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Welcome to the New Year! This month’s picks are all over the place and the only thing they have in common is that they are each unique in some respect.
There’s a section of this month’s Bookviews devoted to business titles, but one that is a real standout and deserves special mention is Michael Wolff’s Autumn of the Moguls ($25.95, HarperCollins). Wolff is a New York Magazine’s award-winning columnist and what he doesn’t know about the inner world of big media isn’t worth knowing. Indeed, the subtitle of the book is "My Misadventures with the Titans, Poseurs and Money Guys Who Mastered and Messed up Big Media." This is, in part, a look at one of the biggest and possibly one of the dumbest deals, the merger of AOL and Time Warner. It’s a deal that has since come unraveled for reasons that would have been obvious to anyone except those involved with it. The real fun of this book, however, is his portraits of people such as Sumner Redstone, Martha Stewart, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., and Rupert Murdoch. You will find yourself laughing from the pure joy of Wolff’s sardonic wit, but you will also come away with a way of looking at Big Media that replaces Marshall McLuhen’s philosophical treatise. "No matter how big media companies became," says Wolff, "they just could not transform themselves into stately, or even manly, enterprises." The business of media, says Wolff, is to call attention to itself. This will prove to be one of the most entertaining books you will read this year. We read biographies of famous men, but it is a truism that behind every great man is a great woman. In the Shadow of Greatness by Michael Menager ($24.95, Hohm Press, Prescott, AZ) tells the story of five women who were the muse for likes of Albert Einstein, Sir Richard Burton, Aldous Huxley, Vladimir Nabokov and Pablo Picasso. Drawing on first-hand accounts, diaries, interviews, and other biological accounts, one learns about Francoise Gilot, beautiful and intelligent at age 21 who met Picasso, 40 years her senior, who lifted him from his sense of isolation and left him ten years later when his ego corrupted his genius. Vera Nabokov was known as the "best novelist’s wife of all time" who snatched the manuscript of "Lolita" from the fire when he dejected and doubtful husband was ready to destroy it. Maria Huxley was her husband’s eyes (he had poor eyesight), typist, researcher and chauffer, organizing his life, and ignoring his affairs with other women. Their stories and the others in this book are testimony to the role women play in the lives of famous men. In a dangerous world, the best way to visit exotic places is with a book such as The Land of War Elephants by Mathew Wilson ($22.95, Nomad Press, Norwich, VT). The world’s attention is on places like Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, and the author, a former British serving officer, has written a modern-day travelogue mixed with history and his personal memoir of having lived and traveled throughout those nations in the late 1960s and again between 1984 and 1996. Wilson takes you traveling through Afghanistan’s lawless stretches and perilous mountain passes. You cross the Hindu Kush with his family and you spend time in fabled places that have greatly changed following the Afghan conflict with the former Soviet Union and our invasion to drive out the Taliban. Despite a frequent lack of modern facilities, the place Wilson, his wife Janet, and their then-young children visited were not racked with the strife that exists today which, at one point, he attributes to "the dead hand of Islamic fundamentalism." You will be greatly entertained and enlightened, and you will do so from the safety of your own home! Are you tired of reading and hearing claims that the Earth is doomed, that every species and all the rain forests are disappearing, that every chemical will kill you? Would you like to know the truth? Then I recommend that you read A Field Manual for the Green War by Pat and Colleen Tigges (15.00, plus $3.50 shipping, PNAA Education Foundation, 7089 N. Wellesley Ave, Portland, OR 97203). It is filled with intensively researched facts that debunk the "environmental" propaganda that is designed to deliberately scare people about a wide range of issues. This remarkable manual puts all the facts before you in a way that will make you an expert. To learn more or order via email, visit www.eatfirst.org. For a different perspective on the rich and famous, a very amusing tale is told by Suzanne Hansen in her book, "You’ll Never Nanny in This Town Again!" ($15.95, Ruby Sky Publishing). When the author moved from a small town in Oregon to Southern California, she never imagined rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s famous actors and executives. Subtitled "The Adventures and Misadventures of a Hollywood Nanny", it is also an excellent how-to book for anyone who is thinking about becoming a nanny. With considerable candor, she takes you behind the scenes. These are folks who don’t think twice about spending $6,000 on a purse and then asking for a fifty-cent reimbursement for a personal phone call! I received a two-CD set comprising Jerald Fine’s Tales with a Twist, a collection of six very entertaining "horror" stories ($15.95) by this talented author and