Syrian refugees grapple with feelings of alienation as they try to make new homes around the globe in this moving account from political scientist Pearlman (We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled). Drawing on a decade’s worth of interviews with hundreds of displaced Syrians, Pearlman traces their movement through several life stages (e.g., “leaving,” “seeking,” “belonging,” and, if they eventually manage to feel at home somewhere new, simply “living”). Tracking her subjects’ evolving emotions, Pearlman uses their experiences to shed light on the idea of home; she contends that, because most Syrian refugees had planned to spend their lives in the same towns in which their families had dwelled for generations, they possess uniquely poignant views on the topic. The accumulated weight of their often harrowing narratives reveals that those who succeeded in reaching the “living” stage had to labor hard at the task of nurturing a sense of home within themselves. Their accounts, relayed in first person, have a poetic quality (“Syrians my age in Germany learned to hate Syria. I understood them completely. Erase anything called Syria from your thoughts and look forward”; “Once I was... in Khartoum and saw a funeral gathering... and started to cry. Not because it was a funeral, but because everybody there knew each other”). The result is a haunting rumination on what it means to belong somewhere. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this inspiring debut memoir, marine biologist Graham discusses her trials and triumphs as a Black woman in the sciences. Growing up in South Carolina, Graham cultivated a love for the water while fishing with her father. After attending a marine science summer camp as a teenager, she resolved to pursue a career in the field. But she felt out of place in academia (she describes herself as “a unicorn in horse-dominated world that hated horns”) and struggled to get ahead professionally. Her isolation ended when she met fellow researcher Carlee Jackson Bohannon, whom she first spotted in a Twitter photo “floating underwater with an adorable nurse shark.” After the two compared their struggles, they joined with three other Black women to found Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), which offers workshops and grants to minorities in the field. Interspersed with the MISS origin story are endearing sections in which Graham geeks out about sharks, challenging their reputation as killers and sharing fascinating tidbits about their biological processes, including how different species breathe. Vivid prose (the underwater world is “a natural cathedral of bending light”) and Graham’s palpable enthusiasm for her work make this sing. It’s an impassioned tale of ambition and advocacy. Photos. Agent: Chad Luibl, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this masterful blend of memoir and reportage, Ukrainian journalist Ponomarenko covers the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine with rigor and surprising wit. Determined to combat the “shameless lies” that Vladimir Putin used to justify Russia’s assault on Kyiv, Ponomarenko shares his on-the-ground observations of Ukrainian resistance, highlighting how “the blitzkrieg plan that looked so good on paper and in TV propaganda suddenly hit a wall.” Quotidian details, including worries some locals had about how difficult it would be to remove the tape that kept their windows from shattering during Russian shelling, or a mother’s insistence on cooking elaborate meals for anyone sheltering with her, take on deeper meaning alongside Ponomarenko’s unsparing descriptions of mass graves covered by “plastic sheeting stained with a mixture of dried gore and rainwater.” Though president Volodymyr Zelensky, a former stand-up comedian, is portrayed as a surprisingly competent wartime leader, Ponomarenko also highlights his missteps (“We in Ukraine had a wonderful year and a half where the country’s defense minister and top commander of armed forces couldn’t be in the same room”). Such balanced takes and sardonic humor enliven the proceedings throughout. The results are lucid, stirring, and hard to shake. (May)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

Joan Crawford embodied “one archetype after another: jazz baby, bad girl, Cinderella, heiress, boss lady, monster, survivor—all while staying essentially herself,” according to this diverting biography from screenwriter Bernstein (Mr. Confidential). Born Lucille LeSueur somewhere “between 1903... and 1908” in San Antonio, Tex., Crawford, who died in 1977, left behind her hardscrabble childhood to become a professional dancer in New York City. After she was discovered by a talent scout, she moved to Hollywood, where her “vibrancy” and “self-assurance” landed her roles in silent films. Dividing the actor’s life into stages, Bernstein frames Crawford as “queen of the movies” during her 1930s and early ’40s heyday; “mother and martyr” from the mid-1940s to early ’50s, during which time she adopted two children, aided the U.S. war effort by growing victory gardens and hosting picnics for servicemen, and won an Academy Award for her starring role in Mildred Pierce; and “dragon lady” in the mid-to-late ’50s, as she fought to carve out a career during middle age. There’s plenty here that entertains, though Bernstein tends to rely on flattering sources and skates over such controversies as daughter Christina’s portrayal of Crawford as a cruel alcoholic in her 1978 memoir, Mommie Dearest. Those flaws aside, it’s a spirited portrait of a Hollywood legend. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

“If you don’t have your shit together or life figured out, you are about to feel a whole lot better about yourself,” writes Gutierrez at the beginning of her rollicking debut memoir-in-essays. Offering playful accounts of memorable moments from her life, Gutierrez, who was raised Catholic, recalls how during her first confession she became “terror stricken” after the voice that absolved her for saying “pussies” in church appeared to come not from her priest but from God. She reflects on coming of age as an “elder millennial,” recounting her realization at age 17 that she was a “budding bisexual” after seeing Kate Winslet in Titanic and a disastrous relationship in her 20s with a woman she connected with through MySpace who did little besides cry about her ex. Even the more somber selections are lightened by Gutierrez’s jocular tone, as when she quips about her struggle to conceive: “I was the disappointed owner of ovaries that were about as functional as a celibacy vow at a college party.” Gutierrez brings a winning mix of candor and humor, dispensing a bounty of embarrassing anecdotes, endearing missteps, and Y2K-era references (“We reveled in using Napster and LimeWire to download and infect family computers with both terrible music and debilitating viruses”). Unfiltered and fun, this will resonate with ’90s kids. Agent: Claire Draper, Azantian Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

