Dear Friends,AMERICATODAY. Considering the presidential election campaign, the subprime mortgage calamity,the steep decline in stock prices, and the economic downturn, this has been quite a year! The end ofthe campaign was certainly a relief. When the primary and general election campaigns run almost twoyears, it’s simply overkill. I suspect many folks (like me) were sick of the rhetoric, the platitudes, thefinger-pointing, the cover-ups, the flip-flopping, the positioning, and the myriad of promises. Americahas, of course, a number of major problems to be solved, and I’m hoping they can be sensiblyaddressed while adhering to the fundamental principles of liberty, restrained government, and individualaccountability, all of which have made the country such a special place over the years. To do that, ourSenators and Representatives (and the President) will have to escape the grips of special interest groupsand make decisions that are the right ones for all Americans. Perhaps the new President can start byreflecting on the principles inherent in John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural address:• “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

• “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can dofor your country.”LISTEN UP…AND ENJOYTHE CONVERSATION. There is nothing quite like goodconversation to add zest to an evening. Conversation principles suggest that one should not makeit a one-sided affair, keep it short, and, above all, be a listener. Everybody loves a good listenerand this attribute is essential for good conversation. Here are few other time-tested guides tostifling the yawns and keeping conversations upbeat.• Good conversations start with “you” instead of “I”.• Ditch the talk about people nobody but you knows.• Talking about the children and showing pictures is a bore.• Have an opinion and speak out clearly and energetically.• Brevity is the soul of smart talk... Know when to stop!• You’ll be boring if you carry on about diets, your vacations, and difficulty with household help.• Wade into politics at your own risk. Know the facts before hauling out the artillery.CHANGE. The word change, a standard in political campaigns, suffered from substantial overusein the presidential campaign. Change is an interesting concept, somewhat vague and often usedsuperficially, but embraced enthusiastically because it is assumed that changemeans better, ormore. Thus, the psychology of change drives acceptance and ratchets up expectations. Not sofast. Whether the contemplated changewill be good is a matter of opinion and to actually effectchange, proceeding beyond political rhetoric, can prove difficult. Although the concept rings well,people are often resistant to change, particularly after the details are spelled out. And change fromwhat to what? The notion of broad change instituted by the Federal government is worrisome tothis citizen since (1) the target of the change and the methods employed tend to shift to meet thegoals/ideology of the changer, (2) government is inherently inefficient and (3) the expansion of acentral government further encroaches on the concept of liberty. We’ll be watching the translationfrom generalities to specifics. Stay tuned!WE’REMAKINGAWISHASWECOMPLETEOUR 18thYEAR… For good will,understanding, and a sense of community among people everywhere. For music to soothe,conversation to share our thoughts and dreams, a fireplace, a great book to take you a world away,heavy doses of laughter, and peace throughout the world. At church services recently, the closinghymn invoked the following: “Let there be peace onearth. And let it begin with me.” Best wishes for theChristmas season and for a Happy NewYear!

Sincerely,

Stephen H.Ackerman, Publisher

THEQUARTERLYPUBLICATIONFORREADERSBY READERSWinter 2008Volume XVIII Issue 4

“Our 18th Year”Reviews in This Issue

• Fred Astaire (Epstein)• The Given Day (Lehane)• Tell Me How This Ends (Robinson)• Hot, Flat, and Crowded (Friedman)• Flashman (Fraser)• Moscow Rules (Silva)• The Terminal Spy (Cowell)• Black &White and Dead AllOver (Darnton)• The Road Home (Tremain)• The Devil’s Gentleman (Schecter)• Fractured (Slaughter)• Envy the Night (Koryta)• The Hotel Majestic (Simenon)• American Lightning (Blum)• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Larsson)• Pieces of My Heart (Wagner)• Train to Trieste (Radulescu)• The Irregulars (Conant)• A Walk in the Woods (Bryson)• Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat (Lukacs)• Netherland (O’Neill)• The Brass Verdict (Connelly)• House of Happy Endings (Garis)• Quiet Corners of Paris (Napias)• Alex & Me (Pepperberg)• Rough Justice (Higgins)• One Fifth Avenue (Bushnell)• The Last Chinese Cook (Mones)• No Angel (Vincenzi)• Moscow Rules (Silva)• Exposure (Anthony)• The Killing Ground (Higgins)• . . . and more

Features• Jane’s Selections• TRE Favorites…A Decade Ago• The Art of Repartee• Do You Know?• The Joy of Reading… ChristmasGift Books

• About Charm and Style• The Interesting Geography of Turkey• . . . and more

©2008 The Readers Exchange

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Ideas and Information for ReadersDecember 2008

Subscribers-Only Password:

ALCOTTUntil March 2009

www.the-readers-exchange.com

B O O K R E V I E W S

TITLEAUTHOR, NO. OF PAGES,

YEAR OF PUBLICATION,PUBLISHER AND

RATING

Reviews and Ratings: Book reviews are written by the Publisher (SHA) or by one of the ContributingEditors and attributed accordingly. The 0-10 rating system was developed to provide some sense ofthe level of satisfaction of a book compared with other books. This is not a sophisticated evaluation.The rating is based on writing, storytelling ability, and the overall impact of each reading experience.

When the best books of 2008 are selected, Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day, a wonderful historicalnovel, will be at or near the top of the list. He has produced here an epic work that moves him beyondhis familiar territory of mystery writing. The story is set in Boston in 1919, right after World War I. Itwas a time characterized by intense social, political, and labor unrest. The war was over and soldierswere coming home, the Spanish flu raged, Bolsheviks and anarchists were the terrorists of the time,prohibition was about to begin, and in Boston, a police strike was about to break loose. The Bostonpolice strike began on September 9, 1919 after infamous Police Commissioner Edwin Upton Curtisrefused to improve the sub-standard pay and working conditions, and refused to allow the creation of apolice union. Boston quickly fell into riots and public chaos. Lehane tracks the tense circumstancesleading to the strike by focusing on two individuals and their families. Danny Coughlin, son of a policecaptain, is a beat cop in the North End, who goes undercover to infiltrate the Bolsheviks and anarchistsand finds himself sympathetic to the plight of the policemen. Luther Lawrence, a married black manliving in Tulsa, kills a crime boss there and flees to Boston where he works for the Coughlin family anddesperately tries to return to his wife and newborn child. Lehane brilliantly structures a suspensefulnarrative which illuminates family dynamics, love and betrayal, political corruption, and prejudice andinjustice around a great portrayal of time and place. At 702 pages, you’ll need to set aside some extratime for The Given Day, but it reads very well and is worth the effort! (SHA)

Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, did not live to see hisinternational success as a novelist. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 50 after completing themanuscript for Tattoo and two sequels. This Millennium trilogy became a hit in Scandinavia andEurope and Tattoo, first published in 2005 (now translated from the Swedish by Reg Keelund) hassold more than two million copies worldwide. The story starts like a walk, becomes a trot, and thenturns into a sprint. Do not be turned off by the relatively slow start or by those hard-to-pronounceSwedish phrases and names—this is a first-rate crime novel as my 10 rating signifies. MikaelBlomkvist, a reputable Stockholm financial journalist, loses a libel case brought by a shady business-man, the consequences of which will be a short jail term and the ruin of his magazine. The libel casebrought him to the attention of octogenarian Henrik Vanger, a retired businessman and head of thevast, well-known Vanger clan. Henrik hires Mikael to solve the mystery of the disappearance of hisbeloved great-niece Harriet, some 40 years ago. He is later joined in this mission by the multipiercedand tattooed 24-year-old, Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant, freaky private investigator who is the bestcomputer hacker in Sweden. The combined effort by Mikael and Lisbeth (a great police procedural)to determine the fate of Harriet Vanger stands at the core of this narrative, and they discover Vangerfamily corruptions and unspeakable crimes. Tattoo is an intriguing, highly entertaining crime novelfeaturing memorable characters (particularly the sullen, enigmatic Lisbeth), suspense, and inventiveplot twists. I understand that the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire (also featuring LisbethSalander), will be released next summer. I’ll be the first in line. (SHA)

THE GIVEN DAYDENNIS LEHANE

(2008, 702pp,Wm. Morrow)

10

THE GIRLWITHTHEDRAGONTATTOOSTIEG LARSSON

(2008, 465PP,Knopf)

10

� “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, butthe one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

[Gospel According to Luke, 14:1, 7-14]