playwright. I’m one of those people who enjoys listening to audio books while driving and these proved to be an excellent diversion. To learn more and purchase, visit www.taleswithatwist.com. For all you who dream selling your own fiction, the good news is that the 2004 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market ($24.99, Writer’s Digest Books) is off the press with listings of more than 2,000 places to get your writing into print. Instead of wasting time finding out which literary agents represent fiction or which literary magazines are interested in finding new talent, here’s the definitive guide to those who do, plus book publishers, contests, conferences and workshops, to name just a few elements of the tons of information between this guide’s covers. This is the 23rd edition and a companion to the 2004 Writer’s Market now in its 83rd edition! With no less than nine television shows built around the theme of homosexuality, Americans have been getting a crash course on the topic. What is surprising to me is how quickly widely held homophobic attitudes have given way to what appears to be a general acceptance of this sexual orientation. What doesn’t surprise me is that most Americans resist the demand for same-sex "marriage" as a threat to the central institution of all societies. There is considerable ferment and debate within the homosexual community and Wayne R. Besen addresses the notion that one can become an ex-gay through faith. Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth ($19.95, Harrington Park Press, an imprint of Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY) exposing bogus scientific research, false statistics, and the unsuccessful results of this effort. It seems clear that homosexuality is not a choice, but is hard-wired from birth like one’s eye or skin color. For those interested in the book’s topic, it does an excellent I am happy to report that the 12th edition, completely updated, of Along Interstate 75 is now available if you’re planning to be on it anywhere between Detroit and the Florida border ($21.95 US/$29.95 Canada,Mile Oak Publishing, Mississauga, ON, Canada). His travel guide, jammed packed with detailed information for every mile of the highway, has won all kinds of awards including "Travel Book of the Year" bronze award from ForeWard Magazine. Spiral-bound, it’s a book whose maps, section by section, tell you about the restaurants, golf courses, historic places to visit, and even the speed traps along the way. Whether traveling north or southbound, it is so filled with information it is both an educational and entertaining book to carry with you on your trip. Americans may be the most health-conscious people in the world and perhaps because the media is forever telling us we are threatened by everything we eat or drink and that every disease in the world will kill us. Last year, obesity was declared an "epidemic", but I suspect this has more to do with the big bucks lawyers expect to earn by suing fast-food chains and others. One thing we’re not told is that life expectancy in America is the highest it has ever been. In general, Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever before, but paying attention to one’s health is always a good idea. Here are some books that will prove helpful. Eleonora De Lennet has written The BioChemical Machine: Empowering Your Body Chemistry ($19.95, Big Apple Vision Publishing) that says you can eat any food you love, stop counting calories, and reduce heartburn, heart disease, arthritis and other diseases. That’s a tall order, but the author demonstrates how you can match your body chemistry to food chemistry to enhance and improve your health. To learn more, visit www.BigAppleVision.com. On the subject of body chemistry, Kerstin Uvnas Moberg has written The Oxytocin Factor: Tapping the Hormone of Calm, Love, and Healing ($23.00, De Capo Press) about the hormone that triggers a positive state of calm and the recent remarkable discoveries about it and their implications for women in particular. The opposite of the stress hormone, adrenaline, that triggers the "fight or flight" response, oxytocin helps the heart and circulatory system to slow down so that we experience a sense of calm and how to intentionally trigger its release. The author is a scientist at the Karolinski Institute in Stockholm. Depression is a big problem and, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, an estimated 3.4 million children and adolescents suffer from depression in the United States, and up to one third of those may actually be experiencing the early onset of Bipolar Disorder, commonly known as manic-depression. The good news is that, even though this is a serious disorder, it is a treatable mental illness. Left untreated, however, it can lead to suicide. The suicide rate for children age 10-14 has more than doubled over the last fifteen years. If Your Child is Bipolar is a parent-to-parent guide to living with a loving a child that is afflicted with this ($18.95, Perspective Publishing, 2528 Sleepy Hollow Drive, #A, Glendale, CA 91206). Irritable moods, explosive outbursts, and rapid manic-depressive cycles are typical of this disorder and this book provides a wealth of information on how to find a mental health professional who can make a diagnosis and what parents can do deal with it.
