HOT TYPE ELISSA SCHAPPELL

FANFAIR

Make it make sense. Is it simply hatred of American culture and the promise of 70 silky-tressed, blackeyed virgins that drive Islamic extremists to become terrorists? John L. Esposito, a leading authority on political Islam, delves into what is fueling this Unholy War (Oxford).

Also this month: A decade of drinking, drugging, and depression inspired Rick Moody to trace his paternal line back to his puritanical forefathers to reveal what secrets might lurk behind The Black Veil (Little, Brown). In Shaker (Random House), biographer Jimmy McDonough harvests the ragged glory of Neil Young, the enigmatic, intensely private father, activist, guitar god, and Eddie Vedder role model. Stop-Tune author Frank Conroy gets personal once more with Dogs Bark, hut the Caravan Rolls On (Houghton Mifflin), a biographical pastiche of journalistic observations on music and writing. Sebastian Faulks’sThe Fatal Englishman (Vintage) eulogizes the lives of three golden boys: a suicidal painter of the 1920s Paris beau monde, a W.W. II fighter pilot killed in a mysterious accident, and an openly gay alcoholic spy who dies in Cold War Russia. Mike Wallace and Allen Mikaelian honor the Medal of Honor (Hyperion) with profiles of American military heroes from the Civil War to the present. Here it is in Black & White (Chronicle), Steven Guarnaccia and Susan Hochbaum's compendium of all things unsullied by color. Distinguished novelist Hortense Calisher's tragicomedy Sunday Jews (Harcourt) introduces us to an eclectic tribe of family and friends bound together and divided by faith. In 1925 she was the only woman shooting the studio stars Robert Dance and Bruce Robertson flash back to the days of Ruth Harriet Louise and Hollywood Glamour Photography (University of California). In Stardust Melodies (Pantheon), Will Friedwald charts the musical biographies of 12 of the greatest standards of the 20th century. Not unlike the league of superheroes, a league of superscientists in the 1930s assembled to save the world in a laboratory in Tuxedo Park (Simon & Schuster). Jennet Conant records the great thinkers’ liaisons—social, scientific, and sexual. A Scottish widower, in the thrall of an American artist, and his gay son’s intense friendship with an odd neighbor beat at the heart of debut novelist Julia Glass’sThree Junes (Pantheon). Herve Chandes recalls how, by casting off the shackles of black-and-white film, the colorful William Eggleston (Thames & Hudson) revolutionized contemporary photography. In Carol Weston’s quirky kid pleaser Melanie Martin Goes Dutch (Knopf) the Martin clan takes Amster Amster Dam Dam Dam. All aboard Nick Yapp and Sarah Anderson'sBon Voyage (teNcues), a peek at the world of tourism: jet planes, luxury trains, and Anna Pavlova on a camel. In Talking Fashion (Powerhouse), V.F’s contributing stylist Sarajane Hoare polishes and punctures the mystique of the fashion industry. From Malibu to Montauk, track sand into America’s Beach Houses (HarperCollins), by Michael Webb with photos by Roberto Schezen. Grab your gazpacho and

wiener wraps, it’s Potluck at Midnight Farm (Clarkson Potter) on Martha’s Vineyard, with Carly Simon and Tamara Weiss and sumptuous photographs by Nina Bramhall. Pierre Borhan'sDorothea Lange (Bulfinch) provides a clear-eyed gaze into the photographer’s heart and mind. Lauren Lawrence'sPrivate Dreams of Public People (Assouline), with a foreword by bed-hopper Larry King, puts to rest the adage “Nothing is duller than other people’s dreams,” especially Luciano Pavarotti’s, Oliver Stone’s, and Madonna’s. Are you ready for your Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard (St. Martin’s)?

Sam Staggs's madly irreverent tell-all focuses on the catfights and mind games behind one of film’s seamiest classics. Cancer Schmancer (Warner) is the irrepressible Fran Drescher's frank and sassy account of coping with the big C. In But Wait! There's More! (Rizzoli), Timothy Samuelson mythologizes Ron Popeil, the mad genius behind gotta-have gadgets such as the Veg-O-Matic and the Seal-A-Mcal. God save the Queen and Country (Simon & Schuster): William Shawcross kneels before Elizabeth II, in admiration of her 50-year reign. Ah, the allure of royalty, prancing about with a fancy scepter, ermine bedspreads, the crown jewels ... now, that needs no explanation.