The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a
Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd by Mary Rose O’Reilley (Milkweed,
$22.95). O’Reilley’s yearlong journey through sheep pens and
pastures provides a powerful antidote to the clichéd out-of-body
enlightenment formula so prevalent among today’s seekers. This
unabashedly awkward self-portrait shows us how finding ourselves
can sometimes mean living ‘fully in the world.’ –Craig Cox
Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America by Ann Powers (Simon
& Schuster, $23). For those wondering what (if anything)
alternative means anymore, the intimate portraits and piercing
cultural observations in this vibrant memoir reveal a living,
breathing counterculture.–Karen Olson
Wilderness and Razor Wire: A Naturalist’s Observations from
Prison by Ken Lamberton (Mercury House, $14.95). A biology
teacher incarcerated in southern Arizona finds metaphorical meaning
in obstinate trees, tenacious weeds, and predatory arachnids–a
‘drive-by desert’ ecology that mirrors his hard time behind
bars.–Chris Dodge
The Seventies Now: Culture as Surveillance by Stephen
Paul Miller (Duke, $19.95). Suturing Warhol and Watergate to the
Vietnam War and the Village People–with Hollywood celluloid for
thread–Miller closes a mysterious missing gap in American cultural
history.–Jeremiah Creedon
Joe Gould’s Secret by Joseph Mitchell (Vintage, $9.95). A
legendary New Yorker writer’s tale of a cantankerous Greenwich
Village bohemian is not only the basis for a great new movie, but a
fine read in its own right.–Jay Walljasper
The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 2, edited by Frederik Pohl
(Tor, $25.95). Here’s another feast of classics from the sci-fi
pantheon, as selected by the Science Fiction Writers of America,
featuring works by Asimov, Bradbury, Andre Norton, Alfred Bester,
and Arthur C. Clarke.–Mark Odegard
