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ON THIS DAY
IN BASEBALL HISTORY … Review by Jason Zasky For baseball fans in New York and Boston, Bucky Dent's three-run home run in the seventh inning of the 1978 playoff between the Yankees and Red Sox is a flashbulb memory. It's the defining moment in what is arguably the most memorable game in baseball history, when "the last guy on the ball club you'd expect to hit a home run … hit one into the screen," said Yankee announcer Bill White. In "The Greatest Game" author Richard Bradley brings that infamous one-game playoff back to life in a vivid pitch-by-pitch, inning-by-inning account that alternates points of view between the two teams. In between innings, Bradley recounts the trials of the 1978 season, during which the Yankees and Red Sox both endured a surprising number of challenges for pennant contenders. For its part, New York's clubhouse was filled with interpersonal conflict, leading to manager Billy Martin's resignation midway through the year. Meanwhile, up in Boston the Red Sox built a 14½ game lead, then proceeded to suffer one of the greatest collapses in baseball history—a late-season meltdown that included the so-called Boston Massacre, when the Yankees swept four games from the Sox at Fenway Park in early September. Certainly, readers
old enough to remember the '78 playoff—won by the Yankees,
5-4—will find "The Greatest Game" a compelling trip down memory
lane, a rare instance in which knowing the ending makes the behind-the-scenes
back story that much more riveting. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky Ignorance is bliss. Or is it? In "The Age of American Unreason" Susan Jacoby—author of "Freethinkers" (2004)—explores the anti-intellectualism (too much learning can be a dangerous thing) and anti-rationalism (there are no facts, just opinions) that increasingly characterize American culture and political discourse. Among other things, Jacoby explores the erosion of Americans' knowledge about geography, science and history; the public's short attention span (fostered by TV, video and other digital media); and the failure of the country's public education system. Jacoby frets
that too many Americans are proud of their ignorance and even openly
hostile to knowledge, a state of affairs that has corrupted the
nation's political process and, in part, explains George W. Bush's
victory over John Kerry in 2004. With Bush's last day (1/20/09)
now just around the corner Jacoby questions whether the American
people have learned their lesson: "It remains to be seen," she writes,
"as the current presidential campaign unfolds, whether Americans
are willing to consider what the flight from reason has cost us
as a people and whether any candidate has the will or the courage
to talk about ignorance as a political issue." ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky There's a school of thought that says Americans would prefer their political leaders to be "strong and wrong" rather than weak and right. "Mission Accomplished!" is a vivid reminder of how consistently and overwhelmingly wrong the Bush Administration has been when it comes to Iraq. This 200-page book consists of a collection of quotes (issued by the likes of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and dozens of others) on subjects like weapons of mass destruction, troop levels, casualties, and the projected cost of the occupation. While the illustrations and authors' commentary add a bit of levity to the subject matter, "Mission Accomplished!" is thoroughly depressing—a devastating indictment of the relatively small group of people who misled the American public into a costly, ill-conceived conflict. Notably, Republican
presidential candidate John McCain is quoted many times: "I believe
… that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators" [March 20,
2003] and "This conflict is … going to be relatively short" [March
23, 2003] are among McCain's most memorable predictions. Meanwhile,
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is conspicuously
absent. The authors cheekily attribute Obama's prescience to his
lack of foreign policy expertise, saying, "Obama was against the
war from the start, but that was because he lacked the experience"
to know any better. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky It's not easy to successfully launch a new consumer product. Just ask any of the big corporations featured in "Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things": Coke (New Coke); Pepsi (Crystal Pepsi); Campbell's (Intelligent Quisine); Procter & Gamble (Olestra) and McNeil (Benecol)—to name just a few. Author Calvin Hodock—a professor of marketing at Berkeley College—contends that the odds of success could be greatly improved, if only companies would learn from their mistakes. Using case histories of failed products like the Pontiac Aztek and Excedrin Quick Tabs, Hodock identifies eight common misjudgments—including "defective marketing research," "competitive delusion" and "marketing dishonesty"—that often doom new product development. After analyzing each individual case, he goes on to review the lessons learned and offers advice for those considering similar endeavors. Predictably, Hodock trots out numerous well-worn axioms like "stick to your core competency" and "match performance with expectations." But he also takes leading business schools to task for failing to produce graduates with the humility and maturity to cope with real-world problems. In particular, he criticizes biz schools for the lack of attention devoted to ethics and other "soft" skills. Hodock even suggests that prospective MBA students be required to take an ethics exam in addition to the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), and that "[t]he ethics score should carry equal weight with the GMAT score in screening candidates." Of course, it
