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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2016)
its grammar, dog and other comics) and Oatmeal author/artist Matthew Inman is such a Tesla fan that he wrote a song (“Nikola Tesla Dood”) about him, has drawn several comics and helped raise the money to build a Tesla museum. Why does Tesla deserve a museum? That’s what Tesla for Beginners will teach you. Thomas Edison might get all the credit, but Tesla either invented, contributed to or predicted everything, from the remote control, to neon and fluorescent lights, wireless transmission, computers, smartphones, laser beams, x-rays and robotics. Tesla was all about alternating current (AC), the basis of our present-day electrical system, while Edison was pro-DC, or direct current. Tesla for Beginners isn’t going to win a Pulitzer Prize, but it’s a nice little introduction to a figure who should be better known. — Camilla Mortensen kA Naturalist’s Guide to the Hidden World of Pacific Northwest Dunes by George Poinar Jr. Oregon State University Press, $24.95. Charming if slightly pedantic, A Naturalist’s Guide to the Hidden World of Pacific Northwest Dunes delivers on its title promise as a colorful guide to the sand dunes and their hundreds of bizarre flora and fauna. I imagine this book would be perfectly suited for a young naturalist spending a vacation away at the Oregon coast — someone inclined to carry around a magnifying glass and take samples back to the beach house for further study. Poinar writes his guide with the loving attentiveness of a devoted naturalist, introducing the reader to various kinds of coastal plants and the animals that depend on them. Glossy pages pop in full color with amazingly comprehensive photos and descriptions for each kind of plant or critter, predominantly of the six- and eight-legged kind. Highlights for devoted mammal fans such as myself include the brush rabbit, the California ground squirrel and the adorable, fluffy-tailed chickaree. If you’re insect-averse, this book might not be a great choice. But if there’s a budding entomologist in your family, or a beachcomber with a love for bugs, put this book on your gift list right away. — Amy Klarup k The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution by Micah White. Knopf Canada, $20. Before moving to Oregon, founding the Boutique Activist Consultancy (“We win lost causes”) and unsuccessfully running for mayor of the small coastal town of Nehalem, Micah White was one of the progenitors of Occupy Wall Street. Reading his book The End of Protest, I can’t help but think that most Occupiers I know might not be all that into it — they are too busy changing the world to muse and wax eloquent about changing the world. White, who as part of Adbusters was a co-creator of the idea to #OccupyWallStreet, chronicles the events of Occupy and ponders why, in his view, it didn’t work. I look at Eugene’s Occupy Medical and the rise of Bernie Sanders and wonder if it takes longer to have a revolution than White might think? Maybe I’m just hopeful in the face of Donald Trump’s recent election, but I still see the tendrils of hope and revolution that Occupy put forth. White focuses on “the people,” which has an appeal but is also frightening — Trump calls out to “the people” as well. In the book, White lays out his “unified theory of revolution,” which he sees as made up of voluntarism, subjectivism, structuralism and finally, theurgism — that idea that divine intervention is part of revolution. With that I have to admit, he kind of loses me. — Camilla Mortensen 160 E. BROADWAY 541-342-2002 Vincent Van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook by Bogomila Welsh- Ovcharov. Abrams, $85. The Voynich Manuscript. Yale University Press, $50. Shakespeare and Company, Paris: A History of the Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart, edited by Krista Halverson. Shakespeare and Company, $34.95. Trump by Ted Rall. Seven Stories Press, $16.99. My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency by Doug Henwood. Seven Stories Press, $16.99. There seems to persist even now a strong sense among those who detest President-elect Donald Trump that a major piece of the puzzle is missing and if it could only be found and brought to light, Trump’s support would dry up and America’s ugly carnie Hitler would immediately vanish. In that spirit, journalist- illustrator Ted Rall set out to do in comic book form what no author has yet achieved in prose: Nail that slippery orange snake to the wall. Too bad Rall’s Trump follows the same script outlined by those who came before him and falls short at all the same turns, begging the questions: If the ever-growing mountain of dirt and ridicule can’t bury The Donald, did Rall’s rehash ever stand a chance? And was it even meant to? A rich kid, skilled at exploiting loopholes; a New York real-estate shark who twisted arms and cozied up to mafia types; a Teflon womanizer (Rall’s book debuted before the Pussygate scandal broke): Candidate Trump #realmenshopat J. Michaels Books The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben. Greystone Books, $24.95. The Invention of Nature Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf. Vintage, $30. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. Little Brown, $27. Moonglow: A Novel by Michael Chabon. Harper Collins, $28.99. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. Anchor, $16.95. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance. Harper Collins, $27.99. Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever. Harper Collins, $37.50. Mindful Compassionate Medicine Primary Care Everything for the women in your life and a few things for you too! PLUS we ship and off er complimentary gift wrap 128 e broadway passionfl owerdesign.com Lymphedema Management Women’s Health Medical Massage Currently accepting new patients! Most insurances accepted. Call today to schedule! (541) 683-1125 1355 Oak Street, Suite 100 Eugene, OR 97401 www.healingspirithealth.com eugeneweekly.com • December 8, 2016 17
