Arts & Humanities
-- Library Journal, 07/15/2009
Birksted, J.K. Le Corbusier and the Occult. MIT. 2009. 405p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-262-02648-2. $44.95. ARCHITECTURE Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887–1965), aka Le Corbusier, was known for trendsetting designs in reinforced concrete and for books promoting modern architecture and city planning. Birksted (architecture, Univ. Coll. London) has painstakingly examined the lives of Le Corbusier's friends, relatives, and teachers in the architect's Swiss hometown, La Chaux-de-Fonds, during the early 20th century. This research is extended to the architect's social circle during his early years in Paris. While Le Corbusier liked to portray his own designs as a break with the recent past, Birksted points to various buildings and writings to argue that the artist's work was influenced by that of François-Joseph Bélanger, an 18th-century neoclassical architect, and informed by the symbolism of Freemasonry. Although Le Corbusier was not a Mason, he had Masonic friends, relatives, and clients and owned Masonic books. VERDICT Based on recently discovered family and local documents, this academic study will suit students and faculty with a strong interest in design sources of modern architecture.—David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., B.C. Clifton and Scattone, director and assistant curator, respectively, of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, do a fine job of delineating the many facets of war and war's effects on society as portrayed in art prints from 1500 to 1825. Advances in printmaking and increased access to paper in Europe allowed for speedier dissemination of material, which created an opportunity to highlight the political and propagandistic purposes of the medium. Developments in weaponry and war strategy, emphasis on noble qualities of the warrior, and portrayal of "the other" combined for a "panoramic view of death, destruction, and human drama" that could be experienced without immediate threat to the audience and that provided for diffusion of information about events directly influencing quality of life in warring communities. The always-timely theme of war and warriors is given its due in this lovely exhibition catalog, published in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. VERDICT This collection of 170 primarily black-and-white images and contextualizing essays will appeal to academics, people interested in war or history, artists, and open-minded browsers.—Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH This excellent catalog, published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery in London, illustrates Pablo Picasso's ability to look into the tradition of European art and transform it to create a new image, a new style, and a new vernacular. El Greco, Ingres, Poussin, Velázquez, and their contemporaries emerge from Picasso's canvases transformed and transmogrified yet strangely reminiscent. Seeing the exhibition, one realizes that familiar works take on a new meaning, and one looks upon them in a new manner. The paintings in the show are well documented and well reproduced in 150 full-color plates, and the accompanying essays by Cowling (Picasso: Style and Meaning) and five other authors, curators, and art historians treat the development of this aspect of Picasso's work in chronological order, giving the reader a good sense of the imagination and innovation of a great artist at work. VERDICT As a focused selection of one aspect of the enormous body of Picasso's work, this is a valuable addition to the literature and an excellent scholarly guide to the underlying themes of tradition and innovation.—Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York This volume gives readers an overview of both the master paintings and major artistic periods represented in the Art Institute of Chicago's eminent painting collection. Like the 1988 edition, this revised and expanded edition begins with brief acknowledgments and an introduction by the author—for this edition, Cuno (president and Eloise W. Martin Director, Art Inst. of Chicago). The pictures and textual descriptions are divided into four sections: "European Paintings to 1900," "American Paintings to 1906," "Modernism to 1948," and "Modern and Contemporary to 2003." For those who already own one or more of the earlier editions, new editions of catalogs that highlight museums' collections rarely offer enough new visual or revised textual information to justify their purchase. Of the 149 pictures in this version, just 23 are reproductions of new acquisitions. VERDICT Ideal for readers and libraries without the 1988 or 1999 edition and/or for those interested in the recent acquisition activities of the Art Institute of Chicago.—Jennifer Pollock, Coll. of DAAP Lib., Univ. of Cincinnati A design consultant and former senior editor at Wallpaper* magazine, Houseley aims to offer, as she says, the "best" of "original" current design in this illustrated selection of 450 items created between 2005 and 2008 by over 300 young designers. Although intended to have a worldwide scope, the book features primarily work that is European and American in origin. In Houseley's brief introduction, she mentions several commonalities in passing (e.g., nostalgia, recycling, process, and craft). Grouped into one of five areas—furniture, lighting, accessories, utility, and environment—each object receives a color illustration and 50-plus words of description, followed by contact information and production status. All in all, this is a broad but certainly not exhaustive attempt to show contemporary, generally midmarket design efforts for commercially oriented domestic products. VERDICT Browsable and appealing now; useful as a time capsule in a few years. For design professionals and buyers.—Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs. With an emphasis on styles from the 1950s onward, Koda (Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed) and Yohannan (John Rawlings: 30 Years in Vogue) explore how the fashion industry's feminine ideal has evolved over the last few decades. This companion to the summer 2009 exhibition (sponsored by designer Marc Jacobs and publisher Condé Nast) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art begins in 1947 with the "New Look," created by Christian Dior, and evolves as the particular beauty of models like Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Moss—enhanced in the media by photographers and fashion—came to define feminine beauty. The oversized book includes 115 important fashion photographs enhanced with text providing brief glimmers of the lives behind these famous faces. VERDICT A glossy and admiring look at the last half century of fashion imagery through its most iconic models and the styles they personified. For anyone who loves fashion photography.—Nancy Turner, Syracuse Univ. Lib., NY This interdisciplinary exhibition catalog is the first of its kind to explore the theme of madness across the medical sciences and arts in Vienna, Austria, at the turn of the 20th century. Blackshaw (history of art & visual culture, Univ. of Plymouth) and Topp (history of art & architecture, Birkbeck Coll., Univ. of London; Architecture and Truth in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna) assemble ten scholarly contributions that address how psychiatry influenced early modernism in the visual arts and how modernism has influenced our attitudes toward the mentally ill. Covering representations of institutionalized patients, architecture for and art works by the mentally ill, literature, and more, the easy-to-read essays are accompanied by over 100 illustrations and reproductions, many of which are full page and in color. Works by famous and lesser-known artists, sculptors, and architects are featured, not limited to Gustav Klimt, Richard Luksch, Erwin Pendl, Egon Schiele, and Otto Wagner. VERDICT Nicely presented and well documented with endnotes and an objects checklist, this notable publication will serve as a useful foundation for further reading and research by focused general readers, graduate students, scholars, and professionals.—Cheryl Ann Lajos, Free Lib. of Philadelphia Art historian Maillet's in-depth, groundbreaking study focuses on the rare tools used by artists, magicians, and conjurers since the 18th century in Europe known as the Claude Glass and Claude Mirror. They were named for French landscape painter Claude Lorraine because of the golden effects produced in his paintings, although, ironically, no one knows for sure if he ever used them. The Claude Mirror's reflection framed a scene for painters and, more recently, photographers to contemplate, stage, and copy, as well as to check the color and form of a work in progress. Maillet covers the many facets of the tools from history, use, and definition to scientific and optical aspects to stranger and mystical associations with the occult, diviners, and demonology. Finally, he discusses how the eye sees and judges its relationship to the world, art, and visions. There are 36 black-and-white illustrations throughout. VERDICT This is essential reading for painters and artists; strongly recommended for academics, specialists, and students for its original, fully documented scholarship and contribution to art history on a rarely covered subject.—Ellen Bates, New York E-learning, visual communication, and design consultant Malamed sums up the crux of her book: "poor design is a major reason why information is misinterpreted," and all of the graphic imagery and text she includes are committed to trying to distinguish between good and poor design. The dozens of images contributed by designers all over the world are absorbing, but a large percentage is reproduced at a scale that makes reading their text difficult or impossible. Their visual success may be evident, but whether they function well as conveyors of information is sometimes difficult to judge. In the accompanying text, Malamed explores cognitive psychology with jargon like "texture segregation," "preattentive processing," and "primitive features," none of which are defined in the 11-item glossary. If the reader sticks with the text, everything eventually is explained, but this volume is not effortless. VERDICT This is much less a how-to than a solid intellectual underpinning of perceptual psychology; although the perceptual psychology is discussed in detail, the actual ideas involved in the graphic imagery are never analyzed. For design students and professionals.—David McClelland, Philadelphia This anthology of ten essays on the urban landscape architecture projects of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) focuses on sites that needed complete or extensive reconstruction—thus, most of the projects are for difficult sites in postindustrial cities. In the opening essay, Berrizbeitia (landscape architecture, Univ. of Pennsylvania) provides an overview of the selected projects and the evolution of this well-respected and well-known firm's designs. The following nine essays by scholars and designers consider 12 projects spanning MVVA's 27-year history, from Mill Race Park (Columbus, IN, 1989–93) to the ongoing work on the Brooklyn Bridge Park (2003–12). Although there have been several recent publications on individual projects, this is the first volume to cover the firm's work broadly since Design with the Land: The Landscape Architecture of Michael Van Valkenburgh (1994). VERDICT The authors' detailed analyses of the projects are well illustrated with plans and many full-spread color photographs; will be appreciated by design students and others with an interest in landscape architecture or urban projects.