Clint, Hollywood Hellraisers, Healthy Food, Love from a Vet, and How We Got in Our Economic Mess
by Larry Cox on Mar. 09, 2010, under UncategorizedAmerican Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood by Marc Eliot (Harmony Books, $25.99)
Marc Eliot, the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books on pop culture, believes that Clint Eastwood’s creative and real-life DNA are so intertwined, it is almost impossible to separate the off-screen person from the on-screen persona. In what is the most up-to-date and comprehensive biography of Eastwood written thus far, Eliot provides a full and colorful portrait that examines such areas as Clint’s early struggle to make it in Hollywood, the level of control he exerts on every aspect of his life, and how he helped bridge the shift from the golden age of the studio system to the new Hollywood in which the studios are essentially distributors for independent filmmakers and features. This is nothing less than the celebration of an American artist, a man who continues — even after a half century in the industry — to impact both filmmaking and the American culture.
Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift June 1948-May 1949 by Richard Reeves (Simon & Schuster, $28)
Despite the fact that historian Richard Reeves was a eleven-year-old boy when the Berlin airlift began, he was thrilled by the event, so thrilled, in fact, that more than fifty years later he would write about it in astonishing detail and clarity. The airlift, which began during the spring of 1948, was an effort to combat the blockade ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. It was done against the advice of President Harry S Truman’s entire cabinet and the Joint Chiefs of Staff but Truman was nothing if not determined and answered his critics with a simple statement: “We stay in Berlin. Period.” Drawing on hundreds of interviews conducted in the United States, Great Britain and Germany, memoirs, diaries of participants, journalism from the period, and official government documents, Reeves chronicles not just the extraordinary logistics involved in the airlift, but also the personal stories of the people involved. Politics aside, the daring young men of the Berlin airlift changed the course of world history in an almost impossible action that continues to reverberate to this very day.
On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear by Richard Ellis (Knopf, $28.95)
Without a doubt, one of the most magnificent creatures on this planet is the polar bear. Today, as global warming threatens the integrity of the ice caps where they live, Richard Ellis builds a convincing case that the hunting, mating, and hibernation habits of being impacted to such an extent, the bears might eventually become extinct. Ellis claims that as the ice melts in the Arctic, the ability of the bears to find adequate food diminishes. Some take to the water in search of ice on which to hunt and drown. This sobering book is an urgent call for action. If nothing is done and the current trend continues, polar bears could vanish and humanity would be the poorer for it.
Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine by Max Watman (Simon & Schuster, $25)
Max Watman, a Hudson Valley-based writer, went from the backwoods of Appalachia to the gritty nip joints of Philadelphia in his quest to document the historical roots of moonshine whisky. Not content to just be an observer, he even tried his hand at distilling his own batch. His story begins in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, where a mob of drunk and armed outlaws gathered during the summer of 1794 to protest the Whisky Tax of 1791. The crowd got so unruly, George Washington was forced to muster 13,000 troops to maintain order but the protesters had made their point. In his tribute to corn liquor, Watman connects the dots, from the protesters of 1794, to the bathtub hooch of the 1920s, to the booming bootleg business of today in a highly readable, crisply written overview that serves up every aspect of small-scale distilling in America.
I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay by John Lanchester (Simon & Schuster, $25)
This is a brilliant, witty, succinct overview of the current financial crisis. Lanchester, who has written extensively for such publications as The New Yorker and The London Review of Books, explains how our present devastating financial implosion occurred which was partially triggered by a handful of individuals who made wrong decisions, decisions that as we all eventually learned, had profound consequences. The author claims that the invention and misuse of financial instruments such as sub-prime mortgages are partially to blame. He is convinced that Capitalism has been become its own worst enemy, enabled by our present culture of banking and the fact that there is no foolproof mathematical formula that seamlessly assimilates financial risk and human nature. Lanchester points out that cheap credit led to an explosion of lending which, in turn, produced a volatile economic bubble that was destine to burst. Weaving together first-hand research and the investigative skills of a seasoned reporter, Lanchester has written a book that provides real-time chronology combined with a shrewd perspective and an accessible analysis that explain how we got into our present mess. It isn’t a pretty picture.