� “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is forgood men to do nothing.” [Edmund Burke, 1729 – 1767]

PROVOCATIVE QUOTATIONS

2

� “Those who can’t laugh at themselves leavethe job to others.” [Anonymous]

� “The great thing in this world is not so muchwhere we are, but in what direction we aremoving.” [Oliver Wendell Holmes]

“ ”

3

B O O K R E V I E W S

Moscow Rules is Daniel Silva’s 11th thriller and it’s a good one. Books #4 through #11 featureGabriel Allon, a former agent/assassin for the Israeli Mossad, who was recruited originallyby spymaster Ari Shamron to help Israel avenge the actions of Black September at the 1972Olympics in Munich. Allon has been called out of retirement on a number of occasions to handleparticularly important and difficult missions. In Moscow Rules,Allon is on a honeymoon in Italywhen he is asked to go to Rome and meet with the Editor-in-Chief of a Russian magazine, whohas indicated that he wants to talk with Allon in order to pass along an important messageregarding a grave threat to the security of the West and to the State of Israel. The journalist heis to meet is murdered at the Vatican just before their meeting, propelling Allon to Moscow toferret out the vitally important information. This is the “new” Russia, however, awash in oilriches and where the Kremlin again rules with a heavy hand, challenging the U.S. and otherworld powers. Allon’s mission in Moscow is fraught with danger and excitement and the readeris treated to a highly suspenseful and entertaining ride. In the Author’s Note, Silva notes that47 reporters, editors, cameramen, and photographers have been killed in Russia since 1992.Fourteen of these have occurred during the rule of Vladimir Putin, who undertook a systematiccrack-down on press freedom and political dissent after coming to power in 1999. Few havebeen solved or prosecuted. A key character in Moscow Rules in Ivan Kharkov, a former KGBcolonel of great wealth who is also an arms dealer. Thus, in addition to the plight of journalismin Russia, Silva deals with the “promiscuity of Russian arms sales in the Middle East” and theactivities of Russian arms traffickers who have sold weapons to the likes of Hezbollah, the Taliban,and al-Qaeda. Excellent thriller built around the threat of a new Russia. (SHA)

MOSCOW RULESDANIEL SILVA(2008, 433pp,

Putnam)10

THE ORIGIN OF “MUM’S THEWORD?”This expression, of course, means to keep quiet, orsay nothing. Used by Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part 2,(“Seal up your lips and give no words mum”), mum isnot mother, but “mmmmm,” the humming sound madewith a closed mouth. (Note: Similarly, in telling some-thing “on the QT” the QT is derived simply by usingthe first and last letters of the word quiet.)

WHEREWE GOT THE TERM“COLD SHOULDER?”When knighthood was in flower, a wandering knightwould be received at any castle with a sumptuous hotmeal. However, the common traveler would do well tobe offered a plate of cold meat. Since mutton was acommon food of the times in England, he would belikely to get the cold shoulder. Today, when we “turnthe cold shoulder” to anyone, we treat him with disdainbordering on contempt. This is an especially appropriatephrase if the person was once on friendly terms with us.

THE MEANING ANDPRONUNCIATION OF THEWORD “INGENUE?”It means a naïve, innocent youngwoman and is pronounced AHN-zha-noo.

WHAT IS A “STEMWINDER?”The term dates to the 19th century when the stem-winding watch came into vogue. Given this vastimprovement, the term took on the figurative meaningof “excellent” or “outstanding” and was used to describegreat orators. A stemwinder today is used to describe arousing, stirring speech, often a political one!

THE ORIGIN OF “HURRICANE?”It appears to have originated either with the CaribbeanIndians who named their storm god “Huracani” or fromthe ancient Mexican word “hurrikan.” In the westernPacific, the same storm is called a typhoon, perhapsafter the Chinese word ty-fung, for big wind.

DO YOU KNOW…???

B O O K R E V I E W S

4

Joseph Epstein is one of America’s most gifted and prolific writers. He has published astring of wonderful essays of novella length (my three favorites are Ambition, Snobbery,and Envy) and just last year he published a wonderfully terse biography of Alexis deTocqueville (a 200-page, bravura performance). Now Epstein has outdone any of hisprevious works with Fred Astaire, a shimmering biography of America’s greatest dancer—and to some (including Balanchine) the world’s greatest dancer. Written in lapidary proseand ranging from the titillating mundane (what was it about Fred and Ginger [Rogers] andwhat was it not) to the expertly professional (Fred’s biographical high points—hisdistinctly poor upbringing on the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska; his rise to dance famewith sister Adele first on Broadway, then London, and then 1930’s Hollywood with GingerRogers; and his reclusive (for Hollywood) lifestyle, blissfully married for 22 years toPhyllis Potter before being widowed, not drinking to excess or chasing women, being“invited everywhere and going nowhere.” But it is the sublime parts of the book that makeit so special—why Astaire was the greatest; why and how he had style, elegance, and taste(and what those words mean vis-à-vis Astaire); why his musical comedies (especially theones with Ginger Rogers and Judy Garland) were so artistically and financially successful;and finally why Astaire remains the exemplary American aristocrat. I am closing thisreview with a paragraph from Astaire that embodies the book’s grace, sensitivity, andcharm: Astaire was too much the gent ever to say, at least in public, that one or another ofhis partners was inadequate in any way. When asked, he told people he was lucky to havedanced with lots of beautiful women. But most of those women knew very well that, in theend, the privilege was theirs. “I guess the only jewels of my life,” said Rita Hayworth,“were the pictures I made with Fred Astaire.” (Contributing Editor William Lilley III,Washington DC)

Linda Robinson is a distinguished journalist and military historian. Her even handed,rational account of what has come to be known as the “surge” is written from extensiveexperience covering Iraq’s violent and internecine warfare. Her title is a question GeneralPetraeus posed when he commanded the 101st Airborne Division during the 2003invasion. Late in 2006, when Iraq was in chaos and our military presence there wasdeteriorating, he was asked by the President, over the objection of senior militarypersonnel, to provide an answer. As a resolute, demanding, and forthright military leader,with a Ph.D. in International Relations from Princeton, Petraeus was singularly wellequipped. He had just finished overseeing a rewrite of the Army’s Counter InsurgencyManual by experienced officers, many of whom had similar advanced degrees. Their thesiswas that political not military victory was the counter insurgency answer. In Iraq, Petraeuschanged the military “search and destroy” mission to “secure, clear, control, rebuild”—win the hearts and minds of the people by getting out of the Humvees and establishingdirect contact. In the streets, Lieutenants and Captains were trusted to begin negotiations,at great risk, to “flip” Sunni Sheikhs who had joined with Al-Qaeda in Iraq because Shiamilitias were torturing and murdering their followers. From the top down, Petraeus and theexceptional U.S. Ambassador, Ryan Crocker, prodded and cajoled the Shia leadership,who were reluctant to share power with the Sunnis. It has worked so far. A politicalvictory is not assured, but it is now possible. Petraeus’ success has placed great pressureon President-elect Obama—it has give him an opportunity to win in a war he has opposed,and to reshape the balance of power in the Middle East in a direction favorable to the U.S.This book is a must for those interested in the future of America’s role in this volatile andcritical area of the world. (Contributing Editor Hugh Evans, Los Angeles, CA)

FRED ASTAIREJOSEPH EPSTEIN

(2008, 193pp,Yale: New Haven)

10

TELL ME HOWTHIS ENDS:GENERAL PETRAEUSANDTHE SEARCH FORAWAY OUT OF IRAQLINDA ROBINSON

(2008, 363pp,Public Affairs)

10

5

� On September 29, 1960, British prime minister HaroldMacmillan addressed the United Nations General Assembly.In the middle of his remarks, Soviet Premier NikitaKhrushchev removed a shoe and began pounding thetable—a traditional Russian way of expressing displeasurewith a speaker. The Soviet premier had done this evenmore famously on an American trip a year earlier, whenhe uttered his famous “We will bury you!” line. This time,the Soviet leader’s actions startled the assembly and threatenedto take the spotlight off the speaker. But the unflappableMacmillian rose to the occasion, calmly looking over atan interpreter and requesting:

“Could I have that translated, please?”__________________

� While serving as press secretary to Lyndon B. Johnsonin 1965, Bill Moyers, also an ordained Baptist minister,was asked to say grace at a White House dinner. As hesaid the grace, Moyers spoke in a soft and reverent voice.LBJ struggled to hear the words, but was seated too faraway to make them out. Finally, he bellowed, “Speak up,Bill! Speak up!” Moyers slowly looked up and softlyreminded LBJ:

“I wasn’t addressing you, Mr. President.”__________________

� During the 19th century, the political and personalityclashes between William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraelidominated English politics, and it was widely believedthat the two men loathed one another. In a famous story,Disraeli was once asked to describe the difference betweena misfortune and a calamity. Seizing the opportunity to takea potshot at his adversary, he replied:

“Well, if Gladstone fell in to theThames, that would be a misfortune;and if anybody pulled him out, that,I suppose, would be a calamity.”

