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Pop CultureArts & Culture

A vibrant literary tribute to the nation’s capital

Review by bookpagedev

Washington, D.C., is a city of paradoxes. It teems with ambitious career-climbers, yet maintains a laid-back Southern vibe. The federal government is based here, yet local residents have no vote in Congress. People are keenly aware of the power of schmoozing, yet parties end by 11 p.m., and the streets are deserted by midnight.

No one had a better vantage point from which to observe the unique world that is Washington than former <I>Washington Post</I> publisher Katharine Graham, whose autobiography, <I>Personal History</I>, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Before her death in 2001, Graham compiled a collection of essays on Washington. The result is <B>Katharine Graham’s Washington</B>, a pitch-perfect anthology that captures the nuances of life in the nation’s capital.

Obviously, the book will interest Washingtonians, but whether others will read it is another matter. They should. Although some pieces are clearly reserved for D.C. residents only the most ardent Washington devotee will read a three-page essay on local trees most are humorous or insightful enough to be entertaining wherever you live.

Graham’s selections yield a rich blend of viewpoints. Historian David McCullough’s piece, "I Love Washington," is a sublime ode to the city. Other essays chronicle inaugurations, life as a congressman’s daughter, employment as the "presidential kennel keeper." Some pieces are hopelessly outdated, and one assumes Graham included them simply for their humorous archaic appeal. "The Private Lives of Washington Girls" in particular is a cringe-worthy 1950s essay on female federal workers in which author Eleanor Early informs the reader for no apparent reason that "four out of five Government Girls are destined to be old maids." But other light-hearted pieces are fascinating. Liz Carpenter, who worked as Lady Bird Johnson’s press secretary, recalls preparing for Luci Baines Johnson’s 1966 wedding. It was the first White House wedding in 50 years, and Carpenter had the unenviable task of keeping a rabid press at bay.

When United Airlines sent air-conditioning equipment to cool down the church, a frantic Department of Labor official reminded Carpenter that the airline was on strike and using their coolers would be a public relations nightmare. A scramble ensued to intercept the coolers en route.

Although the writing is consistently vibrant, the real treats in this book are Graham’s vignettes introducing each piece. An observer of D.C. life for decades (she even refers to herself in the introduction as the Forrest Gump of Washington always managing to be ringside for historical events), Graham’s comments add considerable zing to the volume. In "Dining Out Washington," reporter Joseph Alsop recalls eating turtle stew and Virginia ham with various Washington luminaries. A hilarious piece on its own, Graham writes an introduction that further enhances the essay, revealing Alsop as a brilliant, charming and "enormously fat" man with whom she remained close friends for years.

Many pieces are poignant in light of September 11, after which the Washington tourism industry suffered enormously. An essay by W.M. Kiplinger titled "Tourists See the Sights" is from 1942, but it could just as easily have been written today. "Washington is the greatest sight-seeing city in the world," Kiplinger writes. "In normal times, four million people come every year to the capital." These aren’t normal times, but here’s hoping that this vibrant, affecting book lures people back to Washington.

<I>Amy Scribner lives and writes in Washington, D.C.</I>

Washington, D.C., is a city of paradoxes. It teems with ambitious career-climbers, yet maintains a laid-back Southern vibe. The federal government is based here, yet local residents have no vote in Congress. People are keenly aware of the power of schmoozing, yet parties end…

PhotographyArts & Culture

A trio of tempting titles for the holidays

Review by bookpagedev

Let’s face it: nothing spoils the holiday season quite like shopping can. Getting the goods requires a tactical plan that would make MacArthur proud. Luckily, the intrepid editors of BookPage have run reconnaissance for readers, scouting out the hottest titles for the holidays. Armed with these great gift ideas the best in music, photography and dance you can cut those shopping skirmishes short and keep your inner Scrooge at bay.

Was ever a man more comely to look upon than Mikhail Baryshnikov? This specimen of physical perfection first entranced the world in 1974 with his thrilling defection from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Canada. Impish, tousled and utterly endearing, he quickly became the darling of the dance world, working with the West’s top choreographers and companies. Baryshnikov in Black and White, a stunning collection of 175 performance and rehearsal photographs, follows the course of the star’s career outside the Soviet block, spanning nearly three decades and showcasing the dancer’s many abilities and moods from mischievous boy, to seductive satyr, to tortured madman.