doesn't take a Harvard MBA to recognize that America doesn't need
green and purple ketchup to go with sky-blue—excuse me, Kool
Blue—french fries. Missteps like those (courtesy of Heinz)
remind us that there's simply no substitute for common sense. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Kathleen A. Ervin A day late and a dollar short: If you've ever found yourself in this position "Gotcha Capitalism" is a must read. Written by MSNBC's "Red Tape Chronicles" columnist Bob Sullivan, it offers dozens of tips on how to avoid—and, if necessary, protest—the maddening hidden charges and late fees that have become the norm in the American economy. The author exposes countless pricing schemes that exist across dozens of industries, all craftily designed to ensure that busy, distracted consumers pay extra for virtually everything they buy. Sneaky fees are now so prevalent that it takes Sullivan almost 200 pages to cover the most common dirty tricks employed by banks, phone companies, retailers, insurance companies and the like. Knowing that few consumers have the time or patience to do battle on their own, Sullivan includes sample complaint letters & e-mails, plus handy scripts for conversing with customer-service representatives ("hey, they have scripts, why shouldn't you?"). There's even a set of blank forms for recording your exchanges and keeping track of your progress. Best of all,
"Gotcha Capitalism" is available for a flat fee of $14.95, with
no aftercharge, surcharge or usage fee. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky Eric Weiner can help you find happiness. Or at least point you in the right direction. In "The Geography of Bliss," the veteran NPR correspondent takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the "happiest" countries on earth, hoping to discern why some places are undeniably more joyful than others. Weiner begins by consulting Ruut Veenhoven's World Database of Happiness (in Holland), which "contains mankind's accumulated knowledge about what makes us happy." Using Veenhoven's statistics as a guide, Weiner visits seven other allegedly upbeat countries—Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Thailand, England and India—plus Moldova, the former Soviet Republic which is, "according to Veenhoven's data, the least happy nation on the planet." For the most part, Weiner's experiences conform to the statistical evidence. On Iceland: "I was sorry to leave." On Bhutan: "[I]t has a policy of Gross National Happiness. Need I say more?" And on Moldova: "There is nothing I will miss about Moldova. Nothing." In the last
chapter the author finally gets around to addressing his home country,
the United States, which is not nearly as happy as one might expect.
"Americans believe deeply in the connection between place and happiness,"
begins Weiner. "Every year some 40 million Americans move. Why?
Because they think they'll be happier somewhere else." ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky Before Nicolaus Copernicus published "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres" in 1543 it was believed that the earth was the center of the universe. In his masterwork Copernicus proved the world wrong, demonstrating that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun, an insight so revolutionary that it sparked the scientific revolution. In "Copernicus' Secret: How the Scientific Revolution Began," author Jack Repcheck focuses on the human-interest side of Copernicus' life story, reminding us that his subject was an unlikely candidate to make a history-altering scientific discovery. During his late teens and twenties, Copernicus was what we might call a "professional student," spending 12 years studying at various far-flung universities. Then, as a mature adult, he served the public as a medical doctor and canon of the Church, performing relatively mundane chores like collecting taxes and administering laws. Yet, as Repcheck tells it, Copernicus did not allow the pressures and responsibilities of his well-paying day jobs to quash his dreams. He moonlighted as an amateur astronomer, toiling away in obscurity, alone, without the resources afforded the professional astronomers of his day, who received the institutional support of universities or royalty. That explains why he seemingly came out of nowhere when he announced his basic conclusions in 1514. For decades afterwards Copernicus kept the details of his calculations secret—not because he fretted about being labeled a heretic, as one might suspect—but because he feared his work contained significant flaws (yes) or was incomplete (of course). In fact, if it weren't for the intervention of a young mathematician named Georg Joachim Rheticus, Copernicus might have taken the bulk of his work to his grave. Today, most
Americans know the man only as one of the fathers of modern astronomy.
