The Abandonment Of The Jews: America And The Holocaust, 1941-1945 – David S. Wyman, 1984 ★★★

The Cavalry Took Its Time

On Sunday, August 20, 1944, 127 American heavy bombers flew over Upper Silesia in western Poland, dropping 1,336 500-pound high-explosive bombs on synthetic-oil plants fueling Germany’s war against Russia. They left alone another Nazi operation just five miles away, a murder complex at Auschwitz.

A targeted operation against Auschwitz that day could have saved tens of thousands, including 15-year-old Anne Frank, arrested in Holland earlier that same month and transported to Auschwitz in September. Instead, then and later, Americans ignored the opportunity to strike a blow for humanity, particularly Jews. According to David Wyman, this callousness characterized American strategy throughout World War II.

The Ordeal Of Gilbert Pinfold – Evelyn Waugh, 1957 ★½

Waugh at Sea

A willingness to dish on oneself may make for a more scintillating companion; not so a better novel.

By sending up a drug- and alcohol-impaired middle-aged novelist not unlike author Evelyn Waugh himself, The Ordeal Of Gilbert Pinfold would seem a must-read for curious Waugh fans. What better target for a master satirist than himself? But even fans will find their enthusiasm dimmed by a surprisingly lackluster protagonist and paper-thin plot. Was Waugh, like Pinfold, running on empty late in the game?

Winchell – Bob Thomas, 1971 ★★½

The Power of the Fedora

The power of the written word is an amazing thing. It transforms losers into lovers, dreamers into rock stars. Wielded a certain way, it can even morph otherwise ordinary folk into fearsome giants. Such was the case with a failed singer-dancer named Walter Winchell.

While his hoofing croaked onstage in two-a-day vaudeville houses, Winchell honed another act backstage, listening in on the gossip and goings-on of fellow players and posting his observations on the theater bulletin board to be read by all. In the 1920s, he took his gossip-hawking act to newspapers. In short order he became the most-read columnist in America: Feared, loved, hated, enjoyed, but always read.

The Crab With The Golden Claws – Hergé, 1940-41 [Revised 1943] ★★½

The Captain Comes Aboard

Positively shocking what they let children read these days. Why, here’s a comic book that revolves around narcotics trafficking, a hero who hijacks a plane and steals a car, and his new buddy a raving alcoholic. Played for laughs, no less!

What kind of people are these Belgians, anyway?

Killer's Choice – Ed McBain, 1958 ★★½

Murder Takes a Back Seat

Why does the 87^th Precinct series still draw readers in, over sixty years after it began, more than a decade after its creator’s death? Can it boil down to more than crafty plots, cocksure villains, and cagey dialogue? Plenty of mystery series offer these; none are the 87^th Precinct.

My theory of the moment: It boils down to investment: Investment on the part of the author to populate his fictional city of Isola with a vibrant community of colorful characters. Investment on the part of readers to relate to these characters, enough so that like the police detectives of the 87^th, we are bothered when some evil is done them.

Knuckler: The Phil Niekro Story – Wilfrid Binette, 1970 ½★

A Pitch that Roared, a Book that Bored

Some sports books are like this one: Written on the fly to cash in on an athlete’s brief moment in the sun, certain in the knowledge no one will be reading it in a few years when said athlete’s time is long over.

I mean, this particular pitcher had just enjoyed his first big season, leading the Atlanta Braves to their first-ever postseason appearance, and he’s already 30 years old. How much longer would you think he had?

The Guns Of August – Barbara Tuchman, 1962 ★★★½

The Best-Laid Plans

Barbara Tuchman didn’t quite catapult history books into events, but she moved that ball forward in a big way. For several decades her heavy tomes about medieval warfare and Chinese diplomacy were best-sellers people lugged to the beach.

None had the impact of The Guns Of August, her 1962 account of the first month of World War I. It won the next year’s non-fiction Pulitzer and achieved legend status during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy was said to quote from it often, tasking staff to read it as war with Russia loomed.