With some couples, the match is powerful enough that the two people influence, strengthen and invigorate each other's work into something far beyond w...moreWith some couples, the match is powerful enough that the two people influence, strengthen and invigorate each other's work into something far beyond what each could do alone. This is fifteen brief biographical sketches of pairs--from Ned Warren and John Marshall to Ismail Merchant and James Ivory who became power couples in their fields--not surprisingly, while being famous, they also go on vacations, dote on pets, argue, collect stuff, take in relatives, buy houses, sit at each other's hospital beds and occasionally break up. That they are same-gender couples is becomes tragic that they were never allowed to marry and after one partner died, the survivor often lost taking part in what he or she had helped achieve--Streitmatter poignantly highlights that not until the 1980s did obituaries of them mention the surviving partner as such. (less)
This is a magnificent melding of geology and geography with history as Meldahl explains how events millions of years ago created the deserts, canyons,...moreThis is a magnificent melding of geology and geography with history as Meldahl explains how events millions of years ago created the deserts, canyons, ridges and alkali flats that determined the routes of emigrants to Oregon and the California Gold Rush--a tectonic plate's movement connected to the anguish of leaving the furniture by the side of the road, or misunderstanding of geology that stranded a wagon train for the winter, along with the handful of canny people who did understand and landscape enough to set themselves up in strategic locations with supply depots, livestock grazing, bridges and ferries (sometimes yielding far more than if they had gone into gold mining). Because I have driven the Nebraska-Wyoming-Idaho-Oregon leg of this more times than I can count, I was particularly interested to have the route explained so well. (less)
Turning from Nazis to Roman Republican lawyers, Harris fictionalizes the Catiline conspiracy for the second in his Cicero triology, told from the view...moreTurning from Nazis to Roman Republican lawyers, Harris fictionalizes the Catiline conspiracy for the second in his Cicero triology, told from the view of long-suffering slave-secretary Tiro of the legal shorthand. Thanks to Tiro and his wax tablets, we have the fabulously rabble rousing Ad Catilina: Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?(less)
Another for my detectives in extremis list--in occupied Paris, a French homicide detective and a member of the German Kripo attempt to work together t...moreAnother for my detectives in extremis list--in occupied Paris, a French homicide detective and a member of the German Kripo attempt to work together to deal with ongoing crime in the midst of much bigger events(less)
Cambodia, Apollo 11, the disclosure of My Lai, Woodstock, Chappaquiddick, the Manson family, Altamont, the Mets, Hair, Hamburger Hill, the Zodiac kill...moreCambodia, Apollo 11, the disclosure of My Lai, Woodstock, Chappaquiddick, the Manson family, Altamont, the Mets, Hair, Hamburger Hill, the Zodiac killer...this is the latest in a series of books meant to frame pivotal decades (1959: the Year that Changed Everything is down further in my library stack.) Unscholarly, with no point but the narrative, but vivid and a good review for my juicy US History class(less)
Aristocratic Englishman builds a lavish and totally unproductive grand estate in Northern Rhodesia in the 1920s. Yeah, you know this is going to end w...moreAristocratic Englishman builds a lavish and totally unproductive grand estate in Northern Rhodesia in the 1920s. Yeah, you know this is going to end well. (less)
Tulipmania in the Netherlands has become a cautionary tale of economic bubbles and fad crazes, but was it really as described in the _Extraordinary Po...moreTulipmania in the Netherlands has become a cautionary tale of economic bubbles and fad crazes, but was it really as described in the _Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds_? Goldgar actually goes to the Dutch sources to find out, and uncovers that instead of an all-consuming mania for people from all walks of life as depicted in Mackay, the tulip trade functioned like other luxury trades in the 17th century Netherlands. An interconnected network of families (many Mennonites) with ties to the Ottoman trade and agricultural science, dealt in bulbs like they dealt in any product--with regulation, contracts, auction rules, small claims courts, mediation and diversified investment, as well as took great care to document, name and study their new prizes. The bubble did burst in 1637, but there is a single bankruptcy reported (most of the debt for land) and the market went on in a corrected form. So why the popular delusion? 1637 also saw an outbreak of plague, profound anxiety about the Thirty Years' War, insecurity about newcomers to the urban business landscape and religious doubts about lotteries, stock futures and risky investing. Pamphlets found the tulip bubble to be a perfect metaphor and published widely on the trade as a ruiner of people and fortunes, which later scholars took unthinkingly as the whole truth. When in doubt, untangle the account books.(less)
