NBA referee Delaney’s fascinating account of his prior life as a New Jersey state trooper who infiltrated organized crime will be a must-read for those drawn to Joe Pistone’s similar account in Donnie Brasco (or the movie adaptation starring Johnny Depp). In 1975, Delaney was a relative novice in law enforcement when he was tapped by a superior to help build cases against major Mafia families by creating and running a fake business, Alamo Trucking. With the aid of St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times sportswriter Scheiber, Delaney captures perfectly the daily routine and perils of undercover work, and describes the psychological challenges he faced during the three years of Project Alpha: “The granite foundation of my self-image... had given way to shifting sands of doubt and worry.” While less heralded than Pistone’s work, Delaney’s achievements—which yielded multiple convictions of members of the Bruno and Genovese families—were significant precursors to the Feds’ massive 1980s assault on La Cosa Nostra. Becoming a basketball referee after these proceedings was a return to an early passion of the high school all-state forward and captain of his college team—but the fear, he says, still comes back sometimes. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Feb. 5)

Goldberg, a TV scriptwriter and producer, fondly recalls his rocky, improbable route to Hollywood success, including the people who helped him along the way. Funny, dry and self-deprecating, Goldberg cuts swiftly through the years, from the mid-1950s growing up in a loving extended Jewish family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to his scruffy vagabonding in 1972 in Europe with his pregnant girlfriend, Diana, and their canny Labrador dog, Ubu. He sold his first scripts to TV shows in the 1970s, prompting his move from New York to California with Diana, who opened a day-care center. Goldberg took a class with scriptwriter Nate Monaster, who motivated him and helped submit his work to Los Angeles producers. Soon enough, Goldberg’s scripts for the Bob Newhart Show, the Tony Randall Show and the MTM empire gave him the clout to start his own company, UBU (named for the beloved dog he eventually gave away, by the by), launching such pilots as Family Ties for the networks. Indeed, Goldberg’s memoir is a kind of love letter to longtime partner Diana as well as to Michael J. Fox, with whom he later worked on Spin City. His professed guilt for making fistfuls of money while making people laugh renders this work effortlessly likable. (Feb.)

Was Europe’s domination of the modern international order the inevitable rise of a superior civilization or the piratical hijacking of an evolving world system? A little of both, and a lot of neither, this ambitious comparative study argues—because world history’s real “center of gravity” sits in Eurasia. Historian Darwin (The End of the British Empire) contends that an ascendant Western imperialism was a sideshow to vast, wealthy and dynamic Asian empires—in China, Mughal India, the Ottoman Middle East and Safavid Iran—which proved resistant to Western encroachment and shaped the world into the 21st century. Europe’s overseas colonial empires as well as the expansions of the United States across North America and Russia across Siberia—was not inevitable, but rather a slow, fitful and often marginal enterprise that didn’t accelerate until the mid-19th century. Darwin analyzes the technological, organizational and economic advantages Europeans accrued over time, but shows how dependent their success was on the vagaries of world trade (the driving force of modern imperialism, in his account) and the internal politics of the countries they tried to control. Nicely balanced between sweeping overview and illuminating detail, this lucid survey complicates and deepens our understanding of modern world history. Photos. (Feb)

Yale historian Gilmore turns a wide lens on the battle against Jim Crow in this worthy if overstuffed collective biography of the black and white Southern activists whose work before the larger Civil Rights movement constitute its neglected, forgotten or repressed origins. Expanding the “temporal and geographical boundaries” of the fight for racial equality, Gilmore’s scholarship considers international racial politics and traces a progression from 1920s Communists, who joined forces in the late 1930s with a radical left to form a Southern popular front, to the 1940s grassroots activists. Gilmore (Who Were the Progressives?) lavishes attention on the “first American-born black Communist,” Lovett Fort-Whiteman, who died in a Siberian gulag in 1939; and on FDR-era civil rights activist Pauli Murray, distinguished by her fight against segregation at the University of North Carolina in 1939 and her involvement in the defense of Virginia sharecropper Odell Walker, ultimately executed for killing his white landlord. Gilmore’s sweeping, fresh consideration of pre-movement civil rights activity, with its links to both the exportation of American racism and the importation of Communist egalitarianism, is full of informative gems, but the mining is left to the reader. (Jan.)

Financial planner by day, “yogi by dawn,” Kessel offers “holistic financial advice” in this Buddhist-influenced debut promising both a better financial strategy and greater fulfillment and happiness. More money doesn’t necessarily mean more enjoyment of life and freedom from worry, Kessel argues; people are often unhappy with their financial lives because traditional ways to think about money—spend less, save more—work from the outside in rather than the inside out. Kessel highlights the benefits of focusing awareness inward, allowing for the integration of outer actions with inner understanding. He explores eight financial archetypes (including “The Pleasure Seeker” and “The Empire Builder”), helps readers determine their type and suggests ways to overcome the problems each type typically faces. Pleasure Seekers, for example, should take a weekly break from “wanting” or redefine “the things that bring them pleasure.” The rewards will be an abiding sense of financial fulfillment, a sense of security and confidence about the future and a greater ability to reach important financial goals. Readers interested in an Eastern-influenced approach will find useful advice on how to think about money, as well as insight into what makes us tick. (Jan.)

