The following books were reviewed in June 11th NYT Book Review. Hope you
will find something interesting.
Houghton Mifflin Company:
LISTENING TO AMERICA: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE LIFE OF A NATION, AS
HEARD ON NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO edited by Linda Wertheimer
(The book covers NPR's entire existence, from antiwar demonstrations
to the Republican victory last November. "Listening to America"
includes a prescient and devastating report by Mara Liasson on the
candidate Bill Clinton's tendency to shift positions -- as early
indication of his inability to stand by difficult decisions.)
THE SOUND AND THE STORY: NPR AND THE ART OF RADIO by Thomas Looker
(As with Linda Wertheimer's book (above), Looker seems to be
saying that the Liberal political bias of the media that some
conservatives imagine simply isn't there. Nor is there any
accommodation to the White House or to Congress, no matter what the
party in power. The real struggle at NPR, Mr. Looker notes,
is between jounralism and art - between the growing trend toward
harder news and the more reflective use of sound to conjure up a sense
of scene. Radio can be as reording as literature because the
listener must work with his/her imagination to achieve a special
kind of initimate knowledge.)
Harper Collins Publishers:
A PASSION FOR LIFE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR
by Donald Spoto
(Spoto's measured, articulate biography does justice to her histrionic
gifts and concocts convincing links between her screen personae and
her catastrophic private life.)
Birch Lane Press/Coral Publishing:
LIZ: AN INTIMATE BIOGRAPHY OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR by David Heymann
(Heymann gives us an insight into the gossip about this star. He
portrays her as a sinner, but why blame Elizabeth Taylor? As she
once said, "I know I'm vulgar, but would you have me any other
way?")
The Free Press:
THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA: FROM THE AGE OF THE CZARS TO TODAY
by Igor S. Kon
(The anthropologist Igor S. Kon, a member of the Russian Academy
of Education, has joined the crush of Russian writers who are
taking advantage of the new frankness to break centuries of
silence about sexuality.)
Random House:
THE MEMOIRS OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN by Theodore Roszak
(In this new approach to the myth, Goddess people turn out to be
nicer than monsters. Mr. Roszak, a social historian known
principally for his nonfiction books, including "The Making of a
Counter Culture," exposes the female side of the Frankenstein myth.)
FISHER'S FACE: OR, GETTING TO KNOW THE ADMIRAL by Jan Morris
(A biography of Admiral Lord Fisher, who transformed the Royal Navy
from sail to submarine.)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux:
LYTTON STRACHEY: THE NEW BIOGRAPHY by Michael Holroyd
(The New Biography is a substantially reworked version of an earlier,
definitive, two-volume life of Strachey publiched three decades ago.
Michael Holroyd revisits Lytton Strachey and his circle, and finds
a tale more complex than ever.)
BREAKING FREE: A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND REVOLUTION by Susan Eisenhower
(How a President's granddaughter and a Soviet scientist found true
happiness. Finding the right person at the right time and in the
right place is what makes love so often a matter of luck. Susan
Eisenhower and Roald Sagdeev were lucky.)
Alfred A. Knopf:
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND: ALIEN ABDUCTION, UFOs, AND THE
CONFERENCE AT M.I.T. by C.D.B. Bryan
(A report on the 1992 MIT conference that investigated more than 100
reports of abductions by aliens.)
St. Martin's Press:
FRANK ZAPPA: THE NEGATIVE DIALECTS OF POODLE PLAY by Ben Watson
(The author, a self-described "Zappologist," attempts to
demonstrate that Zappa was not just a musical innovator but a
word-smith on a par with James Joyce and a philosopher on a par with
Theodor Adorno.)
Doubleday:
LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES: THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF ELITE
GYMNASTS AND FIGURE SKATERS by Joan Ryan
(The high price of success at sports, the author says, is paid by
children. Ms. Ryan's reporting shows us abominable coaches,
fatuous judges, spineless federation officials who nominally govern
thier sport but take precious little responsibility for athletes'
safety. But the real monsters she finds are the parents.)
Crown Publishers:
THE FRENCH ROTHSCHILDS: THE GREAT BANKING DYNASTY THROUGH TWO CENTURES
by Herbert R Lottman
(This French family bestrode the world like a colossus, and they
still bestride somewhat. The author traces the family's rise from
the gloom of the Frankfurt ghetto to the summit of Parisian society.)
Little, Brown & Company:
DIMAGGIO: THE LAST AMERICAN KNIGHT by Joseph Durso
(Evidence suggest that Dimaggio off the ball field is not now, and
never was, a particularly fascinating person. Marilyn Monroe found
him boring (as she reportedly told a friend, according to the
author), and while she may not have been the greatest judge of
things philosophic or stylistic, she did know some interesting
poeple.)
A GOOD WALK SPOILED: DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE PGA TOUR
by John Feinstein
(John Feinstein sets out to see if pro golf lives up to its
reputation.)
Hyperion:
THE LATE NIGHT SHIFT: LETTERMAN, LENO, AND THE NETWORK BATTLE FOR THE
NIGHT by Bill Carter
(NBC and CBS duke it out over late-show hosts.)
Closing out for this week. Tune in again. Frank Chorba, Washburn
University and editor of the JOURNAL OF RADIO STUDIES.