—Amy Trendler, Ball State Univ. Libs., Muncie, IN Like a good building, this primer to architecture exhibits a strong concept, clearly articulated parts, and high-quality construction. The chapters address five key topics: the tools of the architect, stability and form, materials and techniques, architecture and decoration, and masterpieces compared. Each chapter is divided further into its component parts, such as (for the chapter on stability and form) wall, column, capital, entablature, etc.; and each component is elucidated by a one-page essay and augmented by a concise sidebar with either the origin of the element or a deeper exploration of one facet of that element. The enduring value, however, lies in the handsome, full-color illustrations and ample captions that explain them. The emphasis is almost exclusively Western, but the breadth of examples compensates for any narrowness of treatment. The translation for the original Italian is highly readable, although the narrow margins cramp the text alongside the gutters. VERDICT This will serve as a fine choice for first-semester architectural history and design students, perhaps in tandem with classics like Steen Eiler Rasmussen's Experiencing Architecture, Witold Rybczynski's The Look of Architecture, and Eugene Raskin's Architecturally Speaking. It easily eclipses James O'Gorman's ABC of Architecture and will complement the recent concise survey Architecture: A World History (Abrams).—Paul Glassman, Felician Coll. Lib., Lodi, NJ Arthur Carter is a New York sculptor and painter who turned to art after a long career in finance and publishing. His large metal sculptures, some of monumental size, are on view in several prominent locations in and around New York City. Carter's work is composed of geometric shapes, with his artistic concerns focused on the mathematical and spatial relationships among them. Riley (The Art of Peter Max) contributes an essay situating Carter's art within 20th-century sculpture, and Kaplan (editor, New York Observer) discusses Carter's unusual life trajectory in a biographical essay. The book includes a life chronology and over 170 works illustrated in color photographs. VERDICT Readers in the New York area and those interested in outdoor public sculpture will appreciate this as the first book about Carter's work to include his paintings and drawings as well as sculpture.—Kathryn Wekselman, MLn., Cincinnati Germany-based independent scholar Stichweh here outlines details about the most significant skyscrapers in New York City. Opening with a short general history of skyscrapers, he then provides information on 79 New York City structures. Each of seven sections begins with a street map representing a geographical division of the city, with numbers indicating the location of the buildings covered in the following pages. Stichweh offers technical information about each structure, including the address, date of completion, height, and architects, as well as three to five paragraphs of description and historical background. The texts are accompanied by two to three color photographs by Machirus and Murphy, including a street view and exterior details; the photographs are functional, not artistic. VERDICT This book has many elements readers would want and expect to find in a walking guidebook of New York's skyscrapers; unfortunately, it is too large to carry on a walking tour. For armchair travelers and architecture admirers.—Valerie Nye, Coll. of Santa Fe, NM Viola Frey (1933–2004) was best known for her monumental, colorful clay figures, but her work and life encompassed much more, as this monograph, which accompanies a 2009–10 traveling exhibition, reveals. Frey worked most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area and, like her West Coast contemporaries Robert Arneson and Peter Voulkos, helped make clay into a fine art medium. Frey also used bricolage extensively, creating tableaus and compositions inspired by her collection of flea-market finds. With 69 color and 12 black-and-white plates as well as a chronology and a list of collections featuring Frey's work, the book also includes three essays by Taragin (former director of exhibitions & programs, Racine Art Museum), Patterson Sims (formerly with the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York), and Susan Jefferies (curator, Gardiner Museum) that provide biographical background and critical analysis of Frey's life, work, and methods. VERDICT This is the first in-depth book about Frey, and it will be enthusiastically received by anyone interested in sculpture or ceramics.—Martha Smith, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY This exhibition catalog from the Art Institute of Chicago showcases a generous gift of Italian Renaissance drawings collected over the last 30 years by Jean and Steven Goldman. An introduction describing how the gift came about precedes two opening statements by Jean, herself an art historian. In the first, she delineates the collection's scope and explains her selection criteria. In the second, she provides basic historical context for these Mannerist and Baroque works on paper spanning 200 years, describes the techniques, methods, and materials employed by the artists, and indicates the change of style from decade to decade. The illustrated catalog section includes descriptive and historical commentary on each work. Featured also are artist biographies arranged by region and an alphabetical index of artists for quick reference. This well-assembled, linear feast contains not only the works of major artists like Raphael, Parmigianino, and Tintoretto, but also those of lesser-known extraordinary draftsmen. VERDICT Another great Old Masters collection for art students and scholars to study and ponder. Recommended for large public, academic, museum, and special art book collections.