"Unmentionable The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners" by Therese Oneill

Publisher:New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2016.

Edition:First edition.

Copyright Date:©2016

ISBN:9780316357913 

Characteristics:viii, 307 pages :,illustrations
Unmentionable is a fascinating look at what the Victorian Age. Ms. Oneill gives you the unvarnished truth behind what life back then was really like. The premise behind this book is that a modern woman takes a trip back in time, and lives in the 19th century, with Ms. Oneill as her guide. She does the whole thing with a humorous twist that keeps you reading, long after the light should have been out.
Many people believe they know what the 19th century was like from watching movies, and reading popular novels, and romances. However reality was much different, as the author reveals interesting items such as bathing habits (pretty much none), using arsenic as a facial cleanser, lead based cosmetics made from lead and lard (that isn't a typo), diets, courtship, what a woman should expect on her wedding night, birth control (or lack thereof in most cases), public behaviour, how to be a good wife, etc.
Now as a male, I was not the intended audience for this book, but I still found it absolutely fascinating. It is true my conceptions of the 19th century were totally skewed, but now I have seen the light. While I haven't written any historical fiction set in the the 19th century, I believe I would like to give it a try someday, but the amount of research needed to make it authentic would be mind blowing. Luckily, Ms. Oneill gives a detailed bibliography.
This book would be a fantastic resource for any writer of historical fiction, historical commentary, science-fiction (for those into time travel). In addition to this you can add students of history, anthropology, politics, gender studies, etc.

"Wonderbook" by Jeff VanderMeer

Publisher:New York : Abrams Image, [2013]

ISBN:9781419704420 

Characteristics:xix, 323 pages :,illustrations (chiefly color).
Wonderbook is another book I read recently on the craft of writing, and it compares to last weeks review of "The Art of Fiction" in that it too imparts valuable information for the inspiring writer, however in this book this is done with what I consider to be the younger writer in mind as there are many illustrations to give the reader further information and reinforce the subject at hand.
This book is in fact very visually oriented, which in my humble opinion means it should appeal to many of today's young writers in that they themselves are very visually oriented. The illustrations are extremely well done, and in many cases make the topic at hand much easier to understand. While reading I wished in fact that my English teachers in school had, had a resource such as this to give us all a fuller understanding of the art of creative writing.

"The Art of Fiction: Notes of Craft for Young Writers" by John Gardner

Publisher:New York : Vintage Books, 1991.

Edition:Vintage Books edition.

ISBN:9780679734031 

Characteristics:xii, 224 pages :,illustrations
This book is extremely well written, and gives the reader an in-depth examination of the processes behind writing fiction. While the title says it is for the young writer, the valuable information contained with this book is actually suited for writers of all ages.
John Gardner gives detailed explanations of the theory behind the principals he teaches, and gives concrete examples of authors who use these exact same techniques. Hewas teacher of writing for many years, and this book while while written at what some may consider to be a college level.
A must have book for any inspiring writer.

"The Complete Book of Papermaking" by Josep Asunción

Publisher: New York : Lark Books, [2003]

ISBN: 9781579904562 

Characteristics: 160 pages :,color illustrations ;,30 cm

I found this book to be fascinating. I didn't realise there was so much involved in this process, and now that I've finished it I'd really like to try my hand at making some paper. I know some people who do this as a hobby, and they produce some very high quality products, but I never realized it could be as easy as outlined in the book. I originally got interested in this when I obtained a set of construction plan for replica of the Gutenberg press, which I would also like to try building. When this feat is accomplished, what better thing to pair a manual press with, than homepade paper? I believe it would be a very good partnership, that might be desireable for someone who has just written a family history.

However in the mean time ... back to the book in question. This work goes into great detail on the history of paper, and how it was developed then deals with the characterists of different types of paper. The rest of the book gives detailed instructions on the processes and equipment required. It even has samples of the end product for you to touch so you can compare your result to what the author based his instructions on.

With a guide such as this anyone can easily make their own paper, and feel it would be an excellent project for schools to undertake.

"Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi

Publisher:New York : Pocket Books, 2010.

ISBN:9781439184219 

Characteristics:383 pages ;,19 cm

"Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi

I read this book after watching the 1990 movie “Goodfellas” by Martin Scorsese which was referenced in the 2013 movie “The Family” by Luc Besson (confused yet?).

