The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore

I remember playing Milton Bradley's The Game of Life as a kid. There was not really much to it besides spinning the wheel and moving the little plastic cars filled with pale blue and pink pegs around the board. Going to college to get the higher salaries seemed the only important decision to make. Luck of the spin seemed the primary influence on winning and losing. Still, my friends and I played over and over. It was so seductive to contemplate what might happen to us for real.

Historian Jill Lepore refers to the game and its predecessors throughout her book The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death, as she explores several centuries of thought about the stages of human life: conception, infancy, childhood, adolescence, marriage, parenthood, adulthood, middle age, old age, and afterlife. Each stage gets a chapter in which the author reports on changes through the ages. In the chapter "Baby Food," she chronicles the many movements for and against breastfeeding. In "The Children's Room," she tells how the magazine Life shocked many in 1938 with what would now be considered very tame photos of a human birth; later revealed to have been staged, no private parts were actually shown in the tiny grainy thumbnail shots. In "Mr. Marriage," she reports on the eugenics movement of the early 20th century which supported state laws for forced stylization of "the feeble, the insane, and the criminal"; over 20,000 people of low regard where sterilized in California alone.

I see libraries are putting The Mansion of Happiness in their American history sections. That is okay as the book does focus on U.S. event. It could just as easily go in collections of philosophy and ethics or with books of sociology. Whatever, it is an entertaining and enlightening work from a historian with a growing shelf of titles, including one novel.

Lepore, Jill. The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. 282p. ISBN 9780307592996.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Perhaps it is a sign of my age, but I can not think of a book that is more romantic than Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, which was published in 2010, which I have just read. It was on my possibilities list for some time, but its being the choice for an upcoming book discussion moved me to actually read it. It is jolly good to be in a book club, as I am now very glad to have read it.

Major Ernest Pettigrew is a retired British soldier of traditional values who lives in the quiet village of St. Mary, England. As the story begins, his brother has died, and he learns that reuniting the very valuable family hunting rifles (called "Churchills") was not specified in the brother's will as the major has been led to believe. Both his mercenary banker son and his ambitious niece want the guns sold so they can fund their projects, but the major just wants to have them to use at annual duck hunts. The major sense that neither of the young people nor his sister-in-law have any sense of tradition.

The major explains all of this to Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani widow who runs a little shop in the village. As they walk along the beachfront and drink tea, he discovers that the attractive widow shares his love of Kipling and a sense of what is proper behavior. He is enamored, but how does Mrs. Ali feel?

Being a fan of many British books and television, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was ready made for me, and I do not think I am alone. It is no longer on bestseller lists, but there are many copies in public libraries. If you are similarly inclined, put it on the top of your list.

Simonson, Helen. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Random House, 2010. 358p. ISBN 9781400068937.

Anyway: A Story about Me with 138 Footnotes, 27 Exaggerations, and 1 Plate of Spaghetti by Arthur Salm

Most of my memories of junior high are pleasant, but not all, and I am very happy that I do not have to live through the age again. Usually good kid Max, who is between seventh and eighth grade, often hears that his mishaps will be funny someday, but he is ready to get past the tween stage and never return. He tell all about his rocky summer in Anyway: A Story about Me with 138 Footnotes, 27 Exaggerations, and 1 Plate of Spaghetti by Arthur Salm.

Max is not a storyteller who can stay on subject, which is why he includes 138 footnotes. Don't skip them for they reveal much about Max's character and that of his alter ego Mad Max. They also alert you to the 27 exaggerations.

Max would not want me to reveal too much about his story, but let me just say that he has one set of friends (and an enemy) from his school and makes another set when he goes to summer camp with his family. Action takes place at a shopping mall, in Max's backyard, at camp, and at a big birthday party where girls and boys play musical chairs. Can you guess where the spaghetti comes into the story? See if you are right by reading Anyway.

Salm, Arthur. Anyway: A Story about Me with 138 Footnotes, 27 Exaggerations, and 1 Plate of Spaghetti. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012. 138p. ISBN 9781442429307.