Cataloguing Misha’s greatest moments on the stage and in the theatre, the book features photos from ballet classics like The Nutcracker, as well as shots of modern works by Martha Graham, Paul Taylor and Mark Morris. The dancer’s pure lines and remarkable versatility are dramatically documented here, as are his partnerships with primas like Natalia Makarova. The hooded eyes, the mighty thighs, the aura of melancholy all are unmistakably Misha. With an introduction by ballet critic Joan Acocella, this volume is a wonderful tribute to the greatest male dancer of our time.

Satisfaction for Stones fans Raunchy, rowdy and simmering with sexuality, The Rolling Stones stumbled onto the London pop scene in 1962, beginning a tumultuous 40-year career marked early on by the inimitable swagger of Mick Jagger, the cheekiness of Keith Richards, the dignified reserve of Charlie Watts and for a time the beatific beauty of Brian Jones. Also along for one of the wildest rides in rock n’ roll history was Stones bassist Bill Wyman, a bluesman turned author and documentarian, whose terrific new book Rolling with the Stones (DK, $50, 496 pages, ISBN 0798489678) combines more than 2,000 photographs with classic visuals and band artifacts, as well as behind-the-scenes stories about Mick and the boys. This mod, mad volume traces the arc of the group’s career, capturing the trippy ’60s and excessive ’70s, dishing on chick sidekicks Marianne Faithfull and Bianca Jagger, and providing background info on classic blues-inflected albums like Sticky Fingers. Wyman also includes band bios, covering temporary Stone Mick Taylor along with Ron Wood, as well as input from the band about their musical influences, public and private lives, and the longevity of their legend. The ultimate Stones scrapbook, this vivid volume is the perfect gift for fans of the band Bill Graham once called “the biggest draw in the history of mankind.” Wounds of war It was a war from which we’ve never recovered, fought in an era when pop culture collided with politics. Vietnam was nearly the unmaking of our nation, and now a stirring new volume collects classic images of the conflict snapped by Larry Burrows, one of the century’s greatest photojournalists. With 150 color and black-and-white photographs, Larry Burrows Vietnam (Knopf, $50, 243 pages, ISBN 037541102X) delivers the drama of combat with remarkable sensitivity and detail. The intrepid Englishman who strapped himself to the open door of a plane in order to shoot some of the pictures featured in the book covered the conflict from 1962 until his death in 1971, when the helicopter he flew in was shot down near the Vietnam-Laos border. Published in Life magazine (for which Burrows went to work at the age of 16), each of the volume’s 11 pictorial essays distills the nightmare reality of battle: wounded children, trussed prisoners, Asian women wracked by grief, soldiers stealing sleep amidst the litter of American luxuries chocolate and matches, cigarettes and soap, the bright wrappers emphatic on green grass. With an introduction by David Halberstam, Larry Burrows Vietnam is a profoundly moving visual reminiscence of war.

Let's face it: nothing spoils the holiday season quite like shopping can. Getting the goods requires a tactical plan that would make MacArthur proud. Luckily, the intrepid editors of BookPage have run reconnaissance for readers, scouting out the hottest titles for the holidays. Armed with…
PhotographyArts & Culture

A trio of tempting titles for the holidays

Review by bookpagedev

Let’s face it: nothing spoils the holiday season quite like shopping can. Getting the goods requires a tactical plan that would make MacArthur proud. Luckily, the intrepid editors of BookPage have run reconnaissance for readers, scouting out the hottest titles for the holidays. Armed with these great gift ideas the best in music, photography and dance you can cut those shopping skirmishes short and keep your inner Scrooge at bay.

Was ever a man more comely to look upon than Mikhail Baryshnikov? This specimen of physical perfection first entranced the world in 1974 with his thrilling defection from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Canada. Impish, tousled and utterly endearing, he quickly became the darling of the dance world, working with the West’s top choreographers and companies. Baryshnikov in Black and White (Bloomsbury, $60, 321 pages, ISBN 1582341869), a stunning collection of 175 performance and rehearsal photographs, follows the course of the star’s career outside the Soviet block, spanning nearly three decades and showcasing the dancer’s many abilities and moods from mischievous boy, to seductive satyr, to tortured madman.

Cataloguing Misha’s greatest moments on the stage and in the theatre, the book features photos from ballet classics like The Nutcracker, as well as shots of modern works by Martha Graham, Paul Taylor and Mark Morris. The dancer’s pure lines and remarkable versatility are dramatically documented here, as are his partnerships with primas like Natalia Makarova. The hooded eyes, the mighty thighs, the aura of melancholy all are unmistakably Misha. With an introduction by ballet critic Joan Acocella, this volume is a wonderful tribute to the greatest male dancer of our time.

