a selection of titles by Bay Area authorsThe Latest from Bay Area Writers


By Nick Petrulakis



The best part of the 1966 World Series isn't that the Dodgers were supposed to win (but didn't!), nor is it that Frank Robinson, traded from his Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles, won Baseball's Triple Crown and led his new team to a World Series Championship (and if that wasn't a finger in the eye of the Red's owner who lost faith in Robinson, I don't know what is) nor is it the fact that 1966 is the year I was born (though I'm sure you'll agree that that 40-year-old date is worth noting).

No, the best part of the '66 Series is that we now have Black and Blue, Tom Adelman's glorious recounting of the most dominant pitching performances in the history of the Series. Adelman, author of the bestselling Longball, has become one of our best chroniclers of this nation's greatest sport. His writing is vivid, the stories he relates are dramatic. So it's not just fans of baseball, but fans of a writer who's always swinging for the fences, who will delight in Adelman's latest crack at the Grand Old Game. Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series that Stunned America, by Tom Adelman (Little, Brown and Company, 2006, 233 pp., $24.95)

IF ADVERBS WAS JUST A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES by some San Francisco author named Daniel Handler, you might just skip it. After all, who buys short story collections? But in this case, Daniel Handler also happens to be known as Lemony Snicket, the fiendishly clever genius behind the collection of children's novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Oh, right, that guy. What Handler shows in Adverbs is an author in love with words and an author who delights in wordplay, a writer interested in leading his readers into a crazy Ferris wheel of stories, each revolving around love. Anyone interested in a fresh look at the ridiculous things we do and say when temptation is around will find this series of fortunate events irresistible. And better yet, it's the best reminder in a long time that collections of stories should not be overlooked, especially by admirers of terrific writing. Adverbs: A Novel, by Daniel Handler (Ecco, 2006, 272 pp., $23.95)

IT MAKES SENSE THAT MICHAEL POLLAN, author of the critically acclaimed Botany of Desire, would find himself living in Oakland's Rockridge district. Rockridge is a foodie's paradise, with acclaimed restaurants like A Cote and Oliveto next to pizza favorite Zachary's, next to Market Hall (with its plethora of vendors selling high-end meat, fish, pasta and pastry). Pollan, who used Botany to illustrate how we use plants to satisfy our most base desires, should feel right at home surrounded by the earth's bounty, available (for a price) just by taking a stroll down College Avenue.

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan wonders where all that wonderful food comes from. He answers the question, literally, by tracing four meals directly back to their source. McDonald's comes in for a not-too-surprising bashing, but so does the seemingly more eco-friendly Whole Foods. By the book's end, you'll feel as if Pollan has been that rare dinner guest, the kind who can answer the simplest question, "What's for dinner, honey?" by being both knowledgeable and entertaining--and in a way that will have you asking him back again and again.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan (The Penguin Press, 2006, 450 pp., $26.95)