Xpress Reviews—First Look at New Books
-- Library Journal, 11/15/2005
Fiction
Pratt, Tim. The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl. Bantam. Dec. 2005. c.416p. ISBN 0-553-38338-8. pap. $12. Fantasy
College dropout Marzi (short for Marzipan) works the evening shift as a barista in a Santa Cruz, CA, coffeehouse. During the day, she draws her cow-punk/neo-Western comic book series, The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl. Things get interesting when Marzi’s art student friend, Lindsay, introduces Jonathan, a visiting graduate student researching the life of artist Garamond Ray, whose murals grace the walls of the coffeehouse. The trio ventures behind these artworks into an alternate world that resembles Marzi’s comic books. Garamond himself has been frozen in time by an earthquake in this realm. A psychotic collage artist and a woman turned into mud count among the menacing characters who combat Marzi, Lindsay, and Jonathan; a superhero outlaw figure also instills fear. Narnia meets Blazing Saddles in this debut fantasy novel featuring a fetching cast of desperadoes. For larger sf and fantasy collections.—Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P.L., Houston
Schramski, Mary. The Lighthouse. Next: Harlequin. Nov. 2005. c.304p. ISBN 0-373-23049-4. pap. $5.50. F
Drawn home for the holidays after the unexpected death of her mother, Christine McGuire returns to San Pedro determined to find peace and connect with her emotionally distant father. But a grieving and lonely Jake McGuire has put his energies—and finances—into restoring the abandoned lighthouse that his wife, Dorothy, had loved. It isn’t until Christine begins to embrace his cause and they both understand Dorothy’s true motivations that father and daughter are able to forge the relationship that has always eluded them. While essentially a character-driven, relationship-focused story, this book provides readers with a little something extra: a charming yet realistic setting so vividly rendered that you can almost feel the mist and hear the foghorns. Since this is a Harlequin publication, readers might be expecting another romance, but they will be surprised. Lyrical, poignant, and heart-wrenching, this is instead the story of one woman’s journey: a beautiful depiction of reconciliation, coping with grief, and winning. For all public libraries.—Kristin Ramsdell, California State Univ. Lib., East Bay
Capote, Truman. Summer Crossing. Random. 2005. 142p. ISBN 1-4000-6522-4. $22.95. F
Before departing for Europe in 1966 to write In Cold Blood, Capote dumped this book's manuscript in the garbage, but it was salvaged by his Brooklyn apartment sitter. Too bad. The 123-page, love-gone-amiss story follows 17-year-old Grady McNeil, a bored-with-it-all New York rich girl enjoying her first taste of freedom when her money-bag parents hop the Queen Mary for a Parisian summer and her older sister heads for the Hamptons homestead. While mumsy is in a tizzy over securing the perfect dress for Grady's debutante come out, the girl, left alone, goes on the upper-crust social equivalent of a murder spree—she gets knocked up by a petty thief and pothead who parks cars in a Broadway lot when he's not sleeping in them, and, worse, marries the low-brow slob. There's no denying Capote's talent, and there is some beautiful writing here, but overall this is a predictable and pointless mess that's fuel for the debate on the pitfalls of publishing deceased authors' unfinished works. Save your money. —Michael Rogers, Library JournalNonfiction
Berlinski, David. Infinite Ascent: A Short History of Mathematics. Modern Library. 2005. c.224p. index. ISBN 0-679-64234-X. $21.95. MATH
A mathematician, lecturer, and essayist (A Tour of the Calculus), Berlinski offers an imaginative and readable romp through the history of mathematics. To help lay readers understand abstract mathematical ideas, he embeds discussions of these major concepts—“Number,” “Proof,” “Groups,” “Sets,” etc.—into ten engaging and highly approachable chapters. Within each chapter, the author follows the concept through time, weaving into the narrative lively anecdotes or observations about the primary characters involved. Thus, we learn that Euclid moves directly into his argument without preliminaries and that Galois lost his life at the age of 20 in a duel over a lady’s honor. Berlinski renders the history of mathematics a great human story that has shaped our world. His brief, accessible account is appropriate for academic and large public libraries. (Index not seen.)—Barbarly Korper McConnell, California State Univ. Lib., Fullerton
Emoto, Masaru. The Secret Life of Water. Beyond Words with Atria: S. & S. Nov. 2005. c.192p. tr. from Japanese by David A. Thayne. illus. ISBN 0-7432-8982-X. $22.95. HEALTH
