Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 1/21
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 2/21
Hana Samek Norton & The Sixth Surrender Reviewed
Reviewed by Louise Leetch
As a lifelong admirer of Eleanor of Aquitaine, I'm always excited to seea book about her and her remarkable family. The Sixth Surrender , anovel by Hana Samek Norton, focuses on her son, King John, whoacceded to the throne of England after his brother Richard I and father,Henry II.
Author Norton chooses a minor player, Juliana de Charnais, as a link tothe machinations of Alienor (the French spelling used by the author), her son and the nasty old Lusignan dynasty. If you've avoided the morescholarly tomes about the Plantagenets, this is just the book for you.
It's light and simple and the players are easy to keep track of by the author's animateddescriptions. Norton scrupulously delivers her 13th century history characters well woveninto a story that's sure to tantalize the casual reader to press on to a bit more serioushistory.
Armand de Lusignan and his family suffered enough degradation under the rule of KingsHenry and Richard, they were not about to put up with John 'Softsword' and his attemptto destroy them. John usurped a pending alliance by marrying Isabelle of Angouleme.
Juliana's marriage to Guerin de Lasalle saves her from the convent and makes him
beholden to the queen. However, all is not well in the arranged marriage, as any reader of historical romance would know. Luckily, Norton doesn't dwell on the usual attempts atseduction and rather focuses on King John's quarrels with Philip Augustus of France.
John's nephew, Arthur of Brittany, has aligned himself with Philip and the Lusignans totry to wrest the crown he feels should be his. Of course, Philip and Armand de Lusignanhave plans of their own. Guerin de Lasalle proves to be John's best weapon to preservehis Norman holdings, easily re-taking the fortress of Mirbeau away from the haplessArthur.
Louise Leetch divides her time between Chicago and Wisconsin. Both
houses are just crammed with books. She collects her reviews on her GoodReads page.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 3/21
Should Writers Pay for Book Reviews?
Over at Writer Beware, publishing industry expert Victoria
Strauss critiqued the new $149 PW Select program for self- published authors--generating a healthy debate about paid book reviews.
Strauss' informative essay explored "sponsored review programs" at other book review outlets, including San Francisco
Book Review, ForeWord's Clarion Reviews, and Kirkus
Discoveries. Her article concluded: "Is it ever worthwhile to buy a review? Not in myopinion. With independent paid review services, quality can be a problem; plus, there are plenty of non-professional book review venues out there that will review for free."
In the comments section, ForeWord Reviews publisher Victoria Sutherland mounted aspirited defense: "What the three of us (PW, Kirkus, ForeWord) have to offer that we areasking you to support now is: our brand, which still actually means something tolibrarians and booksellers who want a robust, quality 400 word critical review of your books curated by a team of experts we have spent years culling. These reviews arevaluable enough to be licensed by the top wholesaler databases serving the book tradeincluding Bowker, Baker & Taylor, Ingram and more. This kind of exposure ALONE isworth the fee to any publishers."
She continued: "ForeWord was the original fee for review service, introduced in 2003 tothe outrage of the entire publishing community. In fact we were lampooned in a cartoon
on the cover of Kirkus who shortly thereafter fell into similar economic challenges andhad a change of heart about providing reviews for cash. PW seems to be taking babysteps into the process, but it won't be long before they commit fully to the concept."
This GalleyCat Reviews editor called Sutherland to confirm her comments, and sheadded these thoughts: "In the literary world, free (poverty) seems to have been the onlycriteria for integrity. Yet, people happily pay doctors and lawyers for a diagnosis--plentyof conflict there to enourage clients to come back for more. What critics of our pay for service miss is what they accept about lawyers and doctors - namely that reputationmeans a lot to a professional--and the path to your door will grow weeds fast when you prove to be a sellout." (Via Self Publishing Review)
Don't forget you can share your book with GalleyCat readers through our new Facebook page. Follow these simple directions to list your book in our New Books section.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 4/21
Best Books for Babies
Do you have a favorite board book or cloth book you read
with the baby in your life? Today we studied the world of books for babies and toddlers--exploring the list at children's publisher Priddy Books. Book reviews rarely pay attention tothis genre, so share your personal recommendations in thecomments section.
This GalleyCat Reviews editor will be a father very soon, so we caught up with publisher Roger Priddy to find out more about the art of baby books.
