RALPH FOLIOS

NUMBERS 1 - 9

Spring 1999 - Spring 2001
[In Reverse Order]

Spring 2001 [#9]

A History of Celibacy
Elizabeth Abbott
(Scribner)

Billy Wong
A Story

Declare
Tim Powers
(Morrow)

Gandhi The Man
The Story of His Transformation
Eknath Easwaran
(Nilgiri)

Venona
Decoding Soviet Espionage in America
John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr
(Yale)

The Race to The White Continent
Voyages to The Antarctic
Alan Gurney
(Norton)

What the Cults Believe
Irving Robertson
(The Moody Bible Institute)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Joan Didion
(Modern Library)

Fighting Bob La Follette
The Righteous Reformer
Nancy C. Unger
(University of North Carolina)

Poem
Song of an Unexpected Love


Late Winter 2001 [#8]

The Truth
About Dogs
An Inquiry into the Ancestry,
Social Conventions, Mental Habits,
and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris
Stephen Budiansky
(Viking)

Carl Heinrich Graun
A Candleflame on
The Tavern Wall

The Book of War: 25 Centuries of
Great War Writing
John Keegan
(Penguin)

Zen Sex:
The Way of Making Love
Philip Toshio Sudo
(Harper/San Francisco)

The Redwoods of Baja California:
A Story

Prozac Backlash:
Overcoming the Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft,
Paxil, and Other Antidepressants with
Safe, Effective Alternatives
Joseph Glenmullen, M.D.
(Simon & Schuster)

Our Man in Vienna
Richard Timothy Conroy
(St. Martins)

To Die
Samuel Beckett

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Chester G Hearn
(McFarland)

Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht
Bryan Burkhart and David Hunt
(Chronicle Books)

Emanuel Swedenborg's Journal of Dreams
Commentary by Wilson van Dusen
(Swedenborg Foundation)

No One's Perfect
Hirotada Ototake
(Kodansha)

Good-Bye My Friend:
Pet Cemeteries, Memorials, and
Other Ways to Remember,
A Collection of Thoughts,
Feelings, and Resources
Michele Lanci-Altomare
(BowTie)

Nightwood
Djuna Barnes
(Modern Library)


Early Winter 2000 [#7]

Circumcision
A History of the World's Most Controversial Surgery
David L. Gollaher
(Basic Books)

Living in the Number One Country
Reflections from a Critic of American Empire
Herbert I. Schiller
(Seven Stories Press)

Denmark
"Denmark has a long history of doing much with little. The country's only natural resources are seaweed and bird-droppings."
Dr. Phage

The Innocents Within
Robert Daley
(Villard)

The Ethics of Homelessness
Philosophical Perspectives
G. John M. Abbarno, Editor
(Rodopi)

The Senility Prayer
God grant us the senility to forget what we used to think absolutely had to be changed whatever that was.

Sex and Violence and the Federal Communications Commission:
A Program for Action

The Architecture of the Shakers
Julia Nicoletta
(Countryman Press)

Dancing Alone in Mexico
From the Border to Baja and Beyond
Ron Butler
(University of Arizona)

The Buddha Scroll
Introduction by Thomas Cleary
(Shambhala)

Tales from Rhapsody Home
Or, What They
Don't Tell You
About Senior Living
John Gould
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

Fishers of Men
Kate Gale
(Red Hen Press)

Impudent Letters of the Month


Early Fall 2000 [#6]

Strange Foods
An Epicurean Adventure Around the World
Jerry Hopkins
(Periplus/Tuttle)

When in the Course of Human Events
Arguing the Case for Southern Secession
Charles Adams
(Roman & Littlefield)

Swarm
Jorie Graham
(Ecco/Harper Collins)

Bob Marley and the 3AM Blues
From "A Geezer in Paradise"
"I am not very interested in Bob Marley. If the truth be known, I can't stand Bob Marley. I would prefer anything other than Bob Marley. Give me Smashmouth, The Cramps, The Pet Shop Boys, The Goo-Goo Dolls. Give me Leprosy, Dengue Fever, The Blind Staggers. But spare me Bob Marley."

A Fly for the Prosecution
How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes
M. Lee Goff
(Harvard)

My Friend is Struggling...
With Unplanned Pregnancy
Josh McDowell and Ed Stewart
(Word)

Adventures with Old Houses
Richard Hampton Jenrette
(Wyrick & Co.)

Suicide
Ruth Shonle Cavan
(The University of Chicago Press)

CRYPTIC E-MAILS OF THE MONTH
The Deluged Civilizations of Caucasus
Fun 'n' Frolic in Albuquerque

Rescuing Jeffrey
Richard Galli
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)


Summer 2000 [#5]

Flu
The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused it
Gina Kolata
(Farrar Straus & Giroux)

'Tis
A Memoir
Frank McCourt
(Scribner)

Death in the Mountains
Heart attack, says the migra --- the U. S. Border guards. They are the ones who brought his body in. The other Mexicans who were travelling with him didn't stop, couldn't stop to help him. When you don't have papers, even when one of your compañeros dies crossing the border, you have to keep going.

