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Howard Shirley

YA FictionYA

A rollicking return to Redwall

Review by Howard Shirley

Ring the bells of Redwall Abbey—there’s another chronicle of Mossflower Wood! For those not familiar with the series, the Redwall novels are set in a fantasy world inhabited by intelligent mice, hares, shrews and more. Each tale almost invariably involves a conflict between “good” animals and various evil “vermin”—rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets and so on. It’s a formula that fans adore, which Jacques has great talent for exploring in surprising variety.

The Sable Quean begins with an evil plot by the self-proclaimed “Sable Quean,” a black-furred weasel name Vilaya. Rather than storm the well-protected abbey, Vilaya sends her lieutenant, the vicious weasel Zwilt the Shade, to kidnap the “dibbuns” (or children) of Redwall Abbey. Her scheme is to ransom the children for control of Redwall, thereby capturing the entire realm without a fight. But Vilaya does not expect the arrival of Blademaster Buckler Kordyne and his friend Diggs, two soldier hares sent to Redwall with a gift for the current abbess. Naturally, the two heroes discover the plot, and set out to rescue the missing little ones—who are already proving that capturing the “dibbuns” is an entirely different thing from keeping them captive.

The Sable Quean stands on its own; you need not have read the series to jump into this one. Redwall lovers will delight in little tidbits from the other books woven throughout, while newcomers may have their appetites whetted for more. Jacques peppers his stories with unusual characters, and this is no exception, from the first ever “warrior mole” to an insane hedgehog. Some readers may find his dialects a challenge (mole speech is particularly obscure), and the frequent poetry tends to interrupt the action, though Redwall fans will likely enjoy these bits of woodland culture. Typical of the series, there’s not a lot of subtlety—the villains’ motivations are rudimentary at best—nor is there much character growth. But there’s plenty of adventure with engaging plot twists, as well as likable characters to delight fantasy fans young and old. In the end, The Sable Quean is an enjoyable addition to a popular series, and a treat for Redwallers everywhere.

Howard Shirley is a children’s writer and lifelong fantasy reader. You can visit his website at www.howardshirleywriter.com.

Ring the bells of Redwall Abbey—there’s another chronicle of Mossflower Wood! For those not familiar with the series, the Redwall novels are set in a fantasy world inhabited by intelligent mice, hares, shrews and more. Each tale almost invariably involves a conflict between “good” animals and various evil “vermin”—rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets and so on. […]
YA FictionYA

Another great ride with the teenage James Bond

Review by Howard Shirley

When the world is threatened by a diabolical madman, the British Secret Service knows the name to call—Alex. Alex Rider. (What, you were expecting someone else?) The teenage super spy from Stormbringer and Snakehead is back to save the day in Crocodile Tears, the eighth installment in the popular action series from Anthony Horowitz. If you’re not familiar with the series, just think “James Bond in sneakers.” (At one point Horowitz even dresses the hero in a tuxedo and black tennis shoes.) Alex Rider is a perfectly normal British teenager, except that he’s been unknowingly trained as a spy by his uncle, an agent of MI6 (the British equivalent of the CIA). When his uncle is murdered in the first novel, Alex is recruited by the agency for both his talents and his age—because who would suspect a 14-year-old of being a spy?

By the time of Crocodile Tears, however, Alex is weary of the spy business. He just wants to be a regular schoolboy and spend time with his girlfriend, Sabina. He’s told MI6 and Sabina that he’s out for good. But when someone tries to kill Alex, Sabina and her father, Alex is swept back into action. In short order, Alex is infiltrating the laboratory of a bio-geneticist with a fascination for poisons and running afoul of a disaster-relief charity, and a penchant for showing up just a little too quickly after devastating industrial “accidents.”

As in the other books, the action is nonstop, the villains suitably villainous and the gadgets are just the sort of things any reader would love to get his or her hands on (what schoolboy wouldn’t want an exploding pen?). Horowitz’s background as a screenwriter is evident—it’s easy to imagine the tale as a blockbuster movie with exotic locales, explosions and death-defying stunts. And as always, Alex is both fully believable and easy to root for. Whether you’re already a fan of the series, or just jumping into the action, Crocodile Tears is another great ride.

Howard Shirley is a children’s writer living in Franklin, Tennessee. Visit his website at www.howardshirleywriter.com.

