Irish Times reviewers wade through the latest batch of paperbacks, including Afghanistan: Where God Only Comes to Weep by Siba Shakib and Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles, by John Lahr
Afghanistan: Where God Only Comes to Weep by Siba Shakib (Random House, £7.99 sterling)
Life for women in Afghanistan is hard for us in the West to imagine and impossible to comprehend, despite the recent media attention. In this heart-breaking tale of one woman's life, which is the story of so many Afghan women, Iranian writer and filmmaker Siba Shakib puts flesh on the bones of bare journalistic facts. With courage, strength and owing much to the kindness of strangers, the intelligent, independent Shirin-Gol (a young girl who wanted to be a doctor when the Russians invaded in 1979) survives a forced marriage to an opium addict, war, rape by police, enforced prostitution, the horrors of Taliban rule, hunger, madness and attempted suicide. Shakib also recalls the history, beauty and wealth of this country which foreign powers have so often invaded and exploited - for its oil, uranium, opium, gold - and its culture and traditions, many of which the Taliban destroyed. What could be unbearably grim and painful becomes, in Shakib's poetic prose, a beautiful, inspiring homage to Afghan women, victims of their time. - Sarah Marriott
Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles, by John Lahr (Bloomsbury, £8.99 sterling)
Take a few showbiz greats (Allen, Sinatra, Berlin, Hope, Miller), add a few lesser known though equally powerful names (Mamet, Nichols, Labute), toss in a few more including one's mother and father (the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz) and what do you get? For starters, a brilliant discourse on these people. And this ain't showbiz gossip, not by a long stretch. Lahr's portrait of each personality is intelligent, insightful and a pleasure to read. The unrehearsed one-liners of some, especially Allen, are superb. The author, thankfully, is never cowed by the reputation of these often volatile megastars and, though sympathetic, he never shuns revealing their darker and less attractive sides. Within this potent cocktail of brilliant entertainers with often frightening behaviour and huge tempers, Roseanne's renowned temper is extra special. This talented writer (who is a regular contributor to the New Yorker) succeeds admirably in getting to the essence of his subjects, who talk to him with surprising honesty and candour. If you have a scintilla of interest in films or theatre, or even if you haven't, this book is a delightful and hugely entertaining read. - Owen Dawson
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende (Flamingo, £6.99 sterling)
As the author of The House of Spirits and other grandiose epics, Allende shines when spanning turbulent lives, loves and deaths through the generations. In this most recent of her novels, Aurora del Valle, the child of passion and tragedy, is raised by her indomitable grandmother Paulina del Valle, a Chilean living in San Francisco in the late 19th century. This family saga begins with Aurora's grandparents - Chinese-English on her mother's side - and the story of how they came to San Francisco, moving eventually back to Chile and the revolution, as the family fortunes peak and dwindle. Aurora, who proves to be as strong and independent as her grandmother, struggles and slides through the changing fortunes of her picaresque life. Allende juggles the intricacies of her web-like narrative with great skill; characters move in and out of focus, all taking their place and importance in the self-contained world of the book. Dickens with Latin rhythm and panache. - Christine Madden
In My Mind's Eye: The Cork I Knew and Loved By Geraldine Neeson (Prestige Boks, €11.41)
The title of this book is somewhat misleading as we learn much, much more than the story of the author's deep relationship with her beloved city of Cork. This most formidable and unusual woman was born in 1895 into a comfortable middle class family - her father was a successful tea and wine importer. She joined Cumann na mBan and despite some family opposition married a "Shinner", Sean Neeson, an intelligence officer. She deliberately involved herself in politics and played a small but active role in the War of Independence and later the Civil War. In parallel with her political interests she enjoyed a distinguished career as an accomplished pianist and somehow also found time to involve herself in Cork theatre. She writes with a precise, observant style with the occasional shaft of gentle humour. Full of historical and social information it is a pleasure to observe her almost old-world style of writing, a style perhaps now gone forever. A pity, though, about the typographical errors throughout the book. - Owen Dawson