Brief Reviews
We do our very best to provide high-quality, in-depth reviews of current books covering a variety of topics that will interest fans of both nonfiction and fiction. While we can’t review everything, here are some current releases that the editors think are worth mentioning. We welcome recommendations from readers. If you’d like to send one to us, please click here.
NONFICTION
MR. JEFFERSON AND THE GIANT MOOSE:
Natural History in Early America
By Lee Alan Dugatkin
184 pp. University of Chicago Press $26.00
Size matters. That’s why Thomas Jefferson sent a moose to French naturalist Count Buffon. Skinned, ready to be stuffed and mounted, the specimen was shipped to Paris—sans antlers, because of a snafu. Antlers followed, although not the antlers originally attached to the head of said dead moose.
It was hoped that the gigantic animal would convince Buffon and other European naturalists to recant their belief in the “degeneracy theory” and admit that America was capable of producing large, healthy specimens—including humans. Buffon died before the moose arrived, still promulgating decidedly bad science, an affront to Americans.
European naturalists in the 1700s thought the cause of America’s “degeneracy” was that the New World emerged later than the superior Eastern continents, and its swampy, miasma-like environment “had not had the time to heat up or dry out.” This caused stunted, weak flora and fauna. That there wasn’t a lion or tiger to be found on the entire continent was offered as proof.
American species were smaller, feebler, more meager, and less juicy—in a word: degenerate. What survived best were reptiles and insects. Humans didn’t escape Buffon’s scrutiny; men had milk in their breasts, countrywomen were almost all ugly. Depravity—lack of intelligence, kindness, and love abounded.
Dugatin explains the background and the backlash, as Americans, from poets to politicians, attempt to disprove the degeneracy theory. It’s interesting to note that climate’s effects on the environment loomed as large then as today, although for different reasons. It’s a short, entertaining read. (Reviewed by Ruth Douillette)
CRANIOKLEPTY:
Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius
By Colin Dickey
272 pp. Unbridled Books $25.95
Haydn had been laid to rest for only two short days when his grave fell victim to an obsessed phrenologist longing to study the musical genius’ brain (and to make some money). Haydn’s skull wasn’t alone in fueling the grave robbing craze. Fellow musician Beethoven, artist Francisco Goya, and numerous others had their skulls stolen, either to sell, study, or put on display before a curious public. After all, the dents and bumps on the head were thought to hold the key to personality traits, and the skulls of the famous dead were sure to contain the secret to their genius.
In Cranioklepty, Dickey blends science and history to create an interesting look at the lucrative grave robbing trade, explores how to clean a skull, and discusses the scientific debate about whether the dents, bumps, size, and shape of our skulls and brains say anything about intelligence or personality traits.
I’ve often been told that I’d look great with a shaved head, since mine is perfectly round. Little did I know that “well-rounded” comes from the idea that a round head is best. I can’t wait to tell my kids!
With an engaging writing style, fascinating historical tidbits, and some very cool (or gross) pictures, Dickey manages to give the reader a sense of the politics and intrigue behind a very unusual hobby. (Reviewed by Julie McGuire)
FICTION
ON THE PRECIPICE
By Eugenia Hogan Sandy
376 pp. Ferris Mill (printed thru CreateSpace) $12.50
While planning an upcoming vacation to Alaska—I wanted to read up on the 49th state, which I know so little about—I inadvertently stumbled across this little gem.
With echoes of Robert James Waller and Anita Shreve, Sandy has authored a testament to the determination of the human spirit and the unbreakable bonds of love. Abby Sullivan is a single, thirty-something paralegal working for a criminal defense attorney in Lansing, Michigan. She’s been dating her hyper-controlling and possessive boss for several years. Soon after Abby’s mother falls ill and is hospitalized, Abby learns that the bodily remains of the father she never met have been located, years later, in a crashed plane that had been lost in the 9.2-magnitude earthquake of Good Friday, 1964. After Abby’s mother dies, she travels to Moose Trail, Alaska, to claim his remains.