When the world is threatened by a diabolical madman, the British Secret Service knows the name to call—Alex. Alex Rider. (What, you were expecting someone else?) The teenage super spy from Stormbringer and Snakehead is back to save the day in Crocodile Tears, the eighth installment in the popular action series from Anthony Horowitz. If […]
HistoryAmerican History

Lessons learned from the secrets of the past

Review by Howard Shirley

“For want of a nail,” begins the old fable about small actions with disastrous consequences. How much worse are the results when the actions are not small to begin with? The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, brings that very question to American history, particularly the last great push of American imperialism at the start of the twentieth century. Bradley presents a tale of a United States steeped in an expansionist myth that Anglo-Saxon “civilization” was destined to dominate all lesser cultures and races, and that the white American race was called “to follow the Sun” to bring that same civilization across the Pacific to Asia, just as their British ancestors brought it across the Atlantic. That other races and cultures might already consider themselves civilized, or might not want the “benefits” of Anglo-Saxon culture, was unconsidered, even unfathomable to the American leaders of the day. At the top of that list of leaders, Bradley asserts, was Theodore Roosevelt.

The titular cruise was a “grand tour” of Pacific Asia undertaken by Alice Roosevelt, Teddy’s popular eldest daughter, under the chaperonage of then-Secretary of War William Taft. Seen mostly as a publicity stunt and a celebration of America’s supposedly benevolent conquest of the Philippines, Bradley reveals how the cruise served as a cover for secret, possibly unconstitutional diplomatic meetings with Imperial Japan on the part of Taft. Unfortunately, as Bradley reveals, it should have also served as a warning on how misguided that diplomacy was—indeed, how poorly the Americans understood the cultures and governments they were dealing with, and how little thought Roosevelt and Taft gave to the possible results of their efforts.

With each port of call, Bradley examines the history and policy that made each significant, both to America at large and to Roosevelt himself. From the greedy takeover of Hawaii to the brutal subjugation of the Philippines to diplomatic blunders in China and Korea, Bradley uses each stop to expose how readily American ideals fell away under the twin impulses of imperialism and racism. Along the way, Bradley examines Roosevelt’s personal character, the beliefs that motivated him and the ways in which he acted to control the public’s perception of him and exaggerate his personal and public exploits. What results is a far cry from the glorious, fun-loving, can-do leader carved into Mount Rushmore. Bradley’s Teddy is more of an egomaniac and short-sighted bully than visionary leader, and his racial politics are particularly repulsive to modern eyes.

This is not an easy book to read; the list of abuses fostered by American policy and militarism at the time range from racial massacres to officially sanctioned rape. Most would be treated today as war crimes of the worst sort. For readers used to glorious depictions of American progress, this book will be uncomfortable, to say the least.

And it is not without flaws: Bradley’s eagerness to expose and denounce Roosevelt’s character and American excesses becomes quickly pronounced. In asserting that Theodore Roosevelt’s policies and secret diplomacy were directly responsible for Japanese imperialism in Asia, Bradley goes so far as to lay the blame for World War II solely at Teddy’s feet. Indeed, Bradley writes as if the Japanese government had no culpability for any of its choices during the war, and only took action because of someone who’d been dead for over thirty years—an eyebrow-raising conclusion indeed.

Still, Bradley does an effective and important job of skewering the myth of Teddy, exposing the racism and classism which guided the president’s philosophy, politics and policies. Likewise, the American atrocities in the Philippines under McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft deserve to be exposed, as does Roosevelt’s poor faith with regards to Korea, his blinders towards Japanese ambitions and his failure to see past his own racism to recognize the value (and even superiority) in the cultures and peoples he sought to “civilize.” In these respects, The Imperial Cruise is an important contribution to a realistic understanding of America’s history, good and bad, and the views that other cultures, particularly in Asia, hold toward the United States. It also serves as a powerful reminder that the course we choose today is influenced by choices made long before, and will have its own influence, for good and ill, on the world that comes after us. We ignore such lessons at our own peril.

Howard Shirley is a writer from Franklin, Tennessee.

“For want of a nail,” begins the old fable about small actions with disastrous consequences. How much worse are the results when the actions are not small to begin with? The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, brings that very question to American […]
Military HistoryHistory

Eight battles that changed history

Review by Howard Shirley

Originally published in the United Kingdom as a companion to a BBC television series, this informative history covers eight battles, stretching from World War I to the first Gulf War. Father-son authors Peter and Dan Snow have chosen battles based on both interest and significance, whether in terms of military developments or political impact.

The title, 20th Century Battlefields, could be considered a bit of a misnomer, since this is not a guide to battlefields, but rather to the actual battles themselves. In three cases the “battlefields” encompass entire wars, albeit brief ones (the Yom Kippur War, the Falklands War and Desert Storm). Also included are Midway and Stalingrad from World War II, and battles from the Korean and Vietnam wars.

