RaveLibrary Journal... compelling and unique ... The central figure, Stella Levi, is intensely captivating and a woman with remarkable insight ... While memory is fallible after so long, the author always includes relevant historical context and research to fill in and fact-check Stella’s stories, but it’s done in a way that still honors her version. Illustrations by Kalman also bring this world to life ... An essential read for Jewish history and memoir fans. Stella is a compelling character for anyone to meet.
Edmund Richardson
PositiveLibrary Journal... may read like a thriller, but it is based on meticulous research and new sources. It’s a fascinating account of Masson’s all-consuming search for the legendary lost city of Alexandria Beneath the Mountain, which symbolized the point where East met West. Richardson goes beyond Masson’s account of navigating Afghanistan and, in 1833, finding the lost Alexandria; the book also considers Afghanistan’s political situation in the 1820s and 1830s, the truth of Masson’s accounts, and the country’s challenging terrain ... A romp through a dramatic landscape and events that will be exciting for anyone interested in history and, in particular, classical archaeology.
Daniel Genis
PositiveLibrary Journal[Genis] examines his past, drug addiction, the robberies that landed him in jail in New York, and his 10-year prison sentence with a detachment that is resonant of the type of anthropological thinking and lack of visible emotion he found necessary for survival ... Genis’s is an intense memoir with descriptions of sex and violent crime; it won’t be for everyone, but is important for readers trying to understand the effect of imprisonment on individuals and society.
Andrew Pettegree and Arthur Der Weduwen
RaveLibrary JournalThis fascinating if dense book aims to be a world history, yet the focus is mainly European and American; forays into other regions tend to consider colonial influences above the local practices. Despite this weakness, the book has important criticism of bad practices in libraries and their institutions (e.g., the American Library Association), which provides necessary modern context, as many of the struggles around the role of politics in libraries are ongoing ... This is sure to be a new addition to library and information school curricula and will be fascinating for all bibliophiles and people who want libraries to survive and improve.
David Sedaris
RaveLibrary Journal... more cosmopolitan and assured than his first collection ... In spite of Sedaris’s new financial security and his homes in Europe and the United States, the core of his personality and insecurity—which draws so many to his writing—remains. Sedaris is curious about the world, particularly its tawdry or ugly sides, and constantly aware of his role and complicity in that ugliness. His style of engagement means finding humor in nearly everything, often in ways that may elicit discomfort, though he is serious when it comes to tragedies such as mass shootings. For this reason, some will see his book as unsalvageable. Yet selected and edited as it is, his work is about radical vulnerability and reflects a universal experience of contending with one’s internal life. \'Who am I, how did I get to be this way, and what is wrong with me?\' is a question Sedaris asks, and one worth asking ... Entertaining reading in itself, with references to some of the books he published in this era; a must-read for Sedaris’s many fans.
Gabrielle Glaser
PositiveLibrary JournalCombining personal tragedy and overall history, this book evokes sympathy for a wide swath of mid-century American women ... In addition to content related to adoption, which should be of wide interest, this book will engage readers interested in Jewish social practices in mid-century America.
Robin Lane Fox
PositiveLibrary JournalFox, in his characteristic thoughtfully argumentative and practical style, sifts through centuries of epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological evidence to place the so-called Epidemic texts in a new context ... While some of the material may be dense for non-classicists, there are many readers who will find the sections about how we tell and understand medical stories timely and important.
Deirdre Mask
RaveLibrary JournalEngaging, illuminating, and with highly relevant current subject matter, this book is recommended for all readers, especially fans of popular history and politics.
Norman Lebrecht
PositiveLibrary Journal... has a breathless feel, as stories spill over each other, told as though they are all happening at once, and many ending in unspeakable tragedy. As a longstanding music commentator and journalist, Lebrecht weaves in his own stories and anecdotes; for example, a somewhat improbable sounding conversation between Isaac Bashevis Singer and Manachem Begin was told to Lebrecht by Singer himself ... A unique perspective on the role of Jews in European intellectual life, this will be of interest to music and art history readers, as well as those interested in Jewish history.
Leandra Ruth Zarnow
PositiveLibrary Journal... a compelling portrait of a woman who pursued her goals with a single-minded intensity that is inspiring, perhaps all the more so owing to the focus on Abzug’s home life and marriage, which was equal in a way that is unusual even today. Zarnow states the intention of critiquing Abzug’s politics where they fail from an intersectional point of view, but there is a limited case made for her being overly pragmatic except in the case of her not backing Shirley Chilsom’s presidential run ... A fascinating ride through some of the fastest-paced politics of the 1960s with a larger-than-life character and well suited for feminist history readers.
Ferdinand Addis
PositiveLibrary JournalSimilar in scope to Robert Hughes\'s Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History, this work draws a narrative thread through the end of the Roman republic, empire, papal state, and fascist state, which helps to put the modern state of Italy in perspective. The tone is light overall; Addis has a keen eye for the appropriate allusion or anecdote...but avoids pessimism with a focus on continual rebirth ... Serious scholars may prefer a more in-depth study, but anyone interested in the history of Rome will find this volume accessible and entertaining.
