bookpagedev

History

George Washington’s long journey home for the holidays

Review by bookpagedev

Christmas is a Christian holiday commemorating the birth of a savior, but in the America of 1783, the Christmas season was dedicated to celebrating the achievements of a man who saved a nation. As the year neared its end, General George Washington traveled through the newly independent American colonies to spend the holidays at Mount Vernon and retire from public life. It would mark his first Christmas at home since taking command of the army eight years before.

Washington’s little-known six-week journey is the subject of Stanley Weintraub’s new book, <B>General Washington’s Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming</B>, 1783. A finalist for the National Book Award and author of many historical works, Weintraub has written not only a history book, but an insightful portrait of one of our greatest heroes. He documents Washington’s travels to New York City to accept control of the city from the British, to Annapolis to personally resign his military command before the Continental Congress, and finally to his home in Virginia. He intended the trip to be his final retirement from public life, although his country would call him back five years later to serve as its first president. During his journey, we see him feted at every stop, saying his farewells to citizens and troops. As Washington wrote to a friend, it was a scene of "festivity, congratulations, Addresses, and resignation."

It is Weintraub’s portrayal of Washington as man, however, that makes this book so intriguing. He humanizes the deity history has created while not diminishing his greatness. He shows that through Washington’s entire journey home, his apotheosis preceded, accompanied and followed him. While rising to the prestige of his reputation, Washington angrily rejected the omnipresent calls for his dictatorship or monarchy and continually spoke of the need to consolidate ruling power in the Congress. Weintraub doesn’t shy away from showing Washington’s foibles as well, including his admission to a friend that it soothed his vanity to sit for portraits. As the title suggests, the book is centered on Washington’s desire to be home at Mount Vernon for Christmas. That desire imbues the story and creates a wonderful anticipation in the reader. Sadly, description of the Washingtons’ actual Christmas experience is brief, due to a lack of documentation. Yet this does not diminish the book’s value to anyone who loves American history or admires our first president.

<I>Jason Emerson is a writer based in Fredericksburg, Virginia.</I>

Christmas is a Christian holiday commemorating the birth of a savior, but in the America of 1783, the Christmas season was dedicated to celebrating the achievements of a man who saved a nation. As the year neared its end, General George Washington traveled through the…

Graphic Novels & Comics

Teenage wasteland

Review by bookpagedev

An even grimmer look at adolescence is found in the recently concluded magnum opus by legendary artist Charles Burns. Described as semi-autobiographical, the surrealistic Black Hole follows a group of suburban teens in early ’70s Seattle who are afflicted by a particularly vicious STD. “The bug” leaves its victims grossly disfigured: those who get it end up looking like monsters, ostracized from regular society and forced to retreat to the woods, where they’re tormented by heavily symbolic dreams and visions. It’s a gripping tale, with simultaneously gorgeous and stomach-turning artwork that somehow captures all of the paranoia and social terror of teenage life. Highly recommended just not as breakfast-table reading.

Becky Ohlsen keeps her comics collection in Portland, Oregon.

An even grimmer look at adolescence is found in the recently concluded magnum opus by legendary artist Charles Burns. Described as semi-autobiographical, the surrealistic Black Hole follows a group of suburban teens in early '70s Seattle who are afflicted by a particularly vicious STD. "The…
History

The USS Arizona

Review by bookpagedev

appears at a particularly propitious time, given the current comparisons between the surprise Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor and the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Among the many American ships and planes hit by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, the USS Arizona was the greatest single loss. Under relentless bombing and strafing, the mighty warship exploded and quickly sank, taking to their deaths 1,177 sailors and Marines.