With over 200 books on its list, Priddy Books has sold more than 30 million copies around the world. Five of the imprint's titles--My Big Animal, My Big Truck, Happy Baby
Words, Happy Baby Colors and Puppy and Friends--have sold over a million copiesapiece. "Books are best when kids handle them. When a book is beat up, it's had a goodlife," Priddy explained in a telephone interview.
He continued: "You're working on multiple fronts: tactile quality and images are reallyimportant. You try to come up with something that appeals to both the parent and the baby. The child will never go into the store and buy it. We try to come up with differentways of writing about simple themes--attracting a child's attention through color andshape."
Priddy had this advice for parents looking to read with a new baby: "I think every kid is
different. I'm sure you'll have all sorts of people telling you this is what's going tohappen--ultimately you'll just know. There is no right or wrong time to start. Babies don'tdo much for awhile, and then you can see they start to engage with things around them.Six months to a year is a great period, it's when they start to recognize things aroundthem--they aren't necessarily following a story, but they pick up on images ... It needs to be bold and bright with good shapes and colors."
He concluded: "We've just done a book with Eric Carle--he let us include a slide-and-findnovelty element in an old classic. We try to include novelty elements in our books to getthe child involved in the book--sliders, flaps, are really good at involving the child. It'snot just about looking at the book and being read to. Books are best when kids handle
them. When a book is beat up, it's had a good life."
Meredith Schwartz: “Goodnight Moon, In the Night Kitchen, Where the Wild ThingsAre, Tomi Ungerer's The Three Robbers (recently back in print), Not a Box byAntoinette Portis, Horton Hatches the Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The BoyUnder The Bed by Preston McClear, Terry Pratchett's Where's My Cow?, Miss Nelson IsMissing! by Harry Allard.”
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 5/21
Saralou Durham: “I would ditto the Goodnight Moon recommendation...my son learnedall kinds of words before he was one because we read it so often. I'm about to scrapbook a book for my new granddaugter..."Everyone loves Meg" Each page will be a picture/s of someone who loves her. Hope it will help her be comfortable with the out of town auntsand uncles.”
Claire Caterer: “FUZZY YELLOW DUCKLINGS by Matthew Van Fleet was mydaughter's favorite from babyhood on. Each page has an animal, a shape, and somethingto touch--a duck's fuzzy (er ... feathery?) back, a frog's sticky tongue, etc. It's a verysturdy board book to boot. For sheer fun, we loved Sandra Boynton's board books filledwith hippos and elephants and their zany antics.”
Dawn Colclasure: “Goodnight Moon. A classic, but when my daughter was an infant, itheld her captive every time I read it to her. Later, she also liked the Cat in the Hat.”
Sarah Pinneo: “Babies love photographs of... other babies. The board books by Acredolo
were very popular at our house. Don't forget that YOU need to like the books too. Theywill soon become very, very familiar to you. So if it reads like drivel, you will findyourself putting it on a high, high shelf before long, even if baby is smitten. Dr. Seuss tothe rescue! Several of his books have been made into board books, including The FootBook and the ABCs.”
Sara Habein: “My 3 year old son just loves both BABY FIX MY CAR and BABYMAKE ME BREAKFAST by Lisa Brown, and both of my kids love her illustrations inTHE LATKE WHO COULDN'T STOP SCREAMING by Lemony Snicket. On the non-McSweeney's side of things, you can't go wrong with GO, DOG, GO or THERE'S AMONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK.
Levi Stahl: “I just today bought six copies of Peggy Rathmann's Good Night, Gorilla for friends who are having babies. I tend to describe it as the best book ever. It's ridiculouslycute!
Duopress: “Hey Jason, Thanks for paying attention to board book publishers. We, atduopress, publish a very successful series of baby books (Cool Counting Books: 123 NewYork, 123 San Francisco and many more) that parents and babies love but it is really hardto get media attention. I like your choice of interviewing Roger Priddy, a great publisher and I hope you will feature more companies on this niche market in the future.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 6/21
Emperor Franzen & Evil Wylie Unmasked
This GalleyCat correspondent has uncovered the writer behind the
satirical Twitter feeds of Evil Wylie and Emperor Franzen. Yesterday,we had lunch with the mystery author (sans cloak ).
Evil Wylie gave his first e-mail interview to Independent Publisher lastweek, revealing that Emperor Franzen and Evil Wylie had the sameauthor. Today GalleyCat Reviews is proud to introduce the personwriting these satirical Twitter feeds.
