Unbreakable

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Claudia O'Keefe

Alice Walker tells a mother's tale of reunion between her daughters: one trapped by tragedy in the dirt-poor South, the other making it big in the city. In an engrossing short story, Marilyn French movingly depicts two young women growing apart in an alcoholic, dysfunctional family. Joy Fielding shapes a humorous but sharp-edged story of the consequences when half-sisters meet for the very first time on a TV talk show. Ann Beattie tells of a pair of friends, as close as sisters, locked in a smothering embrace. In a bittersweet tale, Fae Myenne Ng writes of growing up in a culture that considers a family with only girl children "failed." Recalling her grandmother and great-aunt, Olivia Goldsmith unfolds a dark memoir of sisterhood gone terrifyingly awry. Cristina Garcia relates a poignant account of sisters separated for thirty years, one trapped in Cuba, the other escaped to Miami, reunited at long last. And Rita Dove retells one of the classic fairy tales of sisters, Beauty and the Beast, from the disparate viewpoints of all the women involved.

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Bob Biderman

From the Beatnik cafes of San Francisco, hanging out with the likes of Ginsberg, to an Army boot camp in Georgia, this novel explores America's entry into Vietnam seen through the eyes of a young man caught up in the madness. “Other wars have inspired not only best selling tales of heroic but also biting satires. Vietnam did not. Not, that is, until Bob Biderman gave us his superb Letters to Nanette…” About Books, American Library Association “Set in 1963, this wonderfully warm novel imaginatively recaptures the American atmosphere at the beginning of the Vietnam War and depicts one man’s resolve to meet manhood on his own terms. Letters to Nanette is really one long, open letter to a young nation that refuses to throw off its own adolescent misconceptions of growing up. ALA Booklist

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Roy Blount, Jr

Iconic Virginian, brilliant general, and complex human being---that last aspect of Robert E. Lee has daunted biographers and been disregarded by partisans. Now Roy Blount Jr. combines acute character insight with lively storytelling and full-hearted Southern directness to craft this unique portrait. Fascinated by what made Lee such a charismatic, though reluctant, leader, Blount delves into the influences of Lee's illustrious but scandal-clouded ancestry, his hero-turned-scapegrace father, and his beloved, beautiful, husband-forsaken mother. In 1861 Lee was Lincoln's first choice to lead the Union troops, but his Virginia roots drew him, instead, to Confederate command. Blount vividly conveys Lee's audacity and uncanny successes in battle, and also his humility, his quirky humor (certain jokes in particular), his faults as a communicator, and his sorrowful sense of responsibility for his outnumbered, half-starved army. Robert E. Lee, the first brief biography of this American legend, will appeal to history and military buffs, students of Southern culture, and every reader curious about the makeup of a man born to be a myth.

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Jean Lacouture

A tour de force narrative history that provides readers with detailed and engrossing biographies of several notable Jesuits. French journalist Lacouture (De Gaulle, 1992, etc.) has crafted an original approach to Jesuit history here. Instead of following a traditional, chronological history of the Society of Jesus, he has chosen to provide a ""multibiography"" that emphasizes the contributions of a few innovators, including the movement's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Lacouture has been quixotic in his sampling, choosing occasionally to highlight some obscure, understudied Jesuit in lieu of a more celebrated priest. But despite the eclectic nature of his foci, Lacouture proves he is no dilettante. The result is a nearly perfect blend of stories from various cultures, and the author, a gifted raconteur, is always passionate about his subject matter. He challenges the widely held stereotype that the Society was driven solely by blind obedience to Rome and instead explores the Jesuits' evolving commitments to syncretism and cultural exchange. As the Society founded missions in diverse cultures, Lacouture maintains, it abandoned much of its absolutism in favor of a Christianity that would adapt to its surroundings and ""be all things to all men."" Lacouture traces the development of Jesuit missions in regions as far-flung as Japan, India, and Paraguay and demonstrates a surprisingly profound knowledge of non-European histories. He also reveals some of the ""forgotten"" history of the Jesuit movement, such as the short-lived attempt to establish a sister order in the 16th century. Lacouture's historical reconstructions are greatly enhanced by his prolific use of diaries, memoirs, and letters. That the book is so well-written is pleasantly surprising, since it has been translated and abridged from the bestselling two-volume French edition. Beautifully told, with an occasional dose of sardonic humor, Lacouture's well-crafted ""multibiography"" is destined to become a classic of Jesuit studies.