—Ellen Bates, New York Light Vision collects 45 black-and-white gelatin silver prints taken over a 20-year period by Vajed, an Iranian medical doctor who has been living in Northern California since the 1960s. While practicing medicine, Vajed was drawn to the work of Ansel Adams, especially the zone system, so he joined the Livermore Valley Camera Club and created these images, whose subject matter ranges from portraits to exteriors but focuses primarily on plants and flowers. As an Iranian, Vajed is interested in the poetic qualities of light in photography, and the introduction covers the connection between Persian poetry and his work. Vajed's scientific training finds new expression in his precise attention to technical detail in his prints and in his camera settings. VERDICT Originally published in 2000, this 2009 hardcover reprint features glossy duotones on 60-pound paper. Recommended for general collections.—Shauna Frischkorn, Millersville Univ., PA Literature Ames (Wake Up, Sir!) here offers new and previously published examples of his fiction, articles for magazines, and personal essays as well as a graphic work. The longest entry is a takeoff on a private eye caper; other topics include interviews with Goth figures and a boxing match in which he participated. One of his characters says, "I've put myself in weird positions and then milked it for humor"—readers should note the double meaning of "weird positions," because many of these pieces are about unusual sexual encounters, told in great detail. There is humor here, but some entries come off as strange, such as those about his friends Mangina and Sproutie. VERDICT Ames writes with an engaging style, but there may be a bit too much sexual description for some tastes. For mature, not easily offended fans of the author.—Gina Kaiser, Univ. of the Sciences Lib., Philadelphia Burt (English, Harvard Univ.) has published more than 150 essays and reviews of poetry as well as two books about poetry (e.g., The Forms of Youth) and two books of his own poetry (e.g., Parallel Play). Here, he acknowledges that there are fewer readers of poetry now than in the past and does his best to reverse that trend. With liberal quotations, Burt explains what he likes and why. Whether he is writing about famous poets such as Richard Wilbur and William Carlos Williams or relative unknowns like James K. Baxter and Mary Leader, it is clear that he has a keen sense of each writer in terms of both substance and style. All of the essays guide the reader to a greater appreciation of the poet under consideration. Burt gains credibility by identifying what doesn't work, and he is successful in helping us learn to tell what does. VERDICT In the author's own words, this book is "for people who want to read more new poetry but somehow never get around to it."—Anthony Pucci, Notre Dame H.S., Elmira, NY Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning poet Wilbur has extended his string of supple translations with these two very different plays. Le Cid (1636) is an epic and heroic story of a couple bound by love and driven apart by honor. The Liar (1643) is a farce, full of wit, charm, and sparkling repartee. Wilbur's closest stylistic competitor is Vincent John Cheng's 1987 translation of Le Cid, now out of print. Cheng includes details on his method of translation and several illuminating appendixes; Wilbur is not as forthcoming. Directors preparing to stage Le Cid should examine both versions, but Wilbur has pride of place for an elegant, flowing line that is easy to speak. His translation of The Liar moves along at a brisk and trotting pace. The play is not anthologized often or even offered as a stand-alone. The rhyme scheme of the French originals is maintained, but Wilbur's mastery of his craft transforms the English into scripts that would be delightful both to act and to observe. VERDICT Theater departments and professionals should seriously consider this fun pair for production. Readers of French literature and Wilbur's poetry will also appreciate the book.—Larry Schwartz, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Moorhead Without the cooperation of Christie's family, biographer Hack (Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters) tracked down his subject through an examination of over 5000 items in the Agatha Christie Papers at the University of Exeter. Hack begins with an episode in Christie's life when she mysteriously disappeared for over a week at the time her first marriage was ending, resulting in false sightings and daily press coverage. After this compelling opening, Hack returns to Christie's childhood and traces her development as a writer through her personal life. A bibliography of sources and detailed listings of Christie's works are included. Hack's obvious enchantment with Christie may have led him to imagine and create her private thoughts. VERDICT This far-from-factual technique could turn off readers of traditional biographies, who would better appreciate Christie's An Autobiography or Janet Morgan's Agatha Christie. Many Christie fans, however, will be pulled in quickly by Hack.—Stacy Russo, Chapman Univ. Libs., Orange, CA Ellis, a writing coach and editor of Now Write!: Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers, interviews 19 contemporary authors in this volume. The subtitle is a bit of a misnomer; some of the writers interviewed are fairly well known—e.g., Edward P. Jones, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for The Known World, and Julia Glass, winner of the 2002 National Book Award for her debut novel, Three Junes—while others have achieved more modest success. The writers discuss everything from inspiration and technique to dealing with unfavorable reviews. The strength of these interviews lies in the fact that Ellis is a writer interviewing writers. VERDICT Unlike a critic or a journalist, Ellis is able to dig deeper and ask more probing questions because of her own experience with the craft. Creative writers and those interested in the creative process will find this book of most interest. An optional purchase.