Thinly-disguised version of the War of the Roses, set in a fantasy world with dragons and limited magical power. I've been entertained playing "spot t...moreThinly-disguised version of the War of the Roses, set in a fantasy world with dragons and limited magical power. I've been entertained playing "spot the Woodvilles."(less)
John Cage's 4'33" may be the Platonic ideal of anti-intellectual joke material--an avaunt-garde musical piece in which the pianist opens the lid and s...moreJohn Cage's 4'33" may be the Platonic ideal of anti-intellectual joke material--an avaunt-garde musical piece in which the pianist opens the lid and sits at the keyboard for three movements. Gann, a music critic and familiar with the experimental music community since the 1930s supplies the context--Cage's friendships with Merce Cunningham and Marcel Duchamp, flirtation with Zen Buddhism, WPA work experience (Job: Entertain visitors to a children's hospital without making any disruptive noise), the outdoor theater in Woodstock New York, Muzak and the Supreme Court case allowing Muzak on public buses and new digital recordings that can provide absolute and total silence instead of the accidental, participatory performance when 4'33" is played out in front of a live audience. (less)
Grace finally marries the rich guy from the furniture store, the tiny white van is resurrected and several other problems are solved gently by the app...moreGrace finally marries the rich guy from the furniture store, the tiny white van is resurrected and several other problems are solved gently by the application of traditional Botswanan good sense(less)
Read as Djevelen Holder Lyset, this is a series Norwegian procedural concentrating on the chaotic ripples created by a local, stupid, teenage crime--t...moreRead as Djevelen Holder Lyset, this is a series Norwegian procedural concentrating on the chaotic ripples created by a local, stupid, teenage crime--two local goons steal a bag from a stroller, beginning chain of events that lead to the child's death, burglary, the murder of an elderly neighbor, kidnapping and assault. The implacable and always sighing Inspector Sejer and his new and idealistic partner tie together the threads into a community-destroying idiotic spree gone wrong.(less)
Frustrated by musicians' unions dominated by white club owners and shut out of mainstream marketing, black musicians and promoters parlayed prohibitio...moreFrustrated by musicians' unions dominated by white club owners and shut out of mainstream marketing, black musicians and promoters parlayed prohibition networks of bootlegging and numbers running to build a lucrative circuit of clubs "on the stroll" of towns like Macon, Anniston and Beale Street in Memphis. This was a brutal laboratory for music, as WWII made it impossible (by gas rationing and shortage of men) to field big orchestras and the clubs still had to draw paying audiences. The resulting small groups shaped traditional blues into louder, sexier, even more subversive rhythms eventually picked up and smoothed out by mainstream producers and white artists--with a few circuit performers like B.B. King and Little Richard pulled into the mainstream as well (and Tutti-Fruity remains one of the biggest signs of oblivious white listeners in music history). Although the circuit collapsed with the retreat of segregation and the advance of urban renewal, an underground music scene continues, aided by the internet and easier digital distribution and promotion. (less)
Isabella Robinson was a typical Victorian middle-class married woman--with the advantages of material comfort and all the disadvantages of a system th...moreIsabella Robinson was a typical Victorian middle-class married woman--with the advantages of material comfort and all the disadvantages of a system that saw women in general as helpless children and middle class women in particular as functioning as angels of the home and not in need of education, stimulation or value. Widowed young and remarried to a striving civil engineer, Isabella was alone for long stretches, relocated frequently and cut off from intellectual development, lacked the powerful family or social cachet that might have tolerated eccentricity, and burdened with the Victorian guilt baggage that caused her to write scathing criticisms of herself in her diary. Increasingly, however, her diary also saw extensive writings about Edward Lane, liberal, progressive doctor and husband of a friend. Isabella's writings about him were lush and increasingly erotic, although it is unclear if later episodes of physical contact were true or fantasy. In 1858, shortly after the first divorces became available to the middle class (previously restricted to private bills in parliament for the super-wealthy), Isabella's husband found the diary and sued for divorce. The resulting trial exposed her private life to the entire country, already scandalized by Madam Bovary, and titillated by the revealing proceedings. Lane, meanwhile, totally cut Isabella loose and denied everything. Aided by a sympathetic lawyer and judge, Isabella "won" her case, meaning that she stayed married to her prize husband, but with custody of her children and financial support. This is a good case study of the frustrations and malaise of 19th century women who had, relatively speaking, a lot, but not the things that actually mattered.(less)
Last year, the BBC and the British Library combined to offer a magnificent radio series in which 100 objects from the Museum's collection would provid...moreLast year, the BBC and the British Library combined to offer a magnificent radio series in which 100 objects from the Museum's collection would provide the framework for a history of the world. You can argue about what was chosen, or not, but the resulting series, for which this is the companion book, is historically sound, interesting and makes a real effort to include new information--input from modern craftspeople on how the object would have been made, scientific tests revealing technological skills or locations (sometimes to the exact boulder from which a bronze age hand axe was chipped), and reflections from people about how having an artifact in the Museum affects them (for Greeks and colonized Nigerians, a lot). The bias is towards objects that stress human connections and interactions rather than items that typify a particular time or place. The whole radio series may be accessed with supporting material at http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/(less)
Book 2 of the thinly-disguised Napoleonic Wars in space finds the ""British"" attempting to negotiate with a backwards bunch of religious and politica...moreBook 2 of the thinly-disguised Napoleonic Wars in space finds the ""British"" attempting to negotiate with a backwards bunch of religious and political fanatics (Sicily) in order to keep them from allying with the People's Republic of Haven (Revolutionary France). I'm still pretty amused.(less)
Amusing but scientifically responsible account of the discovery of fossilized mastodons at Big Bone Lick Kentucky beginning in 1739. Local Shawnee fol...moreAmusing but scientifically responsible account of the discovery of fossilized mastodons at Big Bone Lick Kentucky beginning in 1739. Local Shawnee folklore contained an account of the native deities banishing rampaging ancient bison to permanent exile in a boggy location that turned out to contain fossils of prehistorical animals--sparking the interest of enlightenment scientist-gentlemen and beginning American interest in paleontology (as well as the skepticism of Jefferson on extinction, leading him to send Lewis and Clark out with instructions to find living bison to compare with the prehistoric ones) and the new nation's pride in refuting European charges that North America lacked and could not support large animals.(less)
An early work by Pamuk, this is Turkey on the brink of the 1980 army coup encapsulated in one listless family. In a distant suburb of Istanbul, 90 yea...moreAn early work by Pamuk, this is Turkey on the brink of the 1980 army coup encapsulated in one listless family. In a distant suburb of Istanbul, 90 year old grandma Fatma waits in a crumbling old house, surrounded by modern development of a resort town. Her arranged husband was an idealistic doctor exiled for challenging in Sultanate government, who then moldered within reach of the capitol through vast reforms, squandering his youth and her money on a ridiculous encyclopedia project and alcohol. The son was a middling civil servant, the grand children underemployed, idealistic flakes and depressed. A bastard branch of the family, represented by the dwarf houseman and his right-wing thug nephew, have gone in an equally useless direction until events cause them all to cross paths in the worst possible way. In Turkish, this is an excellent translation exercise, since every chapter is first person narration from a different character, and told in their diction and slang--the grandmother's laboring 19th century grammar, the thug's short expletives. Although not as polished as his later books, this is family as metaphor for the whole state.(less)
Let me start by saying that no Sankey child ever whined, "I'm bored" twice. Either you were found something unpleasant to do, or got the look and "if...moreLet me start by saying that no Sankey child ever whined, "I'm bored" twice. Either you were found something unpleasant to do, or got the look and "if something is boring, it must be because you aren't very interesting yourself." So I was amused by Toohey's social history of boredom--from neurological studies of ADD/ADHD and inattention, representations in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Hedda Gabler, cabin fever in the context of The Shining, animals who pull out their feathers in boredom, medieval monks and the "demons of noonday," time passing in jail, indigenous people and the lack of words for "boredom," and Durer's bored-looking angels. (less)
