I’m not really a big non-fiction reader, but I do feel like I should read more of it. About six months ago, Suo Na started a thread about recent non-fiction that was an excellent source for recommendations.
So, from the first half of 2001 (more or less), what recommendations do you have for non-fiction?
One book that I very much enjoyed was Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. A very interesting look at horse racing in the 1930s. One thing I would mention, though, is that several of the reviews I read of this book made it seem as if the author uses the story of Seabiscuit as a launching point for a more general social history. This makes me wonder if the reviewers had in fact read the book, because this is a horse story from beginning to end. I would recommend this highly to anyone who is a fan of horse racing, a fan of sports in general, or devoured the entire Black Stallion series as a child.
I’m in the middle of Mort Kondrache’s “Saving Milly” (about his wife’s bout with Parkinsons) and it is damned good. Kondrache is a political commentator - I see him on FoxNews all the time. He seems rather stuffy on TV, but after reading this book, I am feeling different about him.
Definatly Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”.
Basically questioning the assumtion that the poor are poor because they’re lazy and all that’s called for to get out of poverty is getting a job and working hard. It ain’t necessarily so.
Which she writes as a very personal and compelling story rather than an academic treaty.
Well, for a light read, I truly enjoyed “The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio.” The author was writing about her mom, who raised 10 kids in a small town in Ohio. She made ends meet by entering all those contests that were so popular in the 1950’s like “Why your baby loves rennet custard in 25 words or less!” It’s an interesting look at that time in American history, back when you could raise ten kids on a single income from Dad (though the little extra from contests was dorely needed in their case, as their Dad was sort of a drunk).
Here’s what’s on my bedside table, recent non-fiction division, any of which I’d recommend without reservation:
Sven A. Kirsten; THE BOOK OF TIKI: The Cult of Polynesian Pop in Fifties America. Taschen, 2000.
Mel Gordon; VOLUPTUOUS PANIC: The Erotic World or Weimar Berlin. Feral Press, 2000.
Vincent Bugliosi; THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICA: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President. Nation Books, 2001.
Peter Glassgold, ed.; ANARCHY: An Anthology of Emma Goldman’s MOTHER EARTH Magazine. Counterpoint, 2001.
Steven Raichlen; BARBECUE BIBLE: Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades. Workman, 2000.
I loved “Seabiscuit”, but since you’ve already read that…
I recently read “Timber Line” by Gene Fowler and really enjoyed it. I picked it up in a used bookstore so I don’t know if it is in print or not, but it is a really fun read.
Another book I enjoyed was “Step Right Up!” by Dan Mannix. It is a history of side shows in American circuses. It is written with respect and humor and is a good read. Once again, this was one of those used bookstore pick ups so it may not be available in print.
“The Great Taos Bank Robbery and other Indian Country Affairs” by Tony Hillerman (the mystery writer)is a collection of true stories from around Taos. It’s great fun and still in print. Don’t let the title put you off, it is not a mystery. It is a capturing the essense of one of the quirkiest towns on the continent.
If you are a baseball fan, may I recommend two others? “Fair Ball” by Bob Costas and “The Curse of the Bambino” by Dan Shaughnessy. Both deal with baseball and well. With Costas’ book you have to know a little about the game and care for it too, I guess, but with Shaughnessy’s, you don’t have too. My wife loved this book and she is far from a baseball fan. Both are very well written.
I also recently read “Trials and Tribulations” a collection of Damon Runyon’s news stories covering the trials of various characters of his time. You have to know a bit about the time, but I enjoyed it.
If you haven’t read them already A Child Called It and The Lost Boy by David Pelzer are truely depressing books. I hear it’s a mark of great literature to be really godawful depressing.
For something a little more on the light side Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris is pretty good.
What you should really get is Costumes Through The Ages By Braun and Schneider. You should get it because I really want to read it and I figure I could possibly borrow it off of you when your done. It’s out of print and cost about a trillion dollars if you can find it-- but if and when you do get and are through with it, just drop me an e-mail!
This was a 2000 book, but not mentioned in either thread…my favorite non-fiction book ever A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
I rarely pay full price for a hard-cover, but when I heard about this book in Booksense 76, I had to have it.
When Dave was 23, both of his parents died of cancer. Dave “inherited” his eight year old brother, and accounts how odd it is to be a single “parent” of your young sibling.
It’s a fantastic book, without a doubt.
Hey, thanks folks. I’ve been meaning to read that Eggers book, and then Nickel & Dimed description in this thread intrigued me. When Mr. Cranky headed out to the bookstore tonight, I copied down the titles from the thread and put him on the scent. Now I have both in front of me, just begging to be read!