—Alison M. Lewis, Drexel Univ., Philadelphia Kiberd, a professor at University College Dublin and author of three previous books on Irish literature, here argues that Joyce's famous novel was written in celebration of and intended to be read by the common man; he contends that the novel has been wrongly usurped by the academic elite and is therefore now considered unreadable by all but the most devoted scholars. His thorough analysis and criticism of the novel and Homer's Odyssey, however, undermine his argument by drawing from Joyce's life and close readings of Gaelic poetry and other literary texts which, while fascinating, are unfamiliar in such detail to the common reader of today. He is indefatigable in drawing perceptive connections between Joyce's work and the author's literary forebears, though, and makes a convincing case that reading Ulysses can be a transformative experience for those brave enough to attempt it. VERDICT Highly recommended for academic libraries catering to literature scholars for its widely referenced, close reading of the text, this should be considered an invaluable companion volume to Joyce's novel. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 45/1/09.]—Megan Hodge, Randolph-Macon Coll. Lib., Ashland, VA Satire may be what closes on Saturday night, but it is nevertheless a powerful form of dramatic expression. In this first published collection of his plays, Reed takes on a half-dozen contemporary issues and causes, among them radical feminism (in Mother Hubbard) and religious hypocrisy (in The Preacher and the Rapper), in his distinctive style. Over the last few decades, this award-winning writer has explored a variety of racial and political issues in more than a score of novels (e.g., Mumbo Jumbo), books of poetry (e.g., Chattanooga), and essays (e.g., Airing Dirty Laundry). In The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Reed is characterized as "one of the most original and controversial figures in the field of African American letters." He described his own work to Rebecca Carroll in Swing Low: Black Men Writing this way: "The main thing about my writing is that it is not like any other. I have always strived to be original." VERDICT Theatergoers, social critics, and fans of contemporary literature are natural audiences for this thought-provoking collection.—Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L. Etty Hillesum was born in the Netherlands in 1914 and died in Auschwitz in 1943. Woodhouse (Beyond Words: An Introduction, Guide and Resource for a Contemplative Way of Prayer) uses Hillesum's diaries and letters to describe her friends, lovers, readings, and interior life during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Her experiences as the only daughter of a troubled assimilated Jewish married couple who had two mentally ill sons are honestly discussed. Hillesum's views of God and her acceptance of suffering and sorrow allowed her to redeem life and love in the midst of death and despair. Woodhouse describes the outer life and inner thoughts of Hillesum, portraying her as a mystic and moral saint. The final chapter is devoted to the lessons and teachings Hillesum can give to contemporary humanity. VERDICT This serves as a good introduction to Hillesum, especially for readers interested in difficult contemplations about life. Academics will be better served by collections of Hillesum's writings (e.g., An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork).—Gene Shaw, NYPL Performing Arts Anderson—who launched his own record label, Afternoon Records, in Minneapolis at 18 and is front man of the indie band One for the Team—details how to run an indie label from the ground up. He instructs readers on starting their own label, developing a budget, approaching potential artists, writing press releases, and more, also giving essential advice on contracts, record deals, and attorneys. In addition to the basics, he speaks to younger audiences with chapters discussing how to approach people without feeling slimy and saying no to friends. VERDICT The individual market niche—twenty- and thirtysomethings with upstart record labels or entrepreneurial dreams—sets this useful book apart from other how-to guides. For the growing pool of DIY hipsters.—Bradford Lee Eden, Univ. of California Lib., Santa Barbara Canadian journalist Argyle (Turning Points: The Campaigns That Changed Canada) claims that ragtime, especially as pioneered by Scott Joplin, was the basis for the later development of a large share of popular musical forms of the 20th century. Joplin's biography is the central thread of what is mostly a social history of the years between 1893, when he arrived in Chicago for the World's Fair, and 1917, the year of his death, and ragtime is portrayed as the cultural driving force of the era. Evidence to support this, as well as most of the book's claims, is a bit slippery, leaving the reader with the impression that Argyle has attempted too much in too little space. VERDICT There are more complete biographies of Joplin's life (e.g., Edward A. Berlin's King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era) and any number of more reliable sources for a cultural history of the early 20th century. Not recommended.