EDGE OF MADNESS
The Mortis, Jonathan R. Miller, '96; Be Which Press, $11.99.
While vacationing on a remote island, a couple finds the festivities cut short by the mortis, an abrupt, psychosis-inducing sickness that quickly becomes an epidemic. Foreign visitors are the first to be infected; the mortis picks them off like flies while the rest of the population flees into the island's chaotic wildlands. Torn between the instinct for self-preservation and their sense of duty to each other, the protagonists must brave devastating physical and emotional tests. As their lives unravel, the rest of the world is being split into two categories, the dead and the precariously surviving.
The Slumber of Books (II)
The immortality of words:
More senseless than those butterfly wings?
I see on my shelf
Lines of letters sleeping in silence
Like cats on windowsills
My cats or the cats of friends
The immortality of words:
More senseless than those flames?
Flames from a small fire on the beach
That someone has gathered against the winter wind
And inscribed in remembrance of warmer times
Flames that fly up and fade in the endless blue
—Martha Collins, '62, and Ngo Tu Lap, in Black Stars, Milkweed Editions, $16.
The Dog, JACK LIVINGS; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25
The effects of rapid cultural and social change anchor this debut short-story collection from Livings, a former Stegner fellow (2000-02). Restrained writing lets complex characters—a gangster, a journalist—shine as they wend their way through natural disasters and family crises in modern-day China.
"Now, taking in Ba's gleeful expression, I realized that what I'd always read as contentedness was simply an indifference toward any choice I made that didn't involve working at Lin's. If I wasn't going to join the family business, he really didn't care how I spent my time."
—Kirstin Chen, '03, in Soy Sauce for Beginners, New Harvest, $23.
Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win, RYAN BABINEAUX, PHD '04, and JOHN KRUMBOLTZ; Tarcher/Penguin, $15.95
It's one thing to assert, as leaders from Winston Churchill to Pixar's Ed Catmull have, that "success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm"—i.e., that you have to "suck," repeatedly, before you can "not suck." But, in practice, embracing the ethos can be uncomfortable, particularly for perfectionists. Krumboltz, a professor of education and of psychology, and Babineaux, a career counselor, offer a series of simple actions one can take to start making meaningful mistakes.
Doing Harm, KELLY PARSONS, '92; St. Martin's Press, $25.99
This page-turner, the debut novel by a Stanford-trained urologist, follows chief surgical resident Steve Mitchell through a series of mistakes that rapidly deteriorate into psychopathic games, military-inspired recon missions, sexual blackmail and medically fascinating murders. Steve's descent is enmeshed with the lives of his colleagues—so much so that readers may take extra care during their next hospital visit.
Hemp Bound: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Next Agricultural Revolution, DOUG FINE, '92; Chelsea Green Publishing, $14.95
If you aren't already fired up about hemp, this timely manifesto about the embattled crop's billion-dollar potential may spark an interest. Long prized for its strength and resilience as a fabric, hemp is now used in car door panels, construction materials and home insulation; its seeds are rich in nutrition.
The Beatles Are Here! 50 Years After the Band Arrived in America, Writers, Musicians, and Other Fans Remember, PENELOPE ROWLANDS, MA '85; Algonquin, $15.95
Rowlands, one of the screaming teens in the book's cover photo, taps into a multigenerational memory bank for this celebration of the Fab Four's stateside debut a half-century ago. Gay Talese, Roy Blount Jr., Fran Lebowitz and others share what the Beatles have meant to them, then and now.
The City of Palaces, MICHAEL NAVA, JD '81; University of Wisconsin Press, $26.95
The religion, history and customs of Old Mexico shape the story of a guilt-plagued atheist doctor, his Catholic wife and their fragile son in a society tumbling toward disintegration. This first novel in the author's "Children of Eve" series begins to untangle a tight knot of political and historical intrigue surrounding the Mexican Revolution.