Repcheck does an elegant job of humanizing Copernicus and putting
his heroic efforts in context, enhancing our knowledge about him
in much the same way that he redefined our understanding of our
place in the universe. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky In the 2004 book "The Vanishing Newspaper," author Philip Meyer predicts that the last newspaper will be read in 2043. Conventional wisdom has it that the Internet is responsible for the sorry state of the newspaper business, but "-30-" makes clear that short-sighted ownership and journalists themselves are also to blame for the current state of affairs. Edited by Charles M. Madigan, a former UPI correspondent and longtime editor, correspondent and columnist for the Chicago Tribune, "-30-" contains 15 recent essays by high-profile journalists like Ken Auletta and David Carr, most of which seek to explain how the American newspaper business got where it is today. The lion's share of the blame is assigned to major media companies like Gannett and the Tribune Company, which have placed profitability and their own agendas ahead of quality and public responsibility, thereby compromising the important role newspapers have long served in our society. Meanwhile, "-30-"—the -30- mark once signaled the end of a reporter's story—reminds us that the industry has an alarming habit of "innovating" against its own interests. By dumbing down content and taking out the "important" news, papers haven't succeeded in attracting the next generation of readers, but have undermined their own authority. Even more disturbing is how quickly newspapers have embraced "citizen journalism," when practicing community journalism and engaging local audiences would serve the same purpose without further diminishing their own credibility. Fortunately,
a few chapters in "-30-" are devoted to the continuing relevance
of newspapers, which still—at times—have the ability to
expose corruption and keep politicians on the straight-and-narrow.
The saddest part of the story told by "-30-" is that if newspapers
do become extinct, the American people won't understand what they've
lost till they're gone. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Kirsten Anderson The term "forgotten man" has long been associated with the Great Depression. It conjures up images of the indigent WW I vet, the man standing on the bread line, the farmer who failed. In "The Forgotten Man," Amity Shlaes tries to reclaim the true meaning of "forgotten man"—the hard worker who is overburdened with the kind of taxes and regulations that help buoy the non-working. Shlaes makes the case that the New Deal did not help America out of the Great Depression, but in fact stunted the economy with programs and laws that hindered businesses and prevented growth. Shlaes looks at the politicians who made the rules (Roosevelt doesn't come off well, but neither does Hoover) and the businessmen who struggled to work with them, such as Andrew Mellon and Wendell Wilkie. Clear and easy
to read, Shlaes' book is undoubtedly worth the time for those interested
in the Great Depression. Whether readers buy Shlaes' view on the
decisions and results of the time period will undoubtedly come down
to personal feelings about the government's role in the economy.
Those who believe government programs interfere too much with business
will agree; others may feel that desperate times call for desperate
measures and missteps are an acceptable byproduct of trying.
********** **********
Review by Kirsten Anderson For fans, sports is simple. They want their team to win, they want their top player to give his best effort, and they want that player to be at his best in clutch situations. For athletes, things are more complicated. The pursuit of victory can become agonizing when nothing ever seems good enough. In "The Agony of Victory," author Steve Friedman tells the stories of athletes for whom winning is the worst thing that could possibly happen: the bicyclist whose great victory led to fear of never measuring up again; the runner who lost the joy of running in competition; the college basketball star who dropped out of life, haunted by the voices in his head. These failings, both physical and mental, are told in detail that can be both heartbreaking and disquieting. Friedman excels at bringing readers into the moment and into the athletes' heads. And those are some pretty dark places. It seems a moment
of triumph can be the first step on a hall of fame career, or it
can be the last step before paralyzing self-analysis sets in. "The
Agony of Victory" doesn't—can't—explain why some athletes
love the big moment and others fear it, but it does demonstrate
that sports is a little more complicated than just wanting to win.
