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Fiction Ancient memoirs, ancient mysteries THE FORTUNE TELLER By Gwendolyn Womack 368 pp. Picador Reviewed by Madison Bush If you still get upset thinking about the Library of Alexandria, then read this book.   With the Fortune Teller , Gwendolyn Womack delivers a fast-paced, action-packed story following an ancient manuscript from mystical roots in Egypt to a modern-day estate sale. This will be a big hit with her fans.   Much like her previous work ( The Memory Painter ) this novel effortlessly blends history, romance, and high-stakes adventure.   The style and pacing are similar, but The Fortune Teller breathes new life into the historical fiction adventure novel. The story opens with the death of Marcel Bossard, a prestigious collector who dedicated his life to building an incomparable collection. The protagonist, Semele Cavnow, is the star manuscript appraiser for a well-renowned auction house based in New York. She comes by her talent naturally, having grown ...

Nonfiction Not a failure of the will UNBROKEN BRAIN: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction By Maia Szalavitz 336 pp. Da Capo Reviewed by David E. Hoekenga, M. D. This book indeed shows a new way to look at drug addiction. The author herself survived a long addiction to several dangerous drugs, and she claims that a learning disorder causes addiction – not a genetic abnormality, weakness of character, or a lack of will power. “I was sitting on the edge of Jerry Garcia’s bed in a nondescript and surprisingly unluxurious hotel room in New Haven,” she writes, “when he offered me a line of cocaine. I was 17; it was 1982. ‘Cocaine has some very some very weird karma behind it,’ Garcia told me in his fatherly nasal speaking voice. On coke I felt a smug sense of superiority, of being in on something, of being powerful and utterly desirable.” She also marshals an immense number of facts about “substance abuse.” For example, at least half of addicts have other serious mental disorde...

Nonfiction To learn, go teach THE MOUNTAINS IN ART HISTORY Edited by Peter Mark, Peter Helman, and Penny Snyder 132 pp. Wesleyan University Press Reviewed by Sue Ellis This group of essays takes a scholarly look at why we find mountains inspirational. We like to contemplate them, hike their trails, crest their summits and ski down their slopes. We feel God’s presence in a towering peak or a breathtaking drop in elevation. Some 18 th century writers/philosophers felt that the word, “sublime” seemed the perfect adjective to describe so majestic a vision. Little wonder then, that artists are drawn to capture them on canvas or through other artistic mediums. Each essay, by Wesleyan University students, contains one student’s unique perspective on a period in time or a particular artist chosen for his/her contribution to mountain art. The diversity of the essays is wide-ranging. In “Arnold Fanck and German Bergfilm,” by Jackson Sabes, we learn of Dr. Arnold Frank (1889-1974), a German film...

Fiction Death of the Butt God THE CHÂTEAU By Paul Goldberg 384 pp. Picador Reviewed by Lynne M. Hinkey, author of Marina Melee The Château is a humorous, often tragic, look at what it means to be an American, an immigrant, and an outsider in the land of opportunity. According to the back cover, The Château, is the story of down-and-out former-science reporter, William M. Katzenelenbogen. Newly fired from his job at the Washington Post , he finds new purpose investigating the seamy death of his college roommate, the famous plastic surgeon known as “The Butt God of Miami Beach.” While his investigation runs softly through the background, that storyline turns out to be a relatively minor subplot, as do the shenanigans of the board of directors at his father’s south Florida condo. Both of these play more of a supporting role giving context to the real stories of father-son relationships and the great political divide in America today. Goldberg gives us a mix of eccentric characters, like...