Journalist Wright (Soldiers of Freedom) evokes the passage to gay identity for three young men of color in this impressionistic, often disjointed account. The narrative juxtaposes vignettes from the lives—particularly the sexual lives—of Manny, a 14-year-old Brooklynite of Puerto Rican and Jamaican heritage who “had leadership skills so natural he was all but unable to control them”; Julius, a 22-year-old African-American transplanted from north Florida to New York who is “equally capable of stunning achievement and devastating self-destruction”; and Carlos, a 25-year-old Puerto Rican who is “a caretaker by nature.” These are gracefully written, sympathetic profiles, but they are only loosely tied together by the young men’s overlap at an informal shelter for queer youth in East New York, Brooklyn. Additionally, Wright’s brief historical background— of East New York, Puerto Rico, Greenwich Village and the house ball scene, as well as of theories of homosexuality and reference to diverse statistical studies—reveal that he has done his homework, but this reportage fragments, more than it supports, the already tenuous structure. Wright brings Manny’s, Julius’s and Carlos’s dilemmas, confusion and curiosity to light, but not into sharp focus. (Jan.)

This distressing anthology—equal parts manifesto, testimony and manual—gathers over 40 scholarly essays, spoken word pieces, poems and short memoirs about “war, rape, murder, atrocities, slavery, sex trade, domestic violence, poverty, and other forms of oppression” faced by women of color around the globe. The first section of this neatly structured collection addresses domestic violence in the United States; the second shifts to the international sphere, while the third focuses on state-sanctioned and military violence against women. The heavily personal fourth section segues to an action-oriented concluding chapter. Particularly noteworthy is the original research of Hosai Ehsan’s “The Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Afghan Households” and of Nandini Gunewardena’s “Hidden Transcripts: Women’s Suicide as Resistance in Sri Lanka.” Sharmila Lodhia offers a fresh perspective in “Selective Storytelling: A Critique of U.S. Media Coverage Regarding Violence Against Indian Women,” as does Dai Sil Kim-Gibson in “'Comfort Women Want Justice, Not Comfort.” Activists provide useful, practical advice (e.g., Nalini Shekar and Mukta Sharangpani’s “Culture and Truth: Learning from a Transatlantic Trafficking Case.” This highly personal and political anthology will unsettle, inform and inspire feminists in particular. Artwork not seen by PW. (Jan.)

In this thoughtful, well-researched history, Sublette (Cuba and Its Music) charts the development of New Orleans, from European colonization through the Haitian revolution (which was crucial to French and American negotiations over Louisiana) to the Louisiana Purchase. Central to his account are the African slaves, who began arriving in New Orleans in 1719, and their contributions to the city’s musical life. He considers, for example, how musical influences from different parts of Africa—Kongo drumming and Senegambian banjo playing—combined to forge a distinctive musical culture. Sublette also lucidly discusses New Orleans’ important role in the domestic slave trade, arguing persuasively that the culture of slavery in New Orleans was different from that in Virginia or South Carolina. In New Orleans, there was a large population of free blacks, and slaves there had “greater relative freedom” than elsewhere. Furthermore, by the early 19th century, Louisiana was home to more African-born slaves than the Upper South. Those factors, which helped perpetuate African religion and dance, combined to offer “an alternative path of development for African American culture.” As our nation continues to ponder the future of the Big Easy, Sublette offers an informative accounting of that great city’s past. 20 b&w photos. (Jan.)

Policy analyst and speechwriter Jones traces the life of “America’s first bona-fide best-selling author,” following Washington Irving (1783–1859) through his childhood in a religious home in New York, his entry into law, the death of his fiancée, his years abroad and, of course, his writing career. Some of the most interesting sections describe Irving’s interactions with other writers, like Poe and Dickens. Irving emerges as a man with a deep need for praise and affirmation. He was especially worried that living in Europe for so many years would cost him his American readership. Jones does not argue that Irving was a truly great writer; rather, he gives him a great deal of credit for being the first American to figure out how to make a living as an author. There were no models, no one to guide him through the arcane details of international copyright. But this biography is unsophisticated in both the writing and portrayal of Irving: for instance, is there really the deep “conflict” Jones posits between Irving’s being publicly charming and privately petty? Andrew Burstein’s recent The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving remains the better choice. 8 pages of b&w illus. (Jan.)

Galileo is mistakenly believed by many to have invented the telescope—a misconception that the scientist did little to correct in his own time. Rather, as Reeves, an associate professor of comp lit at Princeton, reminds readers in reviewing both the myths and facts of telescopy, Galileo perfected a relatively crude Dutch invention that he had gotten wind of. It was his improved version, which he christened a “telescope,” that he used to discover the four large moons around Jupiter and the topography of the Earth’s moon. However, as Reeves recounts, reports of magical mirrors and lenses dated back to the lighthouse of ancient Alexandria, which according to legend, was topped by an enormous mirror that could spy enemy ships and set them on fire. Stories circulated about other cultures, often Eastern, whose rulers used mirrors to keep a watchful eye on their citizens and spot invaders from afar. The English friar and scientist Francis Bacon intrigued generations with stories of marvelous looking glasses and a mirror that Julius Caesar supposedly used to observe the coast of England from France. In Galileo’s time, the author reports, many scientists and amateurs were experimenting with optics and purloining each other’s results in a complex game of cross-national thievery. Reeves’s study is a skillful interpretative blend of legend, history and science about lenses, mirrors and their conjoining in the telescope. 5 illus. (Jan.)

