Social Sciences

The life lessons Brewster learned in 1961 from Martin Luther King Sr., fondly known as Daddy King, and the relationship they enjoyed, akin to father-son, have lasted throughout Brewster's life, which included 30 years as Episcopal chaplain at Cornell University. Brewster's affecting memoir tells the story of his stay with the Kings and his work as leader of the Ebenezer Baptist Church's youth group when he was a 24-year-old seminary student. For the first time in his life, Brewster experienced discrimination from hostile whites, who confronted him as a rabble-rouser (Brewster is white), and from fellow clergy who cautioned him about moving too fast in promoting civil rights. Conversely, Ebenezer's congregation, especially the teens with whom he worked and the memorable shut-ins whom he visited and prayed with, welcomed him. Brewster's most engaging stories are the ones he relates about his discussions over breakfast with Daddy King, who spoke about his life as a sharecropper's son. The two remained close until Daddy King's death in 1984. Readers will enjoy this uplifting account of people who practice what they preach; strongly recommended for public libraries and an excellent choice for young adult discussion groups.—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Broyard first learned that her father, noted New York Timesliterary critic Anatole Broyard, was black a few weeks before his death. This book outlines her exploration of her father's past, which delves into Creole history, slavery in the United States, and Anatole's quiet "passing" in an era where "one drop" of black blood could determine almost everything. Broyard remains a mystery to his daughter as well as the reader, even after his story is fleshed out. While the mid-20th century wasn't welcoming for a black man of his obvious intellect, style, and creativity, even in later years Broyard limited contact with his still living family and denied contact to his two children. His daughter asks all the questions a reader would ask: Why did he deny his children an extended family? Why was this an "open secret" among friends and coworkers but a complete secret to others? Who was Anatole Broyard? Why does the definition of race still hold such power? While the author is never able to adequately answer these questions, she presents a fascinating narrative. Recommended for public and academic libraries.—Jan Brue Enright, Augustana Coll. Lib., Sioux Falls, SD

Notorious for her acerbic wit, political acumen, and occasionally outrageous behavior, President Theodore Roosevelt's illustrious daughter, Alice, enjoyed a long life (1884–1980) at the center of American politics and foreign affairs. Her roles as presidential daughter and later as the wife of powerful Republican Congressman Nicholas Longworth placed her at the heart of the capitol's social life, where she wielded remarkable political influence. She actively opposed Wilson's League of Nations, disdained the New Deal politics of the "other" Roosevelts (FDR and Eleanor), and joined the isolationist America First Committee prior to America's entry into World War II. Her checkered personal life included extramarital romances, most notably with Sen. William Borah, who apparently fathered her only child, Paulina, born when Alice was 40. Cordery (history, Monmouth Coll.; Theodore Roosevelt: In the Vanguard of the Modern) undertook exhaustive research for her new book, referring to newly discovered letters and diaries not available to earlier researchers. Thus, her work should quickly take its place as the most complete biography, surpassing James Brough's Princess Alice and Carol Felsenthal's Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Highly recommended for all academic libraries and appropriate for public libraries with strong political history collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/07.]—Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville

Castro with oil or modern-day Bolívar? Hugo Chávez is as enigmatic to his critics as he is to the Venezuelans who adore him. In two fascinating new biographies, Chávez is dissected and analyzed like never before, and no world figure deserves the attention more than Chávez, "that monkey," as he is described by Venezuela's elite, or El Comandante, as he is known by the nation's poor. Venezuelan journalists Marcano and Barrera (whose book was published in Spanish in 2004) offer a clear biographical account, effectively skipping back to Chávez's early days. From humble beginnings to his captaincy in the army, Chávez is evenly portrayed as the most influential leader in Latin America. There is a slight pro-Chávez bias, but the authors remind readers that this president has flaws. A Newsday reporter well experienced in Venezuelan affairs, Jones follows a similar biographical path, but his more in-depth coverage results in a hard-hitting, insightful exposé. His book includes more documentation (with over 50 pages of notes), and while he is not overly critical, he is not as kind as Marcano and Barrera. Both books review Chávez's failed 1992 coup and the doomed coup to oust him in 2002, arriving at similar conclusions. But Jones takes everything a step further, recounting how Chávez's arrest and imprisonment only strengthened his popularity among the poor and how (as with Fidel) his failure was a critical step in his eventual success. Both books conclude with the return of Chávez to power after the 2002 48-hour coup, which only emboldened the leader to tackle George W. Bush. Balanced, accurate, and readable, these works are each a journalist's dream and certainly dispel many of Eva Golinger's claims in her blatantly pro-Chávez The Chavez Code. Highly recommended.—Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL

In February 2004, first-time author Kraft was assigned to a combat hospital in the Al-Anbar Province of Iraq, where she provided psychiatric care to navy and marine personnel. In this engaging if narrow memoir of her seven-month deployment, she does not focus on the psychological issues as one would expect; instead, she pays homage to the military, as well as to the families and friends who support it, choosing not to analyze her experience or pass judgments on the nature or the course of the war or the functioning of the military. Readers, for instance, meet a solider who had both of his feet and one hand blown off, and Kraft praises his strength and sense of humor. Autobiographical tidbits also pop up (e.g., Kraft's father was career military, as apparently is her marine husband). The book's main drawback is a lack of analysis and facts, which some readers may find grating. Still, this is a solid complement to the essential reads about women in the military and their role in the Iraq war (e.g., Janis L. Karpinski's One Woman's Army), which would even find an audience among YAs. Recommended for all public and larger undergraduate libraries.—Fran Mentch, Cleveland State Univ.

Photojournalists tell stories with pictures, imparting a unique view of an event, a personality, a landscape. Lo Scalzo, veteran staff photographer for U.S. News & World Report, offers his own stories of the world in this compelling memoir. He presents a visually written portfolio of select news events and his life's journey as shaped by his professional assignments. Each chapter is set in a different locale (e.g., Antarctica, Iraq), and Lo Scalzo explains how he uses visual images to capture the stories unfolding at these places. In each chapter, he also conveys bits of his personal life, such as his struggle to have a family while traveling so much for his job, and examines his search for a balance between his compulsive need to travel and to create (or "make" pictures). What makes this memoir distinct is how it interweaves written snapshots detailing his personal journey, an insider's look into the field of photojournalism, a study of the creative process, and a descriptive travelog. Curiously, though, missing from the book are Lo Scalzo's photographs. He explains in the author's note that he and his publisher decided that the format and paper for this book were not suitable for reprinting photography. Instead, he invites the reader to views the pictures at the book's web site (www.usnews.com/usnews/photography/loscalzo-book/). Still, the work would have been even more impressive with the inclusion of his artistically rendered images. For all libraries.—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL

Zachter was born in 1958 Brooklyn to an immigrant Jewish family whose life revolved around a bread shop (not itself a bakery) established on Manhattan's Lower East Side by his grandparents. When he was growing up, it was owned and operated by his two eccentric bachelor uncles. At age 36, Zachter inadvertently discovered that he was heir to several million dollars that his uncles had privately amassed in stocks and bonds. Dough gives us the author's struggle to understand both how his uncles could have accumulated such wealth and why they never chose to help any family members financially, including the author himself, weighed down by heavy mortgage and graduate school debt (he attended law school at night while maintaining a job during the day). Ultimately, Zachter sees that although he may never fully understand his family, forgiveness and acceptance matter most of all. His memoir, with well-paced chapters that are nostalgic yet often humorous and pungent, gives a distinct take on the classic saga of working-class immigrant families struggling to succeed. Awarded the 2006 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) prize for creative nonfiction, this is recommended for all libraries.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX

At first glance, these two books about slavery today seem very similar. Each is written in an engaging, conversational tone, and each recounts the author's personal quest to examine and understand slavery now while offering brief historical surveys of the subject. Antislavery activist Bales (emeritus, Roehampton Univ., London; Understanding Global Slavery) travels the globe from India to Ghana to the United States interviewing slaves and weaving in a radical reading of the global civil rights movement from World War II. He relies so heavily on firsthand accounts that his book verges on being oral history. Pure oral history might have been better, but Bales inserts his memoirs of his activism along with pleas for funding and tips for starting your own movement. His book is the angrier of the two, meant to provoke as much as to inform.

