HEROES OF THEIR OWN LIVES

The Politics and History

of Family Violence

by Linda Gordon (Viking: $24.95; 372 pp.) Neither a political tract nor a morality tale, Gordon’s book is a work of sound scholarship enlivened by the author’s unmistakable compassion.

--Jonathan Kirsch

SHOWDOWN

by Jorge Amado translated by Gregory Rabassa (Bantam Books: $18.95; 352 pp.) The novel carries forward Amado’s reputation as a literary craftsman and picaresque storyteller. His prose is pungent, bawdy and naughty, and he’s fun to read.--Mark R. Day