HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton
Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes, 2014
Crown Publishing
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780804136754
Summary
The mesmerizing story of Hillary Clinton's political rebirth, based on eyewitness accounts from deep inside her inner circle.
Hillary Clinton’s surprising defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary brought her to the nadir of her political career, vanquished by a much younger opponent whose message of change and cutting-edge tech team ran circles around her stodgy campaign. And yet, six years later, she has reemerged as an even more powerful and influential figure, a formidable stateswoman and the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, marking one of the great political comebacks in history.
The story of Hillary’s phoenixlike rise is at the heart of HRC, a riveting political biography that journeys into the heart of “Hillaryland” to discover a brilliant strategist at work. Masterfully unfolded by Politico’s Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes from more than two hundred top-access interviews with Hillary’s intimates, colleagues, supporters, and enemies, HRC portrays a seasoned operator who negotiates political and diplomatic worlds with equal savvy.
Loathed by the Obama team in the wake of the primary, Hillary worked to become the president’s greatest ally, their fates intertwined in the work of reestablishing America on the world stage. HRC puts readers in the room with Hillary during the most intense and pivotal moments of this era, as she mulls the president-elect’s offer to join the administration, pulls the strings to build a coalition for his war against Libya, and scrambles to deal with the fallout from the terrible events in Benghazi—all while keeping one eye focused on 2016.
HRC offers a rare look inside the merciless Clinton political machine, as Bill Clinton handled the messy business of avenging Hillary’s primary loss while she tried to remain above the partisan fray. Exploring her friendships and alliances with Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Leon Panetta, Joe Biden, and the president himself, Allen and Parnes show how Hillary fundamentally transformed the State Department through the force of her celebrity and her unparalleled knowledge of how power works in Washington.
Filled with deep reporting and immersive storytelling, this remarkable portrait of the most important female politician in American history is an essential inside look at the woman who may be our next president. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
JONATHAN ALLEN covers the White House and the 2016 presidential campaign for Bloomberg News. An award-winning reporter, he has also written extensively about Congress and national politics, and he appears frequently as a political analyst on national television news programs. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Stephanie, and their children, Asher and Emma. (From the publisher.)
AMIE PARNES is the White House correspondent for The Hill newspaper in Washington, where she covers the Obama Administration. A ten-year veteran of political journalism, she traveled with the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns while covering the 2008 presidential race for Politico. She appears frequently on MSNBC and has also been featured on CNN, Fox News and other networks. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
H R C begins with a chapter about what the authors call “Hillary’s Hit List,” which seems meant to play into dark-side narratives from the Whitewater days that emphasized what reporters saw as her penchant for blaming enemies for her travails and those of her husband. But the book gradually builds into a largely sympathetic portrait of Mrs. Clinton as a smart and tireless A student, supportive of her teammates, loyal to President Obama and skilled at navigating the political and bureaucratic minefields of Washington.... [HRC] provides useful context and intelligent analysis, and a highly readable account of her tenure at Foggy Bottom... pumped full of colorful you-are-there details.
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Deeply reported and ably written by journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, the book is a step-by-step recounting of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, but it’s also a revealing window into the le Carre-like layers of intrigue that develop when a celebrity politician who is married to another celebrity politician loses to yet another celebrity politician, and goes on to serve the politician who defeated her.... Hillary’s personality does not emerge vividly in the book, possibly because she does not appear to have given the authors much access. But the assessment of her tenure feels fair, and after finishing HRC I understood, in a way I had not before, how and why the Clinton union has evolved into a juggernaut with such formidable “power to reward and punish.
Liza Mundi - Washington Post
An entertaining, illuminating look at Hillary Rodham Clinton's time as secretary of State. The book shows her as dogged, but also salty, bawdy and funny.... A character-driven psychodrama, chockablock with sweaty descriptions of its players… It's no easy feat to wring page-turning narrative juice from four years of state craft, but Allen and Parnes have relied on 200 sources…to get them the gossipy goods.
Los Angeles Times
A thoroughly reported and well-written chronicle of Clinton’s comeback and her tenure at the State Department.
Christian Science Monitor
HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton manages the rare feat of being both important and entertaining. It opens with a juicy chapter detailing the punishment and reward of Bill and Hillary’s political enemies and friends. But the meat of HRC is its narration of her role in tackling crises in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Libya—an amazingly tumultuous period that provides the best preview of what a Hillary Clinton presidency might look like, at least for foreign policy.