Bowe (coeditor, GIG: Americans Talk About Their Jobs) has written a book more for the head than the spleen. He focuses his study on Florida, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Commonwealth of Saipan. While Bales focuses on what "they" are doing to slaves, Bowe focuses on what "we" are doing to slaves. His extended examinations discuss the economic motivations and impact of slavery today but make facile connections between consumerism and slave owning and often "show" more than they "tell." The information and conclusions of both books are largely the same, but the tone is a vital distinction. Bowe saves the bulk of the moralizing (a fatalistic diatribe against American culture) for his conclusion, while Bales's invective seems unrelenting throughout, even if one agrees with it. Both books are accessible starting points for a difficult topic and are recommended, as such, for undergraduate and public libraries.—Robert Perret, Southwestern Coll., Winfield, KS

Drawing from firsthand interviews worldwide, Magee (The John Deere Way) presents an insightful history of how Toyota's dynamic organizational culture propelled a small family-run loom company to superstardom as a top-ranked Fortune Global 500 company and automotive-industry leader. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, was profoundly influenced by the books of the Victorian age Scottish reformist Samuel Smiles, once greatly known for his books such as Self-Help, Thrift, and Duty. By telling the Toyoda and Toyota story, Magee has in fact created another self-help book that individuals as well as corporations can follow in learning the methods that Toyota used to improve itself. Magee's research shows how Toyota has identified specific organizational goals and values that drive performance, such as continuous improvement and respect for people. These values and goals have recently been summarized by Toyota in written guidelines called the "Toyota Way." Magee shows how the Toyota Way translates directly into profits and competitive advantage. Quirky chapter titles, such as "The Power of Paranoia" and "Let Failure Be Your Teacher," also reflect the company's unusual values. This inspirational book is essential reading for both human resource professionals and business executives and is definitely suitable for public library audiences as well.—Caroline Geck, Kean Univ. Lib., Union, NJ

Yeatman (senior vice president, Kraft Foods) and Berdan, both veterans of multiple overseas assignments, sent a "Girls Go Global" survey to over 100 professional women with overseas work experience, eventually reaching over 200 women as the survey was passed to others in both Europe and Asia. While the authors occasionally refer to statistical survey results and include a copy of the survey, the book is mainly composed of personal stories. These are arranged within chapters that proceed according to the steps from making the decision to work overseas to preparing for the work assignment, surviving the first year, prospering at the work, and finally repatriating. Advice from a few survey respondents is included along the way. These stories make the book feel like a group of mentors guiding the reader through deciding to go, getting there, and navigating cultural difficulties while distinguishing oneself on the job. The authors promise that survey results will be tabulated on a web site. In the meantime, the book includes useful lists, such as steps in the decision-making process, and important documents to take. There is no other book quite like this, a recommendation in itself. Recommended for public libraries and academic library career collections. (Index not seen.)—Heidi Senior, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR

According to the author, an occultist-wannabe, the Bible's Psalm 19, studied "in conjunction with comparative texts from neighboring cultures,…describes the marriage of the sun to Venus." No matter that Venus is never mentioned in that Psalm! And the Book of Revelation's account of the opening of the seven seals is "in fact a way of talking about the enlivening of the seven [Hindu] chakras." In Eschenbach's Parzifal, a jewel dislodged from Lucifer's crown signals "that humanity would increasingly suffer a loss of vision in the Third Eye, the brow chakra." This is a priori history in which all evidence contrary to one's convictions is ignored. Booth pontificates: we live in "a psychosomatic universe," where we can influence the roll of dice if we wish it hard enough; "all biology is astro-biology." Booth claims for his thesis a list of supporters or acolytes starting in Egypt, India, and Greece and ending with FDR and Francis Crick; there is even a nod toward Lenin. This is as silly a book as ever was. Not recommended.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA

Davis offers a kind of biography of the famous women's health reference book, Our Bodies, Ourselves (OBOS) and its adaptations in different countries. OBOS began as a packet created for use by women's groups and became one of the most reprinted feminist books in history. The book was translated by groups of women working together in crafting their version for use in other countries, e.g., India, Egypt, Romania, Great Britain, Italy, and France. Davis discusses the pros and cons of this adapting of American feminist works for use by women of different cultures, emphasizing that not all women experience the same health issues in their respective countries. For example, a woman in a strongly Catholic country might not want so much information about choice. The adaptors had to be careful that they didn't sound as if they were imposing rules on women from other countries. Davis also discusses the revisions of the American OBOS as it evolved to include topics such as AIDS and more racially sensitive discussions of body image. She concludes that one of the book's most important legacies is its trailblazing work in providing readers with information pertinent in a very basic way to their lives. Unfortunately, this book is not quite up to the quality of its subject: it is very repetitive, sometimes even to the exact same wording. However, as a study of a milestone book, it is recommended for academic libraries.—Christina Bauer, Library Journal

By "Custerology," Elliott (English, Emory Univ.; The Culture Concept: Writing and Difference in the Age of Realism) means the historical interpretation and commemoration of Custer and the Indian Wars in which he fought not only by those who honor Custer but by those who celebrate the Native American resistance that defeated him. This is not a history or biography of Custer. The purpose of this book is to show how Custer and the Little Bighorn can be and have been commemorated for such contradictory purposes. Elliott accomplishes his task primarily by looking at particular current instances of public history associated with Custer battlefields, museums, and reenactments, although he does mention some books and films. Also running through the book is the question of whether any commemoration of Custer and the Indian Wars is still relevant in the multicultural world of the 21st century. Elliott argues that it is. Not for the uninitiated, this complex and multilayered work is best suited for upper-division undergraduates and above and for others who are interested in the meaning and significance of Custer in today's world.—Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette

The first thing to note is that this is a beautiful book, with illustrations on every page; most are in color, and many are spectacular. The primary subject is the equipment of fighting men—members of both organized armies and warrior bands. Some of the images used are familiar, and others have been specially commissioned, such as impressive two-page color spreads of the arms and clothing of given types of soldiers from ancient Greece to the present. In many cases, the author provides diagrams of tactical formations, such as those employed by Roman legions and their constituent units, or the modern procedure for entering and securing a room. The main focus of the book is land warfare, but it also looks at iconic services and eras in naval and air warfare, such as the Royal Navy of Nelson's era, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain. Non-Western militaries are represented by, among others, Maori, Zulus, and pre-Columbian American peoples. The book is organized chronologically, with detailed models of troop types during the given periods. The organization is a bit cumbersome, but this is a minor quibble. The wealth of visual content makes reading a delight, while the text neither promises nor delivers any new insights but provides a concise and informative overview of the development of military equipment and related tactics. Recommended for public libraries as a standalone or in addition to Grant's previous entries in this handsome DK series, Battle and Weapon.—Richard Fraser, formerly with Coll. of Physicians, Philadelphia

Prolific historian Johnson (Modern Times) returns to his idiosyncratic series, which includes Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky and Creators: From Chaucer and Dürer to Picasso and Disney. His anecdotal essays portray his heroes in complementary groupings (e.g., Washington, Nelson, and Wellington). His subjects range widely from the obligatory (e.g., Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Lincoln) to the far-fetched (Mae West, hostess Lady Pamela Berry). Johnson frequently enlivens his witty, well-researched pages with chatty accounts of personal encounters with people as diverse as Princess Diana and Shelley Winters. The book loses some steam as it closes in on the present day. The politically conservative author makes the questionable choice of concluding his fabulous parade of heroes with a tendentious trio yet to experience any kind of true test of time as "heroes": Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and John Paul II. The book will be enjoyed more by those looking for sophisticated entertainment than anybody wanting a thorough analysis of what makes a hero—although Johnson clearly believes "courage" is a leading qualifier. For readers of popular literature in public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/07.]—Stewart Desmond, Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York

Khan (postdoctoral fellow, Univ. of London) eloquently discusses the making of India and Pakistan after British rule on the subcontinent was dismantled in 1947. She emphasizes that the partitioning that created two separate countries was a fateful folly committed by the British and some nationalist forces, revealing how partition changed the lives of millions of people across all walks of life. With insistent irony, Khan argues that the British government executed the partition plan in a "shoddy" manner that destroyed the lives of thousands and the dreams of millions. Powerfully described here, the horrendous aftermath of the partition has created a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, and the book gives a clear warning about the dangerous consequences of heedless partition and extreme nationalism. Drawing from varied historical literature and archival sources, the author has obviously provided a new look at this still important subject. Strongly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.—Uma Doraiswamy, Western Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green

