Talk about variety. The world of nonfiction is always that, and this year’s offerings are all over the waterfront.
You have very personal stories from the likes of Edwidge Danticat and Mary Gordon. There is the harrowing account from Ishmael Beah, who at a tender age was forced to carry a gun and use it on people in a civil war in Sierra Leone.
Then there are the reflections of many people, both famous and the obscure, about that most tumultuous decade, the ’60s, from “Greatest Generation” author Tom Brokaw.
We can get up close and personal with separate autobiographies from rock icon Eric Clapton and his young wife Pattie Boyd, the former Mrs. George Harrison.
If revisionist history is your thing, you can check out Tim Weiner’s “Legacy of Ashes,” which tells us that things are not always what they have seemed at the CIA over the years. Go figure.
And speaking of the CIA, “outed” CIA covert operative Valerie Plame Wilson tells us of her life in the CIA and what has happened since her cover was blown by the White House. She’s not a happy camper.
So check out these suggestions to see if there is something here for the serious reader on your list:
“Boom!: Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the ’60s and Today,” by Tom Brokaw, $29.95. As with his highly regarded “The Greatest Generation,” which told the story of World War II, the former TV anchorman interviews tons of people, both famous and the not-so-well-known, to offer a comprehensive take on that most turbulent of decades in America’s past.
“Brother, I’m Dying,” by Edwidge Danticat, $23.95. Danticat (“The Dew Breaker”) uses her lyric writing style to tell the moving story of the men most important in her life, her father, Mira, and his older brother, Joseph. The critics have called it a deeply felt story of the lives and deaths of the two men and the great love the author had for them both.
“Circling My Mother: A Memoir,” by Mary Gordon, $24. Gordon is mostly known for her novels about how the modern world affects women — “Spending” and “Pearl.” But now she turns to nonfiction to tell her bittersweet story of the difficult yet triumphant life of her mother and the relationship between the two women.
“Clapton: The Autobiography,” by Eric Clapton, $26, and “Wonderful Tonight: An Autobiography,” by Pattie Boyd, $25.95. All Clapton, all the time in these two books. They should tell you all you want to know, first from the perspective of the guitar god himself, and then from that of his young bride, Pattie, who once was married to George Harrison of the Beatles. This is truly rockin’ around the Christmas tree.
“Due Considerations: Essays and Criticisms,” by John Updike, $40. While Updike is best-known, perhaps, as one of America’s great novelists, he also is a prolific writer of essays, mostly on literature. Not all the essays here are on literature. Updike is a man of many interests, and he doesn’t mind talking and writing about them.
“Fair Game: My Life As a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House,” by Valerie Plame Wilson, $26. Wilson, the object of the CIA leak case and the resultant conviction of White House insider I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, tells her side of the story and describes her life with the CIA prior to being “outed” and what happened to her since this all began.
“The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788 to 1800,” by Jay Winik, $29.95. Author Winik argues we Americans are narrow-minded when it comes to thinking about our Revolution and early years as a country. We didn’t exist in a vacuum, but rather were part of a larger story of dissent that had spread to France, Russia and elsewhere.
“Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA,” by Tim Weiner, $27.95. Over the past 60 years, the CIA has managed to maintain an aura of success — at least before 9/11 — mostly because of its secretiveness. But, as Weiner points out, that has not really been the case. The agency stumbled and bumbled through the years since its creation. Weiner gives us the first definitive history of the agency — and things are not rosy in Langley. The book won the 2007 National Book Award for nonfiction.
“Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” by Ishmael Beah, $22.95. Beah tells the riveting story of his life as a child in Sierra Leone who was forced to kill people, often hideously. It’s a moving story, elegantly told, about a problem that has grown to staggering lengths in many of the world’s trouble spots. He was one of the lucky ones who survived to tell his harrowing tale.
“Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography,” by David Michaelis, $34.95. It’s Michaelis’ opinion that Schulz, the most widely read cartoonist in history, was probably the least understood. He paints a picture of a genius who was often anxious and extremely hard to get along with. At the same time, he could be remarkably philosophical and sensitive.