The Snows offer an insightful examination of changing military technology and tactics. They also delve into the events leading up to each battle, as well as the progress of the fight and the aftermath, revealing how even seemingly minor conflicts have influenced world events in crucial ways. The book includes basic maps of the various actions as well as photos from each of the wars covered. The Snows’ book is a highly readable and entertaining compilation, of special interest to military history buffs, as well as those who fought in the battles and their descendants.

Howard Shirley is a writer in Franklin, Tennessee.

Originally published in the United Kingdom as a companion to a BBC television series, this informative history covers eight battles, stretching from World War I to the first Gulf War. Father-son authors Peter and Dan Snow have chosen battles based on both interest and significance, whether in terms of military developments or political impact. The […]
Military HistoryHistory

Saving Europe’s greatest treasures

Review by Howard Shirley

From 1939 through the last months of the war, the Nazi army seized priceless paintings, sculptures, tapestries and more, from museums, palaces, cathedrals, private homes, even tiny chapels—the Nazis plundered everything, carting off the cultural history of every nation they entered.

But just as the Allied Forces fought to save the Western world, others fought to save Western Civilization. They were “the Monuments Men,” a handful of soldiers given a unique assignment: to preserve the cultural soul of Europe by protecting Europe’s art. Robert M. Edsel’s masterful book The Monuments Men shares their story, in a tale that is part history, part war story and part treasure hunt. Undermanned, undersupplied and with virtually no authority, the Monuments Men (and women) faced bullets, bombs and Nazi booby traps to rescue works by Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Vermeer, Michelangelo and more.

Edsel and his co-author, Bret Witter, have crafted an account that moves like a Hollywood action adventure, with scenes ranging from a peasant’s cottage in the middle of an artillery battle, to the depths of an ancient salt mine. There are heroes to root for, villains to hiss at and an increasingly pressing race against time as the Nazis, in a last vicious act of defiance, set about to destroy the art rather than give it up.

Edsel and Witter interviewed the few surviving Monuments Men, examined family letters and even Nazi archives in their research. Whether you’re a fan of art, military history or stories of real-life heroes, The Monuments Men is a treasure worth the hunt.

Howard Shirley is a writer in Franklin, Tennessee.

From 1939 through the last months of the war, the Nazi army seized priceless paintings, sculptures, tapestries and more, from museums, palaces, cathedrals, private homes, even tiny chapels—the Nazis plundered everything, carting off the cultural history of every nation they entered. But just as the Allied Forces fought to save the Western world, others fought […]

The Romantic era, an age of science and literature

Review by Howard Shirley

In 1769, a young Englishman named Joseph Banks arrived on the island of Tahiti, serving as the official botanist of the HMS Endeavour under the command of Lt. James Cook. Banks was wealthy—he had entirely funded his presence on the ship himself, along with several assistants and their equipment—as well as highly intelligent, well educated and enormously curious. He was, in a single person, the embodiment of a rising new breed of “natural philosopher,” the gentleman of science, out to study nature in intimate detail, not only by thinking about it but by experiencing it.

Botanist he may have officially been, but Banks’ study went far further, into the nature of the island and the culture of its people, collecting thousands of specimens ranging from plants to Polynesian clothing and tools. He was welcomed back to England as a celebrity, becoming a friend and advisor to King George III, and the rising star of science. Banks was, author Richard Holmes suggests, a Romantic hero, the first of many who would change Europe’s perception of science, nature and the very universe—a change historian Richard Holmes calls “the Age of Wonder,” the title of his latest book.

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science is Holmes’ study of that change in perceptions, which sent ripples across everything from literature to industry to religion. It was a change firmly rooted in startling discoveries in science that rapidly began to appear, guided by a change from science as a mental exercise of philosophy to active experimentation and observation. It was also a change that cut through the social layers which had largely relegated scientific philosophy to the wealthy gentility, to the point that the greatest astronomer of the age would turn out to be an immigrant German musician (William Herschel), the greatest chemist was the son of a Welsh ne’er-do-well (Humphry Davy), and a whole new branch of study—electromagnetism—would be founded by the son of a blacksmith (Michael Faraday). All these figures appear as characters in Holmes’ fascinating work, along with poets, novelists, explorers, aristocrats and even balloonists.

Holmes shares how the new developments in astronomy, chemistry and the new science of geology spurred popular fascination with science, both its possibilities for good and abuse, with the language, ideas and ethics of science and scientists appearing in poems by Coleridge, Keats, Byron and Shelley and, on the darker side, novels such as Mary Shelley’s classic tale of science gone wrong, Frankenstein.