In his study of the soaring myths and ugly realities surrounding the world of high school basketball, May (Talking at Trena’s) does the math: of the 530,000-odd high school basketball players this nation fielded in 2001, a mere 405 ever played professionally. This works out to a “measly” .001 probability—a fact that doesn’t keep the kids he helps coach in a mostly black, poverty-stricken Georgia neighborhood from dreaming of the big time. More sociology paper than general interest book, May’s work has the kind of on-the-ground raw material that most chroniclers of charged subjects (race, poverty, crime and social advancement) would dream of, yet he seems strangely unable to make much of it. After dividing his book into chapters on race, masculinity, sportsmanship and the like, May marches dutifully through each of them, reporting his findings with the utmost of care, never overstating something he doesn’t have hard data for. Given literally a front-row seat to the arena where several of society’s most potent stereotypes are played out, May retreats from the fray with his stiff, term-paper prose and cautious mien. However, May’s commitment to these boys is clear, as he becomes convinced that even though their fantasies of living the American dream are for the most part a “dirty trick,” it still remains about the best thing going in their sadly limited lives. (Jan.)

London-based cellist Wilson, author of Shostakovich and Jacqueline du Pré, studied with acclaimed cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007) at the Moscow State Conservatory from 1964 to 1971. Noting that the Russian-born Rostropovich dominated the international concert scene for more than half a century, she adds, “For nearly as long as this, he has seemed to me like a personification of the cello itself.” Her key source is Rostropovich, as she interviewed him in nine cities across Europe over a span of 10 years. Writing with an exacting precision and exhaustive research, she has succeeded in documenting all aspects of his life as a musician and teacher in meticulous detail, taking the reader on a soaring journey that highlights his days with Britten, du Pré (“a voyage of discovery by equal masters, an inspired dialogue between two extraordinary artists”), Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Other chapters cover his influence and teaching methods and include an insightful analysis of the “metaphysical aspect of sound” in his music. With arpeggios of anecdotes punctuating her personal memories, Wilson has composed a symphony of sentences, a definitive portrait of the master cellist certain to be greeted with a crescendo of applause from both book lovers and music lovers. 40 b&w photos. (Jan. 4)

Lycett, biographer of Rudyard Kipling and Dylan Thomas, turns his attention to the father of detective stories in this enjoyable if densely packed biography. From his early years in Edinburgh to his life at boarding school, Conan Doyle developed a love of storytelling and mythology. After finishing medical school, he turned to writing as a way to explore his paradoxical interest in spiritualism and science. While writing his first Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet,” published in 1886, Conan Doyle continued to practice medicine and tend to his growing family. Lycett shows that Conan Doyle often viewed his laconic detective’s stories as inferior to his other work, which included everything from the social novel to a history of Britain’s involvement in WWI. With his detailed descriptions of the Doyle family tree, Lycett often overwhelms the reader with names and dates, but fans won’t be disappointed with his unearthing of the origins of the famous detective’s name (fellow student Patrick Sherlock and Oliver Wendell Holmes) or Conan Doyle’s associations with everyone from Oscar Wilde to Harry Houdini. Those looking for a close reading of the Holmes canon should look elsewhere, but fans of the in-depth literary biography will find this a satisfying read. (Dec.)

Nora Ephron’s bestselling I Feel Bad About My Neck has perhaps opened the door to discussing the failings of the female body and of female aging, and the 27 contributors to this collection deserve gratitude for enlarging the discussion. The essays detail a plethora of possible events associated with aging: aging mothers and mothers-in-law, one’s own increasing frailty and final illnesses. There are deaths and divorces after long-lived marriages. Other contributors write of the abrupt arrival in the world of acute or chronic illness. Two very different threads run throughout the essays. One is the degree to which each writer has found a way to retain or regain a sense of power over her life. The other is the power of childhood messages and experiences to resonate for decades. Standouts include PW Reviews director Louisa Ermelino’s luminous account of her mother’s and husband’s final illnesses, and Liza Nelson’s wonderful story of her double mastectomy—she’s thrilled to be rid of the enormous appendages that had tormented her all her life. (Dec.)

In her debut book, writer and editor Little searches in “linguistic nooks and crannies” for the “quirks, innovations and implausibilities of the world’s languages,” threading witty pop culture references through tapestries of language trivia written with the not-so-linguistic reader in mind. (The title refers to the mistranslation in Chinese of “Coca-Cola.”) Little strips linguistics of its academic drudgery, showing how the Tangut language uses verbs by translating phrases like Johnny Cash’s lyric “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”; referring to pop-culture icons like Al Gore, Jabba the Hutt and the Smurfs to get the point across; and covering every language from Yoruba, a West African language, to the verbless Kelen, invented as an experiment by a Berkeley undergraduate. The book contains charming anecdotes, witty sidebars, attractive illustrations (by Ayumi Piland) and comprehensive linguistics lessons on topics ranging from the well-known (“Verbs conjugate, nouns decline”) to the obscure (the disjunctive adjective: “The most infamous English example is 'hopefully,’ that famed bête noir of addled prescriptionist fussbudgets”). Little’s strong sense of humor never overwhelms her love of languages in this fascinating yet educational introduction to linguistics for a wide, pop-savvy audience. (Dec.)

