Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




New and Notable Nonfiction for October


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Cover art for AMERICA THE VULNERABLE
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011

"A sobering, sober-minded manifesto."
A former National Counterintelligence Executive for the NSA writes that the United States is right now being infiltrated by online spies, thieves and virtual warriors. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011

"Essentially a history of the Pacific war from January to June 1942 (Midway does not enter the picture until 100 pages in), this is a lucid, intensely researched, mildly revisionist account of a significant moment in American military history."
A wholly satisfying history of America's most satisfying naval victory, won in June 1942 with vastly inferior forces. Read full book review >
Cover art for AMERICAN NATIONS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 3, 2011

"Woodard offers a fascinating way to parse American (writ large) politics and history in this excellent book."
Forget about the United States and Canada. Read full book review >
Cover art for RIN TIN TIN
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011

"Although occasionally excessive in its claims for the ultimate significance of it all, a terrific dog's tale that will make readers sit up and beg for more."
New Yorker staff writer Orlean (My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere, 2004, etc.) follows the long and curious trail of the celebrity dog born on a World War I battlefield. Read full book review >
Cover art for ALIBIS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011

"These essays sing with bracing clarity."
From the acclaimed Egyptian-born author, gorgeous musings on longing and memory fueled by travel. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011

"Classic Pinker, jammed with facts, figures, and points of speculative departure; a big, complex book, well worth the effort for the good news that it delivers."
Frightened of your own shadow? Read full book review >
Cover art for ASSASSINS OF THE TURQUOISE PALACE
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011

"A nonfiction political thriller of a very high order."
Riveting account of a multiple murder and trial that led to a paradigm shift in Europe's relations with post-revolutionary Iran. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE MAGIC OF REALITY
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
by Richard Dawkins, illustrated by Dave McKean

"Watch for this to be mooted and bruited in school board meetings to come. And score points for Dawkins, who does a fine job of explaining earthquakes and rainbows in the midst of baiting the pious."
A resounding denunciation of the enemies of science--namely, magical and supernatural thinking. Read full book review >
Cover art for IT CALLS YOU BACK
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011

"Raw, searing reading from start to finish."
In this brilliantly jagged sequel to the gang-life classic, Always Running (1994), acclaimed journalist, poet and fiction writer Rodriguez (Music of the Mill, 2005, etc.) chronicles his struggle to leave behind a drug- and crime-ridden world that always threatened to "call him back." Read full book review >
Cover art for COLLISION COURSE
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 5, 2011

"With the collective-bargaining power of public employees under fierce assault, McCartin's story couldn't be timelier or more important."
On the 30th anniversary of the showdown between Ronald Reagan and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), McCartin (History/Georgetown Univ.; Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921, 1998, etc.) revisits the most consequential labor dispute since the New Deal. Read full book review >
Cover art for MY SONG
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 11, 2011

"Bracingly opinionated autobiography from an American original, still provocative in his ninth decade."
The noted entertainer and activist looks back over his tumultuous life. Read full book review >
Cover art for DEATH AND OIL
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 18, 2011

"A searing indictment of human greed mixed with memorable sagas of death and survival."
A detailed, up-close account of a 1988 oil-rig explosion in the North Sea off the coast pf Scotland coast that killed more than 150 men. Read full book review >
Cover art for WALKING WITH THE COMRADES
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 25, 2011

"A bell-clear exposé of corporate greed and governmental malfeasance that should—if there is any justice in the world—provoke a furious backlash in the name of human dignity."
In a well-documented indictment, investigative journalist Roy (Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy, 2009, etc.) presents the case against the Indian government's murderous policies toward the country's tribal population. Read full book review >
Cover art for FEAR AND LOATHING AT ROLLING STONE
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 25, 2011

"Much of this work is available in earlier collections such as The Great Shark Hunt, but that doesn't make this any less essential—a fine gathering by one of the best writers of our time."
The late master of gonzo journalism and dispenser of drug-addled opinion returns with this collection of his pieces for Rolling Stone magazine. Read full book review >
Cover art for SHARON
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 25, 2011

"Sharon's son provides a solid template on which subsequent biographers will have to build."
The life and times of Israel's warrior leader Ariel Sharon, chronicled by his son. Read full book review >
Cover art for LUCKING OUT
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 25, 2011

"Gives the lie to the belief that the '70s contained nothing but disco decadence and self-help solipsism."
Longtime Vanity Fair cultural critic Wolcott (Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants, 2004, etc.) celebrates the Big Apple as a haven for the writers, artists, musicians and eccentrics who thrived at its core in the 1970s. Read full book review >