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Nonfiction Renaissance woodsman THOREAU: A Life Laura Dassow Walls 615 pp. University of Chicago Press Reviewed by Marty Carlock Thought we knew all about Thoreau, did we? An idle, eccentric hermit who spent two solitary years in a hut at Walden Pond and wrote a book about it? And sometimes took the Alcott girls out to wander the Concord meadows and catch butterflies? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Thoreau was a graduate of Harvard College, a meticulous naturalist who contributed to scientific studies, was elected to natural history societies, knew Greek, Latin, German and French, and could read other languages. He studied and developed empathy with American Indians, conducting anthropological research before the term existed. He overcame his love of solitude to become a witty and popular lecturer and a fiery abolitionist speaker. A century ahead of American hippies, he became fascinated with Eastern religions and assembled a library of such writings. He was fond of machinery and insatiably cur...

Nonfiction Moments in her life WHEN HISTORY IS PERSONAL By Mimi Schwartz 270 ppp. University of Nebraska Press Reviewed by Diane Diekman Mimi Schwartz grew up in the Queens borough of New York City, the first American-born child of German-Jewish immigrants who escaped in 1936 from Hitler’s Germany. She is now an award-winning author and professor emerita in the writing program at Stockton University. When History Is Personal is her collection of 25 essays, taken from 25 moments in her life. “Each essay focuses on a moment that matters to me,” she writes in the preface, “with an eye to the history, culture, and politics that have shaped it.” The essays are grouped into four sections. “Family Haunts,” covering her childhood and family history, is written from a youthful perspective. “In and Out My Front Door” and “Storyscapes” discuss experiences and conversations throughout her adult life. “Border Crossings” leads into the future, as she grows older and enters new territories of l...

--> Nonfiction Cold fury THE DEEP DARK DESCENDING By Allen Eskens 272 pp. Seventh Street Books Reviewed by Eric Petersen Mystery writer Allen Eskens is back with the latest entry in his series of mysteries featuring Minneapolis homicide detective Max Rupert. It picks up right where the previous book, The Heavens May Fall (also reviewed on this site) left off. The end of that novel featured a shocking revelation about the fate of Max Rupert’s wife Jenni, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident – the only homicide that Max was never able to solve. It was a hit-and-run all right, but it was no accident. The Deep Dark Descending opens on a subzero winter day, on a frozen lake located between Minnesota and the Canadian border – and Max Rupert about to murder an unconscious, unnamed man whom he’s kidnapped and dragged out onto the lake. This is the man whom Max believes murdered his wife, and payback is a bitch. But as he prepares to take revenge, the honorable cop hears a voice in...

--> Nonfiction When fresh isn’t an option IN DEFENSE OF PROCESSED FOOD: It’s Not Nearly As Bad as You Think By Robert L. Shewfelt 273 pp. Springer Reviewed by David E. Hoekenga, M. D. Amazingly, a typical American makes 200 food decisions every day. Yet according to Shewfelt, “for all the talk about healthy eating, we are not eating any healthier today than we were at the beginning of the obesity epidemic almost 40 years ago.” We accept without question that whole foods are always better than processed foods; that natural is good and artificial is bad; and that science and technology should not intrude on our food supply.   He believes that none of these assumptions are valid. So why are Americans fat?   Maybe it is due to fast food, over eating, drinking too much, lack of exercise, lack of will power, because it is inherited, or because it is much easier to put on weight than to take it off. The author feels that each of these factors plays a role in obesity in Americ...