Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
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What explains the current rage for the 17th-century Italian artist known as Caravaggio ? Is it his realistic, almost photorealistic technique of somber darkness contrasted with spotlighted rose-pink cheeks, lush limbs, and the naughty bits of teasing nudes? Is it his scandalous life a whirligig of recurring assault, debauchery, pederasty, and murder in that era fabled for hypocrisy and repression, the Counter-Reformation? Whatever the appeal, new biographies and critical studies, of man and artist have been appearing with increasing frequency, buttressed by recent discoveries in the libraries, studies, and most importantly, criminal court proceedings of Rome, Naples, Sicily, and Malta.

In a relatively brief life, which ended at age 37 or 39 by murder or disease in a place much disputed, Caravaggio certainly got around. He also dominated the Italian painting of his day, bringing ordinary humans to life as actors in the most touching, strange, and violent stories of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Peter Robb, an enthusiast who capably draws upon academic scholarship but brooks no constraints upon his own insights and creative inferences, has produced in M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio a lengthy, colorful, anecdotal, quirky, and totally engaging artist’s biography. His puckish title sets the tone: His subject, perhaps named Michelangelo Merisi, was known by 15 different surnames, most beginning with the letter M, but is remembered as Caravaggio, the name of his hometown. In other words, though Robb hauls in numerous facts, the lives and careers of other painters, prostitutes, and cardinals, conflicts between the Spanish and French parties in the Catholic Church, politics in the papacy, and much, much more, he continually reminds us that very little is actually known about the most admired and notorious painter of his day.

Somehow amidst the turmoil, this inimitable genius created an indelibly original body of work. Robb traces his growth from heady sensuality to profound evocation of the human condition and his courage in defying the decorum mandated by the Church and enforced by the Inquisition. Sixteen pages of illustrations enhance these discussions.

A sprawling, not entirely disciplined work of ardent passion, M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio could be a bit shorter and less repetitious but is a feast of art appreciation, storytelling, and witty speculation for anyone interested in Caravaggio’s shadowy theater of the partly seen and the institutionalized banditry and brutality of 17th-century Europe.

Charles Flowers, who lives in Purdys, New York, is currently writing about Orientalism in American art.

What explains the current rage for the 17th-century Italian artist known as Caravaggio ? Is it his realistic, almost photorealistic technique of somber darkness contrasted with spotlighted rose-pink cheeks, lush limbs, and the naughty bits of teasing nudes? Is it his scandalous life a whirligig…

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Glassware, silverware, chi-na! Dirty dishes and kitch-en utensils! This was the mantra of our seventh-grade home economics teacher. Mrs. Douglas chirped the words as we sat scowling by our assigned “kitchenettes.” It was our rally call signaling us to assume positions at the sink and start cleaning. There were some of us, however, who secretly liked home ec some of us who still do. Here’s a fabulous book for those who have gotten in touch with their inner housecleaner.

Don’t let the cover fool you, Biting the Dust: The Joys of Housework by Margaret Horsfield (St. Martin’s, $24.95, 0312212143) is no campy portrait of domestic bliss but an exhaustive exploration of housework and its history. It will surprise you with its humor and insight.

It would behoover you to read it.

Reviewed by Katherine H. Wyrick.

Glassware, silverware, chi-na! Dirty dishes and kitch-en utensils! This was the mantra of our seventh-grade home economics teacher. Mrs. Douglas chirped the words as we sat scowling by our assigned "kitchenettes." It was our rally call signaling us to assume positions at the sink and…

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Why do we need another bird guide? Isn’t there one sticking out of the back pocket of every binoculars-owner in the world? Changes in range and modifications of taxonomy require updated editions of existing guides, but why a new one? Because, like species themselves, guides exist for different reasons, in different eras, and frequently profit from studying their competitors.

