Native Americans

My only contact with Native Americans when I was growing up was attending the Indian Powwow in Tama. Of course, we kids had to have souvenirs from the event. I remember my sisters getting dolls with beaded dresses. How stereotypical could my family get?

It wasn't until I lived in Sioux City for a while that I was able to meet and get to know people with Native American heritage.

The book, Killing the White Man's Indian (323.1197 BOR) by Fergus M. Bordewich dispels the stereotypes that most of us grew up with. For hundreds of years, treaties with Indians have been broken. They were almost thought of as second citizens throughout the years. It was until recently that they have been able to take more control of their lives.

Bordewich does a great job giving the history of Native Americans beginning with the "purchase" of their lands through the twentieth century. It's quite different than what I was taught in school.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

There's nothing like cat humor

I'm a cat lover who enjoys a good joke, so The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons ( 74105973 NEW)fits me well. Sometimes, I just need a book that is lighthearted and mindless.

What can I say about this book: The title says it all. I'm sure most of you are familiar with The New Yorker and the off-beat cartoons it contains. Some are obvious sight gags, some are more subdued and reflective. Some I don't quite get - just like I couldn't always get Gary Larson's Far Side cartoons.

This is a compilation of cartoons, written by a variety of artists in a variety of styles, is sure to please all cat lovers (and even those who aren't).

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Norma Wallace: a powerful woman who ran a house of prostitution in New Orleans

The Last Madam (306.742 WAL) is refering to Norma Wallace, who ran a house of prostitution in New Orleans during the '70s. Before writing The Last Madam, author Christine Wiltz interviewed the former prostitutes who worked for Norma Wallace. Also, two years before her death in 1974, Wallace began tape recording her memories. By using these two resources, Wiltz is able to really flesh out her life and expose the underbelly, seedy side of New Orleans.

Norma Wallace was born in a life of poverty.

As to the year that she born, it's not known for certain, since she was preoccupied with her age all of her life and wasn't above shaving a few years off depending on whom she talked to. She began as an underage teenage prostitute. During this stage of her life, she added years to her age so that prospective clients would not be scared away for fear of getting caught and charged with a more severe crime. I love this quote: "Don't ask me what year (I was born) because I lied so much about that I don't even know anymore. My mother caught me lying about my age once. Then she started lying about her age, and I wound up older than my mother."

It wasn't long when she moved to New Orleans and set up her first house of prostitution above a bar in the French Quarter. Even during prohibition, alcohol still flowed freely at her establishment. Of course, there were raids and she was thrown in jail a few times, but nothing major. She had connections around town.

This book is full of the salacious husbands and lovers she had over the years. At the time of her death, she was married to a younger, attractive man - a rocky marriage that seemed to be more for prestige, proving that the aging grand dame could still attract young men.

1975 was a violent, bloody year for Norma Wallace. The end of the life of The Last Madam.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Britney Spears should talk to Brian Wilson

Wouldn't it be Nice: My Own Story (781.66 WIL in the biography section) is written by Brian Wilson, the genius behind the Beach Boys.

Already as a teenager, while living at home, he started having success with the Beach Boys. His demanding father declared himself the manager of the group and, much to Brian Wilson's dismay, was able to coerce Brian into turning over his ownership of the early Beach Boy songs that he wrote.

This was the beginning of Brian's troubled life with his family and the band. Brian's obsession with writing and producing the Beach Boys was all consuming. His competitive nature and his desire to be accepted by his father caused him to spiral out of control. He started using drugs, not taking care of his hygiene, and poisoned his family relationships. His emotional distance with family members even continued with his own daughters, Wendy and Chynna (who became popular with their own group, Wilson Phillips).

Those who have been keeping track of Phil Spector's unusual life will enjoy Brian's perspective on that strange man.

Brian Wilson's depressing life is a dramatic contrast to the whimsical, upbeat music that he wrote and produced over the years.

Know, he has been able to be productive again after many years of self-exile. He just came out with an album a few years ago.

As I said in the heading, Britney Spears could learn a thing or two from Brian Wilson about getting good therapy and turning own's life around.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

"How one man went from head of the household to the bottom of the pecking order"

I like the heading for this article. I wish I had thought of it: It's actually the subtitle for this book, Enslaved by Ducks (636.088 TAR).

Author Bob Tarte grew up on a farm where he was surrounded by animals. But he never felt as displaced as he did when his wife started adding various animals to their household.

It all began with a parrot. It didn't take long for Bob to be busy supporting a large cast of animals including an the original parrot, a Muscovy duck, an amorous dove, just to name a few.

I'm an animal lover myself, and grew up on a farm where my large family owned dogs, cats, ducks, turtles, fish, chameleons, and parakeets. I know how animals can make their way into your heart. Their personalities are just as varied as humans, something that Bob discovers in Enslaved by Ducks.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The Parrot Who Owns Me

Parrots have been around for 40 million years. As far as parrot-human interaction, it's been about 130,000 years ago.

Unlike cats and dogs, the parrot has never been successfully breed to fully remove its wild nature. That's what Joanna Burger found out when she "adopted" an adult Red-lored Amazon Parrot named Tiko. The Parrot Who Owns Me (636.6 BUR) is Burger's story of her relationship with Tiko.

Because Tiko is the sole parrot in the household, he performed the mating ritual on Joanna, even going so far as to building artificial nests to woo her. Burger expands on the mating behaviors of parrots in the wild. They are monogamous, mating for life just like geese, herons, and most seabirds. Biologists have even seen same sex pairing occur with parrots - and the bond between two males can be so strong that when a female is introduced, she is shunned.

Joanna Burger is a professor of biology at Rutgers University.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The life of a country vet

Author James Lucas is a retired Iowa veterinarian who chronicles some of his experiences in Birth in a Chicken House ( 636.089 LUC). If you haven't guessed by the cover illustration, he's a humorous story teller.

Growing up on a farm in Iowa, I could relate to some of the stories. Lucas was a small town vet who was expected to rush to a farmer's aide at a moments notice, whether it was to help a birthing cow or help a pet who had just been run over by a car. Being a vet was hard work, although he constantly reminds readers that it's extremely rewarding. Although he finds humor in some of these sad stories, it's not malicious - he does it with sensitivity.

He also tells stories about his experiences going to Iowa State College in the late 1950s as well, which was quite different than what students have today. He was required to wear a white shirt with a bow tie. The instructors were tough, failing at least a tenth of the students, and many students dropping completely out of vet school within a few weeks.

Birth in a Chicken House is a quick read, with each essay on a few pages at the most.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008