TOP BOOKS OF 1999
VIVID PORTRAITS FROM DEATH ROW AND A HANNIBAL LECTER SHOCKER LED TO MANY A CALLOUSED THUMB

Published: Sunday, December 19, 1999
Section: DAILY BREAK , page E1
Source: BY PEGGY EARLE, BOOKS EDITOR
© 1999 Landmark Communications Inc.

SELECTING THE best of anything is daunting, tricky and entirely subjective. So, when asked to pick the 10 best books of 1999, this was my approach: I combined my personal choices with reviews we printed in The Pilot that made me want to toss yet another tome atop my already teetering bedside stack.

An exact science, it ain't.

``From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky,'' by Matthew Spender. I adore artist biographies, and this must be the definitive one on the Armenian-American abstract painter who died in 1948. Spender's  exhaustive research and absorbing narrative made me feel I knew this fascinating, tortured, driven artist. As a bonus, I gained a new appreciation for Gorky's work, so under-recognized in his lifetime.

``Time, Love, Memory,'' by Jonathan Weiner. Reviewer Keith Monroe called this history of the study of the genes that determine who and what we are (and what we will be) ``wonderful . . . beautifully written and  meticulously researched.''

``The Ground Beneath Her Feet,'' by Salman Rushdie. His latest is an epic ``reimagining of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice'' involving a rock band. According to the wire review, it is a ``hugely fabulous, reckless novel . . . a triumph.''

``Galileo's Daughter,'' by Dava Sobel. Using actual letters written by Sister Maria Celeste, the legendary astronomer's illegitimate daughter, Sobel  explores their relationship and life in tempestuous 16th- and 17th-century Italy. The reviewer called Sobel a ``master storyteller.''

``A Star Called Henry,'' by Roddy Doyle. Ron Franscell's review said Doyle ``captures the melodic cacophony of Irish history, passion and appetite'' in this novel with ``a mix of comedy and drama that never bogs down.''

``Dead Run: The Untold Story of Dennis Stockton and America's  Only Mass Escape From Death Row,'' by Joe Jackson and William F. Burke Jr. Our reviewer, John Tucker, called this book by local authors ``gripping and vivid . . . a moving portrait'' of some notorious residents of Virginia's death row.

``The Museum at Purgatory,'' by Nick Bantock. Tom Crockett said, ``This collection of tales is both beautiful and memorable . . . a meditation on the nature of collecting and what it suggests about the lives we lead.'' I agree. It's a lovely gift book, full of unique, inventive, fanciful images and concepts, from the creator of ``Griffin & Sabine.''

``Alice Springs,'' by Nikki  Gemmell. Jo Ann Hofheimer praised this novel of a woman's quest in the Australian Outback as ``tautly told . . . a beautiful love story, full of passion and longing . . . an inventive, sassy, arresting adventure.''

``Bella Tuscany,'' by Frances Mayes. Sure, it's easy to hate someone who gets to live in a marvelous house in one of the most divine places on Earth for months each year, eat great food, drink delicious  wine, yada, yada, yada. But, blinding jealousy aside, I was awed by Mayes' ability to translate the sublime pleasures of central Italy into words. Bellissima!

``Hannibal,'' by Thomas Harris. A guilty pleasure, I eagerly awaited and read this one. As a fan of horror, especially when written with intelligence and originality, I thought this shocking, third installment of the Hannibal Lecter series was worth the  wait.

That makes 10. But why stop there when 10 more came so close to making the cut?

``Enchanted Night,'' by Steven Millhauser. The wire reviewer waxed lyrical about this little book: ``This moonlit,  entrancing novella . . . doesn't merely aspire to the condition of music but actually achieves it.''

``Lost Treasures of the 20th Century,'' by Nigel Pickford. Paul Clancy called this ``an enthralling look at  the great maritime tragedies'' of our waning century. He praised the author's ``meticulous research . . . grasp of history and politics'' that put the book in the ``ranks of first-rate scholarship.''

``Dreamland,'' by Kevin Baker. I'm a Brooklynite, and automatically interested in a historical novel about Coney Island. The wire review said Baker ``takes readers for a ride as dazzling as the amusements'' in ``an  engrossing odyssey almost bursting with the sounds, sights and smells of the great, hissing melting pot on the dawn of a new age.''

``Losing Nelson,'' by Barry Unsworth. In the wire review, this novel about a man's obsessive interest in Lord Horatio was called ``at once thoroughly serious and . . . immensely entertaining, in the deepest and best sense of the word.'' The praise went on to say it ``is original,  provocative, stylish and intelligent.''

``Close Range,'' by Annie Proulx. Already a fan of ``The Shipping News'' and ``Accordion Crimes,'' I was eager to read Proulx's latest collection of short stories. A wire reviewer found pain, humor and vivid images in these stories that ``speak to our daily struggle to get out of bed and make a living.''

``The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition,'' by Caroline Alexander. The reviewer said this true story of astonishing courage is ``brilliantly recounted'' and offers ``romance, hope, companionship and tenacious life'' in the face of terrifying adversity.

``Who's Irish?'' by Gish Jen. According to our wire review, this is a ``beautifully articulated collection'' of stories, whose author ``gives us a gently satiric look at the American Dream and its fallout on those who pursue it.''

``Mr. Darwin's Shooter,'' by Roger McDonald. A fictionalized account of the real Charles Darwin voyage of discovery. The wire review said the book is ``a high-spirited, adventuresome, idiosyncratic ramble through the history of science.''

``Motherless Brooklyn,'' by Jonathan Lethem. This offbeat detective novel was our wire reviewer's favorite book of the year - ``funny, inventive, entertaining, dazzling, convoluted, silly, serious, etc.''

``Ordinary Grace,'' by Kathleen Brehony. Edith White highly recommended this ``life-affirming'' and inspirational book, in  which a Virginia Beach author and psychologist tells of profound acts of love and kindness.