Like the polymath intellectuals of the times, The Age of Wonder reaches across multiple themes and disciplines, combining biography with the history of science, literature and even social change. Holmes’ biographical accounts carry the reader through the book, each figure serving as a new torchbearer in the progression of science in the age—and each figure also bringing new questions as that same science slowly reveals a universe far vaster and stranger than the easily defined world of the old philosophy. The Age of Wonder is a book about discovery, both exciting and frightening—discovery that removes surety as much as it offers hope. To read it is to read the opening of the human mind, and to be called again to look at the world with wonder.

Howard Shirley is a writer in Franklin, Tennessee.

In 1769, a young Englishman named Joseph Banks arrived on the island of Tahiti, serving as the official botanist of the HMS Endeavour under the command of Lt. James Cook. Banks was wealthy—he had entirely funded his presence on the ship himself, along with several assistants and their equipment—as well as highly intelligent, well educated […]

Raise a glass to Sam Adams

Review by Howard Shirley

On the heroes' roll of the American Revolution, names like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin head the list. Their biographies shoot up the bestseller lists like fireworks on the Fourth of July. But there is one name without whom none of these men might have reached their fame. It is a name most often remembered, if it is remembered at all, as a brand of beer: Samuel Adams.Samuel Adams: A Life is newspaper editor Ira Stoll's effort to restore Adams' name to the forefront of American history. Of all the men who lived at that time, argues Stoll, Adams was the true genius of the Revolution – it was his spark, his personality and his faith that ignited it and birthed the American nation. The Liberty Tree, the Sons of Liberty, the Boston Tea Party, the Committees of Correspondence, the Continental Congress, even the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution flowed first from the mind of Samuel Adams. Certainly there is more here to be remembered, says Stoll, than the fact that Adams was briefly a brewmaster in Boston.

As Stoll notes, discovering the real Adams is no simple journey. Throughout the struggle against Great Britain, Adams urged his friends to burn his letters, lest they fall into enemy hands. Of the major Founding Fathers, he left a severely reduced record of his thoughts and life behind. Yet Stoll goes a long way toward finding the man, through what remains of his writings and the works of his contemporaries – both his friends and his bitterest enemies. What results is the tale of a passionate, practical philosopher, a fiery provocateur, a dedicated public servant and a devoutly religious man. Insightful, remarkably researched and compelling, Samuel Adams: A Life is a fascinating journey into American culture at its birth – and into the life of the man who was critical to its founding. Read it, and remember Samuel Adams.

Howard Shirley writes from Franklin, Tennessee.

 

On the heroes' roll of the American Revolution, names like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin head the list. Their biographies shoot up the bestseller lists like fireworks on the Fourth of July. But there is one name without whom none of these men might have reached their fame. It is a […]
Memoir

A veteran war correspondent’s experiences in Iraq

Review by Howard Shirley

You will not enjoy this book. It isn't possible to enjoy it. It is brutal. It is ugly. It is violent, callous, cruel, capricious, vicious. It is war.

You will not put this book down and feel satisfied. You will not feel content. If you put it down and feel you know what is happening and why, and that you have a solution, then you felt all those things before you read the book and have brought them along to your reading of it. The book offers none of these things.

If you are against the war you will probably remain against it. If you are for the war, you will probably remain for it. If you seek clarity on the war, you will continue to seek it. What do you gain from this book? The only thing possible to gain: perspective.

War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq is one man's perspective, mulled within the filter of that man's own assumptions and understandings, but it is a deeper perspective than one gets on the nightly news, or the pages of a paper, or pro and con rants on the Internet.

For the last five years, NBC correspondent Richard Engel has served in Iraq (with a year in Lebanon), heading the NBC bureau for the region, covering the war. He has seen colleagues kidnapped. He has seen colleagues die. He has barely escaped kidnapping himself. He has barely survived explosions, sniper attacks and firefights. He has seen things I will not repeat, except to say that sometimes the difference between a man and a wild dog is that a dog has the excuse and limit of instinct.

War Journal is not a pretty book, but it is a book worth reading. Engel's experiences were not limited to one side or the other. Fluent in Arabic and experienced with the culture and beliefs of the Middle East, Engel was able to pursue contacts and interviews with Sunni insurgents, Shiite militia and "official" Iraqi forces as well as U.S. soldiers and diplomats. His conversation partners ranged from Iraqi orphans to Iraqi prime ministers, culminating in a briefing with President Bush. The result for the reader is insight into many levels of the Iraq war, seeing the changing perception of it from many levels and many sides, including Engel's own.

This is very much a journey as well as a journal. In the midst of the violence and politics is a man struggling to come to terms with a world torn apart by horrors. He watches the violence dull the senses of his friends and coworkers, even as it scrapes his own soul. He reports on the strain the war places on soldiers' marriages as his own shatters. And like a doctor in a trauma ward, he moves into a realm of clinical detachment, pushing grotesqueries aside for the moment until they rise up again in the quietness of later.