New York Magazine
Written by two authors intimately familiar with the political process—Allen is the senior Washington correspondent for Politico and Parnes the White House correspondent for The Hill newspaper in Washington, DC—this book surveys the landscape from Hillary Clinton's primary defeat to her successes as secretary of state
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. Allen and Parnes write that many of the individuals who worked with Hillary Rodham Clinton—at all levels, even President Obama himself—"found themselves liking her more with each interaction, even if they had been worked over.” To what do you attribute this change of heart on the part of so many Clinton associates? Were you, as a reader of HRC affected by what one member of Robert Gates's inner circle called "the stages of Hillary"? In other words, did you experience a change of heart?
2. Follow-up to Question 1: Did this book alter your view of Hillary Rodham Clinton? Have you come away from HRC with a greater appreciation of her talents and / or inner character? Or has the book confirmed how you've always seen Clinton—whether it's positively or negatively?
3. Would Hillary make a good president?
4. HRC opens with what the authors call "Hillary's Hit List." How do you feel about the list, about the act of making the list, about the insistence of loyalty on the part of both of the Clintons?
5. Talk about what the authors refer to as Hillary Clinton's attempts at "rebranding" herself. What does that term mean? Why did she undertake such a challenge? Has she been successful—in the authors' views and in your own view?
6. One of the authors' sources said that Clinton is a woman with "a bias for action." What does that mean? Can you give instances of this trait during her sojourn at the State Department?
7. How do the authors treat the tragic killings in Benghazi, Libya, and Clinton's role in it? Does this book's account jibe with or differ from other accounts in the media?
8. How did Hillary Clinton's earlier life prepare her for her role at State...and her role as what the book refers to as "superstaffer" to President Obama?
9. Allen and Parnes point out that rather than delivering big successes (like a Middle East peace accord), Mrs. Clinton's successes were less glamorous, less encompassing achievements. She concentrated on restoring American's international image following the Iraq war. She also worked to improve the relationship between the State and Defense Departments. The authors write:
To the disappointment of even some of her most ardent supporters, Hillary’s legacy is not one of negotiating marquee peace deals or a new doctrine defining American foreign policy. Instead, it is in the workmanlike enhancement of diplomacy and development, alongside defense, in the exertion of American power, and it is in competent leadership of a massive government bureaucracy.
Is that observation a fair assessment of Hillary Clinton's legacy?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
March: Book One
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (artist), 2013
Top Shelf
128 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781603093002
Summary
Volume one of March, a graphic novel trilogy co-authored by Congressman John Lewis (Georgia-5) and Andrew Aydin, with art by Nate Powell (a New York Times bestseller, Eisner Award winner, and finalist for the LA Times Book Prize).
March is a vivid, first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights (including his key roles in the historic 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma-Montgomery March), meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation.
In March, a true American icon teams up with one of America's most acclaimed graphic novelists. Together, they bring to life one of our nation's most historic moments, a period both shameful and inspiring, and a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—February 21, 1940
• Where—Troy, Alabama, USA
• Education—American Baptist Theological Seminary, Fisk University
• Currently—lives in Atlanta, Georgia
Congressman John Lewis first joined the civil rights movement as a college student in Nashville, organizing sit-ins and participating in the first Freedom Rides. He soon became the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and one of the “Big Six” national leaders of the movement, alongside such figures as Martin Luther King, Jr. and A. Philip Randolph.
He was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and a leader of the 1965 Selma–Montgomery March (known as “Bloody Sunday”), where police brutality spurred national outrage and hastened passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. His subsequent career has included voter registration activism, service on the Atlanta City Council, and over 25 years in Congress.
Lewis received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, and was the first recipient of the John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage” Lifetime Achievement Award.
His 1998 book Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, called “the definitive account of the civil rights movement” (Washington Post), won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy, Lillian Smith, and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, and was named “Top of the List” by the American Library Association’s Booklist.
His most recent book, Across that Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change, received the NAACP Image Award. (From the publisher and Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/21/2014.)