********** **********
Review by Jason Zasky To say that Howard Dully had a difficult childhood would be an understatement. His father was emotionally abusive and his stepmother, Lucille, disliked him so much that she pushed to have her son lobotomized and institutionalized. Lucille took Howard to see Dr. Walter Freeman (pioneer of the lobotomy), who was only too happy to plunge a pair of leucotomes through the back of her 12-year-old son's eye sockets and into his brain. Although the 10-minute transorbital—or ice pick—lobotomy "didn't turn me into a zombie, or crush my spirit, or kill me," states Dully, it took more than three decades before he escaped the clutches of mental institutions, prison, drugs and alcohol. Then, after going back to school, earning gainful employment as a bus driver, and settling down, Dully embarked on a quest to answer the question, "What did I do to deserve this?" The result is "My Lobotomy," a book-length version of Dully's life story, first told in a celebrated documentary on NPR in 2005. The making of the documentary turned out to be a cathartic experience for Dully, as it gave him the opportunity to read Dr. Freeman's files, talk to other lobotomy patients, view pictures of his own operation, and examine Freeman's tools—including his infamous Uline Ice Company ice pick. He even had the opportunity to meet his surgeon's three sons to discuss their late father's controversial work. In the end,
Dully finds the answers he is looking for and also finds redemption,
admitting that for forty years he blamed his personal inadequacies
on the lobotomy. "We are all victims of what is done to us," he
concludes. "We can either use that as an excuse for failure, knowing
that if we fail it isn't really our fault, or we can say . . . I
deserve something better than that, and I'm going to try to make
a life worth living." ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Kirsten Anderson Each day, over 100,000 cars cross the Pulaski Skyway, a span of bridges that feed in and out of the Holland Tunnel connecting Manhattan and New Jersey. Traffic-choked, with hair-raising curves, slopes and exits, the Skyway is loved by few, but needed by many. In the "The Last Three Miles," Steven Hart describes how the building of the Skyway, completed in 1932, became a battleground for competing special interests. The War Department’s requirement of a 135 foot high span in case warships needed to pass beneath resulted in unusually steep grades at either end of the bridge. Exits to towns where local political boss Frank Hague wanted to create business (and win votes) were jammed into the design. The project was also marred by labor fights. Hague sided with the national building conglomerates who demanded non-union labor. Union picketers created a gauntlet for the non-union workers and one clash led to the death of a worker. The trial, in which almost every terrified witness backed down from their previous statements when put on the stand, acquitted everyone involved. Hart does a fine job of explaining the background of the project and paints a devastating portrait of the iron-fisted political machine that ruled Hudson County. The book, however, would benefit from some maps to give readers a better idea of the area; those not familiar with Jersey City can lose their way in the descriptions. Hart describes
the Pulaski Skyway as “a monument to failure.” Indeed, the skyway
has its flaws, some of which could have been foreseen at the time,
others that were difficult to imagine in those early days of highway
design. However, it has stood for 75 years, with millions of cars
passing over it annually. It may not be perfect, but it’s hard to
call it a failure. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed four months
after it opened in 1940. Now that’s a failure. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Kathleen A. Ervin "Rat" isn't a book for the squeamish. But the morbidly curious will find it a fascinating, in-depth look at the wide world of rats. Author Jerry Langton—a Toronto-based writer who did his field research in sewers, basements, and alleys behind restaurants—covers likes and dislikes, behavioral tendencies, and mating habits, not to mention the long list of frightening diseases rats transmit. Demonstrating that rodents have gastronomical preferences, Langton even provides a list of favorite—and least favorite—foods. Rats consider bacon grease, scrambled eggs, corn, and macaroni & cheese to be delicacies, but like some humans, would prefer to starve rather than eat cabbage or cauliflower. Langton also spends considerable time recounting the myriad ways humans (try to) get rid of rats, methodically reviewing the drawbacks of various traps and rodenticides. As one might expect, the War on Rats hasn't been successful; wild rats are found in virtually every country in the world and are multiplying at a dizzying pace. Since it's virtually
impossible to eradicate rats, Langton's exterminator friends recommend
making your own locale as inhospitable as possible. The idea is
to deny the rodents easy access to food, water, and a comfortable
place to nest, thus gently encouraging them to go elsewhere. This
pest control tactic sounds vaguely reminiscent of President Bush's
strategy for fighting terrorists: "Fight them over there or we'll
have to fight them over here." ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Kathleen A. Ervin No one wants to suffer through any of life's most painful and difficult experiences—cancer, divorce, death of a loved one, job loss, or any of the countless other possible catastrophes that pose a risk to happiness. But in her new book "Here's the Bright Side," TV correspondent turned best-selling author Betty Rollin emphasizes the upside to the downside, analyzing post-traumatic growth syndrome and the potential benefits of enduring hardship. Although it may be hard to believe, a surprisingly large number of people who overcome (nearly) insurmountable obstacles report being better for the experience. In fact, some are almost happy to have endured the pain, for it has enhanced their life in surprising and unpredictable ways. Among the commonly reported changes are an improved perception of self, stronger relationships with others, and a newfound appreciation for living. Rollin knows these feelings all too well, having twice been diagnosed with breast cancer (undergoing two masectomies), not to mention getting fired from a plum job at Vogue and going through a divorce. Looking back on it all she "realized that the source of her happiness was of all things, cancer"—hence the inspiration for the book. The refreshing
thing about "Here's the Bright Side" is that it isn't overtly inspirational.