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

While My Reading Life by Pat Conroy is obviously about books and reading, it is very much a book about people who introduced Conroy to the joy of reading and books that have shaped his life. His mother, an English teacher, a high school librarian, a bookseller, and publisher's representative populate the story along with influential books, including Gone with the Wind, Catcher in the Rye, Deliverance, War and Peace, A Christmas Carol, and Look Homeward, Angel.

It won't surprise the readers of Conroy's novels that he portrays his benefactors warts and all. Each chapter focuses on either one of these people or an influential author. Being unsparing does not mean being ungrateful. The mentors all seem better people for overcoming obstacles, such as prejudice or cowardice, and readers sense Conroy's love for all of them.

My Reading Life is also filled with great statements about writing and reading and life. I could have chosen many to post on social media.

• "Books contained powerful amulets that could lead to paths of certain wisdom." 
• "I grew ups word-haunted boy. I felt words inside me and store them wondrous as pearls." 
• "The veneration of books carries its own rewards." 
• "On that first day, not one kid said hello to me. By chance, I stumbled onto the library and I felt the deep pull of a homecoming as I walked into its silences." 
• "Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. You touch them as they quiver with a divine pleasure." 
• "In every great story, I encounter a head-on collision with self and imagination." 

By the end, readers sense Conroy's philosophy of literature. I enjoyed listening to the author read the book himself. It was eight hours well spent.

Conroy, Pat. My Reading Life. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2010. 337p. ISBN 9780385533577.

7 compact discs. Books on Tape, 2010. ISBN 9780307749222.

Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers

One of the benefits of listening to NPR Science Podcasts is learning about interesting science books. From NPR recently I learned about Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers. The pair coined the term "zoobiquity" to name interspecies medical studies, which they think go deeper than simple comparative anatomy. Physician Natterson-Horowitz particularly believes that her medical colleagues are slower than veterinarians in recognizing the convergence of their disciplines. She does not go so far as to suggest that animals get better care, but she does say that vets are far ahead in some fields of treatment. 

Of course, animal studies have long been conducted for the benefit of human medicine, but they have usually been limited to laboratory animals in sterile environments. The authors argue there is much also to be learned from the treatment of pets and from the lives of animals in the wild. They show how similarly animals and humans faint at times of danger, suffer from cancer, pursue sexual partners, abuse drugs, self-mutilate, and surrender to obesity. Almost any human trouble seems to have a corollary in the animal world that might provide insight.

Thanks to Bowers being a mainstream journalist, the text is kept from being too technical. Anyone with a pet will experience a few revelations. I recommend reading a chapter a date to not overdose on the fascinating detail. It will be in many public libraries.

Natterson-Horowitz, Barbara and Kathryn Bowers. Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. 308p. ISBN 9780307593481.

Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

When I recently read a blog piece about the British Queens of Crime (Christie, Allingham, Sayers, and Marsh), I remembered that I had not read Dorothy L. Sayers in a long time. Even then, I had only read two or three of the books, which I had liked immensely. Feeling it was time for another, I downloaded the audiobook read by Roe Kendall of Whose Body?, first of Sayer's published mysteries.

Upon listening, I was immediately struck by how much of the story is told through conversations between the investigators, witnesses, and suspects. I suspect I would have noticed this in print, but in performance with the reader lending so many voices, it was theater. The quick pace made putting down my iPod difficult. I kept wanting to hear just a little more before stopping.

Of course, the main sleuth is the gentleman Lord Peter Wimsey, who loves nothing better than a puzzle to solve. He has survived World War I, but he needs diversion to keep from thinking about the horror. With the clever help of his valet Mervyn Bunter, who was his sergeant on the Western Front, Wimsey assists Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard who has been charged with discovering why financier Reuben Levy has disappeared. The odd body that has appeared in architect Alfred Thipps's bathtub in a nearby flat is most certainly not Levy - but is there a connection?

I am happy to have reacquainted myself with Wimsey and will start working my way through the series. Thanks to whoever wrote the blog piece that I have now misplaced.

By the way, the cover image used for the audiobook has absolutely no relevance to the story.

Sayers, Dorothy L. Whose Body? Harper, 1923.

Audiobook from Tantor Media, 2005. 6 compact discs.

