Last Minute Gift Book Ideas

VAN GOGH: The Life

By STEVEN NAIFEH and GREGORY WHITE SMITH

Random House, $40

This is without a doubt, the definitive biography of the great artist Vincent Van Gogh. The authors, who’ve previously won Pulitzers for their excellent biography of Jackson Pollock, spent some 10 years researching this book. They were given unprecedented access to the Van Gogh Museum’s archive, revealing new details of his troubled life, his fits of depression and mental illness.

Van Gogh’s pencil-on-paper sketches, full-color reproductions and never-before-published photographs round out this magnificent biography.

Equally of interest is the artist’s devoted brother, Theo, in whose arms Vincent died.

11/22/63

By STEPHEN KING

Scribner, $35

Al Templeton, the owner of a diner in Lisbon Falls, Maine, discovers a secret portal in his pantry through which he can step back in time, always arriving at 11:58 a.m. on Sept. 9, 1958. He becomes obsessed with the idea of going back in time to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

When Al develops terminal cancer he convinces his friend, Jake Epping, a 35-year-old divorced teacher, to carry out his plan. Jake returns to the past where it’s five years before the assassination. Once there he adopts the name George Amberson and turns back the clock on a drunken father before he can murder his wife and children. Later he moves to Jolie, Texas, where he accepts a job as a substitute teacher and becomes involved in a star-crossed romance with Sadie, the school librarian, who questions his identity and background. But, remaining silent, even at the cost of losing Sadie, Jake moves on to Dallas to keep his promise to Al.

COLUMBUS, The Four Voyages

By LAURENCE BERGREEN

Viking, $35

Remember the rhyme, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue”?

I didn’t learn much more about the man who discovered America than that first voyage. However, author Bergreen opens up a new world of information in his fascinating story of near mutiny, terror, death and the “profound consequences for human biology and culture.” We view Columbus, warts and all; a favorite of Ferdinand and Isabella, a masterful and proud sea captain, his achievements and failures,” ending up “broken in body and spirit, a hero undone by the tragic flaw of pride.”

Includes fascinating black and white drawings, portraits and colorful maps of the time.

THE TIME OF OUR LIVES

By TOM BROKAW

Random House, $26

Brokaw, still winning praise for his book, “The Greatest Generation,” now focuses on future generations. He wonders if we, Americans, may have lost our way (perhaps temporarily) and whether our grandchildren will have better lives than ours other than the advances of technology and the vision of Steve Jobs and other innovators. He writes that we fail in educating our kids, falling behind other world educational systems and, despite the money thrown at it (far too little in his opinion), we’re falling even further behind.

According to Brokaw, America needs a public purpose as we had following Pearl Harbor and calls for private service for all able citizens, in the military or Peace Corps as examples.

PESERVATION HALL

By SHANNON BRINKMAN and EVE ABRAMS

LSU Press, $24.95 (paperback)

This beautiful album of artistic photographs arrives in time for a timely celebration of the Hall’s 50th anniversary.

Award-winner Brinkman’s photos get your feet tapping while Abrams’ interviews of the players make the place come alive again for those who’ve been there and extend an irresistible invitation for Dixieland Jazz lovers who’ve never been.

People line the sidewalk to get in and then willingly stand in the crowded room to be enchanted. Request prices are posted on the wall: Traditional, $2; Others, $5; Saints, $10. Guess which they play the most.

THE GORILLA MAN and the EMPRESS OF STEAK

By RANDY FERTEL

University Press of Mississippi, $28

In this delightful memoir, Randy Fertel paints a colorful portrait of his parents; his mother, Ruth, the “Empress of Steak,” and his father, Rodney, the “Gorilla Man.”

“Empress” Ruth mortgaged her house to buy a local New Orleans steakhouse and turned it, with her blend of the finest steaks and lots of butter, into a sizzling international chain. “Gorilla Man” Rodney, so named for running for New Orleans mayor on the single campaign promise to buy a gorilla for Audubon Zoo and, after losing, made good on the deal, buying not one, but two primates for the zoo.

Son Randy’s also done quite well, as an author, teacher and heading the Fertel Foundation.