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Traditionally, the story that opens chapter three of Genesis is called The Fall. In the Christian tradition, both the name and the interpretation of the story associated with it were made canonical by Saint Augustine in the first decades of the fifth century AD, about fourteen hundred years after Genesis was written down.

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Rollicking, rowdy, and introspective, five big rockers record their memoirs and reminiscences in big books this season.

Mick Fleetwood’s Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac (Little, Brown), shares his life as a drummer and bandleader and sheds new light on Fleetwood Mac’s raucous history and his lifelong friend John McVie. In the New York Post, Larry Getlen said, “”In his new memoir, Fleetwood documents his wild life, including how the creation of 1977′s Rumours, one of the best-selling albums of all time, almost drove the band insane.”

Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page (Genesis) is a photographic autobiography. Jimmy Page has chosen hundreds of photographs from his career as a celebrated guitarist: from a schoolboy with a “Rockabilly” forelock through his extensive work as a session musician; including The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, ARMS, The Firm, Outrider, Coverdale & Page and Page & Plant; playing with Roy Harper and The Black Crowes; collaborating with P. Diddy, and performing with Leona Lewis at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In his autobiography Dancing with Myself (Touchstone), Billy Idol is candid, brash, and lively. He says, “I am hopelessly divided between the dark and the good, the rebel and the saint, the sex maniac and the monk, the poet and the priest, the demagogue and the populist. Pen to paper, I’ve put it all down, every bit from the heart. I’m going out on a limb here, so watch my back.”

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian brings us the fast-paced, funny, and revealing I’m the Man (Da Capo). He includes tales from first hearing Kiss on the radio, backstage with Metallica, and the complete history of Anthrax, to interviewing Ozzy Osbourne for “The Rock Show” while dressed as Gene Simmons (and going undetected), marrying Meatloaf’s daughter, singer-songwriter Pearl Aday, becoming a fully functioning adult, and more. And, as Newsday’s David Criblez points out, his memoir comes with a comic book in the center.

In Rocks (Simon & Schuster), Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry paints an insider’s portrait of the rock-and-roll family, featuring everyone from Steven Tyler and Jimmy Page to Alice Cooper, Bette Midler to Chuck Berry, John Belushi to Al Hirschfeld. He takes us behind the scenes at unbelievable moments such as his appearance with Tyler in the movie “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (they act out the murders of Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees). Jimmy Page said of Rocks: “Rocking Joe Perry ‘rocks’ again!”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Bernard Beckett’s Genesis is 1.99 on Kindle today. It was one of my favorite reads of the year a few years back:

After plague and war decimate the human race, a small group of survivors build a protected, isolated island community called The Republic, modeled on Plato’s vision of the perfect society, but rigidly totalitarian. We learn about the history of The Republic via the oral examination given by the somber members of the esteemed Academy to Anax, an earnest young scholar who has prepared long years for this event in hopes of admission. Anax’s subject of specialty is the revolutionary, Adam Forde, whose subversive actions brought down The Republic many years before. A serious and captivating aspect of Adam’s history is his relationship with a robot possessing highly advanced simulated-consciousness technology, and their discussions about the nature of consciousness are incredibly gripping and thought-provoking.

Took a moment from my class to sketch. Hope you like the title…it’s one of my favorites from Genesis.

I was watching the clouds one rainy afternoon.  And as they sailed swiftly across the sky in an ever-changing variety of shapes and squiggles I remembered a quote from Thomas Browne.  In 1635 he wrote, “Nature is the art of God.”  I thought, I believe it because right now, the entire sky looks like His own personal Etch a Sketch.  I mean, first there was a hole in the clouds that morphed into a five-pointed star before it got sucked into a shrunken pinpoint that was suddenly the eye of an alligator that chased a hump-backed snake.  Highly entertaining.  Almost started singing, “I know an old lady who swallowed a fly . . .”

Can’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. The alligator made me wonder briefly if animals ever marvel at God’s Etch a Sketch? After all, my two pooches are pretty smart and I do catch them scanning the sky every so often.  Speaking of pooches, who cannot see God’s hand in all of creation:  from the perfection of a playful puppy’s soft, furry paw to the swiftness of a hungry cat’s claw . . . to the flawless symmetry of a daisy or black-eyed Susan.  Happenstance?  Occurring by chance? I think not.  After all, according to Genesis 1:24, “. . . and God said, let the earth bring forth every kind of animal — livestock, small animals, and wildlife.  And so it was . . . and God said it was good.

Seen my books? “The SEED” a Novel of suspense that placed as a top ten finalist and was nominated to be put on a college required reading list.  And the Johnny Vic historical adventure series (mixing treasure hunting, adventure and American history!).   Go to http://www.annrichduncan.com.

