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WHAT TO GIVE, WHAT TO GET 2001: Begin Your Holiday Shopping With Us Nonfiction
FIRE by Sebastian Junger W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393010465 In his introduction to FIRE Junger writes, "People are drawn to these situations out of an utterly amoral sense of awe that has nothing to do with their understanding of the larger tragedy. Awe is one of those human traits, like love or hate or fear, that overpower almost everything else we believe in..." In this collection of nonfiction pieces, Junger tells the stories of men and women throwing themselves into the heart of danger, into pits and caverns, dark shadows and battlefields. While you're at Safeway buying low-fat yogurts, someone is in Idaho fighting a fire, whale hunting, trafficking in illegal diamonds, or in the midst of guerilla warfare in Afghanistan. In true seasoned reporter fashion, Junger relates not only the facts, but an emotional and physical sense of the situation itself. The most significant of the pieces in terms of timeliness is certainly "The Lion in Winter." In it Junger takes us to the anti-Taliban front lines, where Ahmad Massoud (recently assassinated) fights against the Taliban. An Edward R. Murrow for the new millennium? • THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger Back to top.
THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking Bantam Doubleday Dell ISBN: 055380202X Who better to reduce the infinitely complex universe to a 224-page nutshell than everybody's favorite theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking? From the Big Bang Theory to black holes to the Theory of Relativity to everyday Quantum mechanics, Hawking --- with his characteristic good-humor and engaging prose --- breaks down for the lay person science's most impenetrable concepts. Complete with helpful illustrations, THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL is infinitely more readable and engaging than Hawking's famously obtuse A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME. Back to top.
THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester HarperCollins ISBN: 0060193611 Winchester, author of the quirky bestseller THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN, tells the compelling story of William Smith --- known in land-formation obsessed circles as "Strata Smith" --- whose 1815 map of England and Wales became the bedrock of modern geology. Ah, but like all good geological fairy tales, Smith's was not an easy climb to fame and stardom. Along the way he encountered a bevy of obstacles, from dwindling finances to cartographic fraud to a faithless scientific establishment. Even if you've never much cared about rocks and/or maps --- and I dare say that's a majority of us --- Winchester's story of triumph will prove a surprisingly thrilling and fascinating tale. Back to top.
DO BALD MEN GET HALF-PRICE HAIRCUTS?: In Search of America's Great Barber Shops by Vince Staten Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0684867451 Remember Floyd the Barber from "The Andy Griffith Show"? He and his shop were based on an actual existing Floyd and his shop in North Carolina. Did you know that the first reclining barber's chair was created in 1928 by Michigan farm boy cousins, therefore revolutionizing the haircutting trade? And were you aware of the fact that the stripes on a barber pole represent surgical gauze wrapped around a staff, the first sign used by barbers when they used to "bleed" people? Yeesh! Who knew there was so much to the lore of the haircut? I'm not sure anyone ever really needs to know all this stuff, but Vince Staten's essays, all chock full of historical gems, are strangely enlightening. But the big sell is that this collection is bound to make you laugh --- hair-challenged or not. Back to top.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY LITERATURE COMPANION edited by Anne Skillion Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0684868903 This lively, entertaining and highly informative collection is a must for any little-known-fact reference collection. But be not wary --- it's not just for book-snobs! With over 800 pages and subjects ranging from where Starbucks got its name to the definition of irony (a perfect gift for anyone under 40 for the i-word alone), no reader will be able to resist browsing through this witty, wise and wonderful volume. Back to top.
WAR LETTERS: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars edited by Andrew Carroll Scribner ISBN: 0743202945 Extraordinary does not even begin to describe the 175 letters contained in this collection. In turns wise, funny, insightful, poignant and frightening --- but always rawly human --- this collection is one for all Americans to treasure. Going as far back as the Civil War and as far forward as the Bosnian conflict, this collection will, with any luck, revive the lost art of letter writing as well as teach our children the true history of our nation. © Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved. Back to top.