Jasper, a journalist; Delgado, an archaeologist and historian; and Adams, a photographer and shipwreck preservationist, unite to tell the story of the Arizona from its construction in 1914-15 to its destruction and eventual resurrection as a national monument. While the authors rely on previously published accounts to sketch in the big picture, they turn to several of the Arizona’s survivors to describe the dramatic battle scenes. The chapters leading up to the actual attack, however, are slow-going, involving the survivors’ recollections of their generally mundane shipboard duties. As is often the case with multiple authorship, the writers repeat details and incidents. They also attempt to add cosmic weight to this intrinsically important event by adopting a breathlessly reverential tone instead of the dispassionate one that sound history calls for. Thus, the people who died are all “heroes,” and their final resting place is “sacred.” On the plus side, the first-person accounts and the authors’ lucid reconstruction of the Arizona’s final hours are vividly cinematic and wholly absorbing. There is also a wealth of supporting material, including 16 pages of photos, a complete list of the Arizona’s dead and surviving and a citation of the major battles in the Pacific war. The book is a revealing glimpse into that other day that shook the world.

Edward Morris writes on history, music and other social matters from Nashville.

appears at a particularly propitious time, given the current comparisons between the surprise Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor and the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Among the many American ships and planes hit by the Japanese on Dec.…

Visiting our closest neighbor

Review by bookpagedev

Only Earthlings based in deep space could have escaped the excitement over Mars this past summer, as the Red Planet made its closest Earth pass in 60,000 years. In Magnificent Mars, Ken Croswell writes of another “favorable opposition” a time when Mars’ orbit brings it between the earth and the sun when people were also fascinated with the planet. That was back in 1892, when scientists were eager to prove or disprove the existence of Schiaparelli’s “canals.” From Kepler, Schiaparelli, Lowell and Hall through present-day observers, Croswell recounts the sometimes fantastic, sometimes ground-breaking theories about the planet. He also briefly discusses the etymological trail of Mars and touches on the planet as imagined by science fiction writers, before launching into a thorough discussion of its evolution, chemical makeup, orbit and other data.

Author of five other books on space, Croswell has a talent for distilling technical information into decipherable terms. This isn’t to say the book won’t engage longtime students of Mars; Croswell, after all, holds a Ph.

D. in astronomy from Harvard.

Helpful charts and tables summarize the book’s text. One table chronicles 40 years of NASA’s unmanned missions to and near Mars. Those missions, though often plagued by mishaps and outright disasters, have nevertheless provided the stunning one might say stellar images that fill this large-format book. Printed on black paper, the color photographs and topographic maps of the Martian terrain and view of the heavens are spectacular.

“It’s not the vibrant Mars of Percival Lowell, nor the boring Mars of Mariner 4,” writes Croswell, “but a complex planet whose history and mystery scientists are just beginning to decipher.” Magnificent Mars is a readable and brilliantly illustrated account of all that we have learned and a little of what we have yet to discover about our closest neighbor. MiChelle Jones writes from Nashville.

Only Earthlings based in deep space could have escaped the excitement over Mars this past summer, as the Red Planet made its closest Earth pass in 60,000 years. In Magnificent Mars, Ken Croswell writes of another "favorable opposition" a time when Mars' orbit brings it…
Graphic Novels & Comics

Going Hollywood

Review by bookpagedev

A comic-book author with movie connections is Harvey Pekar, whose American Splendor became a hit film in 2003. Pekar’s latest, The Quitter, combines an exhumation of his personal history with a searing portrait of life among Jewish immigrants on the hardscrabble streets of Cleveland. Illustrated in perfect Goofus-and-Gallant style by Dean Haspiel, the book starts with Harvey’s pugilistic adolescence and ends with the now-famous author wondering why, after all this time, his sudden success hasn’t made him feel any less insecure. Becky Ohlsen keeps her comics collection in Portland, Oregon.

A comic-book author with movie connections is Harvey Pekar, whose American Splendor became a hit film in 2003. Pekar's latest, The Quitter, combines an exhumation of his personal history with a searing portrait of life among Jewish immigrants on the hardscrabble streets of Cleveland. Illustrated…
Religion & Spirituality

Women, horses and healing

Review by bookpagedev

Why is there such a special bond between women and horses? And how do horses sometimes seem to know what humans are thinking and feeling? Linda Kohanov explores these questions and provides an interesting guide to the psyche of the horse in The Tao of Equus: A Woman’s Journey of Healing & Transformation Through the Way of the Horse. A riding instructor and horse trainer, Kohanov offers an insightful look at her experiences with horses and their role in the evolution of her equine-assisted therapy association.

