Kansas.com: Books

'Good Soldiers' sad, surreal

ANNE STEPHENSON — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

"The Good Soldiers" by David Finkel (FSG, 304 pages, $26) —Perhaps this is what wars will be like from now on, until we learn to not fight them.

We embrace causes with hubris and righteousness, but as time passes, our resolve fades, our morale suffers, and the price of our good intentions seems too great to justify.

In 2007-08, Finkel, a Washington Post editor, followed a battalion of 800 soldiers sent to Baghdad as part of the Bush administration's "surge."

Kelly biography is short on Monaco years

CARRIE RICKEY — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:20 CST

Grace Kelly, bricklayer’s daughter and alabaster goddess, was a stunner who shone briefly, and memorably, on screen before she became Her Serene Highness, Princess of Monaco. Twenty-six when she wed, she was 52 when she died in an automobile accident. Her life divides into two acts of equal length.
“High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly,” Donald Spoto’s supremely tactful, if lopsided, account of this singular life, has 273 pages of text. All but 30 are devoted to Grace’s life before marriage, Monaco and motherhood.
Spoto, an addictively readable film historian and perceptive biographer of (among others) Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier, is a former monk who published works on St. Francis, Jesus and Joan of Arc. “High Society” is more in the line of his hagiography than of his biography.

Real trouble

PRESTON JONES — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:24 CST

It’s hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for Stephen King. Not because he’s suffering a dip in popularity, a decline in wealth or a dearth of creativity — rather, his gripping narratives must now contend with the low hum of horror in the everyday background. Whether it’s the threat of swine flu, a fragile stock market or the omnipresent specter of terrorism, reality is often far more nerve-racking than any imagined boogeyman.
What better way for King to confront this considerable obstacle than drafting an epic firmly rooted in an anxious, post-9/11 landscape? “Under the Dome” is the best-selling author’s most substantial tome since 1990’s revised, uncut edition of “The Stand” (“Dome” weighs in at 1,074 pages).
In it, he attempts to sum up the last decade of American life in microcosm, right down to the bitterly political fissures in the facade of small-town existence; the creeping pestilence of meth addiction; our country’s hair-trigger paranoia and the veneer of religion judiciously applied by hypocrites.

Some find disturbing elements in 'Twilight'

Kathleen Megan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

What would you say about a teen relationship in which the guy is so obsessed and protective he sneaks into his loved one's bedroom to watch her sleep; seems to stalk her every move; tries to control whom she sees; and even disables her truck engine so she can't go out?
Or how about a girl who is equally obsessed with this guy even though he continually tells her he's dangerous, could inadvertently kill her and treats her as if she were a child? This same girl becomes so depressed when her boyfriends breaks up with her that she begins to take risks, some seemingly suicidal, because such behavior summons visions of him.
Reduce Stephenie Meyer's mega hit "Twilight" book series to its bare-bones plot lines about the romance of Edward and Bella and many critics say it's difficult to understand exactly why it is so overwhelmingly popular and why millions of tweens and teens will be delivered — by their parents — this week to see the second in the series, "New Moon," on film.

Sweet Sugar Ray

TIM RUTTEN — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:19 CST

When I was a young boxing writer, I once was invited to watch historic fight films with a small group that included Sugar Ray Robinson, by then long retired.
Suffice to say, I was the most ignorant person in the room, but the deference our companions paid even Robinson’s briefest comment was striking. I recall being struck by the unexpected sophistication — even delicacy — of his descriptive vocabulary, which was studded with phrases borrowed from the worlds of dance and music, mainly jazz, and framed with a kind of poetic precision.
Reading Wil Haygood’s thoroughly marvelous new biography, “Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson,” I was transported back to that memorable evening when I came across a phrase that that greatest of fighters had used to describe, in one of the films we watched, an almost imperceptible feint with head and shoulder that set up a winning combination of punches: “The best is always fragile.”

AP: Palin's book a shot at revenge, redemption

Robin Abcarian and Maeve Reston — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

NEW YORK — For Sarah Palin, whose electrifying debut on the national stage at last year's Republican National Convention was followed by perceived missteps and critical coverage that left her feeling unappreciated and under attack, "Going Rogue: An American Life" is a shot at redemption as well as revenge.
Like just about everything she has done publicly since she was thrust into the national spotlight as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, Palin's entry into the literary world has been splashy and contentious.
Her three-week, 14-state tour, to be kicked off Monday by an appearance on "Oprah," is an opportunity to recapture the narrative of her own career, keep her political options open and make heaps of money in the process.

Hills' 'Duck and Goose' will thrill

Steve Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

"Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin" written and illustrated by Tad Hills (Schwartz & Wade Books, ages 2-5, $6.99) is a must-have book for fall.
Duck and Goose have had their problems in previous books, but here they show amazing teamwork and diligence as they search for their very own pumpkin. They look in a hollow log, under a leaf pile, and on top of a stump, but they can't find a pumpkin anywhere.

Neil Sheehan's 'A Fiery Peace in a Cold War'

ART WINSLOW — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:20 CST

The son of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev recalled his father lamenting the cost of Russia's first intercontinental ballistic missiles, asking, "What will we do, we'll be without pants."
That anecdote, from Neil Sheehan's "A Fiery Peace in a Cold War," dovetails with the main premise of this book, both a biography of Bernard Schriever, the main mover behind America's development of ICBMs, and a history of the nuclear- tipped missiles: "In doing so much to foster a nuclear stalemate, Schriever and his associates contributed mightily to buying the time necessary for the Soviet Union to exhaust itself."
Sheehan offers a deep look at American defensive thinking in the Cold War, portraying the birth of the aerospace industry; illuminating the interlocking interests and personnel of government, industry and scientific academe; and opening the somewhat cloistered world of military life to wider view, from rivalries between the services to high-stakes internal battles over directorship of specific programs. We also see clearly how heavily policy and technology drove one another.