Rollin doesn't try to convince the reader that tragedy and disaster
is a good thing, only that it might be a blessing in disguise. ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Kathleen A. Ervin It's easy to identify the challenges facing Africa. Even the casual observer recognizes that genocide, famine, HIV/AIDS, tribal wars and poverty are continent-wide issues, and that economic mismanagement, anti-business practices and corruption are endemic. Yet, solutions to these problems have been elusive, and conventional wisdom says that the West isn't doing enough to help Africans change their collective fortunes. In "The Trouble With Africa" author Robert Calderisi—former International spokesman on Africa for the World Bank—takes a bold contrarian view, arguing that the rest of the world is doing too much to help Africa, and that well-meaning outsiders will be unable to make a significant difference until Africans take responsibility for their own problems. Calderisi makes ten specific recommendations, which include promoting a free press and independent judiciaries, introducing mechanisms for tracing and recovering public funds, and requiring internationally supervised elections. Unfortunately, adopting these proposals is easier said than done, and even Calderisi acknowledges that Africa is so diverse that some of his suggestions would have little impact in certain nations. "It is difficult
to be optimistic about Africa," laments Calderisi, yet he cities
Africa's enormous natural resources and the indomitable spirit of
its people as reasons to be hopeful. "Only those familiar with the
human beauty, potential, and suffering of the continent will dare
hope for breakthroughs in the next ten years," he concludes. "More
than others, they know that only Africans can break the cycle of
terror, poverty and mediocrity that keeps them subdued."
For additional Failure coverage of Africa:
********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Jason Zasky Reading Bill Geist's "Way Off the Road," one finds several would-be Failure stories. There's Whalan, Minnesota's "Standstill Parade," where the marchers stand still and the crowd does the walking; Chattanooga, Tennessee's Tow Truck Museum and Hall of Fame, which celebrates the history of tow trucks and the legends of towing; and my personal favorite, the Unclaimed Baggage Center of Scottsboro, Alabama, which Geist refers to as the "Land of Lost Luggage." All in all, there are 28 different vignettes, each written in the same deadpan style that characterizes Geist's work with CBS News Sunday Morning, for whom he serves as correspondent and commentator. Much like Geist's television segments, this book celebrates "unique individuals who are resourceful, eccentric, idiosyncratic, and at times just plain batty," not to mention the out-of-the-way towns these individuals call home. In short, Geist
brings the reader to places that are fascinating to read about but
probably not all that exciting to visit—communities like International
Falls, Minnesota ("The Nation's Icebox"), Beaver, Oklahoma ("The
Napa Valley of Cow Chips"), and Monowi, Nebraska (population: 1).
On the other hand, there's an undeniable allure to people and places
so willing to embrace their shortcomings. Road trip, anyone?
********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Jason Zasky In Failure's launch issue [July 2000] we named Charles Martel's victory at the Battle of Tours (732 A.D.) as the greatest failure of the past two thousand years. Similarly, Alessandro Barbero's "The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire" (Walker Books), chronicles the dynamic, extraordinary events leading up to the Battle of Adrianople on August 9, 378. Both Tours and Adrianople are commonly viewed as historical milestones, with Tours marking the turning point in the Arabs' failure to conquer the world, and Adrianople, according to Barbero, "signifying nothing less than the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the Middle Ages." While ancient history can be a dry subject, Barbero—a former winner Italy's most distinguished literary award, the Strega Prize—makes the story surprisingly relevant and accessible. Barbero not only re-creates the battle, but also brings Roman and Goth leaders to life with vivid descriptions of their individual trials and tribulations. Yet, what is most revealing about "The Day of the Barbarians" is not how warfare has changed in the past 1,600-plus years, it's how the catalysts for conflict—ignorance, prejudice, hubris and government secrecy—have stayed the same. If there's a
lesson to be learned from the Battle of Adrianople, it's how military
defeat can foreshadow the decline of a powerful nation. As Barbero
puts it, the Battle of Adrianople "really did mark the end of one
era and the beginning of another, an era in which Rome would find
it harder and harder . . . to keep believing itself the world's
only superpower." ********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Jason Zasky "The Book of Useless Information" is one book you can judge by its cover, as the title pretty much says it all. Produced by Neil Botham and the 29 other members of the London-based Useless Information Society (UIS), the book contains 286 pages of mostly useless but often fascinating facts. On one randomly chosen page (p. 65) the reader discovers the most twisted tongue twister ("The sixth sick Sheik's sixth sheep's sick"), the largest anagrams (Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterone), and the world's longest place name (it's 84 letters long; I won't even try to spell it out). Naturally, one
might wonder what criteria the UIS uses to classify any particular
item as "useless." According to General Secretary Keith Waterhouse
the information—compiled at society meetings held at London
pubs—has to pass the "not-a-lot-of-people-know-that test."
