'The Sweetest Dream'
By Doris Lessing
HarperCollins, $26.95.
This novel, written by 81-year-old Doris Lessing, is her 24th. In this one, the 1960s serve as the backdrop for the life of Frances Lennox, an actress and writer who has opened her London home to the rebellious friends of her teenage sons. Lennox is the ex-wife of one of England's most controversial communists. Lessing tries to blend the outside world with the inside, as she tells the chaotic story of these young people's problems and interactions.
As a well-known activist herself, Lessing knows the period well. She announces in an author's note that she has decided not to write the third volume of her autobiography, dealing with the '60s because she is afraid of hurting "vulnerable people." In a way, this book takes its place, although she says her own life is not depicted here.
As confusing and broad-based as this novel is, it seems as if Lessing has tried to put in it everything else she hasn't said before between book covers, plus some repeat material from other novels. She may intend it to be her last work. —Dennis Lythgoe
'Why I Believe'
By 52 LDS celebrities
Bookcraft, $19.95.
Intended for visitors of the Olympics, Bookcraft has assembled a rather eclectic volume of short essays by well-known members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about why they espouse the religious views they have. It is geared to explode the stereotype that "Mormons are weird," by showing the diversity of people and their accomplishments.
The 52 authors include Mitt Romney, SLOC president, and his wife, Ann; Danny Ainge, Thurl Bailey and Steve Young, athletes; Gladys Knight, singer; LaVell Edwards, former BYU football coach; Richard Bushman, prolific historian; Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, Harry Reid and Gordon Smith, all U.S. senators; Keith Merrill, filmmaker; J. W. Marriott, hotelier — and a host of others.
They tell not only why they believe but recount revealing experiences with people who singled them out because of their religion. When Richard Bushman joined the Columbia University history faculty, a colleague welcomed him this way, "So you're the Mormon."
Since all the personalities and viewpoints are different, the essays are all interesting and personal. This is a book that should have high interest among LDS readers as well. — Dennis Lythgoe
'The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony'
By Pamela Paul
Villard, $24.95.
The author, who is a demographer, editor and divorcee, has concluded in a pioneering study that first marriages that last five years or less and end without children are changing the face of matrimony in the United States. It is evident from her sources that young people today are especially eager to get married, yet their unions are more prone to failure than they have ever been. (The U.S. divorce rate hovers between 40 percent and 50 percent) Drawing on 60 interviews with people who have experienced this kind of marriage, Paul examines the problems in-depth.
Among other things, Paul makes a connection between early divorce and mobile-phone sales and failed dotcom millionaires. One problem is that people often marry before they are mature enough to think about raising a family and how the future will turn out. By the time they get to know each other, they realize they want to have kids — but not with their present mates.
Paul also spends considerable time talking about the still common stigma attached to divorce. — Dennis Lythgoe