ANDREW AYDIN, an Atlanta native, currently serves in Rep. John Lewis' Washington, D.C. office handling telecommunications and technology policy as well as new media. Previously, he served as communications director and press secretary during Rep. Lewis' 2008 and 2010 re-election campaigns, as district aide to Rep. John Larson, and as special assistant to Connecticut Lt. Governor Kevin Sullivan. Andrew is a graduate of the Lovett School in Atlanta, Trinity College in Hartford, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
His first graphic novel, March: Book One—co-authored with Congressman John Lewis—was published in 2013. (From the publisher.)
NATE POWELL is a New York Times best-selling graphic novelist born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1978. He began self-publishing at age 14, and graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2000.
His work includes March: Book One, the graphic novel autobiography of Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis (2013); the critically acclaimed Any Empire (2011); Swallow Me Whole (2008, Eisner Award winner for Best Graphic Novel, two-time Ignatz Award winner, YALSA selection, and LA Times Book Prize finalist); The Silence Of Our Friends (2012, YALSA selection); The Year Of The Beasts (2012); and Sounds Of Your Name (2006).
Powell appeared at the United Nations in 2011, discussing his contribution to the fundraising fiction anthology What You Wish For: A Book For Darfur alongside some of the world's foremost writers of young adult fiction.
He's currently working as the artist on two high-profile projects: March, the three-part graphic novel memoir of Congressman John Lewis, and the graphic novel adaptation of Rick Riordan's #1 international bestseller Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero. In addition, he is writing and drawing his own forthcoming graphic novel Cover and assembling the short story collection You Don't Say.
From 1999 to 2009, Nate worked full-time supporting adults with developmental disabilities. He managed DIY punk record label Harlan Records for 16 years, and has performed in the bands Universe, Divorce Chord, Soophie Nun Squad, Wait, and Boomfancy. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/21/2014.)
Book Reviews
Lewis sees no need to overdramatize his thoughts and actions; he knows that he and the fellow participants in the march from which this book takes its title were committing brave acts of civil disobedience during an era that is absent from the memories of many young Americans. This lends March its educational value even as Powell's drawings give Lewis's crisp narration an emotional power.
Ken Tucker - New York Times Book Review
A riveting and beautiful civil-rights story… Lewis's gripping memoir should be stocked in every school and shelved at every library.
Washington Post
When a graphic novel tries to interest young readers in an important topic, it often feels forced. Not so with the exhilarating March: Book One... Powerful words and pictures.
Boston Globe
Essential reading for just about anyone... March is a moving and important achievement. While it looks a little different than your average comic, it does tell the story of a true American superhero.
USA Today
An astonishingly accomplished graphic memoir that brings to life a vivid portrait of the civil rights era, Lewis' extraordinary history and accomplishments, and the movement he helped lead... its power, accessibility and artistry destine it for awards, and a well-deserved place at the pinnacle of the comics canon.
NPR
March offers a poignant portrait of an iconic figure that both entertains and edifies, and deserves to be placed alongside other historical graphic memoirs like Persepolis and Maus.
Entertainment Weekly
(Starred review.) March tracks Lewis from his hardscrabble childhood on a remote Georgia farm to...his growing leadership role in Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent resistance movement. If the book strays too far from Lewis himself at times, that’s because the momentousness of what’s happening around him cannot be ignored. Superbly told history.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Segregation's insult to personhood comes across here with a visual, visceral punch. Suitable for tweens through teens and adults, this version of Lewis's life story belongs in libraries to teach readers about the heroes of America. Two more volumes are forthcoming, and a teacher's guide is available. —M.C.
Library Journal
(Grade 8-up.) The narration feels very much like a fascinating firsthand anecdote and, despite a plethora of personal details and unfamiliar names, it never drags.... [D]efinitive record of a key eyewitness to significant social change, and that leaves readers demanding the second volume. —Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH
School Library Journal
(Starred review.) The kineticism of his art rivals that of the most exuberant DC and Marvel adventure comics—and in black-and-white only, yet! Books Two and Three may not surpass Book One, but what a grand work they’ll complete. —Ray Olson
Booklist
(Starred review.) A powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness... the heroism of those who sat and marched... comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Why might this trilogy be entitled "March"? How many marches can you find depicted or mentioned in March: Book One (front and back covers, pp. 5–9, 19–20, 88, 90–91, 96, 110, 116, 117)? Analyze the multiple meanings, and connotations, of the word march with respect to the “how far we’ve come” theme (p. 19) that runs throughout the frame story. Specifically, how do the actions of Lewis and his comrades exemplify the defining characteristics of marching, such as being resolute, unified, and steady? If the word is usually used to describe the movement of an army, what is the significance of nonviolent groups doing the same? Finally, how might John Lewis’ line “We have to march,” in response to the bombing of the Loobys’ house (p. 116), signal the climax of the book?