__________________

� Another wonderful example of risqué reparteeoccurred one summer day in the 1920s when President

Calvin Coolidge and wife, Grace, visited a Kentuckypoultry farm. They were given separate tours, and whenMrs. Coolidge’s group came through, the guide said,“The rooster here performs his services up to eight ornine times a day.” Mrs. Coolidge got a good laughwhen she replied:

“Please see to it that the Presidentis given that information!”

__________________

� At a Manhattan party in the 1970s, heavyweightboxing champ Muhammad Ali was introduced to IsaacStern, the internationally acclaimed violinist and, at thetime, president of Carnegie Hall. In a warmheartedattempt to ingratiate himself with the boxer, Stern said,“You might say we’re in the same business. We bothearn a living with our hands.” Ali looked Stern overand replied:

“You must be pretty good;there isn’t a mark on you.”

__________________

� At a Manhattan party one night, Dorothy Parkernoticed a young man who didn’t appear to be enjoyinghimself. Striking up a conversation with him, shediscovered he was a poor little rich kid who was bored tobe at a party attended by people so far below him on thesocial ladder. At one point, he looked around the roomand said contemptuously, “I simply cannot bear fools.” Inher acidly sweet tone, Parker replied:

“How odd, your mother could.”__________________

� During the early years of The New Yorker magazine,editor Harold Ross was so frugal that even the simplestoffice supplies were sometimes hard to come by. Oneday, Ross was upset that Dorothy Parker had not come tothe office to work on an article that was overdue. Whenhe asked her if she had an excuse, she deadpanned:

“Someone else was using the pencil.”

The Art of ReparteeMark Twain said that “Repartee is something we think of 24 hours late.” I suspect that thisrings true for all of us, as that perfect retort or witty reply often escapes us when we need itmost. Viva la Repartee by Dr. Mardy Grothe is a delightful compilation of the most impressiveretorts and comebacks of notables throughout history. We thought you would enjoy asampling. The word repartee, by the way, is pronounced rep-ur-TEE (not rep-ur-TAY).

B O O K R E V I E W S

In Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat) notes that there is now aconvergence of three major forces in the world. They are (1) global warming, (2) the meteoricrise of a middle class (China, India, etc.), who are beginning to consume like Americans, and(3) global population growth. Subtitled, “Why we Need a Green Revolution—and How it CanRenew America,” Hot, Flat, and Crowded outlines just how these forces are threatening to createa dangerous instability, posing a great challenge for America and other leading nations. Alludingto a new era, the “Energy-Climate Era.” Friedman argues for a green revolution beginning in theUnited States to effectively manage these looming challenges by replacing inefficient energypractices, conservation and transforming to clean energy. While challenging, he believes that byadopting this blueprint, by capitalizing on this great opportunity, America can become “stronger,healthier, more secure, more innovative, more competitive, and more respected.” Friedmanbelieves a green strategy can, “help ease global warming, biodiversity loss, energy poverty,petrodictatorship, and energy supply shortages.” Friedman is an excellent writer, presents hisarguments well, and although somewhat repetitive and overwritten, is a provocative read. I didfeel there was a certain naiveté about the presentation—economics, timeframe realities, a moreexpansive energy policy, Congressional paralysis, and lack of balance in the global warmingsegments were notable omissions in this work. (SHA)

Several people have told me about Fraser’s Flashman books and I decided to start withFlashman, the first in the series, published in 1969. Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictionalcharacter created by George MacDonald Fraser (1925-2008), but based on the character“Flashman” originally created by the author Thomas Hughes in his semi-autobiographicalwork Tom Brown’s Schooldays. In this first of Fraser’s historical novels, Flashman is expelledfrom Rugby for drunkenness, and, seeking a life of ease, had his wealthy father purchase him acommission in the 11th Regiment of the Light Dragoons commanded by Lord Cardigan, later ofLight Brigade fame. Harry liked the posting to the 11th since they had just returned from Indiaand were not likely to be sent out again anytime soon, and dove into the Canterbury social life.However, a duel with another officer over a courtesan led to being shipped off to Scotland wherehe had an affair with the daughter of a wealthy businessman and was forced into a shotgunwedding. This forced his resignation from the 11th Light and he was sent to India where heultimately became an aide to General Elphinstone in Afghanistan, and where, in the defenseof Piper’s Fort, he demonstrated his cowardice and became an unwitting hero. Remaining trueto historical detail, Fraser immerses Flashman in the First Anglo-Afghan war (early 1840s), theretreat from Kabul, the last stand at Gandamack, and the siege of Jalalabad. I plan to read moreof the delightful episodes and I suggest you do too. He is a highly entertaining anti-hero, acorrupt lecher and a coward, and he raises dastardliness to new levels. (SHA)

We were in the American embassy on Grosvenor Square in London last year and the nearbyMillennium Hotel was pointed out to us as, “the place where ex-KGB agent AlexanderLitvinenko met his fate.” The story of Litvinenko’s murder in November 2006 had transfixed theworld. At the Pine Bar in the Millennium, Litvinenko had drunk green tea with honey that waslater determined to have contained a tiny amount of polonium-210, a rare, powerful radioactivesubstance. Subtitled, “A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder,” The Terminal Spy is thestory of Litvinenko’s background, his murder and the subsequent investigation, and a disquisitionon the “new Russia.” Author Alan Cowell was The New York Times London Bureau Chief at thetime of the murder and his book makes for a compelling read. The book does tend to read longbecause of the amount of detail but the book is well worth your time, particularly since Cowelldoes so well in portraying the new Russia, President Vladimir Putin muscle flexing behind the

Continued on page 76

HOT, FLAT, ANDCROWDED

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN(2008, 412pp,Farrar, Straws,and Giroux)

8

FLASHMANGEORGE MACDONALD

FRASER(1969, 252pp,

Plume)10

THETERMINAL SPYALAN S. COWELL

(2008, 424pp,Broadway)

9

7

B O O K R E V I E W S

AND MISUSETHE WORDS WE USE...

country’s vast energy resources, and how a wave of corruption has seriously changed thelandscape. This analysis is highly topical given Russia’s recent brutal move into Georgia,dispelling hopes that the country would permanently alter its Cold War tactics. In fact,although The Terminal Spy fixes on Litvinenko as the principal theme of the book, the titleis a little misleading because the thrust and, in my opinion, the more revealing aspects ofthe book, center on the makeup and activities of modern Russia. (SHA)

The shape of the English language is not rigid. We often confuse meanings and develop bad word usage habits.Here are a few favorites taken from The Elements of Style (Strunk and White) and TheWriter’s Art (Kilpatrick).

Continued from page 6

“FARTHER/FURTHER”The two words are commonly interchanged, but there is a distinction worth observing: Farther serves best as a distanceword, further as a time or quantity word. You chase a ball farther than the other fellow; you pursue a subject further.

“FLAMMABLE”An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning “combustible” is inflammable. But some peopleare thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means “not combustible.” For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline orexplosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with thesafety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

“CEMENT”It is not a cement sidewalk, bless you, and we do not pour cement. It is a concrete sidewalk. It is a concrete sidewalk.Cement is merely one of the ingredients.

“AMONG/BETWEEN”Contrary to the rule expounded in some antiseptic quarters, there is no rigid rule that between is used only for twothings and among only for three or more. This is a sound general proposition, and of course among cannot be used fortwo. If only two teams are involved, a pennant race cannot be among the Cubs and the Cards; come the millennium,such a race would be between them. But a treaty properly would be described as between the United States, France,and the United Kingdom.

“APPRAISE/APPRISE”The two words can be scrambled only through ignorance or typographical error. When we read that the president hasbeen appraised of opposition in the Senate, we should recognize something wrong. To appraise is to put a value on.A president could appraise the strength of his opponents. But to apprise is simply to inform.