The book is the biography of Henry Hill (1943-2012) who joined the Mafia when he was 12, and worked his way up through the ranks. It details his exploits, the jobs he did, how things worked etc. As an unnamed reviewer in Cosmopolitan wrote "'to be a wiseguy was to own the world,' who grew up to live the highs and lows of the mafia gangster's life--has been hailed as "the best book ever written on organized crime."

Eventually his friends became his enemies, and fearing his impending doom he turned states evidence, and was put into the witness protection program. While in this he was visited by the author Nicholas Pileggi.

This book was fantastic and was well worth the read. It too is comparable to “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, but was much more realistic in the way it was told (likely because it is true—go figure).

Nicholas Pileggi has another book entitle “Casino”which I'm hoping to read in the near future. This too has been made into a movie by Scorsese, which I'm also looking for.

“Malavita” by Tonino Benacquista

Publisher:New York : Penguin Books, 2013.

ISBN:9780143123859

Characteristics:275 pages ;,20 cm

“Malavita” by Tonino Benacquista

This book forms the basis of the 2013 movie “The Family” by Luc Besson (who unfortunately didn't do a great job, but this isn't a movie reviewing blog, so enough said). The story follows a family from New York where the father is a Mafia boss, who turns states evidence and goes into the witness protection program. However, the family does not exactly play by the rules, and keephaving to be moved from town to town. They wind up in Normandy, and once again break the rules except that this time the other Mafia types from back in the US find out where they are, and send some people to pay them a visit.

There is one scene in the novel where the father who is in the process of writing his memoirs is invited to comment on a movie at the local film club thinking it is a war picture (he has told people he is writing a novel about WW II), but when they arrive they find the movie that was shipped was the 1990 “GoodFellas” by Martin Scorsese. This leads the father to start reminiscing about his time in the Mafia much to the regret of his handler who keeps trying to keep him out of trouble.

The story itself is very well written, and gives one a lot of insight into what Mafia life might be like, etc. It is a short book (275 pages), but is a good read and very hard to put down. It is nowhere near as violent as say “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, but is well worth your time.

"Heinlein in Dimension: A Critical Analysis" by Alexei Panshin

An in depth look at the career for the science fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein, that reviews his various stories and give some insight into his personality. This book was published in 1968, and this does limit it's scope somewhat as Heinlein published a number of books after this.

I found the Mr. Panshin's critique to be extremely harsh, and got the feeling that he had a general dislike for Mr. Heinlein for some reason other than his writing. He belabours his points continuously, and while it is true that some of Heinlein's stories were rather simplistic, you have to take into account the fact that some were written for young people (primarily boys at this time in history), and were published by magazines that didn't pay very well. Whether this was a factor in the types of stories I can't say as I wasn't alive when these stories were first published, but I have read most of Mr. Heinlein's books, and found them to be quite entertaining.

Now I first started reading books by RAH when I was about 13 or so. I don't remember what it was that I read first, but all of his stories to me were fascinating. I began reading what are now considered to be his juvenile stories such as (in no particular order) Red Planet (1949), Space Cadet (1948), Tunnel in the Sky (1955), Star Beast (1954), Between Planets (1951), Revolt in 2100 (1953), etc. Some of these I read multiple times, and I still read them now and again because they are simply good stories. Methuselah's Children was one of the ones I read a little later on, and a few years later (about 1979 or so) I read Time Enough for Love (1973).

As he went on Mr. Heinlein's worldview started to show up more in his writing, which is to be expected. And this in the end influenced my worldview as well. Some of his later works were a little difficult to understand, and need to be read a couple of times to get the underlying themes, but it is time well spent. As I mentioned above Mr. Heinlein's book make you think, even his so called juvenile novels typically have a message.

What this comes down to, in my opinion, is that Mr. Panshin's critique which I can only assume he thought was well written, I can only see as a thinly disguised rebuke at both Mr. Heinlein's success, and his outlook on life in general.

"On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-thousand-year History" by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Publisher:New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

ISBN:9780307266422 

Characteristics:xvi, 430 pages :,illustrations ;,25 cm

A very good overview of the history of paper making, and how it was developed. The detail that the author goes into was appreciated, and the fact that he toured many of the places that are mentioned in the book give you a good insight into the history.