THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE
Michel Faber, Author . Harcourt $28 (848p) ISBN 978-0-15-100692-2
Faber's bawdy, brilliant second novel tells an intricate tale of love and ambition and paints a new portrait of Victorian England and its citizens in prose crackling with insight and bravado. Using the wealthy Rackham clan as a focal point for his sprawling, gorgeous epic, Faber, like Dickens or Hardy, explores an era's secrets and social hypocrisy.
William Rackham is a restless, rebellious spirit, mistrustful of convention and the demands of his father's perfume business. While spying on his sickly wife's maid, whom he suspects of thievery, he begins a slow slide into depravity: he meets Sugar, a whore whose penetrating mind and love of books intrigues him as much as her beauty and carnal skills do. Faber (Under the Skin) also weaves in the stories of Agnes, William's delicate, mad and manipulative wife, and Henry, his pious, morally conflicted brother, both of whom seek escape from their private prisons through fantasies and small deceptions. Sin and vice both attract and repel the brothers: William, who becomes obsessed with Sugar, rescues her from her old life, while Henry, paralyzed by his love for Emmeline Fox, a comely widow working to rescue the city's prostitutes, slowly unravels.
Faber's central characters, especially the troubled William and the ambitious Sugar, shine with life, and the author is no less gifted in capturing the essence of his many minor characters—the evil madam, Mrs. Castaway, and William's pompous father-in-law, Lord Unwin. The superb plot draws on a wealth of research and briskly moves through the lives of each character—whether major or minor, upstairs or downstairs—gathering force until the fates of all are revealed. A marvelous story of erotic love, sin, familial conflicts and class prejudice, this is a deeply entertaining masterwork that will hold readers captive until the final page. (Sept.)
Forecast:Harcourt executive editor Ann Patty calls this "the first great 19th-century novel of the 21st century," and she's right: it's just the sort of gorgeous, Dickensian doorstopper that serious readers will cozy up with as fall winds start blowing. 75,000 printing; major ad/promo; author tour.
Staff
MIDDLESEX
Jeffrey Eugenides, Author . Farrar, Straus & Giroux $26 (544p) ISBN 978-0-374-19969-2
As the Age of the Genome begins to dawn, we will, perhaps, expect our fictional protagonists to know as much about the chemical details of their ancestry as Victorian heroes knew about their estates. If so, Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides) is ahead of the game. His beautifully written novel begins: "Specialized readers may have come across me in Dr. Peter Luce's study, 'Gender Identity in 5-Alpha-Reductase Pseudohermaphrodites.' "The "me" of that sentence, "Cal" Stephanides, narrates his story of sexual shifts with exemplary tact, beginning with his immigrant grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty. On board the ship taking them from war-torn Turkey to America, they married—but they were brother and sister. Eugenides spends the book's first half recreating, with a fine-grained density, the Detroit of the 1920s and '30s where the immigrants settled: Ford car factories and the tiny, incipient sect of Black Muslims. Then comes Cal's story, which is necessarily interwoven with his parents' upward social trajectory. Milton, his father, takes an insurance windfall and parlays it into a fast-food hotdog empire. Meanwhile, Tessie, his wife, gives birth to a son and then a daughter—or at least, what seems to be a female baby. Genetics meets medical incompetence meets history, and Callie is left to think of her "crocus" as simply unusually long—until she reaches the age of 14.
Eugenides, like Rick Moody, has an extraordinary sensitivity to the mores of our leafier suburbs, and Cal's gender confusion is blended with the story of her first love, Milton's growing political resentments and the general shedding of ethnic habits. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this book is Eugenides's ability to feel his way into the girl, Callie, and the man, Cal. It's difficult to imagine any serious male writer of earlier eras so effortlessly transcending the stereotypes of gender. This is one determinedly literary novel that should also appeal to a large, general audience. (Sept. 4)
Forecast:The allure of The Virgin Suicides, in book and movie form, has created a ready-made audience for Eugenides's long-awaited second novel. Middlesex more than delivers, and its publication will be a genuine publishing event, including a 10-city author tour. A novel starring a hermaphrodite on bestseller lists? Stranger things have happened.
