In the fall of 1913, Joseph Knowles - a onetime hunting guide and ex-Navy man - emerged from a "Survivor"-like stunt in the Maine woods. Two months earlier, he had entered the wilderness alone, promising to survive by his wits. Dressed in a bearskin, Knowles was greeted by tens of thousands of fans down in Boston - and charges of fakery.
The Boston Post had recruited Knowles for the solo adventure in the hope of boosting its circulation by publishing his ongoing reports from the wilds. The Post's rival, the Boston American, accused Knowles of fraud, claiming that he had holed up in a hotel. Later the American backed down and owner William Randolph Hearst hired Knowles for a similar stunt chronicled in the San Francisco Examiner.
Jim Motavalli examines Knowles's colorful life and the American fascination with tales of wilderness survival in his new book, "Naked in the Woods: Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery" (Da Capo).
As for Knowles's claims, Motavalli sides with the doubters, citing a cabin at the pond where Knowles is said to have lived. Behind the cabin was "a pile of beer bottles and tin cans about four feet high," according to the Maine Sunday Telegram. One theorist contends that Knowles was not deficient in survival skills but cheated because he was lazy.
Inside the ivory tower
Psychologist Carol Gilligan, now at New York University, draws on her 34 years teaching at Harvard for her debut novel, "Kyra" (Random House). In the acknowledgments, she thanks a number of folks at Harvard, including an architect at the design school and a doctoral student who studied the Akha tribe in Thailand.
In the novel Kyra, an architect on the faculty at Harvard, is designing a city based on principles derived from the Akha. She falls in and out of love with Andreas, a theater director, and leads a dreamy existence at her home on Nashawena, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
The warring egos at faculty meetings always draw Kyra back to reality. In one scene, the hiring committee snubs Kristin, the clearly superior candidate. She was, Gilligan writes, "by any 'objective' criterion the star, the winner of coveted prizes in fierce competitions judged by names that gave everyone pause. It was her undoing."
Faith based
The genesis of a new anthology, "Take Heart: Catholic Writers on Hope in Our Time," edited by Ben Birnbaum (Crossroad), lies in the clergy sex-abuse scandal in Boston and the loss of trust it engendered. Several of the 35 contributors - among them academics and priests - will participate in a forum on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in Devlin Hall at Boston College.
Coming out
"How to Fossilize Your Hamster: And Other Amazing Experiments for the Armchair Scientist," by Mick O'Hare (Holt)
"Gentleman Jigger," by Richard Bruce Nugent (Da Capo)
"The First Patient," by Michael Palmer (St. Martin's)
Pick of the week
Jane Phalen of Books Etc., in Portland, Maine, recommends "See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America," by Logan Ward (BenBella): "Ward's chronicle of the time he and his family spent living as if in the year 1900 is a great read. 'See You,' 'The Omnivore's Dilemma,' and 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' complement each other beautifully as an unintentional Virginia farming trilogy."
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
