Strokes of Geniusby L. Jon Wertheim
Last year’s thrilling Wimbledon match merited its own book.
Anyone fortunate enough to have witnessed Rafael Nadal’s remarkable victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final in 2008 no doubt understands that the match deserves its own book. The contest is one of the finest examples imaginable of sports’ transcendent quality, as a championship match between two tennis greats became a riveting contest that told a story beyond belief. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim chronicles every fascinating detail of the match, which marked a passing of the torch between the two finest tennis players of the new millennium in his new book. Federer and Nadal are a study in contrasts, and Wertheim exhausts descriptors when reflecting on their differences: The former features a “dignified power”; the latter, “an unapologetic, whoomphing brutality.” Perhaps even more important for those fans worried about tennis’ dwindling fan base, the match was “essentially a four-hour, 48-minute infomercial for everything that is right about tennis.”
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The Strain: Book One of the Strain Trilogyby Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hagan
The Pan’s Labyrinth director tries his hand at fiction.
One of Hollywood’s most heralded young directors has entered the literary realm, as Guillermo del Toro, along with thriller writer Chuck Hogan, has published The Strain, the first part in a trilogy that chronicles a vampire epidemic unleashed on the world. The story begins with vampires hatching their plan for global domination on the tarmac of JFK Airport, as a plane lands, loses power, and mysteriously cannot be unsealed by rescuers. When the police finally make it inside, what they see turns the stomach of even the most hardened of the boys in blue. Bodies, stiff in their seats, fill the plane. Yet four somehow emerge unscathed from the mysterious massacre. They are discombobulated and complain of sore necks. Their story is only the beginning of a terrifying plot to bring the terrors of Transylvania all over the world. The book brings del Toro’s trademark style of fantasy, as well as remarkably creative nuggets about the history of vampires through the ages. Don’t be surprised if this one ends up being adapted for the big screen.
Crazy for the Stormby Norman Ollestad
This 11-year-old boy’s saga may just replace Alive as the ultimate survival story.
Amid the deluge of memoirs being cranked out by publishers on a seemingly daily basis, Norman Ollestad’s story stands out. Ollestad’s dad, a former FBI agent and a full-blown adrenaline junkie, pushed his young son to surf rough waves and ski rowdy slopes, constantly demanding of Norman another extreme achievement. Little did either know that their thrill-seeking way of life was providing the training that would save Norman’s life. While flying to a ski championship when Norman was 11 years old, he and his father were caught in a blizzard and their small Cessna crashed into a mountainside. His father and the pilot were killed on impact. Ollestad and his dad’s girlfriend were the only survivors. The two decided to make their way down the frigid, icy mountain, and during their escape, a wounded Ollestad witnessed his dad’s girlfriend topple to her doom down the mountain. Somehow, Ollestad survived. Now, 30 years later, the author reflects on his complicated relationship with his father and ends up memorializing the man who gave him the tools to live life to the fullest—and survive.
Idiot America by Charles P. Pierce
Saddle-wearing dinosaurs sparked this extended rant on the current state of affairs.
“Cranks are noble because cranks are independent,” says the super-cranky author of Idiot America, who argues that idiocy is the mainstream. Perception has become reality, strong belief has become truth, and following your gut has trumped expertise. Pierce’s extended rant began as an article in Esquire back in 2005, when he made a trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. He was amused to find a dinosaur with a saddle waiting to greet guests at the entrance, but horrified that no one else found it funny. Most every other visitor believed dinosaurs roamed the earth with human beings; hence the saddle. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Pierce, though he admits the seed was planted during the Terry Schiavo media circus. Throughout the book, Pierce weaves in a history of the country’s forefathers, often wondering, what would James Madison do?
The Story Sistersby Alice Hoffman
Three sisters imagine their way out of nonstop catastrophes.
Alice Hoffman once again delves into the realm of magic realism with her latest, The Story Sisters. As the title reflects, the book tells the tale of three sisters, raconteurs all. Through terrible trials and hardship, the sisters use their imagination to retreat from their harsh reality. Hoffman found inspiration in fairytales for her new novel, and she uses the genre’s dark side to tackle rape, drug addiction, disease, and fatal accidents, according to Booklist. The Story Sisters weaves the tragic and the fantastic, but its at-times-bleak subject matter may not appeal to everyone. Publishers Weekly said Hoffman’s prose was consistently excellent, but “the Story family’s nonstop catastrophes are wearying.”
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