.
And entertaining, except that it is also true.
Esquire
- The Rules: A Man's Guide To Life
(Hearst Books)
Esquire's rules are fun and often funny, even when you don't
agree with them. "Never trust an act of civil disobedience
led by a disc jockey" is probably true, and "White
cars look good only on Fantasy Island," is (hopefully)
not.
The
Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse
and The Invention of The Electric Chair
by Richard Moran (Knopf).
Edison and Westinghouse. Two names that are literally household,
but two personalities most households don't appreciate.
Their clash here over the operating current for the electric
chair and the very business of electrocuting human beings
make amazing story telling. Especially in light of Illinois'
dilemma with capitol punishment, the story is timely and
well told.
The
Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection
by Wendy Northcutt (Plume)
Here she goes again. Northcutt described people whose untimely
and/or bizarre demise probably benefit the gene pool. The
sleepy gun owner who shoots himself in the head when he mistakes
his gun for a phone, the man who fell to his death trying
to pee off an overpass, the man who died when his friend tried
to give him liposuction with a vacuum cleaner. Some of these
are confirmed, some not. They note which are which. I don't
know which to do, laugh or cringe.
The
Luck Factor
by Dr. Richard Wiseman (Miramax Books)
Not the sort of interview author/book we usually do, but the
engaging Wiseman explained several things about luck. One,
luck is a matter of perception. Given the same scenario -
say, you're shot but survive a bank robbery - different people
can have very different views about how lucky, at that time,
they were. He also says good and bad luck tend to be self-fulfilling.
Believe you are going to be fortunate and you will act a certain
way that will, in fact, more likely invite positive things.
Power
Failure - The Inside Story of The Collapse of Enron
by
Mimi Swartz with Sherron Watkins
(Doubleday)
Remember? Watkins is the whistle bower at Enron. The accountant
has been under wraps - at the request first of her attorneys
and then Doubleday. But now the story is written and she's
able to talk. On our visit April 3rd, though, she seemed somewhat
removed from the story. She doesn't seem to be as angry as
we all were when the story first broke. She admits to being
part of the Enron culture but seems to be well disconnected
from it. She said Anderson Accounting was prosecuted as an
almost trial run for Enron, whose executives she expects to
serve jail time and pay huge fines.
Complications
- A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
by Atul Gawande (Henry Holt & Co.)
What a wonderful book. Great anecdotes. Fine prose. Gawande
puts the scalpel in your hand as you cut (or insert or pry
or feel) a patient for the first time. And accidents will
occur. While the notion that his imperfect science will inevitably
produce negative outcomes - as any human endeavor will - there
is also something encouraging and uplifting about his honesty
and sincerity. Were all doctors like this guy you'd happily
take your chances.
Stolen
Lives - Twenty Years in a Desert Jail
by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi (Talk/Miramax
books)
What a life. Oufkir's father was a high ranking Moroccan official
when the King of Morocco decided to adopt her - at the age
of five - as a playmate for the King's daughter. And so it
was, at age five and for a dozen years after, she led the
pampered life of a princess. But when her father's coup failed,
the by then 19 year-old Oufkir and her family were jailed
for the next two decades. An Oprah book, now out in paper
back.
Money
and Morals in America
by Patricia O'Toole (Random House)
This is the book I sometimes refer to. It describes the social
good that industry and industrialists have accomplished. From
Ben Franklin through Henry Ford to modern day companies, O'Toole's
stories are well told and often burst the notion that the
company is only interested in the bottom line.
Secret
Agents - The Menace of Emerging Infections
by Madeline Drexler (Joseph Henry Press).
Why haven't we found the Anthrax terrorist? Will we cure AIDS?
What new "superbugs" are out there? Should I use antibacterial
soap? Eat red meat? And on and on. Drexler answers these and
many more questions in chapters that read like detective stories.
A mysterious illness is discovered and eventually diagnosed
as West Nile virus, for instance. Drexler and I spoke for
two hours the night I guest-hosted Milt Rosenberg's Extension
720. Despite all the vermin out there that is evolving to
prey on us, I asked her if she was not also encouraged by
the resilience of the human being. She said not the body,
but the mind. We need to budget for public health to fight
in the lab and with public education these ever-changing strains
of virus and bacteria. Otherwise, we might not enjoy life
as we do today.