Wheeler and Stoica, spouses who run a dog walking and training business in New York City, debut with a practical guide to helping canines thrive in big cities. Acclimating dogs to the hustle and bustle of urban life is best achieved through walks that expose them to the city’s many sights, smells, and sounds, the authors contend. To overcome particular sources of anxiety, Wheeler and Stoica recommend playing near the fear-inducing stimulus, moving closer each day until the dog no longer feels anxious. They emphasize how undesirable behaviors often result from unmet needs, explaining that dogs will chew shoes and tear up furniture if they don’t get enough exercise. Advice on training includes helpful tips for raising country and city dogs alike. For instance, the authors note that because dogs understand tone and posture more than words, it’s important to be expressive when scolding or offering praise. Elsewhere, the authors outline “dog park etiquette” and suggest that “if you bring a toy, it’s communal property.” Wheeler and Stoica share keen insight into how dogs see the world, and city dwellers will appreciate the useful recommendations for raising their pets. This is well worth a look. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

The ability to think outside the box determines whether new businesses take off or founder, according to this competent treatise. Maples and Ziebelman, who founded the venture capital firms Floodgate and Palo Alto Venture Partners, respectively, contend that successful entrepreneurs build their enterprises around an unintuitive insight, suggesting that Airbnb’s “was that people would trust booking rooms with locals in the same way they trust booking with hotels.” Such insights often involve taking advantage of new technologies, the authors write, noting that Lyft won big by betting on the rapid adoption of GPS-enabled smartphones. The straightforward advice on launching a startup emphasizes the importance of establishing trust between cofounders, keeping investor pitches concise, and positioning one’s product as an antidote to the status quo. Maples and Ziebelman provide probing insight into what made Tesla, Twitch, Twitter, and other relatively young companies successful, though a few of the case studies miss the mark. For instance, the authors describe how educational services company Chegg gauged interest in textbook rentals by creating a website for a nonexistent rental service that was designed to crash before customers could complete the transaction. The authors applaud Chegg for finding an inventive way to test proof of concept before investing in the project, but the endeavor’s dishonesty feels ill-considered. Still, aspiring entrepreneurs will find some sensible suggestions. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

Ordinary landowners square off against the powerful Dominion Energy company in this riveting report on a successful effort to thwart the construction of a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia’s fracking fields across Virginia to North Carolina. Journalist Mingle (Fire and Ice) tracks the project from 2014, when residents were first informed that a pipeline would be built on their properties. The planned pipe, at 42 inches wide, would be the largest ever to cross the Appalachian mountains; residents feared a pipe over such an uneven and erosion-prone terrain would easily be damaged, leading to poisonous leaks that would harm their health, local ecosystems, and national parkland. Nancy Sorrells, a Shenandoah Valley resident who led one of many grassroots campaigns against the pipeline, predicted that a “death by a thousand cuts” strategy would defeat Dominion and encouraged other groups to throw up as many roadblocks as possible. Mingle traces these labyrinthine legal efforts and Dominion’s counterstrikes, including eminent domain seizures. In 2020, the battle reached the Supreme Court, which sided with Dominion; nevertheless, not long afterward Dominion abandoned the project due to mounting costs. Mingle provides illuminating background on the fossil fuel industry—including its yearslong public relations campaign to relabel methane as a benign-sounding “natural gas”—and transforms “regulatory wrangling” into a propulsive story. It’s an impressive account of a David-vs.-Goliath struggle. (May)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

Weill (In Marcy’s Shadow) and Feigel recount the latter’s Vietnam War story in this by-the-numbers memoir. Feigel was drafted into the Army in February 1969 at 21, and, following basic training, went through advanced training in helicopter repair. In November, he reported to the 336th Assault Helicopter Company in the Mekong Delta, where he worked repairing and maintaining helicopters. Two months later, Feigel volunteered to fly a maintenance mission and subsequently decided he preferred being in the air to working as a “hangar rat.” Going on to serve the rest of his tour of duty as a crew chief, he took part in scores of missions, many of them dangerous and more than a few of them lethal. The authors recount many details about those flights and just about every other aspect of Fiegel’s tour of duty; evocative descriptions of helicopter-related battle action are complemented by largely unrevealing accounts of everyday life in the warzone. Novelistic in its presentation, with many reconstructed quotes and a few sidebars and flash-forwards (including a brief overview of Feigel’s post-war struggles with PTSD), this tells a familiar Vietnam War story solidly enough. It’s best suited for completists. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink

The “very existence of public schools” is being threatened, according to this essential overview of recent right-wing attacks on the teaching of material concerning race, gender identity, and sexuality. Journalist Berkshire and education policy scholar Schneider (co-authors of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door) contend that such attacks are merely the latest iteration of the right’s longstanding agenda to privatize public education. By slandering public schools as radically left-wing, activists hope to siphon off students into charter schools and private Christian academies, starving the public education system of funding, according to the authors. Emphasizing that a common education is crucial to a healthy democracy, Berkshire and Schneider argue that broad resistance to what can otherwise seem like a niche culture war issue is necessary. Treating education as a public good critical to society’s well-being is also the best resistance strategy, suggest the authors; by pushing back against individual parents asserting overweening authority in the classroom as undemocratic, leftists can effectively counter right-wing bluster over “parental rights.” Berkshire and Schneider do a fabulous job highlighting hypocrisy (e.g., right-wingers harp on public schools’ subpar test scores as a means of pushing more students into private schools—where many states don’t track test results at all) while concisely cataloging the billionaires and think tanks funding this fight. It’s an invaluable primer on what’s motivating the public education culture wars. (July)

Reviewed on 05/03/2024 | Details & Permalink