Stranger than Fiction

There are so many tales about Rasputin -- the Mad Monk who cast his spell over the last Tsarina of Russia and was a cause of the downfall of the Romanovs. He had a strange power to relieve the hemophilia symptoms of the Tsarevich Alexei, heir to the throne; he had perverse and unquenchable sexual appetites; he was the very personification of evil. Except that most of what we think we know about Rasputin is not true. In this biography by Douglas Smith, 2016, a clearer and more fascinating life of Rasputin is presented. Smith is an award-winning historian, and earlier had worked for the US State Department in the former Soviet Union and as a Russian translator and affairs analyst for Radio Free Europe. In the introduction to the book Smith writes that he was determined to search out the facts of Rasputin’s life by conducting extensive research, which he claims led him to seven countries, “from Siberia and Russia, across Europe, to Britain and finally the United States.” In addition, he...

Truth really can be stranger than fiction. This book, by Simon Winchester, 1998, is about the relationship between an inmate in an insane asylum and the lexicographer responsible for compiling the first Oxford English Dictionary in the 19th century. It was the subtitle of the book that attracted me first: a tale of murder, madness and the Oxford English Dictionary.   Murder and madness certainly don’t seem to have anything to do with a dictionary and – when I found out the book was about how this impressive dictionary was first compiled – I was even more interested in reading it. The Oxford English dictionary was the first one in English that aimed to include every word in the language. As part of that endeavor, citations of the first use of the word and its history would be included (where possible). This was such a huge undertaking that the lexicographer in charge, James Murray, enlisted the help of volunteer readers throughout the English-speaking world. This help involved hav...

My book choice in the Food category for the 2021 NONFICTION READER CHALLENGE is Extra Virginity: The sublime and scandalous world of olive oil , by Tom Mueller, 2012. The book is an overview of the history of olive oil: where it has been grown, how it has been produced; what it has been used for; and its cultural significance through the ages. Much of the book, however, is about the adulteration and fraud involved in olive oil production. He writes: “Olive oil is one of the most frequently adulterated food products in the EU; within Europe, the problem is particularly acute in Italy, the leading importer, consumer, and exporter of olive oil and the hub of the world olive oil trade.” The fraud involves mixing olive oil with other types of oil, but packaging it as “extra virgin” olive oil. From the packaging, it seems, it is difficult to know if the product is pure. Mueller gives information about how to taste – and test – olive oil in order to know if it’s the genuine, unadultera...

I have been a Fred Astaire fan for most of my life, and I watched his films with Ginger Rogers, and others, whenever they were on television as I was growing up. Now I have the entire collection on DVD, and they still delight me. The Astaires: Fred & Adele , by Kathleen Riley (2012), was the first book I have come across that focuses only on the life and career of Fred and Adele Astaire together. Since it had the support and input of Fred’s daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, I figured it would be accurate and respectful, and it is. I knew quite a lot about Fred Astaire’s life (mostly from the book, The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book , by Arlene Croce, 1972), so I knew that he started his career as the partner of his sister Adele. And from most accounts, Adele was the more talented of the pair. It is hard to believe that there could be a more talented dancer of that time than Fred, however. Since there is no film footage (that I’m aware of) of Adele and Fred dancing together, ...