Satisfaction for Stones fans Raunchy, rowdy and simmering with sexuality, The Rolling Stones stumbled onto the London pop scene in 1962, beginning a tumultuous 40-year career marked early on by the inimitable swagger of Mick Jagger, the cheekiness of Keith Richards, the dignified reserve of Charlie Watts and for a time the beatific beauty of Brian Jones. Also along for one of the wildest rides in rock n’ roll history was Stones bassist Bill Wyman, a bluesman turned author and documentarian, whose terrific new book Rolling with the Stones (DK, $50, 496 pages, ISBN 0798489678) combines more than 2,000 photographs with classic visuals and band artifacts, as well as behind-the-scenes stories about Mick and the boys. This mod, mad volume traces the arc of the group’s career, capturing the trippy ’60s and excessive ’70s, dishing on chick sidekicks Marianne Faithfull and Bianca Jagger, and providing background info on classic blues-inflected albums like Sticky Fingers. Wyman also includes band bios, covering temporary Stone Mick Taylor along with Ron Wood, as well as input from the band about their musical influences, public and private lives, and the longevity of their legend. The ultimate Stones scrapbook, this vivid volume is the perfect gift for fans of the band Bill Graham once called “the biggest draw in the history of mankind.” Wounds of war It was a war from which we’ve never recovered, fought in an era when pop culture collided with politics. Vietnam was nearly the unmaking of our nation, and now a stirring new volume collects classic images of the conflict snapped by Larry Burrows, one of the century’s greatest photojournalists. With 150 color and black-and-white photographs, Larry Burrows Vietnam delivers the drama of combat with remarkable sensitivity and detail. The intrepid Englishman who strapped himself to the open door of a plane in order to shoot some of the pictures featured in the book covered the conflict from 1962 until his death in 1971, when the helicopter he flew in was shot down near the Vietnam-Laos border. Published in Life magazine (for which Burrows went to work at the age of 16), each of the volume’s 11 pictorial essays distills the nightmare reality of battle: wounded children, trussed prisoners, Asian women wracked by grief, soldiers stealing sleep amidst the litter of American luxuries chocolate and matches, cigarettes and soap, the bright wrappers emphatic on green grass. With an introduction by David Halberstam, Larry Burrows Vietnam is a profoundly moving visual reminiscence of war.

Let's face it: nothing spoils the holiday season quite like shopping can. Getting the goods requires a tactical plan that would make MacArthur proud. Luckily, the intrepid editors of BookPage have run reconnaissance for readers, scouting out the hottest titles for the holidays. Armed with…
LiteratureArts & Culture

Letters from a pair of legendary lovers

Review by Michael Pearson

The relationship between Zelda Sayre and F. Scott Fitzgerald stands alongside Frieda and D.H. Lawrence or Elizabeth and Robert Browning as one of the legendary literary love stories of all time. Fitzgerald wrote lyrical and trenchant fiction about the Jazz Age, and with The Great Gatsby he crafted one of the most moving and memorable American novels of the 20th century. It might be argued that Zelda was both the source of his emotional fire and a central factor in his disintegration. For Zelda, it seems, Scott served the same dual role. In two decades of marriage, they managed to transform a vale of fame and talent and passionate love into a tragic landscape of drunkenness, mental illness and never-ending debt.

Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda, a collection of correspondence edited by two University of Maryland professors that spans a 22-year period, includes a few dozen previously unpublished letters. It would be more apt, perhaps, to call the volume "Mostly Dear Scott," for the majority of letters are from Zelda. Yet there are enough responses from her husband to give credibility to the title and, more importantly, to give a sense of the often sad symbiosis of their relationship.

Scott Fitzgerald was a famous novelist by the age of 24, thanks to the astonishing success of This Side of Paradise. His love for Zelda was made into a metaphor in The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night, as well as many short stories. His fictions were made of their life together, and their life seemed the stuff of fiction. The letters between Scott and Zelda trace the arc of their love its great passion, its failures and its enduring strengths. Scott made himself into the famous man that Zelda Sayre needed to marry, and she tried to be the proper accessory. As she wrote in an early letter to him, "I feel like you had me ordered and I was delivered to you to be worn. I want you to wear me, like a watch-charm or a button hole bouquet to the world." She professed not minding to be "pink and helpless," but she soon thirsted for her own identity as dancer, as writer or as painter. She had talents in each art but not enough to make her name stand on the same plane as her husband's. She wrote to him, "I want to work at something, but I can't seem to get well enough to be of any use in the world." The beautiful Alabama belle was tormented with mental illness. Her extended stays in mental institutions drained Scott's money and separated the couple by a continent, forcing them to communicate with letters. Scott supported Zelda in the expensive hospitals and their daughter, Scottie, in costly schools, often through hackwork and Hollywood script writing. But, as Zelda wrote to Scott a year before his death, "Nothing could have survived our life." And, of course, she was right not the life they created, nor the one that rose up to meet them, not even the one they dreamed about when they first met.