Kurzem's first book is part of a genre whereby the children of Holocaust survivors recount their parents' experiences by recounting their own investigations. The actual Holocaust experience, told through oral history and/or documentary evidence, is juxtaposed to the children's process of investigation. The author's father, Alex Kurzem, certainly has an interesting story. A young Jewish boy survives the massacre of his family and is adopted by members of the Latvian SS as a "mascot"; after the war, many of his memories, including his Jewish past, are suppressed for years. His son's discovery of documents, photographs, and even his father's role in a Nazi propaganda film are quite compelling. The text, however, contains reconstructions of conversations that could only be so detailed and historically accurate if they had been recorded, which does not seem to be the case. The book's historical accuracy is further open to question by the author's opening statements that he "altered various names and identifying details" and condensed the chronology. The author also apparently believes that some Israeli agency (perhaps Mossad) was investigating his family. Had he focused on re-creating his father's experience and avoided trying to make this into an international thriller, he would have produced a much better book. Not recommended.—Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati, Clermont Coll.

The Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War are hardly new territory for scholars, yet Mawdsley's excellent work here is not redundant but fresh throughout. With orderliness and clarity, the scholarly and prolific Mawdsley (modern history, Glasgow Univ.; Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945) presents the minority view that the civil war began in October 1917, concurrent with rather than after the revolution. The "specter of Russian fighting Russian," seen as a possibility when Tsar Nicholas was overthrown in February 1917, became reality in Petrograd when armed soldiers and workers organized by the Bolsheviks brought down Aleksandr Kerensky's provisional government. The fighting spread and continued for three years, costing more than seven million lives. Although Mawdsley's frequent interjections explaining how and why this happened may have something of the lecture room about them, they are ultimately useful rather than distracting. However, despite its readability, this book is more for the informed than the lay reader.—Harold V. Cordry, Tecumseh, KS

The backbone of this somewhat scattered book is the question, Why have people repeatedly destroyed libraries? It's not always been disagreement with what the books said. Sometimes, the mere presence of books is enough. The Khmer Rouge thought books a sign of moral degeneracy. Mao's wife wrote, "Better to have uneducated workers than learned exploiters." All too frequently, religion is the inciter: Is "monotheism without intolerance" thinkable? Polastron considers how the ravages of time—and humanity—can affect books and manuscripts. The result is a serious rant, furious and bitter, against our continued attempts to control memory and knowledge from ancient times to today (e.g., Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot). Destroy a people's history, collected in their books or manuscripts, and you destroy their sense of themselves—thus, Christians burned Moorish books, Nazis destroyed Jewish and Polish books, and Serbs burned Bosnian libraries. The author's indignation burns white hot but does not obscure his comprehensive survey of book destruction worldwide—Asia and Africa as much as the Western world. While some chapters are not well conceived or well written—just the venting of spleen—as a whole this is a sobering catalog of the annals of destruction. Recommended for academic collections and larger public libraries.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA

Urban (BBC; Wellington's Rifles) tells the story of the British 23rd Regiment, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, during its involvement in the Revolution. He chose this unit because its men served in North America for the duration of the conflict and left behind ample archival records. The author dispels the myth that the British army was invincible by showing continuing problems of indiscipline, desertion, and logistical failures. He weaves stories of several individual soldiers through the text to provide the regiment's tale with a more personal flair. He concludes the book with the 23rd's service in Europe leading up to the Napoleonic Wars and mentions the lessons they learned in America, which were mostly lost on the general staff's ears. Urban succeeds in contributing a more Anglo-centric approach than one finds elsewhere, but certain inaccuracies detract from the text's value: Urban claims that Francis Marion impaled his enemies' heads on spikes but offers no sources in support of that story. Known sources indicate that Marion saved many captured Tories from execution and curbed pillaging among his men. Recommended, in spite of the occasional flaw, for Revolutionary War collections seeking to expand their British unit histories.—Matthew J. Wayman, Abington Coll. Lib., Pennsylvania State Univ.

