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Trouble down below

Review by bookpagedev

It’s hard to believe that an underground fire in an abandoned mine raged for decades beneath the northeastern Pennsylvania town of Centralia. Spewing toxic fumes and generating hellish temperatures, the fire also ignited heat among longtime residents. Should they stay or should they vacate? And in the matter of the latter, who should pay? After all, the folks here had a median annual income of $9,000. The Day the Earth Caved In: An American Mining Tragedy is a meticulous account of the tangled saga of hometown, history and Reagan-era governmental red tape. Author Joan Quigley, a former business reporter for the Miami Herald, and a descendant of coal miners, uses her own family history to illustrate the stubborn determination of those who have toiled in the anthracite coal region of Appalachia. Via Centralia, she charts the coal industry’s highs and lows. It was in 1962, following the collapse of the industry, that the Centralia fire erupted at a garbage dump landfill. In ensuing years, federal and state agencies and the community bickered over possible remedies. In late 1973, a three-year $2.8 million effort was pronounced a success. Months later, a five-foot diameter hole appeared in the surface, erupting with smoke and steam. A turning point came in 1981 when a 12-year-old boy was swallowed by a sinkhole with temperatures of 160 degrees. He managed to survive by clinging to the roots of a tree. Afterward, the press descended on Centralia NBC News, People magazine, Nightline which further polarized the town. Ironically, there’s no mention of the fire in the time capsule that was buried during the Centralia Centennial in 1966. Instead, it includes a Bible, a souvenir booklet about the town, a miner’s carbide lamp and lumps of coal. When it’s opened in the year 2016, former residents of the former town are expected to attend. Though Quigley’s narrative can be confusing when it jumps back and forth in time, there’s no quibbling with her attention to detail. Especially vivid are the diverse townsfolk who struggled over the fate of their hometown.

Pat H. Broeske is a biographer and a segment producer for Court TV.

It’s hard to believe that an underground fire in an abandoned mine raged for decades beneath the northeastern Pennsylvania town of Centralia. Spewing toxic fumes and generating hellish temperatures, the fire also ignited heat among longtime residents. Should they stay or should they vacate? And in the matter of the latter, who should pay? After […]
Family & Relationships

Be mine: a bittersweet Valentine treat

Review by bookpagedev

If you are anticipating the 14th of February with about as much eagerness as a visit from the Grim Reaper, I Hate Valentine’s Day offers a hilarious antidote for the red-heart blues. Author Bennett Madison begins by lamenting the loss of innocent fun the holiday once brought in childhood when “at the end of the day, you had a box full of cards one from each and every person in the class, including sworn enemies. That was the rule.” He goes on to offer an adult guidebook for not only surviving the day, but enjoying it (albeit at times perversely), once more. “It will only take a small attitude adjustment,” he quips, “a lot of quick thinking, and a few shots of Jack Daniels.” The eight brief chapters include “Emergency Dating,” with tips on Internet resources, creative dating and people to avoid no matter how desperate you are for a date; “Hell Night,” complete with a quick quiz to rate your romance quotient and some atypical ideas for where to go and what to do; and “Wallowing When All Else Fails,” with lists of videos and songs sure to wring a good, cathartic, cry out of you. There’s even a troubleshooting section to help out with any problems you might encounter on Valentine’s Day, such as V-Day stalkers, unwanted proposals and bad hair/acne/mysterious rashes. Madison’s funny take on the holiday is sure to keep your Valentine’s Day expectations under control. Linda Stankard writes from Nanuet, New York.

If you are anticipating the 14th of February with about as much eagerness as a visit from the Grim Reaper, I Hate Valentine’s Day offers a hilarious antidote for the red-heart blues. Author Bennett Madison begins by lamenting the loss of innocent fun the holiday once brought in childhood when “at the end of the […]
Family & Relationships

A literary path to love

Review by bookpagedev

Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating, by Lauren Henderson, offers an Englishwoman in America’s perspective on love. When Henderson moved to the States several years ago, her new friends gave her advice about how to play the dating game here advice like, “Don’t call men back for at least three days! Five is ideal!” About to lose someone she was genuinely interested in, she abandoned the advice being given to her and turned to the wisdom on dating and relationships found in the novels of English author Jane Austen. Henderson came up with 10 rules inspired by the romances of Austen’s characters and applied Rule No. 1 (very satisfactorily) to her own situation: “If you like someone, make it clear that you do.” She writes: “Austen repeatedly emphasizes the opinion that a woman who likes a man should make her preference for him clear without, naturally, going overboard.” This guideline came from Catherine Morland’s successful pursuit of Henry Tilney in Northanger Abby, and the rest of the 10 common-sense rules cite characters and events from Austen’s other novels that back them up. It’s interesting to see how 19th-century writing can inform 21st-century relationships. Part of the fun of this book is taking the quizzes, “Which Jane Austen Character Are You?” and “Which Jane Austen Character is the Man You Like?” There are book summaries for the Austen Uninitiated or to refresh your memory, and character descriptions so you can read about the character you are most like and the one you would likely like most. Linda Stankard writes from Nanuet, New York.

Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating, by Lauren Henderson, offers an Englishwoman in America’s perspective on love. When Henderson moved to the States several years ago, her new friends gave her advice about how to play the dating game here advice like, “Don’t call men back for at least three days! Five is ideal!” About to […]
NonfictionHistory

An offensive four-letter word

Review by Pete Croatto

When Merriam-Webster announced the new words included in its 2012 Collegiate Dictionary—entries that included “sexting” and “energy drink”—the news was greeted quietly, perhaps because most of us understand how language evolves. Slang makes its way to grandparents; jargon becomes commonplace. Or maybe we’ve exhausted our anger.

Tolerance was in short supply 51 years ago when Webster’s Third New International Dictionary caused the intellectual, journalistic and academic worlds to go nuts over one little word—and a change in the dictionary’s philosophy. David Skinner traces the evolution of this language battle in The Story of Ain’t, a fascinating, highly entertaining cultural history that will enchant an audience beyond word nerds.

Webster’s Third hit shelves in 1961, 27 years after the release of Webster’s Second. In the intervening years, World War II, pop culture and other changes had broadened the language. Plus, many researchers had concluded that defining the “right way” to speak English was, at best, an elusive concept.

Editor Philip Gove decided that Webster’s, the leading dictionary of the day, would fit these less formal times. He updated the literary references, shortened the definitions and steered the book away from its encyclopedic past. Even the pronunciation key was dumped. The response to this new approach was met with an anger that rose to pitchfork-carrying levels when the press release for the new dictionary focused on the premiere of “ain’t.” The sloppily prepared release portrayed the word as a staple of educational speakers, neglecting to mention that “a substandard label was attached” to the word in the Webster’s Third entry.

Despite the title, the scandal over “ain’t” is not the book’s best part. It’s the way in which Skinner nimbly, concisely—and without academic dryness—traces the everyday changes that shaped what came out of Americans’ mouths and into our dictionaries. Ain’t that something?

When Merriam-Webster announced the new words included in its 2012 Collegiate Dictionary—entries that included “sexting” and “energy drink”—the news was greeted quietly, perhaps because most of us understand how language evolves. Slang makes its way to grandparents; jargon becomes commonplace. Or maybe we’ve exhausted our anger. Tolerance was in short supply 51 years ago when […]
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Experts tell all

Review by bookpagedev

There’s a button in my desk drawer. It’s in the drawer because please don’t tell anyone I have no idea how to sew it back on. That is, I had no idea. After reading The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do, I now know how to sew on a button and do 99 other useful things.

Now, this isn’t simply a dry how-to book. It’s an eclectic collection of advice and insight from 100 experts in their fields. Has the spouse been bugging you to paint the bedroom? Bob Vila offers tips for great walls. Considering the stylistic possibilities of a bow tie? CNN’s Tucker Carlson tells you how to loop and tug. Each of the 100 things is presented in a two-to-three page tidbit, mixed with humor and philosophy, making the book both a helpful resource and a delightful little read. You can take it in snips, pondering thoughts as you like or applying the advice right away. So the next time you need to negotiate (Donald Trump), tell a joke (Howie Mandel), or bake chocolate-chip cookies (Debbi Fields), you’ll have expert advice at hand, and at least 100 things in life will be much easier.

There’s a button in my desk drawer. It’s in the drawer because please don’t tell anyone I have no idea how to sew it back on. That is, I had no idea. After reading The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do, I now know how to sew on a button […]
NonfictionPolitics

In the case of Obama v. Roberts

Review by John C. Williams

There are two theses running through The Oath, Jeffrey Toobin’s follow-up to his 2008 Supreme Court profile, The Nine. The first is that former constitutional law professor Barack Obama and current Chief Justice John Roberts have fundamentally opposed theories of constitutional interpretation. As Toobin writes, it is Roberts who is an “apostle of change” and Obama who is “determined to hold on to an older version of the meaning of the Constitution.” The book bills itself by this difference, but Toobin fails to deliver a thorough portrait on the president’s end. Though he convincingly argues that judicial matters are not high among the president’s priorities, Toobin offers little about Obama’s legal philosophy. The Oath is really an up-close look at recent high-profile cases on the Supreme Court’s docket.

That brings us to the book’s second thesis: Constitutional law is politics by other means, at least in the current day. This sentiment pervades the discussion of the cases at the book’s core: District of Columbia v. Heller’s location of an individual right to a handgun in the Second Amendment; Citizens United and the Court’s equation of corporate campaign contributions with speech; and this summer’s decision to uphold the individual mandate in Obama’s healthcare law. In each of these cases, Toobin sees a battle between Democrats and Republicans. Legal theories serve as proxies for partisan politics. Some might view this equivalence as overly simplistic and the emphasis on big-ticket cases as unduly narrow. Yet it is difficult to refute the notion that the Court has taken a conservative tack—even prior to Roberts—that relies on overturning legal precedent.

Overall, The Oath is an entertaining read that provides lively personal accounts of the justices and that makes complex legal issues understandable. It is a welcome portrait of the contemporary Supreme Court.

There are two theses running through The Oath, Jeffrey Toobin’s follow-up to his 2008 Supreme Court profile, The Nine. The first is that former constitutional law professor Barack Obama and current Chief Justice John Roberts have fundamentally opposed theories of constitutional interpretation. As Toobin writes, it is Roberts who is an “apostle of change” and […]

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