Scott died of a heart attack in 1940, while he was in the process of completing what many think might have turned out to be one of his finest works, The Last Tycoon. Thirty people showed up for Scott's funeral. As with Gatsby, it seemed, the famous had forgotten him. Zelda died in 1948, burned beyond recognition in a fire in Highland Hospital, a mental institution near Asheville, North Carolina. The inscription on the Fitzgeralds' shared tombstone reads: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Dr. Michael Pearson directs the Creative Writing Program at Old Dominion University.

 

The relationship between Zelda Sayre and F. Scott Fitzgerald stands alongside Frieda and D.H. Lawrence or Elizabeth and Robert Browning as one of the legendary literary love stories of all time. Fitzgerald wrote lyrical and trenchant fiction about the Jazz Age, and with The Great…

LiteratureArts & Culture

Insider exposes Wall Street

Review by bookpagedev

Arthur Levitt made the individual investor his passion during his eight-year term as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Taking the post after 25 years on Wall Street, he knew that investors were almost totally in the dark about how the stock markets worked and felt compelled to educate consumers about the long-standing collusive practices that cost investors millions each year. Now the ultimate insider continues his cause in Take on the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don’t Want You to Know, What You Can Do to Fight Back, a startling behind-the-scenes book for anyone who has felt intimidated or baffled by Wall Street.

Levitt’s cautionary advice on mutual funds, analysts’ recommendations and financial statements boils down to a simple lesson: Ignorant investors are being bilked for every possible nickel, so the more you know, the better you’ll be armed to protect your precious savings. For example, Levitt advises you to fire your broker if you have less than $50,000 to invest, and no matter who handles your money, always ask: How are you getting paid? Much of the book details Levitt’s political and corporate battles as SEC chairman, and many of those same issues returned to the spotlight in 2002 with corporate meltdowns like Enron and WorldCom. Levitt recounts the controversial Regulation Fair Disclosure decision, which required companies to release important information to everyone at the same time, and the push for independent auditors and stock options accounting. Levitt calls his decision to back down on a 1994 proposal that would have forced companies to account for stock options on their financial statements the single biggest mistake of his career with the SEC. Hindsight may be 20/20, but for future investors, Levitt’s eye-opening revelations are sure to make navigating the minefield of hidden potholes on Wall Street a little easier.

 

Arthur Levitt made the individual investor his passion during his eight-year term as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Taking the post after 25 years on Wall Street, he knew that investors were almost totally in the dark about how the stock markets…

PhotographyArts & Culture

Red, white and blue Christmas

Review by Lynn Green

American flags are mingling with holly and tinsel this holiday season, as the burst of patriotism that swept the nation after the September terrorist attacks continues to find expression in displays of red, white and blue. In a country stunned by tragic loss and buoyed by stories of heroism and grace under pressure, books that celebrate the American spirit and the natural beauty of the land are a welcome source of comfort and rejuvenation. And in a reassuring piece of serendipity, three excellent new gift books that capture America, the beautiful, in all its glory have recently arrived on bookstore shelves.

The most glorious and unique book in the trio is America Wide, a collection of panoramic photographs by Australian photographer Ken Duncan. Each two-page spread in the book is an extremely wide-angle portrait of an American landscape, from the murky swamps of Louisiana to a breathtakingly beautiful Hawaiian beach. Duncan spent three years traveling across America, and he includes photos from each of the 50 states in this remarkable collection. Brilliant colors dominate the scenes, from the rich orange tones of an autumn hillside in Vermont to the soft glow of sunset near Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Along with the photos are Duncan's own brief commentaries on what makes America a great nation. Written long before the events of Sept. 11, his words have an almost eerie relevance today. "Our roots provide the strength to withstand the storms of constant change," he writes. The hardy pioneers who settled this country "have shown the way to overcome obstacles and stand strong in times of adversity."