Therapists like Kohanov have tapped the horse’s ability to help victims face their wounds and use them for empowerment. She describes horses that have helped to reveal and heal the wounds of unimaginable acts of violence. Her portrayal of therapy sessions illuminates the process of recognizing, grieving and transmuting terror into understanding, acceptance and power.

The Tao of Equus is a journey worth taking. The book is wide-ranging, covering myths and stories, histories and mysteries that demand further exploration. Many horse people will find coherent descriptions of their own feelings and intuitions in Kohanov’s writing, which is clear and well researched. Experienced riders know that their horses mirror them physically and mentally, and the author validates their suspicions that there is "more to it." Horses possess a previously indefinable something that horse whisperers know, and Kohanov describes those mysterious qualities quite eloquently. This inspirational book would make an excellent gift not only for horse lovers, but for anyone dealing with fundamental questions of grief, sadness and healing.

Why is there such a special bond between women and horses? And how do horses sometimes seem to know what humans are thinking and feeling? Linda Kohanov explores these questions and provides an interesting guide to the psyche of the horse in The Tao of…

Graphic Novels & Comics

Going Hollywood

Review by bookpagedev

Daniel Clowes, best known for the graphic novel-turned-movie Ghost World, may be the comic-book king of gallows humor. His latest work, Ice Haven, interweaves tales from various residents of a small town in which a strange little boy has recently disappeared. There’s a lovelorn teen, her precocious and equally lovelorn kid brother, an embittered poet, a clueless Sam Spade-like detective and a comic-book critic, among others, all viewed through Clowes’ mercilessly sardonic lens. The pages have an antique-looking tint, and the story makes references to the Leopold and Loeb murder of 1924, lending it historic resonance as well as the sense of universality characteristic of Clowes’ best work. Becky Ohlsen keeps her comics collection in Portland, Oregon.

Daniel Clowes, best known for the graphic novel-turned-movie Ghost World, may be the comic-book king of gallows humor. His latest work, Ice Haven, interweaves tales from various residents of a small town in which a strange little boy has recently disappeared. There's a lovelorn teen,…
Children's & YA

Fairy tale tackles big questions

Review by bookpagedev

In a magical tale woven by master storyteller Rafe Martin, characters have “fallen out of legend” into a story of extraordinary beauty and philosophical depth. An evil queen, an enchantress, a winged warrior, a gray-eyed goose girl who’s really a princess, a snow lion, giants, mechanical men and a sarcastic talking horse mix it up in a fairy tale adventure as inventive and soaring as Harry Potter and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The whole novel is a riff on “The Six Swans” by the Brothers Grimm. A king, lost in the woods, makes a deal with a mysterious old woman, who will help him find his way if he will marry her daughter. The king goes through with the marriage, but, not quite trusting his new bride, he hides his daughter and six sons in a lonely castle. The evil queen finds them and throws six shirts onto them, transforming them into swans that fly away. The daughter, escaping the queen’s attention, vows to save her brothers. She must not speak, laugh or cry for six years and must weave shirts from starwort and nettle to throw upon them when they return. This she does, but she hasn’t finished the sleeve on the sixth shirt, and when it is tossed upon the back of the youngest brother, his arm remains a swan’s wing, while he returns to human form. The wing makes Ardwin an outcast and, with his father’s kingdom in danger from evil king Ulfius, he sets out to save the land and himself. The fairy tale becomes a quest, and Ardwin must make a wrenching decision: to return to being an ordinary human or to be special. Is his wing a curse or a gift? Will his wing consign him to the fate of wandering the world, forever an outcast? And to love the gray-eyed goose girl, must he be completely human? Martin has made a fairy-tale world completely believable, and readers, along with Ardwin, will ponder deep questions of what it means to be human, whether differences are curses or gifts, and how to make one’s life a worthy story. Dean Schneider teaches middle school English in Nashville.

