Book Review: Detroit: a biography by Scott Martelle

 

Detroit: A Biography by Scott Martelle. Published April, 2012, Chicago Review Press, Incorporated. ISBN-13: 9781569765265, ISBN: 156976526X

 

Scott Martelle's in-depth look at Detroit is an enlightening read. He talks about the history of the city, from the earliest days until the very recent past, and the story he relates is at times painful to read. This is not, however, because of the writing; it is because the story of Detroit could have been so different! He relates what he feels are the main issues that caused the city to come to the place in which we find it, mainly the well-known fact that Detroit has basically only had one main industry for about a hundred years, and there was no cultivation of any other means of support for the city. However, the other little-mentioned fact that also hurt Detroit was that, after World War II, the "arsenal of democracy" stayed focused on automobiles, rather than trying to get a piece of the defense market on a larger scale. No one ever took another step toward diversification, while the auto companies themselves moved away and out of Detroit, leaving many without jobs and the city without revenue.

 

Martelle dwells quite a bit on the racial issues that have plagued the region, really, not just Detroit. These ways that people have been wrongly treated also help explain the downfall of a great city.  He lays out the entire saga, starting with the people who moved to Detroit from the southern states, because even the racism they encountered in Detroit was not as bad as staying in the South. However, it was bad enough. He describes the riots and their influence on the outcome of events in Detroit.

In the book Detroit: a biography, Martelle helps us understand the sheer size of the problem that is Detroit's reality with the use statistics from census data, historical records, and real estate. It is staggering to know, for instance, that housing values are a small fraction of what they were worth only ten years ago. This loss of valuation also impacts the property taxes that the city can receive and other revenue streams that have dried up just because of the huge amount of people who no longer live within the city limits. The problem is not all gloom and doom, but Martelle is more interested in giving a historical perspective to the issues surrounding the city of Detroit. This book was less entertaining than, say, Detroit City is the Place to Be, but my reading of it helped me understand just what is going on in the city of Detroit, and how it came to be this way.

Book Review: Detroit City Is the Place to Be

Detroit City is the place to be : the afterlife of an American metropolis / Mark Binelli. New York : Metropolitan Books, 2012.

1st ed.

ISBN: 9780805092295, 0805092293

There is a tenacious optimism rampant throughout the city of Detroit. Artists, Internet start-ups, and many other players seem to feel that Detroit could be the new Brooklyn, according to Mark Binelli, a native Detroiter who spent a year in the heart of the city. In this extremely readable narrative, Binnelli brings to light quite a few of the many counterintuitive realities of the city. For instance, many do not know that Matty Maroun, the owner of the Ambassador bridge linking Canada and the US, makes about 60 million dollars a year on the tolls he charges for the use of the bridge. It is unthinkable that the bridge, which carries a fourth of the commercial traffic between Canada and the US, is privately held. One would assume that this link is held in the public trust. Or that the Detroit Public Schools would even consider closing the Catherine Ferguson school, a school for pregnant and parenting teen moms with a graduation rate of 95%.  Through all of the stories and interviews, Binelli shows why there is such optimism in this city, even when there seems to be no evidence that this mindset is even realistic, let alone warranted. This book was a lot of fun to read, and I learned a lot about my home town that I never knew. It was good to walk the streets of Detroit with Binelli. He is a great guide, and the city itself is fascinating. This title is recommended for those who are interested in the renewal of urban areas or who love Detroit and would like to know more about it.

Book Review: American Isis

American Isis : The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath by Carl Rollyson

9780312640248, 0312640242

Hardback / With dust jacket

$29.99 US

Biography & Autobiography / Literary 

336 pages

Plus one 8-page black-and-white photograph insert

I was disappointed in American Isis. I would like to find a biography that might help interested students understand Sylvia Plath and her work. This book is choppy and seems to take a smug attitude toward the subject. The author could have tried to help make sense of a poet who seems well-known but is not; whose work is part of the American experience and yet seems that people know very little about her as a human being. I was really hoping that this title might help people like me, not an English major nor a psychology major, understand Plath. This particular book just confused me more. 

Book Review: The Adventurer's Guide to Living a Happy Life by Matt Mosteller

Paperback: 88 pages
Publisher: Premier Digital Publishing (October 9, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1624670091
ISBN-13: 978-1624670091 (from Amazon.com).

