All That Work and Still No Boys, Kathryn Ma,'78, MA '78; U. of Iowa Press, $16.
Courtesy University of Iowa Press
Operating in what has become familiar fictional territory—a Joy Luck trade zone in which second-generation immigrants sort out their loyalties to culture, family and personal fulfillment, Ma collects 10 stories full of quiet astonishments. In the title story, a mother balks at accepting a kidney transplant because her only son, not her daughters, is the best match. But she has her reasons beyond the gender favoritism that everyone ascribes to her. "For Sale by Owner" is a stunning little parable about assimilation and real estate. Stanford goes unnamed in "What I Know Now," but no reader will fail to recognize it as the place where the story's heroine test-drives her sexuality.
The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War, Nicholas Thompson, '97; Henry Holt, $27.50.
This biography examines two friends and American policy mavens who were active through the entire Cold War—and who essentially embodied opposite strategies for containing the Soviet Union. Nitze, who made policy with most of the century's presidents, believed that ever-growing military superiority would best deter war. Kennan, a diplomat and historian, opposed the arms race and argued that the Soviet Union would implode. This is a readable, evenhanded account by Thompson, an editor at Wired and a grandson of Nitze.
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table, Molly Wizenberg, '01; Simon & Schuster, $25.
Foodies who throw around the names of M.F.K. Fisher and Laurie Colwin often also toss in the name Orangette, Wizenberg's blog. Tales about her parents and the emailing stranger she later wed reveal Wizenberg's talent as a personal essayist. Recipes for buttery cakes and bouchons au thon (tuna pâté) reveal her French-accented cuisine. Descriptions (the method of making a pancake called a Dutch baby is "only marginally less awe inspiring than the method for making a human one") reveal her capacity for wonder. Wizenberg and her husband recently opened a restaurant, Delancey, in Seattle.
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, Rich Benjamin, '98, PhD '00; Hyperion, $24.99.
A senior fellow at Demos, a think tank, Benjamin set out to explore the confounding fact that while interpersonal racism is declining, the nation is as residentially segregated as it was in 1970. He lived for brief times in exurbs where residents typically don't mind "ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few mariachi dancers—as long as these trends do not overwhelm the white dominant culture." On his travels Benjamin, who is black, observes how pervasively race acts as a proxy for economic class.
Once Upon a Twice, Denise Doyen, '77, illustrated by Barry Moser; Random House, $16.99.
Before the kidlets can sit still for "Jabberwocky," they can enjoy this spooky picture book full of portmanteau words. In Doyen's poem, a braggart mouse named Jam hears—but doesn't heed—a warning that the mouncelors whispercroon. "Beware the dangershine of Moon / Do not disturb the bugs of June!" the elders tell him, but Jam thinks he knows a better way to scoutaprowl.
The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest, Jack Nisbet, '71; Sasquatch Books, $23.95.
A Scot of humble birth, David Douglas brought hundreds of exotic Pacific Northwest plants to the attention of European botanists and entrepreneurs. Nisbet's account brims with adventures and ends in Hawaii with Douglas's body in a pit trap, stomped to death by a bull captured for a burgeoning cattle trade. His best-known namesake—a soft-needled fir—scents homes far from Cascadia each December.
'Beware of religious leaders who are unwilling to serve the greater good, who insist that God loves only some, or who say that a portion of humanity is not worthy of respect or dignity. That is a hamstrung and limping version of the great dream…'
—Katharine Jefferts Schori, ’74, in Gospel in the Global Village: Seeking God’s Dream of Shalom; Morehouse Publishing, $20