Weitz (history, Univ. of Minnesota; Creating German Communism, 1890–1990) has produced an elegant and captivating study of Germany's Weimar years, that turbulent period from 1918 to 1933 when the old German society seemed to break apart. In this period, Germany became a constitutional democracy, the arts blossomed, modern and liberal ideas flourished, and the economic and political situation staggered from one crisis to another, ending in the Nazi ascendance to power. This period is often treated as simply the forerunner to the Nazi era, but Weitz shows that it was far more than that. Leading readers through the sights and sounds of Berlin and into the worlds of politics, economics, daily life, material culture, sexual liberation, and, finally, the revolution and counterrevolution from the Right, he concludes that the Nazi era was not inevitable. To reach this point, Weitz has synthesized in clear and engaging fashion a great deal of the huge primary and secondary literature of Weimar, taking into consideration the social and political circumstances of Western Europe between the wars. This book will undoubtedly be assigned to college students, but it will reward anyone interested in this fascinating and pivotal era. If you have only one book on the Weimar period, this should be it. For all libraries.—Barbara Walden, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

In this popular history of America, France, and Russia during the last decade of the 18th century, Winik (senior scholar, Sch. of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland, College Park; April 1865) truly brings the age alive. Each chapter addresses one of these countries (the Ottoman Empire also surely deserved its own chapters instead of containment within the Russian chapter) but always weaves in perspectives relating to the others. Throughout, Winik offers dramatic flair without sacrificing fact. Readers will quickly get absorbed in the drama of America's early republic, not simply in isolation but in relation to the horrible war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The darkest hours of the French Revolution are seen here in their effect upon Catherine the Great of Russia. Winik reminds us just how extraordinary it was that America's government changed peacefully: party politics (Republicans vs. Federalists) did not plunge the nation into a full-scale revolution with the kind of massacres that occurred in France. The author uses mainly secondary sources, so the book would not appeal to upper-level graduate students, but the bibliographic notes at the end will help readers learn more about each topic. Highly recommended for all public, high school, and undergraduate libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/07.]—Bryan Craig, MLS, Nellysford, VA

Forty percent of cases that reach the U.S. Supreme Court produce unanimous decisions. It is the others that pose problems, especially those involving issues that the elected branches of government have failed to resolve. In a sense, the Court serves as political umpire, with its decision making done in secret. The world of the Supreme Court has been probed in books like Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong's The Brethren (about the Burger Court). Toobin (Opening Arguments) follows their pattern with the Rehnquist and Roberts Courts, basing his work on interviews with the justices and 75 law clerks (conducted on a not-for-attribution basis). Toobin writes like a skillful literary critic as he attempts to understand the character and values of each justice, their outlook on life, and their jurisprudence. He makes a convincing case that the Rehnquist Court was really Sandra Day O'Connor's moderate Court—she was the swing vote for moderation. Toward the end, Rehnquist largely gave up on transforming the Court in his image. The future direction of the Court, i.e., whether it goes extremist or remains more moderate, is clearly in the hands of the next President. Toobin himself seems hopeful that Justice Stephen Breyer may further promote moderation. Beautifully written, this is an essential purchase for all libraries interested in the contemporary Supreme Court. (The final chapter, on the 2006–07 term, was not available for review.)—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

What is the relationship between Buddhism and psychology? Can both help a suffering individual? Epstein, a Buddhist as well as a psychiatrist, bridges the gap with a thorough discourse covering meditation and its limitations, narcissism, and the ego, among other issues. In truth, the book is an autobiographical journey based on the author's personal experience and professional expertise, backed up by solid research findings from Buddhist scholars and well-known psychologists. The Buddhist view of emotional life is pondered, as is the psychoanalytic view of mystical experience through Sigmund Freud's eyes. The last section covers the work of British psychologist D.W. Winnicott in joining the two disciplines for daily use through the world of art. Intriguing insights include that the ego rightfully exists and that we have many false selves. The passage on "unintegration," however, may prove difficult to grasp. Ultimately, the author finds that both Buddhism and psychology can foster the willingness to be fully alive through accepting the unknown in ourselves. What is key is how in touch we are with what we are internalizing, even in our confusion. Recommended for larger psychology/religion sections of academic libraries.—Lisa Liquori, MLS, Syracuse, NY