A nation can be seen not only in its dramatic landscapes, but also in the faces of its people. Noted National Geographic photographer William Albert Allard uses this approach to fashion a kaleidoscopic view of the national identity in Portraits of America. Though he spent 37 years on the staff of a magazine that covers the four corners of the earth, Allard describes himself as "a photographer who specializes in America." Once given a choice by National Geographic of two assignments Russia or minor league baseball Allard immediately opted to photograph the national pastime. Some of those photographs are included here, glimpses of joyous, determined and dejected baseball players in towns like Bakersfield and Helena. As writer Richard Ford notes in his foreword, Allard finds his subjects "in remote and far-flung pockets of the American culture (blues clubs, minor league baseball parks, rodeos, Hutterite colonies, even, for God's sake, Minnesota) as though such faces and people weren't as available as once they were." In one striking photo, a group of cowboys, faces hidden behind their huge hats, huddle over a campfire at dawn. In another, an Amish boy, smiling broadly at the camera, clasps the huge hand of his much older brother. Taken together, Allard's beautifully composed and richly revealing portraits give us an intimate look at the face of America.

If a picture book could be described as "fast-paced," then USA would definitely earn that description. With more than 900 photographs packed into its 500 pages, USA covers a lot of ground everything from American landscapes to lifestyles to architecture. Spanish photographer Jordi Miralles journeys from sea to shining sea, showcasing sights from the Golden Gate Bridge to Grand Central Station. Brimming with visual tidbits, this paperback offers an appealing overview of the nation and its people.

And finally, if you're looking for yet another way to show your patriotic spirit, Workman Publishing has collected an inspiring series of photos in a 2002 wall calendar, Glory: A Celebration of the American Flag. Each month features a photo of the flag taken in the days after the attack amid the devastation at Ground Zero, billowing along a charred wall of the Pentagon and waving proudly in the hands of Americans young and old. All profits from the sale of the calendar will be donated to the 9/11 Neediest Fund to benefit families of the victims.

American flags are mingling with holly and tinsel this holiday season, as the burst of patriotism that swept the nation after the September terrorist attacks continues to find expression in displays of red, white and blue. In a country stunned by tragic loss and…

MusicArts & Culture

Searching for the story of a raw talent

Review by James Dickerson

Born at the turn of the century, Emmett Miller was a Georgia-raised blackface entertainer who recorded a string of records, mostly in the 1920s, that helped to fill the creative void between ragtime and jazz. Stylistically, he was neither blues nor country, black nor white. Think yodeling blues singer. Talent-wise, he was neither good nor bad mostly just something in-between, different enough to strike a chord with those who attended his minstrel performances and purchased his records.

Nick Tosches, contributing editor for Vanity Fair and best-selling author of Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, became obsessed with Miller more than 25 years ago—a fascination to which he admits without embarrassment while researching a book about country music. The fact that Merle Haggard dedicated his album I Love Dixie Blues to Miller was enough to tweak Tosches' curiosity. Not until he discovered one of Miller's recordings in the bargain bin of a New York record store did he understand why Haggard and others felt obligated to tip their hats to the entertainer. He writes, "When I heard Miller's actual voice, forthshining from the coruscations of those slow-spinning emerald grooves, I was astounded, and my search for information on him began in earnest."

To say that Tosches was obsessed with this white man who liked to perform made-up as a black man is an understatement. He pursued Miller with the righteous zeal of a cuckolded husband on the trail of his marital adversary. But, in truth, this gracefully written book contains very little information about Emmett Miller. Rather, it is more about the author's search for some semblance of creative unity and purpose in American music. It's a noble quest, a journey of discovery that is as entertaining as it is enlightening.

James L. Dickerson is the author of Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager.

 

Born at the turn of the century, Emmett Miller was a Georgia-raised blackface entertainer who recorded a string of records, mostly in the 1920s, that helped to fill the creative void between ragtime and jazz. Stylistically, he was neither blues nor country, black nor white.…

LiteratureArts & Culture

Baseball bio is a real home run

Review by bookpagedev

When baseball’s All-Century Team was chosen in 1999, one of the pitchers picked was Sandy Koufax, a left-hander for the Brooklyn, and later, Los Angeles Dodgers a remarkable selection that was largely based on the strength of a five-year stretch when Koufax dominated the game like no one had before.

What is more remarkable, notes Jane Leavy, author of the new book Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, is that for a good portion of his career he pitched with an arm injury that kept him in constant pain, which he relieved with a mix of painkillers, ice baths and an analgesic balm that was so strong people cried when they were around him. As Leavy points out, Koufax had it all: movie star good looks, a nimble brain and tons of athletic ability. Like Hank Greenberg, a Jewish first baseman for the Detroit Tigers a generation before, Koufax was an icon for Jews across America. He helped belie the myth that Jews were incapable of excelling in physical endeavors.