In a magical tale woven by master storyteller Rafe Martin, characters have "fallen out of legend" into a story of extraordinary beauty and philosophical depth. An evil queen, an enchantress, a winged warrior, a gray-eyed goose girl who's really a princess, a snow lion, giants,…
Animals

Saving the cranes

Review by bookpagedev

Imagine the daunting task of trying to establish a set of international conservation measures for 15 different migrating crane species, 11 of which are endangered. Wildlife officials, ornithologists and concerned citizens from five continents are currently trying to do just that, setting aside language and political differences to protect the magnificent birds that are the subject of myth, superstition and poetry.

In The Birds of Heaven, Peter Matthiessen, author of more than two dozen books of fiction and nonfiction, including the National Book Award winner The Snow Leopard, gives a first-hand report of the small but dedicated worldwide effort to protect cranes. In Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and North America, the author accompanies conservationists as they search, count and tag species that have been known to migrate 3,100 miles across 20,000-foot mountains. Resting and nesting areas include dangerous air spaces, like war-torn Afghanistan, where, the author noted in 1993, "the recent emergence of well-armed tribesmen of the Taliban, who doubtless shoot at cranes, has not improved things. But not all the news is bad. Bhutan’s Royal Society for the Protection of Nature has outlawed crane hunting and imposed a life imprisonment sentence for violators. Tireless work by "craniac George Archibald, who wrote the book’s Preface and is the co-director of the International Crane Foundation, has led to the signing of a joint pact by Russia and China a tenuous but promising first step in creating key wildlife reserves for cranes in those and perhaps other neighboring countries. In Mongolia, Matthiessen receives a warning from the country’s premier ornithologist, Dr. Ayurzaryun Bold. "We hope you are tough enough to make this journey, Bold says. In The Birds of Heaven, Matthiessen proves once again that he is indeed tough enough, allowing readers to benefit from his tireless reportage, his decades of wildlife study and his deft prose.

Stephen J. Lyons is the author of Landscape of the Heart: Writings on Daughters and Journeys (Washington State University Press).

 

Imagine the daunting task of trying to establish a set of international conservation measures for 15 different migrating crane species, 11 of which are endangered. Wildlife officials, ornithologists and concerned citizens from five continents are currently trying to do just that, setting aside language and…

Fiction

Family ties frayed by tragedy

Review by bookpagedev

All he wanted for Christmas was a glass-wax stencil kit. Not so much for a young boy to ask, even in 1953. What he got (and gave) for Christmas was a family tragedy, too terrible for words, which haunted him and those he loved for the rest of their lives. Such events can make or break a family, and Anthony’s Italian-American clan in the Bronx is not the world’s strongest. His parents’ marriage is passionate but tenuous; his aunt is a bit flighty; his twin cousins are really annoying; and his uncle is a jailbird. The ties fray and stretch, but in some form they hold in the end. The story is told in six chapters, each set later in time. Ranging from the memories of a child to the stream-of-consciousness narrative of a dying septuagenarian, the novel examines the cumulative history of forced coping with pain that will never entirely disappear. Ursula Hegi has written nine previous books, one of which, Stones from the River, was an Oprah Book Club pick. She does not specialize in flash or shock, but rather in a steady searching-out of the variables of what it is to be human and wounded, as all humans are, one way or another.

But that sounds too solemn. Occasionally Hegi reveals a new, wry approach to the realities of life, one that results in such offhand comments as “She looked like a widow because she was married to Uncle Malcolm” and “Aunt Floria’s scent changed with the seasons and kept bugs away at the same time.” Further development of this trend would leaven the Teutonic seriousness that comes naturally to Hegi, a German immigrant who came to the United States at the age of 18.

“If you fight for too many things, you won’t have anything,” says a perceptive uncle, and a latent wisdom of this book is that life goes on. To consent to living is to go right along with it. Maude McDaniel writes from Cumberland, Maryland.

