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New Non-Fiction – December 2006
New books this month address the artistic, the classical, the technical, the political, the musical, the environmental, the historical, the commercial.
All are available for free loan. Check the catalog online or call or visit your local library or call Telephone Reference Service at Central Library (315-435-1900) to reserve library materials.
A Family of Strangers
by Deborah Tall
In writing a memoir of her family, Ms. Tall sought people
and facts, filling in missing pieces and dealing with the “genealogy of
the missing”. She writes beautifully as anyone who has read her poetry
or From
Where We Stand: Recovering a Sense of Place, and other books knows. This
is a book with which one becomes immediately engaged and in which one may
recognize like aspects of one’s own history.
A Field Guide to Roadside
Technology
by Ed Sobey
If you’ve ever wondered about pieces of mechanical equipment
alongside a road, perhaps spotted from a fast-moving car, this is the book
for you. Each entry features behavior, habitat, “how it works,” and sometimes “interesting
facts” about equipment found on the ground, on bridges, highways and roadways,
attached to buildings, in the air and in the water. With illustrations of
each of the devices.
Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide
by Edmund
C. Snodgrass and Lucie L. Snodgrass
A new phenomenon in the
U.S., although not in Europe and Asia, green roofs are now found on homes,
industrial plants, government buildings. They contribute to aesthetic and
environmental improvement. This book focuses on the plants themselves
and which to use effectively in different climates and temperature zones. For
general information about green roofs—how to start and maintain them—the
authors suggest reading Planting Green Roofs and Living
Walls by Dunnett
and Kingsbury, also in the OCPL system.
Theories For Everything:
An Illustrated History of Science From the Invention of Numbers to String
Theory
by John Langone, Bruce Stutz, and Andrea Gianopoulos
This is a wonderful
book. Recommended
in Science News and other publications, its chapters include The Heavens,
The Human Body, Matter and Energy, Life Itself, Earth and Moon and Mind
and Behavior. Loaded with illustrations, timelines, sidebars with quick
facts about the scientists mentioned, it offers informative text and sources
for more reading as well as an extensive index. It is a National Geographic
book and beautifully produced.
Cezanne
to Picasso: Ambroise
Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde
Rebecca A. Rabinow, Editor, et al.
The catalog of the exhibition of the
same name, currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, this
book narrates the life and activities of Ambroise Vollard, a Parisian art dealer
at the turn of the twentieth century. M. Vollard’s influence on art cannot
be overstated—his
exhibition of Cezanne’s works in 1895 established Cezanne’s reputation. He
was the first to exhibit Picasso in Paris—he mounted shows of the Nabis,
Gauguin and Van Gogh; he gave Matisse his first solo exhibition and the
list goes on and on. Extensively and beautifully illustrated by works
of the above artists and more, the text is enhanced by extensive notes,
a bibliography and other illustrative addenda. Note the very different
portraits of M. Vollard on the front and back covers.
One Planet: A Celebration
of Biodiversity
Nicolas Hulot Foundation
A hefty book in every
way—size, subject matter, presentation, intention. Photographs of global
ecosystems: oceans, mountains, polar regions, deserts, forests, grasslands,
wetlands, and cities by many photographers beautifully present the breathtaking
diversity of our planet. Not all is beautiful—destruction of habitats
and animals are included—but the pictures cannot help but draw one in and
to make one even more aware of the tragedy and outrage of ecosystem destruction.
The Nicolas Hulot Foundation is “dedicated to the promotion of education
about the environment” and its mission is to “help modify our behavior
as individuals to preserve the earth” – www.fnh.org.
Freemasonry: Symbols,
Secrets, Significance
by W. Kirk MacNulty
Freemasonry is often characterized
as a “secretive”
organization, one that is mysterious and exclusive, and forbidding to those
who do not belong. It has played a prominent role in books like Foucault’s
Pendulum and The DaVinci Code. Mr. McNulty explains its origins, history,
place in society, and structures, presenting, along with informative text,
many documents, images, artifacts and other materials connected to Freemasonry.
He states that, although “secrets” are an important part of the work of becoming
a Mason and achieving higher Degrees, Freemasonry is not itself secretive
or menacing.
Brush Up Your Classics: An Informative and Entertaining
Guide to Understanding the Most Famous Words, Phrases, and Stories of the
Greek Classics
by Michael Macrone
Beginning with Homer (probably
8th century B.C.) and ending in the 2nd century A.D.,
the book is organized generally around particular speakers: Homer, Aesop,
Plato, Cicero, Virgil, etc. with a few chapters on Greek and Roman Philosophy
and Drama. The first chapter, about Homer, for instance, discusses the
Trojan War, the expression “To Bite the Dust”, Pygmies, the word Stentorian,
and the expression
“Eat Your Heart Out.” Entertainingly written and illustrated, this book makes
it fun to refresh or learn for the first time the classical allusions we
hear and use everyday.
Hard Power: The New
Politics of National Security
by Kurt M. Campbell and Michael E. O’Hanlon
Written to prompt debate
and thought about national security, the book examines Republican and Democrat
positions on security and the electorate’s perceptions of those positions.
The book’s first two parts outline the current state of national security
and each party’s role in formulating security policies discuss what will
need to be done differently in the future with regards to energy policy,
management of the military, the rise of China and other Asian nations,
the war on terror. Finally, critiques of both the Democrat and the Republican
approaches to national security are discussed and policy recommendations
offered.
Alive at the Village
Vanguard: My Life In and Out of Jazz Time
by Lorraine Gordon (as told
to Barry Singer)
Lorraine Gordon speaks of her life in jazz—her early
love of jazz as a teenager in New Jersey, getting to know jazz “people” in
New York City, and later marrying Alfred Lion, founder of Blue Note Records. Ms.
Gordon worked there as well but later married Max Gordon, owner of the Village
Vanguard. She became the sole owner when Max Gordon died and continues to
manage it today. Her story is so interesting—her contacts with jazz musicians,
figures in the NYC arts scene, her work with Blue Note Records and the Village
Vanguard, her life as a working mother, her involvement with Women Strike
for Peace all contributed to a life enthusiastically lived and one that’s
enjoyable to read about.
Buy,
Keep or Sell? The Insider’s Guide to Identifying
TRASH, TREASURE, or TOMORROW’S ANTIQUES
by Judith Miller
If you had a “silver-plated,
stylized polar bear cocktail shaker”, would you keep it or sell it? If
you sold it, you might expect to get $3500-$4500! The book is filled with
all manner of collectibles, great pictures of examples in the categories,
and price guides to boot. A glossary, lists of informational resources,
clubs and societies, internet resources, specialist dealers and auction
houses, and an index are included.
1001
Great Stories, Volume 1
edited with a note, by Douglas
Messerli
The first in an ongoing
anthology of international fiction which may, eventually, include 1001
stories (in 101 volumes!), this volume’s 10 stories are by Gogol, Olyesha,
Landolfi, Can Xue, to name just five. It is small and thus easy to carry,
nicely printed, and a good selection of fiction in translation.