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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Paul Vogl has commented on (6) products
Without Warning
by
John Birmingham
Paul Vogl
, May 28, 2010
With John Birmingham's "After America" due for release on August 17, 2010, this is a good time to consider "Without Warning," its predecessor in a planned science fiction/survival trilogy. Birmingham has set up a series in which some unexplained force has suddenly destroyed life on most of the North American continent and the Caribbean Sea. In 512 suspenseful, compelling pages, Birmingham outlines reactions of other nations for whom this is either a tragedy that must be dealt with, or a malevolent opportunity for America's enemies. But more importantly, the author focuses on a variety of American survivors in Guantanamo Bay, the South Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Seattle, Paris, and the Middle East. In telling how they cope with a collapsing world and deal with more immediate, life-threatening emergencies, Birmingham shows that a disappearance of the United States would raise more problems for the rest of the world than it would solve, and offers hope for the alternate future in the efforts of the various protagonists to survive and hold on to what can be saved. And he throws in a few horrifying and fun-filled surprises along the way. I couldn't put "Without Warning" down, and frankly, I can't wait for August 17th.
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After the Downfall
by
Harry Turtledove
Paul Vogl
, March 07, 2010
Readers who enjoy Harry Turtledove's science fiction, fantasy and alternative histories will need no convincing to read this fantasy novel about a sympathetic Wehrmacht officer magically transported out of Russian-overrun Berlin and into a medieval, magical world of castles and unicorns,and another war: one which gives the German from our world much to question and think about. But I was pleasantly surprised for a different reason. As the diverse elements come together--including the German warrior's relations with wizards, his love for a woman who is the embodiment of this world's goddess, and the comparisons between the war on this new world and the one he left behind--I was reminded of the best of Ursala K. Leguin. Perhaps After the Downfall will appeal to a broader group of fantasy-science fiction readers.
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Making the Mummies Dance Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art
by
Thomas Hoving
Paul Vogl
, December 14, 2009
I was saddened to hear that Thomas Hoving died on December 10th, last week. His memoir, Making the Mummies Dance, is the essential read for those thinking about the museum profession, those already employed in the museum field, or anyone who simply enjoys visiting museums. Hoving's accounts of his life as director of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1960s and 70s are well-written and engaging. In addition to the improvements he contributed to the Met's growth and reputation, Hoving discusses fake art and how experts work to expose it. Dealing with benefactors and other society types provides some entertaining passages. In addition to Making the Mummies Dance and earlier books, Hoving most recently also wrote Art For Dummies.
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Chief of Station Congo Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone
by
Larry Devlin
Paul Vogl
, August 17, 2008
There are a lot of nonfiction spy books out there, but perhaps none as action-packed as this one. That is the most attractive attribute about Larry Devlin's memoir. It is literally hard to put down because of all that is happening to Devlin and those around him. The other factor making this book stand out from all the others is Devlin's descriptions of tradecraft--the daily work of intelligence officers and the methods they employ to accomplish their missions. Another factor, at least for me, was recognition of people who had made names for themselves in subsequent government service during my own time there. Although I had never heard of Devlin before reading his book, I was familiar with at least one of the other Congo embassy staffers and surprised at what happened to him. Finally, there's the issue of relevance. What with all the issues related to China, Venezuela, the war in Georgia, et cetera, who cares about Congo in the early 1960s. Well at first I thought I didn't, but Devlin has a way of explaining the issues for the United States at that time, whether we agree with them or not (and Devlin discusses times when he and the ambassador did not agree, how they responded, and what it meant for their careers). And hell, if none of the above rattles your curiosity, there's a murder mystery that, to the best of my information, hasn't been solved in the last 47 years, though Devlin cites a 1999 Belgian book that perhaps lays that case to rest.
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Disguised: A Wartime Memoir
by
Rita de Clercq Zubli
Paul Vogl
, February 13, 2008
Rita was 12 when the Japanese invaded Indonesia and she had to masquarade as a boy for her safety. Among the many nuggets in her memoir is that her command of four languages, especially Japanese, earned her the trust of a series of Japanese commanders--one of whom told Rita (or Rick, as she was known in her male disguise) that she had the authority to act in his name. Another interesting passage relates an otherwise undocumented implication of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I was cheered by her love for family and her courage in standing up for her people. And finally, there's even a tantalizing hint of the supernatural. Highly recommended.
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From The Shadows
by
Robert Gates
Paul Vogl
, November 25, 2006
Now that Robert Gates is President Bush's nominee for Secretary of Defense--with a good chance of quick Senate approval--it may be a good time to read what he has to say about US foreign policy and how the Executive Branch uses intelligence to make policy. Gates was a controversial official both within and outside of the CIA, and that may not change at Defense, but his memoir of his years in the National Security Council and CIA is a fair view of what was going on from the Richard Nixon to the George H. Bush administrations. He has something positive to say about both the Republican and Democratic Presidents, and often relates anecdotes with a healthy dose of irony. With some of those same players back in office under George W. Bush, Gates's observations and experiences are relevant and should be of interest to everyone concerned about the direction of US foreign and defense policy.
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