“ARBITRATE/MEDIATE”An arbitrator and a mediator perform different functions. The former is a judge; he is expected to be neutral. Thereforedo not write that the parties “have agreed upon a neutral arbitrator.” Amediator’s task is to bring the parties together, toconciliate, to reconcile differences toward the end that an arbiter’s award may be avoided.

“-WISE”Not to be used indiscriminately as a pseudo-suffix; taxwise, pricewise, marriagewise, prosewise, saltwater taffywise.Chiefly useful when it means “in the manner of:” Clockwise. There is not a noun in the language to which -wisecannot be added if the spirit moves one to add it. The sober writer will abstain from the use of this wild additive.

8

B O O K R E V I E W S

If you are an inveterate newspaper reader, then you note with chagrin the daily drumbeat ofreports about declining readership, advertisements, circulation, and news coverage, a vicious circleintertwined with the print press’s seeming inability to migrate successfully their product to the on-line world. Now 40-year veteran New York Times reporter John Darnton takes it to a new level athis economically stressed New York Times (dubbed the New York Globe for the mystery but it isunmistakably the Times) where he contrives a brilliantly satiric mystery of how all this economicand professional stress triggers a string of increasingly bizarre murders, and—in turn—increasinglybizarre behavior by management, editors, and reporters. The book says so much about today’sprint media and the players who populate it—both media and management types—and says itunforgettably within the cloak of a stunning murder mystery cum police procedural plot thatsharpens both the murder line and the economic line (deaths for one and remorseless decline forthe other). I am so keen on getting TRE readers to enjoy this book that I want to give just the basicsof the plot line. The managing editor of the paper, an editor of great skill combined with an equaltalent for petty vindictiveness (the ruin of many careers in the newsroom) is found dead, the ironspike he used to “spike” or kill stories hammered through his chest. This murder triggers a streamof increasingly bizarre murders of others in the newsroom whose lives had touched the maliciouseditor. Assigned to cover the story for the Globe is a young and up-and-coming rebellious reporter(Jude Hurley), and covering the story means finding the murderer, forcing Hurley—because he hasno other choice if he wants information—to team with the equally young, rebellious, and ambitiousfemale NYPD detective (Priscilla Bollingsworth) who has official charge of the murder case. Theirsis a fascinating chase. (Contributing Editor William Lilley III, Washington, DC)

BLACK &WHITEAND DEADALL OVER

JOHN DARNTON(2008, 351pp,

Knopf)9

About

Charm“Charm is a performance of a kind; it is virtuosityof the personality. Charm is confident, neverstrained, always at ease in the world. Charm isnot pushing; it has a fine sense of proportion andmeasure, never goes too far, never stays too long.”“Charm is elegance made casual, with emphasison the casual. Charm mustn’t seem too studied,forced, overdone.”“Charm knows when to turn itself off, whento depart, which is why it is invariable wantedback. Charm puts things interestingly, amusingly,surprisingly, sometimes originally, but neverheavily, never too insistently. Charm avoidscliché, it is ever fresh.”

Style“Style, true style,always outlasts fashion,because style is finer,richer, deeper thanfashion. Fashion is byits nature ephemeral;style, if it is genuine,pleases at all times. Fashion goes out of style,yet style never goes out of fashion.”“To have style is to be original. Style and originality are one: Truestyle is originality, true originality is style. One can as soon copyanother style, in the sense in which I have been describing it, as onecan take over another person’s precise way of looking at the world.”

Charm... & StyleThe book Fred Astaire reviewed herein is a wonderful book about the man, but it is also a readwhich, in identifying Astaire’s attributes, beautifully describes what is meant by those attributes.The commentaries on charm and style were particularly poignant, as suggested by the following:

B O O K R E V I E W S

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Pronunciation.... . . FOR THE CAREFUL SPEAKER

The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, is an enlightening and enjoyable reference work by CharlesHarrington Elster. Readers, we believe, really do care how to pronounce words as well as how to use them.Many of us mispronounce words frequently and other people do notice. So, here are a few of Elster’s entriesto build your confidence in the art of pronunciation.

SCION SY-un (rhymes with lion).SCHIZOPHRENIA skit-suh-FREE-nee-uh, not skit-suh-FREN-ee-uh.SENTENCE SEN-tints. Don’t drop the t and pronounce the word as if it were spelled sennence.TÊTÊ-A-TÊTE TAYT-uh-TAYT (recommended) or TET-AH-TET (more French).TRANSIENT Traditionally and properly, TRAN-shint.URANUS YUUR-uh-nus, not yuu-RAY-nus.YOLK YOHK (like yoke). YOHLK has fallen into disfavor.RIBALD RIB-uld. Do not say RY-bald.

The Road Home received the 2008 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the2008 Costa Novel Award. Rose Tremain had previously won the Whitebread Novel of the Year(Music and Silence) and was short listed for the Booker Prize (Restoration). The Road Home is alow-key but well-crafted novel centered on the loneliness and the frustrations of the immigrantexperience. After a sawmill closed where he had worked for years, Lev, a 42-year-old widower,takes a bus from Eastern Europe to London, seeking a job to support his daughter and mother. Hehas very limited resources and his task of landing a job and getting settled is predictably difficult.Immigrants are unwelcome and many of the British do not treat him well. His circumstancesimprove after he lands a job in the kitchen of a first-class restaurant and rents a room in the house ofa man whose wife and child have left. He copes with his loneliness and cultural shock by thinkingabout his life at home, by corresponding with (and sending money to) his mother, by calling hisold unmoored friend, Rudi, and he enjoys an affair with a younger worker in the restaurant. Lev ispromoted at the restaurant and he learns about food preparation from the chef, causing him to thinkabout a career in this area. His financial circumstances improve, but he stumbles socially and is tornbetween staying and going home. Tremain’s characterizations are strong and the narrative seems toilluminate just what is truly important in the lives we lead. (SHA)

Harold Schecter is a true-crime historian, a writer who The Boston Book Review has called “America’sprincipal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers.” In The Devil’s Gentleman, Schecter tells thestory of a murder that rocked New York in the late 1890s and a subsequent trial that became a tabloidsensation. A package of Bromo Seltzer was mailed to Harry Cornish, athletic director of the eliteKnickerbocker Athletic Club in New York City. His cousin, Katherine Adams died after she took someof the toxic brew and Cornish survived after swallowing a small dose. Forensic studies indicated thatcyanide was the cause of death and the weight of evidence pointed to Roland Molineux, a sociallyprominent member of the club who had repeatedly been at odds with Cornish. A womanizer, Molineuxhad been wooing Blanche Chesebrough, an aspiring opera singer whose former lover, Henry Barnet,had also died after taking medicine sent to him through the mail. Molineux, the son of a revered Civil

THE ROAD HOMEROSE TREMAIN(2008, 411pp,Little, Brown)

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THE DEVIL’SGENTLEMAN

HAROLD SCHECTER(2007, 447pp,Ballantine)

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The Interesting Geography ofI always thought that teaching Geography was an important part of theeducational process in elementary and high schools, however, it seems tohave lost its place on the list of necessities. Globalization, it would appear,only adds to the importance of understanding geography, and of course,history. So goes my interest in the subject and, with this brief piece onTurkey, we begin a new series on geography. Why Turkey? Because ofit’s unique, strategic location where Europe andAsia are joined.

