Utne Reader Book Reviews: March-April 2009

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Nude, Not Naked

Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object
by Kathleen Rooney (University of Arkansas)

It’s not about being naked. In fact, Kathleen Rooney feels naked for only the first 30 seconds or so when she’s modeling for artists. Nudity, she says, is wholly different from nakedness, in that it suggests confidence rather than vulnerability. What draws her to posing for artists as a “live nude girl” is deeply rooted in empowerment and sexuality, respect for the many shades of beauty, and the quest for immortality. Brimming with enticing personal stories, Rooney’s memoir also reflects on her predecessors whose images in art have survived lifetimes longer than their bodily forms. A spirited and thought-provoking exploration of the human figure,
Live Nude Girl beckons the oft-clothed to share the thrill of taking it all off. —Kari Volkmann-Carlsen

On the Grift

Fakers: Hoaxers, Con Artists, Counterfeiters, and Other Great Pretenders
by Paul Maliszewski (The New Press)

History is full of fakers, from circus con man P.T. Barnum to literary fabricator James Frey, writes Paul Maliszewski in Fakers. How do they con us? “People can believe, willingly, in what they know not to be true. Fakers require—and exploit—such willing believers.” People crave great stories, he explains, but they expect them to be dramatic, engaging, and truthful—a tall order when real life is rarely so and when questioning the authenticity of an author’s experiences is deemed “inappropriate, or perhaps even a form of psychological violence.” Although we scorn the puppeteers who dupe us, Maliszewski writes, we’re still charmed by their handiwork. —Elizabeth Ryan

Utne Reader Approved

Literary hounds commence drooling: The British Library and BBC have released The Spoken Word: British Writers and American Writers. Each three-disc collection features rare, restored recordings of authors and playwrights discussing their lives and work.

The stunning and ambitious I Live Here (Pantheon) comprises four colorful notebooks filled with writings, stories, and artwork created by and inspired by displaced people in Chechnya, Burma, Mexico, and Malawi.

There’s a renewable energy source right under your nose, writes Tamara Dean in The Human-Powered Home (New Society Publishers), which celebrates off-grid devices driven by pedals, treadles, and cranks—from water pumps to sewing machines to juicers.

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