Laura
- America's First Lady, First Mother
by Antonia Felix (Avon).
Felix points out that this first lady is far far different
than the previous one. And that is not a slight to either.
But to better understand the current administration, as a
reflection of the man, it helps to understand the woman beside
him.
The
Big Idea
by Steven Strauss (Dearborn Trade Publications)
This is the book we talked about Wednesday, 3/20/02. Subtitled
How Business Innovators Get Great Ideas to Market, it tells
of Post It Notes, Velcro, The USA Today, Liquid Paper and
on and on. Sort of like a businessman's version of Paul Harvey's
The Rest of the Story. Very scannable, skimmable and enjoyable.
Gig:
Americans Talk About Their Jobs
Edited by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, Sabin Streeter (Three
Rivers Press) Like Studs Terkel's Working, this book is a
series of narratives. Americans discussing their extraordinary
and very ordinary jobs. Crime scene cleaner, Human Resource
Director at a slaughterhouse, Kinkos employee, Temp, CEO,
construction foreman, etc. Each surprisingly interesting and
remarkably candid, these people give concise, clear views
of what it is like to work in America at the turn of the 21st
century.
As
The Future Catches You: How Genomics and Other Forces are
Changing Your Life, Work, Health, and Wealth
by Juan Enriquez (Crown Business)
We described this as "utterly scanable" (it seemed to make
sense at the time) but also thought provoking. Enriquez's
book weaves a fascinating web of anecdotes, facts and history
in one unmistakable direction: Genetics. It is to the this
century what, say, plastics were to the 60's. Even if you
don't care about that today, the diverse style and diversity
of information he uses to illustrate that belief are worth
the read.
Feel
Good Naked: 10 No-Diet Secrets to a Fabulous Body
by Laure Redmond (Fair Winds)
This is the book with the 10 smart tips we talked about. Ideas
such as Treat Yourself Once a Week and Don't Eat in front
of the TV. She's on QVC and nearly nude on the cover of this
175 page hardback - it is skimable and (I'm no expert on this
subject) seems to offer some reasonable suggestions.
The
Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on The Sam Shephard Murder Case
James Neff (Random House)
This chronicle of the Sam Sheppard case will surprise you
for all the misconceptions you have about the case - ie, The
Fugitive was not based on the case. The old story is chilling
enough. The new revelations are more surprising, still.
Why
Architecture Matters: Lessons From Chicago
by Blair Kamin (University of Chicago Press), This
new hardback reprints many of Kamin's Chicago Tribune articles
over the last ten years. Kamin pulls no punches with his criticism
and praise. Suddenly the architecture we take for granted
makes sense (or doesn't, when he's blistering, for instance
the Michigan Avenue Marriott or Disney Store). The book could
use a few more maps or photographs of the subjects, but it's
easy to see why the author won the Pulitzer Prize.
Zobmondo!!:
The Outrageous Book of Bizarre Choices
Randy Horn with Darcy Horn (Workman Publishing)
This is that book that Dave Kaplan was reading from. Bizarre,
painful, gross and arguably very funny choices are the subject
of each page. Would you rather eat a pound of ear wax or drink
a bucket of hot dog water. And then some of them are gross.
The
Story of World War II
Donald L. Miller (Simon and Schuster)
The history of the good war and the personal stories, too.
Miller does an update, essentially here, of Henry Steele Commager's
seminal book of the same title. Frank and haunting black and
white photos and narratives make for good skimming and research.
Too
Much of A Good Thing : Raising Children of Character in an
Indulgent Age
by Dan Kindlon (Talk/Miramax Books)
Harvard trained Psychologist Kindlon has had a clinical practice
for 14 years and he has been a best selling author, too. His
Raising Cain spoke to the challenges of raising boys and how
their needs are different than those of girls - a point, he
says, that sometimes gets lost on adults, especially educators.
Too Much of a Good Thing adresses the consequences of raising
children in an age of indulgence. Why we do it and the price(s)
we will pay for it ring true all around us.