2 How does nonviolent resistance as espoused by Gandhi, King, and Lawson (pp. 76–77) work to bring about social change, and how does it compare to other methods? Contrast the violence which opens the book with the emphasis on the “peaceful transition to power” in the 2009 television’s broadcast (p. 14) and the similarly peaceful, largely silent pages (pp. 10-12) that precede it. What is the historical message implied by this contrast?
3. In what ways do Lewis’s religious background and values influence his approach to the struggle for civil rights as well as the movement as a whole (e.g., pp. 8, 27–28, 56, 104)? Do you feel that love of one’s attacker is a requirement for effective nonviolent resistance (p.82), and are there any signs of it in the book (p. 95)?
4. History is often considered to be made up of recorded facts. In contrast, what important role might subjective factors such “dreams” and “fate” play in history, according to March? Trace the theme of wishes, dreams, and the “spirit of history” during the course of the book (pp. 19, 25–26, 50, 73, 87, 113). When the alarm clock on page 13 goes off, in what ways might it signify the end of a nightmare, or the transition from a dream to a reality, in terms of national race relations? Does the inauguration of Barack Obama represent the complete fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream, or merely a step?
5. The phrase “law and order” seems to imply that maintaining social order is an important function of police and other law enforcement authorities. But what happens when preserving the existing status quo makes such authorities the instigators of violence rather than those who protect citizens from it (pp. 6, 101)? How should individuals and groups respond when the justice system itself is bent to serve certain positions and interests (p. 107)?
6. What is the relationship between geography, community, and politics in March? As just one example, how does the isolation of the chickens in their henhouse reflect the isolation of Lewis’s family on their farm (pp. 20–22, 28)? What visual elements help convey these ideas? Similarly, how does the trip to Buffalo, with its bright lights and vertical heights (p. 42) that mirror the scale of Lewis’s aspirations for himself and society, illustrate his dawning sense of possibilities both figuratively and literally (as a Northern city free of the everyday prejudices of the South)? On the other hand, in what ways does the rural community of Alabama exemplify the notion of a tight-knit community despite being spread out geographically (pp. 58, 72)?
7. To practice a crucial skill when reading the memoir form, identify and analyze the “turning points” in John Lewis’s life. Some of these the text’s language highlights for us, as in “home never felt the same” (p. 66), Jim Lawson’s words signaling a “way out” (p. 78) and “my first arrest” (p. 103). What would you add to such a group? For example, is the attempt to transfer to Troy State (p. 66) a turning point even if does not work out? How do the authors use the visual layout of their pages to emphasize important moments and emotions (for example, by giving a large amount of space to a single image, up to a full page or “splash page”)?
8. The phrase “law and order” seems to imply that maintaining social order is an important function of police and other law enforcement authorities. But what happens when preserving the existing status quo makes such authorities the instigators of violence rather than those who protect citizens from it (pp. 6, 101)? How should individuals and groups respond when the justice system itself is bent to serve certain positions and interests (p. 107)?
10. What role did economic factors play in the process of desegregation? Specifically, if African Americans had represented a far smaller part of the buying public, do you think tactics such as boycotts and sit-ins would have been as effective? (pp. 59, 83–84, 92–93, 96, 110) What example of economic freedom early in March may have inspired Lewis by providing a model of what racially integrated commerce looks like in practice (pp. 42-45)? 7
11. How do the events depicted in March connect to your life personally? Discuss with an older family member or friend their memories of the early 1960s and the civil rights movement. Alternatively, is there a modern-day issue for which you might be willing to take a stand? Would you use the same techniques as the Nashville Student Movement, or a different strategy? Has reading March changed your perspective, and if so, how?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir
Frances Mayes, 2014
Crown Publishing
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307885913
Summary
A lyrical and evocative memoir from Frances Mayes, the Bard of Tuscany, about coming of age in the Deep South and the region’s powerful influence on her life.
The author of three beloved books about her life in Italy, including Under the Tuscan Sun and Every Day in Tuscany, Frances Mayes revisits the turning points that defined her early years in Fitzgerald, Georgia. With her signature style and grace, Mayes explores the power of landscape, the idea of home, and the lasting force of a chaotic and loving family.