Success never went to his head. He maintained friendships with his childhood buddies from Brooklyn, and around his teammates he was known for treating everyone the same, regardless of their color or hierarchy as an athlete. Leavy, an award-winning sportswriter and feature writer for the Washington Post, does a sensitive job in portraying him as an outstanding athlete and a thoughtful, complex man.

Baseball fan Ron Kaplan writes from Montclair, New Jersey.

 

When baseball's All-Century Team was chosen in 1999, one of the pitchers picked was Sandy Koufax, a left-hander for the Brooklyn, and later, Los Angeles Dodgers a remarkable selection that was largely based on the strength of a five-year stretch when Koufax dominated the…

LiteratureArts & Culture

The men behind the bomb

Review by bookpagedev

Some of the most influential physicists of the 20th century were deeply involved in the creation of the atomic bomb and the much more destructive thermonuclear hydrogen bomb that followed. Patriotism led them to put their expertise at the service of their country. Now, in an authoritative new book, Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller, Gregg Herken re-creates that turbulent period, focusing on three major figures of the era. Drawing on thousands of pages of declassified government documents from the United States and the former U.S.S.R., as well as many personal interviews and private papers, the author gives us fresh portraits of his subjects. Herken is a curator and historian of science at the Smithsonian Institution. His previous books include The Winning Weapon and Counsels of War, both concerned with various aspects of subjects discussed in his new book.

Lawrence and Teller had shown little interest in politics until 1940-1941. Oppenheimer, in contrast, was involved with numerous leftist causes and groups and some suspected him of being a Communist. As Herken demonstrates, Oppenheimer was under intense scrutiny, but a careful reading of official reports shows that no proof of disloyalty was ever found. Despite continuing concern, General Leslie Groves, who headed the Manhattan Project, ordered a security clearance for Oppenheimer in 1943, noting that, He is absolutely essential to the project." Oppenheimer’s views remained controversial throughout the early postwar years when he was regarded by many as the scientist of conscience in this country. Those who disagreed with him or suspected him of disloyalty were eventually able to get his security clearance taken away in 1954, one day before it was due to expire.

Herken deftly guides us through the scientific-governmental and political-military thicket, explaining how key decisions were made. He follows his three major figures bright, innovative, even brilliant scientists as they debate and maneuver to gain acceptance for their points of view. But it is not their story alone. Along the way we are made aware of the significant contributions of many others, including Vannevar Bush, James B. Conant, Arthur Compton, Enrico Fermi and Alfred Loomis.

Herken writes that the plot" of this riveting book is taken from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: [I]t is a cautionary tale of arrogance, betrayal, and unforeseen consequences; of what comes from invoking forces both political and physical that one neither fully understands nor controls."

Nashville bookseller Roger Bishop is a longtime contributor to BookPage.

 

 

Some of the most influential physicists of the 20th century were deeply involved in the creation of the atomic bomb and the much more destructive thermonuclear hydrogen bomb that followed. Patriotism led them to put their expertise at the service of their country. Now,…

LiteratureArts & Culture

Beetle mania rolls on

Review by bookpagedev

The international automotive industry has foisted many products on this car-crazy world, yet nothing has ever registered as vividly or as memorably in the public’s imagination as the Volkswagen Beetle. Yes, it was small and funny-looking (some would say downright ugly), you could hardly see out the back window and traveling in a crosswind was always an adventure. But what the Beetle (or Bug") did best was run. And run. And run. Efficiency was its main selling point, followed closely by its rock-bottom price tag. The story of the Volkwagen’s birth and development is a fascinating one, and veteran television reporter and New York Times writer Phil Patton does a super job of telling it in his new book Bug. Patton digs deeply into the Bug’s origins in the 1930s, when, as the proletariat dream-car brainchild of Adolf Hitler and Germany’s Third Reich, no less a designer than the renowned Ferdinand Porsche (of stylish race-car fame) set to work bringing the Fuhrer’s vision to reality. There were snags, of course primarily World War II.

It wasn’t until the postwar era that the Volkswagen idea was brought to fruition, and the Bug became a symbol of Germany’s economic and industrial renewal. Then the worldwide Bug infestation began.