This sympathetic biography of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, mid-level officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), provides a unique perspective among American war histories. Built by American advisers in 1955 to repel a conventional invasion, the ARVN was a Western-style force that actually spent most of its 25-year life battling a lightly armed insurgency. Ironically, its destruction came at the hands of a traditional invading army from North Vietnam, but by this time U.S. forces (which it had relied on for heavy artillery and airpower) were gone. Vietnam’s army suffered a chronic lack of imaginative leadership at the top, yet historian Wiest (Haig) makes a good case that it often fought well, especially at the battalion and regimental level, when led by good officers such as Dinh and Hue. Wiest describes their energetic leadership as the war intensified during the 1960s, but it is not a story that ends happily. Hue spent 13 years in a North Vietnamese prison after his capture in 1970. Dinh surrendered his regiment in 1972, finishing his career in the NVA. Readers who persist through dense nuts-and-bolts battle descriptions will gain new respect for the mishandled South Vietnamese army. (Dec.)

In this loving, appropriately ramshackle tribute to one of the most beloved rock-and-roll bands of the 1980s, Walsh gives his subjects the oral history treatment, assembling a wide range of associates, friends and famous fans to put their memories on the record. The band’s story is an archetype of the joys and pitfalls of underground success—a rabid and loyal local following leads to a major label contract that, with its attendant pressures and misunderstandings, brings about the band’s slow dissolution and demise. The great moments in their history are all recounted here in warm detail: lead singer Paul Westerberg breaking copies of his new record Hootenany in the local record store; the drunk Oklahoma City show attended by 30 people that still led to a live album; the triumphant disaster of their first and only appearance on SNL. The self-destruction of Bob Stinson, the band’s hilarious but alcoholic guitarist who died in 1995, is a fascinating and harrowing counterpoint throughout to the band’s adventures. Walsh himself proves to be among the band’s most eloquent and thorough defenders and explainers in his introductory essay and various excerpts from articles that appear throughout this consistently engaging and poignant work. (Dec.)

De Winter, an aspiring film producer, interviewed 21 successful film producers working in England, Hollywood and New York to discover what they do. Her aim is to clarify a job title that defies a one-size-fits-all definition. While some compare the position to being a cheerleader and psychoanalyst, the more practical aspects include developing material, budgeting, financing and distribution. De Winter casts a wide net on moviemaking—from Lawrence Bender working on Quentin Tarantino’s stripped-down Reservoir Dogs to the lavish James Bond franchise overseen by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. James Schamus, who has worked on 10 Ang Lee pictures, likes to be involved in the creative process; others see their talent as convincing people to give them money. De Winter’s definition of a producer is the most poetic: “turning money into light,” but in the end, there is no definitive job description. Despite the diversity of films and producers examined, the information is repetitive, and there are only vague explanations of a producer’s duties on any given project. Although the book might be inspirational to a wannabe producer, the advice of Bob Shaye, producer of the supersuccessful Lord of the Rings trilogy, is best: “If someone wants to be in the movie business, they should just get up and do something.” (Dec.)

In this intermittently amusing but excessively long sequel to How to Be Idle: A Loafer’s Manifesto, British author and editor (the Idler) Hodgkinson states upfront that his goal is to present a philosophy for everyday life based on “freedom, merriment and responsibility, or anarchy.” Asserting that before the Reformation, “England was one non-stop party,” he wants to overthrow modern Puritans and return to an approach to life that is basically “having a laugh, doing what you want”—and he provides alternatives to the many ills of the modern world such as those listed in the book’s title. The main problem is that many of Hodgkinson’s topics end up being played for easy laughs—in one chapter titled “Forget Government,” the message is “Stop Voting,” while in another on “Submit No More to the Machine, Use Your Hands,” his main advice is “Use a Scythe.” When he does try to move beyond laughs and explain how his philosophy can cause “a radical redefinition of human relationships” based on “local needs” instead of “global capitalism,” he never quite explores how this would happen in the real world, relying instead on grand statements (in a chapter called “Stop Working, Start Living”) such as “A spade, a saw and a chisel, that is all you need to be free.” (Dec.)

Tramonto, four-star chef, partner in five Chicago-based restaurants, including the highly acclaimed Tru, and author of Amuse Bouche, presents a tasty look at the Italian version of tapas—small bites and little plates that serve as appetizers and entire meals. Easy-to-prepare dishes with mouth-watering photographs whet the appetite and are perfect for entertaining. Tramonto covers all the bases with chapters on crudo, bruschetta, crostini, panini, antipasti and more. Recipes such as Grilled Shrimp Wrapped in Pancetta with Lemon Aioli offer a classic preparation as well as a shortcut using prepared mayonnaise. Mini Veal Meatballs with Caramelized Onions and Crostini with Chopped Egg and Asparagus provide a new twist to some old favorites. Tramonto also highlights traditional Italian dishes such as Creamy Soft Polenta with Meat Ragu and Rick’s Basic Bruschetta. The chapter on cheese offers tantalizing alternatives to dessert, such as Gorgonzola Dolce with Roasted Pears and Spiced Walnuts. Full-color photos. (Nov.)

