It’s become increasingly difficult for writers to find reviewers for their published work. So as writers yourselves, contributing reviews is one of the greatest services you can provide.

Launched just last fall, the Los Angeles Review of Books is dedicated to this cause. They will publish criticism, comparisons (multiple reviews of the same book), and opinion of new-releases, old-releases, and classics–both in print in on the web.

Whether you’re a writer looking for more venues to push your published work, or simply an avid reader, this is sure to be an excellent resource!

By Caitlin MacDougall, Intern

You never forget your first read of your favorite novel—at least I don’t.  In the wake of your first reading, you remember how the book became a part of you, how it shaped and defined that one period in your life, and the painful separation anxiety you felt when you realized you were on the last chapter.  It’s about as good as falling in love.

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird was that first love for many, but I never got the chance to read it.  I remember showing my mother my reading list in junior high and her puzzled look when she realized Lee’s one and only masterpiece, a coming-of-age prerequisite, did not make the cut.  “What kind of middle school doesn’t have To Kill A Mockingbird as required reading?” she asked.  I felt excluded from this literary secret that everyone seemed to relish, but I made it my personal responsibility to read the book on my own.

Years went by and as I checked the American classics off my unofficial reading list (F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Baldwin, Flannery O’Connor, J.D. Salinger), To Kill A Mockingbird lingered as the itch that had not been scratched.  Walking around Politics and Prose recently, I noticed a re-print of the novel in honor of its 50^th anniversary (I’ll let the baby-boomers take a moment to let that settle in).  As a recent college graduate experiencing my first taste of funemployment, I knew that this summer was my chance to finally fulfill the experience I had missed out on when I was thirteen.

I read the entire book during a weekend with my family in Lake George.  Instead of sailing, hiking, or biking, I spent hours sitting on a hammock on the porch, engrossed in the story.  What I love most about Lee’s writing is her mastery of place.  The passage in which Scout first describes the town of Macomb is unforgettable:

“Macomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oak on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” (5)

How beautiful.  The description completely sets the tone for the entire novel.  As we follow Scout, Jem, and Dill through the seasons, through their neighbors’ yards and the through heartwrenching trial of Tom Robinson, we are reminded of the heat and listlessness in that first passage about Macomb in the summertime—a description of stagnancy that was sure to be torn apart as the town’s racial epithets are challenged and the characters are drained of their innocence.

Lee’s masterpiece is a testament to the importance of setting certainly, but it is also a reminder to re-read the books that inspire you.  Ask yourself: why is this story so important to me?  What makes it magnificent?  You can read as many How-To books about writing or getting published as you want, but the best lessons are those hidden in the sleeves of that dusty hardcover you love so much.

(Being read by Editorial Assistant, Amanda)

Generation X, by Douglas Coupland
Published: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1991, ISBN-10: 031205436X

The inside flap of my faded library copy of Generation X hails the book as a “salute to the generation born in the late 1950s and 1960s—a…suspiciously hushed generation known vaguely up to now as twentysomething.” Having picked up the book on a recommendation, I was immediately worried about the story’s relevance to today—I wanted a book criticizing the culture of now, and this book heralded what Wikipedia defines as the generation born between 1961 and 1983. While some books are timeless, others are only relevant in which the time they are written. This sounded like one of the latter.

The book trails three people (in their twenties) as they drift through the California desert, working (or having quit) pointless jobs and seemingly feeling ambivalent about where they’re headed. It is only through the stories they tell each other–made up renditions of alien planets or of the last man on earth—that we are made aware of just how much they actually expect from life, just how deeply they crave love, stability, and purpose.

I’ve now blazed through the first eighty pages of Generation X. As someone who has spent the last four years drifting down the East coast, who is now contemplating traveling across the world to “find my culture”, I find reading about Coupland’s trio both enlightening and insanely painful.  Coupland has peppered the margins with “vocabulary” that every time stings me with its bitter honesty and makes me question my own life’s importance–from “Cult of Aloneness” (The need for autonomy at all costs…often brought about by overly high expectations of others”) to “Semi-disposable Swedish Furniture” (self-explanatory). And the stories that the three wanderers tell are dripping with the same fears and desires I hide away before bed every night.

It’s not just relevant for me, of course—it’s the majority of my generation. Almost everyone I’ve talked to from my graduating class has expressed their dissatisfaction with the “real world”, or bemoaned their lack of excitement about the future. Many of us have both loved and hated Ikea. The book could have been published yesterday.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but it’s definitely relevant to now, and a definite must-read for any recent graduate. Perhaps even not-so-recent graduates. It seems maybe we’ve all been there.

MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War (Karl Marlantes)

The description of the novel on Kindle (yes, I have one) is as follows: “Intense, powerful, and compelling. MATTERHORN is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and James Jones’s The Thin Red Line.”

That sums it up. I couldn’t do better. I’m about 2/3 of the way through, and I can’t put it down. Riveting is the relationship between the decision-makers and the soldiers in the field (make that jungle and a small mountain they are commanded to defend). Commanders make decisions based on what their superiors want to hear. How many gooks have been killed. Interrupting ammunition and supply lines. Regaining control of that damn hill. Anything that makes them look good despite the consequences to the men out there.

