BOOKVIEWS, January 2000

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Bookviews by Alan Caruba, January 2000

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Health
History Education Novels Business Odds & Ends

Fact! Facts! Facts!

I confess I am hard pressed to say which one is better, so I will let you choose between the Time Almanac 2000 ($29.95, Information Please) and The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000 ($10.95, World Almanac Books, softcover edition). Both offer an enormous amount of useful information and, frankly, one or the other should be in everyone’s library to consult regarding almost any question of fact that may arise. Need it also be said that, if one has a child in school, introducing him or her to either book will greatly enhance their skill of looking up information and using it effectively?

The Girl’s Guide to the Stylish Life

Women understand the importance of creating a special atmosphere in which to live and to entertain friends. Tracy Porter’s Inspired Gatherings ($29.95, Andrews and McMeel) is a gorgeous eyeful of a book that will guide you toward this goal. She has filled her book with timesaving and inexpensive ideas for putting together either impromptu or milestone events. This is a truly inspiring book.

Joan Collins has written a book for girls who have reached a certain age. It’s called My Friend’s Secrets ($24.95, Trafalgar Square Publishing) and isn’t officially due out until March. It’s fun reading because she has interviewed other famous ladies such as Shirley Bassey, Stephanie Powers, Jacqueline Bisect, Morgan Fairchild and Arlene Dahl, among many others, to learn their secrets of getting older and better! This is Joan’s ninth book and you thought she was just another pretty face! Truth be told, she has filled this book with some wonderful advice, picked up from some pretty impressive women. You can learn more by visiting www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com.

Dealing with Health Problems as a Parent

Parenting has got to be one of the most challenging things anyone undertakes in life. Learning that one’s child has a serious health problem or has sustained an injury increases the problems, but, as always, there is help available in the form of books written by people who have been there and have learned how to cope.

For example, Raising a Child with Hemophilia: A Practical Guide for Parents by Laureen A. Kelley ($8.95, Centeon, 1-800-683-1288) is a 400-page book that is a virtual bible of information that has got to be the best around. Published originally in 1990, word of this excellent book needs to be spread around so that it can help parents whose children must cope with this condition. It will prove to be a source, not just of information, but of relief concerning the fears that accompany hemophilia.

Red Riding Hood Races the Big Bad Wolf by Richard Paul and illustrated by Eugene Clark ($9.95, Twilight Press, 1-800-579-805l) puts Red in a wheel chair and offers an inspiring story for the very young reader who shares this disability that says they too can be a winner. It’s about having confidence in one’s abilities. Another children’s book that can prove helpful is Michael’s Mommy has Breast Cancer by Lisa Torrey ($10.95, Hibiscus Press, PO Box 770666, Coral Springs, FL 33077-0666, 1-800-468-4004). It explains in terms a child, aged five to ten, can understand what is occurring when their mother must deal with this disease and, in this case, it does have a happy ending.

Bringing Up Ziggy by Andrea Campbell ($21.95, Renaissance Books) who became a foster parent to a five-week-old capuchin monkey named Ziggy when an organization called Helping Hands asked her to raise him. Much as guide dogs become the eyes for the blind, the monkeys trained by the Helping Hands folks, become the working arms and legs for quadriplegics. Known for their intelligence, manual dexterity, and friendly disposition, they are ideal for these tasks. What Campbell didn’t know was how much Ziggy would change her. This is a quite wonderful story. You can learn more about it by visiting www.andreacampbell.com.

The Lessons of History

My favorite reading is history and one of the most interesting books I’ve read is Five Epochs of Civilization by William McGaughey ($18.95, Thistlerose Publications, 1702 Glenwood Ave North, Minneapolis, MN 55405) that presents history in a unique way, building on the work of Spengler and Toynbee. It will change your understanding of history by looking at the way civilizations arose and passed from the scene, each influencing the next. At the beginning of a new century and millennium, this book isn’t just a set of dry facts, but rather a cohesive and comprehensive way of discovering how we have reached this point, starting with the primitive city-states in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 4^th millennium, BC. You will see how the acquisition of power drove forward toward the creation of the great religions and philosophies by which we live. The Renaissance, the third epoch, released a cultural outburst in European civilization, moving onward to the technological and commercial institutions that shaped the times that led to our own. Great reading!

