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led me to
examine the
wine photog-
raphy of the
time and say,
‘Hell, I can do
better than
that,’” recalls
veteran photog-
rapher Lyon in
this lush compi-
lation that spans his nearly 80-year career.
A San Francisco native, Lyon’s earliest
photographs from the 1940s—such as
those of workers handling wooden boxes
of grapes and a horse pulling a sled of
grapes—were taken in nearby Napa and
Sonoma valleys. His interests later
brought him to Europe in the 1960s and
’70s, where he captured an impressive
assortment of vineyards and winemakers,
including the historical, wall-enclosed
Château de Clos de Vougeot in France
and a woman picking Riesling grapes
above the German town of Urzig. This
book also includes images of everyday life
outside the vineyards, such as flower
sellers at an outdoor market in Naples
and Austrian farmers enjoying dumplings
during a midday meal. Some of his later
works include shots of grapes ripening
amid Californian fog, wine cellars in
Chile, and an aerial view of California’s
Estancia Vineyards. Equally captivating
are portraits of the wine workers, whether
they’re older Frenchmen enjoying a drink
at a bar or a young migrant mother
posing with her children in Santa Clara
valley. This striking volume will please
wine fans, foodies, and travelers alike.
(Nov.)
Inventions that Built the
Information Technology Revolution
Rhys McCarney. Lulu, $8.99 (228p) ISBN 978-
1-4834-7905-7
McCarney draws on a doctorate in
physics and years of experience as a cor-
porate researcher to create a fascinating
account tracing the development of the
modern world’s defining technologies.
Using detailed charts, diagrams, and
formulas, McCarney outlines how each
major communications breakthrough,
starting with telegraphs, telephones,
and radios, yielded a new frontier of
development and a new source of profit
for burgeoning tech companies. The
detailed scientific history is interwoven
with stories of human greed and ambi-
tion, revealing the ample political back-
stabbing, legal battles, and business
machinations that accompanied the
development of now-ubiquitous items.
Among other tales, McCarney recounts
the cliffhanger story of the race to patent
the first working telephone, which saw
Alexander Graham Bell and his compet-
itor Elisha Gray submit documents to
patent offices on the very same day.
Whether McCarney is exploring the use
of liquid as a medium for capturing and
transmitting the human voice—Gray’s
approach for his abortive device—or
showcasing how diode lasers reinvented
modern communication, his focus
remains on the tireless human impulse
toward innovation. McCarney’s impec-
cable research is certain to interest and
inspire STEM students, while the
behind-the-scenes drama will appeal to
nonspecialists. (Self-published.)Terrible Omens:
Happiness Is the Other Way
Alane Gray. Thinktorium, $15 trade paper
(365p) ISBN 978-1-937258-20-7
Gray, who has previously reinterpreted
tales of magic and metaphysics in such
books as Madame Blavatsky’s Victorian
Nightmares and Japanese Fairy World and
Other Dark Tales, turns inward in this
gripping memoir. The narrative focuses
on her 15-year “rotting corpse of a mar-
riage” to
Darren, a man,
she became
engaged to only
three months
after they met at
a chiropractic
college in Iowa.
She admits that
Darren seemed
at first to be
“passionate,
motivated, and most of all, kind,” but just
a week after they married, he said to her,
“If you don’t change your name, then
you’re not really committed to me. It’s
like you’re already planning our divorce
before our marriage has even started.” She
and her husband eventually set up a chiro-
practic clinic together, but troubles sur-faced after they were sucked into a cult-
like medical community by “brainwashed
chiropractic wellness enthusiasts.” Gray’s
husband fell into alcoholism, misman-
aged the clinic, and had affairs with other
women, leading Gray to the “painful
release” of divorce. Gray blames herself for
staying in the marriage so long, as she
held onto the “childish belief that love can
overcome all obstacles.” Gray’s intense
memoir serves as a warning for individ-
uals and couples to not get “stuck running
around hoping for the perfect next step to
appear.” (Self-published.)Religion/Spirituality
Enlightenment by Trial and Error:
Ten Years on the Slippery Slopes
of Jewish Spirituality, Postmodern
Buddhism, and Other Mystical
Heresies
Jay Michaelson. Ben Yehuda, $19.95 trade
paper (270p) ISBN 978-1-9347308-0-5
Rabbi and columnist Michaelson (God
vs. Gay) brings together 35 essays in this
contemplative and gratifying collection.
Each essay was published in the online
magazine Zeek between 2002 and 2012,
and together the pieces present what he
calls a “postmodern heretical hedonist
travelogue” that dwells deeply on the
nature of spiritual realization and
responsibility. Michaelson explains how,
after a car accident in 2001 and his deci-
sion to come out as gay, he resolved to
pursue spiritual enlightenment. In the
first section, he explores his work with
meditation, which he felt assisted him in
dissolving his ego and alleviating past
pains—which freed him to help ease the
suffering of others. The second section
concerns his questions about religion,
exemplified by “Religion and Insanity,”
which exposes
how religious
beliefs in
rapture or a
physical devil
seem discon-
nected from
logical inter-
pretation. The
collection cul-
minates with
the standout