As noted, Americans are living longer lives and Drs. Colleen L. Johnson and Barbara M. Barer have authored Life Beyond 85 Years ($21.00, Prometheus Books) that takes a look at the "oldest old", the fastest growing age group in the United States. As the son of parents, both of whom lived into the nineties, I found this book of great interest. The authors address the topics of health and physical states, family and social relationships, and the quality of life for these ultimate survivors. The book will prove of interest to students, researchers, and policy makers in the fields of aging and wellness. Midlife is another phase of life that is gaining attention and two books by Drs. Michael R. Wilson and Kathleen W. Wilson are well worth reading. Michael has written The Other Midlife Crisis: Arthritis and all those Aches and Pains ($21.95) and Kathleen has written Dispatches from the Frontlines of Medicine: Your Husband’s Health ($14.95). Both books are published by Whiskey Hollow Press (POB 13752), New Orleans 13752. The former book by an orthopedist addresses the causes of midlife aches and pains, arthritis and injuries, along with what works and what doesn’t in their treatment. The latter offers the keys to keeping one’s husband healthy, addressing weight gain, fatigue, depression, and erectile dysfunction. Women, too, have their problems and The Midlife Bible: A Woman’s Survival Guide ($12.95, Robert D. Reed Publishers, San Francisco) by Dr. Michael P. Goodman addresses the fact that feminine midlife involves much more than menopause. This concise, but comprehensive guide provides information and insight regarding a wide range of health issues that involve bone density problems, sexuality, incontinence, late childbearing, insomnia, and much more. With an introduction by former Sen. Bob Dole, Overcoming Impotence by Dr. Stephen Jones ($19.00, Prometheus Books) addresses a problem said to affect thirty million men nationwide. Using layman’s terms, the author, a leading urologist, discusses normal patterns of sexual arousal and activity, and explains how physicians diagnose and identify the causes of impotence. With this book, you can assist the doctor to get to the root of the problem and help prescribe a full range of treatments, from lifestyle changes to the benefits and side effects of Viagra and other solutions. Another book on this topic is "Your Legs are Too Long": Getting Beyond Excuses for Erectile Dysfunction ($19.95, Allbright Publishers, Atlanta. GA) by Deborah Kathryn Hargis, Ed.D. has a title based on one of the excuses she’s heard. Dr. Hargis uses the accounts of six professionally successful men to provide entertainment, education, enlightenment and hope to women who can then help by encouraging the men in their lives to seek medical help. The good news, says the author, is that ninety percent of those experiencing the problem can be treated, but warns that reliance on Viagra is no substitute for the damage done to intimate relationships. This book takes a psychological look at what can be done to repair and improve those relationships.