While the phrase “artisan bread” typically evokes images of labor-intensive sessions and top-notch ingredients, for authors Hertzberg and François it means five minutes. An intriguing concept—high-quality, fresh bread in less time than it takes to boil water. The authors’ promises of no kneading, no starter, no proofing yeast and no need for a bread machine is based on the concept of mixed and risen high-moisture dough stored in the fridge for up to two weeks (dough is cut into pieces and popped in the oven for fresh loaves as desired). Note: for those tracking minutes, the five-minutes doesn’t include the 20-minute resting time for dough or 30 minutes for baking. After concise, introductory chapters on ingredients, equipment, and tips and techniques, readers are presented with the master recipe, a free-form loaf of French boule that is the model for all breads in the book. Three main chapters—“Peasant Loaves,” “Flatbreads and Pizzas” and “Enriched Breads and Pastries”—are filled with tempting selections and focus on ethnic breads and pastries including Couronne from France; Limpa from Scandinavia; Ksara from Morocco; Broa from Portugal; and Chocolate-Raisin Babka from the Ukraine, but the basics (Oatmeal Bread, Bagels, White Bread) are all here, too. A smattering of companion recipes such as Tuscan White Bean Dip and Portuguese Fish Stew are peppered throughout. While experienced bakers and true gourmands will skip this one, those looking for an innovative approach to making bread just might find it in these recipes. (Nov.)

Lebanese and Syrian cuisine gets an Australian accent in this half-cookbook, half-travelogue by the formerly married Maloufs. Greg, the chef, infuses the piquant classical flavors and age-old methods with new styling (Parmesan-Crumbed Quail), and sometimes vice-versa (Caesar salad with air-dried beef, Swiss Chard Risotto with Lobster), but he also presents many classics straight up, from Bedouin spinach and Lentil Soup to Lamb Shawarma and Crunchy Sesame Pistachio Cookies. Lucy’s narrative of the pair’s month-long sojourn in the Middle East provides a skeleton for the book, as her descriptions of their visits to dairies, butchers, bakers and preserve-makers precede recipes that incorporate yogurt and cheese, meats, assorted breads and condiments like the powerful red pepper paste or bitter orange marmalade. Her accounts of restaurants and sightseeing at times sound overly steeped in the tone of breathless articles from high-end travel magazines, but she also includes a good deal of historical information. Harvey’s splendid photography of people and landscapes in addition to food give the book an authentic and lively flair. The recipe instructions frequently lack specificity, but experienced cooks intrigued by the rich traditions of cooking and culture (and not dissuaded by the price) will find a solid guide in this book. (Nov.)

The authors are no-salt veterans (The No-Salt, Lowest Sodium Light Meals Book) who enjoy playing with recipes. Neither doctors nor chefs, they offer an array of accessible, if not dazzling, recipes influenced by world cuisine that make the prospect of a no-salt diet less bleak. The book begins with a not-too-decadent dessert chapter offering Date Walnut Cookies from Germany and French Vanilla Pudding. The authors then launch into sauces and spice mixes such as Niter Kebbeh Spiced Oil from Ethiopia. (In addition to the expected nutrition information, most recipes include a country or region of origin.) The meat chapter covers chicken as well, and includes such dishes as English Bangers, Chicken Cordon Bleu and Don’s Authentically Hot Chorizo. Light meals, breads, side dishes and breakfast dishes ranging from Cranberry Scones to a Frittata with Fresh Salsa round out the approachable offerings. (Nov.)

Inspired by cravings for ethnic foods—and frustration with being unable to find decent versions (or any version at all) in nonurban parts of the country—Deeds and Snyder (The Big Book of Appetizers) deliver 200 recipes for popular take-out dishes, from Mu Shu Pork to Chicken Tikka Masala and Fish Tacos. They organize the recipes by cuisine: Chinese, Eastern European, Greek, Middle Eastern, Thai and so on. And they cover the dishes most often ordered, such as Vegetable Biryani, Pizza Margherita, Spicy Tuna Rolls, Paella and Pad Thai. Fun head notes often describe the derivation of dishes—General Tso’s Chicken, for example, “was born back in the seventies in a Chinese restaurant in New York” and named after “a successful Chinese statesman back in the mid-1800s.” Recipes are approachable, if not strictly authentic, and include indications of total time and hands-on time, which is generally less than an hour. Home cooks without viable take-out options now have a reasonable alternative—though city-dwellers probably won’t be getting rid of their take-out menus anytime soon. (Nov.)

