2002 Book Reviews

Accordion Crimes	All Over but the Shoutin'	The Amazing ... Kavalier and Clay
Animal Farm	Annie John	Atonement
Austerlitz	Austin City Blue	The Autobiography of My Mother
Basket Case	Bedlam Burning	Bel Canto
A Bend in the Road	The Best of Coffee	The Black Monk ...
The Blind Assassin	Bread Givers	The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare	Cats	The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel
Complete Book of Mexican Cooking	The Corrections	Creative Paper Folding
Cry of the Peacock	The Death and Life ... American Cities	Death on the River Walk
Diary of a Madman	The Dive from Clausen's Pier	Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight
Down and Out in Paris and London	Driving Over Lemons	The Early Stories of Chekhov
Eleanor of Aquitaine	Empire Falls	The Essential John Nash
The Eyre Affair	Faking It	Fall on Your Knees
The Family	Feersum Endjinn	Fine Marble in Architecture
More Reviews by Title (G-M)	More Reviews by Title (N-Z)

Among the Best I've Ever Read	Very, Very Good	A Good Read	OK	Don't Bother

Accordion Crimes  E. Annie Proulx
This is a quick read book. It is about an accordion and its various owners, each owner having his or her own chapter. Much like The Red Violin or Girl in Hyacinth Blue, but not as well done.      In Accordion Crimes, there is no love bestowed on the characters. They are either stupid, sleazy, overly depressed, or bigoted people doomed to be treated without dignity because of their ethnicity or the stupidity of their parents. It is a different version of America, where there is no opportunity, where money is acquired immorally or illegally -- like the money the Mexican American puts in the accordion and that sits there through several owners, none of whom seem to deserve it.      The politics and history in the book feel a little too forced. This is perhaps because the events are told from the third person so there is always the feeling that the narrator is scornfully looking down on the characters.
Read an Excerpt        Annie Proulx	MG
All Over but the Shoutin'  Rick Bragg
Bragg is a New York Times writer who wants to pay his respects to his mother and her struggles to provide a better life for her sons. I respect his good intentions. But this book reads like Angela's Ashes transported to the deep South. The whole story seemed derivative. Maybe my criticisms are less directed to the inferiority of Bragg's book and more indicative of a renewed appreciation for McCourt's memoir.
Read an Excerpt        A Conversation with Rick Bragg	KJ
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay  Michael Chabon
This reads like a comic book. Both the plot and the content focus on comic book style and comic book history. The author clearly loves the genre, the art, and the history which are well integrated into the novel (fictional) format.      The plot takes place in NYC just before WWII. The 2 main characters are cousins, one of whom has escaped Czechoslovakia, his home country, but without his family. The other is a native Brooklynite. They break into the comic business as a duo artist and writer. But their lives are straight soap opera/comic book plot. To the point where one can visualize what the comic rendering of their story would look like.      It is very well done, but not to my personal taste. But I did like the beginning of the story which takes place in Prague. It was touching and bittersweet.
Read an Excerpt        Michael Chabon	MG
Animal Farm  George Orwell
It is a fantastic book that I would recommend if you want to know something about socialism, revolution or communist party. Since I come from a socialist contry, I can tell you what happened is exactly as described in the book.
George Orwell (Bohemian Ink)
Annie John  Jamaica Kincaid
I believe this is the first published work of Ms. Kincaid's, and more autobiographical than the others. The main character (narrator) lives in the West Indies (Antigua) and has a happy childhood filled with love and success in school. I can't say it is as interesting as the later stories. Could it be that we prefer to read about unhappiness and misfortune?
Read an Excerpt        Interview (Marilyn Snell, Mother Jones)	MG
Atonement  Ian McEwan
McEwan's latest novel is flawed but worthy of consideration. A young girl's misperception becomes a lie that destroys many lives. McEwan's usually spare style is here fleshed out. This was a much more substantial novel than his previous work (say, Amsterdam), even as its execution sometimes failed to meet its aspirations. This would be a good choice for a book group -- provides for much discussion.
