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Show RaOtAiDMTaRfliR DRIVING MR. ALBERT Across America with Onsteins Brain A Trip By imagine his surprise- when the proverbial "friend of a friend" revealed that he actually knew the doctor a man named Thomas Harvey and put our intrepid vuth him. As it turned author nt was living friend in with hiso Princeton. NevTcrscy. just down so to speak, from Palemiti's home in Maine. So what would you do when confronted with this information? Probably not drive across the country to meet Einstein's granddaughter w ith the brain of Albert in the trunk and the man who cut it out in the seat next to you. Then again, we aren't all w riters. As Odysseus' Odyssey is much more than the story of a trip, so tixi is Driving Mr. Albert. It's merely a shelf upon which Patemiti places the several books he's w rilten here; a biograa phy. travelogue, and a social commentary. with touches of philosophy and humor thrown into the mix. The journey ostensibly stems from the doctor's desire to visit Einstein's granddaughter in California. Patemiti knows AfcsJst Michael Patemiti I Dili Press. $18.95 ISBN 038533305 REVIEW BY LAMES NEAL WEB8 Journey'', for some reason, bring oul the philosopher in all of us; from Chaucer lo Twain lo SlembeeL, writers have always drawn inspiration from their travels. Add lo this list the name of author M ichael Patemiti, whose new hook. Driving Mr. Albert, is quite possibly the most confounding story of a road trip I've ever rcjd. lake Patemiti. we've all heard kooky tales and urban legends from lime to time, hut few of us make a point of determining it these stones are true. One such legend was that the dix-to- r who did the autopsy on Albert Einstein had kept his brain, supposedly lo study it. and had since vanished. Patemiti was interested in the story, so BaIiOiGiRBAaP4HYa YOU HEAR ME CALLIN The Life Of Bill Monroe, By Richard D. Smith Little. Breen, S2S.9S ISBN 0316803812 REVIEW BY EDWARD MORRIS I'nlil hts death in 1946. Bill Monnx-wa- s was so formidable a presence almost impossible to discuss him in human lenns. He was tixi towering. Ux original to fit the normal templates of analysis. While he keeps Monnx-'-s musical genius at the forefront. biographer Richard D. Smith also reveals a man who was arrogant, petty, jcakxis, volatile, gcnenxiv. soImIixis. and a relentless womamer In other words, his real life up to his myth. A graceful writer and a dogged researcher. Smith w uh the that Monroe was the most broadly talented and broadly influential figure in the hiv lory of American piipular music. That's say ing a kx considering the immense cultural impact of such titans as George Gershwin. Irving Berlin. Bing Crosby. Erank Sinatra, and Ixxns Armstrong. But Smith has a case, this Presley's first Sun Records single was a hopped up version of Monroes already fanxxis comthat it d Of Kentucky position. I elements of mimicked Lilly Buddy Monroe's style on the way to creating his own. Jerry Garcia trekked all the way across the country lo audition fix "Bluc-Mix- nuiwhk'xxi s d Father Of Bluegrass back-roa- James Seal M ebb is no Einstein, hut lie pu k gixxl books to is smart enough to rex iew. Brainpower More than 40 years after his death. Albert Einstein still fascinates us. Although hundreds of fxxiks have been written about the brilliant physicist, it appears that readers (and publishers) cant get enough. Three new books planned for release this fall offer ample opportunities to increase your Einstein IQ: me2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation E (Walker & Co., $23, ISBN 08027 13521) Author David Bodanis attempts to demystify the theory that changed the world and explain the consequences of Einstein's discovery. ( October ) Einstein's Brainchild: Relativity-MadRelatively Easy! (Prometheus Boohs, $28. ISBN 1573928577) A simplified, readable summary of Einstein's work by physicist Barry Parker. ( September ) Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance (Viking, $27.95. ISBN 0670894303) Sew York Times science w riter Dennis Overbye focuses on Einstein's troubled marriage to his first wife and collaborator, Mileva Marie. ( October ) PaOaLalaTalaGBS band, lost his nerve and went back lo California, soon after to found the Grateful Dead. In addition, v irtually all the architects of nxxlem bluegrass music got their early training as members of Mixiroe's fanx-Blue Grass Boys William Smith Monroe was bom in I'll I in rural western Kentucky, far from (he Appalachian Mountains with which bluegrass music is now most identified. le w as not from a poor family, but he grew up w ith hard work and few amenities The last of eight children. Monroe was afflicted by pixx vision and a shyness talmade hearable by an ent fix music. The nucleus of Monnx-'-s