SPOILER ALERT: If you prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of the true identity behindthese humorous Twitter satire characters, stop reading this post now...
Andrew Shaffer is the writer behind Emperor Franzen and Evil Wylie. He chose to meetthis GalleyCat correspondent at Alice's Tea Cup, a literary cafe spot dedicated to LewisCarroll's novel. We shared the Mad Hatter platter.
Shaffer (pictured) has lived in Iowa his whole life, and is full-time writer and a reviewer for RT Book Reviews. In January 2011, Harper Perennial will publish his nonfiction book, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love. He will also have an essay in theforthcoming The Atheist's Guide to Christmas. He has also produced a line of atheistholiday greeting cards. Highlights from our interview follow below...
Q: What did you do before becoming a full-time writer?
A: I worked at a number of telecommunications companies.That's one path I took. For a while, I was trying to write shortstories. There was this dream of being a great short storywriter and being in the Virginia Quarterly Review. Probablyfor about 10 years I wrote short stories and novels. I managedto get the short stories published at some small places.
Q: What sparked the full-time writing career?A: Gave up on writing for a few years and then I startedwriting greeting cards. They got pretty big. My cards were onThe Colbert Report and Fox News. Pretty much, a whole lot
of places just for these greeting cards. I thought, 'Maybe Icould do a book now.'
Q: Where did you go from there?A: So I came up with some ideas on what I wanted to do and I sent them around tovarious agent slush piles after researching what type of agencies and agents I wanted to
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 7/21
work with. My agent, Brandi Bowles who is now with Foundry Literary + Media pulledme out of the slush pile, threw me a life raft, and she said, 'Your first idea's crap; it'sterrible. But, I like your greeting cards, they're very funny and you can definitely do a book.'
Q: Did you send a proposal to Wylie and then get rejected by them?A: No, no. I looked at books that I liked on the shelves and then researched their agents.Andrew Wylie, his company was not one of those agencies. So, I don't have any ill willtowards him or anything. I think after he buried his hatchet with Random House, the online war between Evil Wylie and Good Random House sorta ended and we kind of went our separate ways.
Q: So you went through a lot of book proposal ideas for non-fiction before happening onthis current one; it's on philosophers and their romantic love lives?A: It's called Great Philosophers who Failed at Love. It's about the failed romantic lovelives of philosophers. There's 37 different ones in there from Socrates, Aristotle, Plato
up to Ayn Rand and Sartre.
Q: What philosopher has the most interesting story?A: Rousseau had five children by the same woman. Took each one of them from thedelivery room a block down the street to the orphanage as they were born over the courseof five years. Never figured out birth control or anything. Just 'sorry, this one's going bye bye too.' Never let his wife keep any of them. It was just the most horrific thing, but hethought children would interfere with his work. There's a lot of similarities betweenwriters and philosophers and overlap between the two. But, I just focused on philosophers because they're a bunch of guys, mostly guys except for two women in the book, who are just so into their jobs that they either didn't have time for love lives or they
did horrible things. Or they horridly ignored their wives. Naturally, I partially wrote the book while I was on a honeymoon cruise with my wife. So it was sort of instructive to meas well on what not to do if you want to keep your marriage together.
Q: Were your satire Twitter accounts promotional stunts with your forthcoming debut?A: That's the funny thing. I didn't actually tell anybody that I had created these for aweek. I didn't tell my agent. I didn't tell my editors. I was just playing around on Twitter.I really hadn't found any real use for Twitter. My own Twitter account had failed horriblyto take off and attract any followers. I felt I was being 'too nice' maybe, if that makessense. I wanted an outlet where I could be as much of a smartass as I wanted to be. Notreally in an entirely snarky way I guess; I think there's a difference between being asmartass and just snarking off. So, my agenda with it at first was just to do a purelycomedic thing and I had no intentions of revealing myself to anyone, ever.
Q: You are actually a fan of Jonathan Franzen's work. Have you read all of his book publications?A: Just his essays and Corrections. In terms of the nonfiction writing, I am a huge fan of
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 8/21
David Foster Wallace. If there were a couple of guys whose writing I would somedaylike to live up to, it's David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen. Their non-fictionwriting is simply amazing. I think their fiction writing is so good, it just goes over myhead. It goes over a lot of people's heads. It's just because they're so good. So, I'm a bigger fan of Jonathan Franzen's nonfiction than his fiction.
