Nonfiction: May 2008 Archives

Last month on this blog I wrote about a book titled The Shameless Carnivore, and have since run across a couple other odes to meat-eating. Melissa Lion, who writes reviews on food-related books for Bookslut, checks in this month with a review of Meat: A Love Story (Putnam, $24.95) by journalist Susan Bourette. It may not make you want to buy the book but you'll savor every bit of Lion's wit and biting commentary. Bon Appetit!

The very first entry on this blog featured a book titled American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland (Gotham Books, $26) — a book that appealed to the former Midwestern band geek in me.

Good news! The book's author, Kristen Laine, recently was awarded the L.L. Winship/PEN New England award for nonfiction. The award is given annually to books written by New England authors and/or books on New England topics. While the book is all about Midwestern teenagers, Laine lives in New Hampshire, which allowed her to qualify for the prize. (For a list of all the winners, check out the PEN New England Web site).

Author Kristen Laine

Last year's Winship winner in the nonfiction category was Sebastian Junger for A Death in Belmont.

To learn more about American Band and read more reviews, visit Laine's Web site. The paperback comes out in September.