From her years as a spirited, secretive child, through her university studies—a period of exquisite freedom that imbued her with a profound appreciation of friendship and a love of travel—to her escape to a new life in California, Mayes exuberantly recreates the intense relationships of her past, recounting the bitter and sweet stories of her complicated family: her beautiful yet fragile mother, Frankye; her unpredictable father, Garbert; Daddy Jack, whose life Garbert saved; grandmother Mother Mayes; and the family maid, Frances’s confidant Willie Bell.
Under Magnolia is a searingly honest, humorous, and moving ode to family and place, and a thoughtful meditation on the ways they define us, or cause us to define ourselves. With acute sensory language, Mayes relishes the sweetness of the South, the smells and tastes at her family table, the fragrance of her hometown trees, and writes an unforgettable story of a girl whose perspicacity and dawning self-knowledge lead her out of the South and into the rest of the world, and then to a profound return home. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1940
• Where—Fitzgerald, Georgia, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Florida; M.A., San Francisco
State University;
• Currently—lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and Corona, Italy
Frances Mayes is the author of several books about Tuscany. The now-classic Under the Tuscan Sun–which was a New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years and became a Touchstone movie starring Diane Lane. It was followed by Bella Tuscany and two illustrated books, In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home. She is also the author of the novel, Swan, six books of poetry, The Discovery of Poetry, and her most recent, Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir (2014). Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages (From the publisher.)
More
Frances Mayes is an American university professor, poet, memoirist, essayist, and novelist. Born in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and raised in south central Georgia, Mayes attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and obtained her BA from the University of Florida. In 1975 she earned her MA from San Francisco State University, where she eventually became Professor of Creative Writing, director of The Poetry Center, and chair tof the Department of Creative Writing.
Mayes has published several works of poetry: Climbing Aconcagua (1977), Sunday in Another Country (1977), After Such Pleasures (1979), The Arts of Fire (1982), Hours (1984), and Ex Voto (1995). In 1996 she published the book Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy. The book is a memoir of Mayes buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in rural Cortona in Tuscany, a region of Italy. It went to Number One on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for over two years.
In 2003 the film Under the Tuscan Sun was released. Adapted to the screen by director Audrey Wells, the movie was loosely based on Mayes's book. In 1999, Mayes followed this literary success with another international bestseller, Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy, and in 2000 with In Tuscany. Mayes's first novel, Swan, was published in 2002. Her memoir, Under Magnolia, about growing up in a Southern family, came out in 2014,
Also a food-and-travel writer, Mayes is the editor of The Best American Travel Writing 2002 and the author of A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller (2006), tales of her and her husband's travels.
Now writing full time, she and her poet husband divide their time between homes in Hillsborough, North Carolina and Cortona, Italy, where she serves as the artist director of the annual Tuscan Sun Festival. (From Wikipedia. Updated 2/21/2014.)
Book Reviews
(This book is too recent to have garnered mainstream media reviews. We will add them as they become available.)
[A] gutsy, honest portrait of the artist as a young girl.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Discussion Questions
1. Frances Mayes begins Under Magnolia by recalling a chance weekend in Oxford, Mississippi, where she stood “on the X, not knowing it’s time to leap, when, really, I’d only meant to pause.” When have you experienced a similar crossroad? What did it take to make you leap?
2. As Mayes describes surreptitiously touring William Faulkner's house, what truths emerge about the humanity of great writers? Why has the South produced so much enduring literature?
3. How did Willie Bell help Mayes master the art of endurance? What prevented Mayes’s mother, Frankye, from being more self-sufficient? What did both women teach Mayes about her role in the world?
4. As Mayes describes attending college both at Randolph-Macon and the University of Florida, before the easy availability of the Pill, what can we discover about the impact of the 1960s on young women in America? How does Mayes's college experience compare to yours?
5. Mayes describes her young self as a free spirit with an independent mind, transfixed by literature and disinterested in other subjects in school. How did these attributes feed her highly successful career, first as a professor and then as a bestselling author? What does her story tell us about the keys to success and fulfillment?
6. From reading this background story, what future would you have predicted for this child?
7. What does Under Magnolia tell us about Mayes' early perceptions of home? What spurred her to move to California? What called her home to the South so many years later?