—Timothy J. McGee, Trent Univ., Peterborough, Ont. As a young Irishman in 1987, Conway, today a presenter on Dublin radio, began his first stint on the Ross Revenge, the home of Radio Caroline, a British pirate radio station that originally started broadcasting during the 1960s. Because of strict restrictions on British radio, pirate radio ships transmitted their musically eclectic, noncommercial form of radio from international waters to reach a passionate and devoted following of listeners. Through tales of the collapse of the main radio tower during a storm and subsequent efforts to get back on the air, eluding the authorities, and the concealment of a fire from a visiting BBC interview crew, Conway's evocatively written memoir is animated and engaging as it describes how he became a seasoned news reader and presenter in an often isolated environment, working with a fiercely dedicated group of people. VERDICT Fluidly written and idiosyncratic, this portrayal of what would be a dream job for many a media, music, or maritime enthusiast may be buoyed when the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked, a fictional account of a pirate radio ship, comes out this August.—Jim Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ The release of a biography by the late proto-punker Kane should be a reason for music fans (at least, punk music fans) to rejoice. And it mostly is. But while this book does so much to help us remember what Kane, and the New York Dolls, did during life, it mostly reminds us that he's not here. Cleverly told tales of the Dolls' exploits—from being asked, post-gig, to donate their clothes to a future New York Dolls museum to performing, via request, for Keith Richards and Mick Jagger—are entertaining and absorbing. That said, the book at times reads like a first draft suffering from lack of revisions. The voice feels almost over-the-top, like it was penned by a natural writer who wasn't able to refine his craft (Kane was at work on it when he died in 2004). Still, it could mean Kane was also a punk in prose. VERDICT Dolls fans, especially in the five boroughs, will want to decide on this anticipated memoir for themselves.—Robert Morast, Fargo, ND Just when you were wondering where that next Harold Lloyd bio is, it's here! Writer Lloyd (no relation), author of The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia and webmistress of www.haroldlloyd.us, takes another look into the career of the silent film comedian. Her book is "dedicated to fans" and has a fanzine feel. She extracts quotes from various interviews to give Harold's perspective, sprinkles "fun facts" throughout the text, explains the appeal of Lloyd's "Glass Character" (an average guy in glasses can be funny without a costume), and offers synopses of various films. She further explores Lloyd's life and career trajectories, drawing on extensive research. A chronology is included. Readers may also be interested in Jeffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd's Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian and the three-volume Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection on DVD; The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia will also be reissued in paperback this summer/early fall. VERDICT For silent comedy fanatics and all Harold Lloyd fans.—Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO The first edition of this definitive history of California Chicano rock pioneers, published in 1998, highlighted such early groups as Ritchie Valens, Cannibal & the Headhunters, and Thee Midniters as well as punk leaders the Plugz, culminating with the musically eclectic Los Lobos. In this revised and expanded edition, authors Reyes, a Chicano music historian and archivist, and Waldman (Not Much Left: The Fate of Liberalism in America) include material about newer artists such as Quetzal and Lysa Flores. In the ten years since the book was first published, California's Spanish-speaking population has dramatically increased, and there is growing interest in Mexican rock and all the other Mexican musical genres. VERDICT This book should appeal to any fan of Latino rock who wants to know about its roots and development.—Bill Walker, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., Manteca, CA Philosophy Editor Ciprut writes, "in this book, without advocating any particular ideological agenda, we seek to gain a multivalent understanding of the evolving meaning of citizenship." To accomplish this goal, he has assembled 14 pertinent essays from the perspectives of anthropology, sociology, psychology, law, history, and philosophy. Central to the collection is the consideration of four basic modes of citizenship, labeled as "differentiated," "divided," "dispersed," and "deterritorialized." The first mode considers Barcelona and Hong Kong in terms of division and conflict; the second looks at the relationship between the individual's religion and the state in the Arab-Muslim world; the third examines "non-citizen denizens" in the United States; the last considers "sovereign claims over territory." VERDICT Academics will appreciate the writing, which is scholarly and difficult but also engaging and thought-provoking. Recommended for humanities and political and social sciences collections.—Leon H. Brody, Falls Church, VA In this third book in his surfing trilogy (after The Sea Within and I Surf, Therefore I Am), Kreeft (philosophy, Boston Coll.) uses the conversations among a scientist, a philosopher, and a surfer-poet to discuss how we can develop a "Theory of Everything." Kreeft explains that the characters could be real or fictional and that their conversations are meant to offer a starting point to a Theory of Everything. Surfing is used as the catalyst that brings science, philosophy, and spirituality together toward finding a Theory of Everything because, as the characters explain, all forms of energy come in waves and the activity of surfing is both a physical and spiritual interaction with waves. Readers are asked to take a leap of faith in following this connection between scientific and philosophical theories and surfing—it's only shown through one character's anecdotes about the mysticism she feels while surfing. VERDICT Readers will be left unfulfilled, as the brief conversations only skim the surface of the characters' theories and never adequately show why they will lead toward a Theory of Everything.