Love Is the Best Medicine: What Two Dogs Taught One Veterinarian About Hope, Humility, and Everyday Miracles by Dr. Dick Trout (Broadway Books, $23.99)
Nick Trout is a staff surgeon at the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston where he has worked for more than a decade. His previous memoir, “Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon,” was published in 2008 and was a bestseller. One of America’s favorite vets is back with yet another enchanting true story of two dogs: Helen, a ten-year-old cocker spaniel mix found abused and abandoned in a restaurant parking lot one raining night, and Chloe, a five-month-old miniature pincher, suffering from chronic leg fractures. This book brims with heart and soul. For fans of his first book, “Love Is the Best Medicine” will both satisfy and delight and is the perfect follow-up.
Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed by Robert Sellers (St. Martin’s Press, $25.99)
Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed were four of the most extraordinary film stars Britain ever produced. They were as talented as they were outrageous. Richard Burton probably summed it up best when he claimed that he had no doubt that “God put me on this earth to raise hell,” and so he did. To say that the four men were out of control is an understatement. For example, when drunk, Richard Harris sometimes would rush into traffic and attack passing cars with his bare fists. Reed, while appearing in the musical Oliver!, got the juvenile cast members drunk by spiking their drinks with vodka. Burton twice faced down angry husbands brandishing guns after he had seduced their wives. O’Toole once beat up a policeman after seeing some of his colleagues rough up a hooker. Sellers, a stand-up comedian who has written extensively for such publications as Empire, Cinema Retro, and The Independent, has written the story of four of the greatest boozers who ever walked or staggered on a soundstage. It’s a cocktail of story that includes drunken binges of near biblical proportions, broken marriages, a mix of drugs, and wanton sexual conquests. According to Sellers, they got away with their exploits because of their incredible talent and because the public loved them. He adds that they are truly the last of a breed, the last of the movie hellraisers.
Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermmen by Christopher White (St. Martin’s Press, $25.99)
People who live near Chesapeake Bay occasionally get a glimpse of the nautical past as historic wooden sailboats break through the winter ice to dredge for oysters. Much like a century ago, the captains trim their sails so that they can harness the wind in their quest. Part maritime adventure, part environmental saga, “Skipjack” by Christopher White documents a pivotal year the author spent with three of the best skipjack captains as they battle nature and each other to help control the fate of there island villages and oyster fleet. While researching his book, White lived and worked with the captains and their families for two years and observed their way of life which is quickly disappearing. Like a canary in a mineshaft, the decline of the skipjack is a barometer of the health of our coastal fisheries and even, perhaps, small-town life across America.
True Food: 8 Simple Steps to a Healthier You by Annie B. Bond, Melissa Breyer and Wendy Gordon (National Geographic Books, $26)
All of us want to eat healthier. A new book will make achieving that goal much easier. Bond, a leading authority on the connections between the environment and personal health and well-being, Breyer, a senior editor of Healthy and Green Living, and Gordon, founder of the National Geographic Green Guide, have combined their efforts in new book that is nothing less than a workable blueprint for enlightening the family kitchen in ways that good health-wise as well as the pocketbook. The eight chapters introduce simple steps that can start you and your family on the road to a healthier lifestyle. Those steps include eating food that is grown locally, eating a variety of foods, more organic choices, eat lower on the food chain, pick fresh when possible, include more whole foods, stock the pantry and green the kitchen. In addition to ideas and tips, there are dozens of delicious recipes. By following this user-friendly guide, it is easy to find ways to prepare good food with simple natural ingredients. Best of all, ingredients can sometimes be found at farmers’ markets and the organic section of the neighborhood grocery or health food store that cost less than many of the commercially produced and processed alternatives.