8. Discuss the freedoms and restrictions Mayes experienced throughout her youth. How did her family manage resources, particularly Daddy Jack’s assistance? How did Mayes define "fortunate"?
9. How did the presence and absence of Mayes's father influence her life? How did she heal the scars of his anger, and the trauma of his early death?
10. Discuss the similarities Mayes observes between Tuscany and the South, both her native Georgia and her current homeland of North Carolina. What draws her to these locales? Is the sense of community so strong in these places because of history and landscape, or are there other factors?
11. How has Mayes’s experience of love and relationships evolved since she was a young woman? How did her experiences with Paul and Frank shape her sense of self? How did her parents' marriage affect her expectations for happiness in a relationship?
12. What did you discover about Mayes's literary approach as you read her descriptions of her earliest memories? If you’ve read other works by Frances Mayes, how does Under Magnolia enrich your experience of them, including her fiction and poetry?
13. What are the defining traits of the town where you were raised, especially the food and the customs as well as architecture, history, or even special words or phrases? Would you like to return to your birthplace?
14. Southern writers are especially strong on conveying a sense of place. In Under Magnolia, how is Mayes shaped by the landscape?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes
Svante Paabo, 2014
Basic Books
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780465020836
Summary
What can we learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives?
Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Paabo’s mission to answer this question, and recounts his ultimately successful efforts to genetically define what makes us different from our Neanderthal cousins. Beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, Neanderthal Man describes the events, intrigues, failures, and triumphs of these scientifically rich years through the lens of the pioneer and inventor of the field of ancient DNA.
We learn that Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominin relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Drawing on genetic and fossil clues, Paabo explores what is known about the origin of modern humans and their relationship to the Neanderthals and describes the fierce debate surrounding the nature of the two species’ interactions. His findings have not only redrawn our family tree, but recast the fundamentals of human history—the biological beginnings of fully modern Homo sapiens, the direct ancestors of all people alive today.
A riveting story about a visionary researcher and the nature of scientific inquiry, Neanderthal Man offers rich insight into the fundamental question of who we are. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth— April 20, 1955
• Where—Stockholm, Sweden
• Education—Ph.D., Uppsala University
• Awards—numerous scientific prizes (below)
• Currently—lives in Leipzig, Germany
Svante Paabo is a Swedish biologist specializing in evolutionary genetics. He was born in 1955 in Stockholm to Sune Bergström, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Bengt I. Samuelsson and John R. Vane in 1982, and his mother, Estonian chemist Karin Paabo.
He earned his PhD from Uppsala University in 1986. Since 1997, he has been director of the
Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig,
Germany.
Career
In August 2002, Paabo's department published findings about the "language gene", FOXP2, which is lacking or damaged in some individuals with language disabilities.
Paabo is considered one of the founders of paleogenetics, a discipline that uses the methods of genetics to study early humans and other ancient populations. In 2006, he announced a plan to reconstruct the entire genome of Neanderthals. In 2007, Paabo was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of the year.
In 2009, at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), it was announced that the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology had completed the first draft version of the Neanderthal genome. Over 3 billion base pairs were sequenced in collaboration with the 454 Life Sciences Corporation. This project, led by Paabo, will shed new light on the recent evolutionary history of modern humans.
In March 2010, Paabo and his coworkers published a report about the DNA analysis of a finger bone found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia; the results suggest that the bone belonged to an extinct member of the genus Homo that had not yet been recognized, the Denisova hominin.
In May 2010, Paabo and his colleagues published a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome in the journal Science. He and his team also concluded that there was probably interbreeding between Neanderthals and Eurasian (but not African) humans. There is growing support in the scientific community for this theory of admixture between archaic and anatomically-modern humans.
Awards and recognitions
1992 - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft*
2000 - Elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
2009 - Kistler Prize of the Foundation For the Future for his work on ancient DNA
2010 - Theodor Bücher Medal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies
2013 -Gruber Prize in Genetics for ground breaking research in evolutionary genetics.
* The highest honour awarded in German research. (Author bio adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/20/2014.)
Book Reviews
If there is one name associated with ancient DNA, it is Svante Paabo.... Paabo pioneered and has largely led the field for the past three decades. His book, Neanderthal Man, is perfectly timed, beautifully written and required reading—it is a window onto the genesis of a whole new way of thinking.