Bare Bones: A Surgeon’s Tale by Dr. Augusto Sarmiento ($32.00, Prometheus Books) was published in mid-2003 and is the result of the author’s nearly fifty years of medical practice. The author is profoundly disturbed by recent developments in American healthcare scene, especially of the increasing control of education and research by the pharmaceutical industry. He criticizes the overuse of surgery by many practitioners in his field, and the "greed factor" that has saturated the medical profession. He is currently a professor and chairman emeritus at the University of Miami Medical School and a widely recognized authority in orthopaedic surgery. This is an important book that anyone who is concerned about the current state of healthcare in America will want to read. For those who enjoy medical history, you’re guaranteed a good reading experience with Jennifer Lee Carrell’s The Speckled Monster: A Historical tale of Battling Smallpox ($16.00, Plume softcover). Smallpox was not eradicated until 1977. By then it had become the most voracious killer to ever stalk the human species, taking the lives of millions. The book is the story of two people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean who, having survived smallpox, determined to fight for the lives of their children. Their effort, taking place in the early 18th century changed history and medicine forever. From their effort, the modern science of immunology was born as well as the vaccinations that are the only hope should the disease ever be unleashed again. Getting Down to Business in 2004 Self-Counsel Press of North Vancouver, British Columbia, recently sent me three large format, softcover books well worth recommending. A legal and business publisher, these three texts can save you a world of grief, plus provide the insight for success, as is the case of two new books, Marketing Your Service by Jean Withers and Carol Vipperman and Marketing Your Product by Donald Cyr and Douglas Gray. Both come with a CD-Rom to help you create a successful business plan. For the nuts-and-bolts aspects of running a business, the publisher offers Financial Management 101: Get a Grip on Your Business Numbers by Angie Mohr, CA, CMA, who shows you how to analyze financial data to measure where you are and pinpoint new opportunities. This author also has written a companion volume, Bookkeeper’s Boot Camp: Getting a Grip on Accounting Basics that shows how to set up efficient bookkeeping systems to save time, prepare financial statements, and maintain proper records. Finally, on a more personal topic, there’s Your Divorce, Your Dollars by Akeela Davis. It details financial planning before, during, and after divorce and, since half the marriages in North America end in the divorce; this specialist on the topic is well worth reading. For more information about these and other titles, visit www.self-counsel.com. Organizations of every description depend on their administrative employees to keep things running smoothly. Theirs is an essential function and the Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook ($34.95, Amacom), now in its second edition, is just as essential. This one-volume treasure trove of practical tips, accessible instructions, and invaluable tools for administrative professionals who take their responsibilities seriously now includes ten completely new chapters on changes in technology, business practices, and workplace culture. It’s a PhD in administration by James Stroman, Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson, and it just doesn’t get much better than this book.
A couple of books from Amacom, the publishing division of the American Management Association, are worth noting. Cy Charney’s The Portable Mentor ($18.95) is intended for up-and-coming professionals who may have the smarts, but not necessarily all the answers. Every day presents issues they’ve never had to consider before and, in a busy work environment, they’re unlikely to find an experienced colleague with time to spare for questions and answers. Charney’s book is a one-stop resource with hundreds of bite-sized tips and strategies for dealing with common, yet critical concerns, from goal-setting, decision-making, and project management. There’s also advice on self-development and career planning. A very good investment, indeed! Another Charney book is The Instant Sales Pro ($17.95) with more than 600 tips and techniques to accelerate your sales. Think of this book as a sales kit with advice on prospecting and cold calling, handling objections, closing the deal and so much more. Kelvin F. Cross has authored Quick Hits: Ten Surgical Strike Actions to Improve Business Process Performance ($27.95) and, with a title like that, what else do you need to know about this book? Using case studies from companies like AT&T and GE, the author shows how to streamline operations without disrupting the entire organization. These are low cost, low risk, effective solutions that may just make you a hero! If You Want It Done Right, You Don’t Have to Do It Yourself! is the rather lengthy title of a book by Donna M. Genett, Ph.D. ($19.95, Quill Driver Books), a psychologist and expert on organizational development. The book is about delegating work as an important element of effective management to increase job performance, avoid burnout, and allow you to get more done on time. She has broken the process into six steps and, happily, she spells it out in a book that will barely take you an hour to read, comprehend, and then apply to your own situation. Her client lists includes some very big companies, so you can be confident she knows what she is writing about. As more and more Americans live longer lives, their children find themselves having to take on more responsibility for them. In the financial area, Edward J. Carnot, Esq., has written Is Your Parent in Good Hands? Protecting Your Aging Parent from Financial Abuse and Neglect ($18.95, Capital Books Inc., Sterling, VA). The author tells of his own battle against an unscrupulous caregiver of his elderly father, the inability of the legal system to protect him, and the resulting chaos. The threats to the financial independence and security of one’s parents has to take on a priority, often at a fairly early age as parents now routinely live into the 70s, 80s and 90s. Sports Inc: 100 Years of Sports Business by Phil Schaaf ($25.00, Prometheus Books) makes it abundantly clear that it’s not just a game anymore. At both the amateur and professional level, sports are big business that offers exciting careers and financial opportunities. Schaaf offers an historical overview followed by a look at the dynamics of today’s sports business world, noting how closely connected with TV’s power to reach both fans and consumers, plus the corporate sponsorship of teams, events, and athletes, has become. Then he looks at the future and it’s filled with mega-deals. One could fill whole libraries with books on military history and that’s because it is so integral to all of history, being the deciding factor determining the winners and losers. It is also inherently dramatic, dealing as it does with courage, suffering, life and death.