Q: Why 'Emperor'? Why not King, Czar, Fuhrer, or Chairman?A: Me and Stefan Moorehead, who runs the Unabridged Bookstore in Chicago. [Theyshared some tweets.] 'Andrew: All I've read is people defending Franzen against the'backlash.' Where is the backlash taking place? In coffee shops?' 'Stefan replies, in my basement. With my star wars action figures. Really just that bastard Boba Fett. Stupidclone.' Just two Star Wars nerds talking about J. Franzen and toys in their basements.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 9/21
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 10/21
Books That Made Me Cry Hashtag Makes Twitter Readers Weepy
Today readers around the globe answered the simple
question: What books made you cry? Post your favorites onTwitter, and use the #booksthatmademecry hashtag whenyou post.
Twitter trend starter and novelist Jason Pinter opened the Twitter hashtag this morning.He also reported the most popular responses so far: Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley
& Me, Charlotte's Web, and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.
This GalleyCat Reviews editor believes tears can be a high compliment for a book.Dsaarinen and Tragicrighthip both suggested The Day the Falls Stood Still . Vintage Reader added Terms of Endearment . Finally, Jess Huckins concluded, "The Hunger
Games... almost."
Readers also added "To Dance with the White Dog" by Terry Kay and “The Yearling.”
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 11/21
Wall Street Journal to Launch Book Review
Former Atlantic editor Robert Messenger will helm a
brand new pull-out book review section at The Wall Street Journal .
According to the New York Observer , Messenger will edit the new section and superviseweb reviews as well. Current books editor Erich Eichman will answer to Messenger aswell. An internal memo projected that the section will launch sometime in September.
Check it out: "The book review will be a pull-out section that will be inserted in one of the newly created sections for The Weekend Journal that will launch later this month. It isunclear how many pages will be dedicated to the new book review, but one source said itwill be 'significant.'"
Mockingjay Embargo Broken in LA Times Review
The LA Times has broken an embargo on Mockingjay bySuzanne Collins, publishing a review of the new book today.The review contains spoilers, but offers the first peek at the third book in the bestselling Hunger Games trilogy.
Here is a spoiler-free excerpt: "One minute after midnightMonday, "Mockingjay" will finally be available to readers, bringing a wrenching conclusion to the tale of a country in chaosand the 17-year-old protagonist who caused it. Fans aren't likelyto be disappointed."
This GalleyCat Reviews editor wonders: Should reviewers be bound by embargoes? What do you think? Last week, we wroteabout a Harry Potter fan site administrator who posted a photo of the closely guarded book. (Via Sarah Weinman)
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 12/21
Two for the Road
A feature by P.E. Logan
As Hurricane Franzen bears down on the coasts, no matter whereyou point the literary compass, and words are lashed totypewriters for deconstruction of the deeper meaning of the newnovel Freedom, readers are feeling more pressure to performintellectual feats of comprehension. Folks, it's the last hours of summer, mere days are left until we reload the real world into our highly scheduled lives this Tuesday morning. So chill baby chill.
If you failed to read The Imperfectionists back in May or this
summer's de rigueur Stieg Larsson books, please come up fromthe root cellar and shake it off. Put down that TV remote and any Jersey Shore worship for these two books that will entertain youthis weekend and that you can turn into some bon mots on thefinal days' cocktail circuit.
As for those cultural ravens whose ids can't help but peck at you for being under read inthe Franzen category, here's a line to drive them back to their perches: I only readBildungsroman when it's officially fall. Then ask the ravens to make you an OldFashioned highball. They will be quiet for hours. And while they're gone, sneak off to theglider on the porch and enjoy either of these books that were largely ignored this summer.
Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith came and went without any fanfarefrom the major critics. Perhaps they didn't want to reward another dog book in the wakeof Marley Mania, which has struck otherwise sane publishers and even elite dailynewspapers, who now use dog themes as fishing lures.
The cover of this book does indeed feature a bright-eyed terrier of the Jack Russellvariety. Overuse of the dog theme crossed my mind as well. McCall Smith is the author of the best-selling series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, among others. This novel
appears to be a one-off.