Adventures
in Ocean Exploration
by Robert Ballard. (National Geographic Books)
He found the Titanic, sure. But there's more to his career
than that. Here Ballard takes you through many of his adventures
and presents some new photos and information, too. He points,
for instance, to discoveries of almost perfectly preserved
thousand-year-old vessels - virtually mummified, he says -
on the floor of the Baltic and discoveries of new kinds of
life on the ocean floor.
Ester's
Child
by Jean Sasson (Midpoint Trade Books)
Author of best-seller The Rape of Kuwait as well as the popular
Princess triology of books, Sasson visited with us to talk
about the treatment of women in the middle east. I have not
read her books and only recently got a copy of Ester's Child,
the book she is now promoting. Ester's has many of the same
themes though, Arabs, Jews, family life, politics and living
together. If the books are as good as her conversation - she
was fascinating - you'll learn a lot without knowing it. She
lived in Saudi Arabia for 12 years. Her stories are amazing.
Amazing.
John
Adams
by David McCullough (Simon and Schuster)
Watch out Thomas Jefferson, you aren't the only founding father
that people are reading about these days. McCullough describes
well the times, the players and plots of U.S. independence.
Through Adams - whose personality most of us hardly knew -
we get a new view of Jefferson, Washington et al. History
from this period resonates in new ways these days, but the
book was on the best seller lists before mid-September, too,
and deservedly so.
The
Umbrella Man and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl (Penguin/Putnam)
This is the book we referred to in the first week of October.
A collection of short stories, we described the business of
raising bees and the mysterious secretion, Royal Jelly. I
am a big Roald Dahl fan, and while some of the stories are
better than others, on the whole it is easy to recommend this
book.
The
CEO of The Sofa
P J O'Rourke (Atlantic Monthly Press Books)
Don't you hate it when conservatives make you laugh? O'Rourke's
scathing sarcasm has many targets but there's no doubt about
the direction it comes from. His best lines never seem so
funny on their own, but the points he makes are a smile at
least. He was a terrific guest - witty, punchy, fair, smart
- but I don't always hear that voice in his prose. O'Rourke
fans will love this, probably. I'm just anxious to have him
back on the air.
Hughes:
The Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters
Richard Hack (New Millenium Press)
Thousands of pages of Hughes' personal papers have been tied
up for years in court proceedings. Released and reviewed here,
Hack tells the same old story of Howard Hughes, Billionaire,
but with new facts and interpretations. Hack maintains that
Hughes was sane, to the very end, for instance. This book
is packed with memorable anecdotes and some new photographs.
Hughes is an amazing story.
Gig:
Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millenium
Edited
by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, Sabin Streeter (Three Rivers Press)
Like Studs Terkel's Working, this book is a series of narratives.
Americans discussing their extraordinary and very ordinary
jobs. Crime scene cleaner, Human Resource Director at a slaughterhouse,
Kinkos employee, Temp, CEO, construction foreman, etc. Each
surprisingly interesting and remarkably candid, these people
give concise, clear views of what it is like to work in America
at the turn of the 21st century.
What
They Didn't Teach You About The American Revolution
by Michael
Wright (Presidio Press)
Another in his Teach You series, Wright's anecdote filled
writing is easy to pick up, beginning, middle or end. The
scholarship isn't as comprehensive, of course, as many of
the recent history books (Founding Brothers, John Adams, et
al) but it doesn't try to be. Smart and fun.
Chang
and Eng
by Darren
Strauss (Dutton)
A very old story that fascinates still. Who were these famous
conjoined twins, what were their lives and wives (who were
sisters) and children (numbering in the dozens) like? Strauss
has answers.
The
Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of The World
by Michael Pollan (Random House)
What an intriguing idea. Pollan charts the evolution of four
plants, marijuana, the apple, potato and the orchid. Where
one might think that we control the change and growth of these
plants over the years, Pollan considers how the plants have
used us to further their own cause. And that is just the beginning.
This book delights in not only telling you things you didn't
know, but things you hadn't even thought to know.
