New York Review of Books Review
BEING A BEAST: Adventures Across the Species Divide, by Charles Foster. (Picador, $16.) "I want to know what it is like to be a wild thing," Foster, a British naturalist, writes in this dispatch from the animal world. To that end, he stripped naked, ate earthworms, was hunted by bloodhounds and attempted to catch fish with his teeth - all to experience the natural world as do naked Welsh badgers, London foxes and Exmoor otters. WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL, by Swan Huntley. (Anchor, $16.) With an apartment in the West Village and a hefty trust fund, Catherine has nearly everything - except a husband. When she meets William, they appear to be an ideal match, until a secret threatens to derail the engagement. Huntley's debut novel is equal parts psychological thriller and sendup of New York's social elite. WHISTLESTOP: My Favorite Stories From Presidential Campaign History, by John Dickerson. (Twelve, $16.99.) The author, the political director of CBS News and the host of "Face the Nation," reflects on decades of election cycles: their memorable collapses and comebacks, surprise upsets and victories. As he puts it, "News is what surprises us, which is why the political press always has news: Voters are always undoing our certainties." MISS JANE, by Brad Watson. (Norton, $15.95.) Drawing on the real-life experiences of his great-aunt, Watson tells the story of Miss Jane Chisolm, a woman in rural Mississippi with an isolating and rare birth defect. The condition was an obstacle to sexual or romantic relationships, but Jane sought wholeness through other means. "The complexity and drama of Watson's gorgeous work here is life's as well," our reviewer, Amy Grace Loyd, said. "Sometimes heroism lies in combating our helplessness, sometimes in accepting it." HOW THE POST OFFICE CREATED AMERICA: A History, by Winifred Gallagher. (Penguin, $18.) The post office - established even before the Declaration of Independence was signed - was long a symbol of the United States' commitment to democratic values, ensuring that citizens across all the colonies were informed. Now, with the office in jeopardy, Gallagher urges a reconsideration of its future. GOODNIGHT, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN: Stories, by Anna Noyes. (Grove, $16.) The women in Noyes's collection are tested - by sexual abuse, terminal illness, poverty and young widowhood. In the opening story, a woman struggles to understand her husband's apparent suicide by drowning. "The stories may sound grim," our reviewer, Elizabeth Poliner, said, "but they consistently sparkle with expressive detail."
Library Journal Review
Dickerson's timely compilation of stories from 18 presidential campaigns are rousing moments in campaign history yet also present some enduring truths about ambition, image, emotion, power, national direction, party identity, elite power brokers, and disaffected voters. Dickerson (moderator of TV's Face the Nation, columnist for online magazine Slate) witnessed a few events as a campaign reporter. Some were shared by other journalists and campaign workers-possibly, he claims, embellished in the retelling. Others are historical. The accounts demonstrate the evolution of standards and expectations for presidential campaigns, ranging from when Thomas Jefferson paid an unscrupulous journalist to defame his opponents in 1800 (and who later revealed Jefferson's scandalous liaison with Sally Hemings) to Harry Truman's 1952 precedent-setting whistlestop campaign to convince common voters that he was no different from them, to the nontraditional 2004 popular movement that created Howard Dean's campaign. Dickerson covers bribery, scandals, spin, theatrics, sabotage, and other ugly aspects of American king-making and weaves throughout the theme of voters' efforts to have some say over the uncompromising political system. VERDICT Political junkies and all readers will be enlightened by Dickerson's well-documented, engaging, and at times whimsical text. The connections between past campaigns and the wild 2016 season might offer readers promise for the future.-Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.