Corduroy is not the dog's name. He is Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier. And this is notsolely his story (proving that the jacket art is unfortunate), but the tale of residents in acharming section of London referred to as Corduroy Mansions. The story is told throughWilliam Edward French, a middle-aged (51) wine merchant and widower. At the book'sstart, William has one plan: to get his grown son Eddie out of the apartment. Eddie, at age24, feels no compelling reason to pay his own rent and buy his own groceries. Quite the
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 13/21
opposite. But he does not like dogs and William's friend offers him a "pet share" in hisdog, Freddie, a vegetarian canine who was formerly employed at Heathrow sniffing for drugs. If Freddie moves in, Eddie will move out.
McCall Smith introduces a charming as ever cast of new characters. There is Marcia, a
boutique owner who is happy to connive on the plot to relocate Eddie. There is theegocentric politician, Oedipus Snark, an MP without a heart; Berthea Snark (his mother and William's near-by neighbor) and her brother, Terrence Moongrove, who has gone back to the land in his decrepit Morris Traveller; and there are the young women(Caroline, Jenny and Dee, most prominently) who share an apartment on a floor belowWilliam.
As always, with McCall Smith's writing, the characters' names are farcical and yet sovery British (for a Scotsman) and highly enjoyable for readers. On the surface this storyis about William creating a new life, but it also contains McCall Smith's many musingsabout the state of the world, from etiquette ("William stretched out a hand. The young
man hesitated, then took it, limply. Nobody, thought William, has taught him to give a proper handshake.") to reading Proust ("Jenny looked at him expectantly. She seemed pleased to have discovered a neighbour who could discuss Proust; so few neighbourscould.").
The I Hate to Cook Book , by Peg Bracken is a gem. No wonder when it was publishedoriginally in the 1960s it sat on millions of kitchen shelves across America, including mymother's. The book is a witty attack against the sunken-living room era where everywoman was expected to be a hostess cum chef extraordinaire. Say boo! to Julia Child's bouillabaisse. Liberate yourself from Chicken Kiev and Eggs Florentine, recipes featuredin the era's posh restaurants. Ms. Bracken, who died in 2007, opened the cages in a highly
humorous way with recipes that were E-Z, and edible.
Peg Bracken was in step with her time. Not every housewife in the sixties was meant to be a gallant home chef. The I Hate to Cook Book answered their prayers. "Do you knowthe basic trouble here?" she writes. "It is your guilt complex. This is the thing you have tolick. And it isn't easy. We live in a cooking-happy age. You watch your friends re-doingtheir kitchens and hoarding their pennies for glamorous cooking equipment and newcookbooks called 'Eggplant Comes to the Party' or 'Let's Waltz into the Kitchen,' and presently you too begin to feel un-American."
Ms. Bracken didn't cheat by suggesting leftovers to her fans. Her supposition was if youdon't like to cook, then you won't like re-engineering meals you hated preparing in thefirst place. And so she launched her fans and followers -- she sold more than threemillions books and I'm assuming many read her for the humor alone -- on an easy pathfor sumptuous meals ala Bracken. The recipe names are a hoot: Painless Spinach, IdiotOnions, Clam Whiffle ("a souffle any fool can make"), Sole Survivor, Stayabed Stew("for those days when you're en negligee"), Sunday Chicken ("like Saturday Chicken,except it's curried") and so forth.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 14/21
There are menu ideas, a 30-day list of entrees and a marvelous penultimate chapter "Good Cooksmanship" or "How To Talk a Good Fight" where she talks her readersthrough any contretemps with the fancies down the road.
We are reliving the sixties now as the culture endures an entire TV channel devoted to
plated perfection. If you are tempted to make a batch of Rice-a-Roni and pass it off asPilaf de Edith, then this is the book for you. You don't need to cook any of these recipes, but you certainly can if you are forced to perform for a group dinner over the holiday andAssigned Responsibilities other than KP. But if you just want to read this as the wavesroar in, it's a fine end of summer serving.
Enjoy these two books as you mark the end of another season of sand, surf and dog-eared pages.
P.E. Logan is a communications and marketing professional and a writer
in New York. She worked at various adult trade publishing houses
including Random House, Putnam, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster for almost three decades. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post and
in other periodicals.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 15/21
Jonathan Franzen Stars in Special Rumpus Bookclub
The Rumpus has picked Jonathan Franzen's Freedom for a special One-Off Book Club.Readers buying the book from Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Amazon won't be able to join the free club.