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Turkey literally straddles Europe andAsia, a small piece in Europe and thebulk of it in Asia. This Eurasian country stretches across theAnatolianpeninsula in westernAsia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region ofsoutheastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria tothe northwest, Greece to the west, Georgia to the northeast, Armenia,Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhichevan) and Iran to the east, and Iraqand Syria to the southeast. It is literally a transcontinental country. Theseam between Europe andAsia in northwestern Turkey is interestingand loaded with history. That seam includes the Dardanelles, the Seaof Marmara, and the Bosporus strait. The Dardanelles were formerlyknown as the Hellespont. This strait joins theAegean Sea on the westwith the Sea of Marmara. Gallipoli is the narrow peninsula on thenorthern side of the Dardanelles and heavy fighting occurred there in1915 when the western allies sent an invasion force to open up the strait.At the Battle of Gallipoli, Turkish troops trapped theAllies on the beachesof the Gallipoli penninsula, damaging the career of Sir Winston Churchill,then the First Lord of theAdmiralty. The Sea of Marmara is joined to theBlack Sea on the east by the Bosporus, also known as the Istanbul Strait.The Bosporus is the world’s narrowest strait used for international

FRACTUREDKARIN SLAUGHTER

(2007, 388pp,Delacorte)

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War General, was indicted for murder and the subsequent investigation and trial caused a sensation.The “yellow journalists,” downplaying legitimate news in favor of sensationalism, had a heyday. Thecirculation battles between Joseph Pulitzer’s NewYork World and William Randolph Hearst’s NewYork Journal were in full force, and the newspaper investigators in this case were often ahead of thepolice. Schecter captures all of the color and the details of this case while bringing alive Manhattan’sGilded Age in a true-crime story that reads like a novel. (SHA)

If you are looking for the perfect Christmas present for a mystery thriller aficionado (male or female),then here is a gift sure not to disappoint: Karin Slaughter’s Fractured. This is a book with a splendidcast of protagonists (both good guys and bad guys) all richly developed by Slaughter, a powerful andsophisticated plot, and a clutch of background issues that create a gripping, yet intriguing, atmosphere tothe fast-paced plot. The lead protagonists—two detectives assigned to a vicious murder cum kidnappingcase—are the most interesting matched pair of detectives that I have encountered. Will Trent, the leaddetective from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is a severely dyslexic orphan (and an ill-treated oneat that) who constantly overcomes huge adversities to track multiple criminals—his daily struggles alonemake the book fascinating. His reluctant partner Faith Mitchell, a detective with theAtlanta PoliceDepartment, suffers under three burdens—she is a woman in a city homicide division that hates women,she is the unmarried mother to a son she had in her early teens, and she is the daughter of a former seniorAtlanta police officer that Trent had exposed years earlier in an internal corruption investigation. Butwhile burdened and reluctant, Mitchell finds the case is so gruesome and Trent so talented that, shesoldiers on, making them a formidable duo. The dynamic driving the plot is their race against the clock

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navigation. Due to its strategic location, Turkey’sculture is a unique blend of Eastern andWesterntradition—a Muslim-majority country that is also asecular, democratic constitutional republic. The systemwas established in 1923 under the leadership ofMustafa KemalAtaturk when the Ottoman empire fellin the aftermath of WWI.

TurkeyTurkeyBlack Sea

Istanbul

Gallipoli

Sea ofMarmara

Bosporus Strait

Dardenelles Strait

AegeanSea

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BUILDING YOURWORKING VOCABULARY

The key word here is working. There are many words that seem to fall on the fringe of an averagevocabulary. We think we know the meaning of these words, but when we read or hear them, arenot quite sure. They are, therefore, not regularly used in our writing and in conversation. The

purpose of the TRE vocabulary section to sharpen your knowledge and use of words often used in books and/or heardin conversation. Here are a few such words, with abbreviated definitions and some rough pronunciation guidance.

DICTIONARY

to find the kidnapped victim, a beautiful and rich young girl, before she is murdered by herkidnappers. Critical to beating the clock is their unearthing the kidnapping mastermind and hisaccomplice, feats they achieve despite the psychopathic brilliance of the mastermind. How they catchthe two kidnappers is the heart of the book. Enriching the drama is the cast of supporting characters,principally the parents of the victim (very wealthy, very flawed, and very complicated) and Trent’stalented but ruthless boss AmandaWilson, the only female senior official in the Georgia Bureau ofInvestigation. (Contributing Editor William Lilley III, Washington, DC)

In Envy the Night, Edgar Award finalist Koryta delivers a very good, taut thriller. Seven yearsafter his father’s suicide, triggered by being outed in his secret life as a hit man, Frank Temple IIlearns from an old pal of his father that the man who betrayed him (Devin Matteson) is returningto Wisconsin from Florida. Temple heads for his father’s cabin in remote Willow Flowageto confront this man and secure revenge. Just before he reaches his destination, he forces anaccident with a car with Florida plates he believes is being driven by Matteson. It was not himand both cars were towed to an auto repair shop in the town of Tomahawk. The driver actedstrangely, and with a loaner, disappeared quickly after giving the shop cash to repair his car.Shortly after, a couple of toughs hit town inquiring about the car and the driver, and enforcetheir demands with violence and murder. Temple is drawn into the conflict and circumstancesescalate far beyond his expected vendetta against Matteson. He joins forces with Nora Stafford,the owner of the auto repair shop, and later with his father’s old pal, the wily and resourcefulBallard, to deal with the killers and Matteson. I thought Envy the Night was a compact, well-written story in which the action accelerates to a highly suspenseful conclusion. Old secrets,a father’s legacy, hit men, and a great final chase mark this entertaining thriller. (SHA)

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PANGLOSSIAN Optimistic regardless of circumstances (after Pangloss, the sunny tutor inVoltaires Candide (pan-GLOSS-ee-un)

INVIDIOUS Provoking envy or ill will (in-VIH-dee-us)

PROTEAN Able to change shape or form (as did the Greek god Proteus) (PRO-tee-un)

RIPOSTE A sudden and quick reply (rih-POST)

LITTORAL Pertaining to a seashore (LIT-ur-ul)

RABELAISIAN Coarse-humored, ribald (after François Rabelais, the 16th century author ofGargantua and Pantagruel, a raunchy romp) (ra-buh-LAY-zee-un)

LOUCHE Dubious suspicions; shady disreputable (LOOSH)

ENVYTHE NIGHTMICHAEL KORYTA

(2008, 288pp,Thomas Dunne)

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Taking the cue about Simenon’s Inspector Maigret books, from our colleague Bill Lilley, I readand thoroughly enjoyed The Hotel Majestic, first published in 1942. Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was referred to by Nobel Laureate André Gide as “perhaps the greatest novelist” in 20thcentury France. His body of work was extensive (some 550 million copies of his works havebeen printed) but he is best known for his 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring InspectorJules Maigret, ranking only after Sherlock Holmes as the world’s best known fictionaldetective. The Maigret stories, as I learned in The Hotel Majestic, are entertaining for thecrime and the details of unraveling it, but also for Maigret’s journey through the cast ofcharacters and his exposure of their hidden side. In The Hotel Majestic, the strangled body ofthe wife of a wealthy American businessman, a guest at the hotel, is found in the basementcloakroom. Inspector Maigret is on the case right away and begins to examine the woman’spast as well as the background of hotel employees working in the basement. The victim, helearns, worked previously as a nightclub hostess in Cannes before marrying the American andmoving to Detroit. Following the leads throughout Paris and Cannes, Maigret methodicallyfills in the blanks while a second murder at the hotel is committed and the police arrest andaccuse the employee who found the body. I thought this short (170 tiny pages) mystery wasentertaining and well-crafted with sharp dialogue, good pacing, and many surprises. (SHA)

On October 1, 1910, the Los Angeles Times building in Los Angeles was bombed. Theexplosion started a fire which killed 21 employees of the newspaper and injured 100 more.In American Lightning, subtitled, “Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crimeof the Century,” Howard Blum relates the tale of this bombing and its aftermath. HarrisonGray Otis, Publisher of the Los Angeles Times was vehemently anti-union and unions wereimmediately considered prime suspects in the bombing. The next morning, unexploded bombswere discovered at Otis’ home and at three other locations. After weeks passed and no arrestswere made, the City hired the noted private detective William J. Burns to track down theperpetrators. In a highly interesting narrative, Blum meticulously describes how Burns andhis team locate and arrest the bombers, and return them to Los Angeles for prosecution. Theaccused were represented by Clarence Darrow (reluctant to take the case, he was ultimatelyconvinced to take it by Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor) who,subsequent to the trial, was indicted on two charges of jury tampering. He was acquitted andbarely escaped prison, allowing him to continue his high-profile career. In telling the mainstory, Blum weaves in and connects the development of the Hollywood film industry featuringfilm director D.W. Griffith, while providing a portrait of the era, particularly the violenceemanating from the American Labor movement, of which the trial became a cause célébre.This is an excellent book, characters brought alive in the telling, and highly recommended.The attraction to me was the main story—tracking down and prosecuting the bombers—andthe Griffith/Hollywood part of the story, at times a distraction, could have been omitted. (SHA)

Michael Connelly gets an automatic place on the bestseller list when his books are publishedand The Brass Verdict, number two when I read it, was no exception. In this book, his 20th,Connelly resurrects Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller, who last appeared in his The LincolnLawyer (2005). Haller, who has been out of commission for two years recuperating frominjuries suffered in a prior case, is summoned by the chief judge of the Los Angeles SuperiorCourt and told (1) that his former colleague Jerry Vincent has been murdered and (2) thathe was inheriting his practice and caseload. That caseload included a double-homicide caseagainst a well-known film producer, Walter Eliot, who has been accused of shooting his wife