I read with some excitement The Adventurer's Guide to a Happy Life. The problem was, it just didn't deliver. It was like someone took Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and threw in some pretty common observations. I wasn't really looking for a self-help book; rather, I thought perhaps the author would use some of his more interesting experiences to show how they helped him have a happy life. There's no adventure in The Adventurer's Guide, unfortunately. I found myself reading faster and faster, skimming through the book for the juicy bits, only to find that everything was cut-and-dried. It was a disappointment.

I'm looking for a good book...

My niece asked on Facebook for suggestions for reading. Wooo-wee! Where do I start? What does she like? Maybe a little romance, a little vampire, fantasy, action and adventure. She has little kids so nothing that's too close to home. I've read some stories that will make your hair curl. Her hair is fine, don't want to do that to her. Something she can't put down. Now that is going to be hard. Because of course she is going to HAVE to put it down simply because the kids are going to try to get her attention... So it's gotta be something that makes sense if you have to come back to it. She didn't say it had to be fiction, so Krakauer (although that might put a wave in her hair, definitely NOT Into the Wild, but maybe Into Thin Air? Can't put it down but if you had to you could figure it out... There are just so many books and so little time. All of the Alan Bradley (Sweetness at the bottom of the pie and the like) are what Aunt Bea would pick, and all the Mary Russell books (Laurie R. King), and those are good, too. That takes us over to P. D. James and English mystery writers like Dame Agatha (Christie), but that can be a little too particular, and besides she didn't say that she liked mysteries... So. John Green's teen novels (Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, haven't read the new one but it's supposed to be good) would work but not-put-downable? Not sure about that. I loved Nancy Werlin's The Killer's Cousin. That one's kind of a psychological thriller. Am I warm yet?
I realize with a jolt how much I flippin' miss being in the library discussing books with kids. We had so much fun! It was awesome to see someone go crazy over an author and read everything he wrote. Or a particular genre so much that this guy was an authority on Science Fiction. How amazing to see kids grow and change, and BECOME and find meaning. Books and the people who read them. It's just an amazing drama, and I was privileged to be a tiny part of it. So grateful. Thanks, Kristen. Happy reading!

Phantom Limb Review

 The Phantom Limb by William Sleator and Ann Monticone.
Sleator and Monticone have woven a story out of illusions. Things are not what they seem throughout the book, as is the case with many Sleator books. They begin with Isaac and his interactions with the Fizpatrick twins, who seem to take joy and pride in being as nasty as possible. Then they introduce us to Isaac's optical illusion room. Isaac finds what he calls a "mirror box" in the house in which the family (which consists of mother, grandfather, and Isaac). in researching this box he finds that it is used therapeutically for people with problems resulting from an amputation. He gets to try it out and plays with it to while away the time. Isaac's mom is in the hospital because she has developed seizures, and his grandfather seems to be suffering from dementia.
The story seems plausible given Sleator's penchant for the use of both strong science and eery interactions with what can be seen as supernatural. However, the character development is weak and one wonders whether this title was rushed to print too soon because of Sleator's death. There are unexplained situations, such as why the grandfather seems to get better through the book, why the Fitzgerald twins' (a term I hate because it seems to refer to them as a single entity, when they clearly are not) behavior is so heinous, and why Isaac's mother actually has seizures. Too many loose ends for me.
I enjoyed this book. It is a typical Sleator, and if you are a fan, will give you pleasure to read it.

information seeking

What does it mean for you to have a librarian in your life? Well, it means that if there's something I find that I think you might like to read or be able to use, I will send it to you. You'll have a human "aggregator" who will see things that  might be of use, most probably will be of use, and these will be directed at you personally. So far, this hasn't caused any problem. In fact, some folks like it. I can find things that even academic librarians, who are supposedly better at this than I (or at least that is what human resources people in universities so far have indicated) cannot. I love to be able to link people with the information that they need. It is great to be able to help out, or give people information that will change their life, even if it's to solve a problem. It's not often that I cannot find something. And I will work on it like a Border Collie works sheep. I can't help it. It's like an instinct-- I can't deny it. If you need information, I am willing and able to hook you up. I am so glad I studied this area, because my studies have only made me a better teacher, friend, person, employee. I love to help you help others. It's a kick to see what you make of the information we find. I am excited to research and explore and can hardly help myself. I wanted to share this, because sometimes, after a million rejection letters, it feels good to admit I'm good at what I do. I may not be the world's greatest resume writer, or even interviewee. But I can find stuff. I find it quickly and with as much interest as if it were my own search. That's value-added. Thanks for letting me share in your quest.