He’s faded swiftly into the recent history of the nation, but Irwin and Debi Unger’s biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36^th president, LBJ, A Life, ($30, John Wiley & Sons) will go far in preserving the achievements and, yes, the failures of this towering figure in American politics. He was the architect of the Great Society, he oversaw the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act. Pulitzer Prizing winner, Irwin Unger, has taken on one of the most fascinating characters to have presided, first in the Senate, and then in the Oval Office, during the some of the most turbulent years of this century. This is biography at its best and I strongly recommend it.

In January Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will honor the memory of the great Civil Rights leader. I had the honor of actually meeting him, so naturally I was interested to read Rabbi Marc Schneir’s new book, Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. & The Jewish Community ($24.95, Jewish Lights Publishing). This book proved to be a surprising and largely untold piece of the story of his life, even though Jewish support for Dr. King and the civil rights movement is widely known. King seemed to have some personal link to the Jewish community because he made time to speak out for Jews at critical moments. When Black History Month is celebrated, this book should be on the reading list.

American history is well served in John Buchanan’s The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas ($17.95, John Wiley & Sons, softcover). Published last August, I am remiss in not sharing word of it sooner, but you will thrill to the story of the British attempt to recapture the Carolinas (1780-1781) as one of the most fascinating untold stories of the American Revolution. It turned out to be a hollow victory for them when they faced off with the "back country" rebels who took on Lord Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, and Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton.

Robert Leckie has written on nearly every major military event from the American Revolution to the Korean War. Again, I am a bit late sharing word of "A Few Acres of Snow": The Saga of the French and Indian Wars ($30, John Wiley & Sons) because this excellent book was published in April of last year. However, this book is going to be around a long time because Leckie chronicles the battles that ranged across the untamed North American wilderness from 1689 to 1759 as the great powers of Europe strove to carve up the new continent. All the great names of our history can be found in this book, George Washington, Samuel de Champlain, and General Edward Braddock, to name a few. We tend to forget, if we were ever taught the story in school, how bitter the conflicts were as the French battled the English to make America their domain.

You may not know it, by the Basques, a nation of people living in three provinces in southern France and four in northern Spain, have the oldest European culture with the oldest known European language. Now their story has been captured by Mark Kurlansky in The Basque History of the World ($25, Walker & Company) to the much deserved praise of many historians and lovers of history. Published in October 1999, the author tells how, through the hundreds of years of attempted invasions, Basque heroes and commoners alike have tenaciously preserved their traditions. Despite the achievements of many Basques, their history until now has remained shrouded in a mystique. What makes this book of particular interest is the way many comparable peoples with their own histories and traditions are emerging to demand statehood. This is likely to write the history of the decades ahead.

Vietnam marked a turning point in America’s history. It was the first war we most clearly lost. Korean was a stalemate, but Vietnam changed the way Americans looked at war as an instrument of asserting our power. To understand why this occurred, Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam by Karen Gottschang Turner with Phan Thanh Hao ($16.95, John Wiley & Sons, paperback) tells the story of the women who volunteered or were sent by their government to support the North Vietnamese army. More than 200,000 teenage women left their homes to fight with their men in the jungles and mountains along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This is a story of modern warfare, of revolution in our times.

Recent and current history is well served by Gale A. Kirking’s book, Untangling Bosnia and Hercegovina ($15.95, Real World Press) with the information you need to purchase at www.untangling.com. Let’s face it, most of us have little idea where these countries are (the Balkans) or why there was and still is so much turmoil after Yugoslavia broke apart. It’s worth knowing because the US has troops over there to keep the lid on this ancient hotspot. Check it out.

A very well done, interesting history book is Across The Top of the World: The Quest for the Northwest Passage by James P. Delgado ($35, Checkmark Books, an imprint of Facts on File, Inc). It’s one of the great stories of exploration and discovery, the search for an oceanic shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific across the top of North America. In the 16^th century, there were many voyages and expeditions by land and sea, starting with martin Frobisher in 1576, followed by Sir John Franklin in 1859, and finally the voyage of Roald Amundsen in 1903-6. Extensively illustrated, this book is a history buff’s delight.