Engel does not conclude War Journal with a solution, for either Iraq or himself. He ends only by wondering how the story will continue, and what will be the end purpose of it all. The book concludes with Engel back in Baghdad, there to cover what he cannot predict, wondering what it will mean for the world, himself and the people of Iraq.

Howard Shirley writes from Franklin, Tennessee.

You will not enjoy this book. It isn't possible to enjoy it. It is brutal. It is ugly. It is violent, callous, cruel, capricious, vicious. It is war. You will not put this book down and feel satisfied. You will not feel content. If you put it down and feel you know what is happening […]
SportsParentingMemoirFamily & Relationships

Dear ol’ Dad

Review by Howard Shirley

FATHER OF THE BRIDE
W. Bruce Cameron first slapped the funny bones of American dads with 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Having had those rules lauded by dads and ignored by daughters, Cameron is back with the natural follow-up: 8 Simple Rules for Marrying My Daughter. Once again, Cameron asserts perfectly sane suggestions for making everything go simply (and cheaply) for fathers-in-law-to-be, only to discover that these suggestions have absolutely nothing to do with the nuptial process. 8 Simple Rules is a hilarious descent into the madness of wedding planners, wedding cakes, wedding dresses and all the hundreds of little details which daughters know are must-haves and fathers know are the reason for generous bankruptcy laws. 8 Simple Rules will have you laughing, crying and crying with laughter.

WHERE THEY LIVE NOW
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes . . . the housing market. All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House is David Giffels' account of his and his wife's decision to purchase and restore—mostly by themselves—a decrepit 1913 Ohio mansion. What would have left most people calling for a hazmat team and a wrecking ball left David and Gina with visions of lost grandeur they believed they could restore. From raccoons to squirrels to a seller straight out of Dickens, the pair battle man, beast and the depths of home improvement stores to turn a near-ruin into a family home. All the Way Home is far more than the story of an old house; it is the beautifully written story of a family struggling to overcome not only termites and dry rot, but unexpected tragedy as well. At times laugh-out-loud funny, at times tearfully poignant, All the Way Home is a compelling, deeply rewarding journey through a family, a house and a home.

A SON'S TRIBUTE
An equally compelling journey is Jim Nantz's Always By My Side: A Father's Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other, with Eli Spielman. Part autobiography, part reminiscence, Always By My Side was inspired by CBS commentator Nantz's 2007 broadcast triple play of calling three of sports' grandest events—the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the Masters—in a 63-day period. The sweetness of that triumph was tempered by the fact that his father and namesake was succumbing to Alzheimer's and could not share or even know of his son's success. But Nantz discovered a truth that resonated throughout his life: no matter what the circumstance, his father was "always by his side." Moving and easily readable, Nantz's story offers inside moments that will delight sports fans, while touching the heart of anyone who has watched a loved one slip into the deep fog of Alzheimer's.

SPORTS NUTS
A different aging challenge faces W. Hodding Carter in Off the Deep End. In February 2004, the 41-year-old decided he would revive a college dream and swim the Olympic Trials in 2008. A former college All-American, Carter already had two national swimming championship performances under his bathing cap, earned 20 years earlier. How hard could it be to get back in shape and prove himself in the pool? Scientists who study human physiology assert that his goal is indeed possible (see 40-year old Dara Torres' record-setting triumph in the 50-meter freestyle last year). But is it possible for a middle-aged father of four with a mortgage? Off the Deep End follows Carter's journey through the waters of the British Virgin Islands, the Hudson River and, most treacherous of all, the pool of the local YMCA. Carter's writing style combines self-effacing wit with genuine questions about what drives a man to pursue a distant dream—and whether you think he's inspiring or just plain nuts, you'll leave the book believing he just might pull it off. For those with a yearning to believe that youth is not exclusively for the young, Off the Deep End is a refreshing dive.

Even if your father isn't out to relive the glory days of college athletics, chances are there's at least one sport he believes he can master—golf. The fancy that getting a little white ball into a small round cup can't really be that hard has a surprising hold on the human psyche, as Carl Hiaasen admits in The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. With biting humor, Hiaasen shares his personal quest for the weekend golfer's Holy Grail—breaking 80 (well, 90)—amid challenges like alligators, hostile eagles (the feathered kind), monkeys, wayward golf carts and seductive, treacherous golf clubs (the kind that fit in a bag, not the kind you join). Hiaasen has a tendency to veer off-course in his narrative (usually into leftist politics), but he punches back on quickly enough, and his insights into the insane lengths a golfer will go to in hopes of a lower score are always entertaining. If you've been bitten by the golf bug, you'll appreciate every moment of Hiaasen's magnificent obsession. If you haven't, read The Downhill Lie and laugh at those of us who have.

