KAPPAN Found This a Difficult Book to Discuss, Primarily Because We the 20Th Century

Books for Summer Reading

COMPILED BY ROGER SODER

ET’S try a little free association. “Endless of allies, gave his eloquence and life to the ends of democ- summer.” racy through the means of nonviolence. If you responded with “global warm- The next author, Richard Slotkin, gives testimony to King’s ing,” then you seem to be on the same famous declaration that bombs dropped overseas “also ex- wavelength as some of this year’s con- plode at home” in Lost Battalions: The Great War and the tributors to Roger Soder’s always-inter- Crisis of American Nationality (Owl, 2006). Like Branch, esting collection of reading recommen- Slotkin shows that force and violence can never build de- dations. Although all of their suggested mocracy but that the crucibles of war can intensify social books qualify as “good reads,” some of them explore rather change. This book, coming after Slotkin’s own trilogy on vio- Lgrim topics. lence in America (Regeneration Through Violence, The Fatal If you responded with “travel,” “beach,” “hammock,” Environment, and Gunfighter Nation), recounts the stories or “cottage,” then you will find any number of intriguing of two battalions of volunteers for Army service in the Great titles to enhance your pursuit of R & R. And if you responded with “surfing” (as in waves, not the Web), then you are probably of an age to particularly enjoy a work of humor that kept one contributor (of a similar age) incapacitated by laughter. kkk My recommendations for summer 2007 are works of nonfiction that are available in paperback. I suggest two large volumes of 20th-century American history by two es- teemed authors. The first author is Taylor Branch, whose trilogy America in the King Years is completed by At Canaan’s Edge, 1965-68 (Simon & Schuster, 2007). Branch has said that Martin Luther King, Jr., will be remembered for gener- ations as the most influential public figure in America during three Presidential Administrations from 1955 to 1968. In this volume is ample proof that nonviolent civil diso- bedience, led by King and his associates, dramatically trans- formed American democracy by winning the right to vote for African American citizens. The franchise had been de- nied to them in the Constitution, then affirmed after the Civil War, but held in abeyance by Jim Crow laws. In the King years, it was dramatically won. Branch recounts each step toward that hard-earned prize, traversing rivers of facts after beginning with a statement about the importance of vot- ing: “Nonviolence is an orphan among democratic ideas . . . the most basic element of free government — the vote — has no other meaning. . . . the whole architecture of rep- resentative government springs from the handiwork of nonviolence.” This book shows how one man, alongside a host

