Books Articles: May 2008

Ducker turns away from some of the more sorrowful themes of his past to have a little fun at money's expense, and in doing so highlights some of the contradictions of Colorado with a sense of charm and wit.

This could've been written while sitting at one desk and never even seeing the inside of the Pentagon, or any military establishment, or speaking to a single person with any knowledge on the subject.

Lahiri often confuses size with scope, hoping that by making her stories long they will achieve some sort of literary heft.

The problem here may be that Hornbacher doesn't remember much of her own life, which would make writing a memoir difficult.

Overall, this is just what you’d expect from the creators of the AMG online database: exhaustive in its approach and attempts to give readers an understanding of the bigger picture.

Relish will appeal to Victorian history buffs, dedicated foodies, and those who love compelling biographies of the once-famous, now-obscure.

Ambrose hypnotizes readers with his sheer, unflinching ability to capture the confusion, betrayal, and regret that must be present in every possible world.

It is his efforts in saving others which lend the book its title, and earned Schonhaus his nickname as the “Jewish Schindler”.

Hustvedt's ability to incorporate so much material so seamlessly makes reading this book like drinking a wonderful old burgundy: rich, complex, lush, smooth.

Evidently Gilchrist missed the sickening exposés of conditions at Walter Reed, or chose to overlook them.

Spare, poetic lines render ghostly a world where death is too commonplace to haunt, but too pervasive to ignore -- the story of a boy learning a man's lessons.

Coplan's work here sometimes sags under the soggy weight of too much praise, but the whole thing is so good that the distraction is forgivable

Sublette, who thinks like a historian and writes like a pop critic, relates the origins of New Orleans unlike any other on the globe as a convoluted, carefully detailed yarn that’s even more entertaining because it’s true.

The Race Card brilliantly forces thinking on practices such as profiling to new levels of candor and complexity.