Book Reviews
Category Biographies & Memoirs
and his idea of after-hours marital activities included playing toy soldiers on the bed. At thirty-three, with the support of the people, she overthrew her husband and became queen. Within a week her husband was dead at the hands of her current lover, Gregory Orlov and his brothers.
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My orders would not be carried out unless they were the kind of orders that should be carried out...I examine the circumstances, I take advice, I consult the enlightened part of the people, and in this way I find out what sort of effect my laws will have.” During her time on the throne Catherine accomplished a remarkable amount. She built of a university and she formed alliances with Prussia, Poland, France, and England. She avoided wars with everyone but Turkey who attacked first. She assembled a congress with representatives from all three classes, including the serfs. She took a sixmonth tour of the whole of Russia, where towns, schools, and churches had been built via her orders. After losing her husband, it’s no wonder that Catherine didn’t want to remarry. She had a succession of boy toys, who kept getting younger as she aged. She was a true 18th century cougar. This biography is what readers have come to expect from the author: meticulously researched and imminently readable. It comes highly recommended. Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson
Zelda, The Queen of Paris: The True Story of the Luckiest Dog in the World By Paul Chutkow Lyons Press, $22.95, 212 pages ISBN 9780762771479 In the era of Marley and Me and the dozens of imitators who jumped onto the dog memoir bandwagon, this gem stands out. The homeless canine in question is an Indian Pi dog (short for pariah), a breed indigenous to India the way a dingo is indigenous to Australia. While author Chutkow worked as a journalist in New Delhi, he and his wife were won over by the persistent pooch who kept showing up at their back door. Eventually Zelda, named after the famed but outrageous wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, becomes part of the family. As she travels the world with the Chutkows, Zelda makes a notable impression wherever she goes. Zelda is neither goofy nor bratty, but she has an oversized personality, and panache to spare. Over the years, she becomes a connoisseur of French food, a burglar catcher, a predictor of earthquakes, and an overall celebrity. Along with Zelda, Chutkow introduces the reader to a host of other intriguing characters, such as Sheela, the Indian housekeeper, Punjab Singh, the taxi driver, as well as Mother Theresa and Jack Hemingway. This slum dog who rises above her humble beginnings will win over even the most cynical reader. Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson
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