To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue.

To see whether titles featured below are available in a library in your area, click on the hyperlinked ISBN numbers in the records to access the WorldCat database; fill in the “Enter Location Information” box that appears below the record to view a list of libraries in your area that own the title. 

Blank, Hanne.  Virgin: the untouched history.  Bloomsbury, 2007.  290p bibl index afp ISBN 1-59691-010-0,  $24.95; ISBN 9781596910102, 
 $24.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2681   GN484   2006-17172 CIP
    
Blank’s credentials as a sexual pundit are underpinned by her publications, rather than her experiences as a once and former virgin. She has written books on how the corpulent copulate, published a collection of steamy short stories, and edited erotic anthologies. Periodicals that have featured her work include Penthouse, Libido, and The Village Voice. Her most recent book is a transmillennial investigation beginning almost in the age of the cave girls, moving forward through second-century Greek gynecologist Soranus, and finishing in the present with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The book is by turns erudite, rambling, hilarious, and wonderfully informative. Sandwiched in amid the hard data is a staggering amount of sexual trivia. Readers may be surprised to learn there is a “Museum of Menstruation” or that female lemurs have hymens. Blank explains the difference between a pedophile and an ephebephile, and what to do with droit de seigneur. So it goes–the narrative propelled always by Blank’s outrageous humor and whetted sense of the absurd. It has everything you may or may never have wanted to know about virginity (but were afraid to ask). Summing Up: Recommended. General collections/public libraries. — B. R. Burg, Arizona State University

Carr, Matthew.  The infernal machine: a history of terrorism.  New Press, 2007 (c2006).  410p bibl index; ISBN 9781595581792,  $26.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2749   HV6431    MARC
   
The study of terrorism is a growth industry, with publishers meeting demand as quickly as possible. Professionals seeking to understand the evolution of terrorism usually turn to established scholars of history such as Walter Laqueur or Bruce Hoffman. Here, British broadcaster and journalist Carr does not attempt to redefine terrorism. Instead, recounting terrorist acts from the successful assassination of Czar Alexander II to the current danger posed by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, he examines how nations respond to the threats posed by terrorists. Carr’s particular strength is his emphasis on the parallel evolution of the tactics employed by terrorists as they wage war on behalf of their causes and the responses of those they attack. Carr observes that as terrorists commit new outrages against civilians in Northern Ireland, Israel, the US, or the UK, governments often respond by restricting or curtailing civil liberties or due process of law. Carr’s book confronts readers with the difficult decisions that plague politicians in today’s world as they are challenged to reorder national priorities involving the central issue of freedom versus security. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — C. C. Lovett, Emporia State University

Clark, Gregory.  A farewell to alms: a brief economic history of the world.  Princeton, 2007.  420p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780691121352,  $29.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2713   HC21   2007-15166 CIP
  
Clark (Univ. of California, Davis) adds substantively to an understanding of perhaps the important questions of this–or any–era: what makes economies grow, and why have some not experienced any success at all? Within the last decade have come valuable steps forward in exploring this topic: data collection and interpretations from British economic historian Angus Maddison and the formal growth theories of Nobel laureates Robert Solow and Robert Lucas, and contemporary volumes such as David Landes’s The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (CH, Jun’98, 35-5770), Kenneth Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence (CH, Sep’00, 38-0415), and David Walsh’s Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations (CH, Sep’06, 44-0440). Into this fray jumps Clark, who dissects competing, and in some cases complementary, explanations for growth: innovations and advances in knowledge versus geography, and social institutions conducive to growth versus the value of religion and culture. His 16-page introduction is the perfect summary, followed by chapters that probe fertility, life expectancy, technological change, institutions, the Industrial Revolution, diverging rates of growth (and in some nations, the absence of change). Alms is provocative, authoritative, insightful, readable, well documented, and an inescapable detour for anyone wanting to tackle economic growth and development topics and enter into these conversations. Summing Up: Essential. General readers, students at all levels, and faculty. — A. R. Sanderson, University of Chicago

Collier, Paul.  The bottom billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it.  Oxford, 2007.  205p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-531145-0,  $28.00; ISBN 9780195311457,  $28.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2714   HC79   2006-36630 CIP

Collier (Oxford Univ.) brings to the forefront an important issue that often does not get the attention it deserves. He analyzes the plight of about 50 countries in the world that are mired in an endless cycle of poverty, conflict, and severe problems with economic development. The book is very balanced and presents the issues in a coherent and lucid fashion. Its strength lies in the fact that it is accessible to all audiences yet provides rigorous treatment of the issues at hand. Rather than paying lip service to the problems, the author clearly lays out the duties of all countries, whether they are in the top billion or the bottom. Economic development issues concern not merely poverty alleviation but also the creation of stable countries. Here, Collier’s treatment of conflict issues is excellent. The responsibility of keeping the peace is a prerequisite for improving the lives of the bottom billion people. Thus his key recommendations are right on the mark, and his message should resonate in the development discourse for years to come. A good addition to the reading list of researchers and scholars, this book can also be adopted for development classes at the undergraduate and graduate level. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals. — J. Raman, Valparaiso University

