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Show MaEsMaOalsR Subscribe to the first and only book review devoted solely to the Civil War. THE VIRGIN OF BENNINGTON Civil War Book Review More than 125 new books reviewed and annotated in each quarterly issue. 48-pa- Nonfiction, fiction, childrens, illustrated albums, reprints, and audio. The resource for those who study the Civil War. Online at www.civilwarbookreview.com Published by BookPage Anxrud's Book Kikw and Contributors include leading historians and noted writers. Recent issues have included reviews by C. V'ann Woodward, Tony Horwitz, James I. Robertson, Jr., Stephen B. Oates, Tom Wicker, Elizabeth Winston Groom, and David Madden. For your subscription to Civil War Book Review ext. 34 or email at cwbrbookpage.com. -- call -Z3 Please sign me up for a one year subscription (4 issues - total $16) and I will receive the most recent issue of Civil War Book Review absolutely FREE. Rirabead, $24.95 ISBN 157322X791 ITTEI $19.95, ISBN 1587884232 REVIEW BY JOANNA SMITH RAKOFF In 1965, poet and memoirist Kathleen left Norris a shy, sheltered her home in Hawaii and traveled several thousand miles to Bennington College in Vermont. As Norris recounts in The Virgin of Bennington, her fourth memoir, the distance between Honolulu and New England was more than geographical. Though academically rigorous, Bennington in the '60s was a playground for wealthy. "artsy girls, members of the various branches of the East Coast elite. I had no idea, Norris says, . . . that 1 was signing on for a crash course in the turbulent dynamics of place and culture. Overwhelmed by her peers' hedonism affairs with professors and heavy drug use Norris retreated into herself, wrote poetry and critical essays, and earned a reputation as a prig. At 21, she was still a virgin, a complete anomaly at Bennington. But after four years of college life, Norris succumbed: she developed a crush on a married professor a man w ho, she discovered years later, had engaged in countless affairs with students and THaRBlLLER THE HEARING Name (Please pnnn Address By John Lescroart Dutton, $25.95 ISBN 052594575X CityStateZip ETOM Signature $24.95. REVIEW Phone ( Detach and mail to: Civil War Book Review 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212 Make check payable to PmMotion, inc. Special Thanks to Our Issue Sponsor White Mane Publishers America's Civil War Publisher ABRAHAM LINCOLN The Complete Book of Facts, Quizzes, & Trivia mam by Gordon Leidner knowledge of our 6th president with this complete book that offers a glimpse into the life of Lincoln the man. What terrible accident happened to Lincoln when he was eight? What other rising politician courted Mary Todd? In 1860, when Lincoln was nominated to be the Republican canidate for president in Chicago, what was happening a few blocks away at the McVickers Theatre? Test your By Kathleen Norris 1 $12.95 ISBN 157249235X ISBN 1S87881772 BY MICHAEL GR0L1MAN One of the most remarkable things about the latest entry in John Lescroarts series of legal thrillers featuring San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy is the utter freshness of the material. Through a half dozen outings ( The 13th Juror, The Mercy Rule), Lescroart has managed to keep his regular characters and consistently al interesting. In The Hearing, the characters that have populated Lescroarts previous novels find new intrigue in the political and social worlds of San Francisco. When a prominent black San Francisco attorney is found murdered, the key suspect is a homeless heroin addict found at the scene holding the gun and her jewelry. Because it is an election year, the politically ambitious and ruthless District Attorney Sharron Pratt decides to press for the death penalty to reverse her image. The suspects brother is a close friend of Lescroarts suave Irish lawyer, and against his better judgment, Dismas 30 MAY 2001 doggedly pursued him. Her quest took her to New York, w here she through the landed a dream professor's connections job as the assistant to Betty Kray, of the Academy of American Poets. When the affair fizzled, Norris was crushed: but the failed romance became, in a way. a windfall. For it drew Norris closer to Kray by all accounts an extraordinary woman, friend to every major poet and inventor of any number of innovative arts and education programs (as well as a talented writer herself. ev idenced by the letters included in Norris' book). Kray tutored Norris in every thing from fashion to revision techniques to social etiquette and introduced her to James Wright, Diane Wakoski, Galway Kinnell, Richard Howard and a number of other poets. The book is fdled with Norris appreciative remembrances of these luminaries who taught her, in essence, how to be a poet. "Even in casual conversation they often imparted great wisdom on the joys and demands of the writing life, Norris says. Populated with some of the 20th centurys most compelling writers. The Virgin of Bennington is a lively, jumbled tale full of literary history. Norris, author of the Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, has written a fascinating coming-of-ag- e story. then-direct- ry best-selli- Joanna Smith Rakojf is the book editor for Shout magazine. Hardy is persuaded to take the case. As he digs into the evidence, trying to find a way to spare his clients life. Hardy finds the case has strange ties to other in the city. political and legal goings-o- n An almost incestuous relationship between business, the prosecutors office and the murder victim has Hardy wondering, in spite of damning physical evidence, if his client actually had anything to do with the murder. The cop on the case, the black Jewish detective Abe Glitsky, who has reasons of his own for seeing the killer receive ultimate justice, also begins to have doubts about the guilt of the accused. Together, he and Hardy try to unravel the truth from a thicket of corruption and venality. Lescroarts story is enriched by a careful rendering of the city that gives his legal thrillers a special flair. Even with a sharply disapproving portrait of corruption in city politics, Lescroarts love of San Francisco comes through on every page. With plenty of legal twists and turns. The Hearing will be an irresistible read for Lescroarts legion of fans and all those who appreciate a we!!-- c rafted courtroom drama, e Michael Grollman is a freelance writer in New Jersey. BookPage.com |