Burying the Typewriter: A Memoir by Carmen Bugan

Librarians like to classify, and I am struggling to label Burying the Typewriter: A Memoir by Carmen Bugan. Obviously it is a memoir, and it is easy to identify it as a childhood memoir and somewhat of a coming of age memoir. I think it is more than either of these. It is similar to a Holocaust memoir, in that Bugan tells about how her family survived a time of great danger, but it is not set during the Holocaust. Instead, she tells of life during the waining years of communism in Romania. Iron Curtain memoir doesn't sound bad - better than totalitarian state memoir.

I know I would group it with First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung and Egg on Mao by Denise Chong, but neither of these were behind the Iron Curtain and second is not even a memoir. How about a description instead? Burying the Typewriter is an intimate account of surviving in an unjust society while actively trying to reform it. The effort to inspire the people to rise up against the oppression is a big part of the story. Bugan's father spends much of his life in Romania in prison for distributing anti-regime newsletters and openly protesting, thinking that his example would encourage others. Instead, they disowned him as friend and helped the secret police spy on Bugan's family.

Of course, it was Bugan's parents, not Bugan, who were demonstrating and conspiring against the Ceasescue regime. She hoped her father would behave himself so they would be left alone and could live a normal life. She prayed the typewriter would not be found. Bugan was, however, the member of the family who dashed past Romania police to enter the American Embassy to apply for asylum. Bugan recounts the time of her childhood with passion and understanding.

Burying the Typewriter is a great addition to a literary genre that I am having trouble naming.

Bugan, Carmen. Burying the Typewriter: A Memoir. Graywolf Press, 2012. ISBN 9781555976170.

Into the Western Winds: Pioneer Boys Traveling the Overland Trails by Mary Barmeyer O'Brien

No self-respecting boy of the nineteenth century could pass up the opportunity for adventure. What could be better than crossing the American West in a wagon train? There were horses to ride, wild animals to hunt, rivers to cross, mountains to climb, and lots of other boys to befriend. There would be no school and little bathing. How hard could it be? In Into the Western Winds: Pioneer Boys Traveling the Overland Trails, author Mary Barmeyer O'Brien lets us know how hard.

In her compact book, author O'Brien tells us stories of eight boys who joined their families in crossing the continent between the 1840s and 1860s, before there were railroads to speed their journeys. Each of them either kept a journal or wrote a memoir about his experience. O'Brien identifies the resources and retells some of the best stories from each.

Readers will quickly realize how important the boys turned out to be to the success of their families' fortunes. They herded livestock, hunted, drove wagons, gathered firewood, and went for help in emergencies. Some were even left in the wild to guard family possessions when they were dropped to lighten wagon loads. Moses Schallenberger survived a winter alone in the high Sierras two years before the Donner Party was stuck there! All eight lived to become import men in their frontier communities.

At 107 pages, many readers can finish Into the Western Winds in a night or two. I enjoyed looking at the trail maps and old photographs. A trip out west to see western migration historic sites could be a lot of fun.

O'Brien, Mary Barmeyer. Into the Western Winds: Pioneer Boys Traveling the Overland Trails. Twodot, 2003. 107p. ISBN 0762710209.

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley

Kosovo is not on our minds much. It is not surprising that The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley has not been borrowed from my library recently. But I found it, took it home, and enjoyed reading about a woman's year teaching English in Prishtina, Kosovo.


Though we have pretty much forgotten the former parts of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo Albanians think of us often. They have little trust for the governments of Europe but consider the United States the force of justice on the planet. With NATO and UN forces, we saved them from the Serbian Army which was trying to remove all Albanians from Kosovo in the late 1990s. Naturally, many think of us as friends and hope we will continue to support them with investments and education. Many Kosovar Albanian students dream of learning English, attending college in the United States, and returning to Kosovo to rebuild their country.


Huntley learns all of this first hand from her students, most of whom attend high school. To help them further their language skills, she starts a book club to read in English. Their first book is The Old Man and the Sea, which turns out to speak directly to the plight of down-on-their-luck Kosovars. 


Of course, The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo speaks directly to us. Huntley wonders what role we intend to play in a world in which there seems to be another crisis every week. What will ultimately happen when we seem to never help enough in one country after another?

Huntley, Paula. The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2003. 236p. ISBN 1585422118.