Read an Excerpt        Ian McEwan (Guardian Unlimited)	KJ
Austerlitz  W. G. Sebald
Interesting concept and some beautiful passages. But one of those books you keep setting down and not feeling any eagerness to finish
Read an Excerpt        The Last Word (Guardian Unlimited)
Austin City Blue  Jan Grape
Austin City Blue is basically a mystery story of a female police officer in Austin, Texas who shoots and kills a young man holding another policewoman hostage. The situation gets complicated when it is found that the dead man happens to be the man who shot the female police officer's husband 8 months ago and put him in an indefinite coma. The story is interesting, and there is a lot of information about the realities of being a police officer in these times. The book was written in 2001. There are 24 chapters in the book and before each chapter is a paragraph of some interesting compilation or excerpt about Austin or someplace in Texas. (A mixture of fact and fiction...)
Read an Excerpt        Jan Grape	Lee Moody
The Autobiography of My Mother  Jamaica Kincaid
This book is great! The narrator comes across as very forceful. The style is superb: "I did not love her, she did not love me. ..." And there is plot but it feels very dry - there is no embellishment, or joie de vie, but then again that is part of the point, part of the style. The plot involves a girl who grows up unloved and whose first memorable act is an abortion of her unwanted child. Her purpose in life seems to be defiance.      There is a sense of a conquered people, of subjugated women, of people living without love. The main character, the narrator, while feeling herself a victim, comes off strong, making decisions about her life that I would describe not as victim but as a conqueror of herself, of others, of her circumstances. Showing that those two possibilities: oppressed and oppressor are two sides of the same coin. A very impressive book.
Read an Excerpt        Jamaica Kincaid (Salon Interview)	MG
Basket Case  Carl Hiaasen
Great storyteller. Our family devours his books. His sleazy characters are always over the top, but believable in the steamy, seamy Florida settings. This was fun, as he introduced new characters.
Read an Excerpt        Carl Hiaasen
Bedlam Burning  Geoff Nicholson
The story opens with two Cambridge University 1970s graduates, one a writer, Gregory Collins, and the other: Michael (Mike) Smith, a restless shop assistant for a London rare book dealer. Enter Dr. John Bentley, a don and Director of Studies. His book-burning party brings together various participants. After Gregory and Mike meet one another, Gregory reveals the coming publication of his novel, The Wax Man. Since Gregory protests that he is not photogenic, he persuades Mike to use his photo on the book jacket and to review it at Ruth Harris's cramped old bookshop, before a small audience including an Alicia Crowe. She invites Mike (alias Gregory) to become writer-in-residence at Dr. James Kincaid's mental asylum of some ten inmates (better known as patients today). Mike's rude awakening and strange orientation to his new environment are both hilarious and serious. Mike resourcefully relates to his new acquaintances and distinguishes each of their personalities as human beings. Finally, Gregory is introduced to the asylum. Mike reveals his real name in the ensuing events. The author clears away old theories and experiments used by Dr. Kincaid. Fortunately, psychotropic drugs have raised the dignity, self-esteem and mental health of those afflicted with illness of this nature.
Geoff Nicholson (The Complete Review)	Therese Critchlow
Bel Canto  Ann Patchett
Loved this book. Based on a true story, a diplomatic party is taken hostage by guerillas in South America. The dynamics within the two groups and the resolution are well done.
Read an Excerpt        Ann Patchett
A Bend in the Road  Nicholas Sparks
Beach book: Deputy Sheriff Miles Ryans lives with his son and mourns his wife, whom he knew since childhood and who was killed in a hit and run accident. Sarah Andrews is trying to recover from an unexpected divorce and moves to NC from Baltimore to be near her parents and to take a job as a 2nd grade teacher. They meet because Miles' son is in Sarah's class.      An interesting yet predictable plot makes this book a quick enjoyable read.
Read an Excerpt        Nicholas Sparks (bookreporter.com)	Jenny Mischner
The Best of Coffee  Sandra Gluck
A cookbook of recipes, all using coffee, beautifully photographed! Each dish is named and then described in detail before the ingredients are listed and then the instructions. For example: "Mud Pie   This pie has a symphony of textures: a crisp, crunchy chocolate piecrust, creamy, smooth coffee ice cream, and light, airy whipped cream. Serve it with warm Mocha Fudge Sauce (p 66)." Also included is a glossary with descriptions of coffee-related terms including various international coffees (e.g., Mexican coffee: Coffee that is brewed with cinnamon and brown sugar, mixed with cocoa, and served hot, topped with whipped cream).