—Scott Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI This engaging and often difficult study is a well-conceived critique of ethical and moral thinking from an amoral perspective or standpoint. Moeller (philosophy, Univ. College Cork, Ireland) argues that a case for amorality can occasionally be found in prior philosophical writing, but that it is found more pertinently in Chinese Daoist and Zen Buddhist writing. The thinking there is that we cannot ultimately know if ethical or moral statements are correct or incorrect in an absolute sense. For this, Moeller writes, is the position of the "moral fool," who thinks philosophically in terms of ontology, or being, or existence: he thinks that there can be no philosophical answers to the correctness of ethical or moral statements since they cannot be shown to exist or to be answered philosophically. Throughout this study Moeller considers controversial ethical and moral problems from his amoral perspective: civil rights, abortion, religious and just wars, capital punishment, ethnic cleansing, segregation, sexual orientation, political purges, and more. VERDICT The author's amoral slant on these subjects is difficult to contest; this is a landmark study that anyone who champions ethics and morality must confront. Very highly recommended.—Leon H. Brody, Falls Church, VA Poetry Galvin's poems seem straightforward enough—but they're not ("No one hears the conductor of the music, and only a pathological/ optimism allows us even to hear the music as such"). They're like stories—a young woman throws scarlet paint on a wall to protest 9/11, an old man wants his son to get rid of the puppies he's drowned. But they often veer off into fable or the fantastic; there's a Dantesque road scene, for instance, and a Mastermind who reappears throughout. Bleak and unsentimental but blessedly free of self-indulgence, these poems give the feeling of being absolutely essential and of including only what is really there to include. A Wyoming rancher who's on the permanent faculty at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Galvin (X: Poems) writes here like a force of nature. VERDICT Excellent reading for contemporary poetry enthusiasts not looking for the overblown.—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal "They are a horse people," says the narrator of these prose poems. "During the cold months they keep miniature gardens in their homes." The narrator is obviously off in the wilds, possibly in the steppes of Russia. Ilya is a recurring character, and there are blazing plains, "but new snow is forever falling on the old"—actually the name of one of the poems. The narrator is studying moths ("what beautiful birds"), and as time drips by he reflects not only on his specimens but on the act of waiting, the beauty of light, and the essential nature of life as highlighted in a so-called primitive environment. VERDICT Readers will have to slow down to the stately pace of another kind of life to appreciate this beautiful and ambitious work by Olstein (Radio Crackling, Radio Gone). But it's worth it. Best for dedicated poetry lovers but a possibility for those interested in fable, native culture, or lepidopterology.—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal Religion Edited by McMickle (pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Cleveland), this anthology considers the religious impact of President Obama's election. Contributors include such varied voices as Leslie Callahan, Tony Campolo, Gardner C. Taylor, Emilie Townes, and William Willimon, with essays generally addressing four questions: Is Obama's election a fulfillment of the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr.? Has the United States entered a post-racial era? What biblical concepts can be used when considering the election? Is there a danger in believing that this administration can fulfill what scripture suggests only God can do? While each contributor answers one or more of these questions uniquely, there is a common note of optimism throughout. Additionally, it is evident that to many this election represents a reward of faith and providence in racial reconciliation. However, several essays temper this optimism with cautious ambivalence, suspecting the possibility of unrealistic expectations. VERDICT Overall, this compendium shows the scope of positive Christian reactions to Barack Obama's election. Recommended as a contemporary voice on the intersections of politics and religion.—Dann Wigner, Wayland Baptist Univ. Lib., Plainview, TX This collection of essays by Berry, the Roman Catholic priest and environmental theologian who died in June, date from the 1970s to Berry's final pieces. The earliest essays still present relevant challenges to Christian and other religious thinkers to reinterpret their own traditions in a global context and in relation to one another. Throughout, Berry describes an alienation from Earth and its functioning, especially in Western societies. We know of the physical world through our quantitative measurements and we know of God through our scriptures, theologies, and religious traditions, but we've lost the wonder of direct experience of the natural world. Without an understanding of the entire world as sacred, Berry believes that we are doomed. Berry particularly faults biblical linear history and the biblical call for human dominance of creation as helping establish the reductionist concept of Earth as simply a collection of "natural resources." VERDICT Because Berry delivers a consistent message throughout, general readers might be better served by reading these essays within a broader collection. But dedicated readers of ecology, theology, or religious philosophy will want to savor each one here.