Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart – Book Review

May 162011

Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart
Published by Algonquin Books, an imprint of Workman

Fresh off of her delightfully sinister book Wicked Plants, Amy Stewart has returned with a fascinating look at the most painful, destructive, and deadly of all bugs. The book is organized in short essays about each of 220-odd bugs, with interspersing chapters on buggy trends like zombies, garden pests, and bugs with brutal mating habits.

Each chapter is almost more intriguing than the last. On page 134, for instance, the reader learns that Formosan termites were actually the cause of much of the damage in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The seams of the floodwalls were constructed from sugarcane waste, a favorite treat of the Formosans. Worse, due to the Formosan’s building structures, the flood waters failed to wipe them out, which left the termites free to attack abandoned structures after the waters receded. What I want to know is, why is this the first time I’ve ever heard that piece of information?

Aside from making me slightly cranky and suspicious, Wicked Bugs is a joy to read. Really, what more can you ask from a book than that it make you remark out loud, “Oh Charles Darwin, you’re so dumb?” (read the entry on the Bombardier Beetle and you’ll understand). You might want to avoid reading it with other people around, though, unless you want to be That Person who constantly remarks on the interesting facts in your book. I’m sure my husband would have preferred to concentrate on what he was reading rather than what I was reading. If I had just one wish, though, it is that Stewart would have included a postscript on some of the reasons these bugs are actually valuable parts of our ecosystem, because after reading all of the terrible things they do to us, I was about ready to suggest we just get rid of them all, ASAP.

If you like to learn new, not always necessarily useful things, then Amy Stewart is like candy for your brain. Yum. Recommended.

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Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Madre by Liza Bakewell – Book Review

Mar 252011

Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun by Liza Bakewell
Published by W. W. Norton & Company

Madre means mother, right? Well, technically. Madre may mean mother in Spanish, but it means a whole lot else besides that in Mexico. There is an extensive list of madre idioms, nearly all of which have negative meanings along the lines of disaster or whore. How can this be, when mothers traditionally hold a very high place in Mexican society, in a land where the Holy Virgin, the mother of Christ, is so venerated? What question could be more fascinating to a social anthropologist with an interest in linguistics and feminist leanings from the United States living in Mexico? It was this first question, in fact, that turned Liza Bakewell from a social anthropologist into a linguistic anthropologist with a particularly interest in madre and the intersection of gender and language.

“It can be dangerous to say madre in Mexico. Underscored and italicized. His words would blow fire across the screen. A kind of watch-out fuerte, not only powerful, but really powerful. Like a match to gasoline, or a blow to the face.” -p. 47

Out of this fascination came Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun. The subtitle of Madre is really the best description of what this book is. Far from a strictly academic treatise, Madre is more of a travelogue/memoir combo by someone who is simply very intelligent and likes to think deeply about issues of language and society. In spite of this, the chapters are organized topically within the larger subject of madre: talking about piropo and albur, the grammatical dominance of maleness even in a room predominantly female, las mentadas de madre.

Perhaps this begins to explain the origins of the symbolic dilemma of madre in Mexico. The Church believes the bride, once married, is Eve, not the Virgin. -p. 175-176

Maybe it is just me, maybe I missed my calling as an anthropologist, but I think that the intersection of gender, culture, and language is a fascinating place to linger and observe, and I’m so grateful that Bakewell brought me to this particular intersection. Even better, she does not manage to lose a non-Spanish speaking, non-linguist on her journeys. It could be occasionally disconcerting to have the very personal style interacting with the linguistic and anthropological insights, but overall it worked very well.

A very interesting book, if the concept interests you, then I can recommend Madre.

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Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

I is an Other by James Geary – Book Review

Feb 152011

I is an Other by James Geary
Published by Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins

Generally I prefer to write my own synopses of the books I review here. I think that reading a different description than the one found on an online bookseller’s site, or on the jacket flap provides my readers with an additional window into the book, and I think the way someone summarizes a book can tell you a lot about said book. Some books, however, are somewhat beyond my powers of synopsis. That being the case, I will have to share with you part of the publisher’s description of I is an Other.

From President Obama’s political rhetoric to the housing bubble burst. James Geary proves in this fascinating and entertaining book that every aspect of our experience is molded by metaphor.