The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan

I am again reading books that no one else has read. In inventorying the collection, I found my library had owned The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan for four years, but no one had checked it out, despite its being only 115 pages, which some of our readers could handle in a night. Perhaps "the end of dreams" idea is something no one wanted to face.

In this case, the dream that seems to have faded away is that a new and better world will form now that the Cold War has ended. The author tells how many people in and out of Western governments around the world thought that democracy and capitalism would sweep the planet soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union. According to Kagan, evidence to the contrary began to appear quickly in Tiananmen Square, the Balkan states, Africa, and across the Middle East.

In his book-length essay, Kagan takes us on a tour of problematic countries, showing us how they have changed. India is far different, but most other states have settled into positions similar to those before the fall of the wall. The U.S. is the primary superpower, and the autocratic states of Russia and China are the main competitors (if not enemies). In Kagan's view, the U.S. and the rest of the West are greatly distracted by the troubles in the Mideast and not addressing their own long term interests.

While four years have passed since publication, a time in which world economies have faltered and much has happened in the Islamic world, the overall picture is much the same today. The Return of History and the End of Dreams is still a worthwhile book for readers interested in geopolitics.

Kagan, Robert. The Return of History and the End of Dreams. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. 115p. ISBN 9780307269232.

The Pyramid: and Four Other Kurt Wallander Stories by Henning Mankell

After writing Brandvägg in 1998, translated to Firewall in English, Swedish novelist Henning Mankell indicated that he was no longer intending to write about police inspector Kurt Wallander. Then almost immediately, he put together five stories (not particularly short) into a book to recount Wallander's early years as a policeman and investigator. Published in Sweden in 1999, American readers finally got The Pyramid: and Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries in 2008. The fifth story ends with an early morning phone call telling the groggy inspector to go to a murder scene which any devoted reader will recognize as the start of Faceless Killers, the first Wallander novel.

Though I have read several of the books and seen the Wallander television series with Kenneth Branagh, I made several connections in Wallander's character that I had not before. It helped to witness his relationship with his wife Mona instead of just hearing of it after the separation. The marriage seemed a mistake from the beginning and he could not see it - very much like real life. I also think that his domineering father primed him for involvement with an unsuitable partner. I also found, as in all Wallander books, his lack of personal discipline maddening at times but now see that it is the same unwillingness to adhere to the smart and logical that lets him disregard rules to make important discoveries.

"Wallander's First Case" is particularly interesting to anyone who has read Before the Frost, Mankell's novel about Kurt's daughter Linda. Father and daughter both get drawn into investigations before official police job appointments. Both foolishly put their lives at risk. Unlike all other Wallander stories, "The Man with the Mask" takes place in a single day. In "The Pyramid," Wallander juggles care for his  elderly father with official duties. All are as well crafted as the full-length novels.

Because the Wallander chronicle now starts with The Pyramid: and Four Other Kurt Wallander Stories, it would be a good introduction to the inspector. Readers can try out a story without as much of a time investment as the longer works and might even have a little more insight into the world that Mankell has created.

Mankell, Henning. The Pyramid: and Four Other Kurt Wallander Stories. New Press, 2008. 392p. ISBN 9781565849945.

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

Life in 1990s Kiev is hard. The winter is brutal, jobs are scarce, and the government is corrupt. Viktor Alekseyevich Zolotaryov is very lucky to have been hired to write obituaries for the Capital News, though it does seem odd that none of his subjects are dead - yet. He even interviews a few of them. But he can not be choosy about work. He has a penguin to feed.

It is now 2012 and only a year since American readers have gotten an English translation of Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov, a darkly comic tale published in Russian in 1996. Melville House has added it to its growing Melville International Crime Series, paperbacks that give us affordable literary fiction.

Back to Victor and the penguin, whose name is Misha. Both are lonely guys. The impoverished Kiev Zoo gave away most of its animals to anyone who would take them, so Victor took Misha to his apartment where they are lonely together until four-year-old Sonya joins them while her father goes underground. They become an odd sort of family, decorating a Christmas tree and hiding from the gangsters that Victor has unwittingly crossed.

Death and the Penguin is a great read for anyone who enjoys offbeat humor and a totally unfamiliar menacing setting.

Kurkov, Andrey. Death and the Penguin. Melville House, 2011. 228p. ISBN 9781935554554.

