Our summers have markers, memories that trigger a specific time: The summer of the walk on the moon, Hurricane Bob or the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles; personal events like a high school prom, a kitchen renovation or a houseguest who long overstays.
Kirk Douglas is not done yet, not by a long shot. Just out is his ninth book, \”Let\’s Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning.\” It is a mix of reminiscences, anecdotes, tributes to Hollywood luminaries now faded or gone, a critique of America\’s present leadership and somber thoughts on the drug-induced suicide of Eric, the youngest of his four sons.
Zachary Karabell offers a different perspective on the question of Islamic rule in his history, \”Peace Be Upon You: Fourteen Centuries of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Coexistence in the Middle East\” (Knopf, 2007).
Stephen Prothero, author of the new book \”Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-And Doesn\’t\” and chair of the religion department at Boston University showed up on \”The Daily Show\” recently, hawking the fact that his book contains a quiz to test the reader\’s \”religious literacy.\” Which raises the questions: Can a 15-question quiz test religious literacy?
Shysters chase ambulances; critics chase influences. How to characterize this Chandler-Babel stew? Let\’s try the Hollywood idiom. \”The Yiddish Policeman\’s Union\” is Woody Allen meets Cornel Woolrich. No, better, deeper: S.J. Perelman meets Y.L. Peretz meets Harry Turtledove. Martin Amis meets Stanley Elkin who is chatting with Sholom Aleichem about Jorge Luis Borges.
So I read this season\’s selection of books with perhaps a different eye and an increased curiosity. There are serious books about Jewish mothers, lighthearted books, how-to volumes and memoirs and some manage to cross categories. Some offer knowing advice, others observations and jokes. The best are those that are open, honest and wise, not preachy or sentimental.
Nathan Englander\’s new novel, \”The Ministry of Special Cases\” (Alfred A. Knopf), begins on a dark night in a dangerous time: \”Jews bury themselves the way they live, crowded together, encroaching on one another\’s space. The headstones were packed tight, the bodies underneath elbow to elbow and head to toe.
The U.S publishers hated the title of A.B. Yehoshua\’s latest book \”The Mission of the Human Resources Manager.\” It was, they argued, better suited to a personnel manual than the work of one of Israel\’s most venerated authors. Ignoring Yehoshua\’s pleas, they christened the novel\’s English translation \”A Woman in Jerusalem,\” and the book became a nominee for this year\’s prestigious Los Angeles Times Book Prize, to be announced at the Times\’ Festival of Books this weekend (see story page 36).
At first glance, \”Testimony\” (Aperture, $40) looks like an innocent-enough coffee table book of Israel-themed photographs. Thumb through the first few pages and you\’ll see examples of photographer Gillian Laub\’s excellent portraiture. Each color image is accompanied by a simple enough quote from the subject, an Arab or Jew sharing the same bit of the Holy Land.
With meteoric technological advances presenting many businesses with crises verging on the existential, there is a growing need for nimble minds able to adapt to changes in the marketplace. Given this environment, it is fitting that Jonathan Feinstein, a professor at the Yale School of Management, should come out with \”The Nature of Creative Development,\” a book that attempts to model the trajectory of creativity within individuals.
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