Christmas, that time of good cheer and lapsed diets, is the perfect holiday to showcase the cooking of Food Network star Deen (Paula Deen Celebrates!), who specializes in the kind of butter-and cheese-laden fare that epitomizes family-style comfort food. Sweets and snacks account for most of the recipes, since Deen happily admits to never varying from her Christmas dinner menu, which centers on a Standing Rib Roast and features a trio of potato dishes, including some unbelievably decadent Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes. Cooks will find the cookies and desserts familiar but richer, like eyebrow-raising but delicious Chocolate Cheese Fudge and creamy Chocolate Sandwich Cookies. Snacks and breakfast dishes are crowd pleasers, like gooey Praline French Toast Casserole and Cheese-coated Bacon Wraps. Devoted viewers of Deen’s show may miss the sound of her warm drawl narrating the process, but the smattering of glowing family photos and anecdotes about her grown kids and recent marriage, though she’s told them before, are decent stand-ins. Several pages of baking hints are included, but most of the recipes are simple and straightforward enough, with readily available ingredients, that even novices should be able to put together a generous Christmas spread. (Nov.)

This compassionate investigation into the multiple factors leading to pain disorders and the conditions associated with them should be required reading for health-care providers, patients with chronic pain and their families. According to neurologist Fors, patients with such disorders, from back pain and arthritis to chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, frequently experience allergies, headaches, digestive problems, anxiety and depression, leading many physicians to equate “chronic pain” with “chronic patient” rather than hunt for a constellation of cause and effect. Fors identifies primary culprits: the typical American diet, laden with sugar and saturated fats and low on nutrient-dense whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish; anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS); environmental toxins; and physical and psychological stress. By making positive lifestyle changes, Fors says, even patients who are suffering most severely will decrease their pain enough to then release neuromyofascial lesions (NMLs, or pain-causing trigger points) that have formed in the fascia (connective tissue) that encases muscle tissue and connects muscles to the rest of the body. In an extensive section on self-care, Fors instructs readers on how to manipulate NMLs; subsections with diagrams map trigger-point locations in specific areas of the body. (Dec.)

Perrin, a professor of New Testament at conservative Wheaton College in Illinois, addresses his first book as a response to Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus. He hopes evangelical readers will not simply ignore the controversy (or the gnawing doubts it may create) but will understand both Ehrman’s critique and the many reasons Perrin argues for surety. Rather than going through questions about New Testament Greek word-by-word, Perrin approaches the topic more philosophically, offering a history of textual criticism and of liberal and conservative views. His main assurance stems from the focus of Jewish culture on preserving text and the motivation of biblical authors and scribes to record everything accurately. He also meets Ehrman’s personal story of walking away from faith with his own journey from secularism into Buddhism and eventually Christianity as a searching, party-loving college student. There are both great strengths and weaknesses here—Perrin’s overview is simple to read and quite helpful at placing the debates within context, but skeptics will find him occasionally dodging tough questions with statements like “being Christian does not also require us to be rationalists.” In the end, he concludes that the four gospels contain “equivalents and approximations, but they are indeed the words of Jesus.” (Jan. 8)

MacDonald (Ordering Your Private World) charts new territory in church growth books by turning what could have been a long list of dos and don’ts into a highly readable, even novelistic, approach to the subject. With himself as narrator, MacDonald creates a cast of church members in their 50s, 60s and 70s who meet each week to discuss where their church has been, is now and should go in the future. “All I know is that someone stole my church and I’d like to get it back,” says one. MacDonald delves into the feelings of the older generation as they watch new leadership take over, see changes in music and use of technology, and begin to wonder how they will fit in. He challenges their understanding of what the church is, then looks at the early church and the modern church and the many cultural influences that transform Christian spirituality. MacDonald is especially strong when he includes young people’s perspectives or brings research to bear on how people view and act on change. This is a challenging, innovative approach to a delicate subject. It’s sure to benefit church leaders and members of all ages who dream of a “reinvented” church. (Jan.)

In his magnum opus more than 25 years in the making, psychologist, eco-therapist, and wilderness guide Plotkin (Soulcraft) brings forth a new model for the whole of human life and spirituality in our world in dire ecological need, spoiled by “patho-adolescent society.” Beginning fittingly with elder eco-sage Thomas Berry, Plotkin calls us to a fresh circular conception of individual and collective evolutionary life genuinely reconnected to the wild of nature. Using the indigenous template of the four compass directions, his eight stages on the wheel of spiritual development are the Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master and Sage. “The Wheel is a deep-structure portrait of nature-and-soul-oriented cultures, a portrait that encompasses child-raising practices, core values, stages of growth, rites of passage, community organization, and relationship to the greater Earth community,” he writes. Leaning heavily on psychology, Plotkin also draws upon a heavenly host of the rich sources that inform a lifetime including poetry, global cultures and much more. Graceful prose is counterbalanced with diagrams and clear chapter structure. Plotkin offers an essential, weighty book for our perilous times. (Jan.)