As for the book itself, Whitehouse says the goal is simple: To leave
readers "reeling under the weight of a cornucopia of entirely useless
and out-of-the-way facts. Then our deliberations will not have been
in vain."
********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Jason Zasky This century carbon dioxide emissions and heat stress are "in." Permafrost and polar ice are "out." In spite of these trends, global warming is currently being portrayed in the media as a potential environmental problem, an issue about which there is no consensus. In fact, among reputable scientists there is nearly universal agreement that the earth's climate is getting warmer; the lack of consensus is limited to how severe the impact will be. Elizabeth Kolbert's "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" illustrates how the effects of global warming are already self-evident in places like the Artic, Iceland and Alaska. Whether it's melting icebergs and glaciers, thermokarsts (sinkholes in the ground where permafrost has thawed), or repeatedly flooded homes and villages, in certain select areas the effects are already very striking. "Field Notes…" takes the reader on an educational, yet fascinating trip to these far-flung, remote locations, all without getting in the family SUV and leaving home. While "Field
Notes…" is filled with compelling vignettes—the "amphibious
homes" being built in low-lying Holland comes to mind—the most
striking aspect of the book is how worried all the coolly-analytical
climatologists seem to be. Robert Socolow, director of the Carbon
Mitigation Institute, is quoted as saying that, "the experts—the
people who work with the climate models every day, the people who
do ice cores—they are more concerned" [than the average
lay person]. All in all, "Field Notes…" is an alarming but not alarmist
look at the problem of global warming, devoid of the political posturing
normally associated with the subject.
********** ********** THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Jason Zasky John Burnett is making a pleasing habit of delivering eye-opening books that shed light on little-known events occurring in remote corners of the globe. In 2002 he unveiled "Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas," highlighting the recent resurgence in piracy, which quietly flourishes in shipping lanes around the world. Now this onetime investigative journalist brings us "Where Soldiers Fear To Tread," a blow-by-blow account of his experience as a relief worker in notoriously chaotic Somalia. Of course, Somalia is best known to Americans as the country where American soldiers were once killed and dragged through the streets, a sequence of events that spawned the book and movie "Black Hawk Down." Burnett begins by explaining what compelled him to volunteer for work in Somalia in 1997-98 (a period in which the country was ravaged by floods), but soon moves on to the challenges of providing aid to a war-torn Third World country. During his relatively brief tour, Burnett utilized his maritime experience to ferry food and supplies by motorboat. In the process, he had more than his share of harrowing encounters, including a tense confrontation with a pre-teen "soldier" who casually held a loaded gun at the author's head at a roadside checkpoint. Although the
book reads like an adventure story its underlying message is sobering.
That is, humanitarian relief operations are not what the media makes
them out to be and sometimes do more harm than good. For instance,
Burnett highlights how warlords frequently manage to abscond with
food and aid intended for victims, then sell the stolen goods for
personal profit. On a micro level, the author recounts a horrifying
incident where he carelessly tossed a scrap of food to a young boy,
who was then savagely beaten to death by every other child that
witnessed the gesture. "Where Soldiers Fear To Tread" might not
dissuade an individual from contributing to relief organizations
but it sure will make one think twice.