Countless memoirs have come out of World War II, but I found The Mushroom Years by Pamela Masters ($19.95, Henderson House Publishing, 1390 Broadway, Placerville, CA 95667) one of the most interesting I’ve read. It tells the story of life in a Japanese prison camp by a woman whose grandfather helped open railroads in China in the late 1800’s. Her father, William Henderson, was a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune who died in the Philippines. Because he died under the American colors, he automatically became an American citizen and is buried in San Francisco’s Presidio. Pamela was born in 1927 in Honan Province as her parents were fleeing from Chiang K’ai-Shek’s Army of Unification that was trying to subdue the warlords and unify China. Just sixteen when she was imprisoned and eighteen when liberated, she was fortunate not to be guarded by the Japanese Imperial Army, but rather a Consular Guard in a camp headed by a repatriated Japanese diplomat who did his best to make their imprisonment as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Her story is fascinating. You will feel better about an America that tried hard to help the Chinese emerge into the 20^th century, only to have that short-circuited by the fanaticism of Mao’s Communism that exploited the Chinese far worse than any imperialist nation ever did.

Arthur Niehoff is a retired anthropology professor who writes fascinating books about man’s pre-history that deserve a wide audience. His work is published by The Hominid Press, PO Box 1481, Bonsall, CA 92003 and you can check it out at www.hominidpress.com. I have recommended his books in the past. Two of the titles he has since sent are On Being a Conceptual Animal: Natural Selection ($13.95) and An Anthropologist Under the Bed ($14.95) that, frankly, I should have shared with you last year. You can imagine my surprise when I received Bicycling for Life ($13.95) which simply confirms that he is a very interesting guy. His latest book is a fictionalized account of 65 years life of bicycling as the protagonist comes up with a life plan after a divorce and a stroke. His biking takes him and his family all over the map. It’s hard to capture what a delight this latest Niehoff book is or why I am going to continuing recommending whatever he writes.

Education Issues

There is probably no greater issue, other than national security, that faces Americans in the years ahead. The bad news is that we know that the educational system, largely under the control of the federal government, not the states and local communities, is failing students. The data reported in our newspapers demonstrates students know little of civics, history, mathematics, and the whole range of topics that prior generations were effectively taught.

If this is an issue that seriously concerns you than there is a book to support your worst fears. It’s The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America by Charlotte Thompson Iserbyt ($29.95, add $6 for the cost of postage and handling, Conscience Press, PO Box 449, Ravenna, Ohio 44266-0449). This is not casual reading. It’s a hefty 450-plus page volume, further supported with all kinds of other data. The author was a senior policy advisory of the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement during the Reagan years and discovered a massive and secret plan to shift America’s educational system away from local to federal control. The plans included behavior modification programs and the deliberate "dumbing down" of students. It is unlikely Reagan was aware of any of this after he appointed Terrel Bell as Education Secretary with the mandate to reverse the trend that was turning the department into a huge bureaucracy. Instead, Bell did the very opposite. Everything she discovered has come true. She eventually was dismissed from the department, but not before she copied these damning documents. She eventually was fired, but not before she made off with the evidence of a plan to undermine the entire future of this nation by rendering our students too poorly educated to compete in the world. Now you can read the truth!

There are books coming out that try to address the damage done to our schools and The Teaching Gap by James W. Stigler and James Hiebert ($23, The Free Press). The authors look at the sad state of education and offer some very cogent recommendations on what needs to be done, drawing on international comparative studies that demonstrate what other nations are doing right and we are doing wrong. If you read this book, you can go to the next board of education meeting and knock their socks off!

