Books

by Mary Beachum

The Dark Side of Liberalism:
Unchaining the Truth
by Phil Kent
Harbor House, 2003

Conservatives can win. So begins the introduction to the new book, The Dark Side of Liberalism, by political pundit Phil Kent. First as an editor of The Augusta Chronicle, and then speaking in the national media as former president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, Kent has distilled his conservative philosophy into a primer for activists. His persuasive prose is designed to rally those who agree with him, detonate small explosions in the brains of those who don't and sway everyone in between.

The theme of the book is well expressed by the mission statement of the Southeastern Legal Foundation: "To advocate limited government, individual economic freedom and the free enterprise system." It is structured as a textbook for conservative spokesmen, dealing with issues from racism to taxation to education. Each chapter begins with a paragraph dealing with Kent's understanding of the "Liberal Line" as espoused by such dark-side Darth Vaders as Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson. This is followed by a section called "Unchaining the Truth," which deconstructs the "Liberal Line" and presents the author's brief for the reader's judgment. At the end of each chapter are summary paragraphs described as the "Unchained Truth: Facts, Talking Points To Remember and Use," designed for dropping into conversations and getting conservative sound bites on the media. He notes that it is not necessary to "convince or convert reporters" because "your audience is America."

People on every gradient of the political spectrum acknowledge that through its cultural and technological creativity and economic vitality, the United States is now both the beacon and the demon of a global society. Foreign leaders denounce our imperialism while their university students download MP3 files of Jennifer Lopez. The quest to define and conserve the values that have made us great, while acknowledging and correcting our failures, should not be sidetracked by complacency. Whether or not one agrees with Kent's vision for America, The Dark Side of Liberalism is a thought-provoking double-dare to dig for the truth and get involved in the decision-making process.

Glory in the Name:
A Novel of the Confederate Navy
by James L. Nelson
William Morrow, 2003

The Confederate Navy was a hodge-podge collection of small ships and boats, armed and armored in inventive ways by their commanders. Lieutenant Samuel Bowater was the very model of the Southern gentleman, scrupulously honest, brave in the face of fire, artistic but not effete and deeply concerned about maintaining a proper appearance. He hated the thought of Yankees coming, "the low dirty mechanics and foreign-born plug-uglies, the dried-up abolitionists - the fast-talking, haughty New Yorkers." All of his qualities were to be tested, and humanized, when he resigned his commission in the United States Navy after Fort Sumter and assumed command of a converted tugboat in Wilmington.

Glory in the Name is a sea saga with a twist. All of the action takes place inshore, in the bays and deltas of the Southern states, as the Confederate "mosquito fleet" does its best to break the stranglehold blockade of the Union warships. It is a tale of valor and determination against heavy odds, with each battle described in gut-wrenching detail. The author succeeds in describing both the technical aspects of seamanship and sea warfare and the emotional complexities of men in battle: "the visceral roar" of the guns, the "shudder in the deck," the "smell of spent powder in the air."

Nelson also pays attention to his plot and to creating characters that engage the reader. Bowater's chief engineer, Hieronymus Taylor, is a loyal Southerner who has rebelled against the pretentiousness and injustice of the slave society. Wendy Atkins, a painter looking for loopholes in her enforced gentility, steals his heart. The novel also carries the story of the Paine family of Yazoo City, who are ripped apart by death and grief at the Battle of Manassas and seek their special brand of revenge on the Yankees. It is a seaworthy novel - trim, polished and well-designed.

The Music of Your Life
by John Rowell
Simon & Schuster, 2003

Somewhere during the 1960s, in a small North Carolina town, a 10-year-old boy is sitting in his Underdog pajamas. He adores Lawrence Welk, drinks ginger ale from a champagne flute, pretends his Ritz crackers with pimento cheese are canapés and reads Modern Screen with his grandmother. He knows his "otherness" and dreads the cruelties of the playground. Somewhere in another small town, a teenager, uncomfortable with being different, becomes an actor. He sees the jocks, the popular boys, and decides he must live a role. "And if I'm not really a leading man, I can at least play one. I can look and act the part." Somewhere farther away, two men past middle age, old friends, old lovers, sit quietly in the evening scent of honeysuckle and mountain laurel.

The seven short stories of The Music of Your Life revolve around the themes of self-awareness and the search for a soul mate; of the difficulty of "just trying to figure out who loves you, if you love them back, if they love you enough, if you love them too much, if the percentages add up and equal out on both sides." The carefully crafted stories resonate with a tough honesty about the differentness of being gay that is tempered by Rowell's gentle humor, by his ability to express the ridiculous things we do to fool ourselves and impress others. His innate compassion for his characters, even when they are behaving badly, is expressed by T.J. in the final story, "Wildlife of Coastal Carolina." "He isn't completely a weasel and I wish I could hate him more than I do."

Rowell's stories are funny and sad, often in the same sentence. They stir their readers to remember the embarrassing times that are looked back on with laughter and the meannesses that once seemed funny but are remembered with regret. And no matter whether the reader can identify with the characters, the stories do what good stories should: They stir emotions and encourage an inward look.