********** **********
THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Kirk Tatnall Manhattan lies squarely within U.S. borders, it really does. Only a lack of easy egress off this 22-square-mile island has fashioned one peculiar universe, so pressurized with people that it twists space itself into a black hole, distorted beyond all known dynamics. In The Sky's the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan, Steven Gaines sheds light down this hole and onto one of today's hottest topics—real estate. The entire country is mad for property (as investment, second home or additional revenue source), yet somehow New York's huddled masses have contorted it into a unique manifestation—vicious, primal and clandestine. Gaines has pried the roof off this world and ushers us into an open house few have ever chanced to encounter. Gaines is a voyeur extraordinaire whose infiltration into the hidden lives of the upper crusty was last witnessed in Philistines at the Hedgerow, his tidy exposé of the Hamptons' set. Like many of the blue bloods in his books, Gaines lives in both playgrounds, so he knows of what and whom he writes. You might think that after Philistines they would see him coming, like Martin Bashir showing up for a post-trial interview at Neverland. But his targets seem downright eager to swing open their doors and welcome him into their well-upholstered duplexes and pristine offices, shoveling enough dirt to lay the foundation for a 40-story high-rise. And it's all fascinating stuff. We encounter the megabrokers, celebrities, doormen and co-op board members whose main purpose in life is to reject any tenant who might sully their building's exclusive pedigree. The book lurches back and forth from up-to-the-minute gossip on today's movers and shakers to historical narratives surrounding the genesis of the New York apartment building and its derivatives—the co-op and condo. There's even an oddball section on the Ansonia, whose ebullient façade belies a second-rate residence, an out-of-place divergence from the other chapters. There are a few other paint chips behind the high-gloss enamel. Gaines begins with a somewhat affected style, as if writing a non-fiction Bonfire of the Vanities. ("Truth be told, nothing seemed shocking anymore on Fifth Avenue. It was safe to say that there wasn't a coupon-clipping WASP dreadnought in sight"). He settles down though and dishes out the remaining morsels in straight servings. Gaines also provides little analysis of the interesting characters he has obviously researched so carefully. What exactly motivates "social arbiter" Betty Sherrill to banish seemingly respectable applicants from her Sutton Place Shangri-la? What compels piranhas like Michael Shvo to betray the very agent who gave him his break? Egos are on full display here, but Gaines fails to fully flesh them out. As a result, we are left with a mixed assortment of cartoon characters. Then again, if you have to stop and ponder these trivialities, you might actually be one of those unfortunate souls who has to take out a mortgage, and we wouldn't want to get all tangled up with that now, would we? Failure is in the eye of the beholder and unless unbearable chutzpah and outlandish snobbery are hallmarks of human frailty, no one really seems to notice. If they won't let you into that Old World Fifth Avenue address because of your marital status, sexual preference or ethnicity, well then, do what all the rest of the tawdry, nouveau riche are forced to: overpay for something on Central Park West, where no one cares who you are and the views are spectacular. It's all slightly obscene, but it's their world, not yours, and frankly, they'd prefer you stop staring. If Manhattan
real estate and all its odd-duck peculiarities pique your interest,
read this book, by all means, but read it now. Who's to say that
even as you are glancing at this review, the real estate bubble's
not bursting, everyone's coming to their senses, a 600' studio no
longer sells for $700,000 and that neighborhood they call Clinton
has returned to its rightful mantle as Hell's Kitchen. What is happening
in today's real estate market is outrageous, but outrage is what
New York is all about. Manhattanites would have it no other way.
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THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT
Review by Jason Zasky The genocide in Rwanda—in which Hutus massacred more than 800,000 Tutsis in the spring of 1994—has already been well documented. But "Machete Season" is unique because it delivers the story from the perspective of those who did the killing. Jean Hatzfeld, chief foreign correspondent for the independent newspaper Libération, interviewed ten men punished for crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity, and "Machete Season" is a compilation of these astonishing first-person narratives. What makes the killers' words so remarkable and shocking is how casually these individuals approached the business of murdering their countrymen. It quickly became a routine, another day at the office, if you will: "We would wake up, wash, eat, relieve ourselves, call to our neighbors, and go off in small scouting parties," says Alphonse Hitiyaremye. The "work" was considered more difficult than farming, but also more satisfying. "We can't say we missed the fields. Killing was a demanding but more gratifying activity. The proof? No one ever asked permission [from the leaders] to clear brush in his field," notes Pio Mutungirehe. Leadership roles were assigned to those "who gave orders [to kill] without hesitation and strode eagerly along," begins Adalbert Munzigura. "I made myself the leader for all the residents of Kibungo. Previously I was leader of the church choir…[so] the residents approved me without a hitch." Reading through
the narratives one wonders about the fate of these men. Were they
imprisoned? Tortured? Sentenced to death for their crimes? In the
final chapter ("The Killers"), Hatzfeld provides the answers with
a biographical sketch of each individual. The author even managed
to assemble nine of his ten subjects in a garden to pose for a group
photograph (how nice of them!), so the reader can put a face with
each atrocity-filled story. One might expect to see angry, bitter,
tortured souls, but they appear a rather ordinary and agreeable
gang. The killers were genocidal by day and family men by night,
and when the bloodshed came to an end they felt remorse only for
their inability to eradicate the Tutsis. "Some offenders claim that
we changed into wild animals, that we were blinded by ferocity.