Nature
In Neanderthal Man, Svante Paabo offers readers a front-row seat to the still-unfolding understanding of this enigmatic human ancestor by recounting his own years of work.... Paabo quite candidly relays the doubts and challenges that accompanied more than a decade of discovery—a labor that elevated Neanderthals from troglodyte brutes inhabiting a dead-end branch of the human family tree to a complex species that interbred with other hominins, including Homo sapiens. Never one to shy away from provocative statements or even-more-provocative research, Paabo gives what appears to be an honest and open account of his pioneering studies of Neanderthal genetics.
Scientist
(Starred review.) Paabo passionately chronicles his personal story...of the Neanderthal project...and the scientific implications of this exciting research.... In accessible prose, Paabo presents the science so that laypersons will understand the nature and import of his work. But it’s his discussion of the scientific process that steals the show.... He discusses what it took to build a case tight enough to convince even the most skeptical of colleagues and he goes on to demonstrate that scientific knowledge is cumulative and ever-evolving.
Publishers Weekly
Paabo (director, dept. of genetics, Max Planck Inst. for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) presents a scientific memoir of his—and his colleagues'—work in paleogenetics as they seek to learn more about those humans who populated the Northern Hemispheres before we did.... Some readers may be forgiven if they skip ahead to the final two chapters, where the drama of Denisovan discoveries is palpable.[T]his is a go-to volume on the subject for serious readers. —Margaret Heilbrun
Library Journal
The tale Paabo tells is largely one of technological improvement enabling the elimination of contamination and speeding up the sequencing process. Secondarily, it’s about creating scientific foundations and multinational scientific cooperation to pursue the promises of research into ancient DNA, including that of nonhuman species as well as hominins.
Booklist
[A] revealing glimpse into the inner workings of scientific research.... Since Neanderthals are our closest evolutionary relatives, the author’s work in decoding Neanderthal DNA gives scientists a way to understand how we differ genetically from them and offers the opportunity to learn what genetic changes have made humans unique on this planet.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)
I Forgot to Remember: A Memoir of Amnesia
Su Meck and Daniel de Vise, 2014
Simon & Schuster
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451685817
Summary
What would you do if you lost your past?
In 1988 Su Meck was twenty-two and married with two children when a ceiling fan in her kitchen fell and struck her on the head, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury that erased all her memories of her life up to that point. Although her body healed rapidly, her memories never returned. Yet after just three weeks in the hospital, Su was released and once again charged with the care of two toddlers and a busy household.
Adrift in a world about which she understood almost nothing, Su became an adept mimic, gradually creating routines and rituals that sheltered her and her family, however narrowly, from the near-daily threat of disaster—or so she thought. Though Su would eventually relearn to tie her shoes, cook a meal, and read and write, nearly twenty years would pass before a series of personally devastating events shattered the “normal” life she had worked so hard to build, and she realized that she would have to grow up all over again.
In her own indelible voice, Su offers us a view from the inside of a terrible injury, with the hope that her story will help give other brain injury sufferers and their families the resolve and courage to build their lives anew. Piercing, heartbreaking, but finally uplifting, this book is the true story of a woman determined to live life on her own terms. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1965
• Raised—near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—A.A. Montgomery College
• Currently—lives in North Hampton, Massachusetts
Su Meck is pursuing degrees in music and book studies from Smith College. I Forgot to Remember is her first book; her work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine. She and her husband, Jim, have three grown children and live in Northampton, Massachusetts, with their two Lab Rescue dogs, Fern and Farley, and their two tuxedo cats, Apollo and Athena.
Daniel de Vise is a journalist and author who has worked at the Washington Post, Miami Herald, and five other newspapers in a twenty-three-year career. He shared a 2001 Pulitzer Prize and has garnered many other national and regional journalism awards; his investigative reporting has twice led to the release of wrongly convicted men from life terms in prison. A graduate of Wesleyan and Northwestern universities, he lives with his wife and children in Maryland. He is working on his second book. (From .)
Book Reviews
[Meck's] understated book, I Forgot to Remember, is more an account than a memoir. The matter-of-fact delivery makes the harrowing details of her ordeal stand out all the more.... Meck expressly wrote the book to show what traumatic brain injury is like. Her message to families is to be patient and to maintain realistic expectations, and never to accuse the injured person of faking symptoms or being intentionally difficult, as she was by her husband and, appallingly, her doctors.... [A] tale of triumph in the search for identity....which succeeds impressively.