I came across a very interesting book, You Can Teach Someone to Read by Lorraine Peoples ($22.95, GloBooks Publishing, PMB 334, 7760 E. Street, Rte 69, C-5, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314). It just out this month and it’s a how-to book that anyone can use. Adult illiteracy is a big problem in this nation. One survey concluded that up to half of US adults have serious reading problems. The author has taught reading to elementary school age children for more than three decades. She knows that everything that provides a decent life in this nation depends on the ability to read. So, let’s say you have a youngster who is having trouble in school. Now you can teach him or her yourself. Maybe there are adults in your family or just friends that need help? You can teach them too. This truly is a gift that keeps on giving.

One of the problems parents and educators are looking at these days is the explosion of testing occurring in the schools. While tests are part of school, many of them, imposed by the Department of Education, take up a great deal of time that, in turn, takes time from the regular curricula. That said, how can you teach your child to succeed in test-taking? Well, now there’s True or False? Tests Stink! ($9.95, Free Spirit publishing, 400 Fifth Ave North, Suite 6l6, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1724) that is ideal for kids 8 to 13 years. I hated tests and would have done much better if I had a book like this to teach me the right attitude so I wouldn’t have the stress that accompanies tests. That stress reduction can go far to improving grades. The book teaches how to help your child study better, not harder, for tests.

We know how important it is to start children early on the learning process and this includes infants. There’s an interesting series of book from Friedman/Fairfax Publishers (15 West 26^th Street, New York, NY 10010) called the Infant Development System, Lamaze Book Program, from Learning Curve International. These are designed to be used with infants and include Star Shapes, a soft book, like a toy, but which introduces everyday objects to teach different shapes of things. Another is Butterfly in the Sky, another soft book that comes with a butterfly toy babies will love. It offers an introduction to sounds and teaches baby to reach. The entire series is very clever and worth looking into if you’re a new parent and know one. Prices range between $6.00 to $9.99. To learn more about them, visit www.learningcurve.com.

Novels, Novels, Novels!

For what must be the most salacious book published in 1999, the award goes to Mike Walker’s Malicious Intent: A Hollywood Fable ($24.00, National Book network). Walker is best known as a reporter for the National Enquirer, dealing in the hottest gossip, and he has put it all in a story about a sexy actress. The book has everything, greed, ambition, revenge. Plus some thinly veiled fantasy sequences featuring some recognizable Hollywood denizens. If strong language offends you, take a pass, but this book has to be listed under "guilty pleasures."

Warner Books & Mysterious Press

Warner Books and its imprint, Mysterious Press, have some interesting fiction with which to begin the new year, some good, some not. Nightbird by Edward Dee ($23.95) is a story about the mean streets of New York, seeing through the eyes of a cop, as told by a former one. When an unlucky young actress is found dead on a Times Square sidewalk, Detective Anthony Ryan swears she whispered three words in his ear as he leaned over her body. What seems like a "jumper" suicide is far more complicated and sinister. You will enjoy this tightly written novel. Indeed, if you’re a fan of the Ed McBain novels, you will become a fan of Dee as well.

The Neighbors by Carol Smith ($23.95) offers up suspense set in London when Kensington Court welcomes a new resident, Kate Ashenberry, in flight from an uncaring family and a broken love affair. She meets a variety of neighbors, some who become friends and others who become a menace. When she learns that one person who lived there died shortly before she arrived, the tension mounts, particularly when others begin to die. Like they say, you won’t be able to put this one down. Less successful as a story is The Book Borrower by Alice Mattison ($24) which, unfortunately tends to ramble and dither. It failed to keep this reviewer’s attention and that is never a good thing.

Here’s a tip, coming in March, David Morrell, famed author of The Brotherhood of the Rose and Extreme Denial, is back with Burnt Sienna ($29.95) about an artist who meets an international arms dealer who wants him to paint the portrait of his wife, an incredible beauty. He refuses until the CIA asks him to spy on the man. Then he discovers he has commissioned portraits of three previous wives, weeks before each died in suspicious accidents. Naturally, he wants to rescue the next victim, named Sienna. This is what a real thriller is all about! Make a note to be one of the first to read this powerful new novel. Out now in paperback is John Gilstrap’s At All Costs ($7.50) about the FBI’s two most wanted fugitives who have been hiding out as good citizens in a small town until they have to flee. I liked this when it first came out and recommend it.

