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Show FMIaOBTalaOBN G1WCA1jUEKYi Defining what makes a good gift BY MIRIAM DRENNAN Mothers birthday? Nephews graduation? Second cousin twice removed's wedding? If you need help selecting a gift for any occasion, youve come to the right place. What gift is always the right color, the right size, and the right price? Why, books, of course! Modern: 1925-19It seems dinosaurs are more popular Design for a New- Age (Abrams. $59.95. ISBN than ever (well, who was around during 0810942089) cov ers the the Jurassie period who unique period known for can tell me differently??). NATIONAL Academic Press and prihousing the Art Deco GLOGRAPH 1C movement, among other vate collector John distinct design influLanendorf joined forces ATLAS ences. Compiled from to present Dinosaur the traveling exhibition Imagery: The Science of that features objects from I.ost Worlds and both the Metropolitan Jurassic Art ($49.95. Museum of Art and the ISBN ()I24365K6). A C. Waddell John collection of phenomenal Collection. American and commenpaleo-ar- t Modern captures the tary. the book offers utilitarian emphasis of browsers glimpses of this unique period. intricate sculptures, precision sketches, and Beginning with the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoralifs et paintings alongside text written Industriels Modemes and ending w ith by some of the world's best research World War II. readers can glimpse the paleontologists. The featured works are search to "clean up" design as objects as varied as the famous artists who crebecome less ornate and more geometric ated them: drawings by James Gurney and streamlined. The influence is apparfrom the Dinotopia series: sculptures by in architecture, furniture, floors, ent he Krcnt David animator Disney (yes. even vacuum cleaners (the Electrolux was involved in the blockbuster Model 30 is feaDinosaur)'. King tured amid some and Charles Kong; d very "clean" radios, coffee pots, and works by husband clocks). American and w lie team Modern is the crisp Stephen and Sylvia for the who are accessory Cerkas. also accomplished giftee whose style reflects this period. scientists. And if definition liver thought can bring order to about where our world would be things, there is also a lot to be said for without risk takers know ing the terms defined. For examlike Jacques Cousteau, Charles The Shackleton? Lrnest or ple. what's that mustache style called Lindbergh, when it's connected to the sideburns? mission of the explorer includes finding the lost and undiscovered. The National (A la Souvaroff. of course.) And what's that short thing that steadies a painter's Geographic Society has taken 122 years hand to do detail work? (Oh. do you of discovery and produced National mean the mahlstick?) Here's one for the Atlas: True Geographic Kxpeditions set: w hat do Stories of the call those folks who ho Adventurers you v ideos? introduce music Define Our Helped World ($40. ISBN (Veejays!) No. am not 1)792276167). Revisit naturally knowledgeable; I have a copy of the 1910 expedition of Descriptionary: A Ralph Tarr and Thematic Dictionary, Lawrence Martin, who Second Edition (Facts studied Alaskan glacion File. $50. ISBN ers; the 0816041059). Probably of John Glenn the most helpful update aboatd the Mercury included is the category capsule; Jacques for the Internet, but litCousteau's inventing the and erally thousands of words have been with Packed photographs, Lung. Aqua defined with regard to the question maps, and contributions from National whats that thing wherethat . . . ?". Geographic staff as well as (he explorers themselves. Kxpeditions Allas Descriplionary is a very handy item to have around for that next term paper, rcai hes from the depths of the sea to article, or . . . what's the name of that outer space, and all that's cast and west. board game where you have to know Of course, there's much to be discovwords??? the American well. as ered in the interior 40, EXPEDITIONS action-packe- d Knight-inspire- pre-MT- 1 'll THE LOST LEGENDS OF NEW JERSEY By Frederick Reiken Harcourt, $24 ISBN 0151005079 REVIEW BY MICHAEL PAULSON In his second novel. The Lost Legends of New Jersey. Frederick Reiken chronicles four years in the life of teenager Anthony Rubin. A Jew ish hockey star from the New Jersey suburbs. Anthony nav igates the uneven terrain of adolescence while his world bends around him: his physician father has an affair with a family friend; his mother escapes marital problems FRE by fleeing to Florida; and relationAnthony begins a ship with Juliette Dimiglio, the whose mother committed suicide in her garage. Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s. the novel drops casual references to the era and setting throughout, such as Rush concerts at the Meadow lands or summers at the Jersey shore; such mentions help construct a palpable sense of place and time. Reiken peoples his narrative w ith the expected cast of characters (wealthy Jewish suburbanites, working as well as a few class friend Jay erstwhile surprises. Anthony's Berkowitz takes Juliette on an tour of the West Orange zoo. Their con- - versation stretches from the usual teenage banter to meditations on love and family, at times almost cryptic in their responses. But the scene rings with a sweet satisfaction as these two lonely, mismatched kids commune and connect for a few hours. Much of the novel concentrates on Anthonys careful negotiations with those around him (hockey coaches, older girlfriends. parents) and how these relationships shape his growth into a confident young man. Reiken takes chances with his narrative style. Although the novel focuses on Anthony and is told mostly through his voice, multiple narrators crop up, alternating between first- - and Anthony remains remarkably stoic for a teen w hose personal life dashes from one crisis to another, perhaps a bit too stoic; sometimes he seems like a grown man instead of a high school student. When he speaks, it is often in a calm, reflective voice almost devoid of emotion. This wouldnt be reason for pause, except that Reiken takes great efforts to place Anthony in a milieu associated with roiling adolescent angst. But these qualms aside, Anthony emerges as a memorable character, one that ends up finding a center in the storm raging around him. third-perso- DERICK REIKEN after-hou- FBlaGBTalaOBN IN THE NAME OF SALOME By Julia Alvarez Algonquin Books, $23.95 ISBN 1565122763 REVIEW BY JULIA STEELE Julia Alvarez gives us a fictionalized account of the lives of two actual women, a mother and daughter, in her absorbing new novel. In the Name of Salome. Salome I'rena Henriquez lived in the Dominican Republic in the second half of the 18(Xk. a time of constant political upheaval. As a teenager, she made her mark in Dominican history writing poetry for la patria. Salome's words changed lives and motivated her countrymen to fight for freedom. Her daughter. Camila has her own story as well, living her life in the name of Salome. With the madness of countless revolutions as the storys backdrop, Julia Alv arez creates a vivid portrait of two lives and how each affected the other. Weaving their stones together in a unique fashion, the author alternates chapters betw een the voices of Salome1 and Camila. But rather than telling the story of two generations chronologically. Alvarez chrxiscs to tell Camila's story in reverse. The txxk opens with Camila at age 65 packing her belongings for Cuba Castro Michael Paulson teaches English at Penn State University. is in control, and Camila wants to return to the country where she lived much of her early life in exile. As her story moves backward through time, we discover why Camila is a woman who feels like a bead unstrung from the necklace of generations." Intertwined is the life of Salome, starting from girlhood and ending w ith her death when Camila is only three years old. At age 17, Salorn becomes an icon as her poetry sparks the passions of her countrymen through many revolutions and government upheavals. But Alvarez brings Salom from her larger than life persona down to our size to an insecure teenage girl w ho has a passion for freedom, a plain young woman who longs for true love, a mother with a fierce desire to change a country for the sake of her children. As both stories progress, it is obvious Camila has lived her life in the shadow of Salome's greatness, a woman she knows only through poetry and family stories. Set, when asked by her young niece why Camila alw ays downplays her own contributions, Camila replies, "We are all the same size, dont you know? Just some of us stretch ourselves a little more." An inspiring novel, In the Name of Salom makes us want to stretch ourselves just as these two great women did. V Julia Steele siren hes herself selling advertising for BooLPage. BookPaKt.cww |