Homeopathic physician Emoto experimented with photographing water crystals and found that natural water formed beautiful crystals, while processed water formed ugly or incomplete crystals. This inspired him to delve further: he found that water exposed to positive messages produced beautiful crystals, whereas water exposed to negative messages formed less beautiful or incomplete crystals. These scientific findings, deemed subjective by the author himself, are the starting point from which Emoto explores the spiritual nature of water. His first two books on the topic, The Hidden Messages in Water (2004) and The True Power of Water (2005), spent time on the best sellers lists. In his latest work, he continues to craft his spiritual message of healing and happiness through harmony with water. The concept of “the secret life”—or how water can help us find happiness, reveal the meaning of love, and show us the path “that humankind must take to find the answers we seek”—is introduced. Interesting in hypothesis and easy to read, Emoto’s latest is appropriate for general interest or homeopathic collections.—Bridget Faricy-Beredo, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Bowler, Gerry. Santa Claus: A Biography. McClelland & Stewart. Nov. 2005. c.278p. illus. index. ISBN 0-7710-1532-1. $34.99.
Seal, Jeremy. Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus. Bloomsbury, dist. by St. Martin's. 2005. 235p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 1-58234-419-1. $24.95. SOC SCI
Little is known of Nicholas, the fourth-century Bishop of Myra, in Byzantine Turkey, but as St. Nicholas, he is greatly venerated and considered to be a protector of such diverse groups as florists, sailors, poets, Liverpudlians, and the falsely accused. Somewhere along the line, he became known for clandestine gift giving, much like his modern counterpart, jolly St. Nick. November sees the arrival of two titles exploring the evolution of the charitable St. Nicholas into St. Nick/Santa Claus. Seal, a veteran travel writer (The Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travels Among Serpents), literally follows Nicholas's transformation. Punctuating the text with historical information, Seal describes his travels from Turkey to northern Finland to Bath, England, tracing Nicholas's path from the purview of the Orthodox Church to a cultural and commercial icon.
While Seal focuses on himself and his particular journeys of study, Santa Claus, authored by Bowler (history, Univ. of Manitoba; The World Encyclopedia of Christmas), is a more traditional history. As the title suggests, Bowler spends less time discussing the saint and dedicates most of the narrative to studying Santa in all of his incarnations, from a slightly tricky character in earlier centuries to the cherubic personality promulgated by advertising. While both titles cover similar topics, they present the material in entirely different styles, Nicholas being more literary in nature and Santa Claus being a slightly more scholarly approach to the material. This is not to say that Bowler's prose is overly dry. It is graced with a wry wit that makes it both informative and entertaining. Therefore, both titles can be recommended for all libraries.—Tessa L.H. Minchew, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston
Estrich, Susan. The Case for Hillary Clinton. HarperCollins. 2005. c.265p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-06-083988-0 [ISBN 978-0-06-083988-8]. $25.95. POL SCI
Estrich (law & political science, Univ. of Southern California Law Sch.) holds a long string of legal and Democratic Party credentials, including a stint as national campaign manager for the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis. This extended op-ed piece, written for Democrats longing to recapture the presidency, argues that Hillary Clinton should run, that Democrats (especially Democratic women) should support her, that she can win, and that she will be an exemplary president. Clinton's election, Estrich asserts, would create a "new normal" for women, with more of them in powerful positions, and a resurgence of feminism. Much of Estrich's brief is perforce conjectural, but she offers a good look at the innards of presidential politics. We get the skinny on the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro, the causes and consequences of Democratic party reform, a short history of legal sex discrimination, and her assessment of all the potential Democratic and Republican opponents. This volume will appeal to both Hillary haters and Hillary lovers. Recommended for all public libraries.—Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
See the November 1 Xpress Reviews