The
Okinawa Program: How The World's Longest-Lived People Achieve
Everlasting Health and How You Can Too
by Willcox, Willcox and Suzuki (Crown Publishing)
The Willcox doctors (they're identical twins) and Dr. Suzuki
have visited and studied the people and practices of the Prefecture
of Okinawa for 25 years. Why DO they live so long? Or more
notably, why do they live so well? That is, a long life isn't
so fufilling if it isn't healthy and these people seem to
endure well. Diet, lifestyle, cognitive and spiritual practices
are revealed.
Close
To Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
by Michael Capuzzo (Broadway Books)
Terror and Innoncence are the operative words here. The shark
Capuzzo describes is truly terrifying - the "sea monster"
as "serial killer." But the victims of the attacks chronicled
here, in 1917, are "innocents" in an age when sun bathing
was nearly scandalous. Capuzzo paints a great picture of an
age lost on us today, lost on Peter Benchley and the summer
"thriller" business; his shark doesn't attack until the hundredth
page. And it is worth the wait. This is a broad and surprising
book that doesn't forget who the star is but also doesn't
hit you over the (hammer - I mean White) head with it.
 The
Hungry Ocean
by Linda Greenlaw (Hyperion)
You first met Greenlaw in Sebastian Junger's Perfect Storm;
she captained the sister ship to the doomed Andrea Gail. Greelaw
is a great captain and story teller. Hungry Ocean doesn't
have a perfect storm bearing down on it, but it is a very
good narrative. And for those of us fascinated by the business
of commercial sword-fishing, this book offers more detail
and sense of the daily fisher's life than Junger.
 Banvard's
Folly
by Paul Collins (Picador).
Banvards story is the first of 13 stories author Collins
describes as "tales of renowned obscurity, famous anonymity
and rotten luck." Banvard is surely most of that - the most
famous artist of his day (1850's) and maybe the art world's
first millionaire. His panoramas were the rage, made him
wealthy and famous. His mistake was pitting that fortune
against another famous showman of the day: PT Barnum.
The
Cloud Sketcher
by
Richard Rayner (Harper Collins)
The rare novel we discuss on the show, Rayner wrote about
the Finnish Civil War, the great architecture of Chicago
and New York and more. The book is historic and sweeping
in scope, but we asked Rayner to talk to us about the Tribune
Tower connection. He told us that he marveled at a train
station in his wife's native Finland. He learned that the
architect who designed it was the runner-up in the great
building design contest held by the Chciago Tribune. The
winner's design would be built as the newspaper's new headquarters.
The designs - winner and runnerup - were similar and wonderful.
From this story in fact he launches his story in fiction,
moving the building and contest to New York. (Yes, this
is the one the Brad Pitt is reportedly interested in starring
in.)
The
Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Terry Ryan (Simon & Schuster)
We talk to the author of this true story in April (24th).
Ryan's mother entered contests to help make ends meet. She
was remarkably successful, winning about one out of four contests
she entered. She won cars, trips, groceries. Good news for
someone with 10 kids and an abusive husband. The story of
her will power and creativity, aptly set in Defiance, is making
for good reading....
Robbing
Banks: An American History 1831-1999
by L. R. Kirchner (Sarpedon).
This is the book we referenced when describing the robberies
of and at ATM machines. No full review here yet, but some
of the anecdotes we've scanned are interesting.
The
Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do
About It
by Amity Shlaes (Random House)
Shlaes is a good, somewhat conservative, voice on economic
policies. Her chapters on Your House, Your Work, Your Baby,
Your School, Your Success, etc., hit readers right where they
live. Most recently on our show talking about estate taxes
(she's against them).
Boy:
Tales of Childhood
by Roald Dahl (Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers)
The autobiography of children's writer Dahl, the stories take
you through his early 20th century life in England and Norway.
He's a great writer, of course, but his life was rich and
fascinating, too. My 3rd grader, my wife and I are all loving
and marveling at the anecdote filled youth.
The
Coming Internet Depression: Why The High-Tech Boom Will Go
Bust, Why The Crash Will Be Worse Than You Think, and How
To Prosper Afterward
by Michale J. Mandel (Basic Books)
It's not as bad as the title makes it sound. But make no mistake,
Mandel thinks the markets, real estate and job security will
all soften this year and next. The signs, he says, are here.
Hi tech sectors will get hit first, most often and worst.