distinctive sound, as it emerged over many years, was his high mournful tenor voice and Mixmx-'- CANT there's a story here, but his perception of what the story is remains unlixiised. It quickly sharpens into a hxk at America through the lens o! the In tiny quirky Dr. Harvey's personality. Lucas. Kansas, the travelers encounter a roadside museum with a massive of the Garden of Eden, done entirely in concrete. Later they spend an evening with writer William S. Burroughs, a former neighbor ol Harvey living out his last months in Lawrence. Kansas. Their meeting is a scene straight from H ailing for Gtxlot. The adventurous travelers are brought back to reality at the end by Einstein's and slightly bemused dow granddaughter. In her late 50s and battling cancer, she nonetheless agrees to meet with the pair and is friendly to both. Harvey's final resolution of what to do with Einstein's brain, and Evelyn Einstein's reaction, are both surprising and appropriate. Driving Mr. Albert is lyrical and comical, witty and bitter, and dazzling at times. The most unusual of subjects is presented in clear, heartfelt prose that made this reader glad he was along fix the ride. 1 manprecise, rapid-firdolin picking. Moreover, he w as a prodigious songwnter who often idealized his bucolic e upbringing in his lyncs. All ihcM: elements supported by the ensemble of acixistic guitar, fiddle, banjo, and bass came together to produce the music that would ultimately be called "bluegrass Besides illuminating Monroe's art and character. Smith explains the place of bluegrass in the folk music movement, as well as how and why bluegrass festivals came into being. The mercurial Monroe never settled on an official biographer In Smith, wc have stxrxihing better. H EoJxxvid St orris writes on mmn .vrn and hoot publishing from Saxhxille i. left their mark on Congress and state institutions come under the microscope: Dianne Feinstein. Barbara Mikulski. Ann Richards, Mary Landrieu, Kay Bailey Shattering the Hutchison. Christine Todd Whitman, Last Glass Ceiling Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Elizabeth By Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis Holtzman, and many others. The authors Scribt; 526 explore the candidates' motivations and ISBN 0684856190 maneuvers to get electREVIEW BY MARY HELEN CLARKE ed and consolidate power. From these many portraits, common Why not a woman T' Veteran political themes emerge. The most serious problem journalists and pundits Elearxx Clift and Tom Brazaitis inters iewed scores of xlu-ica- l is money. According to one consultant; women to answer this question. In "Money and media nothing else mattheir new fxxk. they explore the possibiliters. Women have great difficulty attractties and pitfalls awaiting ing money from big party women who aspire to the donors. Some women have found ways around this bothighest office. They also tleneck it helps to be sucprofile women elected at various levels of governcessful in business first NL'te'rijifc jiv f.lua f ment and explain why Fix female office seekers, female candidates win (or family is a problem. lose) elections. Married women arc accused The fact that voters and of neglecting their families. politicians now take this Single women arc assumed lo be lesbians or out of questuxi seriously reflects I I I. WOK l II I how hard women have touch. Family relationships I worked to fxvomc conmix, mi is receive merciless scrutiny. tenders. A 1936 Gallup poll Women must be nice, w alkrevealed that 65 percent of ing a fine line between voters wixild not vote for a woman fix strident" and "weak" Toughness is president, regardless of qualifications. essential; one opponent's political This Nxk recounts how a feminist fantasy announced: I'd like her fix my daughter, was transfixmed into serious possibility but not District Attorney" Female candiby activists, domes, and female candidates are often labeled as bleeding dates. all of wtxxn tixih great risks lo hearts." although a new breed of conservmake it happen. ative women has made this harder lo do Clift and Brazaitis analy ze Hillary autixnatically. In addition to their informaClinton's unique attempt to transform hertive accounts of women who have gone self from first lady to senatorial candidate, bcfixe. Clift and Brazaitis include advice and desenbe the emotional ups and downs from media consultants on how a future of Geraldine lerraro's gnxjtxlbreahing female presidential candidates can capture candidacy fix vxe president in I9M. attention and avoid being stereotyped, They reveal the problems that plagued Uizabcth IX4c's run fx President in Mary Helen Clarke is a writer and 1949. The careers of wxncn who have editor living in Sashville. MADAME PRESIDENT behind-the-scen- MADAM it!Ksini;vr Fu) KcOC oi i i |