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids Widely perceived as the founder of Christianity and an enduringly controversial figure, Paul is often seen today by the church as a conservative icon. But many others see him as an offensive figure, given his views on women, homosexuality, and slavery. Borg and Crossan paint a different picture of the apostle. In this scholarly and engaging account, Paul is situated firmly in his first-century context and portrayed against the backdrop of history as a revolutionary figure who chose the way of Jesus as a countercultural alternative over the way of the Roman empire. Through the lens of history, Borg and Crossan transform Paul's theology into a mystical experience with the risen Jesus and a reimagined form of Judaism that bears little resemblance to the modern stereotypes that often surround him. Borg and Crossan successfully argue that we must separate the genuine writings of the apostle from the writings attributed to him, which were in essence reactionary attempts to conceal Paul's radicalism to a later generation living comfortably in the midst of Roman imperial culture. VERDICT This well-researched and highly readable account is recommended for all students of Paul as well as interested lay readers.—Brian Greene, Northeastern Univ., Boston While the diatribes of the "new atheists"—Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and company—have made headlines in recent years, Wright (The Moral Animal, Nonzero) takes a decidedly more friendly approach to human religiousness. Although he shares their materialist, naturalist assumptions, he argues that over time human notions of God have "gotten closer to moral and spiritual truth….Religion hasn't just evolved, it has matured." Making the best recent scholarship accessible to the general reader, Wright follows the historical trajectory from polytheism through monolatry (worship of one god among many) to monotheism, focusing primarily on the evolving vision of God in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an, and ending with a discussion of religion's place in human evolution. In his focus on scriptures, Wright avoids the philosophical terrain covered more intently in Karen Armstrong's The History of God and The Great Transformation. VERDICT Wright's approach will appeal to a broad range of readers turned off by the "either/or" choice between dogmatic atheism and religious traditionalism. Recommended for all readers engaged in consideration of our notions of God.—Steve Young, McHenry Cty. Coll., Crystal Lake, IL Sports & Recreation In golf, the dreaded appellation is "the best golfer never to have won a major." For Michell Wie, not yet 20 years old, this can be "the best golfer never to have won a tournament." Adelson, a senior writer for ESPN's The Magazine, has followed Wie's career and chronicled her high and low points. She was to be the next Tiger Woods. Certainly it was not for lack of support: she had a good coach, a good caddy, and overarching parental involvement. Wie is also smart, photogenic, and likable. But golf is competitive, and Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel, Wie's contemporaries, never got the memo that the future was to be Wie's alone. What is clear is that Wie may never fulfill her dream: to compete with the men at Augusta. The real value of Adelson's work is the portrayal of how such parental involvement may prove to be more detrimental than beneficial. VERDICT Golf is a lifelong sport and youthful talent is an advantage but not a sure thing. The greatest beneficiaries of this book will be beleaguered coaches who often deal with parents who have unrealistic expectations.—Steven Silkunas, North Wales, PA The amazing older individuals Bergquist, a Milwaukee journalist, introduces in Second Wind are outliers but nonetheless inspirational. What else can be said about, to name a few, a man who has finished 42 full marathons since turning 85, a former Olympian who has set 292 national and 93 world age-group swimming records from her fifties through seventies, or an award-winning bodybuilder who is still ripped at over age 70? Some are former athletes who returned to their sports; some are not. Some have been blessed with extraordinarily good health; others have battled through cancer, heart disease, and other ills. If they share one commonality, it's the fire in the belly to chase perfection as long as they draw breath. VERDICT We might not run every single day for 38 years and five days, not taking a day of rest until our 68th birthday, like Bob Ray, but these athletes' stories should warm the cockles of the hearts of baby boomers who want proof that we never have to grow old. Recommended for all potential ageless atheletes, present and future.—Jim Burns, Jacksonville P.L., FL
Maillet, Arnaud. The Claude Glass: Use and Meaning of the Black Mirror in Western Art. Zone, dist. by MIT. 2009. 295p. tr. from French by Jeff Fort. photogs. index. ISBN 978-1-890951-48-1. pap. $21.95. FINE ARTS
Kiberd, Declan. Ulysses and Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce's Masterpiece. Norton. Sept. 2009. c.416p. index. ISBN 978-0-393-07099-6. $28.95. LIT
Moeller, Hans-Georg. The Moral Fool: A Case for Amorality. Columbia Univ. 2009. c.160p. illus. ISBN 978-0-231-14508-4. $79.50; pap. ISBN 978-0-231-14509-1. $24.50. PHIL
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