Salley Satel - New York Times Book Review
The author recounts her grueling climb back to normalcy after an accident robs her of her memory and sense of self in this heartwrenching true story.
Oprah Magazine
A remarkable memoir....unnervingly honest, straightforward to a degree that makes every other memoir I’ve read seem evasive, self-conscious, and preening.... Unlike that of everyone else around her, [Su Meck’s] adult life wasn’t the result of imagining a happy future, pursuing it with a sense of purpose and then figuring out whether or not her dreams have been fulfilled, betrayed, or misbegotten. Her life was simply ‘the way things were’—until, that is, she realized she was in a position to have some say about that. And seeing her seize that opportunity makes for a happier ending than any fairy tale can offer.
Salon.com
[S]trangely compelling.... [Meck]re-creates the freak accident in her Fort Worth kitchen that ...left her with a...devastating memory loss.... Meck went through the motions of being a wife and mother...without there being any substance behind her facade of normalcy. [She] relates with excruciating honesty her journey out of oblivion.
Publishers Weekly
In this remarkable memoir, Meck chronicles her experiences as she learned to live in ‘a house full of strangers'.... Compelling and inspirational and, one hopes, an important impetus for ongoing brain research.
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. A memoir by a woman with no memories is a strange concept, but how different is it from other memoirs, which tend to be pulled together from long-ago memories? Do you trust Su’s story more—as it’s been pieced together from many sources—or less than you would a memoir by another writer? What does your answer say about the nature of the genre?
2. Su talks about the difficulties of parenting with no memories of being parented. In what ways are we all reliant on the parenting skills we’ve been taught? Do the roles her children take on in reaction to her needs support your answer?
3. After the accident, Su relies on routines to make her days make sense. How much do you rely on routines to structure your life? If your routines were taken away, would you be as confused as Su? Why or why not?
4. One of the more frustrating experiences for Su was when people believed her memory loss stemmed from psychological, not physical, sources. Do you think it matters what caused it? How might its cause change your perception of Su’s injuries and the difficulties she faces?
5. “I think I was probably trying to prove how genuine I really was, somehow. Because inside I felt so much like a fraud.” Do you think all of us do this on some level? Why or why not?
6. How reliable of a narrator do you think Su is? Do you find it problematic that Jim gets so many basic facts about her accident wrong? What about the memories of the other people, such as her kids? How much do you trust their memories? How does it affect your reading?
7. In what ways do the various settings—the tract house in Texas, the homes in suburban Maryland, the deluxe but stifling hotel in Egypt—shape the events that took place there and how we understand them?
8. Su has no memories of her life before the accident and very few of the years that immediately followed. She is dependent on other people’s memories of what happened to understand her own life. How different is this from the way the rest of us live? Are we all, in some way, a reflection of other people’s ideas about us? Why or why not?
9. Jim is one of the more complicated people in the book. In some ways, he comes off as a saint, helping and teaching and loving Su. On the other hand, he is largely absent, is verbally and physically abusive, and cheats on her. Do you ultimately see more good than bad in Jim? Why or why not? What do you make of the fact that Su loves him anyway?
10. “I have always loved Jim, and I have never loved Jim. In a way, Jim was assigned to me. I never really had a say.” How much do we choose who we love? How much of it do you think is circumstance?
11. After Su finds out Jim has had multiple affairs and spent tens of thousands of dollars on other women, things are rough between them, but she ultimately forgives him. Why do you think she did? Did she have any other choice? Do you think it shows weakness or strength on her part? Would you have forgiven Jim?
12. Toward the end of the book, Su finds out that she had an old boyfriend named Neal, a man her friends and family assure her was her first love. She has no memory of him, but then she remembers that there was a time when she didn’t remember or love her husband or children either. “And yet the expectation, and eventually the reality, was that I loved all of these people.” What does this say about the nature of love? Do you believe love must be immediate, or can it grow over time? Is romantic love different than maternal love? Do we choose love, or does it choose us?
13. “If I didn’t have Jim, I wouldn’t have me.” In light of all Jim has put Su through, and in light of all he did for her, do you agree? Is Su who she is largely because of Jim? Do you think she would have become a different person if she had married Neal? How do the people we surround ourselves with shape who we become?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)