Lastly, if there's one thing that is universally true of fathers, is that we're all a little nuts. And no one appreciates nuttiness more than ESPN's resident nut Kenny Mayne. An Incomplete & Inaccurate History of Sport is everything its title claims, except, perhaps, a history of sport. But it is a delightfully wacky collection of random thoughts, jokes and even tender recollections, from the mind of a truly unique personality in the sporting world. You may not really learn anything at all about sports from Mayne, but you'll be laughing so much you won't care.

DAD'S GREATEST GAME
Whether Dad is a golfer or just a fan, there is no better start for exploring the world's greatest game than The Golf Book. This visually stunning coffee table book covers everything from golf history to golf clubs, including an easy-to-understand section with techniques for proper driving, chipping and more, suitable for both the novice and the experienced player. The remainder of the book highlights golf's favorite champions and rounds things out with a beautiful overview of the world's greatest courses. The Golf Book is one you'll return to again and again.

Golf may be the most romantic of sports, and no event holds more romance than the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Very few can claim the pleasure of having been there; fewer still can claim to have played in it. The Masters: 101 Reasons to Love Golf's Greatest Tournament, by sportswriter Ron Green Sr., is a wonderful window into this rare world. Filled with lavish photographs, Green's book presents the story of the Masters in 101 compact vignettes, offering delightful glimpses into the history and heroes that have lifted the Masters to its unique status. Fans of golf and the Masters will enjoy perusing this little gem of a book.

FATHER OF THE BRIDEW. Bruce Cameron first slapped the funny bones of American dads with 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Having had those rules lauded by dads and ignored by daughters, Cameron is back with the natural follow-up: 8 Simple Rules for Marrying My Daughter. Once again, Cameron asserts perfectly sane suggestions […]
Memoir

When memories become burdens

Review by Howard Shirley

What did you have for breakfast this morning? How about on June 11, 1997? You probably can't answer that one. But Jill Price can. If you give her any date from 1980 on, she can tell you not only what she had for breakfast, but every detail of the day—even the day of the week.

The Woman Who Can't Forget tells the story of a most remarkable memory—a memory so complete scientists have never recorded one like it. Price's recall extends back as far as 1974 with amazing clarity. She can even remember events from her 18th month in vivid detail. But if that kind of memory is a blessing, The Woman Who Can't Forget reveals that the blessing is decidedly mixed. Price's memory is perfect at recalling the emotions of her life as well as the facts. Even as she remembers pleasant experiences of love and happiness, she also cannot forget the most minor mistakes, or moments of loss, embarrassment, sorrow or shame. Her struggle to forget led Price to Dr. James McGaugh, a scientist in the field of memory research. Intrigued, Dr. McGaugh and his colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, studied Price's abilities, confirming the astounding accuracy of her memory and discovering new insights into just how human memory works. Price and Bart Davis have skillfully placed Price's life experiences within the context of that science. Through Price's story, the book becomes a window into the inner workings of the mind, posing intriguing questions and answering others. Why do we remember? Why do we forget? How much do our memories alter over time? Do our minds truly retain the full scope of an experience, or do we reconstruct it every time we "remember"?

The Woman Who Can't Forget is fascinating, whether dealing with the details of Price's life or with the science of the brain, offering glimpses not only into the mysteries of memory but into emotional struggles like depression, anger, forgiveness and even growing up. At times astonishing, at times moving, Price's story is one you won't soon forget. 

Howard Shirley is a writer based in Franklin, Tennessee.

What did you have for breakfast this morning? How about on June 11, 1997? You probably can't answer that one. But Jill Price can. If you give her any date from 1980 on, she can tell you not only what she had for breakfast, but every detail of the day—even the day of the week. […]
Religion & Spirituality

Responsible religion

Review by Howard Shirley

Christian authors Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz believe more skeptics might be willing to search for the truth if only some Christians would get out of the way. In I'm Fine With God . . . It's Christians I Can't Stand: Getting Past the Religious Garbage in the Search for Spiritual Truth, Bickel and Jantz (who are also co-authors of the Christianity 101 series) express their frustration with how Christianity has become entangled in side issues such as politics, science, "judgmentalism" and more. These issues, they argue convincingly (and with more than a touch of humor), are harmful to Christians and nonbelievers alike, and have little basis in Scripture. Just as Christ didn't hold back when confronting the hypocritical legalists, Bickel and Jantz don't hold back either. They pull no punches, excoriating everyone from proponents of the "prosperity gospel" to Christian media that tries to cover abysmal artistic efforts under a faith-friendly veneer. Bickel and Jantz challenge believers to return to the true fundamentals of the faith—love for God, love for others and a life that mirrors the compassionate, forgiving spirit of Christ. Their book isn't likely to win friends among dogmatists. But as a call to Christians to make their actions reflect the true character of Christ, I'm Fine With God . . . is a fine book.