The Extreme Life of the Sea, STEPHEN R. PALUMBI and ANTHONY R. PALUMBI, '06; Princeton University Press, $27.95
Giant squid are more ferocious than sharks, and you may have eaten fish older than you, say Stephen Palumbi, professor of biosciences, and his son Anthony, a science writer. The world's fastest, biggest and strangest sea creatures surface in this story of submerged evolution, an engaging read for laypeople who love the ocean.
Own Your Cancer: A Take-Charge Guide for the Recently Diagnosed and Those Who Love Them, PETER EDELSTEIN, '83; Lyons Press, $18.95
"Don't be a passive participant," says Edelstein, a surgeon, encouraging the overwhelmed to lead their own journey through cancer and keep fear of the unknown from paralyzing them into victimhood. Far from a depressing read, the book has a better bedside manner than some doctors; it's a candid, kind companion that encourages readers to face even scary decisions armed with knowledge. Among the topics it addresses are diagnosis and staging, oncological lingo, alternative and supplemental therapies, the "big three" treatment options—noting when it's OK to opt out—and why seeking a miracle cure on the Internet or in Mexico is a big mistake.
We’re broadening our Shelf Life section to include Stanford-connected music and film. Let us know if you have something creative in the pipeline, and we’ll consider featuring it in a future issue of the magazine, in print, online or both.
The following did not appear in the print version of Stanford.
Nonfiction
The Twelfth Victim: The Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Starkweather Murder Rampage, JOHN STEVENS BERRY, '60, and LINDA M. BATTISTI; Addicus Books, $21.95.
Resister: A Story of Protest and Prison during the Vietnam War, BRUCE DANCIS, MA '74; Cornell University Press, $29.95.
Our Broad Present: Time and Contemporary Culture, HANS ULRICH GUMBRECHT; Columbia University Press, $25.
A Cure for Asthma?: What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You—and Why, DAVID L. HAHN '67, MD '73; People's Pharmacy Press, $16.95.
Me, Madam: Peace Corps Letters from Nigeria 1961-1963, DOROTHY CREWS HERZBERG, MA '64; Arc Light Books, $15.
Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming, JOSHUA P. HOWE, MA '05, PhD '10; University of Washington Press, $34.95.
Politics in China: An Introduction, Second Edition, WILLIAM A. JOSEPH, MA '71, PhD '81; Oxford Univeristy Press, $44.95.
The Ground Between: Anthropologists Engage Philosophy, ARTHUR KLEINMAN, '62, MD '67, VEENA DAS, MICHAEL JACKSON, and BHRIGUPATI SINGH; Duke University Press, $26.95.
Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space, JAMES CLAY MOLTZ, '82, MA '83; Columbia University Press, $30.
Realizing Educational Rights: Advancing School Reform Through Courts and Communities, ANNE NEWMAN, MA '05, PhD '07; The University of Chicago Press, $30.
The FAST Plan for Tax Reform: A Fair, Accountable, and Simple Tax Plan to Chop Away the Federal Tax Thicket, DONALD E. PHILLIPSON, '64, JD '68; iUniverse, $30.95.
Innovation the NASA Way: Harnessing the Power of your Organization for Breakthrough Success, ROD PYLE, MA '95; McGraw-Hill Education, $35.
Managing Cyber Attacks in International Law, Business, and Relations: In Search of Cyber Peace, SCOTT J. SHACKELFORD, JD '09; Cambridge University Press, $99.
After Love: Queer Intimacy and Erotic Economies in Post-Soviet Cuba, NOELLE M. STOUT, '98, MA '98; Duke University Press, $23.95.
Accountability Citizenship, STEPHEN P. TRYON, MA '92; Xlibris, $15.99.
The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes, CONEVERY BOLTON VALENCIUS, '90; The University of Chicago Press, $35.
Children's/Young Adult
Esme Dooley, JANE DONOVAN and ROSIE McTOZY (Holly Thomason, MA '10); Sky Candle Press, $16.99.
