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Show ‘The Salt Lake Tribune BOOKS Don’t mess with Mother Nature BEst SELLERS Hardcover Fiction | 1. The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown (Doubleday) 2. The Five People You Meetin Heaven. Mitch Albom (Hyperion) 3. Bleachers. John Grisham. (Doubleday) 4. The Wedding. Nicholas Sparks (Warner) 5. The Namesake. Jhumpa Lahiri | | | | | | | | | | (Houghton Mifflin) 6. Quicksilver: Volume One of the ae Cycle. Neal Stephenson (Morrow 7. The Curious Incidentof the Dog in the Night-Time. Mark Haddon (Doubleday) 8. The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold (Little Brown) 9. The Teeth of the Tiger. Tom Clancy (Putnam) 10. A Place of Hiding. Elizabeth George (Bantam) 11. Last Car to Elysian Fields. James Lee Burke (S&S) 12. The Fortress of Solitude. Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday) 13. The Devil Wears Prada. LauYren Weisberger (Doubleday) 14. The Time Traveler’s Wife. Audrey Niffenegger (MacAdam/Cage) 15. Diary. Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday) Hardcover Nonfiction | | | | 1. Lies, And The Lying Liars Who Teli Them. Al Franken (Dutton) 2. The Ultimate Weight Solution. Dr. Phillip C. McGraw (Free Press) 3. The South Beach Diet. Arthur Agatston, M.D. (Rodale) | | | | | | 4. Who’s Looking Outfor You? Bill O'Reilly (Broadway) 5. Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America. Molly Ivins (and Lou Dubuse) (Random House) 6. Under the Banner of Heaven. Jon Krakauer (Doubleday) 7. Madam Secretary. Madeleine K. Albright (Miramax Books) 8. The Great Unraveling. Paul Krugman (Norton) 9. The Purpose-Driven Life. Rick Warren (Zondervan) | | | | | | 10. Benjamin Franklin. Walter Isaacson (S&S) 11. Mountains Beyond Mountains. Tracy Kidder (Random House) 12. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Azar Nafisi (Random House) 13. Thieves in High Places. Jim Hightower (Viking) 14. A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bill Bryson (Broadway) 15. The Bounty. CarolineAlex- ander(Viking) Paperback Fiction | 1. The Secret Life of Bees. Sue | Monk Kidd (Penguin) | 2. Life of Pi. Yann Martel (Harvest) 3. #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor) 4. Middlesex. Jeffrey Eugenides | (Picador) 5. Blessings. Anna Quindlen (Ran dom House) 6. Three Junes. Julia Glass (Anchor) 7. The Piano Tuner. Daniel Philippe Mason (Vintage) 8. The Virgin Blue. Tracy Chevalier (Plume) 9. Blue Shoe. Anne Lamoitt (Riverhead) 10. Bel Canto. Ann Patchett (Perennial) 11. Tears of the Giraffe. Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor) 12. Morality for Beautiful Girls. Ajexander McCall Smith (Anchor) 13. Atonement. lan McEwan (Anchor) 14, East of Eden. John Steinbeck Thin novel, fat ambitions: In 188 pages, Hunted tries to be a THE WEstT UNDER COVER love story, a horror story and an environmental polemic. It Book reviews ofregional interest works hard, but ultimately fails Hunted ByJohn Holt; The Lyons Press; $22.95 By Martin NAPARSTECK at one point aims a gun at her. A key to understanding Foxen is why he wants to The Salt Lake Tribune Paperbach Nonfiction John Holt has written a slim but hugely ambitious novel: Hunted seeks to meld the spiritual with the practical, and a horrorstory with a lovestory, all within an environmental polemic. Hunted, more than anything else, seems designed as a warning. In 188 pages that easily could have been fitted into fewer than 100 if normal page num- Plot Two: The 40ish Joe spends a lot of time talking to, and smoking and drinking with, Elmer, whois in his 80s. Mostly this is an opportunity for the older man to impart wisdom to the younger one, such as “Can't imagine blows up a Dark Star truck, killing some Dark Star men; spews boulders on a Dark Star crew, killing a few more men; sets “spontaneouscombustion wildfires”; sends a 400-pound, 4 feet-high-at-theshoulder wolf to watch over all the ambition of the novel, not its execution, that earns the reader’s admiration. The novelis set in contemporary times in the rug- ged plains and bluff country of south-central Montana, close to the Wyoming border. Holt’s main sites are places he calls the Workman Plateau and River and Mad Woman Gulch, locales close enough to Billings for a character several decades earlier to regularly go there to visit prostitutes. The area is rich in bitumi- (Pocket) 10. Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. Brian Herbert (Tor) implications. In the other digression, Joe is stopped six miles inside Montana by a Wyoming state trooper, who speaks made-in-Detroit cigars.” Plot Three: Nature doesn’t like the strip mining, so it fully credible. It’s | life without whiskey or these genuine, used, Holt gives us six major characters, three major plot lines and two large digressions, one of which has nothing to do with his story. That’s a lot, and he doesn’t leave himself enough room to make any of them (Pocket) Other people have legs cut off. Dogs have their guts ripped up. The messageis, dont get Mother Nature mad at you by strip mining her coal. wasn’t the issue. Power and the exercising of that power was whatall this was about.” spacing had been Mass Market One womandoes, too. take coal from Joe’s land: “Money bering and line 1. Angels & Demons. Dan Brown this with soulchilling howls; and in the final dozen pages, attacks with a storm that arrives from four fronts and includes tornadoes and grapefruit-size hail. In one promising but too-sketchydi- nous coal, and that fact connects mostof the elements of the novel. Joe Graves, who smokes Camels endlessly, seeming to stop puffing only long enough to guzzle some whiskey, gression, we learn that Joe’s father and mother stopped having sex after he was born, which created so muchfrustration in his father that he sold the mineral rights on his land for enough money to frequent prostitutes. The concept of sexual frustration causing bad judgment is worthy of a novel in itself, and owns a wheatranch there andis plenty Holt’s skimming over this key psycho- happywith his life (which includes occasional sex with a beautiful biologist logical point in a mere 10 pages doesn’t allow him to fully examine all its French with a Texas drawl. Theofficer apologizes and never reappears in the story again (although a Wyomingstate police car is mentioned once more). Holt doesn’t makeclear, even remotely, what this scene has to do with the rest of the novel. What the novel is really about is summed up in something Elmersaysto Joe (sprinkled with the mild profanity that dominates dialogue throughout the book): “Who in the Sam hell amI kidding? Not the land. It knowsbetter. I can't explain this to you buddy, butthe land knows, more than us, and wefeel it but damn well choose to ignore the truth. ... And that huge, big-ass wolfis here to make sure weget the point.” The land and the rest of nature be come a huge monster, as in a horror movie, and exact vengeance. A few dozen men die violent deaths. One woman does, too. Other people have legs cut off. Dogs havetheir guts rippedup. Theinessageis, don’t get Mother Nature mad at you bystrip mining hercoal. But crowding a promising story with incomplete characters, unresolvedplot devices and heavy-handed messages is probably a lesser sin than aiming to write an epic in the spaceofa novella. Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. Donate that Car! SALT LAKE Don't trade it! Volunteers of America, Utah helps those most in need through seven community enhancement programs. REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER By donating your car, you show a commitment to strengthening our community. Your donation is tax deductible to the _ Maximum extent of the law, and we'll even pick it up for free. (Welcomes Internal Medicine vengeance. Afew dozen men die violent deaths. driven into depression and despair, and 1. Under the Tuscan Sun. Frances Mayes (Broadway) 2. Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine) 3. Longitudes and Attitudes. Thomas L. Friedman (Anchor) 4. Nickel and Dimed. Barbara Ehrenreich (Owl) 5. Running with Scissors. Augusten Burroughs (Picador) 6. Small Wonder. Barbara Kingsolver (Perennial) 7. My Losing Season. Pat Conroy (Bantam) 8. Fast Food Nation. Eric Schlosser (Perennial) 9. Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. (Quill) 10. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. Alexandra Fuller (Random House) 11. The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2004. Old Farmer’s Almanac (Ed.) (Old Farmer's Almanac) 12. The Four Agreements. Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen) 13. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Dave Eggers (Vintage) 14. Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Ben Mezrich (Free Press) 15. The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth about Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage. Cathi Hanauer (Ed.) (Perennial) Alina Borchardt, M.D. movie, and exact the name Bill during sex with Joe), he is 15. | Don’t Know How She Does It. Allison Pearson (Anchor) 2. Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. (Avon) 3. Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine) 4. The Grave Maurice. Martha Grimes (Onyx) 5. Dr. Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter. Robert C. Atkins, M.D. (M. Evans) 6. Quentins. Maeve Binchy(Signet) 7. A Noble Radiance. Donna Leon (Penguin) 8. Chasing the Dime. Michael Connelly (Warner) 9. Deception Point. Dan Brown The land and the rest of nature become a huge monster, as in a horror Joe finds out (because Mickeycalls out (Penguin) E named Mickey). But a company named Dark Star wants to mine the coal, and that leads to a series of conflicts that drives the novel’splots. Plot One: Joe loves Mickey, whoalso is having an affair with Bill Foxen, who is the CEO-SOBof Dark Star, and when ai J i AUTHORS SERIES A SATURDAY BRUNCH GATHERING Call 801-355-2444 Volunteers ofAmerica 4-800-407-2600 Utah www.carshelpingpeople.org Foin us for an intimate discussion with some of today’s leading authors. ealt Lake Regional Medical Centeris pleased to welcome Dr. Alina Borchardt, as a new member of the medical staff. Dr. Borchardt received her M.D. from Autonomous University of Guadalajara School of Medicine in 1988 and completeda fifth pathway at University of California-Irvine in 1989. She received a BS degree in general biology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, 1983. Dr. Borchardt completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at Tucson Medical Center in 1992. She is board certified in Internal Medicine. She recently moved from Wichita, Kansas where she cross-covered for the hospitalists at Wesley Medical Center and Via Christi Regional Medical Center - St. Francis Campus. Dr. Borchardt will be working with the hospitalist program starting in August, 2003. 1050 East South Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84102 Daniel Ellsberg Secrets: A Memoirof Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers BobSchieffer Just In: What | Couldn't Tell You on TV - | Al Franken ‘60 Sat. 12 noon Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them Includes a lecture and discussion period with the author, a signed copyof the featured author's latest book, brunch and concludes with a book signing in the Tree Room Library. IN COLLABORATION WITH BOOKS AND BEYOND Advanced reservations required | www.smithstix.com For tickets, visit Programs, artists and venues subject to change without notice. Starting at $125 Author Series Lodging Special per person per night, based on double occupancy,space availability. | For Reservations 800-892-1600 6 ee ae sundance eresoret,.com EER erage | ‘Snowe YOU'RE FIRST OWN OUR LIST Utah residents can evder 1004 Sundance Film Festival Locals Only Passes and Ticket Packages beginning at 10:00 a.m. MST, October 13. ONLINE AND TELEPHONE ORDERS ONLY WILL BE ACCEPTED Simply log on to www.sundance.org/locals or call toll-free (877) SFF-TIXS or (877) 733-8497 beginning at 10:00 a.m MST, October 13 to place your order. You will needto provide a Utah address. It's never been easier to get all the Solitude you need. Pick up NEW: YOU'LL RECEIVE IMMEDIATE PASS OR PACKAGE CONFIRMATION WHEN YOU ORDER your preseason passes at REI on 3300 South, skisolitude.com or Lecails Only Festival Passes call (801) 536-5786, Don't forget to visit skisolitude.com for your lecais Only Ticket Packages chance to win a Custom Season Pass! SLC Preferred Package, January 16-25 Flim Lovers Package, January 16-25 Party Enthusiast Package, January 15-25 Quick Pass, January 16-25 $200 $225 $225 $300 A nonrefundable service fee of $5.00 per Pass or Package ordered applies Solitude Yo ovder ov for more information visit www.sundance.org/locals or call (877) SFF-TIXS. ee ee ee | | Here are the week’s Booksense best sellers, based on sales from more than 350 independent bookstores across America. D5 Sunday, October 12, 2003 |