Which President Killed a Man? : Tantalizing Trivia and Fun Facts About Our Chief Executives and First Ladies by James Humes

I am weeding books again. As I always do, I find some books whose inactivity surprises me. This time I found Which President Killed a Man? : Tantalizing Trivia and Fun Facts About Our Chief Executives and First Ladies by James Humes. According to our records, we have had it eight years, and no one ever borrowed it. Since I was probably the librarian who bought it, I checked it out and brought it home. I had a great time reading it from cover to cover - though Bonnie may not have appreciated all my "Did you know?" questions.

As you might guess, Which President Killed a Man? is an extensive collection of questions with answers grouped in thematic chapters. The author suggests readers could use it to play trivia games at parties or family get-togethers. That sounds like a nerdy thing to do, but I actually think it would be lots of fun. You have to have the right kinds of friends. (Pete Midkiff, Jack Oliver, Don Richmond, Robert Goehring, or Glenn Kersten might do.)

The book does not look pristine, so I wonder if the circulations stats are to be trusted. Maybe browsers at the library thumbed through it to learn the following:

• Which general was a winner when he faced four other generals in an election?
• Who was the only president to be granted a patent for an invention?
• Who was the only president to be elected to an office of the Confederacy?
• Who was the first president to be born west of the Mississippi River?

James Garfield, Abraham Lincoln, John Tyler, and Herbert Hoover are your answers. Humes tells stories in revealing the answers to these and several hundred other questions. There are two or three questions per page. Much can be learned painlessly.

The author does not seem to have updated the work, but I think there are only a couple of answers that need revising. Check it out if you can find it.

Humes, James. Which President Killed a Man? : Tantalizing Trivia and Fun Facts About Our Chief Executives and First Ladies. Contemporary Books, 2003. 242p. ISBN 0071402233.

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx

Memoirs revolving around house construction are many. Anthony Shadid told about restoring his great grandfather's house in Marjayoun, Lebanon in House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East. Similarly, Tahir Shah recounted how in Casablanca he turned a ruin into a family home in The Caliph's House. Novelist Annie Proulx describes new construction in rural Wyoming in Bird Cloud: A Memoir.

While Proulx's book will seem less exotic than either of the other books, many of the same themes run through her account. Choosing trusted contractors, buying hard to find materials, and dealing with delays and budgets. All of the authors deal with disappointments and have to make compromises to get their houses built. And what they want is more than a house, as each seems to be dealing with the past, present, and the future.

As a reader, I found Proulx a bit contradictory, as we all are. She says that architects often want unpractical features just for the look. She claims to have more modest wants, but when she is unhappy with a cement floor, she pays a second floor man twice as much to fix the problem. When the floor is still not to her liking, she finds rare tile to cover it. No wonder the house takes so long to build. Still, having dealt with a few house repairs myself, I know the feeling of wanting things right.

After Proulx gets her house built, she turns to the land, a section of prairie and wetland below cliffs along the North Platte River that she seeks to protect for wildlife. The constant wind and severe winters prove too much for year round living, but she makes a necessary compromise. Her wonderful nature descriptions throughout remind readers why she makes the great effort to build.

Proulx, Annie. Bird Cloud: A Memoir. Scribner, 2011. 234p. ISBN 9780743288804.

The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War, and the Making of Modern America by William G. Thomas

The course of every war is influenced by the technology of its age. In America's Civil War of 1861-1865, rapid developments in communication and transportation fostered the broadening of the battlefield over greater area, as the telegraph allowed the sending of intelligence and commands and rail travel allowed quick movement of troops. Historian William G. Thomas examines the role of the railroad particularly on the war in The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War, and the Making of Modern America.

Thomas starts his history with a look at the state of railroads in the South before the war began. He states that it is a common misconception to portray Souther rails as far behind those of the North. While it is true that many gauges had been used by the many rail lines, the same was actually true in the North. Also, while there were fewer miles of track, there was more track per capita. Southerns were confident in their modern system of transportation, as were important European investors. The advantage for the North was not obvious.