Read an Excerpt	Lee Moody
The Black Monk and Other Stories  Anton Chekhov
This is an audio recording that the library has. "The Black Monk" is about a successful man who is a genius but it becomes clear that his genius and his increasing plunge into madness are tied together. Treating the madness makes him become mediocre in his talent. This story is reminicent of "A Beautiful Mind" but differs in its details. Chekhov's fictional account of such a realistic plight is amazing in its understanding of human nature.      "Gooseberries" is another of the stories. It is very political, giving an idea of the historical setting in Russia between the time of Emancipation (freedom for the serfs) and the Soviet revolution.      The last story is called "The Peasants" which is about a family's fall to financial ruin as the father becomes unemployed and loses his health. It is also about the lives of the peasants living in poverty, hunger, bad health, and oppression. It is told in a very touching way.
Anton Chekhov	MG
The Blind Assassin  Margaret Atwood
This is the story of two sisters, a rivalry, and the infamy that attaches to a novelist who dies young. Atwood weaves together the stories and perspectives of two characters, and draws the reader into a complex plot. Although the denouement is no surprise, it is still a satisfying conclusion to a good story. I liked this so much that I was motivated to pick up Atwood's Alias Grace, her previous novel. The Blind Assassin is by far the better book.
Read an Excerpt        Margaret Atwood	KJ
Bread Givers  Anzia Yezierska
Well-drawn picture of an immigrant family in New York. Distressing details of a traditional Jewish patriarch who insisted on absolute domination and of the author's survival as an individual.
Anzia Yezierska (Bedford / St. Martin's)        Anzia Yezierska (Jewish Virtual Library)
The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup  Susan Orlean
This is a collection of essays that appeared in The New Yorker magazine. Orlean profiled several individuals who did interesting work. Some of the profiles are captivating, filled with intriguing details and written with style. Others fall flat. Perhaps a reminder that a writer is only as good as her subject matter.
Read an Excerpt        Susan Orlean (BookPage Interview)	KJ
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare  Lilian Jackson Braun
Early days in Qwill and the cats' stay in Moose County. Local characters are introduced and die off. Clever story, though a bit formulaic. Entertaining, as usual.
Read an Excerpt        A Portrait of the Artist (Unofficial Fan Page)
Cats  Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Beautifully photographed cats in France. Test is interesting as a contrast to the U.S., but this is a book for the pictures.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Collected Stories  Isaac Babel
I decided to read this book because of a short story of the author's that I had read and liked. The introduction gave me further reason to be interested. Babel was born at the same time (1890s) and in the same area of the world (Odessa) as my grandfather, and they were both Jewish, so reading these stories felt like a chance to look into that world.      The book is divided into different categories of stories. The first bunch are called the Red Cavalry stories. These war stories tell of the days Babel served as a soldier in the Soviet army with Cossacks. He writes of other soldiers' stories, of their history, their brutality, their theft, their kindness, their horsemenship, their anti-Semitism. But he writes of them as if they were of a different culture than he is, and in doing so makes the reader feel more kinship with him.      The second set of stories is about life in Odessa when he was a boy including a pogrom in 1905 in which his father's store was looted and his grandfather killed while the army stood by. This section also contains humorous stories of the Jewish mafia in Odessa which are very well done.
Isaac Babel (Books and Writers)	MG
The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking  Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz
Older Mexican cookbook, but still good recipes and ideas -- especially the soup section. My family loves the tortilla balls.
Read an Excerpt        James Beard ... Book Awards
The Corrections  Jonathan Franzen
Though friends raved about this book and recommended it highly, I found it disappointing. Well-done portrait of a dysfunctional family, but it was far too wordy. Everything and everyone seemed exaggerated.
Read an Excerpt        Jonathan Franzen
Creative Paper Folding  Mickey Baskett
Beautifully photographed with good diagrams, this book offers nice applications of origami. We especially enjoyed the sections on cards and envelopes.
Cry of the Peacock  Gina Nahai
A surreal history of the Jews in Persia told through the eyes of one character over several generations. Interweaves folklore and history, but very sprawling
Alumni Interviews: Gina Nahai (USC)
The Death and Life of Great American Cities  Jane Jacobs
This book was written in 1961 to attack the failures of "urban renewal" and of conventional city planning. Painting a convincing picture of lively cities at their best, Jacobs argues that such vital neighborhoods cannot be imposed from without, but can (and should) be encouraged to grow. This book started many of the ideas now commonly cited in city planning.
