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 Infidel by Ali Ayann Hirsi.
Free Press, nonfiction, $15.00.
Controversial writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of The Caged Virgin, returns with the amazing Infidel, a biographical account of her unusual life and her internal struggle with her Muslim faith. Ali was subjected to genital mutilation and later forced into an unwanted marriage, but fought to survive and transform herself into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of women. Ali's harrowing story becomes an intellectual journey and powerful feminist critique of Islam. Inspiring and brave! Shane loves this book!
 You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem.
Vintage, fiction, $13.95.
Lethem at once satirizes and pays homage to Los Angeles and to the hipster rock bands that people the scene. Front and center are the impressively rendered dynamics between band members, groupies, managers, and these people's interactions with L.A. itself. The novel builds on Lethem's characteristic wit, (one character has "liberated" a depressed kangaroo from the zoo) while his affection for the life and times of a band, as an entity and as individuals, shines like a name in lights.
 Dog Years: A Memoir by Mark Doty.
HarperCollins, memoir, $13.95.
Robert has always loved Doty's brilliant poetry (check out Fire to Fire, his recent volume of new and selected poems) and in his memoirs, there may not be another writer in America today who can so simply and strongly evoke the ineffable, and the lovely harsh winds of loss and longing. In this new work, Doty explores what it means to love a dog, and for that animal to love us back. His prose shines with a lyric, elegaic intensity that never feels forced, or merely pretty. We'd give it four stars, but in this case let's say four deep barks!
 When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa by Peter Godwin.
Back Bay Books, non-fiction, $14.99.
This book is a tour de force of personal journalism. Ed was incredibly moved by this heartbreaking account of Peter Godwin's journey in search of a father and the dying of a country where his parents' waning and the country's deterioration become inseparable - a classic case of the personal becoming the political. Robert Mugabe is the worst tyrant in modern Africa, singlehandedly overseeing the implosion of his country and its economy (once the breadbasket of African, now the fastest-slowing GDP in the world). Zimbabwe has been battered by history: colonial rule followed by 8 years of war followed by 27 years of Mugabe's tyrannical rule. At the end of this memoir Peter Godwin comes to terms with his wish: that Mugabe must die. We, swept up in Godwin's story, can only hope for as much and soon: all of Zimbabwe is waiting. This book is made all the more relevant with the election crisis that now grips the country.
 The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander.
Vintage, fiction, $14.95.
A starred Booklist review states: "Four "P's" best describe this novel: poignant, powerful, political, personal." Knowledgeably set in a milieu far from the author's native New York, it is the story of Kaddish, his wife Lillian, and their "disappeared" son Pato during Argentina's 1970's "dirty war." Both a stark realism and an absurdist sense of humor permeate this novel, layered with agonizing but often comical details. Englander, in his first novel, secures his status as a powerful storyteller. Ed highly recommends!!
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