“Riveting reading from start to finish.” from etched in sand
existence in sheltered accommodation,” writes London street musician Bowen. “Taking responsibility for myself was hard enough.” So when a mangy, unneutered tomcat with a festering sore on his leg hung around his apartment building several days in a row, it was with some trepidation that the author invited the cat, whom he named Bob, into his home. Little did Bowen know that this simple act of kindness would create such a bond between them. Earning his living as a street musician in London’s Covent Garden, Bowen had to busk on a daily basis to survive. The added responsibility of an injured cat prompted the author to play more frequently and for longer hours; it was only when Bob came with him to Covent Garden that Bowen realized their relationship had deepened into a true friendship. The oddity of seeing a handsome ginger cat curled into a guitar case caused people to stop and chat, take pictures and give more generously than they had in the past. Bowen moved from being a street bum to someone people recognized and wanted to talk to, and Bob was given all sorts of handmade clothes, treats and toys. The author describes delightful moments spent with Bob as well as a harrowing instance when the cat streaked off into the city streets after being threatened by a dog. With confidence gained through his ability to earn money and to tend to Bob’s needs, Bowen was finally able to kick his drug dependency and make amends with his estranged mother. A rich, moving story of the link between a street-wise cat and a man who earns his living on the streets—perfect for cat lovers.
hocus-pocus,” Brennan posits that visions and voices may arise not from the spectral plane, but from historical experimentation with mind-expanding hallucinogens such as peyote, mandrake root and LSD. He logically ponders whether these drugs simply induce artificial delusions or expand the human consciousness sufficiently to receive phantasmal messages. The source for Brennan’s unblinking faith in such a predominantly conjectural subject may lie in late, hair-raising chapters describing his own eerie, nonverbal encounters with spirits and poltergeists in Ireland. Ultimately, his deftly corralled, intriguing research translates into unsettling, if academically written, “proof ” of the existence of spiritual suggestion. Certain hokum for skeptics, but the more open-minded will savor this chillingly convincing testimonial. (36 b/w illustrations)
ETCHED IN SAND A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island Calcaterra, Regina Morrow/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $15.99 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-06-221883-4
A prominent New York attorney’s unsparing account of how she and her four siblings survived extreme abuse and neglect at the hands of their mentally ill mother. Cookie was a woman who “left behind scorched earth” wherever she went. Unstable, promiscuous and violently abusive, she had five children by five different men. Chaos and instability reigned throughout Calcaterra’s childhood. Early on, Cookie left the children with relatives or took them to live with new boyfriends. But as her alcoholism and mental illness worsened, she left them in homeless shelters, trailers, parking lots, run-down apartments or houses and then vanished, often for weeks or months at a time. When Calcaterra was 8, she and her siblings made a pact to stay together, no matter what; it was better than being separated and losing all control over their lives in the impersonal, sometimesfrightening world of foster care. To survive, they stole food and clothes. They lied about their mother’s whereabouts, as well as the burns, bruises and scratches that appeared on their bodies when she was home. Calcaterra emancipated herself at age 14 and reluctantly went to live with foster parents she did not want; they nonetheless helped her succeed. Seeking a way to empower herself so that she could “impact the lives of others,” she attended college and law school, then pursued a career as a New York state public official. Despite her many professional triumphs, she hasn’t overcome her guilt about the fate of her siblings. Calcaterra narrates her story in the present tense, which adds a painful immediacy and urgency to an already gut-wrenching account. Yet never once does she flinch from the terrible truths with which she has lived and so courageously reveals here. Riveting reading from start to finish.
WHISPERERS The Secret History of the Spirit World Brennan, J.H. Overlook (400 pp.) $29.95 | Jun. 13, 2013 978-1-59020-862-5
Prolific Irish author and lecturer Brennan’s (Magic & Mysticism in Tibet, 2010, etc.) lifelong fascination with psychic phenomena fuels this comprehensive analysis of potential supernatural influences on history. The author engagingly embraces the phenomenon of spiritual interaction with the living in a dense exploration of historical figures who he asserts have become influenced by suggestive spirits. In early sections, Brennan examines the spirit beliefs of the Ubaidian people and the Egyptians, who etched spectral “utterances” into pyramid walls. He then moves on to profiles of prominent historical leaders believed to have both directly and indirectly altered history through spiritual intervention. They include Joan of Arc, Nostradamus, Rasputin, 18th-century Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, Napoleon Bonaparte, controversial occultist Alessandro Cagliostro and a loosely formed spirit-human association with Adolf Hitler. Brennan’s sweeping examination also cites modern evidence by incorporating the use of Ouija boards, mesmeric suggestion and conjurations into the mix. An equitable author who recognizes that his assertions, for some, will be construed as “superstitious 44
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15 june 2013
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nonfiction
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kirkus.com
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