“Capsule reviews of 'The Whale' and other books - San Francisco Chronicle” plus 1 more

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Capsule reviews of 'The Whale' and other books - San Francisco Chronicle Posted: 05 Feb 2010 09:09 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. "The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea" (HarperCollins, 453 pages, $27.99), by Philip Hoare: A subject as big as the whale demands a book as broad as "The Whale." Part memoir, part nature writing and part literary criticism, the book takes readers around the world for an exhaustive look at the mysterious mammal. Philip Hoare begins his book in the steps of Herman Melville's Ishmael, visiting the famous 19th-century whaling ports Nantucket and New Bedford, Mass., before tracing the cultural significance of the whale from Jonah to "Free Willy." For readers who don't love science, there might be dull moments. But entertaining and educational, "The Whale" is an all-encompassing look at how an animal most people never see has impacted our history and inspired our imagination. _ By Rob Merrill. ___ "Red Carpet Ready: Secrets for Making the Most of Any Moment You're in the Spotlight" (Crown Publishing Group, $29.99, 288 pages), by Melissa Rivers: Are you planning a wedding or trying to survive a breakup? Or maybe you're unemployed. If you're experiencing high-pressure situations such as these, Melissa Rivers has advice — and lots of it. Rivers is best known for covering fashion on the red carpet with her mother Joan Rivers. She says those gigs taught her how to think on her feet, handle curve balls and maintain her cool, traits everyone needs at one time or another. But parts of the book seem unorganized, choppy and hard to follow. Yes, Rivers dishes about Hollywood (like sharing a table at a restaurant with Sean Penn, who gave her divorce advice) — but there's not enough to satisfy readers. _ By Alicia Rancilio. ___ "Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History" (Riverhead, 400 pages, $26.95), by David Aaronovitch: Did you hear the real story? The Sept. 11 attacks were orchestrated by the U.S. government. President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor. Princess Diana was assassinated. The Catholic Church is covering up evidence of Jesus' family. Just about everyone has heard at least one of these conspiracy theories. Often, such tales of shadowy dealings bubble up after shocking events, offering a darker explanation to a rattled public. British journalist David Aaronovitch does his best to pop those bubbles in "Voodoo Histories," an entertaining — if sometimes depressing — tour of modern conspiracy theories. _ By Michael Hill. ___ "Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes" (Little, Brown and Co., 352 pages, $23.99), by Elizabeth Bard: American writer Elizabeth Bard says her French husband was halfway to home base when she cut into a succulent steak during their first lunch in Paris. It's not entirely certain in her recounting of their romance whether it was the man or the meals that kept drawing her back to the city celebrated for its cuisine. Sure, Gwendal was kind, funny and a tap dancer, but there were also molten chocolate cakes and swordfish tartar. In her first book, Bard tracks their relationship through meals — the pasta Gwendal made after they first made love, the sausage over which he proclaimed his love, the poached cod served when she met his parents and the smelly cheese at their wedding. She includes recipes at the end of each chapter for those wanting to cook up a little romance of their own. Still, the recipes can be intimidating, and it's a little difficult to imagine gutting a whole fish as skillfully as Bard reports doing on her first try. _ By M.L. Johnson. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

'A Man's Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places' book review - Examiner Posted: 09 Feb 2010 01:55 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe Subscribe "A Man's Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places," by author Mark Jenkins, is a series of outdoor adventure and world travel stories. A former writer for Outside Magazine, Jenkins' column, The Hard Way, brought his readers along on the incredible, dangerous, and often amusing trips he would take to the most forbidding places on Earth. "A Man's Life" is a collection of these articles, and every one of them is compelling, well written, and easy to read. Despite that, it is not a book one should consume in a single sitting. Each story is a gem to be pondered, and burning through several chapters can diminish individual stories that each stand on their own. Jenkins skillfully arranges his stories to make the reader laugh in one moment, like his internal dialogue about attempting to sit still while learning to meditate, then cringe the next moment when he is captured by militants in Myanmar. Other highlights include personal outdoor adventure stories about climbing Devil's Tower in Wyoming, biking through the rain in Norway, and flying super-light aircraft in Utah. He also writes about other great explorers such as French pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who flew planes over the Sahara in the early 20th Century, and people who changed the business of outdoor recreation, such as Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard. Not surprisingly, some of Jenkins' best writing comes when he looks inside himself and muses about why he has such an uncontrollable drive to go, get out, and explore. His personal essays strike to the core of what it means to risk life for adventure and how the delicate balance between family and staying true to one's nature can have consequences. A good example of this is an article about the difficulty of leaving his wife and two daughters for months at a time while he sets off on yet another expedition. Of course, Jenkins saves his best writing for the end of the book and fittingly, the article is called, "The End." In it, he remembers rock climbing a Wyoming peak with his best friend. Throughout the story, Jenkins uses a foreshadowing of impending tragedy that fills his words with uneasiness. Soon, the reader learns that it is to be their final trip together, as his friend later dies in a boating accident near Baffin Island. It is hard to imagine, after reading "A Man's Life," how a person can have so many adventures, visit so many countries, and fit so many experiences into a single lifetime. But Jenkins does it, and still finds time to write about it all without resorting to unnecessary flourishes and bravado. His style is simple, vivid, and has the power to transport his readers to go along with him while he climbs mountains in Bhutan, or rides his bike across Siberia. Luckily for us, we get to savor each trip, one chapter at a time.   Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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