Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
Perhaps a bit too comedic a subject line considering the book, but I couldn't resist. I finished up Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone's Out of the Flames tonight. It's about Michael Servetus, a 16th-century Spanish doctor/philosopher/theologian who was burned at the stake in Calvin's Geneva for heresy. Servetus is now regarded as one of the founding lights of Unitarianism, but at the time he was writing his ideas were about as heretical as you could find. Classic case of a genius who was ahead of his time - not only was he an accomplished theologian before he hit 20, he was also the first person to explain in print the basics of pulmonary circulation. He's pretty much forgotten these days, but the story is a fascinating one. Only three copies of his seminal work survive in modern times - one each in Vienna, Paris, and Edinburgh. The rest were burned along with him.
I think this marks the first book by the Goldstones that makes a significant venture out of the book business. While the book has its roots in the book trade, it's not the focus here as it is in their other work. They're accomplished writers with a clear grasp of their subject matter - the research they've done is more than evident. I love their style as well; the little tidbits of humor they sneak in are quite amusing. It's sad to say that I laughed more reading this book than I did with the first 190 pages of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.
Man, I really loathed that book. I literally could not finish it. I've had so many people tell me that it's so great, but I thought it was terrible. I never cracked a smile. I guess I'm just not amused by grotesque people.
Anyway, topic. I have a big fondness for books like Out of the Flames. It's a genre I like to call "the history of the obscure," where an author devotes a whole book to some small historical topic and shows how it had a much broader impact than it might appear on the surface. Notable books in this category that I happened to like include Simon Garfield's Mauve, Simon Winchester's The Map That Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky's Salt, and Dava Sobel's Longitude. For some reason this genre really appeals to me. I guess I just dig the notion that even the seemingly small or inconsequential can have a huge impact.
And now for something completely different, I've also just submitted my latest review to The Mystery Reader. This one's Lyn Hamilton's The Magyar Venus. Should be up for your perusal in a few days, depending on my editor's schedule.
Finally, the Printer's Row Book Fair is coming up this weekend, so I'll be off checking that out on Saturday. One of my dad's favorite authors, Henning Mankell, will be there so I'm going to try and get him some signed copies for Father's Day. If you're in Chicago this weekend you should definitely check it out - should be good fun.
I think this marks the first book by the Goldstones that makes a significant venture out of the book business. While the book has its roots in the book trade, it's not the focus here as it is in their other work. They're accomplished writers with a clear grasp of their subject matter - the research they've done is more than evident. I love their style as well; the little tidbits of humor they sneak in are quite amusing. It's sad to say that I laughed more reading this book than I did with the first 190 pages of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.
Anyway, topic. I have a big fondness for books like Out of the Flames. It's a genre I like to call "the history of the obscure," where an author devotes a whole book to some small historical topic and shows how it had a much broader impact than it might appear on the surface. Notable books in this category that I happened to like include Simon Garfield's Mauve, Simon Winchester's The Map That Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky's Salt, and Dava Sobel's Longitude. For some reason this genre really appeals to me. I guess I just dig the notion that even the seemingly small or inconsequential can have a huge impact.
And now for something completely different, I've also just submitted my latest review to The Mystery Reader. This one's Lyn Hamilton's The Magyar Venus. Should be up for your perusal in a few days, depending on my editor's schedule.
Finally, the Printer's Row Book Fair is coming up this weekend, so I'll be off checking that out on Saturday. One of my dad's favorite authors, Henning Mankell, will be there so I'm going to try and get him some signed copies for Father's Day. If you're in Chicago this weekend you should definitely check it out - should be good fun.
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