	Todd Brun
Death on the River Walk  Carolyn Hart
The book is about a family-run art gallery on the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. The mystery is well done; the descriptions of both San Antonio and of the River Walk are good and true. It was a fun tale to read.
Read an Excerpt        Carolyn Hart	Lee Moody
Diary of a Madman  Nikolai Gogol
This book is a short story collection. The first one is well done and very modern. If you changed the quills for printer paper, it could have been written in the last decade instead of centuries ago.      The stories, however, get weirder and weirder. In the second story a man wakes up to find his nose is not only missing but is walking around as if the nose is a person. Much Freudian interpretation has been done with that story.      Another is about a man who has saved for months to buy a new overcoat. The premise of the story is excusable given that it takes place in Russia. I suppose an equivalent plot for New Jersians would turn the overcoat into a car. But it is so tragic, that it's hard to read to the end.
Read an Excerpt        Nikolai Gogol (Books and Writers)	MG
The Dive from Clausen's Pier  Ann Packer
Carrie Bell, engaged to her HS/college sweetheart, has been questioning her life in Wisconsin and her lifelong friendships with Jamie, Rooster and the gang. At their usual Memorial Day picnic, fiancee Mike Mayer dives from a pier and after being in a coma for weeks, wakes to find himself a quadraplegic. Carrie is loyal but stressed by the situation and shuts her mother and friends out while trying to decide what she wants to do. Chance encounters with a HS acquaintance and the friend of a work colleague, both living in NYC, influence Carrie to decide to drive east, with clothes and her sewing machine. In NYC she finds a place to stay with one and a place in the heart of another, as well as an outlet for her sewing and design creativity at Parsons. But a phone call from best friend Jamie back in Madison causes Carrie to question her actions. This would be a good discussion book for a book group, especially since it is a quick read.
Read an Excerpt        Ann Packer Interview (Beatrice.com)	Jenny Mischner
Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight  Alexandra Fuller
An autobiographical portrait of the harshness of living in Africa. Environmental and political atrocities are experienced by the reader through Fuller's wonderful use of language and description, evoking all of the sensual aspects of African realities.
Read an Excerpt        Alexandra Fuller (Guardian Unlimited)	Briget Sacke
Down and Out in Paris and London  George Orwell
This should be read by anyone with a romantic notion of poverty and by anyone who regularly eats in restaurants. Orwell's experiences among the hard-working poor happened long ago, but they certainly have modern analogs. His descriptions of the dirt, grime, and sweat behind a sparkling hotel dining room should give us pause. Luxury comes at a price, and the price is paid by the invisible workers behind the screens.
Read an Excerpt        George Orwell	KJ
Driving Over Lemons  Chris Stewart
Stewart buys a ramshackle farm in Andalusia. His very patient wife joins him in the difficult tasks of home renovation and land reclamation. Although the locals are warmly caricatured, the tales Stewart tells inspire visits to Southern Spain. I liked this better than similar books by Frances Mayes (Tuscany) and Peter Mayle (Provence).
Read an Excerpt        A Conversation with Chris Stewart	KJ
The Early Stories  Anton Chekhov
What a wonderful writer! Such well drawn stories that include a wife contemplating adultery, a son who needs money from his father, a description of an animal market, two old men chatting about hidden treasure and what would make them happy while a little boy listens and imagines adventures, an unhappy youth who has a crush on an older woman, the visit of a relative that everyone looks forward to only to discover that he is not so much fun to have around, the unwanted gift that gets passed around, the mother whose child is dying, the patient who has been brought to the doctor too late, and many many more.      Each one is as good as the one before. Each one stills holds meaning today. Why is it that we know Chekhov for his plays -- his stories are every bit classics. And recently the library acquired a new 3-volume set of all his short stories.
Anton Chekhov	MG
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life  Alison Weir
Eleanor of Aquitaine led a full and fascinating life. Queen of both France and England (serially) and mother of two Kings of England, Eleanor was an influential person in her own right. Fans of the film The Lion in Winter or of Amy Kelly's biography may be influenced by the good reviews of Weir's book and pick it up. That would be a mistake. Weir packs her pages with facts and figures. She mistakes quantity of detail for quality of narrative. In the process, she saps the interest right out of the subject. Eleanor deserves better.