In Moose Trail, Abby meets the quirkiest and most likeable cast of characters to come along since Northern Exposure. She finds an instant connection with Tom Callahan, the son of her father’s one-time best friend. Tom and Abby compare notes, revealing inconsistencies that challenge every belief they hold about their respective fathers. And Abby discovers her mother’s journals, which generate more questions than answers and lead the pair to some very wrong conclusions.
The story of Abby, Tom, and their parents is simultaneously a romance, a tragedy, and a travel guide, with gorgeous descriptions of rural Alaska, its small Native communities, and its long June days. It wasn’t hard to figure out where the story would end up, yet the predictability of the conclusion didn’t detract from the heartfelt storytelling. Reading this book was like putting together a puzzle: just because you know what the finished picture looks like doesn’t mean the process of discovering it, piece by piece isn’t wholly enjoyable. (Reviewed by Dawn Kingsbury Wakefield)
BREAKING THE BANK
By Yona Zeldis McDonough
368 pp. Downtown Press $15
Mia Saul has been dumped by her husband, and left to deal with her daughter, Eden, who isn’t exactly coping with the divorce. On the outs with her brother, at odds with her newly remarried mother, and walking a financial tightrope as a freelance children’s book editor, Mia is barely holding on to her sanity.
When the ATM that she frequents starts spitting out thousands of dollars, she thinks she’s finally lost it. Along with the money, the ATM is sending her messages instructing her to “use it well.” And that phrase, “use it well” seems to be appearing in the strangest places—the inscription in the locket she purchases at an antique store, for one.
There are many wonderful things about this book. It is a highly intelligent and engaging dark comedy. The characters are interesting—Fred the bartender who is in love with Mia, Manny the drug addict who lives in Mia’s apartment building, Patrick the irresistible Irish boy she meets in jail (this is definitely not your typical chick lit)-all come to life on the page. And waiting to find out just how Mia uses the cash as she begins to realize what money can and can’t buy may be one of the book’s greatest pleasures.
McDonough has been added to my list of “must-read” authors. (Reviewed by Julie McGuire)
AFTER
By Amy Efaw
350 pp. Viking Juvenile $17.99
In After, Amy Efaw provides numerous reasons to feel sorry for 15-year-old Devon Sky Davenport. For starters, her mother (16 at the time of her birth) gives her an odious moniker more appropriate for a fashion designer or soap opera star. Her mother still hasn’t grown up; she is more interested in sex with a steady stream of loser boyfriends than clothing and feeding her child. And Devon finds herself pregnant at 15.
Efaw works hard to convince us Devon didn’t know she was pregnant, buried in denial so deep she was unable to recognize the seemingly obvious signs of pregnancy. We’ve seen this story before, splashed all over the headlines, and Efaw doesn’t make the reader any less skeptical.
Moments after Devon gives birth on her bathroom floor, she dumps the baby in a trash can behind the Safeway supermarket. When the infant is discovered barely alive, police quickly trace the crime to Devon’s house. She is arrested, examined in the hospital, and transferred to the local juvenile detention facility.
Everything about the detention center is heavily stereotyped. The narrative culminates in a melodramatic hearing to determine whether Devin will be tried as an adult, who will face life in prison, or remain in the juvenile system until she is 21.
Contrary to the marketing, After is inappropriate for grade 7 and up. I wouldn’t let my 12-year-old nephew near this book—and not just because of the hot-button social issue, which the author refers to as the “dumpster baby phenomenon.” Rather, Efaw pushes the limits of good taste with her unnecessarily graphic descriptions of Devon’s post-arrest pelvic exam, the umbilical cord “spurting, an unchecked garden hose,” and devotes entirely too much space to the color, quality, and content of Devon’s post-natal hemorrhaging. She overshoots poignant by a mile and lands squarely in Gore Fest. Save this one for very mature upperclassmen. (Reviewed by Dawn Kingsbury Wakefield)
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