Garrison has long wielded wit against the buffoonery of the Religious Right in her articles for the Christian humor magazine the Wittenburg Door and at the blog God’s Politics. Now she turns her satirical glance against the “New Atheists,” among whom she sees a similar obscurantist self-seeking at work. The result is an uneven book. It is occasionally witty, as when she compares Sam Harris to Anne Coulter, or Daniel Dennett to the pot-smoking professor in Animal House. At times she scores what could be devastating points against the New Atheists: if imposing religion on the young really is child abuse, why do these young people not show the medical symptoms of abuse victims? Garrison is also adept at pointing to places where radical Christianity is transforming society. But these successes are often lost amid informal writing, sentences like “Simply put, I need to pay attention here because when my gut starts acting up, something ain’t right,” and paragraphs that end with single words like “Kewl” and phrases such as “ ’Nuff said.” Finally, Garrison’s turn to her own story—a minister father, dead too young of alcoholism—is touching at times, but it sits awkwardly beside the casual witticisms. (Jan.)

To many readers, “bibliolatry” is a new and frightening word. It describes the phenomenon of the Bible itself, rather than the God of the Bible, becoming an object of worship. Blue, a pastor, author and teacher who is part of the ministry team at the House of Mercy in St. Paul, Minn., believes that such a worshipful attitude toward the Bible is a form of idolatry, and that the sacred volume needs to be freed from the clutches of biblical literalists. In this rich and satisfying study, she draws from both her own life’s journey and from the stories of those to whom she ministers, to explore some of the better-known biblical accounts in a new way, enabling the casual reader to find value in a book that some consider filled with fables and morality tales. Indeed, Blue displays not just knowledge of the book but an intimacy with its underlying meaning. Her prose is clear and precise, written for the lay reader who is interested in many of the questions raised by the emerging church movement. Faith itself, she insists, becomes “a freaking crazy and beautiful thing” when the Bible can be liberated from the literalists. (Jan.)

Where is the cradle of Christianity—Europe or Africa? After teaching historical and systematic theology, Oden is surprisingly just discovering what other scholars have argued for some time: that the earliest contours of Christianity can be easily traced to Africa. After all, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Plotinus and Augustine—to name only a few early Christian thinkers—were Africans. In this tiresome and repetitious book, Oden belabors the already well-established notion that Christianity’s roots can be found in Africa. He does draw helpfully on his work on the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series to demonstrate that the intellectual contours of Christianity—academics, exegesis, dogmatics, ecumenics, monasticism, philosophy, and dialectics—developed in Africa. However, Peter Brown (Augustine of Hippo) and other writers have clearly recognized this contribution, and Oden’s naïve and hyperbolic book is more embarrassing than enlightening. Oden’s study is most suited to those who are entirely new to the debate and who will benefit from resources such as a time line of early African Christianity and a reading list for further investigation of the subject. (Jan.)

In this blend of genealogical detective story, church history and travelogue, Griffeth traces a family tree that has, for more than four centuries, intersected many of the great themes of American history. A financial journalist and co-anchor of CNBC’s Power Lunch, Griffeth’s journey includes trips to England, the Netherlands, the Eastern seaboard and the Midwest to set his family narrative in the broader context of European and American religious history. Fleeing England to avoid religious persecution in the early 17th century, the three families Griffeth researched eventually ended up in America, where members settled in American colonies, took part in the Methodist religious revivals of the early 19th century and joined the great move westward. As Griffeth recounts in one of the book’s more moving chapters, several of his ancestors were tried and executed in the infamous 1692 Salem witch trials. Meticulously researched and with a great eye for detail, the writing sometimes seems descriptive rather than evocative, as though the writer was observing someone else’s past. The volume may motivate those amateur genealogists who wish to explore how the experiences of their ancestors became a part of the American experience, shaping the narratives and faith journeys of future generations. (Dec. 31)

At first blush “atheist spirituality” may sound like a contradiction in terms, but French philosopher Comte-Sponville makes a compelling argument for a profound dimension of experience that is god-free. His idea of spirituality also bears no small resemblance to Eastern spirituality, and the philosopher-author does not hesitate to cite great Eastern thinkers in this catalogue of references to great minds grappling with important questions. We can do without religion and without God, the author argues, but we can’t do without fidelity and community. Comte-Sponville’s humanism is deeply traditional, but the red flag “atheist” will undoubtedly affront religious traditionalists. That’s unfortunate, because the author’s style of arguing is civil and witty, unlike a lot of public discourse on this subject. He draws deeply on the history of philosophers who have pronounced on the subject of God’s existence, disposing of the everything-is-permitted nihilism often associated with atheism. Nor does he argue that religion is dangerous, a stance in vogue among today’s bestselling atheists. God just isn’t logically necessary, but we can still have love, ethical behavior and even the experience of eternity. Formerly a Sorbonne professor, Comte-Sponville presents big ideas with masterful and witty clarity. For those who prefer Kant to cant, this refreshing little book is perfect. (Dec. 31)

From renowned Buddhist teacher Boorstein comes a small, polished gem of a book that seems somehow even more intimate and heartfelt than her previous books Pay Attention, for Goodness’ Sake and It’s Easier Than You Think. Boorstein begins with an anecdote about a day when her writing was interrupted by a call from a friend with a very ill brother; the effort of consoling her made Boorstein forget what she had been about to write. Boorstein uses her moment of resentful impatience at the interruption to illustrate how easily the mind can fall out of caring connection. The whole idea of this book, she writes, is that “restoring caring connection... and maintaining it when it is present, is happiness.” This insight is a jumping-off point for Boorstein to explore three planks of the Buddhist path: wise effort, wise mindfulness and wise concentration. Her quiet insistence that the Buddhist practices of mindfulness, meditation and metta (lovingkindness) can quiet the mind, deepen concentration and lower anxiety is both convincing and inspiring. (Dec. 26)