Thomas also describes in detail the state of slavery before the war. The common image is of slaves working on cotton and tobacco plantations. Few readers realize that Southern railroads were quickly becoming a major employer of slaves to lay track, build rail stock, and operate lines. Rail companies had driven the price of slaves higher by buying ande leasing them. Many slave owners were making record profits. Rail lines also used their slave holdings as collateral for loans, when not getting generous grants from the states. Slavery was not going away.

Thomas's account of the use of rails by the military, civilians, and slaves during the war is fascinating. Many campaigns moved along the rail lines, and held lines and stations became obvious targets for guerrilla attacks. The author recounts how efforts to protect rails led to the destruction of many farms and forests along them. The lines also became symbolic of the ties that held the states together.When the Union truly controlled the rails, the South was defeated. The author also explains how the rail lines that had been destroyed and rebuilt many times actually came out of the war expanded and modernized.  


Though not a long book, The Iron Way does require some devotion to read as every page has a wealth of details and stories. Serious Civil War history buffs will enjoy sinking their teeth into this account. 


Thomas, William G. The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War, and the Making of Modern America. Yale University Press, 2011. 281p. ISBN 9780300141078.

Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked the Nation by Deborah Davis

The Civil Rights Movement was successful. While there is still prejudice and racism, and while there are still improvements to make, the nation is a more civil place now than before. If you need evidence, please read Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked the Nation by Deborah Davis.

On October 16, 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt (who never liked being called Teddy) welcomed African American educator Booker T. Washington to his dinner table in the White House. It was an unpublicized meeting to discussion federal judicial appointments in the South. Though it was Sunday evening with most White House offices closed, one newspaper reporter noticed Washington come and go. In Monday papers, the visit was simply noted, but by Tuesday there was an uproar of disgust across the nation. Columnists and editors in cities both North and South decried the dinner using many racial slurs that would be unimaginable today.

In Guest of Honor, biographer Deborah Davis recounts how Roosevelt and Washington had lived remarkably similar lives up to the evening of their dinner, despite their differences in race and wealth. Then she tells how the dinner and the outcry effected both leaders and their working relationship. It is a good example of focused biography that is informative, entertaining, and quick to read. With Roosevelt being an ever popular subject, it can be found in many public libraries. I enjoyed the book greatly and think it would be an excellent selection for discussion groups.

Davis, Deborah. Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked the Nation. Atria Books, 2012. 308p. ISBN 9781439169810.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander

It has been four years since I listened to Nathan Englander's excellent collection of short stories For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. Having greatly enjoyed that book, I was eager to get his new collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. As you might guess from the title, Englander focuses once more on the Jewish experience.

In the title story, an American couple awkwardly entertains another couple who emigrated to Israel several decades earlier. The wives are old friends, but the husbands clash, verbally sparring about issues of politics, orthodoxy, and kosher laws. The Americans are surprised to find that the seemingly zealous Israelis like to smoke pot, and the American wife steals some from her teenage son. Under the influence of the pot, the four begin to question each other about what sabbath laws they would break in emergency situations to save the lives of friends and family. The revelations are uncomfortable for all. 

"Sister Hills" is the most historical of the stories. In it, two zealous families claim farms on adjacent hills in disputed territory intent on forming new settlements. While the region becomes a metropolis, one family thrives, but the other is reduced through war and misfortune to only the matriarch. In a desperate attempt to find solace, she demands the payment of a terrible debt, bringing heartache to all. Her struggle to get her way involves the invoking of Jewish laws.

There are six more stories, each read by a different reader on the unabridged audiobook. With each, Englander creates a different world, showing great range of setting, pacing, and mood. All revolve around the ways Jewish laws are interpreted and applied. Serious book discussion groups should consider this worthy collection.

Englander, Nathan. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. Knopf, 2012. 207p. ISBN 9780307958709.

6 compact discs. Books on Tape, 2012. ISBN 9780307989314.

Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert

Like many people my age, I discovered film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times watching Sneak Previews, a PBS movie review program that paired him with Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune. I enjoyed their jolly and sometimes heated rivalry which framed an entertaining selection of clips from upcoming and recently released movies. They proved so popular that PBS could not keep them, and they started a syndicated program, which Bonnie and I watched on Saturdays right before Star Trek The Next Generation. The program later moved to Disney and ran until Siskel's death in 1999. Ebert tells much about his friendship with Siskel, their programs, and much, much more in Life Itself: A Memoir.

