Lost Survivor
By Thomas R. Jones Like Henry Fielding’s famous novel (whose hero
shares a name with Lost Survivor’s author), this is a coming-of-age story. But Johnny
Douglas isn’t wandering the English countryside. In his world, the
jungles of Vietnam, there are no lace cuffs, only flak jackets and the
desire that overrides every other, the desire to survive. Johnny — or
JD, as his friends call him — is a 25-year-old black man from
Springfield who serves as a medic in a recon group near Khe Sanh. He leaves
his home, wife, and baby son on Stuart Street and returns a year later with
baggage far heavier than the 100-pound pack he carried through combat.
Though Jones drew on his own Vietnam experience, this taut page-turner is
not a memoir. The book is not for the squeamish — but, then, neither
was the war. It gives voice to veterans’ problems that for so many
years have gone unacknowledged or ignored. Darkest Hour Press, paperback, 212 pp., $16.95;
available at www.pitchblackbooks.com
At Home in the Park: Loving a Neighborhood Back
to Life
By Lola L. Lucas I have lived in Springfield all my life, more than 50
years, and that fact gives me a bit of perspective when I say what a
pleasure it has been to see the revitalization of the Enos Park
neighborhood. In her new collection of short essays, originally written for
the Enos Park Banner, the newsletter of the Enos Park Neighborhood Association, Lucas
invites readers to experience what it feels like to live in a community
where neighbors take the time to get to know each another. Lucas has an
uncanny talent, similar to Garrison Keillor’s, for taking the
particular and giving it universal appeal. Many of her columns are about
Enos Park, but just as many focus on her personal life, which she
generously shares with her readers. I don’t live in Enos Park, nor
does Lucas anymore, but, thanks to her book, I have a pretty good idea of
what it’s like to live in a “real” neighborhood. iUniverse Books, paperback, 166 pp., $14.95;
available at www.iuniverse.com
Prairie Grass
Compiled by Bette Franke, Mary Green, and Patty
Sullivan for the Iles House Foundation I knew that I would like this cookbook when I saw the
first page, a complete list of weights and measures — not that
I’ll ever need to know that a hectoliter is equivalent to 2.8375 bushels,
but I often forget how many pints there are in a quart. One measure I
don’t want to know is how many calories are contained in these 98
pages of mouthwatering recipes from the “heartland immigrant pioneer
heritage.” In addition to special sections on German, Swedish, and
French dishes, the cookbook offers appetizers, breads, main dishes, and, of
course, sweets. Beautifully designed with drawings of prairie grasses and
touches of calligraphy, this spiral-bound homage to our local culinary
heritage will be a welcome addition to any kitchen. All proceeds go to the
Iles House Foundation. Iles House Foundation, 98 pp., $10 plus $2.50 for
postage; send checks, payable to the Iles House Foundation, to Bette
Franke, 1013 E. Ash St., Springfield, 62703; or call 217-523-2656.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Legacy of
Lincoln
By Pamela Oldham with Meredith Bean McMath Let’s ’fess up: We locals tend to take
our 16th president for granted, and having visited his home and, now, his
new museum doesn’t make us experts on the Great Emancipator. I have never liked the
“Idiot’s Guide” name because it belies how much really good information
the books in this series impart. Sure, we all know that Abe could split a
rail, but who knew that he established the Department of Agriculture, or
that the reflecting pool outside his monument in Washington, D.C., holds 7
million gallons of water? Reminiscent of a field guide but with a twist of
trivia, this well-researched look at Lincoln will please any of the history
buffs on your holiday shopping list. Alpha Books, paperback, 368 pp., $16.95; available at
Barnes & Noble
This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2005.