JUNE 2007 787 War, both from New York, both made up of hyphenated how the bomb moves from the Trinity Test Site to the skies Americans, and both hopeful that their valor in battle would of Hiroshima on August 6. Quite a journey, both for those lead to greater acceptance in the nation under whose flag originally involved and for readers who will be engaged they fought and sacrificed. The African American soldiers by a narrative that is often fiction-like in both tone and struc- of the 369th and the “Jews, Wops, Dutch and Irish cops” of ture. the 77th were as motivated by their dreams of assimila- Adam Hochschild has written several excellent books: The Unquiet Ghost and King Leopold’s Ghost are especially notable. Bury the Chains is in many respects his best thus A reader’s perseverance is rewarded by far. In the late 1700s a small group of men make the de- valuable insights into the era when cision to fight to end slavery in Great Britain. (The recent Americans’ progressive ideas of social movie Amazing Grace has made this story more widely known.) Within five years, and as a result of their efforts, sever- change clashed with their ambitions to al hundred thousand Britons are boycotting slave-grown empire. This is a very timely book of sugar and wearing antislavery badges. Their crusade begins object lessons for any educator who small, takes several decades, but is ultimately successful and is an important precursor to the Civil War and to the end teaches about democracy and war. of slavery in the United States. Indeed, Britain entertains an alignment with the South during the war, but with Lin- tion as by their desires for glory and their beliefs in prom- coln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and Great ises of a world made safe for democracy. Slotkin tells their Britain’s earlier commitment to end slavery, any British al- stories in great detail, supported by extensive research, in liance with the South becomes an impossibility. Hoch- academic prose that is often as thick as the mud in which schild shows how one of the first efforts by a small group these men fought. A reader’s perseverance is rewarded, how- of committed individuals to free slaves leads to a ban on ever, by valuable insights into the era when Americans’ pro- slavery altogether. gressive ideas of social change clashed with their ambitions Three other (non-Peace Prize) books created interesting to empire. This is a very timely book of object lessons for dialogue in our book club. Founding Brothers: The Revo- any educator who teaches about democracy and war. Those lutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis (Vintage Books, 2000), lessons periodically need relearning and urgently need to describes six “events” occurring during the very early days be taught now. Taken together, these two books will re- of the United States. Each event brings together the founders ward the summer reader with many thoughtful hours. — of our country (individuals who are often in conflict with Henry St. Maurice, professor of education, University of one another) and illustrates how messy American political Wisconsin, Stevens Point. life really has been since its inception. The book is remark- kkk ably readable (won a Pulitzer) and wonderful fodder for In 1995 Dayton, Ohio, served as the home for negotia- group discussion. tors and political leaders seeking to find resolution for civ- Raymond Chandler is the master of the crime novel. il strife in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The result was the Dayton The Big Sleep (Vintage, 1966) is one of his best Philip Mar- Peace Accords, and, as a consequence of the accords, Day- lowe novels. Chandler’s style is sophisticated and leaves ton became known internationally as the “city of peace.” lots of room for the reader to roam, unlike current crime The city now celebrates this designation through the annual thrillers that leave nothing unimagined. The Big Sleep finds Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The two winning nonfiction Marlowe involved with everything from kidnapping to por- texts for 2006 were Stephen Walker’s Shockwave: Count- nography. Chandler’s writing is very literary and highly met- down to Hiroshima (HarperCollins, 2005) and Adam Hoch- aphorical. The book is worth the personal reading commit- schild’s Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight ment but is not, it turns out, one that lends itself easily to to Free an Empire’s Slaves (Houghton Mifflin, 2005). extended discussion by a group. Shockwave is an extraordinary book. Based on docu- Kiran Desai recently won the Man Booker Prize for The ment reviews and personal interviews with both Americans Inheritance of Loss (Grove Press, 2006), which is beauti- and Japanese, Walker has created a narrative that is com- fully written but very grim and nihilistic. Set in the Hima- pelling and absorbing. He starts by describing two Japan- layas amidst social and political conflict, Desai’s book de- ese lovers in Shukkeien Gardens (Hiroshima) on 5 August scribes the lives of several different characters who are strug- 1945 (the day before the bomb is dropped). He then re- gling to survive and make sense out of life. They barely ac- turns to mid-July 1945 (three weeks earlier) and describes complish the former and fail to achieve the latter. Our group

788 PHI DELTA KAPPAN found this a difficult book to discuss, primarily because we the 20th century. Mabel Dodge Luhan was born and raised could not seem to identify with the lives of Desai’s charac- in affluence and apparent emotional neglect in Buffalo, New ters. This is not a book that will be appreciated in small bits York. As an adult, she sought fulfillment by associating her- (a chapter or two at a time); the narrative requires time to self with the creative artists, writers, and thinkers of those ponder, reflect, and digest. — Thomas J. Lasley II, dean, times. She seemed to barrel through life acquiring and dis- School of Education and Allied Professions, University of carding acquaintances (friends, lovers, husbands), accoutre- Dayton. Book Club members: Jake Dorn, Bob Curry, Ted ments, art, and artists, while creating “salons” for them in Kissell, Frank Williams, Bill Bretz, Steve Sidlo, and Mark Europe, New York City, and finally Taos, New Mexico. It was Harman. in Taos that she seemed to find her greatest personal and kkk “professional” success. In the salon that she and Tony Lu- In Five Quarters of the Orange (HarperCollins, 2001), han built, she brought together D. H. Lawrence, Georgia Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, weaves the textures and O’Keefe, Ansel Adams, and so many others; that legacy con- aromas of the food and wine of the Loire region into a tinues in the blending of culture and cultures that lives on haunting tale of mothers and their children during the dark in Taos today. days of the German occupation of France. At first, the read- Ruth Devlin and Frank Serafini have combined their ex- er is drawn into a seemingly simple tale of childhood inno- ceptional talents as teachers and artists in Desert Seasons: A cence. However, that innocence leads to deadly conse- Year in the Mojave (Stephens Press, 2004). The reader is taken quences amidst recurring themes of jealousy, deceit, vio- on an armchair journey through the fragile yet tenacious lence, infatuation, madness, and survival. This is a book that wonders of the Mojave. Together, Devlin (poet, sketcher, warrants rereading (perhaps immediately) in order to cap- classroom teacher) and Serafini (professor and photogra- ture the intricacies of Harris’ skill as an author. pher) capture life in the Mojave across the seasons. Through Linda Ellerbee writes crisply and cleanly, with excep- their eloquent and informative words and stunning pictures, tional insight, humor, and humility. She has a way of cut- the reader experiences the extremes in weather and the ting through extraneous information and finding the es- impact on animals and plants surviving there. The reader sence of the story. In Take Big Bites: Adventures Around smells coming rain, recognizes patterns on the shell of the the World and Across the Table (Putnam, 2005), she takes tortoise, sees the extraordinary beauty of the desert flowers, us along on her personal and professional journeys over and wonders at the range of colors of the landscape. In the the years. In each chapter, she seasons her own story (trying to sal- vage a doomed marriage in France; living and trying to write alone on a Greek island; finding love, health, and friendship) with details of the cultures, the people, and the food she encountered along the way. It is a veritable feast of fine writing and, incidentally, fine food. Each chapter concludes with a recipe for the most delicious meal that Ellerbee found in that portion of her travels, whether in Ap- palachia, Vietnam, Bolivia, or her mother’s kitchen; thus her invita- tion to “take big bites,” both liter- ally and “literarily.” Mabel Dodge Luhan: New Wom- an, New Worlds (University of New Mexico Press, 1984), by Lois Pal- ken Rudnick, tells the story of a truly innovative and pioneering woman during the early years of

