Book Recommendations (by Lawrence Epstein, The Dylan Watch)

More than ever, books make the best gifts during this season that celebrates sharing. I won’t provide a Top Ten list, only a couple of books. Of course, the books published by the BAP community make wonderful choices. Additionally, here are two books you can both read and give with pleasure:

 The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. Connelly is to my mind in serious competition for the best mystery writer around (with Robert Crais, among others), and this book is a double pleasure because it includes the “Lincoln Lawyer” Mickey Haller and Connelly’s great creation, the LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. The book provides extraordinary insights into the legal mind at work. If it’s somewhat overplotted, it still is brilliantly executed. For those of us who love the Bosch novels, this book allows us to see him from the outside.

 2. Cultural Amnesia by Clive James. The paperback version of this, my favorite book of 2007, was recently released. It is, to say the least, unusual. James offers 110 brief biographical essays, including profiles of many familiar people and some much less so. In particular, the author’s yearning for an intellectual society comparable to that found in the cafes of pre-War Vienna explains his discussions of many martyrs to a variety of totalitarian regimes. James’ intellect, his savage wit, his aphoristic prose, his biases, and his embrace of the life of the mind made this book unforgettable to me. Of course, there were people I wish he had included; the paucity of women in the book is all too obvious. And there are others whose inclusion befuddled me. But agree or disagree with him, James makes for exciting reading.