David, Deirdre.  Fanny Kemble: a performed life.  Pennsylvania, 2007.  350p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8122-4023-5,  $39.95; ISBN 9780812240238,  $39.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2530   PN2598   2007-17365 CIP
    
Fascination with Kemble (1809-93)–British actress, poet/writer, abolitionist, member of the Siddons-Kemble theater dynasty, and longtime resident of the US–does not abate. Since J. C. Furnas’s Fanny Kemble: Leading Lady of the Nineteenth-Century Stage (1982), two additional full biographies and several more narrow studies have been published. Since Rebecca Jenkins’s Fanny Kemble: A Reluctant Celebrity (2005) essentially ends in 1839, this scholarly, erudite, and thorough study by David (emer., English, Temple Univ.) is the one to use. It is also the most thematically driven of the biographies, stressing Kemble’s performance of self and her role playing–both on and off stage–in action and in her writing. As a staunch supporter of women’s position in society, for example, Kemble became “the feminist heroine of her performed life” and in all things proved to be a masterful manager of the performativity of her life. As superb as this biography is, Furnas remains definitive on Fanny’s theatrical life; David’s effort far exceeds all others in its balance and in its careful analysis of this complex and variegated life. Though it does not completely supersede its predecessors, this well-illustrated volume is a great addition to the literature on important women, the theater, and numerous aspects of the 19th century. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. — D. B. Wilmeth, emeritus, Brown University

Edward Weston’s book of nudes, ed. by Brett Abbott.  J. Paul Getty Museum/Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, 2007.  87p; ISBN 9780892369034, $39.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2437   TR675   2007-6592 CIP

In 1953, Edward Weston (1886-1958), together with writer Nancy Newhall, assembled a mock-up for a book of his photographs of nudes. It was to contain 39 images revealing his approach and style, with text from a revision of an earlier article by Newhall. They could not find a publisher, and as a rare document, the mock-up is now in the collection of the Getty Museum. This book reproduces all of the photographs intended for the original. Publisher Getty Museum collaborated with the Center for Creative Photography, custodian of the Weston Archive. The preface is by Abbott (Getty Museum) who lays out the background of the object, including the fact that in 1957 the pictures were reproduced in a cheap paperback volume of studies of the human form. Newhall’s text is included along with several facsimile pages. Though Weston’s photographs have been widely published since his death, this is a handsome and meaningful scholarly artifact representing his and Newhall’s thinking about key elements of his work. The selection and sequencing of images are instructive. However, it should be seen in the context of Edward Weston Nudes (CH, Sep’78) with Charis Wilson’s remembrance, in which many of the same pictures appear together with her informative text. Summing Up: Essential. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty. — P. C. Bunnell, emeritus, Princeton University

Franklin, Wayne.  James Fenimore Cooper: the early years.  Yale, 2007.  708p index afp; ISBN 9780300108057, $40.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2466   PS1431   2006-31247 CIP
    
Author of The New World of James Fenimore Cooper (CH, Nov’82) and co-editor (with Philip Gura and Arnold Krupat) of the 7th edition of the Norton Anthology of American Literature (2007), Franklin (Univ. of Connecticut) is a well-known Cooper scholar. This lucid and informative first volume of his planned two-volume biography of Cooper (1789-1851) follows Cooper from birth to his departure for Europe in 1826 following the publication of The Last of the Mohicans. The author had full access to Cooper’s family’s papers and so is able to provide insights into how Cooper’s early life informed his writings, Cooper’s recognition of writing as a means to extricate himself from the financial pressures inherited from his father’s estate, and the development of Cooper’s persona as a professional author. One can only look forward to the completion of this substantial biography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. — G. D. MacDonald, Virginia State University

Hanson, Jarice.  How cell phones and the Internet change the way we live, work, and play.  Praeger, 2007.  153p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780275993337, $44.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2685   HE9713   2007-18524 CIP
    
Hanson (communications, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Temple Univ.) provides a concise, readable overview of the impact of cell phones and the Internet on every aspect of our lives, from individual habits and relationships to national and international social and cultural norms. Cell phones and the Internet offer users an illusion of greater control over their lives, but they also lead to expectations and behavior changes that can cause stress and anxiety and threaten or at least alter social and political structures. Others have raised these issues, but Hanson has collected solid data from many sources, which she presents in clear, well-organized chapters spiced with good examples and anecdotes. She begins by examining the social changes brought about by early technological communication devices such as the telegraph and early telephony, providing a sociological context in which to view the effects of today’s technology. Subsequent chapters address issues of personal control or loss thereof (e.g., video gaming and online gambling), privacy risks (identity theft or merely talking about our lives in very public settings), validity concerns surrounding information found on the Internet, regulatory questions, and the effects of all of these on the fabric of our society. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; students, upper-division undergraduates and up; faculty and practitioners. — M. S. Myers, Carnegie-Mellon University