JUNE 2007 789 authors’ words, to understand the desert, we “just need to in a mood to read but had an hour, and the sun was warm know how to feel it, when to see it, and where to look.” — and the hammock beckoning. I couldn’t put it down other Pam Campbell, associate professor of special education, than to get out an atlas to look up locations on the Northern University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Islands of Japan. A mix between a detective novel and a kkk spy thriller, totally disjointed in a postmodern way, with an Two books, one heavy, one light. I turn first to Los de- insider’s view of life in Japan, the novel is itself a wild chase siertos del alma: Relato de la muerte de mi madre (Edi- — I caught the thread of the story only near the end, which torial Océano de México, 1997), by Sealtiel Alatriste. I came I came to late on the night of the day I started it. This book across this book at a time when my sister thought she was caused me to seek out some of Murakami’s other work, dying — and almost did. As she painfully drew breath, she which I totally enjoyed, but I was disturbed by his Wind- tried to prepare me by telling me how much she loved me Up Bird Chronicle, also a delightful peek into modern Jap- and my children, telling me to be strong and that her hus- anese life. I especially enjoyed his attention to detail, such band would need all my support. My part in Kathy’s illness as the numerous meals he prepared for himself. It is a haunt- brought about some changes in me, in Kathy, and in our re- ing novel that stayed with me long after I finished it. lationship. Through her illness, I felt tremendous love and Staying with the Asian theme is a novel by my Universi- courage. I had always thought we were close, but this trial ty of Washington colleague Shawn Wong. American Knees brought us much closer. Alatriste writes artistically in auto- (University of Washington Press, 2005) is a contemporary biographical style on the death of his mother. He writes of story of a Chinese American university professor and his in- love and loss in ways that are deep and real — that made teractions with a racialized society. Shawn wrote the book me reflect on my own family and see my mother and sib- when his wife suggested he write a novel she could read lings in a new light. He writes honestly and profoundly about on the beach instead of his literary criticism. I found it to decisions he alone had to make during the illness of his be an intriguing read, and it provided me with new insight mother and how these were related to the relationship he into racial issues. I continue to be impressed by the way had and wanted with her. The book is beautifully written novels help me understand racial issues on a deeper, more and put into words many of the changes I felt but could visceral level than essays on privilege and racism. The power not express as I sat by my sister’s bed, calming her through of stories and the ease with which I can suspend disbelief the night. when reading a novel allow me to consider alternative truths. I like humor dry as the desert, to the point, open and As an aside, American Knees has been made into a movie honest. For me, it doesn’t get any better than Nora Eph- that is worth seeing. ron’s I Feed Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on My wife comes from Montana, so I always try to keep up Being a Woman (Knopf, 2006). This book made me laugh with Montana writers. Ivan Doig’s latest novel, The Whistling out loud in the hospital, waiting in a restaurant, anywhere Season (Harcourt, 2006), is typical Doig, intertwining the I could catch a moment. I found that no matter where I history of Montana with current events. The main character was, if I was reading, I was laughing. And then I’d look up is the state superintendent of schools for Montana; he has to see who caught me laughing in totally inappropriate lo- flashbacks to his days in a one-room schoolhouse as a stu- cales. I found myself identifying with Ephron’s lifelong hunt dent and a teacher. I melted into the narrative and was sorry for the perfect purse. I know it sounds tacky, but I’m still when the book ended. The Whistling Season is a good com- looking. And I could identify with her concerns about aging. panion to John Goodlad’s Romances with Schools (McGraw- I am in my fifties and proud of it. But it is really a nuisance Hill, 2004). I found many parallels between Doig’s descrip- to try to read the phone book lately, and my hearing isn’t tion of one-room schools and Goodlad’s recollections of what it used to be. So it’s great fun to read someone who similar schools in British Columbia. can turn the sometimes annoying aging process and my life My second Montana book is Breaking Clean (Knopf, experiences into humor. Can you guess why she feels bad 2002), by Judy Blunt. This is Blunt’s story of growing up in about her neck? — Diane Torres-Velásquez, associate pro- eastern Montana in the late 1950s. Blunt chronicles her fessor of special education, University of New Mexico, Al- years of feeling smothered by the male-dominated ranch buquerque. life and finally breaking free to move to Missoula, attend k k k college, and become a writer. The stories are powerful, the A Wild Sheep Chase (Vintage, 2002), by Haruki Mu- prose captivating. I could feel the bitter cold of the bliz- rakami, is his first novel translated into English, and I came zard of ’64, and Blunt’s stories of schooling resonate with across it buried in a pile of discarded books in a corner of Doig’s descriptions. I have shared this book with my three our cabin on Skagit Bay, Washington. I was only partially grown daughters; the effects of uncompromising paternal-

