A Closer Look at the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Nonfiction Finalists

The 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will be announced at the Celebration of Bookselling, on Friday, June 4, during this year's BookExpo America (BEA) in Chicago. Here, BTW takes a look at the five finalists in the Adult Nonfiction category. (For the complete list of finalists, click here.)

All nominated authors and illustrators are being invited to attend the award ceremonies and the Book Sense Lunch, also to be held on Friday, June 4, at BEA.

All current ABA member bookstores can vote for the Book Sense Book of the Year. A ballot was mailed to all ABA bookstore members on April 1, and is available in downloadable PDF format by clicking here. Ballots mailed to ABA's accountants KPMG must be postmarked by May 5; the fax deadline is May 12.

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, Erik Larson (Crown)
Two years of historical research culminated in author/journalist Larson's nonfiction work, The Devil in the White City, which tells the parallel stories of Daniel Hudson Burnham, the man responsible for the construction of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and Dr. H.H. Holmes, America's first notorious serial murderer, who used the occasion of that same fair for his own evil purposes. Larson is the author of three previous nonfiction books, including the bestselling Isaac's Storm, which was a Book Sense Book of the Year finalist in 2000. The Devil in the White City was a 2003 National Book Award finalist, is the winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association 2004 Book Award for Nonfiction, and has been named one of the Best of Book Sense From the First Five Years.

From the Book Sense 76 recommendation:
"The first must-read nonfiction book of the year, a work that vividly portrays the last grand gasp of the 19th century -- the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Henry Holmes is the titular devil, a charismatic young doctor with blood-curdling obsessions. The supporting cast includes such luminaries as [Thomas] Edison, Buffalo Bill, and Susan B. Anthony. Larson fully engulfs the viewer in the period, and the enjoyment of this stunning work is only heightened by the knowledge that the story is true." -- Scott Coffman, Hawley-Cooke Booksellers, Louisville, KY

FLYBOYS: A True Story of Courage, James Bradley (Little, Brown)
From the bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys is a war story about a small group of men -- doomed U.S. Navy and Marine aviators, shot down off the Japanese-held island of Chichi Jima in February 1945. Bradley, the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on nearby Iwo Jima, delves into the lives of these aviators preceding their military service. Of the nine flyers, all but one were executed. The eighth airman, rescued by an American submarine, was George Herbert Walker Bush. Both the American and Japanese governments kept silent about the incident after the war; the families of those killed were never informed in any detail. Bradley provides significant evidence that the Japanese treatment of the POWs on Chichi Jima was so brutal that the U.S. Navy felt compelled to whitewash and censor the story while ultimately executing many of the Japanese captors for their war crimes. With the help of recently declassified documents and extensive interviews with witnesses -- military and civilian, American and Japanese -- Bradley plumbs the heretofore untold true-life horror story.

From the Book Sense 76 recommendation:
"Flyboys documents a forgotten part of WWII, a history filled with tales of everyday heroism, unspeakable horrors, and, quite sadly, hypocrisy. Bradley has become the preeminent voice concerning war in the Pacific Theater." --Joe Drabyak, Chester County Book & Music Company, West Chester, PA

MICHELANGELO & THE POPE'S CEILING, Ross King (Walker)
Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome (the 2001 Book Sense Book of the Year Nonfiction winner), has penned a cautionary tale for anyone thinking about hiring an inexperienced, temperamental house painter. Renowned as a sculptor for his masterpieces David and The Pieta, Michelangelo was Pope Julius II's first and only choice of to paint the Sistine Chapel, and the powerful pope made repeated offers to entice the reluctant artist. Eventually, Michelangelo could not refuse and for four years, between 1508 and 1512, the impatient pope hectored and pressured him to complete what is now considered among the most magnificent works of art on earth. King paints a nuanced portrait of Michelangelo -- a difficult but brilliant artist, battling personal demons of all kinds, bitterly competitive with the young painter Raphael, and not above leaving a fleet of skilled craftsmen on their backs, painstakingly painting the ceiling while he serviced other commissions. King examines the work in the political and social context of the Renaissance and the power politics and personal rivalries in Rome at that time.

From the Book Sense 76 recommendation:
"I thoroughly enjoyed this 16th century soap opera, starring those larger-than-life personalities Michelangelo, Pope Julius II, and Raphael, and featuring all the intrigue, passion, violence, and pettiness of a Sopranos episode! King's gift is his ability to bring readers back through a maze of time and lead us to an understanding of all that coalesced -- politically, socially, and artistically -- to create great art, great history and, for us, great reading." -- Jeanne Morris, Bethany Beach Books, Bethany Beach

MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, Tracy Kidder (Random House)
Kidder, who has won both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, offers his first foray into biography. Through the story of the remarkable Harvard-trained physician and anthropologist, Paul Farmer, Kidder also explores the disastrous global public healthcare situation. The unconventional Farmer has devoted his life to battling tuberculosis among the desperately poor peoples of Haiti, Peru, and in Siberian prisons, where drug resistant strains thrive. His organization, Partners in Health, is the sole healthcare provider for thousands of peasant farmers in Haiti's Plateau Central, and his pioneering advances in community-based treatment for patients with TB has had superior results. Kidder tells the fascinating story of the doctor's life through interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues. Farmer's passion for his work and relentless crusade for funding creates a very sympathetic, almost saintly, portrait.

From the Book Sense 76 recommendation:
"Dr. Paul Farmer is an infectious-disease expert, anthropologist, winner of a MacArthur genius grant, founder of Partners in Health, and a brilliant and tireless worker in bringing health care to the world's poorest people. He proved radical change is possible with his work in Haiti. If Kidder brings wider attention to this remarkable man, it will be one of the most important books published this year." --Carole Horne, Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi (Random House)
In a confrontation between the Ayatollah Khomeini and Jane Austen, literature professor Azar Nafisi just might bet on Austen. During the two years preceding her 1997 departure from Iran, the Iranian-born author founded a book club of seven former students, all women, who met at her house weekly and discussed forbidden works of Western literature. The readings were life changing on many levels -- merely the act of meeting and offering opinions was novel. The great works of literature provided windows to worlds far beyond the participants' experiences and eventually gave them the freedom to talk openly about themselves and their ambitions. Nafisi divides her memoir into four chapters: Lolita, Gatsby, James, and Austen, and readers can witness the ability of great literature to remove the group's veils and coverings, literally and figuratively. Reading Lolita in Tehran was a finalist for the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards 2004, honoring the outstanding contributions to free speech, creativity, and freedom of information.

From the Book Sense 76 recommendation:
"Nafisi tells of her life in Iran, her experiences teaching literature at a university, and her secret meetings with a group of women who come together to read and discuss books forbidden by Iran's Islamic government. With Iran and Iraq in the news every day, I was excited to find a book that put a human face on this region." --Terrell Aldredge, Wide World Books & Maps, Seattle, WA

For a closer look at the 2004 Children's finalists, click here; for a look at the Paperback finalists, click here.