Book looks at Kansas through all four seasons

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:04 CDT

"A Kansas Year" by Mike Blair (University Press of Kansas, 240 pages, $24.95)
Nov. 1 . . . Simply go to a lake, a pond, or a stream, and look. You'll see the beauty as you explore, and you'll naturally go where the views are best. Find an open shore where water can be seen from a low vantage, and hillside color will reverse itself in a magic way. A leaf, a tree, a ridge . . . the best of fall awaits in mirror image.
Running through life, seeing many of the same sights every day, we often overlook the beauty around us: plants and flowers, wildlife, weather. Plenty of it is right in our own backyards; some dwells in city parks; some can be seen a short distance out of town.

Dracula a romantic hero in sequel

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:03 CST

Long before Edward Cullen of the “Twilight” series and Bill Compton of HBO’s “True Blood,” there was the original vampire, Bram Stoker’s Prince Dracula, in the gothic horror novel “Dracula.”
Now, more than 100 years later, Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of the famed Irish novelist, and Ian Holt have written a sequel, “Dracula: The Un-Dead.”
The sequel begins in 1912, 24 years later, and it revisits original characters Mina and Jonathan Harker, Dr. Jack Seward, Arthur Holmwood and famed vampire hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.

Before the 'age of lead'

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:04 CDT

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Latest Connelly outing falls flat

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

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Truth casualty in Tillman case

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

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A flood without water

LISA MCLENDON — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:44 CDT

Will we end in fire or will we end in ice? Or what if we aren’t around long enough for the climate to kill us — what if a plague, whether natural or the result of our own meddling in nature, is the real threat?
“The Year of the Flood” — the year the plague hits — is the endpoint rather than the beginning of Margaret Atwood’s imaginative, gripping new novel. Set in the same dystopian future Atwood envisioned in 2002’s “Oryx and Crake,” “Flood” is neither a sequel nor a prequel — it runs concurrently, almost to the day, but the focus is different.
“Oryx and Crake” is a deep, complex, at times playfully satirical cautionary tale about environmental devastation and meddling with nature; “The Year of the Flood” takes a more personal, philosophical look at the same society, while not losing the edge. Some of the events and characters overlap, but readers don’t need to have read the earlier book to appreciate the later one, though the pair provides an even richer experience than either one alone.

Publishers Weekly best sellers

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:57 CDT

1. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown
2. "A Touch of Dead" by Charlaine Harris
3. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

'Spooner' unfolds in three stages

DAVID HILTBRAND — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:45 CDT

For his seventh novel, Pete Dexter returns to small-town Georgia, the setting for 1998’s “Paris Trout,” his grim and gripping National Book Award winner.
This time Dexter has other perch to fry.
Spooner is the author’s Tristram Shandy, an often bawdy bildungsroman. The title character comes into this world, like Elvis, with a stillborn twin. He’s a kid whose instincts and urges are warped right from the cradle. Combine Spooner’s bent nature with poor impulse control and a notable lack of remorse, and you have the makings of a chronic headache for the boy’s honorable stepfather, until recently an exceptional naval officer with a promising career.

'Strength' thought-provoking

ANNE STEPHENSON — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

"Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder (Random House, 304 pages, $26) —This is the story of how an African medical student named Deo fled the violence in his native Burundi and escaped to the United States. The early pages tell of his flight from Africa (the wealthy father of a fellow student paid for his ticket), his arrival in New York City and his effort to survive there alone, with no money or English skills. He earned $15 for 12-hour days delivering groceries and slept at first in an abandoned tenement and later in Central Park.
The next section traces Deo's memories of the slaughter in Burundi and neighboring Rwanda. The third, and most exhilarating, tells of his relationships with the Americans who helped him, including a couple who take Deo into their home and finance his return to school.
Kidder shows up, too (he meets Deo through Paul Farmer, subject of Kidder's book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains"), and goes with Deo back to Burundi. It's a thought-provoking look at a persistent human spirit, and at what it was capable of surviving.

Multiples no problem for most readers

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:07 CDT

Last month when I wrote about sticking to one book at a time — one novel, anyway — I asked for your thoughts on the matter. Judging from the response, those of us who are "single-bookers" are in the minority. Most people who wrote in said they have at least two books going at a time, and they offered some interesting philosophies on the subject.
Beth Evans put it simply, and elegantly: "I have more than one friend I visit with at different times during a day or week. Novels are my friends so I can read more than one at a time."
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams, who works at the Wichita Public Library, says she reads up to six or seven books at a time, usually with one nonfiction and one audio among the novels.

Imperfect 'Exiles'

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:07 CDT

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War novel mixes in a love story

LISA MCLENDON — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:50 CDT

War is gritty and messy, rarely as glorious as it is in the movies or as sanitized as it can seem from a distance. The Balkan wars in the 1990s — particularly the Serbian “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia — reached a level of horror Europe hadn’t witnessed in decades. Those horrors reach out and punch readers of “The Evolution of Shadows” right in the gut.
This debut novel by Wichita author Jason Quinn Malott doesn’t dwell on the fighting, or the mass executions, or the wanton rapes; rather, it intersperses swift, shocking glimpses of them into a compelling story set a couple of years later.
Three people meet in Sarajevo, gathered to search for a mutual friend, Gray Banick, an American news photographer who has been missing since he and his interpreter were separated during a battle. Bosnian Emil, the interpreter, is certain Gray is dead, but the search is a way for him to wrestle with his own losses. Englishman Jack, a veteran correspondent, has found he can no longer function outside of a war zone. American Lian, Gray’s onetime lover, has left her unfulfilling marriage in a desperate hunt for the love and passion she had once but pushed away.