All he wanted for Christmas was a glass-wax stencil kit. Not so much for a young boy to ask, even in 1953. What he got (and gave) for Christmas was a family tragedy, too terrible for words, which haunted him and those he loved for…
YA FictionYA

Lingering at death’s door

Review by bookpagedev

One moment, 15-year-old Liz Hall is riding her bike to meet a friend at the mall. The next thing she knows, she's alone on a mysterious cruise ship with lots of senior citizens playing shuffleboard. Liz soon realizes there's something odd about all the passengers, including herself. It turns out that they've all recently died (Liz was hit by a taxi) and are heading to Elsewhere.

To Liz, Elsewhere seems like an odd place, with its own laws and customs. Despite her new relationship with her grandmother, who died before Liz was born, Liz has a hard time adjusting to her new "life." As one of the few young people arriving in Elsewhere, she's lonely. She spends hours watching her family and friends from a special observation deck, and even makes a dangerous attempt to contact her family, with surprising results that shock her out of her depression, help her discover love and allow her to live again.

In Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin has imagined a rich, original vision of the afterlife. There are no tunnels of bright white light, no angels or pearly gates. Most intriguing is the book's conception of reincarnation. The residents of Elsewhere all gradually grow younger, until, as babies, they are reborn on Earth. Life on Elsewhere is finite and predictable; each person has exactly as much time to live backward as they lived forward on Earth, before heading back to Earth to do it all over again. One of the themes of the novel is an exploration of how this knowledge, this life lived backward, affects people's relationships, their choices and their vision of themselves.

Despite its subject matter, Elsewhere largely avoids maudlin sentimentality. Instead, in addition to being genuinely funny in places, this lovely novel is truly thoughtful: "There are so my lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human's life is a beautiful mess." Elsewhere inspires reflection on death and on life.

 

Norah Piehl is a freelance writer and editor in the Boston area.

One moment, 15-year-old Liz Hall is riding her bike to meet a friend at the mall. The next thing she knows, she's alone on a mysterious cruise ship with lots of senior citizens playing shuffleboard. Liz soon realizes there's something odd about all the passengers,…

Children's & YA

The magic of Mary Pope Osborne

Review by bookpagedev

There’s definitely something magical about Mary Pope Osborne. Combining time-travel, adventure and history, her Magic Tree House books have enthralled millions of kids since the series began in 1992 with Dinosaurs Before Dark.

If you’ve come anywhere near a child in the last nine years, chances are you’re familiar with Magic Tree House. The stories revolve around two children, eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister, Annie, who discover a tree house filled with books that magically transport them to other times and places. Jack and Annie’s adventures have taken readers to the Amazon, ancient Egypt and even the moon. In other stories children travel with Jack and Annie to learn about saber-toothed tigers, dolphins, pirates, polar bears, coral reefs and the rainforest. Now, just in time for Christmas, Osborne has created a special Magic Tree House book, Christmas in Camelot. The hardcover is twice as long as the series books, making it a perfect holiday present for that die-hard Magic Tree House fan on Santa’s list.

What inspired Osborne to write a Christmas story set in Camelot? "The Magic Tree House series uses characters from the legend of King Arthur, Osborne explains. "In medieval times, the storytellers of Arthurian legends blended elements of Christianity with old Celtic myths, so that miracles and marvels often took place in Christmas in Camelot. My aim was to bring that sense of medieval magic to the story and then end it with a joyful, traditional Christmas celebration. Osborne, who grew up in the military and lived in posts from Oklahoma to Austria, has vivid memories of Christmas as a child. "My family lived in a different house almost every year. But we carried our family Christmas decorations with us wherever we moved. No matter where we were living, we put up the same tree ornaments, displayed the same wooden angels, decorated the dining room table with the same holiday centerpiece, she adds. "I think these familiar objects helped make us feel secure and close to each other during the holidays and gave us a sense of continuity and connection to the past. Osborne laughs as she remembers one of her favorite Christmas memories. "About 10 years ago, my husband Will was doing a play out of town during the holidays. On Christmas Eve, our dog and I traveled to join him. When we arrived at the theater, the weary actors were receiving notes from the director. In the lobby I dressed the dog in a Santa hat and a red cape with a white fuzzy collar and a wide black belt. Then I sent her alone into the theater. She walked down the aisle very carefully, so as not to disturb her costume. When the actors caught sight of her, they broke into laughter and applause. I know that was the best Christmas of her life. And now that I think about it, that scene strangely prefigures the opening scene in Christmas in Camelot, in which a knight all dressed in red enters the gloomy hall of Camelot on Christmas Eve, startling King Arthur and his court. Osborne researched Christmas in Camelot by reading Arthurian legends, books on Celtic mythology, and learning about Christmas rituals and traditions. In fact, researching is one of the aspects of being a writer that Osborne loves best. "I did not actually Ôdiscover’ history until I was an adult and began to do research for my books, she explains. "Now there is nothing I love more than doing research. It’s like a treasure hunt. I recommend to children that they discover the joys of learning about history far sooner than I did. To help children do just that, Osborne and her husband have launched the Magic Tree House Research Guides, companion books designed to give children additional information about the topics covered in the books, along with tips for finding out more on their own.