In the beginning

In What Jesus Meant and What Paul Meant, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Garry Wills brought a historian's eye to Christianity's most important figures – the Messiah on whom the faith is built, and the saint who wrote most of the New Testament. In What the Gospels Meant, Wills trains that scholarly eye on the gospels – who wrote them, when they were written and why. Wills is no slave to tradition; he is more than ready to question whether the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are really the work of their assigned namesakes, and whether certain passages were inserted by later editors. But at the same time, he is no self-appointed skeptic out to cast aside the whole if one account differs from another. Instead, Wills shows how the four gospels are the results of independent writers with varied though harmonious goals, each highlighting aspects of Christ's life, death and resurrection to emphasize specific themes important to the faith.

As with his earlier books, Wills' scholarship in What the Gospels Meant is impeccable, placing the gospels within their original cultural and religious context. That scholarship is rounded out by Wills' exceptional writing skills, creating a book that offers profound spiritual and historical insight in an accessible and intriguing format.

Thinking things through

Where Garry Wills primarily writes for the thoughtful believer, Timothy Keller writes for the thoughtful skeptic. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism is an answer to the recent polemics from atheist authors such as Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great), Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Samuel Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation), though it is hardly in the same vein. This is no reactionary screed, but a thoughtful, probing and erudite examination of the Christian faith.

Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, answers skeptics with understanding, compassion and compelling logic. He deftly refutes the arguments of Hitchens et. al, revealing their underlying fallacies, while encouraging the reader to examine his or her own assumptions for similar false premises. Yet throughout The Reason for God, Keller never resorts to smugness or presents his views as necessarily infallible – a refreshing approach in a world so often divided by unfounded claims of certainty.

The publisher compares Keller to the great Christian writer and thinker C.S. Lewis; the comparison is apt. Like Lewis, Keller offers clarity of thought in an engaging, readable style. And like Lewis, Keller calls readers – believers and skeptics alike – to an active examination of their own motivations, purpose and faith. The believer will find as much to challenge his understanding of God as will the skeptic – and both will leave the book the richer for it.

Personal views

After years of skepticism, Jon Spayde came to Christianity because of alcohol. Left with no will of his own to combat his desire for liquor, Spayde turned his will over to a higher power – and in the process, discovered Christ. This life change led Spayde to talk with Christians from across the spectrum of the faith, to learn how each had come to relate to God. How to Believe: Teachers and Seekers Show the Way to a Modern, Life-Changing Faith offers interviews with ordinary (and not so ordinary) Christians – including retired bishops, hospice workers, ministers, former executives and others who have found or are seeking the path to religion. Some are on the very fringes of the faith; some are solidly in its traditional center. All have varied understandings of Christ and His meaning to the believer.

Spayde is a gifted writer and interviewer, with an openness that allows him to approach disparate believers whom more traditional Christian writers might have ignored. No reader will likely end up agreeing with every person who shared their thoughts with Spayde. But the insight into the diversity of faith is worth a look, and the result is a challenge to consider the meaning of your own faith – a challenge worthy of the Easter season.

Christian authors Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz believe more skeptics might be willing to search for the truth if only some Christians would get out of the way. In I'm Fine With God . . . It's Christians I Can't Stand: Getting Past the Religious Garbage in the Search for Spiritual Truth, Bickel and Jantz […]
History

Hail to the chiefs

Review by Howard Shirley

The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy by Barry H. Landau may be the most unusually focused historical study one could encounter: It deals with a very specific aspect of American political development namely, how the presidents ate. The book offers a fascinating retrospective in words and pictures of state dinners, public celebrations and the ubiquitous campaign fundraisers, stretching from George Washington to George W. Bush. Recognized as the foremost expert on presidential dining, Landau has amassed a collection of invitations, menus and memorabilia relating to presidential dinners during all 43 administrations exceeding even the Smithsonian's records, which only date to William McKinley's beginnings in 1897. The photographs here are meticulous and numerous, depicting everything from silk menus to campaign mementos. Such an array of invitations, cards and envelopes (among other items) could seem overwhelming were it not for Landau's accompanying text, which helps place the images within the social, political and historical contexts of their eras. The result is an interesting examination of how an event as simple as a meal can swell in significance when the president is at the table and how those same dinners can have repercussions, for good or ill, that affect a nation.