Isay (Flophouse: Life on the Bowery) has devoted almost two decades of his life to various documentary studies, firmly believing that the soul of the nation is found in the stories of its everyday people, a belief that any reader of this oral history collection will come to support. The interviews in this book are excerpted from the more than 10,000 collected by StoryCorps, a singularly ambitious oral history project founded by Isay and colleagues in 2003. Since its humble beginnings in a rented recording studio in Manhattan's Chinatown, StoryCorps has interviewed people from all walks of life, in all 50 states. Participants receive a CD of their interview, and a second CD is placed in an archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. In this gathering from their massive undertaking, we read the tales of survivors, trailblazers, bounty hunters, teachers, doctors, and bus drivers, to name a few. Some of their stories are excruciatingly tragic, revolving around events burned into our collective memory. Others are so sweetly personal that one might feel voyeuristic reading them. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/07.]—Tessa L.H. Minchew, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston

What makes a city livable? How do great neighborhoods support economic growth, public safety, art, education, and other positive aspects of community? Walljasper (senior fellow, Project for Public Spaces) argues that vibrant neighborhoods provide myriad intangible benefits to residents and visitors alike. He arranges his treatment of how to nurture better neighborhoods into a series of discussions about public space, addressing leisure, traffic and transportation, safety and crime prevention, economic vitality, environmental concerns, and community celebrations in turn. Real-life examples of neighborhood-specific evolutions, with community energy functioning on its own terms, are provided throughout. But this is not a guide for politicians, city planners, or architects—instead, it is a practical manual for regular folks who live in cities and towns, with arguments predicated on the idea that the people who live in a place are the experts on their own neighborhood. This populist approach is what really sets Walljasper's book apart. The anecdotal photographs (e.g., a family out for an evening walk in their neighborhood) add to the book's accessibility. Highly recommended for high school and public libraries and for academic libraries supporting architecture and urban studies programs.—Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR

This is renowned novelist Bell's (English & creative writing, Goucher Coll. All Soul's Rising) contribution to the "Crown Journeys" series. A longtime Baltimore resident, he provides a detailed tour of what became known as "Charm City" in 1974, thanks to a tourism campaign spearheaded by Baltimore's mayor, in which visitors were presented with a charm bracelet whenever they toured a historic site. The decaying downtown then began to attract more tourists, as well as businesses and residents. Baltimore is best known for baseball, crabs, and the grotesque yet good-natured films of John Waters. Bell takes the reader on a tour of the diverse city neighborhoods, one per chapter, pointing out his favorite small businesses and bars and restaurants that remain from earlier days, still giving the city so much character. In the chapter on the Dickeyville area, mystery writers Laura and David Simon lead Bell on a tour, pointing out landmarks from its 18th-century origins as a milling village and describing their childhood memories of its millstream and integrated school. Written with humor and affection, this book is more tribute than travel guide. Nonetheless, it will inspire many readers to wear out a pair of shoes following Bell's pathways, with stops for crabs and Orioles baseball. Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with travel collections.—Lisa N. Johnston, Sweet Briar Coll., VA

Hodgson, who is also a book designer, has published both novels (e.g., The Tatooed Map) and nonfiction (e.g., Italy Out of Hand). As always, she evocatively intertwines her design and verbal skills. There is the whiff of Proust here but the hands and heart of a practical rummager; her intellect, her reveries, and her well-traveled feet thread their way through the old markets and dusty shops of the cities she most favors for her adventures, made up as much of browsing as buying. She divides this heavily illustrated volume by city: London, Brussels, Paris, Rochefort, Naples, Budapest, Istanbul, Damascus, Aleppo, Aswan, Marrakech, Fex El-Djedid, Tangier, Shanghai, Stanley, Los Angeles, Portland, and Vancouver. Hodgson is a crusader for the fragile relics of the past, whether understood or mystifying. To reassure us that there is no pretension here, she calls the gatherings "old stuff," wearing her erudition lightly as she examines particular objets trouvés even as she questions the whys and wherefores of her fascination with orphaned ephemera. Readers will feel themselves tripping along after her, charmed as she picks up a long-ago discarded passport and half-imagines, half-explains the travels that the document surely knew. She writes beautifully: "I savor the taste of age and leave with threads from torn bindings clinging to my hair." Highly recommended for armchair travel and material culture collections.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal