SMALL PRESS BOOK REVIEW / Feb. 2004
HenryBerry
FEBRUARY 2004
[Reviews are not copyrighted; complete reviews or excerpts can be reprinted
without permission, but reference to the Review is requested.]
CURRENT INTEREST
NATION-BUILDING UNRAVELED? - Aid, Peace and Justice in Afghanistan edited by
Antonio Donini, Noran Niland, and Karin Wermester. Kumarian Press, Bloomington,
CT; 800-289-2664; www.kpbooks.com. 2004. 236+xiv pp. $25.95 trade paper.
chapter notes, index.
(post-war Afghanistan; nation-building)
The main issues raised by the 10 essays by authors with much experience
with the U. N. and other international agencies are "the role of NGOs in
humanitarian and peace-building activity; tradeoffs between justice and
stability in political contexts; the role of women and gender in conflict and
recovery; the political economy of conflict and transition; and the question of
winners and losers." Because of their first-hand experience, the authors bring
a keen analysis to these fundamental issues of today's world. Although
Afghanistan is the focus--or the test case as it might be put--the topics
obviously apply to Iraq, and also Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans which have
fallen off the front pages with the dramatic and unstable military situation in
Iraq. The essays are not only germane to policymakers, activists, and others in
any way involved in Afghanistan and the other regions facing similar issues,
but also to any reader interested or concerned about the essential matters of
these regions. Though the essays do not prescribe definitive resolutions, they
lead the way by introducing and weighing the different and sometimes competing
considerations which have to be embodied in balanced resolutions.
REINVENTING GOVERNMENT FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY - State Capacity in a
Globalizing Society edited by Dennis A. Rondinelli and G. Shabbir Cheema;
Foreword by President Vincente Fox of Mexico. Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT;
800-289-2664; www.kpbooks.com. 270+xvi pp. $25.95 trade paper. chapter notes;
index.
(globalization)
"This book explores the changing roles of the state in promoting and
supporting sustainable social and economic development in an era of
globalization," write the editors in their Introduction. Nearly all of the
authors of the 13 articles are or have been connected with the United Nations,
including the two editors. The weakening, if not the waning, of the state has
been one of the effects of globalization. But these authors take the approach
that states should change their role in the era of globalization to ensure that
their populations benefit from it. The editors list the major roles of states
in this era--"catalysts for economic and social development, enablers of
productivity and efficiency, regulators ensuring that economies remain open and
equitable, promoters of private sector expansion, and stimulators of financial
and human resource development." The following articles treat how states can
fulfill these roles. The authors who have spent most of their careers dealing
with problems in the international arena offer readers experience,
perspectives, analyses, proposals, and ideas they will not find anywhere else
on central, important matters having a bearing on everyone.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GANDHI - Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists,
Revised Edition by Catherine Ingram, Foreword by Arun Gandhi, Afterword by
Michael Nagler. Parallax Press, PO Box 7355, Berkeley, CA 94707;
www.parallax.org. 2003. 267 pp. $16.00 trade paper. photographs.
(collected interviews; nonviolent activism; pacifism)
The Dala Lama, Joan Baez, Cesar Chavez, Ram Dass, Gary Snyder, and Desmond
Tutu are among the 12 individuals interviewed. While the general theme of the
interviews is nonviolent resistance to social wrongs and injustices, most of
the interviews touch on the particular concern of the respective individual.
Thus, Cesar Chavez discusses the exploitation of migrant workers. The Joan Baez
interview involves political prisoners and human rights. Desmond Tutu discusses
the apartheid of South Africa's past. Mubarak Awad concentrates on the
Palestinian-Israeli strife. But each of the individuals also relates the
spiritual sources of his or her belief in the power and effectiveness of
nonviolence in the face of violence taking many different forms. Photographs of
each individual giving an interview and introductory biographical essays
averaging four pages add to the reader's appreciation of the interviews.
THE TERRORIST RECOGNITION HANDBOOK - A Manual for Predicting and Identifying
Activities by Malcolm W. Nance. Lyons Press, Guilford, CT; 800-962-0973;
www.LyonsPress.com. 2003. 320 pp. $18.95 trade paper, 6-3/4" x 10".
photographs, illustrations, charts, appendices, bibliography, index.
(terrorism)
This comprehensive timely work gives the average citizen all the
information and guidance needed for playing his or her part in being alert to
possible terrorist activities and perhaps even preventing a terrorist incident.
The material relates both to protection of oneself and awareness as a citizen.
Nance relates much expertise that he has learned in his two decades of work
with U. S. intelligence agencies; and after this, as a consultant for the FBI,
DEA, and similar agencies and also for media businesses such as the New York
Times, the BBC, and International Herald Tribune having an interest in both
covering terrorism and protecting employees against it. Nance's comprehensive
treatment includes terrorist training, mentality, and other background
subjects; identifying terrorists and understanding their network; and the
variety of destructive and often deadly acts terrorists undertake. In this
valuable reference, Nance brings together much that has appeared scattered in
the many media stories on terrorism and its threats; but he also provides
material that goes beyond what has been reported and tendered in the media. The
clear organization and reader-friendly style and visuals enable the reader to
readily absorb the wealth of important material.
ART
NIGHT LIFE by Sandra Mann. Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg; www.kehrerverlag.com;
con...@kehrerverlag.com. 2003. pages unnumbered (apx. 250 pp.). $25.00
flexible hardcover. color photographs.
(photography; contemporary life)
Short introductory essays on the front endpages are in five languages,
German, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese. The glossy photographs in the
250 or so pages are nearly all taken in the German city of Frankfurt, as
indicated in the notes in English on the back endpages. This thriving, populous
German city serves as well as any other modern-day metropolis for capturing the
vibrant and varied night life which is similar in major cities on all
continents in this era of globalization. Mann's photos, many in Day Glo-like
colors, depict the sexuality, music, dining, dress, entertainment, drinking,
and also the subversiveness, depths, and parading of the night life. The focus
of the pictures shifts from close-ups of parts of bodies and objects such as
purses and glasses to group and crowd shots portraying the ambiance of a scene.
For their brightness, wildly mixed subjects, and unpredictability, Mann's
numerous photographs give off a distinct energy, the energy both focused and
dispersed of the night life she pictures.
LINGERING SPIRIT - A photographic tribute to Indiana's fading, forlorn, and
forgotten places by John Bower, with a Foreword by Judy O'Bannon. Studio
Indiana, Bloomington, IN; www.studioindiana.com. 2003. 144 pp. $22.00 trade
paper, 8" x 9-1/2". photographs.
(regional study; photography)
Bower was drawn to the run-down homes, machinery, sheds, and rooms he
photographs by his feeling for the "energy of the individuals whose lives had
once been intertwined" with these. He regards his photographs as "memorials,
tributes, and monuments to the lives of the people who moved on--the
homeowners, equipment operators, builders, employers, families--those who have
left some of themselves in the remains of their now-cast-aside possessions."
Thus, Bower's photographs are in their way a facet of history and biography.
One's imagination and empathy are stirred looking at the photographs on
practically every page and sometimes two to a page as castoffs or echoes of the
lives of others who have moved elsewhere. But Bower's photographs are also
captivating for their technical skill. Planks of wood, bricks, parts of
machinery, and other details have an exceptional sharpness; and even the
shadows and darker areas lend a romance and mystery to each subject.
TIME WILL TELL - Conversations with Paul Bley by Norman Meehan. Berkeley Hills
Books, Albany, CA. 2003. 153+viii pp. $13.95 trade paper. photographs,
discography, bibliography.
(jazz; modern music)
"This book mixes a brief biography of Paul Bley with interviews, analysis
of his music, and brief discussions of some of the recordings that are
representative of his art." Now 70, Bley, a Canadian-born musician who studied
at the Julliard School in the 1950s, was involved in every part of the music
business relating to jazz--performing, composing, producing records, planning
tours. In 1958, Bley was the leader of a jazz group including Ornette Coleman,
Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins recognized as starting avant-garde
jazz in America. A decade later, Bley was the first musician to use
synthesizers in live performances. Meehan, a lecturer in jazz at the Massey
University Conservatory in New Zealand, asks questions which bring out Bley's
ideas about jazz, his innovative creativity as a musician, the background of
notable developments in the field in Bley's decades of involvement, and
portraits of leading jazz figures Bley was associated with. The selective
discography and extensive bibliography provide references for readers wishing
to pursue any of the many central topics of modern jazz dealt with in the
informative interviews.
OTHERWORLDS - The Art of Nancy Spero and Kiki Smith edited by Jon Bird.
Reaktion Books, London, England; www.reaktionbooks.co.uk. 2003. 189 pp. $29.00
trade paper, 8-1/2" x 11". color illustrations, 2 fold-out color illustrations,
bibliography.
(modern art; contemporary art)
Plentiful and varied color photos interspersed through the six essays
convey the vitality and originality of the contemporary leading woman artists
Spero and Smith. Spero, now in her seventies, was a ground-breaking American
woman artist in the decades after the Second World War. Her art, some of it
having a resemblance to ancient Roman mosaics, presented new interpretations of
the female form and image. Also, Spero was one of the first post-War artists to
use words as a element of art as much as paint or shape to present challenging
ideas and perspectives. Smith, of the following generation of talented and
individualistic American woman artists, was not so sharply provocative;
although she too presented idiosyncratic, and sometimes disturbing, images of
the female form. Like many artists of her generation, Smith tested the bounds
of art in installation-like works and works made of varied materials. Although
both Spero and Smith are distinctive for their artistic talents and
imaginations, their art is also seen as affected in ways by the feminist ideas,
aims, critiques, and provocations of their time.
CHILDREN'S
MANY IDEAS OPEN THE WAY - A Collection of Hmong Proverbs, photography
illustrations by Randy Snook. Shen's Books, Fremont, CA 94538; 800-456-6660;
www.shens.com. 2003. 32 pp. color photographs.
(multiculturalism; bilingual English/Hmong; ages 6 and up)
The Hmong people of Southeast Asia have their own versions of folk sayings
found in all cultures. Among those of the Hmong are "A cow cannot see the skin
of its chin; a person cannot see his own face"; "Parents are the sky, children
are the earth"; "The mouth tastes food; the heart taste words." Twenty in all
are collected. Snook's color photographs depict the lessons of the sayings with
Hmong natives of all ages dressed in their traditional clothing.
THE GIANT KING by Kathleen T. Pelley, illustrated by Maurie J. Manning. Child &
Family Press, Washington, D. C.; www.cwla.org. 2003. 32 pp. color
illustrations.
(story; picture book; ages 6-10)
The young gifted wood carver Rabbie in Scotland is seen as "a bit of a
dreamer" by his father. When asked how he makes such fine carvings, Rabbie
answers, "I only discovered what was hiding there" in a block of wood. In a
nearby town, Rabbie tells the townspeople that the giant they have driven away
acts like an animal in regularly returning to town to take food because they
treat him like an animal. He suggests they treat the giant like a king, and he
would change his behavior. A king's counselor who overheard Rabbie tells what
he said to the king. The king thinks it is a good idea, and orders the
townspeople to follow Rabbie's advice. The giant's behavior does change the
next time he returns to the town--so much so that he becomes the king when the
present king dies, thus demonstrating how good qualities can be drawn out of a
person like Rabbie discovers what is in a block of wood he carves.
NO MORE HANDPRINTS - Your Child's Handprint Completes the Story by Michael
Hetzer, illustrated by Kim Clayton. Webster Henrietta Publishing Myrtle Beach,
SC; www.websterhenrietta.com. 2003. 32 pp. $18.95 hardcover.
(picture book; story; ages 3-6)
A young boy carelessly leaves a handprint on his bedroom wall after he
told his mother he wouldn't leave any more on the walls of the house.
Embarrassed and nervous, he hides the handprint behind the headboard of his bed
by rearranging his room. Many years later, the handprint is exposed when all
the furniture is moved from the room as the mother is moving. To the now older
boy's surprise, his mother cuts the handprint out of the wall, and frames it
and hangs it on a wall in her new home. No More Handprints comes with two inked
patches inside the back cover which can be used by young readers to personalize
the book by putting a handprint in its text and another at the front of the
book. Before this children's book, Hetzer has written a popular thriller, The
Forbidden Zone published by Simon and Schuster. Clayton's bright illustrations
show her background as a folk artist.
FICTION
LOVE AFTER WAR edited by Wayne Karlin and Ho Anh Thai. Curbstone Press,
Willimantic, CT; www.curbstone.org. 2003. 641+xiv pp. $19.95 trade paper.
(anthology; short stories)
Fifty short stories by 45 Vietnamese authors portray different aspects of
love in Vietnamese life following the war against the U. S. ending in the
1970s. Despite what seems to be a limited focus and a romantic, familiar
criterion for the stories selected--i. e., love--each story has its own style,
talent, perspective, and rewards. In the rediscovery of love after the horrors
and strains of the long war, the united Vietnam is both rebuilding its society
and setting out on a new path into the modern world. The anthology is also a
showcase for contemporary Vietnamese writers. The deep and wide knowledge of
the two editors--one American and one Vietnamese--about contemporary Vietnamese
writing makes for an anthology for readers attracted to multicultural writing,
or Southeast Asian writing in particular, as well as a collection ideally
suited for classes in related subjects.
HISTORY
BEAR IN MIND - The California Grizzly, from the collections of the Bancroft
Library, edited by Susan Snyder. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA;
www.heydaybooks.com. 244+x pp. $60.00 hardcover, 11" x 10". color photographs,
illustrations, index.
(regional study; California)
The coffee-table quality book exhibits the wide range of pictures,
representations, and caricatures and other popular mutations of the California
grizzly bear. The headless body of one bear was even used to make a chair, with
the bear's arms the arms of the chair. The good climate and abundant food in
California made for large numbers of healthy grizzlies. Early Mexican and Anglo
settlers could not help encountering the prevalent grizzlies and coming into
some relationship with them. The relationship was basically one of
extermination as the settlements grew in number and size, and raising animals
became part of the California economy. Grizzlies were threats to the farming
and ranching, and worrisome to all inhabitants. The grizzly population had to
be controlled, mainly by extermination, to give California an image of
prosperity and peace to attract newcomers and encourage business. When
grizzlies were not being hunted, they were taken for entertainment in savage
fights with other wild animals, including bulls. Toward the end of the 1800s,
in a further effort to change the image of California into a fully civilized
place, a man with the nickname Grizzly Adams encouraged a legend that he lived
with a large number of grizzlies. But this effort to make the grizzlies seem
non-threatening only worked to diminish the numbers of the few remaining bears
as these were captured for zoos and circuses or killed for scientific study.
The last bear was reported to be killed in a 1908 news article. All of these
varied aspects of the California grizzly from true records to novelty items are
covered. The book is a visual delight, as well as entertaining and informative.
Readers will enjoy looking at its high-quality color illustrations again and
again, and opening it randomly to find out some colorful bit of information on
the long and changing relationship between the grizzlies and inhabitants of
California. Susan Snyder works at the U. of California-Berkeley's Bancroft
Library.
LIFE AND DEATH IN NANKING by Peggy Kordick. Noble House, Baltimore, MD;
800-873-2003; www.americanliterary press.com. 2004. 131 pp. $23.95 hardcover,
photographs.
(20th-century China; Western missionary in China)
Kordick's 49 letters to her parents run every couple of weeks or so from
December 21, 1946 to November 19, 1948. This period is a window on the Chinese
city of Nanking between its devastation by the Japanese in WWII and its
takeover by Mao Zedung and the Communists in the late 1940s. The wife of a
missionary, Kordick taught Chinese youngsters in high school and college.
During this time, foreigners were not so welcome in China. She writes in one
place about Chinese soldiers sometimes poking a loaded gun into her stomach
while commenting that foreigners are no longer in charge in China. Through her
series of letters relating mostly to her and her doctor husband's work, family
matters, and observations on Chinese society, she refers to the progress of the
Communists in taking over the country. "Are you upset by the recent newspaper
reports of Communist raids?" she writes in a March 1947 letter; "The situation
here is dangerous, but not immediately so." Eventually, she and her family were
forced to flee China on a U. S. destroyer. The author does not go into the
background of the circumstances or changes she witnesses. This is a collection
of letters giving a unique, but limited, perspective on the vast change China
was undergoing and recounting the experiences of a small group of Westerners
during this moment of change in the city of Nanking.
LITERATURE
THE DORAMA ENCYCLOPEDIA - A Guide to Japanese Drama Since 1953 by Jonathan
Clements and Motoko Tamamuro. Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, CA;
www.stonebridge.com; s...@stonebridge.com. 2003. 441+xxxvi pp. $24.95 trade
paper. illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index.
(media studies; Japanese television)
The Japanese TV covered from 1953 to recent years mostly mirrors the
long-running American soap operas which saturate the afternoon TV. Over 1,000
entries with concise annotations provide both production information and
description of contents, story line, and main characters of the innumerable
Japanese TV programs over these decades. A number of the Japanese programs used
the colorful, comic book-like Japanese popular art known as manga or anime,
which has had a strong influence on American television shows. The annotations
also have cross references; and the more than 100 illustrations help the reader
to appreciate the style of the Japanese TV programs. Persons interested in
worldwide popular culture and media will want to have "The Dorama Encyclopedia"
as a reference and a learning tool.
PASSWORDS by Jean Baudrillard, translated by Chris Turner, Verso, New York, NY;
www.versobooks.com. 2003. 92+xiv pp. $20.00 trade paper.
(modern philosophy; contemporary culture; postmodernism)
Baudrillard discusses and defines as much as this is possible 15 key words
and terms found in his many writings over the past couple of decades. Among
these are value, symbolic exchange, the transparency of evil, the virtual, and
impossible exchange. As he writes in his Introduction, "As weavers of spells
and magic, not only do [words] transmit those ideas and things, but they
themselves metaphorize and metabolize into one another by a kind of spiral
evolution. It is in this way that they are 'passers' or vehicles of ideas." The
brief work is an introduction to Baudrillard's concepts and analyses, and also
a summarization of these. Turner's lucid, even translation--involuted in only a
couple of places--makes Baudrillard's searching, nuanced, and sometimes
rarefied, but always revealing thoughts accessible to those not already
familiar with them, and condenses them for those who are.
GRIMM - Illustrated Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm. 2003. 207 pp. Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin. $39.00 hardcover, 7-1/2" x
9-1/4". color/b+w illustrations.
(fairy tales; illustrated book)
Twenty-three contemporary graphic artists from all areas of the world each
illustrate a Grimm's fairy tale. Most of the illustrations fall within the
genre of comic books and comic novels. These evidence the gothic, heroic, and
fantasy styles found in this popular literature. But high-tech and psychedelic
styles are found with a couple of the fairy tales; and the illustrations of a
couple of others show folk art influences. All bring out in their own
inimitable way the fears, fantasies, aspirations, visions, and characters of
the classic, perennially appealing Grimm fairy tales. This vibrant and
imaginative contemporary illustration art affirms the timelessness of the
tales.
ONCE UPON A CUENTO edited by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. Curbstone Press, Willimantic,
CT; www.curbstone.org. 2003. 243+xii pp. $15.95 trade paper.
(short-story anthology; Hispanic/Latino literature)
Seventeen stories by 14 Latino authors are divided into the four thematic
sections of Heritage, Holidays, and Contemporary Culture; Family Life; Friends
and Other Relationships; and lastly, Dealing with Differences by the
editor-in-chief of the MultiCultural Review. As the four sections suggest, the
stories cover a wide range of Latino experiences, from tradition to
assimilation, from family and society to dilemmas facing individuals. The
stories are suitable for young readers from grade five and up as well as for
adults wishing to learn about Latino culture and experiences and read
established and upcoming Latino fiction writers. The diversity of the Latino
backgrounds of the number of authors--Mexican, Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto
Rican--make for distinctive stories and styles within the main sections.
CROSSING THE RIVER - Short Fiction by Nguyen Huy Thiep. Curbstone, Willimantic,
CT; 800-283-3572; www.curbstone.org; in...@curbstone.org. 2003. 352+xvii pp.
$16.95 trade paper.
(collected stories; multicultural literature)
Seventeen stories by one of Vietnam's leading authors portray the
atmosphere of Vietnamese society in the years following the war with the U. S.
when there was some degree of relaxation of the Communist authoritarian rule.
The characters weigh the place of the artist in society, try to fashion new
styles of relationships, wonder about their new identities, and uneasily
embrace new aspirations and possibilities in the mood of ambiguity engendered
by a freedom they are unaccustomed to. In some of the stories, folk traditions
and Vietnamese history are reworked to try to make sense of the new social
conditions. Thiep writes in a simple, yet evocative style which casts a light
on the complexities of the contemporary Vietnamese society.
NATURE
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS MUSHROOMS OF THE WORLD by Ian R. Hall et al. Timber Press,
Portland, OR; 800-327-5680; www.timberpress.com; ma...@timberpress.com. 2003.
371 pp. $39.95 hardcover. color photos, resources, bibliography, index.
(nature guide)
More than 250 color photographs of mushrooms which note whether they are
edible or poisonous in their captions make the guide particularly useful and
easy-to-use for readers interested in picking mushrooms to eat. The guidebook
covers mushrooms found around the world. Four of the five authors, including
one of Chinese background, are from New Zealand; the fifth is connected with
the U. of Arkansas. With the photographs are annotations of a couple of hundred
words on each of the 250 or so kinds of mushrooms. These annotations mention
the suitability--or lack of--of each particular mushroom for eating. Not all
edible mushrooms are desirable for eating. Besides descriptions and related
annotations with the accompanying color photographs--the longest section by
far--there are chapters on growing and collecting mushrooms. For its balance of
information, scope, and reader-friendly format, this handbook by a team of five
international authorities on mushrooms is an up-to-date, leading guide on the
subject.
NEW AGE
THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE OCCULT by John Michael Greer. Llewellyn, St. Paul,
MN; 800-THE-MOON; www.llewellyn.com. 2003. 555+xii pp. $29.95 trade paper,
7-1/2" x 9-1/2". illustrations, bibliography.
(occult; New Age studies; reference)
The encyclopedic reference is useful for those with New Age interests as
well ones with a more detached, but substantive interest in the occult as a
broad subject involving religion, mysticism, philosophy, and history. Sections
for many of the more than 1500 entries are like short essays, with cross
references. The material of all of the entries is factual--informative and
reliable. The bibliography is 20 pages. Greer, the author, is an authority on
the occult who is also involved in mystical, paganistic, and hermetic practices
such as Druidism. A major reference for any serious student of the occult as a
part of history and religion, and as the occult is explored and observed in
this day and age.
RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
OPENING THE HEART OF THE COSMOS - Insights on the Lotus Sutra by Thich Nhat
Hanh. Parallax Press, Berkeley, CA; 2003. 213 pp. $26.00 hardcover.
(Buddhism; spirituality)
The well-known spiritual leader born in Vietnam in 1926 of more than 50
previous books focuses on the ancient Buddhist writing of the Lotus Sutra,
called the King of Sutras for its capacity to "fit together and accept all the
schools of Buddhism." After following the historical creation of this sacred
text over several centuries, Hanh, a 1967 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, then
applies its teachings and spirit to human action in general and in particular
to terrorism, the Palestinean-Israeli conflict, abuse of the environment, and
other pressing regional and global problems. With its capacity to bring
divergent and even conflicting groups and activities together, the Lotus Sutra
is applicable to personal and local matters as well. Hanh also applies this
King of Sutras to such concerns, as when a "police bodhisattva can work to
reestablish communications between the police and the community, so that they
can talk and listen to one another with understanding and compassion." As in
all his teachings, with this book Hanh puts forward virtues, principles, and
lessons found in Buddhism which relate to the actions and hopes of all
humanity.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND HIS DIVINE PLAY by Swami Saradananda, translated by Swami
Chetanananda. Vedanta Society of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; www.vedantasti.org;
Vedan...@prodigy.net. 2003. 1003 pp. $39.95 hardcover. photographs, glossary,
index.
(spirituality; Hindu spirituality; Asian religion)
Sri Ramakrishna lived in India from 1836 to 1886. His pupil Swami
Saradananda lived from 1865-1927. The translator, Swami Chetanananda, has been
a leader of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis since 1978. This voluminous
biography of Ramakrishna by his pupil records the Master's--as Ramakrishna is
usually called--spiritual growth and teachings, and also his daily life and
interactions with his pupils and others. The very detailed biography is mainly
a stringing together of vignettes on these aspects of Ramakrishna's life.
Saradananda is a character in his biography. He is more than an observer--he is
a devoted follower who is involved in the Master's life. The founder of a
religious order named after him, Ramakrishna recognized the spiritual
worthiness of Christianity and Islam while deeply exploring Hindu spirituality.
Saradananda's biography is so detailed in its voluminousness that is seems
repetitious in places; and the distinctiveness of Ramakrishna's spirituality
and way of live sometimes gets lost. However, for this voluminous based on the
author's long and devoted relationship with this lesser-known, though quite
influential Indian religious teacher, it is an incomparable sources of material
on its subject.
SPORTS/OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
THE CUBS ON CATALINA - A Scrapbook of Memories About a 30-Year Love Affair
Between One of Baseball's Classic Teams...and California's Most Fanciful Isle
by Jim Vitti. Settefrati Press, Gainesville, GA; www.SettefratiPress.com. 2003.
381 pp. photographs, index.
(baseball)
With a scrapbook-like format of countless photos with informative and
sometimes offhand captions and an anecdotal-like style, the former aspiring
baseball player and present-day author Jim Vitti colorfully recreates the
setting, the personalities, and the social atmosphere of the all-but-forgotten
episode of the Spring training of the Chicago Cubs on Catalina Isle off the
coast of California from the Roaring Twenties through the Depression to World
War II. William Wrigley, owner of the Cubs, also owned Catalina, which had an
image of glamor. There was a baseball field and hotel accommodations for the
players. This vacation-like setting attracted members of the media, including
one Ronald Reagan who was at the time a radio announcer, and also celebrities
of the day, among them Betty Grable and the upcoming Marilyn Monroe. Vitti's
entertaining style and the numerous pictures of baseball memorabilia make The
Cubs on Catalina a surefire hit--a home run--with baseball and sports buffs.
THE SMALL PRESS BOOK REVIEW is posted ten times a year on the newsgroup
alt.books.reviews. Books for general readers in all categories from small
presses and independent publishers are reviewed. A companion review periodical
named UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOK REVIEW is published six times a year and posted on
the newsgroup alt.books.reviews. Review copies can be sent to P. O. Box 176,
Southport, CT 06890. Henry Berry is the Review's editor/publisher;
henry...@aol.com. He is also the author of the book FROM REVOLUTION TO FADS -
THE PROGRESS OF MODERNITY and a publishing consultant and freelance editor.