 Autobiography of Martin Luther
King, JR. by Clayborne Carson
Paperback, 416pp.
ISBN: 0446676500
Publisher: Warner
Crafted from King's own writings (published and unpublished),
this unique autobiography is the result of heartfelt scholarship
by Clayborne Carson, director and editor of the Martin Luther
King Papers Project. The narrative covers the entirety of King's
life, with additional emphasis on his public career, activism,
and spiritual fortitude. Destined to become a classic, this powerful
and inspirational autobiography of America's greatest civil rights
leader calls upon Stanford University's voluminous collection
of archival material, including Dr. King's previously unpublished
writings, public and private interviews, audio and video recordings,
and personal correspondence. A professor of history and the noted
author and editor of several books on the civil rights struggle,
Dr. Clayborne Carson was selected by the estate of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., to edit and publish Dr. King's papers. Drawing
upon an unprecedented archive of King's own words -- including
unpublished letters and diaries, as well as video footage and
recordings -- Dr. Carson creates an unforgettable self-portrait
of Dr. King. In his own vivid, compassionate voice, here is Martin
Luther King, Jr., as student, minister, husband, father, and
world leader...as well as a rich, moving chronicle of a people
and a nation in the face of powerful -- and still resonating
-- change. The fact that his words from his books and letters,
and other speeched where combined in such a fabulous way made
the book a page turner no matter how much one knows about the
civil rights struggle. Martin Luther King is an elgent speaker,
his word choice makes the struggles he and the nation went through
so real to someone like myself who was not born at that time.
He truly was given a gift from God in his ability to hold audiences
in the palm of his hand and convice them beyond a shadow of a
doubt that his way of non violence is best.
 Shopgirl by Steve Martin
Format: Paperback, 112pp.
ISBN: 0786885688
Publisher: Hyperion
Like many other comedians, Steve Martin draws his laughs from
a well of dark insights into human weaknesses. In his charming
novella Shopgirl (Hyperion), his understanding of the foibles
of his fellows is more often compassionate than comic, surprising
the reader with the depth of his sympathy for characters that
might well serve as laugh bait.At the center of the tale is the
shopgirl of the title, 28-year-old Mirabelle, who works at the
glove counter at Neiman-Marcus in Los Angeles, "selling
things that nobody buys anymore." Paralyzing boredom fills
her days, sending her "into a shallow hypnotic dream"
but never prompting her to change her situation.Mirabelle considers
herself an artist, reliant on her job only for income, even though
it is inadequate for her obligations, including $39,000 in student
loans for a master's in fine arts. In rare creative outbursts,
she turns out dark crayon drawings that enjoy a certain success
at local galleries. But these sessions drain her emotionally,
keeping output sparse. She has few friends and has little contact
with her Vermont family. She lives with two cats. One stays unseen
under the sofa, leaving evidence of his existence by moving objects
around her apartment. Subject to disabling depression, she relies
on medication to maintain her daily routine. But the aimlessness
of Jeremy, the slacker boyfriend she meets in the Laundromat,
makes Mirabelle seem nearly driven. Could there be a likelier
target for the attentions of a wealthy and generous older man?
Arriving with dash and style, Mirabelle's kindly sugar daddy
(to be played by Martin in the upcoming movie) soon dominates
her narrow life. Without intending to be unkind, he builds in
her an emotional dependence that leaves her undone when their
love affair ends. Readers who remember Theodore Dreiser's century-old
Sister Carrie, may find echoes in Mirabelle's affair with "Mr.
Ray Porter," as he is called in the novel. But despite her
vulnerability, Mirabelle is a 21st century woman, with a lot
more options than her literary forerunner. She emerges triumphant,
worthy of a "You go, girl!" salute.
 Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen
- ISBN: 0375411070
Publisher: Knopf Alfred A
Pub. Date: January 2002
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- Maybe it's true that you catch more flies with honey than
vinegar, but Carl Hiaasen uses both, just in case. His latest
novel is a characteristically hilarious murder mystery, inside
of which hides a fierce indictment of the corporate cancer responsible
for the death of the daily newspaper. Regular readers of Hiaasen
know that even at his funniest, he's usually making a serious
statement about the condition of the modern world. In Basket
Case, the fictional milieu of the newspaper is close to his heart:
Hiaasen writes a column for the Miami Herald. The novel's protagonist,
Jack Tagger, is a crotchety ex-muckraker given to muttering creative
insults at editors who cross him -- "fellator of mandrills,"
for example. A former page-one star, he's been banished to the
obituary desk after offending his corporate bosses at a shareholders
meeting. Tagger sports a typically Hiaasen-esque abundance of
quirks, like keeping a giant dead lizard in his freezer. Exiled
from the front page, Tagger was supposed to resign in humiliation.
