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I prefer to read fiction and non-fiction in almost equal quantities. Some men rarely touch fiction. Some women only read novels. But the world of books is so varied - so incredible - I wish to read widely, avoiding a narrow range of topics.
Non-fiction books can cover every conceivable subject. Here are my favorites from 2009:
“Imperial” by William T. Vollmann (Viking, 1306 pages, $55). Some books are like boat anchors, others - doorstops. Huge books. Massive enterprises. Some actually work better as doorstops or boat anchors than as books. “Imperial” is that rare book, gigantic yet still worthy of a place of honor on the bookshelf.
This author has a prodigious talent. Vollmann does it all, writing novels and non-fiction. He excels at both forms, cranking out mountains of work. He worked on this one over the course of many years. He wanted it to be a novel but could not find a way to make it so.
“Imperial” is the history of Imperial County, California. This sprawling expanse along the Mexican border is one of the poorest counties in the state. That desert bloomed a century ago as Colorado River water irrigated a bonanza of farm produce. They thought that water would last forever.
Vollmann documents the booms and the busts along both sides of that border. This book is probably twice as long as it needed to be. Reading it felt like running a marathon. You must pace yourself.
“Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America” by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan Books, 235 pages, $23). This searing cultural critique was inspired during the author’s treatment for breast cancer. She got annoyed with people telling her to think positively to help beat the cancer.
Ehrenreich was intrigued by “instructors in the discipline of positive thinking-coaches, preachers, and gurus of various sorts.” She scrutinized a subculture that spawned an entire genre of self-help books, videos, lectures, and retreats. Ehrenreich is an incisive commentator. She doesn’t pull her punches here.
“The Man Who Loved Books Too Much - the True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession” by Allison Hoover Bartlett (Riverhead, 274 pages, $24.95). Can you ever have enough books? If you answered “no” then I know how you feel. We are the bibliomaniacs. We can never have enough books, right?
Some people take their bibliomania to extremes. Some become the bibliokleptomaniacs. They steal books. This story of one such afflicted soul was pure catnip for this book lover. The gent in question stole rare books because he simply had to have them for his collection. He didn’t do it for the money. The author interviewed the thief as well as the man who caught him. A book lover’s delight.
“Tears in the Darkness - the Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath” by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman (Farrar Straus Giroux, 464 pages, $30). Riveting. Harrowing. Stunning. World War Two history at its best.
Posted by Vick Mickunas on 1/1/10; 2:01:15 PM
from the dept.
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