IMAG0096 picture When they say that every aspect of our experience is molded by metaphor they aren’t kidding. Geary covers everything from politics, to brain function and autism spectrum disorder, to the power of metaphor on our psyche. In the best of all worlds, I is an Other would be treated to an extensive scholarly discussion and review. There is a lot of meat there. I am a person who does not tend to take notes or mark passages when I read, but I marked passages in I is an Other like a crazy person. Unfortunately, I am still trying to wrap my head around the entirety of the information presented.

The scope of I is an Other is astounding, but Geary is somehow able to bring it together cohesively in slightly over 200 pages. Each chapter is predominantly self-contained on the chosen subject, although they are best written in sequence, as some prior knowledge is built upon from chapter to chapter. In addition to making a huge topic approachable, Geary also does an admirable job of making his content understandable. He goes into a degree of depth not only about metaphor, but about his different subjects as well, and the same person who is interested in metaphor may not be someone who would knowingly pick up a book on the market crash, or on brain science.

Still, Geary manages to put everything in comprehensible packages – primarily through metaphor, thereby proving the basic premise of the book in the first place. A degree of well-rounded intelligence and breadth of knowledge is assumed, however, as is a willingness to put on your thinking cap because, while Geary wants to make his subject readable, he is not particularly interested in dumbing it down. It isn’t required that you know what an active metaphor is, but you must at least think about it or look it up.

The idea that metaphor is so much more than language was positively revelatory for me, and I think this is a book that could fascinate many who are willing to put in the effort and not be intimidated by the initially cryptic title and cover. Recommended.

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Powells | Indiebound | Amazon*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love by Andrew Shaffer – Book Review

Jan 042011

Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love by Andrew Shaffer
Published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of Harper Collins

If philosophers are the wisest among us, and even by their very name called lovers of wisdom, then surely they should excel at romantic relationships, n’est pas? Alas, that seems not to be the case, as Andrew Shaffer clearly shows in “Great Philsophers Who Failed at Love.”

Thirty-seven philosophers, including greats such as Socrates, Plato, Kant, Locke, and Sartre, have their love lives chronicled in “Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love.” Their stories range from merely an excessive number of marriages and divorces, to legal adoption of one’s younger lover, to the accidental murder by strangling of one’s spouse.

“Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love” was supremely well executed. Each philosopher has a chapter between two and four pages long, where their contributions to the world of philosophy, along with their scandalous love life, is chronicled. Shaffer walks at least two fine lines: providing the reader with enough information on each philosopher’s contributions that their inclusion makes sense, but not overwhelming the narrative with philosophical detail which not all readers may understand; and providing an informative narrative which is funny, but not to the point of being ridiculous. In both cases, Shaffer achieved exactly the right balance.

A fascinating book. although I’m surprised that Shaffer’s wife didn’t turn around and leave when he mentioned on their honeymoon his proposed topic. Highly recommended for those interested in philosophy, history, and human nature.

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A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.*
Amazon.*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Harry Potter Film Wizardry – Book Review

Nov 302010

Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley
Published by Collins Design, an imprint of Harper Collins

Okay, this is a seriously awesome book. Just go ahead and order it for the fan of the Harry Potter movies on your holiday gift list. If they love the movies, they’ll love this, 99.9% guaranteed.

…Okay, now that you’re back, let me tell you a bit about what you just bought for your favorite Harry Potter fan.

As someone who has multiple times read the Harry Potter series and seen all of the movies, I was amazed at how much new stuff I learned from “Harry Potter Film Wizardry.” Absolutely fascinating details about props, casting, and how the movies brought J.K. Rowling’s fascinating books to life.

Even better, the book is filled with replicas of some of the props from the movies. There is, for example, an envelope that folds out of one of the early pages, in which can be found Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letter. Other such pieces of realia include the Marauder’ s Map, a program from the 422nd Quidditch World Cup, and the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes product catalog. From characters, to sets, to major events, I cannot think of a single thing from the movies that I found missing in “Harry Potter’s Film Wizardry.”

Very highly recommended for wizard-loving muggles.

Buy this book from:
Powells.*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.*
Amazon.*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.