It isn’t “new” in that it came out a couple of years ago, but I’ve just finished “The Professor and The Madman,” about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary and it is a terrific read. Murder! Insanity! Self-Mutilation! Writing the World’s Most Comprehensive Dictionary! (Well, maybe not !, but certainly an interesting task).
I have just read two books on the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission in South Africa.
Country of My Skull by Anntjie Krog - an Afrikaans Radio journalist who lead a team that covered the entire Commission. Her telling of the stories involved and her own struggles to come to terms with being white, South African and an Afrikaner.
Mo Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu - the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and the Chairman of the Commission. His reflections on the process, the stories and the successes and failures of the road to Reconcilliation in South Africa.
Both were Hard Reads, not pleasent by any stretch of the imagination (especially for me as a white South African) - at times I was reduced to tears by the terrible descriptions of the inhumanity that people had to endure under the Apartheid regime, and the thought that I could have lived in the same country as them and have been so blind. For a forgiener trying to understand the mindset of those who lived under this system (both white and black), I think this will go some way toward that goal.
Hamba Gahle - literally “go safely”, used as a farewell by the party that is staying behind to the party that will be leaving, roughly equivalent to Bon voyage.
Thanks for all the great recommendations, which I have duly written down for my next trip to the Strand. I’ve had my eye on The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio and also Nikel and Dimed. I’ve been reading a series of interviews with Barbara Ehrenreich on the Atlantic Monthly website.
I should be ashamed to admit that I’ve been waiting for the John Addams biography to come out in a trade paperback, because it’s a little pricey. It is shameful that I’m unwilling to spend the money on one of our Founding Fathers when I’m prepared to run out and buy the The Book of Tiki that Ike mentioned. Because you know, it’s the beginning of summer, and I’m definitely thinking “Tiki Party!”
I’d love to discuss the Eggers book, because some parts I enjoyed while other things left me cold.
Grab that baby before it goes out of print*…Taschen is not known for its brilliant distribution contacts. Coliseum Books has it in the remainder section already for thirty bucks…but, oddly, it’s even cheaper on Amazon.com.
It is GORGEOUS. One of the nicest coffee-table books I’ve seen in years. And the photo captions come with French and German translations, so you can bone up before your next European trip.
I recently finished Michael Shermer’s newest book, The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense, and thought it was quite good. On a similar (though perhaps “lighter”) topic, Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends… and Pseudoscience Begins, by Charles Wynn, Sr., and Arthur Wiggins, and illustrated by the cartoons of Sidney Harris, was an excellent book.
Two others I’ve recently read that are fairly interesting – though not as good as the ones I’ve listed above – are Emotion and Backing Hitler. The first takes a look at “The Science of Sentiment” and is pretty good except for some mistakes the author made about Spock (it’s a minor, petty thing, but it annoyed me ). The second is a bit of a scholarly history book which takes a look at, in general, how the population of Nazi Germany responded to Hitler and his edicts, and how Hitler responded back. If you’re really interested in history and WWII, you should check it out.
I just finished Dogs and demons: tales from the dark side of Japan by Alex Kerr. Fascinating stuff. He writes like a dream, making complex and very foreign concepts comprehensible.
Kerr’s a lifelong resident of Japan and clearly loves it. The book is unsparing but far from a Western hatchet job. He’s very much disturbed by some dangerous trends in modern day Japan, especially the hellacious envirnomental and historical ravages and run-amok bureaucracy that fuels both. Kerr has some fascinating things to say about the broader cultural conflicts as well.
FWIW, the title quotes a Chinese emperor who asked a painter what the easiest and hardest things were to paint. He answered, “dogs are hard; demons are easy”. It’s Kerr’s metaphor for where Japan’s going wrong. Big, fanciful concepts are almost fanatically revered while humble, everyday issues are ignored.
I can’t recommend the book highly enough. It’s compulsively readable while still impeccably researched and footnoted. He pulls in everything from flower arranging, various schools of tea ceremonies, architecture, anime, the distinctly ahistorial worship of plastic, movies and public policy.
Great, fascinating stuff. (Even if the most I used it for is catching some subtleties and undertones on “Iron Chef”.)
Veb
(YeOUCH! Speaking of dogs, screwed the pooch on the coding and underlined nearly the whole danged post. What’s that “preview” thingy for again…?)
). The second is a bit of a scholarly history book which takes a look at, in general, how the population of Nazi Germany responded to Hitler and his edicts, and how Hitler responded back. If you’re really interested in history and WWII, you should check it out.