THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA, by Michael Pollan

This book has some very interesting information in it. The main message is that we are using one foodstuff in America in so many ways that it leads to bloat -- too much available cheap processed food, too many calories, exaggerated serving sizes to connote value, and a lack of a food culture strong enough to resist the confusion sown by food marketers. Great points! However, the author suffers from what he decries. What should have been a lean, mean 175 pages turns into a bloated and meandering tome, boring in too many spots, while losing the thread more often than not. Just because words come cheaply, and because people are impressed by (and will presumably pay a higher price for) a large serving of text doesn't mean that it is good for any of us. Yet, there wasn't an editorial culture strong enough at his publisher to fight this off. Shame. If an abridged version ever came out, it would be worth reading. But, the serving size needs to be halved. This is the Big Gulp version of what could have fit in a demitasse.

OUR DUMB WORLD, edited by Scott Dikkers

Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of The Planet Earth, 73rd Edition features incorrect statistics on all of the Earth's 168, 182, or 196 independent nations. It also features maps, including a fold-out world map at actual size. Readers will learn about every country from Afghanistan, "Allah's Cat Box," to the Ukraine, "The Bridebasket of Europe."
Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why "The Onion" is publishing a world atlas: to help us.
Our Dumb World is an invaluable tool for any reader interested in overthrowing a weakened government in East Asia, exploiting a developing nation in Africa, or for directions to tonight's party at Erica's. It is a reference guide to 250,000 of the world's most important places, such as North Korea's Trench of Victory, the Great Human Pyramid of Egypt, and Saudi Arabia's superhighway, the Mohammedobahn.

ON THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN, written and illustrated by Nancy Tillman

The birth of a baby-"the one and only ever you"-causes jubilation throughout creation in this quietly celebratory picture book from newcomer Tillman. Polar bears dance, giraffes weave to the sound of brass horns, and "the moon smiled with such wonder/ that the stars peeked in to see you/ and the night wind whispered,/ `Life will never be the same.' " Tillman successfully sidesteps the soft-focus sappiness that can accompany this genre. Her writing has the authenticity of whispered conversation; occasionally, she pauses in her exaltations of the baby to address the subject directly: "I think I'll count to three so you can wiggle your toes for me." Her strong, assured paintings truly set this book apart. The pictures subtly radiate golden glints of moonlight, and her almost sculptural rendering style gives her characters a hefty physicality that counterbalances the ethereal sentiments being expressed. Although one suspects that grown-ups will be most taken with the topic and treatment, this is one of those rare baby books that should make both skeptics and sentimentalists of all ages happy. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.