It's a quick read, a snapshot of the current economy from
the economics editor of Business Week.
The
Ten Things You Can't Say In America
by Larry Elder (St. Martin's Press)
The black talk show host and author says some very provocative
and arguably true things about race in America. Among chapter
titles are, "Blacks are more racist than Whites," "White Condescension
Is as Bad as Black Racism," "America's Greatest Problem: Not
Crime, Racism or Bad Schools - It's Illegitimacy."
The
Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters with Extraordinary
People
by Susan Orlean (Random House)
Previously published essays by the author of The Orchid Thief.
Great writing, her stories are full of discovery. Here she
writes about surfer girls, a media star, a failed singing
group, the title story and many others.
A
User's Guide To The Brain: Perception, Attention, and The
Four Theaters of The Brain
by
Dr. John Ratey (Pantheon Books)
Ratey describes how the brain works and rewires itself. His
book really is an anecdote-rich user's guide with insight
and hope.
Life:
Our Finest Hour: The Triumphant Spirit of America's World
War II Generation
forward by Bob Greene, Edited by Killian Jordan & Barbara
Baker Burrows
Coffee table/gift book about WWII. Green's essay is, as ever,
right on. The photos are evocative for those who remember
the Good War and an education for those who don't. I went
through this with my sons and we all enjoyed it. Lots of questions,
lots of answers.
The
Cube: Keep The Secret
by Annie Gottlieb and Slobodan D. Pesic (Harper Collins)
I love this book. In 100 words, you'll know more about yourself
and the people in your life than you can imagine. Answer 7
questions, consider the answers and it all comes together.
Vague? Not really, but the subtitle is, "Keep the secret...
The
Life of Reilly: Rick Reilly Selects His Best Stuff from Sports
Illustrated
by
Rick Reilly (Total Sports Publishing)
Sports Illustrated's back page columnist shares some of his
memorable columns. They're still pretty good and he's always
a great guest on our show.
The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by
Malcom Gladwell (Little, Brown, & Co.)
A wonderful, short book with an intriguing premise: Ideas,
trends, restaurants and everything else in our life become
popular or successful when they reach and pass the tipping
point. How this happens and who facilitates it make for great
reading. The mentions of Chicago's Lois Weisberg, who brought
us the Cows two summers ago and the ping-pong tables one year
ago, are an interesting case in point.
The
Character of Meriwether Lewis: Completely Metamorphosed in
The American West
by Clay Straus Jenkinson (Marmouth Press)
This is the book by our Thomas Jefferson. It is a short study,
paperback, and limited to Lewis' travels and how they and
other issues related to his suicide. You'll hear TJ's voice
as you read this and that is not a bad thing. This is the
first of a 10-12 volume series he is writing.
It's
Getting Better All The Time: 100 Greatest Trends of The Last
100 Years
by Stephen Moore and Julian L. Simon. (CATO)
The title says it all. We work less, get more and enjoy better
lives in almost every measurable way. You'll notice a conservative
streak in this book, but if you forget the politics and take
the graphs at face value, it is uplifting.
The
Nothing That Is, A Natural History of Zero
by Robert Kaplan (Oxford University Press)
Here's the reason why I put the number zero on my list of
the greatest inventions (The current list has The Internet,
Cash Machines, Seedless Watermelons, The Pump Coffee Thermos
and Zero, not necessarily in that order) of all time. Everything
around you owes something to the concept and the digit. Think
about it....or, not...
America's
First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life
in The White House
by Carl Sferrazza Anthony (Simon & Schuster)
Sferrazza, whose previous research centered on First Ladies,
looks from the Washingtons to the Clintons. The book is filled
with photos, many that you will see here for the first time.
This book is anecdote rich, broken into chapters that deal
with everything from Pets and Pastimes to Celebrantion(s)
and Ceremonies in the White House.
Innumeracy
- Mathematical Iliteracy and Its Consequences
by John Allen Paulos (Hill and Wang)
This is the book in which we found the probability that
in any breath you take there is a 99+% chance that the air
taken in includes a mollecule of air from Ceasar's last
breath when he said, "Et tu, Brute'?" Several engaging ideas
on everyday life. Paulos also wrote "A
Mathematician Reads The Newspaper." Both
books make you see more clearly how the world around us
is shaped by math and what happens when we don't appreciate
it.