That is a trick to sidetrack the truth," begins Hitiyaremye. "We
went about all sorts of human business without a care in the world.
At the end of that season…we were so disappointed we had failed."
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THE
FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Kathleen A. Ervin The subtitle of Henry Petroski's latest work is decidedly optimistic, but "Misadventures in Engineering" might be more appropriate. This new collection of 24 essays—all of which originally appeared in American Scientist—Petroski examines the past, present and future of engineering, a discipline known for its astounding technological achievements and equally high-profile disasters. True to its name, "Pushing the Limits" demonstrates how engineers are stretching the boundaries of technology, yet Petroski's most compelling tales exemplify what happens when engineers push a little too far. A professor of civil engineering and history at Duke University, Petroski devotes the majority of the book to dams and bridges. Some subjects have long-since failed (California's St. Francis Dam); some have threatened to fail (London's Millennium Bridge) [see "Sway It Ain't So" in Failure's science & technology archives]; and some yet may fail (China's still under construction Three Gorges Dam). But virtually all his vignettes remind us that there's a price to be paid for building structures that are lighter, longer and taller than ever before. To a certain
degree, this collection suffers from the fact that the individual
articles are only loosely related to each other, making the book
uneven and disjointed. On the other hand, the most riveting piece
concerns neither a dam nor a bridge and warrants nary a mention
of a professional engineer. In "Vanities of the Bonfire," Petroski
analyzes the deadly November 1999 collapse of the annual "Bonfire,"
an enormous leaning tower of logs created by enthusiastic Texas
A&M college students who knew little about engineering. With a 90-year
tradition of mostly uneventful "Bonfire" construction the students
became too complacent about safety and 12 people died when the log
pile spontaneously collapsed. Petroski's message is clear: "It is
human nature to build on past successes with a bravado . . . that
so often can be checked only by tragedy," he says.
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FAILURE BOOK REPORT Review by Kathleen A. Ervin If ever there was a story that deserved to be told in pictures, it's this one. On April 26, 2003, 27-year-old Aron Ralston was canyoneering, alone, in Utah's remote Blue John Canyon when a wedged-in boulder unexpectedly came loose, pinning his right arm against the canyon wall. After a panicked effort to free himself, Ralston came to the horrifying realization he was trapped in a life-threatening situation with virtually no chance of being rescued. Ralston had broken the cardinal rule of the solo outdoorsman; he neglected to tell anyone exactly where he was going and when he expected to be back. Ralston spent the next six days standing in that same position, passing the time by listening to Phish CDs on a Walkman and documenting his experience with a digital video camera. Despite his best efforts to ration a meager supply of food and water—ultimately he resorted to drinking his own urine—he soon came to the realization he would die if he failed to free himself. In a race against death, Ralston sawed off his right arm using a "multi-tool" [pocketknife] in a gruesome hour-long "operation." It wasn't long
after a dazed and delirious Ralston managed to stagger out of the
backcountry and into emergency surgery that he became the darling
of the national media—not to mention a household name in adventure/survival
circles. In "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," Ralston does an admirable
job of re-telling a remarkable story. In fact, much of the book
can only be described as riveting; the only lull occurs when Ralston
ventures a little too deep into his life story. But what puts this
book over the edge, so to speak, are the accompanying color photos
(including self-portraits) that Ralston took during his six-day
ordeal. In the process, he's given a whole new meaning to the phrase
"arm's race." |
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