Arts & Entertainment

PEOPLE OF THE BOOKS

Read between the pages for that
special book for a special someone at Chanukah.

For The Interfaith Interested
Arthur Magida compares religious rituals in
America with his new book, Opening the
Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious
Rites of Passage (University of California
Press; $24.95). From b'nai mitzvah to Hindu
thread ceremonies, the chapters are filled
with insights into the celebrations and their
backgrounds. Public figures, including Elie
Wiesel and Deepak Chopra, describe the
effects of rituals in their lives.

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

B

rowsing bookstore shelves for
Chanukah gifts can lead to volu-
minous choices to satisfy all kinds
of reading enthusiasts. Some of the newest
releases, with particular readers in mind, are
summarized below:

For The History Lover
Edward Teller, who developed the first hydro-
gen bomb, and Michael Curtin, who directed
the enduring film Casablanca, share a com-
mon history; both escaped Nazi terror in
Budapest and went on to shape 20th-century
thinking and lifestyles. Their stories — plus
the stories of seven others of the same
country and times — are told in The Great
Escape: Nine Hungarians Who Fled Hitler
and Changed the World (Simon & Schuster;
$27). Author Kati Marton, born in Budapest
and relocated to the United States after the
failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, is a
former ABC News correspondent.

For The Short Story Lover
The search for spirituality becomes the
quest of young disaffected Jews in How
This Night Is Different (Free Press; $18),
the debut story collection by Elisa Albert.
The smart and funny compilation of 10 pro-
vocative short stories addresses issues from
family relationships to mortality. The author,
who holds a master's degree in fiction from
Columbia is now working on a novel.

For The Health Conscious
Three writers involved in medical profes-
sions explain Jewish approaches to well
being in The Hadassah Jewish Family
Book of Health and Wellness (Jossey-Bass;
$34.95). Topics include "Nutrition',' "Raising
Our Children" and "Prayer and Meditation in
Practice." The authors are Robin Ely Berman,
founder, president, CEO and medical director
of the National Gaucher Foundation; writer
and teacher Arthur Kurzweil, publisher
of Parabola magazine; and Dale Liebson
Mintz, Hadassah's founding national director
of Women's Health and Advocacy.

bad, the cartoons that make up the book
bring in talmudic themes and folktales with
humorous twists. Sheinkin also wrote and
illustrated the Storytellers History series
for children, including The American
Revolution.

For The Cartoon Connoisseur
A rabbi, who also is a sheriff, offers time-
less ideas from the imagination of author
Steve Sheinkm in The Adventures of
Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish
Wisdom and Wit in the Wild West (Jewish
Lights; $16.99). From convincing a child
that he is not actually a chicken to retriev-
ing money from a sweet-faced bubbie gone

For The Art Lover
Saul Steinberg, known for his drawings
printed in the New Yorker, also completed
public murals, fabric designs and stage sets.
His work and life are explored by Joel Smith,
curator of photography at the Princeton
University Art Museum, in Saul Steinberg
Illuminations (Yale University Press; $65).
The coffee-table edition, with colorful and

black-and-white images, tracks the evolution
of the subject's sensibilities and his relation-
ship to modernism.

For The Journalism Junkie

Political writer Frank Rich documents the
fictions of the Bush administration in The
Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and
Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina (The
Penguin Press; $25.95). Rich explores how
White House insiders amassed power and
held on to it by altering reality in public pre-
sentations. Rich's writing builds on a career
that includes posts at the New York Times
and Time magazine.

For The Bejeweled
Davira Taragin, who developed and dem-
onstrated her curator skills while living
in Michigan, worked with Alex Ward and
Helen Drutt in developing Women's Tales:
Four Leading Israeli Jewelers (Hudson
Hills Press; $50). The coffee-table book
offers illustrations as well as analysis and
biographical information on Bianca Eshel-
Gershuni, Vered Kaminski, Esther Knobel
and Degnit Stern Schocken. Brooches,
belt buckles and pendants are among the
designs.

For The People Person
Daniel Goleman, who drew considerable
attention with his bestsellers Emotional
Intelligence and Working With Emotional
Intelligence, has moved on to Social
Intelligence: The New Science of Human
Relationships (Bantam Books; $28). The
author explores social neuroscience and how
brains are wired to connect with others. He
also explains ideas on how good and bad
relationships affect physical well-being.

People of the Books on page 52

December 14 2006

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