The
Barmaid's Brain: And Other Strange Tales from Science
by Jay Ingram (Freeman)
Science journalist Ingram's look at science is philosophical
as well as scientific. His chapter on Joan of Arc wonders
if she really did hear voices or have visions, was she mentally
ill or somehow endowed or gifted? Inconclusive as this chapter
is, some questions are answered and the rest are still well
put. The book as a whole is like this - inquisitive without
knowing all the answers. But how we look at science is uniquely
explored here.
The
Ingenuity Gap: How Will We Solve The Problems of The Future?
by Thomas Homer Dixon (Knopf)
How true. Science races ahead, pulling society along with
it. The results are instant wireless communication, altered
weather, 4-wheel drive vehicles and food that stays fresher
longer. But the problems these luxuries or opportunities create
don't always have easy solutions. Our inability to resolve
the problems we've created presents the ingenuity gap. Dixon
offers some answers (these are huge, complicated matters),
but mostly he illustrates to us the dilemmas we're creating.
Robert
Kennedy: His Life
by Evan Thomas (Simon & Schuster)
If it is possible that Kennedy literature is short on one
topic or person, Bobby may be it. Certainly more has been
written about JFK, Jackie and the Dynasty itself. Thomas'
book is an anecdote-rich, birth-to-death tale with the known
conclusion made chilling nonetheless.
The
Informant: A True Story
by Kurt Eichenwald (Broadway Books)
NY Times investigative reporter Eichenwald writes about
the price fixing case at Decatur, IL based Archer Daniels
Midland (ADM). It's a jaw-dropping account of extortion,
bribery, corruption and collusion. The blatant scheming,
the corporate espionage, etc. about some things so mundane
as food additives make the book arresting. That the state's
cheif witness - an insider the book's title refers to -
loses his mind during the investigation makes it read like
good fiction. Yes, he has sold the movie rights.
Model
Patient: My Life as an Incurable Wise-Ass
by Karren Duffy (Harper Trade)
"Duff," the former VJ on MTV and now model, is not a model
patient when she contracts a painful, rare disease. Her
story is good gossip and possibly good therapy for people
afflicted with diseases that make living difficult.
The
Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk
by Jennifer Niven (Hyperion)
Another arctic exploration story. Set about the time of
E. Shackelton's famous but failed attempt to cross the South
Pole, this one is set in the north and is as disasterous
as The Endurance (Shackleton's boat, also the title of one
book on the topic) was heroic. Using many first-person sources,
such as letters and diaries, Niven retells the story. Painful,
gripping, illuminating.
What
They Didn't Teach You About World War II
by Mike Wright (Presidio)
This is the book we from which we pulled the story about
the 12 year-old US WWII sailor - the youngest American to
see live fire. That's right, 12. From Pearl Harbor to POW's,
the book lives up to the title.
Arming
America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture
by Michael Bellesiles (Knopf)
The book many people are talking about that challenges your
gun beliefs in several ways. For instance, the notion that
we have a right to bear arms comes from our founding fathers
who owned guns out of necessity - hunting, protection -
and who used them to win independence and maintain it. Oh
huh! Very very few people had guns in Washington's day,
they weren't good for hunting and were too expensive or
unreliable for the common man. That's one point and the
book runs over 550 pages, so you get the idea.
  Dogs
That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained
Powers of Animals
by Rupert Sheldrake (Crown Publishing Group)
Dogs are psychic, says Sheldrake. They can tell when you
are coming home and have other...psychic powers. His research
is quite controversial - he was skewered in the NY Times
and elsewhere - but he has supporters as well, including
many many pet owners whose stories mirror the book's title.
True or not, the anecdotes are fun, even amazing. Sheldrake
is looking for similar stories, especially occurrences of
ESP between humans (twins especially). Tell him about your
instances at: www.sheldrake.org
and cover me on those stories, too.
POTUS
Speaks: Finding The Words That Defined The Clinton Presidency
by Michael Waldman (Simon & Schuster)
Former Whitehouse speech writer Michael Wasdman takes you
inside the oval office as he and the President's inner sanctum
create the words that the President spoke. Lots of great anecdotes.
