“The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” by Michael Lewis (Norton, 299 pages, $24.95). At the center of Lewis’ story is a young man who one day will be very, very rich. But now, he’s struggling a little. He’s one of 13 children of a crack-addicted mother. When introduced, he can’t read or write. What he can do is play football.
As he grows older, he is adopted by a rich, white Republican evangelical family and goes to the University of Mississippi, where he is such a standout on the gridiron that National Football League scouts are drooling.
“The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town,” by John Grisham (Doubleday, 368 pages, $28.95). Yes, it’s THAT John Grisham, with his first nonfiction work. It’s the story of Ron Williamson who first played professional baseball, but then fell on hard times. Really hard.
He was accused and convicted of capital murder of a waitress and sentenced to die.
Grisham recounts the case, showing how there was no physical evidence tying Williamson to the crime and the prosecution resorted to so-called junk science to get a conviction.
“The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Missippi Gulf Coast,” by Douglas Brinkle (HarperCollins, 736 pages, $29.95). Historian Brinkley, himself a resident of New Orleans, tells the whole sordid tale of the monster storm that decimated the United States’ most unique city along with Mississippi coastal towns.
While certainly holding nothing back in terms of his criticisms for government – local, state and national – Brinkley also is quick to point out the good guys, like the U.S. Coast Guard and the many private folks who did their best to help the stricken area.
“I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman,” by Nora Ephron (Knopf, 160 pages, $19.95). As Ephron approaches senior citizen status, she has written down her thoughts about all manner of things.
She ruminates amusingly on menopause, the empty nest, her purse, the hair dye and all the lotions and creams she uses to ward off Father Time.
“The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11,” by Lawrence Wright (Knopf, 480 pages, $27.95).Here is a narrative history with all the punch of a novel. It tells us not only about Osama bin Laden, but also his sidekick Ayman al-Zawahri in much more detail that has been done to date.
In the course of the writing, Wright ties in the story of the late John O’Neill, the FBI agent who worked for years to alert people to threat posed by bin Laden and his organization. O’Neill died in the collapse of the World Trade Center.
More books about Hurricane Katrina
“1 dead in attic,” by Christopher Rose
“After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina,” by David Dante Trout
“Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City,” by Jed Horne
“Hurricane Katrina: An American Tragedy and Its Aftermath,” by Time Magazine.
“Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security,” by Christopher Cooper
“Katrina: The Ruin and Recover of New Orleans,” by the Times Picayune
“Path of Destruction: The Destruction of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms,” by John McQuaid
“The Politics of Disaster: Katrina, Big Government, and New Strategy for Future Crises,” by Marvin Olasky
“The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina – The Inside Story From One Louisiana Scientist,” by Ivor van Heerden
“Why New Orleans Matters,” by Tom Piazza
