Ed

"A million deaths is a statistic", but every death -- and life -- has its tale. Mary Doria Russell weaves a dark but rich tapestry quietly filled with not one but countless threads of grace.

The setting is Northern Italy during the Second World War. Russell picks up the disrupted lives of Jewish refugees escaping persecution and of the people who shelter them. Keeping a tight focus on a small number of individuals illustrates the beauty of each life, each thread. Russell's quiet matter-of-fact voice suffuses each tragedy with a significance that no other tone could match, each character with an almost palpable nobility that makes the pages feel alive. Through these few lives and deaths we begin to get a small sense of the unimaginable horror of WWII, of war itself.

"A Thread of Grace" is often brutal--not gory, but its simple everyday narration is merciless. This is a book that will haunt me.

Robin Williams answered my question even before her lecture, even before I asked it, as she signed my book: Yes, she has eagerly searched for counterevidence, for anything that will refute her claim of Sidney's authorship. Yet all she finds is more evidence in favor -- including new facts learned after the printing of her book.

What do her detractors say? Not the close-minded emotiotards who get apoplectic at the suggestion that Shakspere / Oxford / Marlowe / Flintstone isn't The One True Author. What is the best argument against Sidney? And on the flip side, what next from Williams? This is the most promising idea of all the ones I've seen: it's parsimonious, elegant, and feels right. I'm so curious to see what the next few years will bring.

The first part of the Shakespeare Authorship question--did the man from Stratford-upon-Avon write the works bearing the name William Shakespeare?--has pretty much been settled: No. Few people seriously claim that he did.

The second part--who did?--is a doozy. For years I've been intrigued by the Oxford hypothesis, but bothered by the contortions required to believe it.

In Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?, Robin P. Williams makes the case for Mary Sidney, sister of Philip Sidney. And what a case it is! Williams's research is thorough, her argument convincing. The chapter on Sources includes a 16-page table documenting striking connections between Sidney and many works known to have been sources for the plays. Williams includes a beautiful chronology, and the events fit Sidney's life in a way they don't for the other candidates.

Williams speculates, but doesn't require suspension of disbelief. Her argument works, and feels right in a way that others don't. Williams will be speaking at the Library on Thursday, and I'm eager to see her presentation.

Doctors, it turns out, are human. They can fall prey to the same cognitive errors the rest of us experience. Jerome Groopman devotes much of his book How Doctors Think to confirmation bias and search satisfaction: one being the cascade of errors stemming from an initial misdiagnosis, the other the lack of a necessary cascading, that is, halting your search when you've found one potential problem. (Programmers in the audience will be familiar with this temptation from doing code reviews. It's a common trap).

Groopman writes eloquently and compassionately about matters which can be delicate and inflammatory: medical errors. He provides copious real-world case studies, describing the facts in a warm--not clinical--voice, refraining from fingerpointing. He explores the causes of common mistakes and how doctors learn from them. He offers good advice for how patients (and family) should interact with their doctors. He recognizes that there will always be uncertainty, there will always be errors, not all of them human-induced. He offers ways for doctors to avoid common traps.

But ultimately I think he forgets the punchline to the old joke: "What do they call the guy who graduates at the bottom of his class in medical school?" (answer: "Doctor"). There is wide variation in ability. Some doctors will learn from his book; others already practice what he recommends; some may never get it. Ultimately the best beneficiary of How Doctors Think might be the patient: in providing insights into doctors' minds, Groopman helps us take better care of our own conditions.

Phew. It took me the better part of two months, but I finally finished Seven Pillars of Wisdom. "Remarkable" doesn't begin to cover it. Lawrence has an eye for detail and a beautiful voice: his descriptions of the landscape, environment, and people are richer than anything I've read in years. He offers valuable lessons not only in desert warfare but in simple humanity. He narrates humbly and doesn't gloss over his mistakes or failings.

Nominally the book is about the Arab Revolt and Lawrence's role in it, but it is so much more: it's an exploration of an inhospitable land and the people who live in it. What he writes is especially valuable today.

Next time you're anywhere near downtown, go to Otowi Station and pick up a copy of Snake by Trisha Johansen. It is richly drawn and sublimely funny; insightful and sophisticated too. Shades of Kyle Baker, but with a unique voice. This is a mature work, and I eagerly look forward to Johansen's next.

Traveled in 1994, printed in 1996, The Ends of the Earth is a gripping and sobering look at the other hemisphere in all its utter remoteness: physical, cultural, ideological. Journalist Robert D. Kaplan reports from Western Africa, the Fertile Crescent, and southern Asia from street level, seeing sights and hearing voices that you and I can barely imagine. He questions the validity of borders in areas where clan and culture rule -- I'm sure he would quite agree with yesterday's Squiggly Border announcement.

This is a treasure of a book. Kaplan writes beautifully and does not proselytize nor condemn. He presents facts, describes situations fortunate and un, helps us learn from them, and warns of the consequences of failing to pay attention.

Plus ça change and all that. We have some pretty contemptible people in our current government. Is it reassuring, or depressing, to know that other eras have had their share of evildoers? Yes, Oppenheimer really should have stood up and told the inquisitors to go fly a kite--but then what? He was up against monsters bent on destroying him; they would have kept attacking.

Fascinating book about a fascinating man. Oppenheimer is portrayed in rich detail as a complex being, human and so much more. His enemies get short shrift, appearing one- dimensional, but who cares? This isn't their book.

Disappointingly, the authors present a skewed view of the decisions to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, making them appear unjustified. Terrible they may have been -- no man should have had to make the call -- but there is much reason to believe that they were the right decisions, both at the time and even in hindsight. Through omission of key facts (e.g. the loss of life expected in the invasion) and exaggeration of others (intercepted communications), the authors paint a one-sided picture that uninformed readers may find difficult to overcome.

Despite its flaws, I highly recommend American Prometheus. Absorbing, educational, inspirational.