An intriguing book is Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan, Peter Schifando and J. Jonathan Joseph's retrospective of the dinners and events hosted by the former president and first lady during their tenure in the executive mansion. The book is filled with photographs of monarchs, ministers, musicians and movie stars, as well as the elegantly arranged banquets that were created to entertain and honor them all. Entertaining at the White House also details the intricacies of protocol and diplomacy that go into planning, preparing and conducting even the simplest event, from deciding whom to invite (and whom not to), to honoring the cultural taboos of foreign dignitaries and their watching citizens back home. Surprisingly insightful, Schifando and Joseph's book is an alluring glimpse into the elegant and even risky world that combines diplomacy with dining.

ARCHIITECTURAL MEMORIES
Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory by Judith Dupre stands out from the other volumes here in both appearance and approach. Whereas the other books are concerned with the people, events and places of history, Monuments focuses not on the events, but on how we as a nation remember them. Duprea nd her editors have crafted an unusually striking book. The cover is made to look and feel like rough, textured stone from an ancient wall. Gaps in this wall reveal photos of monuments both familiar and obscure, inviting closer inspection the mark of any good monument.

Inside, the photos and graphical elements and even the text in places are presented in rich bronze tones, as though to echo the metal of a monument itself. Dupre's book follows a roughly chronological order, whether by a monument's historical significance or by the era of its inception, though one entry may cover a great swing of time, especially when that monument's story encompasses additions or restorations. Along the journey are side trips into details of note, or even unusual areas of recognition from a heroic dog to the almost anti-monument of a so-called potter's field, filled with the remains of the forgotten.

Although Dupre's text becomes heavy at times as she tries to define what are essentially visual and tactile experiences, when she deals with the events themselves and the process of the monuments' creation, her words are often fascinating and even moving. Reaching the end of Monuments doesn't feel like ending a journey, but the start of a desire to see for yourself what others thought should be remembered, and to discover what those remembrances evoke in you.

NO PLACE LIKE HOMES
Memorials, of course, seldom have any real attachment to the events and people being honored, save perhaps location. Far more significant in a historical sense are the actual items and places the men and women knew, used and loved none more so than the homes in which they lived and worked. Like a parade of homes, Houses of the Founding Fathers: The Men Who Made America and the Way They Lived by Hugh Howard, with photography by Roger Straus III, leads the reader on a grand tour of the houses and estates of America's founding citizens, both men and women. Filled with beautiful, detailed photographs, Houses of the Founding Fathers provides an engaging glimpse into the daily lives and aspirations of our nation's earliest leaders. Readers who appreciate architectural details, exquisite craftsmanship and elegant design will be engrossed by the lavish images, while those with a penchant for history will be equally intrigued by the stories, individuals and events that filled these magnificent homes. For both art and history, these homes are a pleasure to visit.

AMERICAN HISTORY 101
Time America: An Illustrated History by the editors of Time magazine is easily the most conventional of these five books, but no less interesting for that. The text is a readable and entertaining review of America's history from the days of Columbus' arrival to the current period. You won't come to this book for remarkable insights or in-depth research (and don't be surprised by the slight inaccuracies), but that's not the point. The words merely serve to complement the pictures, an engaging and often unusual cavalcade of images from all walks of American life, from the mundane to the momentous. Some scenes will be instantly familiar, some curiously strange and some refreshingly human, but all serve as delightful windows into our nation's past, well worth the viewing.

The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy by Barry H. Landau may be the most unusually focused historical study one could encounter: It deals with a very specific aspect of American political development namely, how the presidents ate. The book offers a fascinating retrospective in words and pictures of state dinners, public […]
Sports

Hello, sports fans

Review by Howard Shirley

Sportswriter Jim Gorant takes readers on a different trip in Fanatic: 10 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die. Gorant sets off on a one-year mission to experience 10 signature sporting events the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Masters and Wimbledon, among others. What makes people endure subfreezing temperatures to watch the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field? What sort of community arises in the small city of RVs inside the oval at Daytona or the shaded stands of Churchill Downs? Questions like these turn Gorant’s story into far more than simply a description of sporting events. Instead, he has combined an engaging travelogue with a study of human nature and a tale of internal exploration. Along the way there are moments of true friendship, excessive bacchanals and the discovery of what sports really mean to the fans, far beyond the momentary heroes and soon-forgotten scores. Fanatic is a worthwhile exploration of both sport and life.

Sportswriter Jim Gorant takes readers on a different trip in Fanatic: 10 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die. Gorant sets off on a one-year mission to experience 10 signature sporting events the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Masters and Wimbledon, among others. What makes people endure subfreezing temperatures to watch the […]

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