“The Face Phantom: Tales Inspired by the Mütter Museum” by Kathleen R. Sands (Metabook), $12.99.

David Sedaris blurbs this collection of short stories as “nimbly walk[ing] the line between elegant and creepy.” He also calls it “fine.” This reviewer couldn’t agree more. It’s one fine, elegant, creepy, weird, deftly executed, story exhibit.

Medical aberrations and devices from the Philadelphia Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians — established in the 19th century to preserve, display, and study anatomical specimens and physical aberrations — inspired this story collection by Kathleen R. Sands. One story features the 19th century Parisian woman with a horn growing from her forehead. Another imagines the stricken life of a surviving conjoined twin. The title story, “The Face Phantom,” pairs a medical device — a life-sized, Bakelite replica of an eyeless female head used to teach medical students eye surgery — with the psychosis “agalmatophilia,” the erotic love for statues and dolls. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel make an appearance in this story. (Bonus: you can YouTube a related Dalí-Buñuel silent film that used a similar device.)

Sands’ writing is indeed “elegant and creepy.” It also sympathetically satisfies the human fascination for the grotesque.

— Christine Wald-Hopkins

“Fire So Hot, Make You Scoot Way Back” by John Stuart Watkins (John Stuart Watkins).

Retired SaddleBrooke realtor and NEA-, NRA-, and Society of Southwestern Authors-member John Stuart Watkins shares personal interests in this collection of writings. He writes of veterans (he was a major in the army), cowboys, indigenous peoples in Alaska (he lived there) and other U.S. states; of domestic relations, dogs, retirement, even eating at Costco. His speakers vary — from character monologues to what seems to be his own voice — but a tone of sentimentality is consistent throughout. Watkins apparently turns to writing as a personal emotional outlet. Here, for example, is a passage from a poem expressing regret at a divorce: “I send you this rose in the form of a poem / for my pockets are empty and I’m far from home....”

— Christine Wald-Hopkins

“Mexican Workers and the Making of Arizona” Ed. by Luis F.B. Plascencia and Gloria H. Cuádraz (The University of Arizona Press), $45 hardcover; e-edition available

A central argument of this scholarly work is that U.S. industries have historically encouraged the recruitment of labor from Mexico — in agriculture, mining and railroads — to the profit of corporations at the expense of workers. It discusses the “elastic” nature of labor supply and industry’s manipulation of it for expansion or contraction. It specifically addresses labor in Arizona’s Six Cs (cattle, citrus, climate, copper, cotton, and construction) and the exploitation of Mexican and Mexican-American workers supporting them. Most of the 12 contributors to the anthology — anthropologists, sociologists, social justice and labor activists — are also historians, so they bring historical context to sociological and economic observations.

— Christine Wald-Hopkins

“Voices From Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land” By Rebecca M. Robinson; photographs by Stephen E. Strom. The University of Arizona Press. $24.95 paperback and Kindle

Bears Ears, a locale of breathtaking natural beauty in southern Utah, is at ground zero in the contentious debate over the future of public lands. Diverse groups lay claim to the area: native peoples for its spiritual and cultural significance, Mormons because of their heritage of land stewardship, and local communities whose economies depend on its resources — all seemingly incompatible interests. To get out in front of antagonistic arguments that throw more heat than light, the authors chose to invite stakeholders to tell their own stories and share their ideas in a neutral and bias-free atmosphere. The resulting 90 narratives and interviews, viewed through the filter of history and set against the backdrop of Stephen Strom’s stunning photography, offer hope that a path forward to a compromise about the highest, most desirable outcome for the land exists as a real possibility. An enlightening read for anyone concerned with the future of fragile western lands.

— Helene Woodhams

“FEARLESS! Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur” By Ray Lindstrom. Varberg Press. $28.95

Tucsonan Ray Lindstrom is really, really good at starting businesses: he’s created more than 100 of them since 1972, when he quit working for the man and started working for himself. Some businesses made more money than others (his foray into infomercials, for example, did well), and he’s had his ups and downs (going, at one point, from rock bottom to a Scottsdale mansion) but his entrepreneurial spirit continued to shine through it all. Now 75, he shares what he’s learned in this book, part memoir, part how-to, and completely entertaining. With his (highly eventful) life story as a backdrop he offers plenty of business advice and periodically interjects “Lindstrom Laws,” throughout the text at appropriate junctures — “Always Make Sure You Control the Money,” for instance (Lindstrom Law No. 4) and “Find New Ways to Do Old Things” (Lindstrom Law No. 12). Even if you have no interest in starting a business, this is a fun read — most fun, perhaps, for Tucsonans, who will enjoy the references to the Old Pueblo, where Catalina High School grad Lindstrom got his entrepreneurial start.

— Helene Woodhams

“Life is a Wonderful Experience: Autobiography of a Photojournalist” Marie Ueda. iUniverse. $20.99 paperback; $3.99 Kindle

An adventurous spirit, an inquiring mind, and a good eye for a great shot are traits that have served photojournalist Marie Ueda well. They’ve sent her trotting around the globe and put her at the scene of significant events in ways that have not only shaped her world view but also enhanced her perspective of our place in the cosmos. Her story begins in post-war Japan; early on she understood that the traditional, subservient role of a Japanese woman was not a good fit for her, and acting on the desire to see and do more, she left her comfortable family home in Fukushima to travel widely and experience life fully. Ueda’s autobiography is not simply a summary of events; she also, rather artfully, interweaves her quest for knowledge about the universe, extra-terrestrials, and the future of the planet. She lives in Southern Arizona and is a member of a Tucson-based community of UFO researchers.

— Helene Woodhams


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If you are a Southern Arizona author and would like your book to be considered for this column, send a copy to: Sara Brown, 4850 S. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85714. Give the price and a contact name. Books must have been published within a year. Most books are available locally at Mostly Books or Antigone Books. There is a backlog of submissions, so we ask that an author submit no more than one book per calendar year.