America went Beetle-happy in the late ’50s and early ’60s, spurred on by perhaps the most famous advertising campaign in history. The Doyle Dane Bernbach agency developed print and television spots that made buying a VW absolutely de rigueur for eggheads, unassuming idealists or anyone with an iconoclastic or countercultural streak (or a wobbly bank account). By the time the Beetle ceased production in the late 1970s, it had become the best-selling car of all time. Patton relates all of these episodes with authority and style, offering interesting glimpses into the personalities, creativity and philosophies of the principal players. He also provides an account of the late ’90s rejuvenation of the Bug, whose pedigree as a product of the global economy is a far cry from the utilitarian, Cold War-era atmosphere from which its legendary forebear sprung. This first-rate blend of business and social history should hit a chord of nostalgia with many readers.

Martin Brady writes from Nashville.

 

 

 

The international automotive industry has foisted many products on this car-crazy world, yet nothing has ever registered as vividly or as memorably in the public's imagination as the Volkswagen Beetle. Yes, it was small and funny-looking (some would say downright ugly), you could hardly…

LiteratureArts & Culture

A personal quest to understand the poetry of war

Review by Roger Bishop

Daniel Swift’s paternal grandfather died during World War II, at the age of 30, while on a bombing mission for the Royal Air Force over Germany in 1943. In the course of research about his grandfather’s life and death as a bomber pilot, Swift, a literary critic and English professor, began to explore the relationship between the bombers and poetry. Discussion of the role of bombers is a sensitive subject for many because of the great devastation and the death of many civilians on the ground. As Swift notes in his illuminating personal and literary journey, Bomber County, “The poetry of air bombing requires a particular imaginative sympathy absent from other war poetry, and it must play between telling and deferring the tale: between the poet who survived and the others who died that night.”

Swift is concerned with bomber poetry written from several perspectives. He focuses on the work of noted bomber poets such as James Dickey and John Ciardi, but he also wants us to read poetry by those engaged in bombing runs who had not been poets but felt compelled to write poetry because of their experience, including Michael Scott and John Riley Byrne. He explores, too, the war poems of Randall Jarrell, who trained others to be pilots but did not see action himself. He considers in detail poetry by civilians moved by the terror of air raids. T.S. Eliot was an air raid warden in London, and “Little Gidding,” the last of his Four Quartets, is directly concerned with living in a bombed city. Dylan Thomas thought that he could write poetry only in peacetime. Although not a combatant, Thomas wrote hauntingly about the distinctive grief of aerial bombardment in “Ceremony After a Fire Raid” and “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London,” as did Stephen Spender in “Responsibility: The Pilots Who Destroyed Germany, Spring 1945.”

As Swift continues to find out more about his grandfather’s life and death, he discusses the very different views of the bombing raids, ranging from “atrocities pure and simple” to “one of the decisive elements in Allied victory.” He does not shy away from discussing the morality and ethics of the bombers’ missions: “Bombing can be both bright purpose and dreadful duty; both horror and great joy; tourist and killer, proudness and fear.”

Bomber County is a stimulating and insightful investigation into the poetry of a particular time as well as a unique personal quest to understand a grandfather’s legacy.

Daniel Swift’s paternal grandfather died during World War II, at the age of 30, while on a bombing mission for the Royal Air Force over Germany in 1943. In the course of research about his grandfather’s life and death as a bomber pilot, Swift, a…

Pop CultureArts & Culture

The paradox of race

Review by bookpagedev

In American Skin: Pop Culture, Big Business and the End of White America, former Wall Street Journal columnist Leon E. Wynter (Crown, $25, 288 pages, ISBN 0609604899) makes a cogent case that consumer culture has radically changed the terms of racial discussion in America. Our identity is now transracial, based more on our spending habits than on our skin color. Part cultural history, part business history, American Skin outlines the major cultural events that have shaped American life and with great historiographic skill traces the changes in marketing that followed those events.

From the famous Mean Joe Green Coca-Cola commercial to the introduction of Revlon’s Colorstyle line, Wynter argues that advertising has subtly changed the way we view ourselves as Americans. The melting pot “into which generations of European American identities are said to have dissolved, is bubbling again,” Wynter writes, and the flame firing that brew is big business. This is a fascinating book with a hopeful message about the interaction of democracy and the marketplace.

In American Skin: Pop Culture, Big Business and the End of White America, former Wall Street Journal columnist Leon E. Wynter (Crown, $25, 288 pages, ISBN 0609604899) makes a cogent case that consumer culture has radically changed the terms of racial discussion in America. Our…
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Gail Godwin

Interview by Julie Hale

Publishers Weekly once described Gail Godwin as a mix of "mysticism and clear-headed practicality," a fusion of divergent forces that has proven a rich one for the author, whose novels Evensong and The Good Husband explorations of mortality and faith that mine the spiritual side of their characters have earned her both popular and critical acclaim.

