Xpress Reviews—First Look at New Books

-- Library Journal, 7/15/2008 9:37:00 AM

The week of July 15, 2008

Fiction | Nonfiction

Fiction

Cassella, Carol. Oxygen. S. & S. Jul. 2008. c.291p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5610-7. $25. F
Verdict: Practicing anesthesiologist and freelance writer Cassella is perfectly positioned to shed light on the medical profession in this well-crafted debut that takes surprising turns. Quiet yet descriptive language further enhances her invaluable insight into this less-than-glamorous job. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/08.]
Background: A talented anesthesiologist, Dr. Marie Heaton earned the respect of her colleagues and supervisors in a fast-paced, understaffed Seattle hospital. Her worst nightmare is realized when an eight-year-old patient dies under her care. The ensuing meetings with bosses and lawyers to sort out the inevitable malpractice suit consumes Marie as she searches for a way to communicate her sorrow to the child’s mother and unravel the mysterious cause of death. As legalities seemingly overshadow every aspect of her life, Marie fills quiet moments questioning personal and career decisions. She sorts out her feelings for colleague and lover–turned–best friend Joe Hillary while playing superaunt to her sister’s children and assuming care of her emotionally distant father, who is slowly losing his sight.—Natasha Grant, New York

Clayton, Meg Waite. The Wednesday Sisters. Ballantine. 2008. c.297p. ISBN 978-0-345-50282-7. $25. F
Verdict: Clayton’s well-developed characters embody the best and the worst qualities in all women. They are endearing, infuriating, and real, so much so that you won’t want to say good-bye to them when this engaging book ends.
Background: In the spirit of lady lit classics like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Hot Flash Club, and The Knitting Circle, this book celebrates the loyalty and love that lays at the heart of women’s friendships. Frankie, Linda, Brett, Ally, and Kath are young marrieds when they meet in 1967. Their lives are rooted in convention even though the world is in chaos, what with men walking on the moon, feminists protesting the Miss America Pageant, and war raging in Vietnam. But the Wednesday Sisters, as they come to call themselves, share a love of writing and literature that helps them transcend the hardships of their daily lives, which include infertility, adultery, illness, prejudice, and failure.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY

Meadows, Rae. No One Tells Everything. MacAdam/Cage. 2008. c.330p. ISBN 978-1-59692-292-1. $23. F
Verdict: This is not a run-of-the-mill mystery for many reasons. But the amateur female sleuth and her deep meditations on family and home will no doubt find an audience.
Background: Meadows’s offbeat murder mystery—her second work after the award-winning Calling Out—centers on a thirtyish antiheroine copyeditor named Grace who is dissatisfied with the drudgery of her life in a dead-end job in New York. Grace quickly becomes embroiled in solving the murder of a college student because the accused murderer (whom she believes is innocent) is from her hometown in Ohio. Grace returns there in pursuit of answers about what really happened to Sarah, but at the same time, she is plagued by bitter memories of her relationships and experiences with her parents and neighbors and by the untimely death of her sister, Callie.—Gloria Creed-Dikeogu, Ottawa Univ. Lib., KS

Winfield, Jess. My Name Is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare. Twelve: Hachette. Jul. 2008. 291p. ISBN 978-0-446-50885-8. $23.99. F
Verdict: Just as Shakespeare wrote for the masses, so does Winfield make the bawdy bard accessible in his first novel. It is at once witty, readable, and intelligent without being the least bit pretentious. Essential for those who appreciate the Bard’s bawdier side.
Background: Winfield, a founding member of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, is obviously well versed in both Shakespeare’s work and times. This narrative parallels two Wills. The first is a blossoming playwright sowing his wild oats while navigating the dangerous political and religious waters of 1580s England. The second, Willie Shakespeare Greenberg, is a 1980s would-be academic toying with sex, drugs, and his Master’s thesis topic. Although his characters are separated by centuries, Winfield is able to interweave their narratives in this very fun and extremely irreverent work of fiction.—Dora Wagner, Northwestern Coll., Saint Paul, MN

Nonfiction

Baker, Nena. The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being. North Point: Farrar. Aug. 2008. c.288p. index. ISBN 978-0-86547-707-0. $24. MED
Verdict: A great deal of controversy surrounds low-dose exposure to chemical pollutants and where the danger level lies. Nevertheless, many people will be interested in reading Baker’s take on it. Though there is a small section at the conclusion that covers what readers can do to minimize their exposure, this is more of an issues book than a solutions one.
Background: Everyone has heard vague warnings about the danger of Teflon, pesticides, and other plastic and chemical conveniences of the modern world. A former staff writer at the Arizona Republic and the Oregonian, Baker investigates, arguing rather convincingly that such claims about the chemicals used to make many common household items like flame retardants, waterproof jackets, and plastic bottles are legitimate. She discusses chemical contaminants found in human body tissue that have been absorbed through breathing, eating, drinking, and touching consumer products.—Elizabeth Williams, Washoe Cty. Lib. Syst., Reno, NV

