ORIGINS RECONSIDERED: In Search of What Makes...
ORIGINS RECONSIDERED: In Search of What Makes Us Human; by Richard Leakey & Roger Lewin (Anchor: $14.95; 375 pp., illustrated). In this informal study, the noted paleoanthropologist blends personal recollections with reflections on human evolution. A description of the thrill of finding the “Turkana Boy,” an almost complete skeleton of Homo erectus, leads to speculations about the development of the various species of genus Homo and their interrelationships. Leakey believes ecological changes in East Africa stimulated the growth of the hominid brain, enabling ancestral humans to develop tool-making, speech and complex social behavior. His theories about when, why and how these skills developed are the subject of debate among anthropologists, but non-scientists will enjoy his thought-provoking ideas about what constitutes humanness.
FIELDS OF GLORY; by Jean Rouaud, translated from the by French by Ralph Manheim (Arcade: $9.95; 154 pp.). Rouaud’s delightfully quirky novel recounts the misadventures of a befuddled clan in the lower Loire Valley. The various family members cling to their eccentricities with Gallic aplomb: Grandfather refuses to part with his leaky, canvas-topped car despite the perpetual rains; Aunt Marie, who had to be railroaded into retiring from her job as a school teacher, pursues every detail of her personal life with the same meticulous care. The bemused narrator recounts his relatives’ joys and sorrows in a wry chronicle that earned the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1990.
THE COVERED WAGON AND OTHER ADVENTURES; by Lynn H. Scott (University of Nebraska Press: $7.95; 135 pp., illustrated). Scott was a small boy in 1906, when his family left their Nebraska farm for Wyoming and, later, Oregon, in a horse-drawn wagon. His recollections strip away the romanticized media image of the settlers, and reveal the gritty facts of 19th-Century modes of travel--dirt, bugs, fear and limited supplies of food and water. But these hardships failed to discourage his industrious family from establishing homes in remote places. Scott wrote this memoir for his grandchildren, and its conversational tone makes it an excellent choice to read aloud.
HOME MOVIES; by Paula Martinac (Seal Press, 3131 Western Ave., Suite 410, Seattle, Wash. 98121: $10.95; 210 pp., paperback original). Martinac’s skillfully constructed second novel examines the ways in which repressed emotions can warp familial relationships. As lesbian novelist Teresa Keenan watches her beloved Uncle Jamie succumb to AIDS, she rediscovers the grief she felt when her older sister died of leukemia in childhood, a tragedy her conservative family refused to discuss. The catharsis of caring for her uncle enables Teresa to discern a pattern of unexpressed feelings. Strengthened by her trials, she faces the daunting challenge of establishing more honest relationships with her parents and a possible romantic partner.
JOHN CHANCELLOR MAKES ME CRY; by Anne Rivers Siddons (HarperPerennial: $10; 192 pp.). In these comic essays, the author of “Colony” describes her efforts to cope with life in Atlanta during the ‘70s: ice storms, home repairs, flu, overeating, traffic. But beneath the humorous surface, the reader discovers a troubled woman struggling to preserve a semblance of normalcy after the Watergate scandal destroyed her faith in America. The deepening distrust produced by Iran-Contra, Star Wars and the other government disinformation campaigns during the past 18 years has only increased the relevance of Siddons’ unpretentious search for something to believe in.
NEW MEXICO, RIO GRANDE AND OTHER ESSAYS; by Tony Hillerman (HarperPerennial: $15; 112 pp.). Hillerman writes lovingly about the land and people of the Southwest, recounting the successive inhabitants of a site or tracing the progress of the Rio Grande, the second-longest river in North America. The most interesting passages reveal how personal experiences in New Mexico shaped his fiction, especially “A Thief of Time.” Although Hillerman’s grasp of European history appears less sure than his knowledge of Southwestern lore, this handsome volume would make an ideal souvenir for foreign visitors. (For a review of Hillerman’s latest novel, see Page 12.)
FIDELITY; by Wendell Berry ($10; 200 pp.). Five stories set in the fictional town of Port William, Ky., confirm Berry’s reputation as one of the nation’s foremost authors. His quiet, measured prose limns a world of unassuming characters joined by affection and respect. In the moving title story, a group of friends and relatives unite to save a dying man from an ignominious existence tied to hospital bed, an affirmation of life that demonstrates how love and dignity, rather than laws or geographic proximity, define a real community.
THE WORLD AFFAIRS COMPANION: The Essential One-Volume Guide to Global Issues; by Gerald Segal (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster: $13; 296 pp., illustrated). At a time when other media are following the lead of network news and reducing complex issues to fragmentary sound bites, Segal supplies useful background information for people struggling to comprehend the rapidly changing world. Inevitably, some of the points he makes are inadequately discussed and/or debatable, and the text contains a few striking errors, e.g., “Although AIDS is far more difficult to spread via heterosexual sex, (women are thought to act as a sort of firebreak) it can happen. . . .”
* Readers who want to study the details of President Clinton’s Health Plan can consult the text in THE PRESIDENT’S HEALTH SECURITY PLAN (Times Books: $8; 304 pp.) .