Hoeppe, Götz.  Why the sky is blue: discovering the color of life, tr. with John Stewart.  Princeton, 2007.  336p bibl index afp ISBN 0-691-12453-1,  $29.95; ISBN 9780691124537,  $29.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2670   QC494   2006-26520 CIP
    
This wonderful, discursive book begins with a child’s common question and proceeds to provide an interdisciplinary answer with historical perspective and insight. It is a revised translation of the original edition in German. Hoeppe (Heidelberg Univ., Germany) traces scientists’ quests to understand the natural colors of the environment. He delves into the most powerful sensation–sight. Our many interactions with nature require a good understanding of the various aspects of the human body’s physical relationship with light. Hoeppe, editor of a well-known German science magazine, traces the historic attempts to explain the “blue sky,” from ancient mythology to modern physics, as part of the never-ending effort to unravel the mysteries of nature. He recounts chronologically humans’ improved understanding of light in ten readable chapters. Through this, he enhances the very perception of both the immediate and farthest reaches of the universe. Excellent diagrams, figures, and color photographs accompany the text. Good index; suggestions for further reading. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. — N. Sadanand, Central Connecticut State University

McConnell, Ben.  Citizen marketers: when people are the message, by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.  Kaplan Publishing, 2007.  223p bibl index ISBN 1-4195-9606-3,  $25.00; ISBN 9781419596063,  $25.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2704   HF5415   2006-30817 CIP
    
Marketing specialists McConnell and Huba have written a solid overview of the profound market effects created by individuals who share opinions on products and services via their Web sites. The illusion of control over message that some marketers still carry is soundly laid to rest through the multiple examples presented in this book of influential blogs that shape readers’ views. The concept of customers promoting ideas/products was explored in the authors’ prior book (Creating Customer Evangelists, 2002). In this new work they expand the categories of advocate/critic bloggers to four: filters, fanatics, facilitators, and firecrackers. From music to food products, there is little that bloggers do not offer an opinion on. A recent McKinsey study cited executives’ view that the largest impediment to effectively using the Web for marketing is the lack of expertise within organizations and marketing agencies; this book offers useful knowledge for anyone in the field. The authors discuss forward thinking, positive uses of Web-based commentary, e.g., asking for feedback on preproduction product and service designs, conducting anonymous focus groups via Web sites. The endnotes section is useful for supplemental reading, and the short bibliography offers foundational information titles. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Public, academic, and professional marketing collections. — N. J. Johnson, Metropolitan State University

Psychedelic medicine: new evidence for hallucinogenic substances as treatments, ed. by Michael J. Winkelman and Thomas B. Roberts.  Praeger, 2007.  2v bibl index afp; ISBN 9780275990237,  $200.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2642   RM315   2007-8459 CIP
    
When hallucinogenic drugs are mentioned, one is more likely to think of drugs of abuse, mind-altering drugs, or drugs subject to governmental regulation than of drugs that may have a therapeutic application. For this reason, this two-volume treatise serves a useful purpose not only in providing an update on the limited number of hallucinogenic drugs that already have some therapeutic application (based on relatively limited research), but also by covering the history of these mind-altering drugs and the cultural, social, political, legal, economic, and ethical factors that have encumbered research on these compounds. The work is well organized, with chapters written by medical and legal professionals active in the field. The book cites literature references, and each chapter has explanatory notes as required. A central theme, uniformly optimistic about the end result, pervades the work: that much more research is needed to explore and discover the therapeutic potential of these drugs. Some technical sections, on the known or suggested mode of action of some of the drugs and the parts of the nervous system involved, may require more than a cursory knowledge of neurology. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — R. S. Kowalczyk, formerly, University of Michigan

Rousell, Michael A.  Sudden influence: how spontaneous events shape our lives.  Praeger, 2007.  194p bibl index afp ISBN 0-275-99321-3,  $39.95; ISBN 9780275993214, $39.95. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2908   BF637   2007-70 CIP
    
When he was a young student who hated school–and on one occasion “ranted and raved about the injustices of school and the inhumanity of teachers”–a teacher told Rousell that he could only change the system if he became a teacher. This statement/event had a dramatic, profound, and lasting effect on Rousell: he is now a counselor with a PhD in philosophy and professional experience in all levels of education. He has devoted 20 years to researching what he labeled the Spontaneous Influence Event (SIE) he experienced–a phenomenon many have experienced–and that research culminates in this present book. Rousell identifies five elements of an SIE: the perceived authority of the influencer, rapport with the influencer, dependence on the influencer, absorption in imagery on the part of the person influenced, and emotional arousal. These need not occur spontaneously, and the author presents a methodology in which these elements can be managed so as to create an SIE for the purpose of bringing out the potential in an individual. Including chapter notes, this is a stimulating, innovative, and practical book for anyone–teachers, counselors, parents, physicians, managers, social workers–working to tap potential in others. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers, all levels. — D. Sydiaha, emeritus, University of Saskatchewan

