In the News, May 2008
Posted 05.14.08: Today's Wall Street Journal on David A. Price's The Pixar Touch: "The conventional wisdom — not discouraged by the company itself — is that Pixar's genius flows from Steve Jobs.... The truth is much more complex and far more interesting.... Mr. Price, in addition to offering unprecedented detail about the notoriously press-shy company's workings, tells a story that abounds with lessons for business people and creative artists alike." And the current Entertainment Weekly says, "Price, a tough, unsentimental reporter, ferrets out lots of backstage drama from fresh sources, weaving a commendably unvarnished history."
Posted 05.06.08: "In History Lesson, Lefkowitz painstakingly unravels what happens when an aggressive political agenda takes precedence over objective scholarship.... The book has all the hallmarks of a thriller, and is grippingly told. The terrible cost, however,...is incalculable."—Jenni Frazer, The Jewish Chronicle
Posted 05.02.08: In a full-page review in today's Wall Street Journal of Arthur Herman's Gandhi & Churchill: The Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age, Andrew Roberts writes, "As one might expect from the author of To Rule the Waves, Mr. Herman has researched Gandhi & Churchill meticulously and written it fluently. He has also managed to triumph over a special narrative problem: Although the careers of his two subjects were intimately bound up with each other, their only actual meeting [took place briefly early in their lives]."
Posted 05.02.08: Today's Wall Street Journal's editorial pages feature an op-ed from Elizabeth Wurtzel, "Obama's Other Radical Friends," which refers to our need for LSD, that is, "to Let the Sixties Die." She is at work on a new book, Creatocracy, about our "one nation under a groove...a collective of crazy dreamers.... Because of intellectual property we live in a democracy of ideas and not a plutocracy of provenance. Ingenuity here is the everything."
Posted 04.23.08: Reviewing Amy Chua's Day of Empire, Paul Kennedy writes in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine that "Three recent books...have taken up the challenge of Big History.... All are significant contributions and one, [Amy] Chua's, has a chance of becoming a classic.... The biggest of these Big Histories is Chua's Day of Empire. Indeed, it has an almost Toynbeean sweep.... The other great strength of Chua's book is that it has a distinctive thesis, a clear argument," written "with verve and aplomb."
Posted 04.22.08: Three books by clients of Writers' Reps are on Foreign Affairs magazine's bestseller list: Amy Chua's Day of Empire; Michael Oren's Power, Faith, and Fantasy; and Norman Podhoretz's World War IV.
Posted 04.22.08: Daniel Mendelsohn in The New Yorker, April 28th issue: "[Herodotus'] popularity among ordinary readers will likely get a boost from the publication of perhaps the most densely annotated, richly illustrated, and user-friendly edition of his Histories ever to appear: The Landmark Herodotus, edited by Robert B. Strassler and bristling with appendices, by a phalanx of experts, on everything from the design of Athenian warships to ancient units of liquid measure.... The Landmark Herodotus is an ideal package for this multifaceted work. Much thought has been given to easing the reader's journey through the narrative: running heads along the top of each page provide the number of the book, the year and geographical location of the action described, and a brief description of that action. Particularly helpful are notes running down the side of each page, each one comprising a short gloss on the small 'chapters' into which Herodotus' text is traditionally divided. Just skimming these is a good way of getting a quick tour of the vast work.... And The Landmark Herodotus not only provides the most thorough array of maps of any edition but is also dense with illustrations ... a lovely thing to have in a work so rich in vivid descriptions of strange lands, objects, and customs." (Pantheon; $45.00)
Posted 04.13.08: Roy Spencer's Climate Confusion is #18 on the New York Times Best Seller list for April 13th. Rush Limbaugh says, "Folks, you have to get a book.... Roy W. Spencer, has written a book called Climate Confusion. I'm holding it right here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers. It's How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians, and Misguided Policies That Hurt the Poor. Dr. Spencer, formerly of NASA, is now at the University of Alabama Huntsville.... It's called Climate Confusion, and it's written by a scientist for laypeople to be easily understood."
Posted 04.07.08: The Book-of-the-Month Club will offer The Millionaire in the Mirror by Gene Bedell as a featured alternate selection for the summer season. Collins will publish on August 8th.
Posted 04.07.08: Arthur Herman's Gandhi & Churchill received a starred review in Library Journal: "The complex task of drawing comparison and contrast between two of the most chronicled lives of the 20th century is easily and compellingly handled by Herman. Spanning the globe and dozens of decades, Herman never sinks into the clichés of these two men's biographies but rather deconstructs some of the cherished myths surrounding them while maintaining a warm and lively tone.... Highly recommended." Bantam publishes on April 29th.
Posted 04.07.08: Library Journal also hails David A. Price's The Pixar Touch as "a most fascinating and entertaining story of how a struggling little company overcame many odds to become a major Hollywood entity." Knopf will publish on May 13th.
Posted 03.28.08: Two nice pre-publication reviews of Allan J. Lichtman's White Protestant Nation, forthcoming from Grove Atlantic: "This comprehensive study of conservative politics from the post-WWI era to the present is replete with clear analysis and good nuggets of information.... As a structural blueprint of conservative political power... this book is without peer, giving readers a wonderful historical survey of the last 80 years of conservative politics."— Publishers Weekly "Comprehensive overview of the history and future of American conservatism.... Impressive.... An important examination of the political, moral and economic forces that continue to shape the movement."—Kirkus Reviews