Instead, he amuses himself by torturing his young editor, Emma,
and biding his time until "some famous stiff" gives
him the chance to put his byline back where it belongs. That
famous stiff turns out to be James Stomarti, former lead singer
of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. The rocker's death is deemed an
accidental drowning, but it strikes Tagger as suspicious. He
sets out to dig up some answers, tracking down Stomarti's widow,
a made-for-MTV pop star called Cleo Rio; the surviving band members;
and Stomarti's sister Janet, an Internet stripper specializing
in military themes. The story races along to its satisfying end,
fueled by deliciously bawdy dialogue, absurd scenarios and a
likable cast of characters. Hiaasen provides a bucketful of sugar
to help his medicine go down; you'll rage against corporate journalism
on Tagger's behalf, never noticing how neatly you've been sent
to newspaper school.
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 The Summons by John Grisham
ISBN: 0385503822
Publisher: Doubleday & Company
- For the first time since A Time to Kill, John Grisham returns
to Ford County, Mississippi, a place rich in colorful characters
and dark family secrets.... With The Summons, the megabestselling
author also gets back to the genre that made him famous -- the
hard-core legal thriller -- after his successful forays into
softer storytelling, A Painted House and Skipping Christmas.
Ray Atlee is a professor of law at the University of Virginia.
He's forty-three, newly single, and still enduring the aftershocks
of a surprise divorce. He has a younger brother, Forrest, who
redefines the notion of a family's black sheep. And he has a
father, a very sick old man who lives alone in the ancestral
home in Clanton, Mississippi. He is known to all as Judge Atlee,
a beloved and powerful official who has towered over local law
and politics for forty years. No longer on the bench, the Judge
has withdrawn to the Atlee mansion and become a recluse. With
the end in sight, Judge Atlee issues a summons for both sons
to return home to Clanton, to discuss the details of his estate.
It is typed by the Judge himself, on his handsome old stationery,
and gives the date and time for Ray and Forrest to appear in
his study. Ray reluctantly heads south, to his hometown, to the
place where he grew up, which he prefers now to avoid. But the
family meeting does not take place. The Judge dies too soon,
and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret known only to
Ray. And perhaps someone else.
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 Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
- ISBN: 0684853701
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
-
- John Nash was a prodigy. A star of the already prestigious
Princeton and MIT mathematics departments in the 1950s, Nash
was known for his ability to penetrate and solve "deep problems"
-- those thought virtually unsolvable by his peers. His greatest
contribution came with his advancement of game theory that revolutionized
economics. A professor in his 20s, he was a leader in his field,
a recognized genius. And then his life and career collapsed.
In 1959, at the age of 30, Nash had a schizophrenic breakdown
that saw him disappear from the world of mathematics. He lost
his job, his wife, and, seemingly, his sanity.Sylvia Nasar's
detailed biography of the man, his achievements, and his descent
into mental illness is as affectionate towards its subject as
it is probing into the often oddly parallel worlds of academia
and mental hospitals, genius and madness. Nasar stays focused
on the life of Nash but manages to bring to it insights into
the fine line between ill and well. Notably, her behind-the-scenes
look at the Nobel Prize committee's consideration of Nash's work
and their trepidation at awarding their prestigious prize to
a "madman" is an interesting discussion. Ultimately,
the story has a bizarre and happy ending. At 66, Nash inexplicably
recovered from his illness, returned to academia, and was awarded
the Nobel Prize for economics. A brilliant book -- at once a
powerful and moving biography of a great mathematical genius
and an important contribution to American intellectual history.
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 Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard
ISBN: 0060008725
Publisher: Morrow,William & Co
There's no arguing that Elmore "Dutch" Leonard remains
the coolest of the cool in the arena of humorous crime writing.
Earlier in his career, Leonard wrote more realistic and much
darker cop 'n' killer fiction before he found his hipster streak
and mined it like no one else before or since. His crackling
dialogue snaps like jazzy blues riffs, and his signature ultra-lean
style and droll wit have set the bar by which all such novels
are measured. With Tishomingo Blues Leonard has managed to raise
the bar once again. Here's the story of Dennis Lenahan, a world-class
high-diving champ now working his act at carnivals and amusement
parks. When he approaches Billy Darwin, a Mississippi casino
mogul, and proposes to perform his dives from 80 feet above Darwin's
hotel, he enters a world of hipster criminals and amiable con
men. Dennis's new assistant, who helps set up the rigging, is
barely around for a day before two members of the Dixie Mafia
come along and put five in the back of his head while Dennis
is at the top of the platform. Although he knows enough to keep
his mouth shut, Dennis is quickly drawn into a world where the
South still battles the North and every grinning face disguises
a secret agenda. With a climax that takes place during a Civil
War reenactment, the novel is somewhat reminiscent of Peter Abrahams's
wonderful Last of the Dixie Heroes. Although Leonard's breakneck
pace and complex plotting are top-notch, everyone knows that
it's his bizarre cast of characters and laugh-out-loud dialogue
that make his novels such a treat. Weird and lovable criminals
(even the hit men are so outrageous you grow fond of them), thugs,
miscreants, fallen celebrities, and wealthy deviants all populate
the story and bring it to delightfully crazy life.
 
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