Read an Excerpt	KJ
Empire Falls  Richard Russo
Miles Roby, in his forties, divorced, principal character, introduces the reader to a small, dying Maine town, Empire Falls. Francine Whiting, widow and dominant member of the dynastic Whiting family, is in a strange relationship with Miles. He left college to care for his devout Catholic mother dying from cancer, and runs the local hamburger restaurant for Francine.      He still goes to Mass and sees God as all-loving instead of all-knowing. With this in mind, he paints the dilapidated Catholic church for free. His sense of moral duty was instilled by his love affair with Mrs. Whiting's long-dead husband.      There is Tick, Miles' bright sixteen-year-old daughter in the throes of adolescence.      All the characters remain static, in the novel, as they do not wish to move on. The thread of the story is interrupted with narratives of the inhabitants' earlier lives. This may be an annoyance to some readers.
Read an Excerpt        Richard Russo's Working Arrangements	Therese Critchlow
The Essential John Nash  Edited by Harold Kuhn and Sylvia Nasar
This is an excellent book if you want a good idea of the work that made John Nash one of the most famous mathematicians of our day. It is not really suitable for those without a good knowledge of mathematics, though. While Nash's papers are surprisingly readable for academic publications, they still demand considerable mathematical sophistication from their readers.
Read an Excerpt (Another)        John Nash (Nobel e-Museum)	Todd Brun
The Eyre Affair  Jasper Fforde
First Review:
If you like English literature, you'll enjoy this unique, witty detective novel. The story is clever and the writing is strong and clear.
	Briget Sacke
Second Review:
This book is a thriller in the James Bond style with a difference -- history is somewhat different AND a few people can time change AND some can go in and out of novels. One of those would have made the book interesting; 3 makes it zany!      Our heroine is Thursday Next and her mission is to stop a villain who is taking characters out of famous British novels. One of my favorite scenes is where the heroine and her date go to see a Richard III production a la Rocky Horror Picture Show style with a groupie audience!      An amusing subplot in the book is the heroine's father who pops in and out of her time making comments about how he has revised history to be more in keeping with what we know. But I won't give any examples -- more fun to read it for oneself. OK, well, one example -- bananas!
Read an Excerpt        Jasper Fforde	MG
Faking It  Jennifer Crusie
Jennifer Crusie's latest novel features Davy Dempsey, the con-man brother of the heroine from Welcome to Temptation, and his romance with Tilda Goodnight, a painter and former art forger. Both of them are struggling to go straight while putting their pasts behind them. The beginning didn't grip me the way a Crusie novel usually does; but after getting to know and like the characters, I found the novel both enjoyable and funny.
Read an Excerpt        Jennifer Crusie	Todd Brun
Fall on Your Knees  Ann-Marie MacDonald
Each incident is told from almost every character's point of view. The book begins well -- there is mystery and drama in a Gothic sense and relating disturbing details. The middle of the book is uneventful and repetetive. The end of the book picks up again, but doesn't do justice to the book's 508 pages. The book is well written but too long and quite disturbing.
Read an Excerpt        Author Interview (Oprah's Book Club)	Briget Sacke
The Family  Mario Puzo
Disappointing historical fiction from the expert on the Mafia. Despite the sensationalism of the scenes of incest, the Borgias turn out to be a lot less fascinating than the Corleones. I decided it wasn't worth finishing.
Read an Excerpt        Salon People: Mario Puzo	Jane Delaney-Coda
Feersum Endjinn  Iain M. Banks
A science fiction novel from Iain M. Banks? You know it has to be weird and wacky, with strange characters and a bizarre background world. The world of this novel is weirder than most, though the book isn't nearly as traumatic as many Banks novels. The story is told from the point of view of several different characters, their relationships only becoming evident near the end.
Read an Excerpt        Iain Banks (Guardian Unlimited)	Todd Brun
Fine Marble in Architecture  Frederick Bradley
This book was printed in Italy. If you are interested in learning about marble for curiosity or for use or if you travel and want to be more aware of what you are looking at, this is the book for you. The book is divided into 3 parts: background; approximately 50 fine marbles; and a portfolio of built works. The background includes terminology and classification, history of use, and working with and using premium marble. The approximately 50 marbles each have a full-page beautiful photograph and a page of details on the product. The portfolio of built works are beautiful photographs from buildings and places around the world. Also included is a CD-ROM (PC or MAC) with nearly 50 screen-resolution TIFF images of the marble samples. It is a gem of a book and presentation!
	Lee Moody

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