Staff
John C. Maxwell, Author . Warner Faith $12.95 (96p) ISBN 978-0-446-53069-9
Leadership guru Maxwell, who successfully bridged secular and Christian markets with such motivational titles as The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and Developing the Leader Within You, draws on Old Testament paragons in this gifty inspirational hardback. Maxwell asks readers to envision the great "cloud of witnesses" (Heb. 12:1) said to surround us as we run the marathon of life, imagining that this cloud includes "the giants of the faith"—biblical heroes whose lives impart meaningful lessons. He includes the usual suspects: the David-tackles-Goliath tale demonstrates how people can rise above their limitations, while Noah exemplifies a willingness to take new risks (i.e., build a boat when no one had seen rain before). But there are bolder moments, too. Maxwell uses Rebekah as a model of generous giving (a welcome and underutilized virtue in business titles) and provides some gee-whiz facts to drive the point home: he estimates that to water Jacob's 10 camels, Rebekah needed about 200 gallons of water, requiring 40 trips to the well with a five-gallon jug. Such specificity helps to put a face on the virtues extolled here and offers readers a bit of insight into the Bible. Despite Maxwell's overarching metaphor of a marathon, though, the book as a whole feels more like a breathless sprint; intriguing points are raised throughout, but these promising gems lack development. (Sept. 25)
Forecast:Maxwell's most recent book, Your Road Map to Success, debuted in May in the number one spot on the Wall Street Journal business bestseller list. This tiny hardback has all the packaging of a certain recent blockbuster (can anyone say Jabez?) with the Maxwell imprimatur to spur sales. Expect big numbers, and not just in the Christian market.
Staff
Ed Victor, Author, Nigella Lawson, Foreword by, Larry King, Introduction by , foreword by Nigella Lawson, intro. by Larry King. Arcade $23 (288p) ISBN 978-1-55970-651-3
Literary agent Victor admits he's battled weight gain virtually his whole life. A few years ago, he successfully lost quite a lot of weight by adapting various measures from different diets, but regained the pounds within a year. When he slimmed down again last year, he decided that sharing his success story would also help him keep the weight off. Victor's "obvious diet" is not a clearly prescribed all-in-one program. On the contrary, Victor cheerfully argues, everyone knows what foods they should avoid and which measures will work (Victor must avoid bread, pasta and animal fats). This meal plan can incorporate the rules from other diet programs. For example, Victor uses a variation of the cabbage soup from the cabbage soup diet as part of his eating plan. In short, he's advocating a more balanced approach to eating, rather than the restrictions often associated with diets. Victor also incorporates a cleansing day, during which he consumes only fruit, vegetables, salad and vegetable soup. He also has a treat meal—once a week, he eats whatever he wants at one meal. This diet book delivers exactly what the author promises: practical if unoriginal advice on starting and sticking to a diet from an ordinary person, not a professional. Victor entertains and motivates; the book is akin to having a diet coach help people start a new way of eating. (Sept.)
Staff
Michael Chiarello, Author . Chronicle $35 (224p) ISBN 978-0-8118-3383-7
Chiarello is founder of the Napa Valley restaurant Tra Vigne, and his recipes combine his Italian heritage (from Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot) with local produce to mixed results. Some innovations are wonderful: Warm Peach and Prosciutto Salad is a great variation on traditional prosciutto with melon, and the flavors of succulent peaches and salty prosciutto marry so well it's a wonder no one's come up with the combination before. His four seasonal takes on panzanella—a traditional tomato bread salad for summer, Autumn Panzanella with mushrooms, Winter Panzanella with squash and brussels sprouts, and Spring Panzanella with asparagus and peas—also stand out. Occasionally, Chiarello gets whimsical with titles, as with Green Eggs and Ham, a rustic dish of prosciutto, poached eggs and basil oil on toast. Sometimes, though, he goes just a bit overboard with the food itself, as with Brodetto di Mare seafood stew served over risotto, which sounds like a runny combination, and Baby Back Ribs with Espresso BBQ Sauce. Photography and layout are beautiful, making this book as much a pleasure to page through as it is to cook from, and the more appealing fare, such as a Spring Pea Soup with a confetti spray of chive flowers and Radicchio Slaw with Warm Honey Dressing, makes up for the occasional odd duck. (Sept.)
