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Shelf Life
'Tempest' in a teapot
July 12, 2009
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Traveling to London, Bermuda, and Jamestown, Va., a Massachusetts historian has pieced together a tale of shipwreck and the obscure writer who inspired William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.’’
In 1609, William Strachey, an Englishman looking for literary inspiration, set sail aboard a ship bound for the New World. Everyone on board survived when the ship ran aground on the uninhabited island of Bermuda, but it was 10 months before they were rescued. Finally arriving at Jamestown, they were struck by sickness, starvation, and strife in the fledgling colony.
Strachey’s account of his time in Bermuda and Jamestown made its way back to London, while he stayed on, gathering more material about the settlement. His account wound up in the hands of Shakespeare, who used it as the framework for “The Tempest.’’
Hobson Woodward, who works at the Massachusetts Historical Society, weaves literary analysis into a historical narrative in “A Brave Vessel: The True Tale of the Castaways Who Rescued Jamestown and Inspired Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ ’’ (Viking), on sale tomorrow.
Double compulsions
In the quirky debut novel “Something Missing’’ (Broadway), the obsessive-compulsive Martin Railsback is a strange but lovable anti-hero. A barista at Author Matthew Dicks, an elementary-school teacher in West Hartford, Conn., has just sold his second novel, which also features an obsessive-compulsive protagonist. Dicks says his fascination with the disorder has now run its course. He’s well into writing his third novel and there’s no hint of OCD.
Amory’s horse sense
Boston native Cleveland Amory, born into wealth, was a shrewd observer of American society and a pioneering animal rights activist. He once summed up his career: “I used to write about Mrs. Astor and her horse. Now I just write about the horse.’’Amory’s acerbic wit and colorful life have provided Marilyn Greenwald with rich material for her new book, “Cleveland Amory: Media Curmudgeon and Animal Rights Activist’’ (University Press of New England).
A former editor of the Harvard Crimson, Amory made a name for himself at age 30 with the publication of “The Proper Bostonians’’ about upper-class Boston society. He moved in the social circles that he chronicled, attending baseball games with Cary Grant and sailing on the Onassis yacht. By 1963, the book had gone into its 18th printing.
That same year he was fired from his job as a social commentator on “The Today Show.’’ His sharply critical remarks about the abuse of animals in laboratory research didn’t sit well with viewers or the show’s management. Four years later, he founded the Fund for Animals. Knowing well the powerful influence of celebrities, he enlisted Doris Day, Grace Kelly and Dick Cavett, among others, in his cause.
Coming out
►“Near Death in the Desert: True Stories of Disaster and Survival,’’ edited by Cecil Kuhne (Vintage)►“Best Friends Forever,’’ by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
►“The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal’’ by Ben Mezrich (Doubleday)
Pick of the week
Elli Meeropol of Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley recommends “Now & Then’’ by Jacqueline Sheehan (Avon A): “It’s a page-turner with heart. Anna O’Shea and her nephew Joseph are cursed in their lives when they are mysteriously summoned backward across time to pre-famine, 19th-century Ireland, offering them an extraordinary second chance at life.’’Jan Gardner can be reached at Janlgardner@yahoo.com. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
