Murray Bail, Eucalyptus *** 1/2

I was made aware of Eucalyptus when Jane Alison referred to it in Meander Spiral Explode. She held it up as an example of a book that eschewed the traditional dramatic arc in favor of a different organizing principle, in this case, a catalog of Eucalyptus species. ("In the world of trees, only the acacia has more species that the eucalyptus––but look at the acacia, a series of pathetic little bushes.")

In fact, though, Eucalyptus has the most traditional of narrative arcs: it's a fairy tale. "Once upon a time there was a man...who couldn't come to a decision about his daughter. He then made an unexpected decision." The daughter is shut up in a tower, and suitors come to contest for her hand.

It's true that the chapters are named after eucalyptus species and that the test for potential husbands is to name all of the species on the father's property. Eucalypts serve as a flexible metaphor for Australia, art, and the multiplicity of life, much like whales do in Moby Dick.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, with its subtle connections between the species names in the titles and the action of the chapters and wonderful offbeat descriptions. The latter stages, which introduce numerous stories within the story, felt rushed, especially the final chapters. I plan to track down more of Murray Bail's books.

John Corbett, A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation *** 1/2

A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation offers suggestions for appreciating improvisational music. The author focuses on free improvisation, by which he means music with no preplanned elements, but his suggested techniques can enrich less rigorously free music as well. In fact, I doubt that totally free improvisation actually exists: musicians surely agree about something before they start playing.

By virtue of his definition of free improvisation, Corbett has to point to musical elements without reference to the conventions of particular genres. He is more successful at providing concrete suggestions than Ben Ratliff was in Every Song Ever. Corbett's prose style is very accessible and enjoyable, which is impressive given how intimidating this genre of music can be.

You can read A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation in one sitting -- I know because I did -- but of course you'll want to have it at hand while you listen to the recommended recordings -- I know because I do.

Steven Millhauser, Little Kingdoms ****

Little Kingdoms is a collection of three novellas. 

The first, "The Little Kingdom of J. Franklin Payne," is quintessential Millhauser. It tells the story of an artist (a cartoonist) in a early 20th century who constructs ever more elaborate and fantastical art, using a wealth of period detail and a traditional prose style littered with passages that clearly describe Millhauser's methods as much as they do Payne's. It feels very much like a rehearsal for Martin Dressler.

"The Little Kingdom of J. Franklin Payne" ultimately reveals itself to be a fairy tale told with realist trappings. The second story, "The Princess, the Dwarf, and the Dungeon," takes the opposite approach. As its title suggests, it is explicitly a fairy tale but is really about the concerns of the townspeople and not the residents of the castle.

"Catalogue of the Exhibition" is a biography of an artist told through the interpretive labels on his paintings. I found it less compelling than the other two, although the story does build to a nicely grand and violent climax.

Lisa Feldman Barrett, How Emotions are Made ***

The goal of this book is to argue for the theory of constructed emotion and against the classical essentialist theory of emotion. Our experience and interpretation of emotional states is not universal or innate but rather conceptual.

I was very impressed in the early chapters by Barrett's clear presentation of how constructionism works, how it differs from relativism, and how it doesn't deny the reality of the constructed experiences. Her examples are well chosen, such as how different cultures actually see different stripes within a rainbow. I am a strong constructionist, so I delighted in the friendly exposition and in the idea that Barrett had neurological evidence to back it up.

Things got a little wonky when Barrett delved deeper into the brain science. Her explanatory aptitude dried up: the explanations were neither informative nor illuminating. Then things went off the rails in the second half of the book. She wants to explore how the theory of constructed emotion affects -- or should affect -- our views on human nature, healthcare, and the law, but her observations are trite (try yoga! be aware of your biases!) and often don't follow from the theory (rational thought and emotional reactions are not independent, which could be equally true with an essentialist theory of emotion).

Max Brand, Gunman's Reckoning and The Untamed ***

Max Brand is the final author in the Classic Westerns collection Evelyn game me for my birthday. Gunman's Reckoning (1915) and The Untamed (1919) share several features which are perhaps Brand trademarks. His descriptions make prominent use of sound, such as the sound of a train or the whistling of Whistlin' Dan; the stories take place over a short time period in only a few locations; the heroes are reluctant gunfighters who prefer to use their wiles rather than their side-irons; the young rancher's daughter inspires self-sacrificing love from the hero, who must court danger to help another man into her arms. All of the characters are strongly concerned about their reputations and come up with overly elaborate ruses to save face. None of the men understand women or fail to fall victim to their charms.

Suketu Mehta, This Land is Our Land *** 1/2

These days, a great many people in the rich countries complain loudly about migration from the poor ones. But as the migrants see it, the game was rigged: First, the rich countries colonized us and stole our treasure and prevented us from building our industries. After plundering us for centuries, they left, having drawn up maps in ways that ensured permanent strife between our communities... They stole our minerals and corrupted our governments so that their corporations could continue stealing our resources; they fouled the air above us and the waters around us, making our farms barren, our oceans lifeless; and they were aghast when the poorest among us arrived at their borders, not to steal but to work, to clean their shit, and to fuck their men.

This Land is Our Land bills itself as "An Immigrant's Manifesto," but it is as much a jeremiad as any anti-immigration screed. Mehta cherry-picks anecdotes and studies to make a vivid and angry pro-immigration argument. I happen to agree with most of what he says, but he doesn't make any serious attempt to convince opponents.

Mehta's boldest and most interesting idea appears on the very first page: that immigrants are "creditors" to whom rich countries owe a debt. "You took all our wealth, our diamonds. Now we have come to collect." I find this perspective illuminating, albeit overstated. It shows how the ethical issue of immigration is similar to the question of reparations for African Americans: society has benefited at their expense and morally owes them compensation in return. And as with reparations, the proper remedy (even the very possibility of remedy) is unclear.

In support of his view, Mehta offers a comprehensive and depressing vision of the ways that the Western powers have undermined -- and continue to undermine -- the developing world. He also makes more familiar pro-immigration arguments about the effect on the economy and culture of the host country (lower crime rates and higher economic activity among immigrants).

To the people who voted for the populists: Do not fear the newcomers. Many are young and will pay the pensions for the elderly, who are living longer than ever before. They will bring energy with them, for no one has more enterprise than someone who has left their distant home to make the difficult journey here... They will create jobs. They will cook and dance and write and play sports in new and exciting ways. They will make their new countries richer, in all senses of the word. The immigrant armada is actually a rescue fleet.