Forecast:These are the kind of contemporary, Italian-influenced flavors Americans can never seem to get enough of. The association with Chiarello's two PBS series, Michael Chiarello's Napa and Season by Season, will only supplement healthy sales.
Staff
Ronald K. L. Collins, Author, David M Skover, Joint Author , CD narrated by Nat Hentoff. Sourcebooks $29.95 (560p) ISBN 978-1-57071-986-8
The shelf is full of books about "outlaw social critic" Lenny Bruce (1925–1966). But now comes a different approach, as two legal scholars provide an in-depth survey of "comedy on trial"—the five years of censorship, arrests, obscenity trials, convictions and appeals as prosecutors sought to bust Bruce for "word crimes." Skover and Collins (coauthors of The Death of Discourse) meticulously document both litigation and the literary scene of the 1960s, crosscutting between clubs and courtrooms to show how Bruce's career crumbled in a nightmarish fashion as he broke taboos and struggled for free speech in the years before his death from a morphine overdose. Looking for a lawyer in 1964, Bruce requested, "Get me somebody who swings with the First Amendment," and that year noted performers and writers (such as William Styron, John Updike, James Baldwin) signed a petition to support Bruce, while others (Jules Feiffer, Jason Epstein, even the "prim and proper" Dorothy Kilgallen) served as defense witnesses. Granted access to Bruce's papers, Collins and Skover have done exhaustive research, also interviewing Bruce's lawyers, club owners, cohorts and comic talents, including Orson Bean, George Carlin, Margaret Cho and Paul Krassner. The voice of Bruce springs to life with his memorable comedy routines heard on the accompanying CD, narrated by Nat Hentoff and also featuring interviews with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Hugh Hefner and others who reflect on Bruce's legacy. Generating a gamut of emotions, the entire package is an important documentation of a revolution in American culture. B&w photos. Agent, Neeti Madan, Sterling Lord Literistic.(Sept.)
Forecast:Recordings and videos have given Lenny Bruce legions of new fans, so some collectors will purchase this just to get the CD.
Staff
CROSSROADS OF FREEDOM: Antietam 1862: The Battle That Changed the Course of the Civil War
James M. McPherson, Author . Oxford Univ. $26 (208p) ISBN 978-0-19-513521-3
Contributing significantly to Oxford's new academic series Pivotal Moments in American History and to the literature on the Civil War, McPherson convincingly establishes the Battle of Antietam as the conflict's pivotal moment militarily, politically and morally. His depiction of the spring 1862 Confederacy shows it reeling under blockade while the North was learning how to practice "hard war." Yet McPherson tracks Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days' Battles and the Second Manassas campaign, placing him, by September, in Maryland and threatening Washington. Foreign nations were poised to recognize the Confederacy, and Lincoln had postponed his plans to liberate its slaves. With an election coming in November, demoralized Northern voters were in position to give control of Congress to a Democratic party with a vocal peace wing. The Union general George B. McClellan never took a risk he could avoid; on September 17, at Antietam, he failed to commit his full force, yet managed to get a defeated, demoralized army to the field at the end of the single bloodiest day in American history: over 6,000 men from both sides dead. Before the battle, McPherson carefully demonstrates (with the aid of 30 duotones and seven maps), the Civil War's outcome had been disputable. In Antietam's aftermath, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. France and Britain discreetly backed away from recognition. The Republicans kept control of Congress and of most state governments. The war was now the Union's to lose. (Sept.)
Forecast:McPherson, a historian at Princeton with an endowed chair, won the Pulitzer Prize for the Battle Cry of Freedom in 1988. Look for very solid trade sales and the book's adoption on campus as a short, battle-centered introduction to the war as a whole.