Read in Norwegian, this is one of the better Scandinavian crime series--devoid of serial killers and elaborate plots in favor of human behavior and pr...moreRead in Norwegian, this is one of the better Scandinavian crime series--devoid of serial killers and elaborate plots in favor of human behavior and procedural. Hanne Wilhelmsen, a detective retired after being paralyzed, is on the train to Bergen in the far north when it derails on icy tracks, stranding the 150 passengers at barely opened ski resort. As bodies pile up (accident, murder, heart attack, murder, injury), Hanne has to wheel through a trainload of straw figures (celebrity pastor, Norway's version of Ann Coulter, soccer goon, emo kid, meddling old ladies, type-A business guy, etc.) to separate the accidental from wrongful deaths and catch a killer with no police authority, forensics or ability to leave the main lobby. Holt, a former Minister of Justice and practicing lawyer, clutters up the plot with a mysterious secret train carriage and a prisoner guarded by Norwegian state security, largely to point out that Americans are graspy and obnoxious. I really wonder if that subplot will make it into the English translation of the book? (less)
Despite the lurid title, this is an archaeology study of sites, particularly ancient urban centers, showing damage from earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoe...moreDespite the lurid title, this is an archaeology study of sites, particularly ancient urban centers, showing damage from earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and hurricanes--events which we are now much more capable of modeling in order to understand the magnitude of the destruction (i.e. Knossos being hit by waves that knocked things miles further inland than previously thought). Nur combines this new scientific understanding with documentation of how the people involved conceived of the events as the act (often wrath) of Gods. (less)
The importance and challenges of mapping coastlines--from contested early modern claims to badly-located islands, maps as national security issues (wh...moreThe importance and challenges of mapping coastlines--from contested early modern claims to badly-located islands, maps as national security issues (why 18th century governments hurried to add cartography to their military academies), maps and very valuable claims (oil, fishing, international waters) as well as the problem of maps in the political negotiation of climate change.(less)
Solid biography grounded in classical sources, adept at separating Augustus' reality from his very clever propaganda machine and set within the greate...moreSolid biography grounded in classical sources, adept at separating Augustus' reality from his very clever propaganda machine and set within the greater Mediterranean context of the first century.(less)
The "best practices" required of developing countries--free trade, patent protection, central banks, no child labor, etc. and tied to IMF aid and othe...moreThe "best practices" required of developing countries--free trade, patent protection, central banks, no child labor, etc. and tied to IMF aid and other projects are in fact practices which the first world did not impose upon itself until relatively late in their own imperial and industrial success. I really don't know to whom this is a huge surprise, and I also can't imagine any first world political body that would have the backing to offer monetary aid WITHOUT imposing things like patent regulation because of pressure from their own companies. Whether this is a calculated "kicking away the ladder" so new emerging countries cannot compete, or whether developed countries won't aid practices their constituents find intolerable is arguable.(less)
Researching a BBC series, Rees sought out previously unavailable oral histories from Eastern Europe--Polish schoolchildren ordered to write Thank You...moreResearching a BBC series, Rees sought out previously unavailable oral histories from Eastern Europe--Polish schoolchildren ordered to write Thank You letters to Stalin, Arctic people who serviced British ships, "resettled" Poles who survived the gulags, Russian clerks who checked off names at Katyn...while this doesn't rewrite the history of the Eastern Front and 1939-1941, it adds a human story to the faceless numbers(less)
From a scholar of religion and cultural anthropology, this is a study of Columbus placing him firmly in the context of late medieval Christianity, and...moreFrom a scholar of religion and cultural anthropology, this is a study of Columbus placing him firmly in the context of late medieval Christianity, and as a child of the generation who grew up in the shadow of the fall of Constantinople. Rather than being a proto-modern person, he was deeply invested in crusading, seeing the acquisition of cross-ocean gold as the way to secure the "Great Khan" as an ally against the Muslims as well as financing for the Spanish to continue on from the Reconquista and bring on the millennial and apocalyptic end of the world. You can also see why Ferdinand was always annoyed that Columbus and Isabella were always messing around with religious policy that got in the way of shrewd colonization moves and actual exploitation of resources--if anyone, HE was the modern person.(less)