If you love mysteries, than the Mysterious Press is the place for you. Debuting this month is Richard Greer’s Limited Time ($23.95) that takes you inside the high stakes world of advanced medical research. Greer is a medical pathologist and cancer research in real life and his fourth novel reflects his knowledge, as well as his skill as a storyteller. When a world-class collegiate swimmer breaks a record at the woman’s US Olympics trials and dies seconds later from a violent seizure, the main character, a pathologist, must unravel a conspiracy that stretches from Denver to Cuba in a desperate race against time. You’ll find yourself racing to get to the last page.

The prolific Archer Mayor has yet another mystery out, Occam’s Razor, a Joe Gunther Mystery ($23.95), part of a series of detective stories that have insured this author a following that enjoy the main character. Also from Mysterious Press is Annette Meyer’s Free Love ($#23.95). Set in the 1920’s, it’s main character, a young poet named Olivia Brown is recovering from the loss of her fiancée in WWI in Greenwich Village and is hell bent on living life to the fullest. That is, until she literally stumbles upon a dead body. And the victim looks like her! Turns out, there’s a cold-blooded killer and he’s after her. This one’s a goody!

Other Publisher’s Novels

Sad to say, a significant number of other novels by other publishing houses that have arrived of late have been less than satisfying. The most surprising was Monsieur Rene by Peter Ustinov (Prometheus Books), best known as a fine actor. This is a rather confused story and a real disappointment. Likewise, American Nomads by Emily Stowell ($24.95, Iris Press, Del Mar, CA), an historical novel, just was too loaded with history while failing as a story. Good effort, but not enough to compete with more skilled writers. Mamaw by Susan Dodd ($13, Quill softcover) is another history novel, recreating the James brothers, Frank and Jesse, through the eyes of their formidable mother, Zerelda. Maybe I just don’t respond well to history-based stories, but this one too failed to hold my interest. In a similar way, Nevada Barr’s Bittersweet ($13.50, Bard/Avon softcover) challenged me, because it is a story set in the Old West and two women, lesbians, who must cope in a world where women were expected to live out rather narrowly defined lives. This isn’t for everyone, but it will appeal to some.

The relationship between boys and men is the subject of two novels. Romey’s Place by James Calvin Schaap (Baker Book House) puts two boys together, one the son of the town’s pillar of faith and the other the neglected son of a very angry man. They form a very close bond and the Christian religious message infuses this story with a special intensity. Old Buddy Old Pal by Michael Laser ($22, The Permanent Press) was published in mid-1999 and puts the nature of friendship between men under a microscope. Set in Manhattan, the author shows some real promise as a storyteller and one rather looks forward to his next novel.

If you like baseball, you will enjoy Hanging Curve by Troy Soos ($22, Kensington Books) for its look at the Negro Leagues in the year 1922. A pro ballplayer named Mickey Rawlings is back in this story and is in pursuit of whoever killed a legendary pitcher for the St. Louis Stars. An excellent mystery, it takes him into the world of the KKK, with some four million members in that year, as well as those talented players denied access to the major leagues. Here’s a case where history and sports combines with a very well told story that recreates a bygone era.

By contrast, first novels tend to be a bit predictable, particularly when the author is a young man with all the usual urges that implies. Because I am an old coot, I simply could not relate to Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask by Jim Monroe ($12.50, Spike/Harpercollins softcover), a goofily romantic story about a university student of 22 who falls for a somewhat more worldly waitress, former punk band member, feminist, et cetera. They team up to fight the Liberal battle against the evil Conservatives. Good lighthearted reading for someone much young than I and a lot more liberal. Samuel Goldwyn the movie mogul was famed for saying, "If you want to send a message, use Western Union" and that’s the central problem with Noble McCloud by Harvey Havel (First Amendment Press) that centers on a young gifted musician and his failure to find professional success. There is, regrettably, little to like about the main character, although the author does provide an insight to the dreams of musicians who have to confront cold realities.