Staff
David Borgenicht, Joint Author, Joe Borgenicht, Author . Quirk $14.95 (192p) ISBN 978-1-931686-05-1
Picking up where the brilliantly successful Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series left off, the Borgenichts (David co-wrote Worst-Case) present matter-of-fact advice on how to perform James Bond–like stunts with incredible ease. They interviewed doctors, shark hunters, former prisoners, bus drivers, wedding planners, boxing coaches, skydivers, escape artists and a multitude of other experts to provide the best, most succinct tips for a variety of scenarios. The "Good Guy Skills" section is the strongest, as it explains techniques for maneuvers many readers wouldn't have a clue how to execute. There's information on interrogating a suspect, saving a patient who's flatlined, saving someone who's hanging from a cliff and spy-proofing a hotel room. The random facts are oddly intriguing: e.g., to catch a great white shark, don't chain a chunk of meat to the end of a pier; when a suspect looks to the left during an interrogation, it often means she's lying. The Borgenichts then offer counsel on situations involving love (to stop a wedding, have your speech planned ahead of time), the paranormal (the Jedi mind trick is simple manipulation) and escape (try getting on the wrong train if you need to fake out pursuers at a train station). Throughout, quotes from The Fugitive, The Shawshank Redemption and other films remind readers how one might find oneself in such predicaments. Almost practical and definitely entertaining, this is one how-to guide Clint Eastwood and Charlie's Angels would not want to be without. (Oct.)
Forecast:Based on the accomplishments of the Worst-Case Scenario series, this book—the press's first title—is destined for super sales.
Staff
BLUE LATITUDES: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
Tony Horwitz, Author . Holt $26 (416p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6541-1
In an entertaining, informative look at the life and travels of Capt. James Cook, Horwitz (Confederates in the Attic; Baghdad Without a Map) combines a sharp eye for reporting with subtle wit and a wonderful knack for drawing out the many characters he discovers. The book is both a biography of Cook, the renowned 18th-century British explorer who's widely considered one of the greatest navigators in maritime history, and a travel narrative. On one level, Horwitz recounts Cook's rise from poverty in a large family in rural England to an improbable and dazzling naval career that brought him worldwide fame. On another, he tells his own story of following in Cook's wake, visiting his far-flung destinations (with the exception of Antarctica) and investigating his legacy. It is satisfying in both regards, as Horwitz skillfully paces the book by intertwining his own often amusing adventures with tales of Cook and his men. Despite the historical focus, Horwitz doesn't stray too far from the encounters with everyday people that gave his previous books such zest. His travels bring him face-to-face with a violent, boozing gang of Maori New Zealanders called the Mongrel Mob, who are violently critical of Cook, arguing that "Cook and his mob, they put us in this position," Moari activists "wonder[ing] at those who would honour the scurvy, the pox, the filth and the racism" that they feel he brought to their island, and the King of Tonga, who couldn't seem to care less about what the explorer meant to his domain. With healthy doses of both humor and provocative information, the book will please fans of history, exploration, travelogues and, of course, top-notch storytelling. (Oct.)
Staff
Pamela Stephenson, Author . Overlook $27.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-58567-308-7
American audiences only know Billy Connolly—if they know him at all—from his HBO comedy specials, or from his role opposite Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown. But Connolly is one of England's most popular and infamous comedians. This biography, written by his wife, explains why. Connolly broke into show biz in the late 1960s with a banjo-comedy routine that he performed in Glasgow pubs. By the end of the '70s, Connolly was booking sold-out shows all around England and appearing frequently on TV and film. His antics were notorious: he looked like a hippie, swore like a sailor (he used "the 'f' word in every single sentence and double on Sundays") and drank incredible amounts of liquor (he named his comedy tours after his drink du jour: the gin tour, the brandy tour, etc.). He was also prone to singing songs like "What Does a Scotsman Wear Under His Kilt" to the tune of "Blowin' in the Wind." But, Stephenson argues, there was considerable pain behind Connolly's headline-grabbing behavior. As a child, he was abandoned by his mother and raised in a slum, subject to physical and sexual abuse from relatives. It's Connolly's past, and his strength in overcoming it, that rescues this book. What could have been a humdrum biography turns into a triumph of the will, an Angela's Ashes with punch lines. Apart from an annoying tendency to name-drop American celebrities who just adore Billy, Stephenson admirably describes a man who manages to be very funny despite very unfunny beginnings. Photos. (Oct. 17)
Forecast:Last year's U.K. edition of Billy sold over 950,000 copies and won the British Book of the Year Award. Overlook is hoping it'll catch on stateside, too; it plans a 75,000 first printing and a major media blitz. But whether Billy will be able to make waves on this side of the Atlantic remains to be seen.
Staff
