More, Now, Again
Elizabeth Wurtzel
Virago £8.99, pp427
It is perhaps unfortunate that Elizabeth Wurtzel's first book, Prozac Nation, became an international bestseller. If it had not, she might not have been able to fund her subsequent addiction to Ritalin and cocaine, and so would never have felt compelled to write More, Now, Again. The fact that she has two memoirs under her belt at the grand old age of 30 goes some way to illustrate just how self-obsessed she is.
In this latest memoir, she recounts the personal highs and lows (and it gets very sordid indeed) of addiction and, in doing so, reveals everything of herself and little of real interest. Among the drug-induced solipsisms, there are occasional flashes of humour - 'Reality is for people who can't handle drugs' - but for most of the time her eyes are set far too firmly on her navel to offer any genuine insights into the process of addiction or recovery. Wurtzel's real problem is her belief that every unformed thought that enters her head is significant and valuable.
Marlon Brando
Patricia Bosworth
Phoenix £7.99, pp216
Having written biographies of Montgomery Clift and Diane Arbus, and as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Patricia Bosworth is well versed in the capricious world of Hollywood, and she brings her considerable knowledge to this illuminating and entertaining memoir of the gargantuan screen star, Marlon Brando.
She credits Brando's clever, neurotic alcoholic mother, Dodie, with having ignited his celluloid dreams, despite the fact that she was largely absent from his childhood. He studied under Stella Adler, mistress of Method acting, and the rage that is manifest in many of his best performances is, Bosworth suggests, directed against his father, who constantly derided his son's ambitions.
Her prose style is refreshingly clear and brisk, and she avoids lugubrious details surrounding Brando's personal life, but instead focuses on an extraordinary career.
Dirty War, Clean Hands: ETA, The GAL and Spanish Democracy
Paddy Woodworth
Yale University Press £10.99, pp461
When his government was accused of using terrorist methods to fight the Basque separatist group, ETA, the former Spanish Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez, responded: 'Democracy is defended in the sewers as well as in the salons.' Throughout the years 1983-7, the GAL (Anti-terrorist Liberation Groups) set up under the Socialist Party, conducted a violent campaign in the French Basque country where ETA was based. Leading members of ETA were targeted, but as many as a third of their victims had no connection with terrorism.
In 1986, the French government began handing over ETA suspects to the Spanish police, and the GAL's activities stopped. The damage, however, had already been done, as this 'dirty war' had undermined Spain's much praised shift to democracy in the post-Franco years, as well as Gonzalez's reputation as a democrat.
Woodworth's dedication to his subject is obvious: his research, despite a mountain of conflicting evidence, is impeccable and he depicts the human drama behind the complex political events with insight and compassion.
The Scientist, the Madman, the Thief and Their Lightbulb
Keith Tutt
Pocket Books £7.99, pp.342
Previously published under the title The Search for Free Energy, Tutt's investigation reveals the sometimes crazy attempts of inventors and scientists throughout the past 100 years to develop fuel-less energy, a development that would radically alter the economic, political and environmental make-up of the world. Luckily, Tutt is just as interested in the men behind the science, and his prose is thick with betrayal, murder, suicide and, of course, misunderstood genius. If you can wade through the physics, Tutt's exploration into the psychology of invention is well worth the effort.
