Inside Jacket

The other day, a customer called up and wanted to know if
there was just a general book for the lay reader that explained the US Health
Care system. Seeing as how we
are in the middle of a national debate on the subject, I took a look for
something similar to Sowell's Basic Economics – a general text for the lay
person on a very important subject.  But
what did I find? Nothing! Zip! Zilch! A thousand memoirs of
doctors, a dozen angry diatribes about some specific problem with the system or
a conspiracy of right-wingers/socialists to turn us into Cuba…but no basic
"HEALTH CARE FOR DUMMIES" or "COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE US
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM." What I did
find were several $300 text books for nursing and pre-med students.

Surely there must be some book out there that explains
the role of insurance in pooling risk, the difference between a hospital and a
clinic, who licenses whom and why, the current state of malpractice law, and so
on…Isn't there?

–Andrew

This is a new book about true crime—endlessly popular, no? But it is about the world that everyone reading this blog has an interest in—books, bookstores and first editions or collectible rare works of literature. This is a fast read bordering, for good reason, on what feels like a very long and engrossing article. It is the type of book that made me think of all the people I wanted to give it to when I was done: my Aunt the voracious reader and collector, The owners of Mystery Pier, the rare book store behind Book Soup, and my sister-in-law who studies psychology. The buoyant quality of the story—why does someone obsess enough about a fantasy library to steal credit cards, even go to jail, in order to create the fantasy of a well read worldly gentleman. Which makes for an appealing book–yet it isn’t without fault. Bartlett is the conduit between the “good” booksellers and the “bad” criminal as she stays in close contact with both. She even accompanied the book thief himself as he spends time in an antiquarian bookstore which houses works he covets. The trouble is that Bartlett pushes the implication that she has become a part of the story. Which is either an unnecessary or frustrating diversion from the cat and mouse storyline or, worse, an authorial need to plump up the book (which did start as an article) and make the story contained more—perceived–depth. It is fine as it is. As Bartlett quotes a book dealer in the beginning of this book, “I have known men to hazard their fortunes, go long journeys halfway about the world, forget friendships, even lie cheat, and steal, all for the gain of a book.”

I liked this book—it is an excellent gift for those of us who collect or work with books or for people who like a good non-fiction page-turner.

There is a new book that just came out, and in our store, that is fantastic. It’s called “Carlo Mollino: arabesques.

Mollino was an interior designer, speed car racer, skier, architect, industrial designer, furniture maker, dandy,

…And a lover of women. He took numerous photographs of various ‘professional’ girls towards the end of his life. Some of the images were hand-painted.

So “arabesques” covers his entire career. For sure a gentleman I would want over the house for dinner.

This week Tosh is talking about a series from Reaktion Books called Critical Lives. These slim, stylish volumes offer comprehensive yet easy to dig biographies on some of the most beguiling figures in art, literature and philosophy.

…actually, there’s no competition. James Ellroy’s BLOOD’S A ROVER is the best novel of the year. I may at some point put together a legitimate “Manny Awards” for all of you to enjoy, but today is not that day. Suffice it to say pick up a copy of BLOOD’S A ROVER when it streets on September 22nd. You’ll thank me. And if you don’t then your taste is poor.