Glorie
Caryn James
(Penguin)

"Flow Gently, Sweet Afton"
Robert Burns
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes!
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays!
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream ---
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream!

You Can't Win
Jack Black
(AK/Nabat)

Rum, Romanism, & Rebellion
The Making of a President, 1884
Mark Wahlgren Summers
(University of North Carolina)

A Frozen Hell
The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939 - 40
William R. Trotter
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

The RALPH Top Pops 1994 - 2000
A list of our most popular book reviews, essays and readings, based on the number of monthly hits.

  • Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, by Marya Hornbacher (Harper). "The truth is," said our reviewer, "Hornbach probably needed nothing more than a couple of whacks on the fanny."
https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/newF.html

  • The World's Most Dangerous Places, An Anti-Travel Guide, by Robert Young Pelton (Fielding). A book that lists of some of the scariest places in the world to find yourself.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/newJ.html

  • Heart of Spain: Robert Capa's Photographs of the Spanish Civil War, Leslie A. Martin, Editor (Aperture)
    https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/newV.html

  • Six Wars At a Time, The Life of Gutzon Borglum, by Howard and Audrey Shaff (The Center for Western Studies). The life of the eccentric who created the faces of the presidents at Mount Rushmore.
    https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/borglumP.html

  • Mrs. Caliban, by Rachel Ingalls (Harvard Common). A strange and wonderful tale of a living, loving vegetable man. Three British critics picked this as one of the best American novels of all time.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/caliban.html

  • Confucius in 90 Minutes, by Paul Strathern. (Ivan R. Dee). Our reviewer imagines Strathern's marching orders: "Keep it short, below 10,000 words. And for christssakes Paul --- keep it light!"
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/briefsU.html

  • Lady Chatterley's Lover, D. H. Lawrence. (First Penguin Books Edition) "Has some generally useful descriptions of wildlife, botany, and hunting practices at a typical Edwardian English estate, but --- unfortunately --- the noisome activities of a certain gamekeeper and the lady of the house keep getting in the way of these otherwise excellent passages."
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/chatterleyN.html

  • A Woman of Rome, by Alberto Moravia, Translated by Lydia Holland. (Steerforth Italia). "She pulls all men into her, sees them all with a dispassionate warmth that leads us to believe that perhaps she is one of the divine, a Mary Magdelaine, the Sweet Mother of Jesus, our Lady of the Streets."
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/moraviaZA.html

  • The Ogre, by Michel Tournier, Translated by Barbara Bray. (Johns Hopkins). "They compare it to The Tin Drum but that book of monsters is flat and myopic compared to the rich symphony of Tournier's work."
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/ogreR.html

  • Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, by Larry E. Tise (University of Georgia Press).
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/tise.html

  • Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia, by Dennis Covington (Penguin).
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/snake.html

  • Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, by Daniel Paul Schreber (Harvard). The classic autobiography of a schizophrenic personality.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/schreber.html

  • Dr. Laura: The Unauthorized Biography, by Vickie L. Bane (St Martins).
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/dr-lauraZA.html

  • How Now Shall We Live? Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcy (Tyndale House). Some thoughts on morality from one of the Nixon administration's insiders.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/charles-colsonZB.html

  • "Fatty Arbuckle," an appreciation of the classic silent-era movie star, by Douglas Cruickshank.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/fatty.html

  • "Why Anti-matter Matters," by Alfred Jarry. Thoughts from the master of 'pataphysical thought.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/jarry.html

  • Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy In America, by Laura Kipnis (Duke University Press).
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/bound-and-gaggedU.html

  • Prayer Warriors: The True Story of a Gay Son, His Fundamentalist Christian Family, and The Battle for His Soul, by Stuart Howell Miller (Alyson).
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/newU.html

  • The Windsor Style, By Suzy Menkes (Salem House). The Duke & Duchess of Winsor exposed.
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/dukeI.html

  • "A Brief History of Mexico." "While America was busy with the Civil War, the French landed at Very Cruz and marched on the capitol with wagons filled with baguettes and petits-fours."
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/mexhistory2.html

  • "Cousin Hans." "I remember sitting alone on the steps, hearing my seven-year-old friend crying out, begging his father to stop, please to stop, please, it hurts so."
    • https://www.krabarchive.com/ralphmag/hans.html

    "The Ladies of the School"
    The Ladies of the School
    Of Bliss have announced that each evening
    They are preparing to crush thyme
    Against their hearts. The hot waxy juices
    Will result in something that's to be known as
    The Fat Solution For Dying Stars,
    (So named after Susie Star or Susie Dying).
    Logs (or legs) will be counted up as they turn
    Manfully to eat up all the wimps like     Arthur Q.
    Freud, son of the master.
    The Ladies of the School of Bliss
    Have announced that each evening
    In order to save them,
    They are preparing to crush thyme
    Against the Dying Stars.