Roy, Olivier.  Secularism confronts Islam, tr. by George Holoch.  Columbia, 2007.  128p index afp; ISBN 9780231141024,  $24.50. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2564   BP65   2007-1748 CIP
    
Fear of terrorism, and worries about the compatibility of religion with secular states, marks contemporary discussion of Islam in Western societies, according to Roy (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris). His analysis dismantles the prejudices that sustain the concerns about political Islam by arguing, and by gathering considerable evidence to show, that the current revival of religion among Jews, Christians, and Muslims–rather than religion in general–is at the source of Western fears. “Islamic terrorism” has made Islam particularly problematic in Western thinking about secularism, but Roy argues that Muslim behavior (rather than dogma) is congruent with Western secularism in its Anglo-American multicultural version, but not in the Gallic laïcité version, because the former is based on a pluralism of values whereas the latter asserts the role of the state in creating a system of values for all citizens. Roy also argues that the interest of the state is respect for law and the political order rather than moral or theological beliefs, and thus that following “the rules of the game” induces even born-again believers to accept the rules. This superb book is a welcome contribution to political science, sociology, religious studies–and statecraft! Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — L. J. Alderink, emeritus, Concordia College

Smith, Virginia.  Clean: a history of personal hygiene and purity.  Oxford, 2007.  457p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-929779-7, $30.00; ISBN 9780199297795, $30.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2645   RA424   2007-298113 MARC
    
Everyone spends time grooming each day. It is an important part of people’s daily lives that is rarely thought about. And people throughout the world spend billions of dollars annually on beauty products and toiletries. In this book, Smith (honorary fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) addresses the complex interrelated histories of grooming, cosmetics, ritual purification, and public health. Smith takes a sweeping, but comprehensive view of all of these topics. To address them, she successfully weaves together concepts from such disciplines as biology, anthropology, history, and sociology. After discussing grooming practices in the animal world, she describes the evolution of grooming, the use of cosmetics, and the personal hygiene practices of humans from prehistoric times to the present. She also addresses the numerous social movements and trends that have evolved across cultures and societies, which eventually led to the founding of the field of public health. The book is a fascinating read, and it provides new perspectives on daily activities that one tends to take for granted. So take a shower, apply your deodorant, brush your teeth, curl up, and read this book! Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. — R. M. Mullner, University of Illinois at Chicago

Smithsonian American Art Museum: George Catlin’s Indian Gallery.  Internet Resource. http://americanart.si.edu/catlin/highlights.html Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2429   

[Visited Oct’07] The Smithsonian Museum’s George Catlin and His Indian Gallery exhibition traveled in 2004-05 to four US cities to celebrate the Lewis and Clark Expedition bicentennial. It premiered in Washington DC in 2002 with more than 400 objects and was one of the largest exhibitions ever organized by the museum. The tour, however, included only 120 paintings and artifacts. The Catlin collection represents a major one for the Smithsonian, which owns a nearly complete set of the surviving works Catlin painted during the 1830s. For the first time, artifacts collected while Catlin was traveling through Plains Indian territory were displayed along with his paintings. This created more than an exhibition of the works of a single artist; it also represented the clash of two cultures in North America. The painting was very significant at the time because it was feared that one of those two cultures was disappearing from the Earth forever. Although just the opposite has proved true, Catlin’s work is valued as a representation of a culture caught in a point of time. It also represents one of the first attempts to embrace other cultures with realism. For those not fortunate enough to have seen any of the original exhibitions, the Smithsonian Art Museum has created a Web page highlighting the tour exhibition. This site is also a more permanent tribute to a wonderful exhibition that has now given way to others. Students, teachers, and general art lovers can browse through some 34 images of paintings and artifacts, learning where they were created and what they represent. Images are in color, well identified, and large enough to be really appreciated. Biographical information about Catlin is included.
This specific Web site is just one of a larger set of pages celebrating American art and artists, as well as a part of more extensive treatment of Catlin and his works and the stories behind them. Of special note is the audiovisual “Campfire Stories with George Catlin,” an invaluable tool for teachers and students seeking a more in-depth view of the encounters of these two cultures. The museum site itself, although beyond the scope of this review, is one of the better art databases and should be a main resource for any American art or history classes. There is not much of value in the Internet world that is still free, so take advantage of this one! Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. — A. Wirkkala, New Hampshire Technical Institute
    

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