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AMERICAN LIGHTNINGHOWARD BLUM(2008, 321pp,

Crown)9

THE HOTEL MAJESTICGEORGES SIMENON

(2007, 170pp,Penguin Books)

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THE BRASS VERDICTMICHAEL CONNELLY

(2008, 422pp,Little Brown)

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Book Selections from The Readers Exchange of December 1998

Continued from page 12

LINDBERGH (A. Scott Berg)In this Pulitzer Prize winner, Berg makes it clear that Lindbergh was a far more complicated andinteresting man than simply the dashing young man who captivated the world with his solo flight toParis. In addition to that flight, the author describes the kidnapping of their first-born son, his highlycontroversial involvement with the non-interventionist “America First” movement prior to WWII,

his extensive work within the aviation industry, and his advocacy of diverse issues later in life. With his many activities andhis basic make-up, Lindbergh lived much of life away from home, making it very difficult for Anne, and also for their fivechildren. As a result of the famous 1927 flight, he became the first modern celebrity, relentlessly pursued by the news media,and this constant unwanted attention dramatically influenced his life.

A MAN IN FULL (TomWolfe)In A Man In Full, Wolfe cuts a wide swath throughAmerica of the 1990s, covering economic, political, social, and racialissues, and a host of secondary issues as well. The focus here is the City of Atlanta and the “man in full” of the title is CharlieCroker, a highly successful good-ole-boy real estate developer who has overextended and is now facing bankruptcy. Thenthere’s the black Georgia Tech football star who is suspected of raping the daughter of a prominent white industrialist, and awarehouse worker in Oakland (CA) who is laid off when Croker casually decides to downsize as a way of placating thebanks. You get the idea, of course, that all of these plot lines will merge as the story unfolds. This effort byWolfe is epic, andis highly entertaining and readable.

KING OF THE WORLD (David Remnick)In King of theWorld, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Remnick (Lenin’s Tomb) writes about how MuhammadAli created himself.The book begins in 1962 with Floyd Patterson preparing to defend his heavyweight crown against Sonny Liston and ends in1965 after Ali’s victories over Liston and Patterson. Remnick notes that, “boxing has become a marginal event inAmericanlife,” but duringAli’s reign (and prior), it was anything but. When this boastful, defiant, immensely talented motor-mouthfrom a middle-class family in Louisville emerged with his astonishing victory over Liston in 1964, he defied all of thestereotypes, changed the world of boxing and, ultimately, the world itself. He was highly controversial and those whoremember this time will recall that we had mixed feelings about him. Some part of you wanted him to lose and be silencedand the other wanted the rascal to get away with it.

A Decade AgoTRE FAVORITES…

and her lover. As Haller prepares for Eliot’s trial, he finds him to be very blasé about itall, seeming to care more about his own business than the good chance he’ll receive a lifesentence. He soon learns that Vincent’s killer may be after him, and joins hands withLAPD Detective Harry Bosch (an unlikely union) to solve the case. Working with Boschand his own hand-picked team of characters, Haller digs for evidence and goes to trial onbehalf of Eliot, knowing that there’s much more to this case than meets the eye. The BrassVerdict, a good piece of writing, starts slowly and finishes fast, exposing the secrets andthe motives at the very end. This is an entertaining read that will hold your interest, but notConnelly’s best. (SHA)

B O O K R E V I E W S

Joseph O’Neill’s dazzling novel about New York City’s subcultures and personalities takesplace in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. The book actually opens twoyears later—after Hans van den Broek, reconciled with his family in London, reads that hisfriend Chuck Ramkisson has turned up dead in the Gowanus Canal. Hans is a Dutchman,an oil equities analyst for a merchant bank, husband to Rachel, a lawyer whose work tookthem to Manhattan from London. His story is about displacement—from the family’sdowntown loft after 9/11 to the Chelsea Hotel and from his wife, who elects to go homewith three-year-old Jake to London where it’s safer. Coinciding with this derailment, Hanstakes up cricket again, which he’d played as a child in the Hague, and meets Chuck, aTrinidadian operator with big plans for a New York Cricket Club and Hans’ guide to thecity’s boroughs and underside. No streetscape or character is too minor to illuminate in thisvibrant odyssey, whether it is Hans at his temporary home in the Chelsea Hotel gazingnorth out of his window at the lighted streets (“as if all this garbage of light had been

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NETHERLANDJOSEPH O’NEILL

(2008, 256pp,Pantheon Books)

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A Heartwarming StoryWe all receive many unsolicited items over the Internet, most of which can be readily discarded. This one, however,had a special appeal and we wanted to share it with you. We have no way of knowing who sent it, but there is a kindsoul working in the dead letter office of the U.S. Postal Service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day aftershe died, my four-year-old daughter Meredith was crying andtalking about how much she missedAbbey. She asked if wecould write a letter to God so that whenAbbey got to heaven,God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we couldso she dictated these words:

Dear God,Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday andis with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy thatyou let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. Ihope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls andto swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see heryou will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love,Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey andMeredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our returnaddress on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on thefront of the envelope, because, she said, it would take lots ofstamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoonshe dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A fewdays later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I toldher that I thought he had.Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on ourfront porch addressed “To Meredith” in an unfamiliar hand.

Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called,“When a Pet Dies.” Taped to the inside front cover was theletter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On theopposite page was the picture of Abbey and Meredith andthis note:Dear Meredith,Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a bighelp. I recognized Abbey right away. Abby isn’t sick anymore.Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbeyloved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies inheaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so Iam sending it back to you in this little book for you to keepand have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for thebeautiful letter and thank yourmother for helping you write itand sending it to me.What awonderful mother you have. Ipicked her especially for you. Isend my blessings every day andremember that I love you very much.

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It is quite impossible for me to imagine a lifewithout books; not as a substitute for it, butas a continuous and refreshing enrichment.

ASHLEY MONTAGUE

How many a man has dated a new era in his lifefrom the reading of a book. The book exists for us,perchance, which will explain our miracles andreveal new ones. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

THE JOY OF READING…

Christmas Gift BooksThe true felicity of a lover of books is the luxurious turning of page by page, the surrender,not meanly abject, but deliberate and cautious, with your wits about you, as you deliveryourself into the keeping of the book… This I call reading. EDITHWHARTON

FREDASTAIRE (Joseph Epstein)See Contributing Editor Bill Lilley’s full reviewof this wonderful book about FredAstaire. Indance, the author Epstein notes in the Preface,“the world has long come to agree, nobody everdid it better.” This remarkable portrait of Astairealso underscores his gifts as a singer (IrvingBerlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, andothers all delighted in writing for him) and notesthe many songs that were truly his: “Cheek toCheek,” “I Won’t Dance,” “You’re Easy toDanceWith,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “TheContinental,” “Let’s Face the Music andDance,” and more. (SHA)

QUIET CORNERS OF PARIS(Jean-Christophe Napias)I’ve never had a problem finding new andinteresting things to see and do in Paris, butthis little gem certainly adds to the inventory.This small, attractive hardcover with wonderfulphotography identifies and describes 81 oftenoverlooked courtyards, gardens, Renaissancefountains, winding lanes, hidden villas, andmore to enhance your next trip to Paris. Welove those charming off-the-beaten-path placesand Quiet Corners will be in my bag on thenext trip, and my itinerary will include visits toSaint-Gilles-Grand-Veneur Gardens, GalerieKarsten Greve, École Normale SupérieureGarden, Hôtel des Grandes Écoles, MuséeEugéne Delacroix, and others. This is a greatlittle gift for lovers of the City of Light. (SHA)

Hostess Gifts and Stocking StuffersBLOOD, TOIL, TEARS, AND SWEAT(John Lukacs)Eminent historian John Lukacs gives us a highly interesting, compact(147 pages) book centering onWinston Churchill’s first speech asPrime Minister. When Churchill stood before the House of Com-mons on May 13, 1940, Europe was in crisis. Three days earlier,Germany had invaded France and the Low Countries and Hitler’sarmies were sweeping westward. In one of his shortest, but verypowerful speeches, he said “I would say to the House, as I said tothose who have joined this Government: I have nothing to offer butblood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the mostgrievous kind.” The combined situational background and snapshotof one of the world’s greatest leaders at the outset of his ascendancyto glory gives the reader an evenhanded appreciation of Churchill,the man who understood Hitler, and went on to engage him in a warof wills. (SHA)