790 PHI DELTA KAPPAN ism are powerfully stated in this memoir. keenly aware of how they do or do not fit into the fabric of The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits society. in Siberia (Houghton Mifflin, 2005), by Piers Vitebsky, is an Baca provides a story of empowerment, perseverance, anthropologist’s account of more than 20 years with the and hope for the numerous men and women who choose Eveny people of northeastern Siberia. The introduction on a path of violence and crime at a young age. He does not the reindeer myths and the corresponding archeological make excuses for his poor choices; rather he presents the evidence was fascinating. Vitebsky’s detailed accounting of inner struggles that led to such choices and ultimately to his daily life in the villages sustained my interest and caused imprisonment. His story is a reminder that a person can sur- me to wonder about how technologically advanced people vive tragedy, misfortune, and mistakes and transform his should interact with indigenous peoples. Certainly not the or her existence. Baca’s journey is beautifully written, evok- way the Soviets did, or the way we Americans have done ing powerful emotions and compassion while at the same with our indigenous peoples. Vitebsky handles this difficult time reminding the reader that the human experience is topic with a soft hand but with piercing results. The book incredibly diverse and complex. — Frances Contreras, as- describes cold that surpasses the Montana blizzard of ’64, sistant professor of education, University of Washington, but the lives of the people seem fulfilling even with the to- Seattle. tal cultural disruption brought about by Soviet rule. — Gene kkk Edgar, professor of special education, University of Wash- Michael Oren does us great service with his Power, Faith, ington, Seattle. and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present k kk (Norton, 2007). The book details the convoluted and very I chose to read A Place to Stand (Grove Press, 2001), often bemused and misguided involvement of the U.S., from by Jimmy Santiago Baca, to better understand the plight the events leading up to the Barbary Wars to our current of a man who lived a good portion of his youth and early state of affairs. The more things change, indeed. adulthood in the juvenile justice system and prison. I was Joseph Epstein makes a wonderful contribution to the interested in how these experiences in and out of the penal Atlas Books Eminent Lives series with his Alexis de Tocque- system led to his development of literacy and his evolu- ville: Democracy’s Guide (HarperCollins, 2006). A fine es- tion into a highly successful writer and poet. Baca’s experi- sayist helps us go to Tocqueville for insight and understand- ence is one of inspiration for many youths who may share ing. And in going to Tocqueville, I am reminded of what the same fate early in their lives and is a reminder that peo- Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop note in the intro- ple can change course, despite the unfortunate hands they duction to their definitive translation of Democracy in Amer- have been dealt. ica (University of Chicago Press, 2000): “We would rather Baca, who became part of the prison system at a very attract readers to Tocqueville than bring him to them” — a early age, describes the choices that were made for him as sentiment that I trust is shared by those of us who teach. a child and those that he made himself partly in response — Roger Soder, research professor of education, Univer- to his childhood. His personal account of being abandoned sity of Washington, Seattle. K by his mother and father, being forced to raise himself, and spending a great deal of his early years in and out of jail gives readers a view of how different the human experience can be for children who live in unstable homes and are forced to grow up far too fast. But perhaps this experience is more common for children of color living in poverty than we like to acknowledge or believe. Baca’s memoir is a stark reminder of what I find in my own research on equity, as I look at the disproportionate numbers of Latinos and African Americans in the prison system in states like California and Texas. These prisoners did not start with an even chance in life and are

JUNE 2007 791 File Name and Bibliographic Information k0706sod.pdf

Roger Soder, Books for Summer Reading, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 88, No. 10, June 2007, pp. 787-791.

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