What do you think about this policy? Readers have one month to read and debate the the book before September 23rd or 24th--when The Rumpus will host a one-hour onlinediscussion between the book club members and Franzen.
The Rumpus gives these instructions for participation: "You can purchase the book fromus or from an independent bookstore. Just send proof of purchase to 'admin ATtherumpus.net' to join the book club for free. Books purchased from Barnes and Noble,Borders, and Amazon are ineligible. Obviously, it helps The Rumpus if you purchasefrom us directly, but we also want to support local independent bookstores."
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 16/21
6 YA Books to Read After Mockingjay
A week has passed since the midnight release of Mockingjay.
Many readers have now finished Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy.
With that in mind, Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations posted a list of six titles to dive into post-Mockingjay. The complete list (via the Huffington Post)follows below.
Counting on our readers' collective knowledge of books,GalleyCat Reviews regularly features curated book lists from this site. Flashlight WorthyBook Recommendations has assembled more than 390 lists--giving reading advice on
everything from book club books to beach reads. Share your favorite post-Mockingjay books in the comments.
This GalleyCat correspondent picked up a volume from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of
Narnia.
(1) The Brothers Lionheart By Astrid Lindgren (2) Things Invisible to See By Nancy Willard (3) A Wrinkle in Time By Madeleine L'Engle (4) Superfudge By Judy Blume (5) The King in the Window By Adam Gopnik
(6) Amelia Bedelia By Peggy Parish
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 17/21
Jonathan Schneer Explores The Balfour Declaration
Reviewed by Louise Leetch
In the new book , The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab- Israeli Conflict , historian Jonathan Schneer explores a 1917 agreementthat helped create the modern state of Israel. This is a must read for aclearer understanding of the vast changes that took place on the ArabianPeninsula in such a relatively short period of time and the impact of Foreign Secretary Balfour's declaration of support for the establishmentof a Jewish nation.
It's common knowledge that the British were responsible the divisions of the Middle Eastafter WWII but the machinations, maneuvers and manipulations truly began at the turn of the 20th Century. The Zionist movement was founded in 1897 in Switzerland and grew
and spread very slowly.
Over the next few years, Jews bought up large tracts of land in Palestine in an effort toestablish a substantial minority. The emergence of Chaim Weizmann as the Jewish leader expanded their efforts to seek more than that; a Jewish nation was now the goal.
Up until the outbreak of WWI, England had little use for either the Jewish requests or the petitions from the Arabs to establish an Arabian nation. When Turkey entered the war onthe side of Germany, the British began to listen to both. Hussein Ibn Ali aligned withmany of the Arab tribes looking to break away from the Turks and their Ottoman Empireand establish an Arab nation. In 1916 the French and English together wrote the Sykes-
Picot agreement, eventually the Tripartite Agreement, dividing up the Arabian Peninsula.There was no input from either Arabs or Jews.
The maps that author Schneer provides in this eye-opening book make it perfectly clear that the parties involved in the break up of the Arabian peninsula had very differentimages of the final divisions. The Arabs had no idea the British were promising land tothe Jews. The Jews thought they would be taking over Palestine as an EnglishProtectorate and the French assumed that Syria and most of Northern Arabia would beunder their governance. The English set aside the southern half extending East to Bagdadfor themselves. Anatolia and Constantinople were to be reserved for Russia, though shewas not informed of the agreement until some time later.
The book really gives you a complete background for the ill feelings on allsides. We also realize the very simple concessions that could have avoided agreat deal of grief and bloodshed.
Louise Leetch divides her time between Chicago and Wisconsin. Both houses
are just crammed with books. She collects her reviews on her GoodReads
page.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 18/21
Best Authors on Facebook
Who is your favorite writer on Facebook? Share your
recommendation in the comments section and help us build a brandnew GalleyCat Reviews directory.
Our Facebook page has grown rapidly this summer and more than100 writers have already posted to our " New Books" section.However, a number of previously published authors emailed uswondering if they could include their work as well. Our BestAuthors on Facebook directory will help them--allowing both published and self-published authors to connect with readers.
We've started the list with a few writers from our summer reading list, but the directory is
hardly comprehensive. Share your favorite author on Facebook in the comments section below and we'll add them to our growing directory. NOTE: This is a BIG list, so please be patient as we add authors.
Christa Allan: Author of Walking on Broken Glass.