ALEX & ME (Irene M. Pepperberg)Alex & Me is a short (226 pages) delightful memoir by scientistPepperberg about her three decades withAlex, an amazingAfricanGrey parrot (a “Grey”). In September of 2007, Alex died prematurelyat age 31 (Grey’s have a normal life span of about 50) and sinceAlexand Irene had become famous over the years, this made headlinenews. Alex’s last words to Irene were “You be good. I love you.”The one-poundAlex with a brain the size of a walnut, had stunnedthe world during Pepperberg’s groundbreaking scientific endeavorspent exposing cognitive and linguistic abilities inAlex that no onebelieved was possible. He could add, he could speak, he understoodconcepts, he was capable of thought and intention, and learned morethan 100 words. The principal revelation fromAlex was, “Thatanimal minds are a great deal more like human minds than the vastmajority of behavioral scientists believed—or more importantly wereeven prepared to concede thought remotely possible.” (SHA)

refined into a radiant atmosphere that rested in the low silver heap over midtown”) or Hansat the Russian baths meeting Chuck’s partner in the kosher sushi business, Mike Abelsky(whose “great folds of excess skin wilted from his stomach and back and limbs” like “anabandoned work of taxidermy”). As Hans navigates this netherworld, this neverland, thisnetherland—call it what you will—he reconnects with his past and family, discovering aGoogle-like freedom that allows him—“with a single brush on the touch pad” to “havethe option, if so moved, to go anywhere.” (Contributing Editor Jenny Lawrence, NewYork, NY)

This is an engaging memoir, written by the granddaughter of Howard & Lillian Garis, whohad, between the two of them, authored numerous popular children’s books, including the UncleWiggily stories, The Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift. The family lived in a rambling home in thecollege town ofAmherst, Massachusetts, which Garis describes as her “first love,” in the earlyyears of her childhood. “In those years I spent a lot of time in the dumbwaiter, moving up anddown behind the walls, listening to voices.” This is where she begins her story, and we have thesense that her role as an “observer” through her childhood is also a kind of metaphor for howshe navigates through life in a family where illness hides beneath a veneer of literary accomp-lishment. While her grandfather hung around with Robert Frost, her grandmother went frombeing a vibrant writer to a recluse, her father was struggling to make a name for himself as aplaywright and her mother was desperately trying to keep it all together. Garis is able to describeand dissect her family relationships, contrasting the idyllic world created by her grandfather’s

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HOUSE OFHAPPY ENDINGSLESLIE GARIS(2007, 339pp,Farrar, Strausand Giroux)

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WINFIELD HOUSE (Maria Tuttle)The #1 choice for this year, a beautiful book of the American Ambassador’sResidence in Regent’s Park, London, written by Maria Tuttle, wife of Ambassador tothe Court of St. James, Robert Tuttle.

A FLAIR FOR LIVING (Charlotte Moss)A wonderful interior design book with beautiful photography.

A PASSION FOR BLUE AND WHITE (Carolyne Roehm)A private tour of the beautiful homes of style-setter Carolyne Roehmshowcasing her favorite color combination!

WILLIAM YEOWARD ON ENTERTAININGInspiring ideas—table settings and table designs—for entertainingwith style!

A TIFFANY CHRISTMAS (John Loring)A beautiful visual/verbal holiday feast by the design director of Tiffany,this book moves you into Christmas, year after year after year. It’s the best!

Coffee Table Books for Christmas 2008

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BOOK NOTES FROM…

THE SANTA YNEZ VALLEYBy Contributing Editor Ann Petroni

TRAIN TO TRIESTE (Domnica Radulescu) 9A rare love story set in Soviet-ruled Romania during the late 1970s when Ceausescu, the Russians, secret police andfear dominated society. Mona and Mihai are passionate in their love for each other, but Mona becomes concernedabout the mysterious disappearance of friends and plans her secret escape to freedom and safety in America withouttelling Mihai. She establishes a new life, marries but keeps in touch with her aunt in Romania. She cannot forgetMihai however, and after 20 years decides to return to find him. A beautifully written, intriguing story.

PIECES OF MY HEART (Robert J. Wagner with Scott Eymau) 8Born in Michigan, moving to Los Angeles in his teens, R.J. Wagner followed his dream to be in films rather thancollege as his parents wished. Academics were not his strong suit, having been expelled from several boardingschools, but he was a good athlete, caddied for actors on the Bel Air golf course and his dream doors were opened.This is a very personal story of R.J.’s active, productive life. He reveals his strengths, weaknesses, devotion to hiswife, Natalie Wood, and the painful years he endured. A fine history of Hollywood in the 1950s, a warm biographyof this charming, talented man who continues to work in television today.

AWALK IN THEWOODS (Bill Bryson) 9+Celebrating the 80th birthday of a friend in Maine, a friend who has been deeply involved with the AppalachianMountain Club for years, I wanted to reread Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, an account of his adventures on theAppalachian Trail. He and his Iowan friend, Stephen Katz, decide to walk the 2,000 miles-plus trail, which runs fromGeorgia to Maine. Subtitled, “Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail,” this is a quite an adventure and theperfect gift for an outdoor, adventurous friend!

UncleWiggily with the despair surrounding her father’s struggles with depression and its effecton her family. In spite of the dark circumstances of her family life, I did not find the memoir adepressing work, instead I was awed with Garis’s ability to analyze her family with broadpersonal insight and the thoroughness of an historian, and write the memoir in a delightful,engaging prose. (Contributing Editor Elaine Lisle, Bryn Mawr, PA)

Not every good pitcher has a good outing every time. James McPherson (Battle Cry forFreedom and This Mighty Scourge just to cite two of his excellent books) is very good atwhat he does—but this is not a good outing for him. Workmanlike (well written and wellresearched as usual) and in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list (typical forMcPherson), Tried by War breaks no new ground conceptually and imparts no specialexcitement, either about Lincoln or the horrific war which he successfully managed.What is new in the book (at least to my knowledge) is McPherson’s research into Lincolnteaching himself military strategy and military tactics, so that he—as commander-in-chief—could manage the war on a day-to-day basis, not just troop movements and attackdecisions but also ordinance and supply decisions. What is not new is that Lincoln wasforced to do this, as no American wartime President ever has been, because his initial

TRIED BYWAR:ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASCOMMANDER IN CHIEFJAMES M. MCPHERSON

(2008, 329pp,Penguin)

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cadre of staff and field generals was so inept. Winfield Scott (too old and too fat) and HenryHalleck (too indecisive) were failures as generals in chief. Worse still, Lincoln’s top fieldgeneral George McClellan (twice commander of the critical Army of the Potomac) had a badcase of “the slows” (Lincoln’s words) if not just a plain fear of actual fighting—even thoughhe was dashing, charismatic, and well organized. McPherson does add some insight into thedifficulties Lincoln faced—political as well as military—in handling McClellan, but he breakslittle new ground in showing that Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson had cases of “thefasts,” as did Ulysses Grant, William Sherman, and Philip Sheridan. It was Lincoln’s poorluck that his “fasts” came into top jobs relatively late in the war (1864). (Contributing EditorWilliam Lilley, III, Washington DC)

Let me warn the potential reader: I am not sure whether this is a book (then it gets an 8- minusgrade) or a script for a dashing Hollywood movie (for which it gets a 10). If the reader treats it asthe latter, then you are in for some serious entertainment. I say “serious” because the backbone ofthe book is Winston Churchill’s keen desire to use unorthodox spies (hence “the Irregulars” a laSherlock Holmes’Baker Street Irregulars) to exert every trick known at the time to prod the U.S.into WWII on Britain’s side, and then keep the U.S. tightly knit to Churchill’s strategies. AuthorConant has some problems keeping the plotline to a coherent structure—Hollywood will have noproblem with that. But she has no problems with entertainment, and how could she with her ready-

ORIGINS OF WORDS AND PHRASES

PELOTON/PLATOON. Unless you follow the sport of cycling, you are not likely to run across the wordpeloton, which means a group of cyclists, usually the main mass of cyclists in the race. Peloton is a Frenchword. It’s literal meaning is little ball and in this sense it dates to the early 15th century in French. By 1616 theFrench were using the word to mean a small group of soldiers, presumably because a small group of soldiersin tight formation resembled a ball. The word platoon is a variant of peloton, appearing as ploton in MiddleFrench by 1572 and as plauton by 1611.