The new guide by distinguished birder, illustrator and writer David Allen Sibley, The Sibley Guide to Birds, has magnum opus and labor of love stamped all over it. To begin with, some statistics: 554 gorgeous pages in an oversized weather-resistant flex-paper format, describing 810 species and 350 regional populations, with more than 6,600 illustrations. The artwork is gorgeous and the writing clear and crisp. Species are shown both flying and perched or swimming, usually in every seasonal and juvenile variation of their plumage. Every species gets its own range map and detailed voice description. Families are introduced with pages of side-by-side comparison. And the format is identical throughout. No other bird guide is easier to get used to or more comprehensive than The Sibley Guide to Birds.

Much less comprehensive and more condensed than Sibley’s book but still valuable, especially for beginners is Kenn Kaufman’s Birds of North America. Kaufman has taken 2,000 photographs and digitally revised and enhanced them to clarify identification. There are two schools of thought about field guides. One maintains that paintings permit a more representative picture of a bird’s likely overall plumage; the other insists that photographs work better than paintings, by providing a single example of a real bird, not a synthesis of traits. By exploiting the technological possibilities of the computer age, Kaufman aimed for the virtues of both methods. He has largely succeeded, and in the process created a handy, pocket-size guide that is easy to use.

Why do we need another bird guide? Isn't there one sticking out of the back pocket of every binoculars-owner in the world? Changes in range and modifications of taxonomy require updated editions of existing guides, but why a new one? Because, like species themselves, guides…

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It may seem impossible to ascertain what fish sauce, cardboard and volcanoes have in common, but as Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World: A History reveals, the answer is, well . . . tomatoes.

Author William Alexander takes readers on a world tour through history, from the tomato’s regional origins in Mexico to its ubiquity in the present day. (Thanks to pizza, the tomato is now the most famous fruit in the world.) Much of each chapter relies on historical research, even as Alexander frequently questions the veracity of what he uncovered during said research; after all, everyone wants to be celebrated for having invented some of the world’s favorite foods. But Ten Tomatoes is also a travelogue of sorts, as Alexander visits important locations from the tomato’s history, especially Italy, and enjoys many culinary experiences firsthand.

Alexander’s playful sense of humor—perhaps best described as “dad jokes about vegetables”—makes Ten Tomatoes a delight to read. It’s this humor that takes a range of disparate and unexpected topics, such as legends about who first brought tomatoes to North America and rumors that circulated during the 1800s cholera epidemic, and makes them equally digestible. (Yes, that was a tomato pun.)

However, Ten Tomatoes isn’t just filled with tidbits that will help readers dominate at pub trivia night (especially if “pasta” or “ketchup” are categories). More broadly, the book proves that food history isn’t a niche topic. Through entertaining stories and fun facts, Alexander shows how culinary decisions have often been made based on the politics or business interests of the day, rather than anything to do with flavor or health. Taken all together, this book about the history of this beloved fruit (or vegetable—it’s debatable!) is endlessly surprising.

With a combination of offbeat history, travelogue and dad jokes, William Alexander takes readers through the endlessly surprising history of the tomato.
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If you enjoy hiking up and down remote mountains while laden with excessive outdoor gear, then The Hiking Book From Hell is probably not the travelogue you’re looking for. On the other hand, if you enjoy strolling through your city, hanging out in pubs or chatting with strangers, then author Are Kalvø is your man. Kalvø, one of Norway’s most popular satirists, is a cheerful urbanite with little to no interest in nature. In his mid-40s, however, he realized that many of his friends were joining the swelling ranks of people who subject themselves to deprivation and possibly even death in pursuit of an “authentic” experience with nature. This insight brought Kalvø face to face with life’s most profound question: Is it them, or is it me?

Kalvø also had serious questions about Norwegians’ mania for nature. As a committed extrovert, he found their quest for isolation and silence disturbing. Also, nature worship can be exclusionary; the high cost of equipment and clothing ensures that nature is reserved for the well-off, while proposals to make the outdoors more accessible to disabled people are vigorously opposed. And if people went into nature to lose themselves in a transcendent experience, then why were there so many nature selfies on Instagram?

Accompanied by his wife, the “Head of Documentation,” Kalvø went on two nature treks to see what all the fuss was about—but he never really found out. Climbing steep, fog-bound mountains in the rain is as much fun as you would expect. Skiing for miles can be pretty boring. And, as he discovered, there’s something about being one with nature that changes ordinary people into boastful, unbearably smug liars who tell you with a straight face that a hike is “lovely” when they really mean “likely to kill you.”

