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Review_NONFICTION

to specialize in child psychiatry, he learned (“vacuous tripe” shading to “sinister advice giving
about ADD and eventually established noise”)—can make his praise of folk cul- via 16 different
himself as an expert in the disorder. ture feel like snobbery. Nevertheless, folk practitioners
Hallowell asserts that he works on him- music historians and enthusiasts will find spanning over
self morally and spiritually and believes much of interest in this well-researched three centuries,
that he has achieved a “fairly good out- book. Photos. (May) from late-17th-
come as far as character is concerned.” century London
While the narrative moves too quickly at Milk: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas publisher
times, Hallowell is earnest in his assess- Mark Kurlansky. Bloomsbury, $29 (384p) John Dunton
ments about his search for his life’s ISBN 978-1-63286-382-9 through 21st-
calling. (June) Kurlansky’s entertaining, fast-paced century “life
history of milk exhibits his usual knack for coach” Martha
Lament from Epirus: plumbing the depths of a single subject Beck. While cautioning that some of the
An Odyssey into Europe’s (Cod, Salt). He shares a series of anecdotes advice discussed is “extreme, outdated, or
Oldest Surviving Folk Music on the evolution of milk’s production and downright insane” (such as 19th-century
Christopher C. King. Norton, $29.95 (272p) consumption, as well as on its roles in var- diet guru William Alcott’s strict no-
ISBN 978-0-393-24899-9 ious cultures, such as in ancient Greece— tomatoes rule), Weisberg stresses that
An obscure European musical tradition according to Greek mythology, the god- her subjects were essentially well-inten-
rebukes the sterility of modern culture dess Hera formed the Milky Way galaxy tioned, and not charlatans or hypocrites.
according to this bombastic appreciation- when she spilled milk while breastfeeding Intriguingly, the book highlights trends
cum-jeremiad. King, a musicologist and Heracles, and each drop became a star. over time, including the emergence of
record collector, travels to Epirus, a region Many Sumerian stories involve the search secular advice givers from the late 17th
straddling for a reliable milking animal, and Hindu to mid-19th century, the domination of
northwestern creation myths tell of the god Vishnu cre- the 20th by either self-styled “confidants”
Greece and ating the universe by churning a sea of or credentialed experts, and the current
southern milk. Kurlansky points out that every trend of striking a balance between
Albania, to milk-drinking culture searched for the approachability and professionalism.
savor its unique animals that provided the best source of Weisberg describes the distinctive traits
folk music, milk—mares, pigs, reindeer, donkeys, of her book’s subjects, such as Ben
which combines camels—but that the most important Franklin’s use of pseudonyms, columnist
droning back- issue for each culture was finding which Dorothy Dix’s combination of sympathy
grounds with milk-producing animals could be domes- with tough love, and astrologer Joan
almost atonal ticated easiest. By the 16th century, the Quigley’s direct line to the Reagan White
violin and clar- Netherlands had become the dairying House. Both those devoted to and
inet noodlings, in a style that aficionados center of Europe; the Dutch and others bemused by self-help literature will
concede can feel like “ear torture” to the brought cows with them to America, and profit from this insightful look into an
unaccustomed. The music’s nonconfor- by 1629 cows outnumbered people in the ever-relevant and changing facet of
mity is a virtue, King contends, making it Virginia colony. He ranges over the history American society. (Apr.)
a paragon of localism and authenticity of making milk safe, the ongoing debate
comparable only to Mississippi Delta between the benefits of raw milk versus Cousins Maine Lobster:
blues for its rootedness in its terroir and pasteurized milk, and the growth of large, How One Food Truck Became
defiance of bland commercial aesthetics. industrialized dairy farms. Kurlansky’s a Multi-Million-Dollar Business
King soaks up the Epirotic folkways, charming history of milk brims with Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac. St. Martin’s,
dancing at sometimes-raunchy village fes- excellent stories and great details. (May) $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-12217-9
tivals and quaffing anise-flavored moon- Tselikis and Lomac come across as thor-
shine. He relates stories of Ottoman atroc- Asking for a Friend: oughly likable
ities and legends of the area’s musicians, Three Centuries of Advice on Life, storytellers in
meanwhile arguing that folk music per- Love, Money, and Other Burning this account of
forms a crucial social “healing” function. Questions from a Nation Obsessed how they trans-
King’s evocations of Epirus and Epirotic Jessica Weisberg. Nation, $27 (320p) formed from
music—its haunting forlornness, “the ISBN 978-1-56858-534-5 business neo-
heavy despair of the clarinet and the sad Self-help books may seem especially phytes, with a
avian mimicry of the violin”—are vivid ubiquitous today, but as journalist half-baked idea
and engaging. Unfortunately, his sour Weisberg writes in her winning debut, to relive their
attacks on all other music—from classical the “American self-help empire has been Maine child-
(“lofty but groundless”) to big band (“vac- sprawling aggressively for decades.” She hoods, into the
uous, mediocre and sucking”) to pop recounts the evolution of professional founders of a

72 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANU AR Y 22, 2018