TOW-HEADED. Someone who is tow-headed has light-colored hair. Tow is another name for flax, a light-colored, fibrous plant once commonly used to make thread. Tow is of uncertain origin. It may be connected tothe Old Norse tó, meaning fiber that has yet to be spun into thread, and there is the Middle Dutch touwen,meaning to weave. But the connection between these words is not known. The English word dates to the late14th century.

SWAN SONG. There is a legend, stemming from ancient myth, that swans sing an exquisitely beautiful songjust before dying. There’s no truth to it, but that’s the legend and the origin of the phrase. From Ovid’sMetamorphoses (14:426-430).

ALASKA. The name of the 49th U.S. state comes to us, via Russian, from the Aleut alakshak or alaeksu orany one of a number of spelling variants. The Aleut word is reported as meaning either mainland or peninsula.The form Alaska was in common use by the time of the U.S. purchase of the territory from Russia in 1867.The official name was suggested by Senator Charles Sumner under the misapprehension that the word meangreat land.

The derivation of words and phrases we use in conversation is an interesting study. There are a number of sourceson this and the explanations are often at variance. The entries below are excepted from an on-line service calledwordorigins.org.

THE IRREGULARS:ROALD DAHL ANDTHEBRITISH SPY RING IN

WARTIMEWASHINGTONJENET CONANT(2008, 390pp,

Simon & Schuster)8-

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Jane’s SELECTIONSBy Contributing Editor Jane Ackerman

ROUGH JUSTICE (Jack Higgins)To get two novels by Jack Higgins just months apart makes it a really good year. In this book, he introduces a new character,Harry Miller, a member of Parliament and now a trouble-shooter for the Prime Minister. Naturally he and Sean Dillon gettogether and are quickly aligned with one another. Higgins has the ability to mirror in his books what is going on in the worldso, even in his fiction, the world problems are included in his material. Rough Justice is centered on Russia and Putin’s wishto make the Russian Federation a world power again. In this book, Harry Miller is married to a famous actress and she and hissister have no idea he is a special agent for the Prime Minister. After Harry manages to kill one of the bad guys, they are afterhim and everyone is in danger. The identity of the broker is revealed and he is put out of business, which led me to worry thata follow up book was not going to happen, but after checking, I learned that another one is on its way for 2009. I love JackHiggins but, just in case you thought you were the only one getting older, check out his picture on the back cover!

ONE FIFTHAVENUE (Candace Bushnell)SHA put this on my stack of “books to read,” a book by the author of Sex and the City. I don’t usually go for the NewYork trashy type of novel, but this one had a fresh appeal and was fun to read. One Fifth Avenue is an art deco apartmenthouse in Greenwich Village with a reputation and it is a very coveted address. It begins with the death of an elderlysocialite leaving her apartment up for grabs, and the return of a movie star after years of living in Los Angeles. Thiscreates a change in apartment dynamics and you will get to know everyone that’s anyone in the building as the storyrolls along touching on money, sex, power, and social station. You’ll like One Fifth Avenue, the book is a kick!

THE LAST CHINESE COOK (Nicole Mones)Knowing that I had a project in which I had to have just read some great books, my dear friend Rue Byars sent this one overfor me. The Last Chinese Cook is a fabulous book! Maggie McElroy, a food writer, had lost her husband and, while still in thethroes of grief, receives a letter from a lawyer in China saying that her husband, who traveled there a lot, was being servedwith a paternity suit and that she must come and deal with the problem. Her editor tells her to go and, while there, to look up afamous chef and review his new restaurant. This book has everything: Romance, intrigue, and the best Chinese recipes you canimagine. I galloped through it in 24 hours, thoroughly entertained while learning how to make the best poached chicken ever!

NOANGEL (Penny Vincenzi)Claire Shea, really a good angel, told me about this book, and not only is No Angel terrific, but the first of a trilogy.There is nothing better than knowing that, as you are finishing a great book, there will be two more coming! In No Angel,Vincenzi follows the lives of London’s Lytton family in the early 20th century. At the center of the story is Lady CeliaBeckenham, a beautiful young girl who has fallen in love with Oliver Lytton, a man not quite up to the standards that herfamily has set for her. She decides that the only way to manage to marry Oliver is to get pregnant, and so the story unfolds.Penny Vincenzi has the unique ability to go from person to person in the family without the feeling you are being drawnaway from the story. An enticing writer, she keeps you totally engrossed for all 626 pages.

MOSCOW RULES (Daniel Silva)We were having lunch in Carmel with Steve’s friend Hank Conlan and he said, “Jane, the way you love mysteries, I amsurprised you have not read Daniel Silva.” His latest book, Moscow Rules, is a real winner. This edition of TRE containsSteve’s review of the book, but I simply had to read it, especially if I was missing something that good. It took a little timeto acquaint myself with the regulars in the book, but Hank was right, this is an author not to miss and I am looking forwardto his next one.

EXPOSURE (Evelyn Anthony)Trying to find a book on the top shelf of our library, I pulled down all of my Evelyn Anthony books. Evelyn Anthony hasbeen my favorite author for years. She has written some 35 books, starting off with historical novels and then going intothe mystery genre, for which she is most famous. She has retired from writing, but if you go online you can find all of herbooks. I was thrilled to find several that I had not read. Exposure is a great book about Julia Hamilton, a high poweredjournalist who is given a new assignment to root out corruption without fear or favor. Evelyn Anthony is just the best:The queen of British thrillers.

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The Readers Exchange (TRE) is published to serve as a forum through which readers can exchange their thoughts aboutbooks. This purpose is served in two ways. First, current book reviews are provided by the Publisher and the ContributingEditors of TRE. These reviews are brief and to-the-point, and ratings are provided to assign a relative level of satisfaction tothe book. Second, an exchange column is published to report the reading experiences of people in the TRE network. Throughthis medium, we hope to assist with book selection, heighten the awareness of reading for pleasure, and encourage non-readers to become active readers.Subscriptions—The Readers Exchange is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by Stephen H.Ackerman. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $45 per year. The International rate is $55 per year. Call (818) 769-8944or (866) 769-8944 (toll free) for subscription information and inquiries.

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TRE Contributing EditorsJane Ackerman (Studio City, CA)Robert H. Bunzel (Piedmont, CA)Ernest Chambers (Los Angeles, CA)William Dohrmann (Stonington, CT)Hugh Evans (Los Angeles, CA)Judith G. Jones (Pacific Palisades, CA)John D. Kyle (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL)

Jenny Lawrence (New York, NY)William Lilley, III (Washington DC)Elaine Lisle (Bryn Mawr, PA)Donna Mellenthin (Studio City, CA)Ann Petroni (Santa Ynez, CA)Connie Rogers (Brooklyn, NY)Patricia Santa Cruz (Menlo Park, CA)

Jane Says: “Even though SHAs ‘contributions to society’ have been minimal lately, I think it might bestupid, even politically incorrect, for me to make any sassy comments—because how many more days do wehave left before Christmas!

B O O K R E V I E W S

made cast. The book’s star, wounded RAF pilot-hero Roald Dahl (incredibly dashing, witty, andhandsome) leads a team of equally dashing irregulars—how about this for star power: WilliamStephenson (aka “Intrepid,” Churchill’s legendary spy chief now operating out of RockefellerCenter) and his many trusted spies, Ian Fleming (happily inventing exploding pens), NoelCoward, and David Ogilvy (later of great advertising fame) to name a few. These “Irregulars”tangle—mostly at bars, parties, and in beds—with an equally glamorousAmerican team, some ofwhom are at best lukewarm about British interests: Congresswoman Claire Booth Luce (Dahl’slover and Henry Luce’s wife, Luce’s publications are not pro-British), then-Congressman LyndonJohnson (like Dahl a protégée of Texas oil and newspaper baron Charles Marsh, and like Dahl,having a raging affair withAlice Glass, Marsh’s beautiful mistress) and finally PanAm’s famedJuan Trippe who is using the cover of war to build a vast American (read PanAm) global airmonopoly. Dahl serves as the book’s skeleton as he uses his great seductive charm to procuresensitive information for Churchill; and virtually all of the famous and infamous—like ErnestHemingway and Tyrone Power—have relevant cameo appearances. (Contributing Editor WilliamLilley, III, Washington DC)

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