But Kalvø tells his story with such deft humor and affectionate irony, wonderfully conveyed by Lucy Moffatt’s translation, that all you can do is laugh at his misadventures—and be grateful that you’re reading The Hiking Book From Hell in the comfort of your home.

Are Kalvø, an urbanite with no interest in nature, tells of venturing into the outdoors with such deft humor that all you can do is laugh at his misadventures.
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Viva Las Vegas! Las Vegas. The name inspires a hybrid image, half Disneyland and half Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., its population having boomed from 400,000 in 1980 to more than a million now. As four new books attest, Vegas is also a magnet for the imagination. Inevitably the authors focus on the four-mile stretch of casinos called the Strip, but along the way they address many other aspects of the Industry as Las Vegas residents refer to gambling including entertainment, prostitution, organized crime, and law enforcement.

Let’s move from the narrowest focus to the broadest. Pete Earley, the investigative reporter who wrote The Hot House about Leavenworth, and also published exposes about the Aldrich Ames and John Walker spy cases, has a new book, Super Casino: Inside the New Las Vegas (Bantam, $26.95, 0553095021). He explores everything from legendary Las Vegas promoters such as Bugsy Siegel and Howard Hughes to the astonishing success of recent family-oriented entertainment facilities.

Several of Earley’s stories demonstrate the hypnotic pull the city exerts on residents who try to escape. One security guard tells the story of his experiences during the tragic fire that raged through the MGM Grand Hotel in 1980. Afterward, traumatized, he and his wife moved to Florida to flee the memories, but finally they returned because they missed the twenty-four-hour excitement. Andres Martinez covers some of the same territory from a completely different point of view in 24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas. Martinez gave himself a month to lose the $50,000 his publisher had given him to chronicle a gambling spree. Along the way he wrote a vivid, you-are-there account of his adventures, one day per chapter. Like Paul Theroux, Martinez seems part fascinated anthropologist and part happy-go-lucky adventurer. It’s an appealing combination, and makes for a personal take on an impersonal town. Unlike the other Vegas books described here, 24/7 is also extremely amusing.

Inevitably, the most varied of these volumes is an anthology, The Real Las Vegas: Life Beyond the Strip (Oxford, $30, 0195130707), edited by journalism professor David Littlejohn. Fourteen vivid chapters by as many writers explore such topics as gambling, organized crime, the real estate boom, and locals who decry their home town’s reputation. For example, the chapter Law and Disorder details the countless scam artists who trail the nouveau riche foolish enough to flaunt their wealth. Skin City follows a limo driver who caters to whorehouse clients and acts as surrogate uncle to the prostitutes themselves; then it explores the strip joints of the city.

Broader still in scope is David Thomson’s new book, In Nevada, which bears the ambitious subtitle The Land, the People, God, and Chance (Alfred A. Knopf, $27.50, 0679454861). You’ll recognize Thomson’s name from his several previous books, including Rosebud, his biography of Orson Welles, and Beneath Mulholland, a lively tour of Hollywood history. From early nuclear testing to recent theological battles, he prowls his self-assigned turf with scrupulous attention. He refutes those who consider Vegas hell on Earth: Hell is rebuke, torture, and eternal punishment for those who have sinned. Las Vegas may be founded on a paradox, or a trick, but the idea that you will play and strive and then lose is not hellish. For many of us, it’s a profound and absorbing metaphor for life. Thomson mentions that, because he normally writes about film, people couldn’t understand why he was writing about Nevada. If I sometimes seem to concentrate on film, why, really, it’s just a way into life, and words, and wondering what you can believe. For Thomson, as for the authors of these four books, that is precisely what Las Vegas is a way into many other things that seem to converge in the near-mythical city that rises from the desert like a neon mirage.

Michael Sims is the author of Darwin’s Orchestra (Henry Holt).

Viva Las Vegas! Las Vegas. The name inspires a hybrid image, half Disneyland and half Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., its population having boomed from 400,000 in 1980 to more than a million now. As four new books attest,…

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