BOOK SHELF
Fame, solitude and Satchmo
 How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less
By Melissa De La Cruz and Karen Robinovitz (Ballantine Books, 320 pages)
At a time when “celebrity” can be attained by the mere muttering of the phrase “I want to marry a multimillionaire,”
journalists Karen Robinovitz and Melissa de la Cruz provide an alternate route to fame in their amusing How
to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less.A quintessential road map to fame, the stops in this realityTVfree trip to the
top include bribing publicists, stealing gift bags, and impersonating Hollywood higherups, all methods employed by
these two women in their quest for “boldface status.” Initially given the challenge by Marie Claire magazine,
Robinovitz and de la Cruz did not rest until they had honed their fameseeking expertise, and words like “fabulous”
and “swag” had properly infiltrated their vernacular. Laced with satirical humor, wit, and more namedropping
than an episode of The Osbournes, this book proves that the journey is almost always much more fun than
the destination. — Danielle Lee
 Fortress of Solitude
By Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday, 528 pages)
Lethem’s last novel, Motherless Brooklyn,was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the author has
returned with a novel as poignant to the current discussion of race in America as you will find. Set in a 1970s New
York City of cultural transition and racial disharmony, Fortress of Solitude tells the story of two young men — one
white, one black — and the complexity of their interaction in a world of rigid social, political, and racial codes. Seen
through the interpretation of 1990s America — when distinctions such as race and class were commonly thought to
no longer be issues of such profound weight — this novel eloquently expresses how very informed contemporary
America is by the racial and cultural evolution of the 1970s. — Cory O’Malley
 Naked in Baghdad:The Iraq War as Seen by NPR’s Correspondent
By Anne Garrels (Farrar Strauss & Giroux, 200 Pages)
Acclaimed NPR reporter Anne Garrels offers a unique and unbiased perspective on the recent war in Iraq.
One of only a handful of unembedded reporters that stayed in Baghdad for the duration of the invasion, Garrels’
daily correspondence provided a stream of information as true as any report of the war. Invoking a local and very
human viewpoint from her Iraqi driver, Garrels skillfully weighs her own attempts at outside objectivity with the
entirely subjective realities of Iraqi life during war. At times a horrific account of the brutality of battle, the weight of
Naked in Baghdad is occasionally relieved by the collection of messages sent by Garrels’ husband, updating friends and
family on the reporter’s status and allowing the reader respite from the intensity of the subject matter. — CO
Louis Armstrong:The Offstage Story of Satchmo
By Michael Cogswell (Collectors Press, 192 pages)
The premise of this new autobiographical text by Michael Cogswell — who was hired in 1991 to organize the Armstrong
archives — is that while the iconic figure of Louis Armstrong looms large in the international imagination, little has been made
known of the musician’s personal life. In 1983, archivists uncovered a treasure trove of Louis Armstrong memorabilia in the Queens,
New York, home of Armstrong’s recently deceased wife Lucille. Personal photographs, scrapbooks, and autobiographical manuscripts
were found in the home, as well as creative materials such as transcripts from the musician’s private recordings and reeltoreel tapes
he had recorded at home. The Offstage Story of Satchmo compiles these materials to candidly document an otherwise untold story of
one of America’s greatest and most influential artists. — CO
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