By the way, Waldman says he's the Rob Lowe character
on West Wing and that the show is pretty close.
 That
Others May Live: The True Story of The PJ's, America's Most
Daring Rescue Force
by Senior Master Seargent Jack Brehm and Pete Nelson
(Crown)
These are the guys who save people in crises. Like the one
in Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. We related the first
chapter of para-jumper training and it is an amazing story
of ...strength. The book details the training and actual saves
they perfrom plus the toll it takes on them and their families.
 Isaac's
Storm by Erik Larson (Vintage)
Hubris, curiosity and Mother Nature all intersect and, as
happens when they usually do, Mother Nature wins. Big time.
September 8, 1900, Galveston, Texas was the site of the worst
natural disaster in US history - over 6,000 lives lost. Larson
not only tells the story of the storm but of the man who could
have changed the course of history and didn't.
 A
Massive Swelling: Celebrity Reexamined as a Grotesque, Crippling
Disease and Other Cultural Revelations
by Cintra Wilson (Viking).
This is the book that takes on our love of celebrities
and bashes them and their "celebrityhood." Unmercifully. Relentlessly.
Wilson is funny and smart but most interesting is her hammerhead
take-no- prisoners make-no-apologies approach. Watch out NKOB,
Bruce Willis, Barbara Streisand, Michael Jackson, women gymnists,
etc etc. Some of her observations are fresh, others tackle
old and obvious targets with such vitriol that it almost seems
like an unfair fight. But even then, you've never seen someone
plow through cultural icons this way and that's about worth
the price of admission.
 The
Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders,
Illustrated by Lane Smith (Random House)
What a quirky (Smith illustrated the Stinky Cheesman),
funny and thoughtful book. Frip is the town infested with
gappers, very persistent creatures that climb out of the sea
and attach themselves to the town goats. This is unfortunate
since the town is reliant on goat milk, cheese, etc., and
the goats don't produce well when covered with gappers. The
heroine is a resourceful young lady named Capable who faces
very practical problems about the gappers and one rather moral
one at the book's end. My 3rd and 6th graders loved the book
and I did too. You'll all finish it in less than an hour.
 Holes
by Louis Sachar (Bantam/Doubleday/Dell)
Great, great book. Stanley Yelnats (palindrome fans, note)
is sent to detention camp. Where they dig holes. Who are
the boys with Stanley and why are they digging? There's
great mystery here, mulit-layered and surprising, again
and again.
 Left
for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest
by Beck Weathers (Random House)
Weathers is the Texas doctor who survived, barely, the Everest
expidition made famous by Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin
Air." Weathers' story of survival is amazing but the
climb and rescue comprise only the first few chapters. The
book focuses more on his family, his life and his efforts
to reclaim relationships, work and a new perspective on
life.
Miriam's
Song: A Memoir by Mark Mathabane (Simon &
Schuster)
Mathabane's sister tells the author her story of living
through and rising above apartheid policies in South Africa.
Mark Mathabane's life was made famous in his own story,
Kaffir Boy. Now he puts the same understated but uncompromising
voice to his sister's struggles with her father, her teachers,
the government and the radical student organizations, etc
etc. The challenges are heartbreaking. Her courage and faith
uplifting
 Life
on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered
He Was Black by Gregg Williams (Dutton/Plume)
One of my favorite books. Williams' world was turned upside
down when his mother left him, his brother and his father.
They relocate to be with the father's family in Indiana
and on the way the father tells the sons that they are black.
Though the boys are caucasian in every way and their mother
was white, their father was a very light skinned member
of his African American family - a difference that was never
directly addressed in the Williams household: the boys thought
he was of Greek or Italian descent. They and their new community
regard them as black and they now have to cope with being
on the other side of the color line.
 Ice
Blink: Sir John Franklin's Last Polar Expedition by
Scott Cookman (Wiley)
It is the story of the mid-1800's trip to the artic regions
to find a northwest passage. One was never found, of course,
but the efforts of the men against the elements, nature
and their own arrogance and/or stupidity are compelling
reading.
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