Also from Da Capo Press comes Edward G. Longacre’s military biography of General John Buford ($19.95). This Union Army general, arguably its most important cavalry officer, was a combat genius. In the realm of tactical theory, he has come to represent both the embodiment of dismount, dragoon-style fighting and the inspired use of the mounted attack. He played a role in the Union victory at Gettysburg and participated at Second Bull Run and Brandy Station, among many other Civil War skirmishes. Buford stressed speed and mobility, the hallmarks of our modern military style of warfare. He was a soldier’s soldier, a graduate of West Point in 1848, he was both respected and trusted. For military history buffs, this biography is just pure reading pleasure. World War II is still producing countless books on various aspects of that epic struggle to defeat totalitarianism. Earlier I recommended An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-43 ($16.00, Henry Holt) when it was first published. It went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and now volume one of The Liberation Trilogy is available in a softcover edition. Similarly, Harrison E. Salisbury’s great story of the siege of Leningrad, The 900 Days ($21.95, Da Capo Press), is now available in a softcover edition. For those who can be heard complaining that our military venture in Iraq is a failure because we are still mopping up a few months after are lightning victory there, this book is reminder that wars are messy and require the greatest resolve. The Nazi siege of Leningrad (1941-1943) was one of the most gruesome of World War II. Nearly three million people endured it and just under half of them died, starving or freezing to death. I am a bit tardy in recommending Ray Ward’s book, Those Brave Crews: The Epic Raid to Destroy Hitler’s Oil Fields ($14.95, Weldon Publications, 432 Pennsylvania Ave, Waverly, NY 14892), published in Carl LaVo provides a look at another aspect of World War II in Slade Cutter: Submarine Warrior ($29.95, Naval Institute Press). Cutter was a man of high standards of honor and his feats as a submarine commander left an indelible mark on the US Navy. From a humble upbringing on a depression-era farm in Illinois, he went on to become one of America’s most formidable and decorated naval officers as commander of the USS Seahorse. He sank twenty-three enemy ships in the Pacific and earned four Navy Crosses and a Presidential Unit Citation. His brilliant tactics are the stuff of legend, but this is the first biography published about him. It is well worth reading. That’s it for January and we have a whole year of wonderful reading ahead of us! Don’t forget to visit our Featured Book pages, filled with interesting and often-unique books you may not find your local bookstore. |
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Contact: Alan Caruba |
Tel: (973) 763-6392 |
To reprint, e-mail for permission. |
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One of the best purchases one can make at the start of any new year is The World Almanac and Book of Facts ($11.95/$31.95, soft or hardcover). The 2004 edition continues a 136-year tradition of providing an astonishing amount of information on a vast array of subjects. It offers a comprehensive look back at 2003 in words and photos, plus a handy guide to the 2004 elections. For someone like myself, a writer who always needs to check facts, the Almanac is a treasure-trove of information on population, nations, the economy, health, sports, history, and dozens of other topics. Best of all, for me, "Anti-Boredom Month" is listed again among the "Special Months" of 2004. I am the creator of 
job. 
Spontaneous Regression: Cancer and the Immune System ($30.99, Xlibris) is a self-published book by Donald H. MacAdam, the director of Kyto BioPharma Inc, a developer of cancer antibody drugs. In recent years cancer survival rates of improved, but while patients are living longer, a person is more likely to die from cancer today than fifty years ago, according to the author. He attributes this to cancer treatments that actually damage the body’s immune system. This book describes how the body can be stimulated to actively fight cancer and it does so with non-technical language that explores the role of genetics, diet, lifestyle, infection and the power of the mind to bring about a spontaneous regression. 
The 10 Secrets to Great Sex by Felicia Zopol and the Sinclair Intimacy Institute ($12.95, New American Library softcover) is a companion to the Institute’s Better Sex Video Series, rating the best among how-to sex videos by Men’s Health magazine. This helpful guide covers both the physical and emotional sides of sex, revealing how readers can spice things up and increase mutual pleasure. 
Since I have been a longtime consultant in the field of public relations, I know that many of my colleagues have been wondering why, if we are in an economic upswing, why their business has not begun to reflect it. Consultants in every field are asking this question and the answer to improving it can be found in Marketing Your Consulting Services by Elaine Biech ($40.00, Wiley). Here’s a crash course on how to make yourself more marketable in tough times. "Clients are looking for different things than they were a few years ago", says the author. "They want to know how you can help make a difference in their bottom line. In short, you have to offer value to what are often anxious, shell-shocked clients who want to believe the economy is getting better, but are risk avoiding when it comes to hiring people with the answers. If that’s you, this book will prove motivational as you strive to set yourself apart from your competitors for those scarce dollars. Also from this publisher, Wealthy Choices: The Seven Competencies of Financial Success by Dr. Penelope S. Tzougros, ChFC, CLU ($24.95). How I wish I had been able to read this book a couple of decades ago! It will teach you how to get the most from the money you’re earning now and have some later when you retire.
That Body of Brave Men: The U.S. Regular Infantry and the Civil War in the West by Major Mark W. Johnson ($45.00, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA) is nearly 750 pages devoted to what is likely the most overlooked, even forgotten, aspect of the War between the States. Two separate components made up the bulk of the Union Army, state volunteer regiments and the Regular Army. The former have received most of the attention, but little has been paid to the 75,000 professional soldiers. Until now. In an absorbing true-life story, the author recounts the noteworthy battle history of four infantry regiments deployed to Kentucky in 1861. They participated in the Battle of Shiloh and subsequently marched through Mississippi, Alabama, and back into Kentucky, ending up in Nashville, Tennessee toward the end of 1862. They would see action at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and the campaign for Atlanta. This is fascinating reading. An even lesser known aspect of the Civil War were the Cape Fear pilots who ran the Union blockage to aid the Confederate cause. Their story is told in Masters of the Shoals by Jim McNeil ($18.50, Da Capo Press). Less than 200 miles up the coast from Fort Sumter sits Cape fear. Daring harbor pilots and ship captains, always under cover of darkness, kept the shipping lanes and commerce open and became legends along the way.
August of last year, but let me up for that by saying that, in text and photos, he has brought to life the story of how, on August 1, 1945, five groups of American B-24 Liberators lifted off from airfields around Benghazi, Libya, on a mission to deny the Nazi war machine the oil from the huge oil refining complex at Ploesti, Rumania. Code-named "Tidal Wave", the objective was to take the Axis defenders by surprise, but this mission was dogged by misfortune from the very beginning. Despite that, the valiant men of Tidal Wave pressed on to their target and a trip through hell. This was the most famous of twenty-five raids onPloesti and a vivid reminder of how brutal the toll of such missions were in the way war had to be waged in the midpoint of the last century.