Moezzi, an American-raised lawyer of Iranian descent, proposes to tell the stories of young American Muslims, of which she is one. She notes the plight of being a “Child of Fresh off the Boat” (or COFOB), including being mistaken frequently as Hispanic, and feeling caught between solidarity with America over 9/11 but critical of American foreign policy choices although she criticizes the Muslim community for ignorance and severe gender segregation, among other things. Despite its promising subject matter, however, the book has an unimaginative format of one interview per chapter, with no larger framework or unifying theme. Most interview subjects are Moezzi’s own friends, some of whom Moezzi even quotes as praising her. Some readers, particularly Muslims, may be offended by an incident in which the author smokes marijuana with an interview subject, as well as other scenes in which she and her friends present themselves as self-indulgent. Although it is engaging and well written, the book lacks academic rigor and comes across as merely anecdotal. The title is never really explained, and Moezzi’s conclusion—that American Muslims will lead the next Islamic Renaissance—though an appealing thought, is underdeveloped. (Dec. 10)

Whether or not the Potter frenzy exhausted itself during the months leading up to book seven will certainly determine the fate of Duriez’s Field Guide among fans. One thing Potter devotees can bank on, however, is that Duriez (A Field Guide to Narnia) knows his material inside out and has amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the great classics of children’s literature and the Western intellectual cannon—which he employs judiciously to situate everything from “the wizarding world” in the romantic tradition to the relationship between Hogwarts and the classic “school story.” While this work is admirable, the guide, unfortunately, reads like a textbook or a kind of Harry Potter diagnostic manual. As a rule, Duriez’s prose falls flat (though it occasionally dips into the realm of playful color commentary), its topics lack introduction, and much of the book is taken up by a series summary and an exhaustive glossary of terms. Also disappointing is the chapter on “J.K. Rowling’s Spiritual Worldview,” half of which is dedicated to listing and summarizing the spate of books that link Harry Potter to Christianity and spirituality, rather than offering new insights about the series and its Christian themes. But if Potter fans are looking for a basic reference manual and a few interesting talking points, Duriez’s book will surely satisfy. (Dec.)

Readers interested in this volume from Kynes (Year of Ritual, etc.) would do well to pay attention to the subtitle, as the title is somewhat misleading. The book is not a comprehensive overview of home altars, but a guide to using an altar space for meditation. The thrust of the book is that an altar is like “a game board”; through different arrangements of objects, practitioners can prepare themselves for varying states of reflection. For example, Kynes describes how an altar space can be divided into three parts, each representing one of the divine triplets from an ancient spiritual tradition (e.g., Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva from Hinduism or Fotla, Erin and Banba from the Irish Celtic tradition). She then suggests what to place on the altar for different effects. A three-part arrangement can be used to rebalance energies or as an aid for decision making. In all, Kynes outlines nine basic altar compositions and gives hints for alternatives in each main category. While some may be annoyed by Kynes’s use of the second person throughout the book, this should be welcome reading for neopagans seeking to spice up their spirituality with something a little offbeat. (Dec.)

This superb portrayal by NYU history professor Lewis of the fraught half-millennium during which Islam and Christianity uneasily coexisted on the continent just beginning to be known as Europe displays the formidable scholarship and magisterial ability to synthesize vast quantities of material that won him Pulitzer Prizes for both volumes of W.E.B. Du Bois.

In characteristically elegant prose, Lewis shows Islam arising in the power vacuum left by the death throes of the empires of newly Christianized Rome and Persian Iran, then sweeping out of the Middle East as a fighting religion, with jihad inspiring cultural pride in hitherto marginalized Arab tribes. After Charles Martel’s victory at the Battle of Poitiers in 732 sent the Muslim invaders back south of the Pyrenees, the Umayyad dynasty consolidated its rule in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), forging a religiously tolerant, intellectually sophisticated, socially diverse and economically dynamic culture whose achievements would eventually seed the Renaissance. Meanwhile, the virtually powerless Roman popes joined forces with ambitious Frankish leaders, from Pippin the Short to Charlemagne, to create the template for feudal Europe: a “religiously intolerant, intellectually impoverished, socially calcified, and economically primitive” society.” The collapse of the Umayyad dynasty and the rise of local leaders who embraced Muslim fundamentalism as a means to power destroyed the vitality of al-Andalus, paving the way for the Crusades and the Christian reconquista of Spain.

Lewis clear-sightedly lays out the strengths and weaknesses of both worlds, though his sympathies are clearly with cosmopolitan doctor/philosophers like Ibn Rushd and Musa ibn Maymun (better known in the West as Averroës and Maimonides), who represented “cultural eclecticism and creedal forbearance,” sadly out of place in the increasingly fanatical 12th century. 8 pages of color illus., 4 maps. (Jan.)