    Spring 2000 [#4]

    Learning by Heart
    Contemporary American Poetry About School
    Maggie Anderson, David Hassler, Editors
    (University of Iowa Press)

    Death du Jour
    Kathy Reichs
    (Scribner)

    Fast Dancing on Rhumba Beach
    Carlos Amantea

    Waiting
    Ha Jin
    (Pantheon)

    Nagarjuna's "Seventy Stanzas"
    A Buddhist Psychology Of Emptiness
    David Ross Komito
    (Snow Lion)

    Cider with Laurie
    Laurie Lee Remembered
    Barbara Hooper
    (Peter Owen/Dufour Editions)

    The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race
    Paul Krassner
    (Seven Stories)

    What If?
    The World's Foremost Military Historians
    Imagine What Might Have Been
    Robert Cowley, Editor
    (G. P. Putnam)

    FIVE GREAT BOOKS FOR SPRING
    Between Silk and Cyanide
    A Codemaker's War 1941 - 1945
    Leo Marks
    (Free Press)

    Opium
    A History
    Martin Booth
    (St. Martins Press)

    The Cockroach Papers
    A Compendium of History and Lore
    Richard Schweid
    (Four Walls Eight Windows)

    Beatus of Liebana
    Codex of the Monastery of San Andres de Arroyo
    (M. Moleiro, Aptdo F. D. 179,
    08080 Barcelona SPAIN)

    Gems of Wisdom
    From the 7th Dalai Lama
    Glenn H. Mullin
    (Snow Lion)


    Winter 1999 - 2000 [#3]

    Tornado Alley:
    Monster Storms of the Great Plains,
    Howard B. Bluestein
    (Oxford)

    Lifestyles of the Blind and Paralyzed:
    Mark O'Brien

    Vampires:
    The Occult Truth,
    Kostantinos
    (Llewellyn)

    The Way of The World:
    From the Dawn of Civilizations to the Eve of The 21st Century,
    David Fromkin
    (Knopf)

    Conversations with E. L. Doctorow,
    Christopher D Morris, Editor
    (University Press of Mississippi)

    Medieval Furniture
    Plans and Instructions for Historical Reproductions
    Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly
    (Stackpole Books)

    The Arcimboldo Effect
    Transformations of the Face
    From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century
    (Abbeville Press)

    Mama Dip's Kitchen:
    With More Than 250 Traditional Southern Recipes
    Mildred Council
    (University of North Carolina)

    Fall 1999 [#2]
    Presence in the Flesh
    The Body in Medicine
    Katharine Young
    (Harvard)

    Warm Smiles from Cold Mountain
    Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation
    Reb Anderson
    (Rodmell Press)

    Letter from Uppland
    Dr. Phage

    Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer
    Kenneth Patchen
    (New Directions)

    The Ballad of Hans and Jenny
    Aquiles Nazoa
    (Venezuela, 1920 - 1976)

    The Devil's Cup
    Coffee, the Driving Force in History
    Stewart Lee Allen
    (Soho Press)

    Shadows, Fire, Snow
    The Life of Tina Modotti
    Patricia Albers
    (Clarkson Potter)

    The X-Rated Videotape Guide, VII
    Patrick Riley
    (Prometheus)

    The Philosophy of Music
    Theodor W. Adorno
    (Stanford University Press)

    Ralph's Top Ten Books of the Season

    Summer 1999 [#1]
    A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia
    and Other Stories
    Victor Pelevin
    Andrew Bromfield, Translator
    (New Directions, 1999)

    Confucius in 90 Minutes
    Paul Strathern
    (Ivan R. Dee, 1999)

    Worlds Without End
    The Exploration of Planets Known and Unknown
    John S. Lewis
    (Perseus)

    Wind:
    How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and The Land
    Jan DeBlieu
    (Houghton Mifflin, 1999)

    Polio
    Thomas M. Daniel and Frederick C. Robbins, Editors
    (University of Rochester)

    The Black Box
    All New Cockpit Voice Recorder Accounts of In-Flight Accidents
    Malcolm MacPherson, Editor
    (Quill/William Morrow)

    Nature Studies
    John Henry Ryskamp
    (FC2, Distributed by Northwestern University)

    A Cricket in the Telephone
    (At Sunset)
    Lolita Lark, Editor
    (Mho & Mho)

    Ol' Strom
    An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond
    Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson
    (Longstreet)


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    Go to Folios 30 - 39

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