Far more to my liking was Charlie Hudson’s Orchids in the Snow ($11.95, Perrico Publishing; best purchased via Amazon.Com) that draws on the author’s knowledge in the Army where she spent 22 years. Her novel is about an Air Force wife who married her high school sweetheart (it happens!) and her circle of friends in the closed society of the military world. This is a marriage on the verge of collapse and the author has woven a very moving story of real people. Best of all, it is not ruined with a lot of unnecessary seamy scenes that all too many novels these days foist on the reader. For a really good reading experience, click on Amazon.Com and type in the title!

From Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, comes a very interesting story by Dorothy Cave, Mountains of the Blue Stone ($26.95). While trying to stage his own death to escape a life he no longer wants to live, the main character is, instead, badly injured and taken to a remote Hispanic village in the New Mexican mountains. There he encounters a strange, new

world of ancient gods and mysticism, achieving a physical, metaphysical, and intellectual cure. This may well sound rather soppy, but the author brings an extensive background in the area and in life to this story, infusing it with a real talent that will draw you into this world. This is an excellent novel that deserves wide attention.

There’s an interesting novel, Spider Catch, by Bill Branon ($24.95, Huntington Press Publishing, 3687 South Procyon Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89103). It’s his third and he has really found his voice in his third novel, a rapid-paced tale of betrayal and intrigue set on the high seas. Normally, men star in such stories, but Branon has cast a female protagonist in this action-adventure story in which a typical wife and mother finds her life ripped apart by an accidental shooting. When she and her husband try to recover by buying a sailboat to cruise the Caribbean, they find themselves caught in a web of intrigue involving international drug politics, warring federal agencies, and a very evil man, but she fights back. Good reading.

The Robin Hood story is updated to the new millennium in Reyna Thera Lorele’s The Archer King ($21.95, Blue Arrow Books, POB 1669, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272). It’s a fairly daring thing for an author to write a new version of an old story, but this novel, set in the time of the Crusades, carries it off. There is an additional overlay of fantasy as Robert of Loxley is drawn to the master of the Mysteries of the Druids. This is old-fashioned romance and adventure, done very well.

The Avon Books paperback factory keeps turning out great reading. Among the latest is Aaron Elkins’ Loot ($6.99) a story about Nazi art treasures they stole that are, in turn, stolen as the Allies broke through. A half-century later, one turns up and the story takes off from there. John R. Maxim’s The Bannerman Solution ($6.99) is now in paperback. It’s about the leader of a group of contract agents (spies) operating in Europe who is targeted for death, but he has other plans. Maxim has a deft hand when it comes to writing thrillers. If you like a good tear-jerker, there’s Liz Nickles’ All the Time in the World ($6.99) about a young lady with cancer who doesn’t have that much time, but finds love and a marriage proposal. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. Others include Iris Rainer Dart’s When I fall in Love ($6.99) about a comedy writer whose life turns upside down in not so funny ways and Judith Ivory’s The Proposition ($8.99) about the challenge Lady Edwina Bollash takes on, turning a handsome rogue into a gentleman in just six weeks!

Getting Down to Business in 2000

Time to think about becoming rich. One good way would be to read Jay Steele’s Warren Buffett: Master of the Market – The Nine Principles of Wise Investing ($13.50, Avon softcover) that, for the price, is one heck of a bargain. Not surprisingly, Buffet’s strategy is quite simple as well as designed for long term success. Using the model outlined in this book, any investor, no matter how inexperienced, can get on the success track.

The Complete Guide to Home Business by Robert Spiegel ($19.95, Amacom softcover) is an excellent guide to all the questions that face anyone contemplating this option. How to choose the business that’s right for you, how to plan your start-up, and much more. The author invested $1,500 in Chili Pepper Magazine and ran it from his home for a decade before selling it for a cool $1.5 million. Ain’t American a great nation? Amacom is one of the top business book publishers in the nation. Go over to its website at www.amanet.org and check it out. While you’re there, check out Gustav Carlson’s excellent book, Total Exposure: Controlling Your Company’s Image in the Glare of the Business Media Explosion ($27.95) that examines what can happen when your company is accused of doing something awful and the media sharks close in for the kill. The fact is the big business magazines and newspapers aren’t the only problem. Now it’s also the Internet with its chat rooms and websites where all kinds of mis-information and dis-information can be disseminated at the speed of light. The author offers excellent advice on how to cope with this problem.