Bernard Beckett’s Genesis is 1.99 on Kindle today. It was one of my favorite reads of the year a few years back:

After plague and war decimate the human race, a small group of survivors build a protected, isolated island community called The Republic, modeled on Plato’s vision of the perfect society, but rigidly totalitarian. We learn about the history of The Republic via the oral examination given by the somber members of the esteemed Academy to Anax, an earnest young scholar who has prepared long years for this event in hopes of admission. Anax’s subject of specialty is the revolutionary, Adam Forde, whose subversive actions brought down The Republic many years before. A serious and captivating aspect of Adam’s history is his relationship with a robot possessing highly advanced simulated-consciousness technology, and their discussions about the nature of consciousness are incredibly gripping and thought-provoking.

  Beckett, Bernard. (2006) Genesis. London: Quercus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84724-930-2. Author age: young adult. Litland recommends age 14+.

Publisher’s description:

The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea. Fourteen-year-old Anax thinks she knows her history. She’d better. She’s sat facing three Examiners and her five-hour examination has just begun. The subject is close to her heart: Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. In a series of startling twists, Anax discovers new things about Adam and her people that question everything she holds sacred. But why is the Academy allowing her to open up the enigma at its heart? Bernard Beckett has written a strikingly original novel that weaves dazzling ideas into a truly moving story about a young girl on the brink of her future.

 Our thoughts:

 Irregardless of whether you are an evolutionist or creationist, if you like intellectual sci-fi you’ll love this book.  How refreshing to read a story free from hidden agendas and attempts to indoctrinate its reader into a politically-correct mindset.  And while set in a post-apocalyptic era, the world portrayed is one in which inhabitants have been freed from the very things that sets humans apart from all other creation, including man-made. Once engulfed in the story, the reader is drawn into an intellectual battle over this “difference” between man and man-made intelligence. The will to kill; the existence of evil. A new look at original sin. And a plot twist at the end that shifts the paradigm of the entire story.

 Borrowing from the American movie rating scale, this story would be a PG. Just a few instances of profanity, it is a thought-provoking read intended for mature readers already established in their values and beliefs, and who would not make the error of interpreting the story to hold any religious metaphors. The “myth” of Adam and Art, original sin and the genesis of this new world is merely a structure familiar to readers, not a message. The reader is then free to fully imagine this new world without the constraints of their own real life while still within the constraints of their own value system.

 Genesis is moderately short but very quick paced, and hard to put down once you’ve started! Thus it is not surprising to see the accolades and awards accumulated by Beckett’s book. The author, a New Zealand high school teacher instructing in Drama, English and Mathematics, completed a fellowship study on  DNA mutations as well. This combination of strengths gives Genesis its intrigue as well as complexity. Yet it is never too theoretical as to exclude its reader.  See our review against character education criteria at Litland.com’s teen book review section.  And pick up your own copy in our bookstore!

Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2009. Audio: Brilliance Audio, narrated by Becky Wright. 2009. Reviewed from audiobook supplied by Brilliance.

The Plot: Anax is facing an incredibly difficult examination. She wants to enter the Academy; and is now facing three examiners, in her area of choice, history. Not the far history of the 21st century and the conflict, wars, plagues; not the founding of the isolated island, the Republic, but later, as society tried to adjust to its new way of living, a new civilization. In particular, her speciality is Adam Ford. Every schoolchild knows about Ford; but Anax believes she has a new, unique viewpoint. Will the Academy accept her?

The Good: A entire book that is one character's test to get into school?

Wow, exciting.

Except -- it is. Because it's a history none of us know, even though Anax knows it fully, and we are eager for each detail of her past, our future. An eccentric millionaire who knows enough to buy, populate, and control a remote island and who is called Plato! Can society really be changed by one man? And who is Adam Ford, why is he so important? Is Anax right, to see him in an entirely new light? Why does Ford's imprisonment with a robot matter?

If Anax questions the official history, is she proving herself worthy to the Academy? As we find out about the past and present, and try to figure out what is happening in this world -- discover a past where children would be killed if they weren't going to grow up the right way -- an isolated land that killed the refugees who tried to get there -- we begin to wonder, does Anax's different viewpoint put her at risk? Can she talk her way out of the danger?

Is Adam Ford a hero? A rebel? A murderer?

The entire book is Anax talking to the examiners; weaving bits of history, and her own story, together. Using original documents and holograph recreations to show her view of history. Battling anxiety and fear as the five hour examination continues.

A science fiction book that my be set in a utopia or a dystopia. It's hard to tell, as new things emerge in Anax's story. Along the way, philosophical and ethical questions are raised.

The narration is brilliant; Wright perfectly captures Anax's mix of confidence and questioning. When Anax plays back tapes, sound effects add to the overall mood.

Watchalike: because this is about Anax talking, I was reminded of My Dinner with Andre

Possible spoiler: the ending was extremely satisfying; I had my suspicions, as time went by, as to what Ford did and his impact on Anax's world. Your SF watchers and readers will be very satisfied, not only with the world Beckett creates but also the questions he raises. Also? While chock full of wonderful things, questions answered and unanswered, it is very short, just 150 pages. Short doesn't mean easy; it means concise, and each word, thought, statement matters.






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Adam and Eve in 3D pixels.

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