Tables Turned

Micah Ian Wright is a man of many talents. The former US Airborne Ranger who, as he puts it, “spent four years invading other countries,” left the service and went on to produce award-winning animation shows like Nickelodeon’s The Angry Beavers and Chet Thunderhead: Private Eye. He currently creates the acclaimed comic book StormWatch: Team Achilles, a hyper-violent take on US Special Forces, and has recently published You Back the Attack!, a startling collection of “re-mixed” war propaganda posters, mostly dating from World War II. Wright respects the original artwork but has changed the text to create a series of incendiary protest pieces that confront the war-and-obedience nature of the current US regime. . . I mean, administration. It’s gripping work, and is best explained by keeping this review short and simply showing some examples. So here they are. By the way, you can see the posters (as well as some that aren’t in the book) at www.antiwarposters.com.

Recent and
Recommended

Hardbacks

A Girl Could Stand Up by
Leslie Marshall (Grove Press). This
debut novel is an engaging coming
of age story that grows more and
more compelling as the book
progresses. Elray Mayhew loses
her parents — electrocuted in a
Tunnel of Love — at age six and
goes to live with two eccentric
uncles in Washington, DC. Author
Marshall shines in her depiction of
childhood’s languid sense of time
and the strength kids often find in
their friendships with other kids. A
charming book with substance,
this is a great summer read.

An Unfinished Life by
Robert Dallek (Little Brown).
Previously unreleased medical info
changes the way we see JFK. The
scroll of serious ailments, the
ceaseless pain throughout his
adult life, and the laundry list of
pharmaceuticals he took, reveal
just how poor Kennedy’s health
was. In these circumstances, his
service as President — which
included his clear-headed decision
making in some of the most
intense foreign policy crises in
history; his gradual, growing
support of the civil rights
movement; and his management
of a nuclear test ban treaty — show
JFK in a whole new light: the
eternal playboy turns out to have
also been a model of courage,
stoic resolve and public service.

Paperbacks

Stay by Nicola Griffith
(Vintage Crime). This is the second
book in what looks to be a terrific
mystery series featuring six-foot-tall
former Atlanta police lieutenant Aud
Torvingen. She’s blond, she’s
wealthy and, in this book, she’s
grief-stricken by the death of her
lover, Julia, and occupying herself
by renovating an NC mountain
cabin. She’s convinced by an old
friend to go to New York to help find
his missing girlfriend and the plot
takes off. Griffith’s writing is crisp
and the story is compelling, but the
character the author has created in
Aud is one of the most interesting
new crime fiction leads in some
time.

Liverpool Fantasy by Larry
Kirwan (Thunder’s Mouth Press).
This alternate cultural history by
British musician Kirwan revolves
around the notion that the Beatles
broke up in 1962 before their climb
to fame. Although Kirwan’s writing
is a bit uneven, his story is
enthralling, partly because we’re so
familiar with the people involved. In
this tale, England has devolved into
a dismal, semi-fascist state; John
is a bitter alcoholic smartass on
the dole; George is a befuddled
Jesuit priest; Ringo’s a do-nothing
dandy living off his wife’s fortune;
and Paul is a famous Vegas singer
renamed Paul Montana. The plot
revolves around Paul’s return to
Liverpool and his attempts to get
“the boys” back together. Kirwan
explores themes of friendship,
dreams deferred, and fame, but the
main impact comes from realizing
it’s nearly impossible to imagine
what the world would be like if it
hadn’t gone through the 1960s’
exuberant idealism of which the
Beatles were so central a part.

The Autograph Man by
Zadie Smith (Vintage). Smith’s
follow-up to her deified debut novel
White Teeth received mixed
reviews at best, but was still one of
the most interesting novels of the
year. It’s the story of an autograph
dealer obsessed with celebrities,
specifically his favorite 50s movie
star, Kitty Alexander. Smith delivers
a disjointed but moving look at
present-day shallowness and its
grip on our culture, while showing
flashes of what has made her a
household word in the UK: an
empathetic grasp of modern life,
plenty of believable,
three-dimensional characters,
multiple subplots, great comic
scenes, and a healthy dose of
compassion without the
sappiness.