The Monterey Bay Shoreline Guide
by Jerry Emory, '79
University of California Press,
1999; $16.95 (natural
history/California and the West).
The author hiked or cycled through almost every public section of the spectacular Pacific shoreline between Point Año Nuevo (home to a raucous elephant seal colony) and Point Sur, 120 miles to the south. He drove along coastal roads in his aging pickup, logging more than 2,500 miles in search of historic towns, redwood forests, pick-your-own-produce farms and remote wineries. The result is an eclectic and eye-opening reference -- more field guide than standard travel book -- on the area's natural and cultural history. Generously illustrated with color photos of the region and drawings of local plants and animals, the book also provides maps, directions to "secret" places, useful phone numbers, websites and a detailed index. Emory, who lives in Mill Valley, Calif., co-authored Bay Area Backroads (1999) and has written several children's books.
The Flower in the Skull
by Kathleen Alcalá, '76
Harcourt Brace/Harvest
Books, 1999; $12 (fiction).
Three women from successive generations spin a bitter tale of struggle and survival in this novel written by a Mexican American and set in the American Southwest. The story begins in the 1870s when Mexican soldiers destroy an Indian village, forcing an Opata girl to flee into the Sonoran Desert. She wanders north -- alone, dazed and starving -- to Tucson, Ariz., where she manages to build a life as a housekeeper and nanny. As decades pass, the narration shifts to her illegitimate daughter and finally to a granddaughter living in present-day Los Angeles, who rediscovers ancestral mysteries when she researches the long-lost Opata tribe. Alcalá has written two other books and won the Western States Book Award for fiction this year.
How to Raise Kids Without Going Broke
by Peter Finch, '82, and Delia Marshall
Avon Books, 1999; $14
(parenting/personal finance).
You are a new parent, gazing at your baby, dreaming of the future. "Then reality hits: this little bundle is going to cost you a small fortune. How are you ever going to pay for it?" So begins this guide by the editors of SmartMoney magazine. Sprinkled with stories of real families, the 350-page primer covers basics such as questions to ask when picking a child-care provider and how to save money for college. Each chapter includes helpful worksheets, and there are charts comparing the cost of essentials and extras in different cities. There is a section on "blended families" and another on teaching your kids about money.
World's Fairs and the End of Progress: An Insider's View
by Alfred Heller, '50
World's Fair Inc., 1999;
$24.95 (pop culture/history).
From London's Crystal Palace in 1851 to the Oceanarium of Lisbon in 1998, world's fairs have always been about imagining an idealized future. This tour of the great expos documents how those dreams have changed over the last 150 years: the zeal for progress at any cost has given way to a concern for ecological preservation. The author attended his first world's fair in 1939 -- the Golden Gate International Exhibition, on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. From 1981 to 1995, he was publisher and editor of World's Fair, a quarterly trade journal. He closes the book with his own proposal for a 2015 world's fair in San Francisco that would "celebrate a new, earth-friendly culture."