Nicholson Baker : A contemporary American writer of fiction and non-fiction and professor at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland
L.A. Banks: Author of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
Janice Gable Bashman: Co-author (with Jonathan Maberry) of WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil
Sonya Bateman: Author of Master of None
Meg Waite Clayton: Author of THE FOUR MS. BRADWELLS and THE LANGUAGEOF LIGHT
Jenny Crusie: the NYT bestselling author of twenty some novels and lots of other stuff.Her latest novel, Maybe This Time, hits shelves on August 31.
Frank Delaney: Author who has scrutinized the very nature of the spoken word (in broadcasts such as Word of Mouth, Say the Word, Omnibus and others.) Best-sellingauthor of more than 21 books.
Marcy Dermansky: Writer. Bad Marie, my book, is currently out in stores, occasionally placed on tables.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 19/21
Morris Dickstein: Author of Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression and a distinguished professor of English and Theatre at CUNY GraduateCenter.
Scott Edelman: American science fiction, fantasy, and horror writer and editor of SCI FI
Magazine.
James Ellroy: Novelist and Death Dog of American Literature.
Robert Morgan Fisher : Novelist/Screenwriter/Musician/ Voice Actor.
Yasmine Galenorn: Author of The Sisters of the Moon series
William Gibson: Zero History, Spook Country, Pattern Recognition, and Neuromancer .
Laurell K. Hamilton: Author of the Anita Blake Series and the Merry Gentry Series
Monica Holloway: Author of Cowboy & Wills, story of Cowboy, the golden retriever puppy who changed her son's life.
James Kaelan: Author of We're Getting On and zero emission book tour advocate.
Kathleen Kaufman, author of The Tree Museum.
Karen Karbo: Author of The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from theWorld's Most Elegant Woman and How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate theGreat
Laurie R. King: Edgar award-winning mystery writer of the Mary Russell and KateMartinelli series as well as several standalone novels.
Nicole Krauss: Author best known for her novels The History of Love and Man Walksinto a Room.
Erik Larson: "Isaac's Storm (1999), about the experiences of Isaac Cline during theGalveston Hurricane of 1900, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madnessat the Fair That Changed America"
Mark Laxer : Author of The Monkey Bible
Caroline Leavitt: The author of nine novels and the recipient of a New York Foundationfor the Arts Award in Fiction, and a Goldenberg Fiction Prize.
Laura Lippman: Author of fifteen books -- the Tess Monaghan series, four stand-alonesand a collection of short stories.
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 20/21
Jonathan Maberry: the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PATIENT ZERO, THEWOLFMAN, ZOMBIE CSU and THE DRAGON FACTORY
Melissa Marr : Author of the Wicked Lovely Series
Tom McCarthy: English novelist and conceptual artist.
Teresa Medeiros: Romance author of The Devil Wears Plaid and Some Like it Wild .
Rick Moody: Rick Moody is the author of eight published books and one forthcoming book (FOUR FINGERS OF DEATH).
Haruki Murakami: the author of Wind Up Bird Chronicle, and many other novels, shortstories, and essays.
Amelie Nothomb: A Belgian novelist who writes in French.
Jason Pinter : Thriller writer/literary agent, author of The Mark, The Guilty, and The
Stolen.
Nora Roberts: bestselling American author of more than 165 romance novels.
Kevin Sampsell: editor (Portland Noir and other books), publisher (Future Tense Books), bookstore employee (Powell’s Books) and author (Creamy Bullets and the memoir, ACommon Pornography).
Howard A Sherman: I am an Implementor of interactive fiction. What's an Implementor?
A hybrid of an author and a programmer. What's interactive fiction? Think eBooks onsteroids.
Gary Shteyngar t: Author of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook , Absurdistan, andSuper Sad True Love Story.
Rachel Shukert: Author of Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and
Overexposed European Grand Tour .
Clea Simon: Mystery author, most recently of "Grey Matters" with "Dogs Don't Lie"(first pet noir!) and "Grey Zone" to come in 2011.
Karin Slaughter : Bestselling author of several novels, including the Grant County series.A long-time resident of Atlanta, she splits her time between the kitchen and the livingroom
Andrew Smith: Author of GHOST MEDICINE and IN THE PATH OF FALLINGOBJECTS
8/8/2019 Galley Cat Reviews August 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/galley-cat-reviews-august-2010 21/21