Borgnine, Ernest. Ernie: The Autobiography. Citadel: Kensington. Aug. 2008. c.288p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-0-8065-2941-7. $24.95. FILM
Verdict: Discussing many of his films, Borgnine describes bad locations, costars, stunt problems, and other aspects of individual movies, without seeming egotistical or derogatory to others. His entertaining memoir will appeal to Hollywood lovers.
Background: Borgnine is one of the most enduring and beloved stars in Hollywood. At age 91, he starred in A Grandpa for Christmas, did voice-overs for animated features, and wrote an autobiography. He earned an Oscar for Marty in 1956 and has appeared in over 100 films, including The Poseidon Adventure. Borgnine’s talent has made him one of the most recognized character actors today. His memoir is not as juicy or gossipy as other star bios, but he offers an enticing blend of humor, sentiment, and honesty. Borgnine briefly recounts his early life in Italy, his navy years, and five marriages. He writes fondly of friends Lee Marvin, Spencer Tracy, and many other great stars he worked with.—Rosalind Dayen, South Regional Lib., Broward Cty., FL

Grennan, Eamon. Matter of Fact. Graywolf. 2008. 96p. ISBN 978-1-55597-500-5. pap. $15. POETRY
Verdict: "But see that small opening half-way/ up the ash tree? Where the wren entered? A cracked window, it is, of op-/ portunity. Now see me. Vanish into it." Readers will indeed want to vanish into this new collection from Lenore Marshall winner Grennan (The Quick of It), which is highly recommended.
Background: The poems in Grennan’s latest collection reside in the natural world and the world of art. At the core of these poems is what matters. "Day after day/ does it matter that the heart of the matter/ in the heart’s heavy, loving tussle/ with what matters...may indeed come down to, this/ momentary unfolding to blind spots, blankness?" Both the meditative prose poems and lyrics use carefully crafted, accentuated verse and lovely descriptions where, like the subject matter, every word is significant, many lines richly enjambed. In the end, the poet invites readers to believe that everything is important: the hawk, the hare, a burst fig, the "sorrowful/ sympathy in the ram’s eye," artifacts that generally go unnoticed and unacclaimed. He also suggests that "we need/ painters...and poets, too—to slow it down, come/ to rest in things...Otherwise/ we’re only passing through—/ a bruised leg curving/ from light to dark."—Karla Huston, Appleton Art Ctr., WI

Jones, Sandy & Marcie Jones. Great Expectations: Best Baby Gear. Sterling. Aug. 2008. c.384p. illus. index. ISBN 978-1-4027-3335-2. pap. $14.95. CHILD REARING
Verdict: For more specific product reviews, stick with Denise Fields’s Baby Bargains. But for shopping advice and safety tips, this is a good choice.
Background: There are more baby gear options than ever for new parents to consider. And with every option comes more opinions. In their latest collaboration, mother-and-daughter writing team Sandy Jones and Marcie Jones (Great Expectations: Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy and Childbirth) hope to cut through the hype with expertise gathered from pregnancy and baby experts on the safest and most economical baby products. Readers learn what to look for in 20 different types of baby gear, from feeding supplies to play yards and everything in between. Each section includes a checklist, pros and cons for product types, and at least two specific product recommendations (even for products they feel are unnecessary, e.g., diaper disposal systems). Occasional unattributed quotes, presumably from parents, are sprinkled throughout the book and act as firsthand accounts of product usability and safety.—Mindy Rhiger, St. Paul

Knope, Steven D., M.D. Concierge Medicine: A New System To Get the Best Healthcare. Praeger. Jul. 2008. 200p. index. ISBN 978-0-313-35477-9. $34.95. MED
Verdict: What feels like self-help information on exercise and nutrition pops up periodically, along with some inevitable self-promotion, two features that give the book multiple personalities. Best suited to those with the resources to consider concierge medicine.
Background: Veering sharply away from universal care as a solution to the problems of U.S. health care, Knope, a board-certified internist, recommends private contracts between individuals and physicians, or concierge medicine. In his practice, $6000 annually for an individual or $10,000 for a couple buys a lengthy annual physical, same-day appointments, 24-hour access by phone, exercise and nutrition plans, and a manager when complex care and specialists are required. This controversial idea is spreading, he says, providing benefits for patients and doctors. Furthermore, he argues that overworked physicians practicing "fast food" managed care medicine sometimes can’t match what a concierge doctor offers. Since the buyer still has to pay for all tests, specialists, hospitalizations, and medications, Knope spends a good deal of time explaining why the kind of investment he suggests is comparable in importance to financial planning and how high-deductible insurance combined with a health savings account can make it affordable.—Dick Maxwell, Porter Adventist Hosp. Lib., Denver