Ebert begins his collection of autobiographical essays with a description of his current life. Complications from thyroid cancer which has destroyed much of his jaw have left him unable to eat, drink, and speak since 2006. Still intent of reviewing films and commenting on life, he blogs and writes books. In this book, film fans will particularly enjoy his personal essays about actors and directors, including Robert Mitchum, Lee Marvin, Woody Allen, Russ Meyer, and Robert Altman. Ebert fans will enjoy the stories of his childhood and youth at the beginning and the later essays that deal with his current life and about finding love and a new family.

I listened to the memoir read brilliantly by Edward Herrmann, quickly forgetting that it was not Ebert's own voice recounting his life. Throughout Ebert is quite open about his family's problems, beating alcoholism, failed romances, and religious doubts, saying he has often been told that he "over-shares," but I found him refreshingly candid. I especially enjoyed hearing about his love of books and movies. 

Life Itself is highly entertaining, and many readers will identify with Ebert's family and school experiences (and wish they had his job). It can be found in many public libraries.

Ebert, Roger. Life Itself: A Memoir. Grand Central Pub., 2011. 436P. ISBN 9780446584975.

12 compact discs. AudioGO, 2011. ISBN 9781611137927.

Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America by Jay Parini

For the holiday, here is a book about the evolution of our national character.

If you are like me, and you probably are, you have not read all of the historically important books. You may find lists of such books interesting and resolve to read them all. If so, you will appreciate Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America by Jay Parini. Thirteen books is such a reasonable number to contemplate reading. Also, Parini's reports on the books may tell you all you want to know and relieve you from the self-imposed obligation to read them.

I found that I had read five of Parini's thirteen:

• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Walden
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• On the Road

It has been years since I read any of these, except Twain's book about Huck Finn. I enjoyed rediscovering the stories and learning what impact they have had on literature, politics, and society.

Of the other eight, I did not even know of The Promised Land by Mary Antin. According to Parini, this 1912 memoir was widely read at a time when many immigrants from Eastern Europe were struggling to fit into an American society that was not so accommodating as they had been led to believe it would be. Reading Parini's summary is enough for now. I learned much about the willpower that made many immigrants succeed.

I also will not plan to read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock, or The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, for I think I have read plenty of the titles they spawned.

I have read portions of Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, The Federalist Papers, and The Journals of Lewis and Clark. Reading only selections is recommended for all of these.

That leaves The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches by W.E.B. Du Bois. It sounds like it might be a very interesting read.

If you want more than thirteen books, Parini does add a list of 100 more in the appendix. Happy reading.

Parini, Jay. Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America. Doubleday, 2008. 385p. ISBN 9780385522762.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin

I was slow to warm to Steve Martin. I vaguely liked some of his goofy standup routines on television's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and other variety programs, but he seemed to repeat himself in various appearances. All the standup comedians did. Their routines were like pop songs that some people liked to hear again and again. A few years later, one of my college roommates was greatly impressed and liked to say "I'm a wild and crazy guy," but I did not pay that much attention. I was not won over until the movie version of Little Shop of Horrors - Martin was great as the dentist. Then there was the movie Roxanne, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Of course by then Martin had left standup far behind.

In Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, Martin lovingly looks back on his childhood and his evolving comedy career. It is a great coming-up-from-the-bottom story, starting with young Steve doing magic tricks at Disneyland long before he was legally old enough to work. He honed his skills at Knott's Berry Farm mixing magic, banjo, and jokes, getting $2.00 a show. Money hardly mattered. Life was great on the stage. Life at home, however, was not so good. On one occasion his angry father reacted to a smart remark and beat Steve up.

I listened to Martin skillfully read his book and was greatly moved by his matter-of-fact honesty. He expresses some regrets, but he never dwells on the bad and moves on. He is also very funny at times. I especially laughed at a thing his ninety year old mother said from her bed in a nursing home. I won't spoil it for you by telling.

After listening Born Standing Up, I checked out the book to see its many pictures. I had forgotten that he ever had dark hair. The one with the beard will make you laugh.

Martin, Steve. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. Scribner, 2007. 207p. ISBN 9781416553649.


4 compact discs. Recorded Books, 2007. ISBN 9781428181052