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The Book of Jon, by Eleni Sikelianos

The Book of Jon is vast in its smallness. Writing a memoir about the death of one’s father—or the death of any loved one for that matter—that doesn’t turn saccharine or personal to the point of alienating the reader is a feat that few achieve. Sikelianos pulls it off by using a collage of stories, poems, photos, dreams, journal entries and remembrances from other family members. Although the book is a mere 116 pages, this pastiche creates an effect similar to attending a rollicking wake: There is sadness, of course, but there is also laughter and half-remembered stories that float away as they are being told; photos that are passed around and reminisced over; there are family huddles about formal decisions; and there is the bittersweet awareness that old debts will never be paid, coupled with the realization that repayment was unlikely to begin with. In this case, the debts involve Sikelianos’ father’s lifelong addiction to drugs and alcohol. An addiction that culminated in three years of homelessness on the streets of Albuquerque and, finally, an overdose in Room 152 of the De Anza Motor Lodge. The room cost $33.10 a night. Among his possessions were “2 packs of cigarettes (both opened, one pack Camels, one pack Marlboros).”



Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, by Jimmy Carter

Former United States president Jimmy Carter is an evangelical Christian who continues to live in the heart of the Southern Bible Belt. Who better then to speak out against the excesses of religious fundamentalism in this country? After establishing his own credentials as a deeply religious person whose actions reflect his thoughtful commitment, Carter ticks off a series of contemporary moral problems on which an unfortunate combination of dogmatic religion and far-right politics is taking us in the wrong direction. Many of the problems derive from a posture of “us versus them.” Christians against the rest of the world. Selected biblical texts against science. Entwining church and state. Divorce and homosexuality as sins. Abortions and the death penalty. Subservient women. A foreign policy distorted. Terrorism outscoring human rights. Belligerence replacing cooperation. Preemptive war replacing negotiation. The environment be damned. Carter cites chapter and verse on each of these topics and for each makes a strong case that we should change our ways. He also details the different directions he took as president and continues to take in what has to be regarded as the presidential retirement that has best served this country. To some readers this will come across as self-serving, and indeed Carter does put the best face on his record. Despite this, however, this bright and thoughtful public servant—who better deserves that title?—offers much in this extended but well-written sermon to which we would well heed.



Enchantments, by Linda Ferri

Linda Ferri’s debut novel, Enchantments, is slight but heady, a strong brew composed of a series of simple but striking vignettes, each a vivid snapshot images of a young girl’s life growing up in Tuscany and Paris, resulting in a mythical photo album of the early part of the heroine’s life that ends abruptly as she is unwillingly thrust into adulthood.





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