Passet, Joanne. Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeannette Howard Foster. Da Capo. 2008. 368p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-7867-1822-1. $27.50. PSYCH
Verdict: History professor Passet’s expressive, detailed account follows this courageous and influential librarian-scholar from an era of isolation for "sex variants" to the 1970s Gay Liberation Movement. Those interested in gay and lesbian issues, lesbiana, and the history of librarianship will find the book fascinating.
Background: At least one librarian stands behind every successful scientist, and for sexologist Alfred Kinsey, she was Jeannette Howard Foster. Raised middle-class intellectual in the early 20th-century Midwest, Foster was herself lesbian. She began with a science background, turned to literature and writing to understand her own sexuality, and obtained a Ph.D. in library science to find work near her beloved books. Foster managed Kinsey’s collection for four years but ultimately left to get away from Kinsey’s autocratic control and publish her own work. In 1956, she produced Sex Variant Women in Literature (reprinted 1976, 1985), a lengthy bibliographic essay discussing literary accounts of lesbian love from Sappho through 1950s American fiction. This early and seminal classic was recognized by a 1974 ALA Stonewall Book Award, is considered one of the most important works about lesbian literature, and influenced countless GLBT writers and historians over the decades. Passet herself holds a library degree.—Martha Cornog, Philadelphia

Pollack, Kenneth M. A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East. Random. Jul. 2008. c.592p. index. ISBN 978-1-4000-6548-6. $30. POL SCI
Verdict: Distinguished policy analyst Pollack posits an intricately integrated strategy for intelligent, successful American political, diplomatic, and military engagement in the Middle East.
Background: Drawing on his vast knowledge of the Middle East, Pollack (director of research, Saban Ctr. for Middle East Policy, Brookings Inst.; The Persian Puzzle) outlines a comprehensive yet cohesive strategy that stresses the ways and means to address the Middle East’s deeply entrenched political, economic, and social maladies. He examines these problems in detail and explicitly demonstrates how they combine to cause anger and hopelessness within large segments of the population; instability and terrorism are the result. The region’s status is so dire that Pollack characterizes most Middle Eastern nations as existing in a "prerevolutionary state" where a cataclysmic event, such as the death of a key religious leader, could topple a government, plunge the region further into war, and damaging the entire global economic infrastructure. Pollack’s policy prescriptions include modernizing educational systems and allowing greater transparency in government.—Dennis J. Seese, Jefferson-Madison Regional Lib., Charlottesville, VA

Prufer, Kevin. National Anthem. Four Way Bks. 2008. c.82p. ISBN 978-1-884800-83-2. pap. $15.95. POETRY
Verdict: This book is dedicated to the poet’s father and traces, movingly, that tenuous connection. Recommended for contemporary poetry collections.
Background: The author of four books of poetry (e.g., Fallen from a Chariot) and coeditor of the important anthology New European Poets, Prufer here continues to grapple with human suffering, smudging the border between real and surreal in a kind of imagined poetry of witness: two strangers comb a ravaged war site in search of food, a man who personifies the American West sleeps on a raft, Caesars fill the hospital beds. In the title poem, the speaker waits in a parking lot while his companion finishes shopping: "What was the body but a vessel, and what was the store but another,/ larger vessel?" Often, things are inside of other things: a body inside a car trunk or a man beneath a spread parachute that covers an entire neighborhood. At the core is a boy’s fear of the unknown: "My brother cried at dinner when he learned/ one day he would die. I picked at my food/ and wanted to be a chip on the wall/ or a spot that would not wash away."—Ellen Kaufman, Dewey & LeBoeuf Law Lib., New York

Wehrenberg, Margaret. The 10 Best Anxiety Management Techniques: Understanding How Your Brain Makes You Anxious and What You Can Do To Change It. Norton. Aug. 2008. c.256p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-393-70556-0. pap. $17.95. PSYCH
Verdict: This is an accessible, well-written resource for anyone struggling with what can be a debilitation disease. Recommended for all public libraries and for universities supporting the helping professions.
Background: Licensed clinical psychologist Wehrenberg (The Anxious Brain) aims to help the estimated 40 million Americans who suffer from anxiety disorders (e.g., panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder). Readers are presented with the ten techniques that the author has found work best in controlling and overcoming anxiety. These straight-forward, doable methods include self-talk, cognitive control, relaxation, and breathing exercises. Tips aside, there is excellent scientific information about how the brain functions in relation to anxiety. Wehrenberg asserts that people with anxiety disorder have the power to change how their brains work without medication.—Mary E. Jones, Los Angeles P.L.