Volume I, Issue 27
December 8 - December 15, 1997

Want to know what all these checkboxes are for? Click here to find out, or just ignore them.

Live Through This!
Reviews of Poppy Z. Brite's biography of Courtney Love, Chuck D's memoirs, David Lee Roth's autobiography, and other tomes for the music-minded reader. [2]

Who Wrote the Book of Rock?
Short round-ups of other rock books of the year. [3]
Margaret Moser

India Ink
India is in ascension as a literary hotbed. [4]
Michael J. DiLeo

The Songs of Mechanical Birds
Phone sex, clairvoyant twins and a Japanese house husband are just a few of the elements in this gripping magic mushroom mystery novel. [5]
Steven Robert Allen

Keeping Watch
In his new book, news producer Danny Schechter dissects the media. [6]
Susan Ellis

Pop-Cultural Contraband
Greil Marcus travels an odd path and makes some remarkable historical discoveries in this pop-culture tour that begins in Bob Dylan's basement. [7]
Gregory McNamee

Earp, Plop, Bring The Mop
The historians' debate over the life and times of Wyatt Earp is less a scholarly endeavor and more a nasty-ass gun fight. [8]
Emil Franzi

Bright Lights, Big Cities
They say "City air makes men free," and for people who live in cities but still can't get enough of them, there are city books. [9]
Elizabeth Manus

Reading in a Classical Mode
Some of the most important and satisfying works in print today are exciting new translations of ancient literature and newly annotated reissues of classics. [10]
Peter Kadzis

Telling Tales
In honor of the holiday storytelling tradition, we offer 10 gift-worthy novels from 1997. [11]
Michael Lowenthal

Practical Approaches
How to solve your gift-giving quandaries through non-fiction. [12]
Virginia Heffernan

Supreme Fictions
1997 was a good year for poetry, thanks to new books from some of the nation's best poets and a wealth of news translations and biographies. [13]
Adam Kirsch

Heavy Duty
Some people think; so why not stuff their stockings with wise words for wonks. [14]
Scott Stossel

Worlds Away
Photography books make good Christmas gifts, but you don't have to rely on the masters any more. [15]
Fred Turner

So many gifts to buy, so little time. We at Weekly Wire's book section want to help. We've put together a colossal list of great book buys so you can finish all your shopping at once. Unless your friends and family are illiterate kid-from-Deliverance types, you can't go wrong here. People love getting a fresh new book. The glossy cover, the thick pulpy pages, the blissful scent of binding glue....nummm.

Anyway, thanks to the Austin Chronicle and the Boston Phoenix, we've got book recommendations in over ten categories. Your shopping problems are solved! Just match the category to the appropriate gift recipient. (Note: most lists highlight 1997 releases.)

• Rock books and bios for your grungy gen-X grandpa

• Urban narratives for that city-slicking sister

• Crisp classics for that ponderous, pipe-puffing uncle

• Novel novels about friends and family -- for friends and family

• Non-fiction titles for that know-it-all nephew

• Poetry scribblings for that shadowy stepsister

• Wonk works for your conceited PhD-candidate cousin

• Photo collections for that shutterbug-eyed niece

• Children's books for your kin's abundant kids

• Cookbooks for mom, dad, and anyone else who eats

• A hodge-podge of other new releases -- for you. Treat yourself.

Also, we've got a telling interview with Danny Schechter, author of the TV news-trashing "The More You Watch, The Less You Know" (see last week for a review). Not to mention reviews of several other new fiction and non-fiction works. Merry shopping!

And a Little Child Shall Read Them
There are children's books that weave themselves into the fabric of a family, becoming a lifelong reference mine for adults, a speech cadence for children, and the very air toddlers breathe. [16]
Susannah Garboden

The Joy of Cookbooks
A cookbook author previews the new generation of culinary classics. [17]
Sally Sampson

Speed Reader
"Martini Diaries" by Leslie Ann Nash; "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden; "Plays Well With Others" by Alan Gurganus; "Post Punk Diary: 1980-1982" by George Gimarc. [18]
Blake de pastino, Sue Schuurman, Stephen Ausherman, Michael Henningsen

Now What?
Love to read? Need some clever ideas? Our library of resources and staff picks are guaranteed to turn on plenty of mental light bulbs via your electrified eye sockets. [19]

Build your own custom paper. To find out more about this feature, click here.