Osborne is now writing book number 25 in the Magic Tree House series, set in Shakespeare’s time. Will she ever tire of writing Magic Tree House books? "How could I? she laughs. "I get to throw myself into every single subject. Besides, I have an incredible audience. I receive more than 500 letters a month from children. How could I disappoint them? Osborne’s books and the Magic Tree House web site at www.randomhouse.com do reach a huge audience. And it’s clear Osborne loves this contact with her readers. "The Magic Tree House has opened the floodgates and let thousands of children into my life, she says. "I feel as if these kids and I are all exploring the creative process together, using our imaginations plus our reading and writing skills to take us wherever we want to go. This, I tell my small fellow authors, is true magic. Deborah Hopkinson is the author of several children’s books, including Under the Quilt of Night, coming in January.

There's definitely something magical about Mary Pope Osborne. Combining time-travel, adventure and history, her Magic Tree House books have enthralled millions of kids since the series began in 1992 with Dinosaurs Before Dark.

If you've come anywhere near a child in the…

Fiction

The redemptive power of stories

Review by bookpagedev

Oracle Night is the title of a novel within a novel within a novel by Paul Auster (his 11th). As we read the novel (Auster’s, that is), we learn to grasp the close relationships between the tale and the tales embedded within it. Inside this maze of stories lies a formidable set of emotional risks waiting to assail the novel’s narrator-hero, Sidney Orr who is, of course, a novelist.

Orr records for us a fateful period of his life 20 years ago, when he was recovering from a near-fatal illness. By chance, he finds and purchases a beautiful blue notebook, which assumes a talismanic role in the return of both his health and his fading writing abilities. But those who live by uncanny forces suffer by them too: his encounter with the notebook leads him into unforeseen dangers and sets the story on the path towards its darker truths.

The first-person narrative dramatizes how painstaking a process it is to get a story right to be true to its complexity, to reflect how events were really shaped in time. With neurotic thoroughness, Orr supplements his account with footnotes, in which some of the most important information about the novel’s three main characters Orr, his wife Grace, and their writer friend John Trause is provided. The cumbersome counterpoint of main narrative and footnote on the page is at first disconcerting, at times overwhelming, but ultimately compelling. So satisfying are the concurrent accounts, so clearly dependent on each other, it’s tempting to feel that Auster has outdone even Marcel Proust in demonstrating how much of a person’s life must go into the retelling of even a single moment of it.

In Oracle Night, Auster displays his gift for storytelling and his almost religious regard for the power of stories. As creator of the National Story Project, Auster presented true stories from people across the country on National Public Radio. Nearly 200 of these were subsequently compiled in his anthology, I Thought My Father Was God. For Auster, a story can be both redemptive and perilous, sometimes both. That sounds like something worth believing in. Michael Alec Rose teaches at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.

Oracle Night is the title of a novel within a novel within a novel by Paul Auster (his 11th). As we read the novel (Auster's, that is), we learn to grasp the close relationships between the tale and the tales embedded within it. Inside this…

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