1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back by Donna Greiner and Theodore B. Kinni ($16, Prima Publishing) literally overflows with excellent advice. So many business seem to founder simply because they forget the most basic principle that the customer is king. Everything begins and ends with the customer, whether you’re a multi-national corporation or a small service firm. The book offers eleven broad strategies for customer retention and the authors have filled the book with great tips that will work for you.

Buying or selling a home is addressed in The Legal Edge for Homeowners, Buyers, and Renters by Michel James Bryant ($15.99, Renaissance Books). Published mid-year in 1999, this book is by an attorney who answers all those important questions you need to know before you start down this often complex road. He does it in plain language to help you avoid the many pitfalls involved.

Odds & Ends

Some books don’t fit easily into any category, but deserve notice, so let’s finish up with some recommendations of very interesting, unique books.

For computer addicts (myself included) Bruce Fries has written The MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook, a guide to the digital music revolution ($24.95, TeamCom, POB 1251, Burtonsville, MD 20866.) You can check it out at www.TeamComBooks.com. More than a how-to book, it’s written so that anyone can learn to download and play music from the Internet. MP3 technology turns your computer into a digital jukebox where you can store thousands of CD-quality songs.

If you’re a movie buff, you’ll want to add Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook 2000 ($16.95, Andrews & McMeel) to your bookshelf. This fat compendium comes packed with 600 reviews of movies that debuted between Jan 1, 1997 and June 30, 1999. It’s a terrific reference for enthusiasts, filled with interviews, essays, and Ebert’s ratings.

Tennis anyone? If you play the game or intend to take it up this year, pick up a copy of Complete Conditioning for Tennis by the United States Tennis Association ($15.95, Human Kinetics, 1607 North Market St, Champaign, IL 6l825). With a foreword by Tom Gullikson, it is an excellent guide to the avoidance of many of the injuries and physical problems associated with this sport. Four phases of conditioning are discussed. This can not only improve your game, but your overall health as well.

It was only a matter of time when the Internet generated a book of poetry. Bytes of Poetry: A Lovestories.com Anthology by Alanna Webb ($9.95, Backup Computer Resources, 905 South 30^th Street, Broken Arrow, OK 740l4) offers ll5 poems from more than 56,000 submitted by everyday people. As Alanna notes, "Our mission is to promote poetry as part of everyday life." With more than 2.5 million page views a month—and growing—it’s good to know that poetry is alive and well in cyberspace and now in this delightful book. Check out www.lovestories.com. There are some truly wonderful poems in this book.

If you like to drink burgundy wine and have always wondered where it came from, Andy Katz has photographed The Heart of Burgundy: A Portrait of the French Countryside ($30, Simon & Schuster) and presented it to you in gorgeous color. It celebrates the grapes, the vines, and the vineyards of this fabled area of France. A perfect gift for the wine lover.

From Renaissance Books, since we are into Campaign 2000, there’s The World According to Al Gore ($23.95) and Vote.Com by Dick Morris ($35.95). You’ll have to be a real fan of Gore’s to read his collected opinions, public statements, et cetera. Every day now we learn he invented the Internet, discovered Love Canal, and more such fantasies. Morris was the consultant that got Clinton re-elected. His book argues that the Internet is going to totally transform how politicians get elected and that power is flowing back to the people by virtual of how much information they can access.

Finally, by Bill Gertz, there’s Betrayal: How the Clinton Administration Undermined American Security ($27.95, Regnery) in which the famed Washington Times reporter spells out in chilling detail just how defenseless the U.S. is thanks to the actions of the President. Just last month, we learned of his admission that "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" has failed, but it is the feminization of the military, the laxity that gave Chinese spies access to our nuclear secrets, the refusal to build missile defenses, and much more. If you think this nation lacks a cohesive foreign policy, you will be astonished by the destruction of our military readiness and security.

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