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Rabbit Reread : Chapter & Verse : Off the Shelf : Open Book

Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp, by C.D. Payne '71 (Doubleday, $21, cloth; $14.95, paper). Publishers rejected the manuscript of this first book by Payne 38 times. He published the novel himself, sold some copies in the San Francisco area where he lives, the book became a cult hit and was compared to the comic masterpiece A Confederacy of Dunces, and then Doubleday issued it in hardcover and paperback. A highly favorable review in the Berkeley Express said of the book, "A black comedy, ostensibly the daily diary of Oakland whiz kid Nick Twisp, it's puerile, sexually obsessed, and grotesque."

The Harvard Guide to Women's Health, by Karen J. Carlson, M.D. '80, instructor in medicine, Stephanie A. Eisenstat, M.D., instructor in medicine, and Terra Ziporyn (Harvard University Press, $39.95, cloth; $24.95, paper). A sourcebook for answers to all manner of questions about women's health, this authoritative reference offers some 300 entries and 250 illustrations and charts. "This is one of the most helpful books I have seen in more than two decades of advocacy for women and children," says Rosalynn Carter. "I recommend it to parents of teenage girls, daughters of elderly mothers, patients, and any woman concerned about maintaining her good health."

Success Story

The Real Freshman Handbook: An Irreverent & Totally Honest Guide to Life on Campus, by Jennifer Hanson '97 and friends (Houghton Mifflin, $9.95, paper). Just the gift for a departing child. The author sought the advice and experiences of friends at many colleges.

Driving Force: The Natural Magic of Magnets, by James D. Livingston, Ph.D. '56 (Harvard University Press, $24.95). Have you an interest in cow magnets? Do you know what certain aquatic bacteria in the marshes of Cape Cod do with the tiny lodestones they contain? Or how many dozens of magnets can be found in each new car? Or that Marlou Freeman of Laurel, Maryland, owns 2,300 refrigerator magnets? Or that steel, which retains its magnetization better than iron, is made by plunging hot iron into various quenching liquids, and that in 1532 recommended liquids included radish juice, dragon's blood, "men's pisse and the distilde water of worms'"? Livingston tells all and tells it very nicely.

Threshold, by Ben Mezrich '91 (HarperCollins, $24). The author appears in the Harvard Alumni Directory as The Rt. Hon. Lord Benjamin A. Mezrich. Now he has concocted an uncommonly good thriller about genetic engineering run amok. Take it with you on vacation.

Life after Medical School: 32 Doctors Describe How They Shaped Their Medical Careers, by Leonard Laster '48, M.D. '50 (Norton, $27.50). The chancellor emeritus of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center has produced a book of practical advice for anyone considering a medical career, or-having already chosen same-trying to decide how best to pick a path in the world of medicine.

Thursday-Night Poker: How to Understand, Enjoy-and Win, by Peter O. Steiner, Ph.D. '50 (Random House, $16, paper). The author retired from teaching economics and law at the University of Michigan in 1991 but continues to pursue a profitable hobby. One-time professional poker player Anthony Holden writes, "Perhaps the clearest way to express my admiration for this landmark treatise on the game of poker is to say, without equivocation, that on no Thursday night henceforth, nor on any other night of the week, will you catch me sitting down to play cards with its author."

Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists and Their New York, by Rebecca Zurier '78, Robert W. Snyder, and Virginia M. Mecklenburg (National Museum of American Art/Norton, $50). More than 100 paintings, drawings, and prints by George Bellows, William Glackens, Robert Henri, George Luks, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan have much to tell about life in the metropolis in early twentieth-century America. The book was occasioned by an exhibition at the National Museum of American Art last season, an exhibition now up at the New-York Historical Society through August 4.

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