For example, at one point the men have not been resupplied for a week. They are starving, almost out of ammunition, medical supplies, water. They try to capture condensation on their ponchos from the surrounding fog. The higher-ups could give a shit! Recapture the hill. Do this do that, though it will cost the lives of half the troops! That’s what fascinates me. That they would sacrifice their men simply to advance their military careers, and they make these decisions from the safety and comfort of the bases miles removed from the grunts. They smoke, they drink fine whiskey, they converse, check maps, and send out orders. “Fucking do it!”

I admit I’m a bit obsessed with the Vietnam War. It was my war. I protested and fought with state troopers and city police screaming for the US to get out. What I did not understand was the soldiers’ suffering. The horrible conditions they had to fight in. The devastation, deprivation, and the sadness.  I lumped the soldiers in with the military/govt conducting the war. As if the men wanted to be there. I must have been daft. The draft was in effect. Most soldiers, or at least many, many, were there against their will.

The man who wrote the book–Karl Marlantes–was there. He fought and afterwards sat down and typed a novel based on his experiences. He tried to sell it 30 years ago, but no publisher bought it. Thank God they finally saw value in it and someone had the sense to publish it. Though I suppose the time factor has something to do with it. Thirty years ago with the war in the recent past, it was too close, and people may not have bought it. Waiting 30 years, on the other hand, was too long.

As if you couldn’t tell, this book gets five stars from me. It’s terrific. If anyone wants to understand that war, and likely many wars, it’s a must read.

p.s. My next book is Sebastian Junger’s non-fiction WAR. Recently, I had a chance to hear him speak at Politics & Prose here in DC, and he was terrific. This one is about our war in Afghanistan, where he spent five months with the soldiers in a remote valley. Check out the reviews, they are fantastic.

The NYT bestseller, WEIGHT OF SILENCE, has received praise and kudos up the gazoo. Yes, it’s a great read, a page turner, but great literature it’s not. In one sitting, maybe an hour and a half, I read about 1/3 of the book…exceptionally fast for me. I wasn’t focused on the prose, the beauty of the language, or the complexity of the characters; no, I was focused on the plot. What will happen next? With great literature, I often stop to re-read an imaginative description, write down an unusual turn of phrase, pore over great dialogue, marvel at the character’s interior world. You get the picture. But with this novel, while I’ll admit its multiple points-of-view are skillfully done, and it’s the perfect beach book, or one to curl up with in front of a fire when it’s snowing outside, what keeps me reading is the need to find out what happens in the end. Let me know what you think.

p.s. Don’t get me wrong, readers, I wish I’d written the novel! For lots of reasons! Now go, write your own book! Or read The Weight of Silence!

The Life and Fate of the Indian Tiger

“His text offers educated general readers a multifaceted look at India’s endangered Bengal tigers, incorporating historical and cultural topics…and events from his field work. He also discusses global efforts at tiger conservation and suggests what must be done in the future to ensure the survival of this fascinating animal.”
—SciTech Book News September 2009

http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C36548.aspx

The Life and Fate of the Indian Tiger (Hardcover)

by Tobias Lanz (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Fate-Indian-Tiger/dp/0313365482/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251222900&sr=8-1

List Price: $39.95

Acclaim for the book:  “An absorbing account: full of information, passion, and insight.” –Pankaj Sekhsaria

See the book trailer on blog post.

Description:

There may be no more magnificent animal than the tiger. Yet, around the world, their populations are dwindling, and the Indian Bengal tiger is no exception. Some estimates say there are fewer than 2,000 Bengal tigers and the entire world tiger population may be less than 3,000. The Life and Fate of the Indian Tiger offers a unique perspective on these exquisite cats. Author Tobias J. Lanz, who has been studying Indian tigers since 1998, incorporates historical and cultural topics, as well as conservation and social theories into his narrative. He paints a detailed portrait of the tiger’s life in the wild, enriching that picture with descriptions of the plant, animal, and human life found in India’s diverse tiger habitats. Personal observations on local cultures, scenery, and wildlife are balanced by discussions with the Indian people, ranging from government officials to villagers.

The Indian tiger continues to survive against great odds. Written in part to engage the reader in conservation efforts, The Life and Fate of the Indian Tiger outlines the main programs and policies enacted to save the tiger in India. Lanz dedicates a final chapter to global efforts at tiger conservation, explaining what can and must be done to safeguard one of the world’s rarest and most beautiful creatures from extinction.

About the Author

Tobias J. Lanz has degrees in Wildlife Science, Agricultural Economics, and International Studies.  He teaches international and environmental politics at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.

DAYDREAMS AT WORK reveals the valuable and productive role dayd reams play in your life and work and gives you suggestions for tapping into your own daydreams to problem solve, brainstorm, find energy and motivation, and come up with the next big idea.

http://www.amazon.com/Daydreams-Work-Wake-Creative-Powers/dp/1933102691