"I spend a lot of time either in awe of or in pursuit of the unseen," Godwin says by phone from her home in Woodstock, New York. Indeed, her first nonfiction book Heart: A Personal Journey Through Its Myths and Meanings gives substance to the unseen, solidifying the essence of one of our most popular symbols: the heart. A synthesis, a survey, Godwin’s new book tours history, religion, literature and art, examining the role of the heart in each of these contexts and bringing to mind the best of Diane Ackerman and Annie Dillard along the way. Exploring the accretion of meanings, the layers of significance humanity has projected onto an emblem that probably dates back to 10,000 B.C., when the heart as we know it that shapeliest of symbols, all lavish arch and flirtatious curve was first scrawled on a cave wall in Spain, the narrative is part history, part anatomy, part literary criticism, an in-depth examination of what lies behind the good, old-fashioned valentine.

"Finding out how all these areas branched out and connected was a broadening experience," Godwin, a three-time National Book Award nominee, says. "It’s a heartful way to write, more of a circulatory way, to see how things tie in to other things."

Raised in North Carolina, Godwin has a soothing Southern lilt, which she punctuates with deliberative periods of silence, as though searching for the best possible words to express her ideas. The contemplative tone seems just right for the author, whose abiding interest in the world’s theologies lends her new book a certain urgency. When she encourages readers to "revaluate the heart," to "develop more consciousness of heart," Godwin seems to be writing in earnest.

"I feel more and more that we really spent hundreds of years perfecting our minds and our industries and our reason, and now it’s really time to catch up with the other stuff. Like the heart," Godwin says. "I think it’s happening in increments. Once you’re aware of the heart and heartlessness, you’ve already made some mileage."

Although Godwin has a strong background in journalism — she once worked as a reporter for The Miami Herald — the shift from fiction to nonfiction with Heart was not without its challenges. "As far as the writing goes, I found that I had to keep myself from being too dry and scholarly," she says. "Whenever I put on my scholar’s hat, my heart went out of it. When you think of the nonfiction you enjoy reading, it’s written in a voice. You’re not just getting information. Someone is bringing you the information through their personality."

Godwin’s voice in the book is poetic and lucid as she recounts some of the greatest heart moments in history — the creation of the stethoscope; the first valentine; how the heart symbol got its shape. From the evolution of Taoism to the Holy Wars to courtly love, she portrays the heart as a motivator for some of history’s greatest moments, showing how much of life has, in a sense, been engendered by one little organ. The seat of desire and the center of humanity, the stimulus for things great and small, from one-night stands to world wars, the heart, as the author demonstrates, is a point where we all connect.

Godwin experienced this connection firsthand during the writing of Heart, when she discussed the narrative with friends, some of whom freely gave her suggestions for the book. "When I worked on my novels in the past and talked to people about them, they always hung back from suggesting ideas," Godwin says. "They would observe a certain decorum. But with the heart book, everyone was plunging in: ‘Don’t forget to put in this poet or that artist.’ I decided that maybe when you’re writing out of a shared culture, people feel perfectly free and even obligated to contribute."

While a sense of shared culture permeates Heart, for the author, there are personal contexts at play in the book as well. One of the most poignant chapters in the narrative is about heartbreak and includes the story of Godwin’s half brother Tommy, who died during a shooting incident in 1983. Godwin had written about his death before in her book, A Southern Family.

"A Southern Family was a huge novel, and this chapter in Heart was a completely different take on what happened," she explains. "I learned more about what a broken heart means and what grieving means just from writing this part of the book. Maybe that’s a good instance of one of the blessings of nonfiction writing — you can get closer to something that really happened without having to disguise or design. You can still use all your imagination and try to illuminate mysteries, if not solve them."

Such were the gratifications of the nonfiction genre that Godwin has decided to do a sequel to Heart. "The next book will be about hospitality," she says. "I’ll treat it the same way I treated the heart, looking at all the ways hospitality has been perceived throughout the ages."

At the moment, Godwin is at work on a new novel called The Queen of the Underworld. "For the first time in my life, I don’t have a deadline," she says. "It frees me up, and I seem to work more. I’m interested to see how, having written Heart and found this new kind of circulation, it’s going to affect what I’m writing now. I think it’s going to permeate the fiction writing with more heart qualities," she says hopefully. "Things like zest, courage and taking chances at pain."

Publishers Weekly once described Gail Godwin as a mix of "mysticism and clear-headed practicality," a fusion of divergent forces that has proven a rich one for the author, whose novels Evensong and The Good Husband explorations of mortality and faith that mine the spiritual side…

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