Part-travelogue, part history, this is an exploration of the many faces of Zeus, the prototypical Indo-European God of Thunder, Adultery and Capriciou...morePart-travelogue, part history, this is an exploration of the many faces of Zeus, the prototypical Indo-European God of Thunder, Adultery and Capriciousness. Stone travels around the Greek world (with his Iranian wife, who finds much of this hilarious) visiting locations most tied to the Zeus mythology, finding the various ways in which ancient Greek people personalized their deities, tying Zeus to real events and explanations (and it was Pandora's JAR), as well as how modern Greek people continue to relate to their classical past. (less)
Another in my collection of detective in extremis politics--the conclusion of a trilogy set in 1930s Germany. The hero is ex-Kriminalpolizei, pushed o...moreAnother in my collection of detective in extremis politics--the conclusion of a trilogy set in 1930s Germany. The hero is ex-Kriminalpolizei, pushed out by the Nazi seizure of power, which his eldest son has embraced enthusiastically. The younger one reacted by going off to fight for the Republicans in the ramping-up Spanish Civil War. Retrieving him and getting out of Europe will involve cashing in every chip collected in a career full of criminals, bureaucrats and big bads of varying political and villainous stripes.(less)
Finally got around to beginning this space opera series, and was pleased to recognize that it is the Napoleonic Wars with plasma rifles and hyperspace...moreFinally got around to beginning this space opera series, and was pleased to recognize that it is the Napoleonic Wars with plasma rifles and hyperspace engines--plus a female Nelson, high-tech replacements for missing eyes and arms, and corrupt political maneuverings in parliament. The telepathic cat was a bit much, but give me a thinly disguised Battle of Cape St. Vincent and I'm happy.(less)
Rubenstein chronicles the process by which Western Europeans, who had allegorized Jerusalem into something they could have off in their cold, dark cor...moreRubenstein chronicles the process by which Western Europeans, who had allegorized Jerusalem into something they could have off in their cold, dark corners of northern France or Germany, came to be fixated on actual physical possession--the conditions in late 11the century Europe, the incentives for sending the violent somewhere else, economic opportunities and identity, without neglecting the deeply felt call (backed up by visions and eclipses and dreams) to go bring on the apocalypse. While dealing with several armies and their staggered arrival, not to mention their quarreling leadership and differing makeups, Rubenstein provides a solid narrative of the First Crusade, including the disruption to the status quo of war between the Byzantines and the west, the Byzantines and the Abbasid Caliphate, the Abbasids and rebels, the Byzantines and border people, the recently estranged Orthodox and Catholic churches, the Turks and the Egyptians and Armenians and so on. (less)
The 1934 Second Edition of Mirriam-Websters Dictionary opened the door to reflect the new 1920s slang and looser American grammar, but still retained...moreThe 1934 Second Edition of Mirriam-Websters Dictionary opened the door to reflect the new 1920s slang and looser American grammar, but still retained Victorian fixation on propriety. By 1961, there was wide recognition that American English had accelerated far past that line and a new dictionary edition was needed. The Third Edition recognized that people had far more access to regionalisms (movies, radio, novels by Steinbeck and Spillaine that used dialect and obscenities), that WWII had created a whole new vocabulary and that the Cold War was coining words at an enormous rate--babysitter, pinko, beatnik, ranch house... A mis-written press release that touted the inclusion of "ain't" without the whole word entry (which identified it as "non-standard") set off a firestorm among culture guardians (Jacques, Barzun for one) already hysterical at the marketing of Mortimer Adler's Great Books and the adulteration of literature by Readers' Digest. The publishers held the line that they existed not to guard the language, but to make it possible for people to educate themselves on what the words meant in contemporary life--a crucial distinction of American English vs, say, carefully curated French. Obviously, you can see who won, but the screaming and garment rending over what came down to scary 1960s social and cultural changes are something to see. (less)
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