Writer Adam Sisman
ERIK LARSON
In the November 2011 issue of London’s Literary Review, writer Adam Sisman rejected claims that the biography is a literary genre in crisis.
“Biography seems to me to be remarkably resilient,’’ stated Sisman. “The best biographies being published now are as good as any that appeared in the past – and the worst just as bad.’’
As the reading year begins, we are happy to report that the biography is in a very healthy state. Most local bookshops report that Walter Isaacson’s bio about the late Apple boss Steve Jobs and Australian writer Peter Fitzsimons’ Mawson were among their five bestselling Christmas titles. And in the US, Publishers Weekly featured 13 biographies and memoirs on its list of the top 24 non-fiction books released in 2011.
One of last year’s late bloomers is Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts. A PW best non-fiction choice for 2011, we loved it. And we recommend it to customers. Again and again.
The focus of Larson’s study is William E. Dodd, the first US ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. The bio begins when Larson – a history professor – and his family arrive in Berlin in 1933, just weeks after President Hindenberg had appointed Hitler to the post of Chancellor. During their four-year stint, the Dodds observe a country’s optimism about the new political force transform into fear. Dodd is appalled by what he sees and diligently reports to Washington about undemocratic grabs for power, violence and thuggery, anti-Semitism, human rights abuses and a dramatic increase in German re-armament.
His letters fall on mostly deaf ears. Dodd did not come through the traditional gentlemen’s diplomat network and is ridiculed by colleagues. His warnings are described as an overreaction, pro-Jewish and, as time goes on, anti-German.
Dodd’s frustration is compounded by his unsuccessful attempts to persuade Germany’s politicians to back away from their hardline policies. Some become regular embassy visitors – or, in the case of Dodd’s journalist daughter Martha, lovers.
Martha Dodd is a powerful figure in this gripping account of a society on the verge of madness. Having separated from her American husband, she joins her parents and brother on their Berlin adventure. At first Martha is intoxicated by the glamour of Berlin and the charisma of the Nazis. She has affairs with several party identities, and at one stage is discussed as a potential girlfriend for Hitler. But Martha also reaches a point where she can no longer ignore the terror, and by 1936, like the other Dodds, she can’t wait to leave Berlin.
William Dodd’s diaries and letters, Martha’s writings, State Department files and various German sources provide Larson with rich material. A former Wall Street Journal staffer, he assembles his story with a reporter’s skill. The Dodd family story is thrilling, and he has done a fine job re-creating an important time in history.
In the Garden of Beasts presents a new view of the Nazis’ rise to power. It should be mandatory reading for anyone confused as to why a seemingly civilised German society gave up its individuality and its civil rights for Hitler.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by Erik Larson
$35 (Scribe)
Fiction
A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
$19.99 (Hachette)
Now in a smaller, more affordable edition, British academic Deborah Harkness’ novel continues to attract new readers. While studying in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Yale history professor Diana Bishop discovers a bewitched alchemical manuscript, which she promptly dismisses and puts back on the shelf. But the document’s magic is awakened, thus alerting other supernatural creatures to the witch’s presence in Oxford. Matthew Clairmont, a neuroscientist by day and a vampire at night, believes Diana has stumbled upon an important moment in magic’s history. Diana, meanwhile, would like to forget she is a witch and get on with her research. Harry Potter for big kids? You’d better believe it.
Biography
The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher
by John Campbell
$19.95 (Vintage)
To capitalise on the publicity surrounding Phyllida Lloyd’s new Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, Vintage has re-released the abridged version of John Campbell’s massive two-part biography of Britain’s first female PM. Newcomers to the Thatcher story (i.e. those under 35) may find this pacey account of her life a helpful companion to the movie. Campbell describes Thatcher as “the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the 20th century’’ – a big claim by someone who has lived under the prime ministerships of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. We suggest you read the book and make up your own mind.
Architecture
70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses
by Karen McCartney
$79.99 (Murdoch)
In this beautiful coffee-table book, interiors writer Karen McCartney focuses on three recent important decades in Australian house design. She starts by paying tribute to the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973 and “like many great works, was ahead of its time’’. Its opening coincided with a new wave of Australian architects who successfully crawled out of the long shadows cast by earlier masters such as Guilford Bell, Roy Grounds, Robin Boyd and Harry Seidler. Cleverly, they were able to create houses that honour their surrounding environment and reflect an easier late 20th-century lifestyle.
Humour
Rules For Ageing: A guide to life for those who should know better
by Roger Rosenblatt
$22.99 (Duckworth)
Part Grumpy Old Men/Women, part Letters To My 16-Year-Old Self, this quaint little hardcover by American writer Roger Rosenblatt is the ideal gift for the 40-plus birthday boy/girl with a cheeky sense of humour. Some of the rules are quite salient, such as Rule Number One, which stresses “if you don’t get that promotion, or prize or house, or if you do, it doesn’t matter’’, or staying clear of anyone other than a clergyman who refers to God more than once in an hour, or Rule 27: “Just because the person who criticises you is an idiot doesn’t make him wrong’’.