Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 4, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba B7 editor Morley Walker / 697-7307 Winnipeg free press email sunday july 4, 2004 books much More than a cop Memoir Blue blood a detailed meditation by a new York City police Veteran Blue blood by Edward Conlon Riverhead books 562 pages $40 reviewed by Bruce Owen b Lue blood has been described As a cop Memoir in other reviews but those two words Don to do it or Edward Conlon much Justice. Its More than that ? Way More. Conlon is a detective with the new York police department. He a been a police officer for eight years. Most of that time was spent in the Bronx walking a beat in Public housing developments and arresting heroin dealers on a special anti drug squad. He a also a graduate of Harvard of which he reminds the Reader often. The Nype gave him permission to write about his life As a police officer first for the new yorker Magazine and now extended to Book length. More than anything Blue blood is a detailed first person meditation that questions the minds and motives of the people Conlon works with and locks up. Its not so much a cop Book As an introspective exploration into what Dri ves one person to become a police offi cer while another turns into a diseased homeless heroin Junkie. Worth there Are times when Conlon comes across As an egotistical smart ass but then he surprises you when he won Ders about his own Worth As a police officer. There is a troubled Middle ground that most people occupy myself included where you shrug things off in order to be Able to sleep at night even if it Means you signing up for More tomorrow. You pick your Battles take Small Steps he writes. As a cop you have to take things Day by Day Case by Case if you Collar a wife beater or a dope dealer you think about the household or the Corner that is a Little safer for now without dwelling on whether you be made some lasting contribution to the Cru Sades against drugs or Domestic Vio Lence ? let alone whether these crusades Are envisioned and equipped As they should history Conlon also weaves in a history of new York City its ethnic background and evolution of its different boroughs and of its police department. Members of his family were also police officers his dad an Fri agent. Conlon he reminds us often is also Irish. He also documents several Flash Points in the history of the Nype from the High of the celebrated French connection heroin Case to the Low of the Serpico police corruption investigation to the More recent world Trade Center terrorist bombing. Conlon also liberally shares his Opin ions on everything from newspaper writers to his own immediate supervisors the Small people who had such an influence on his career and personal life. It sounds like a daunting Challenge creating an almost Oral history of one of the worlds largest police depart ments at the same time As giving the Reader an honest perspective of what its like to live behind a badge. But Conlon makes it work. Blue blood is Long and filled with too Many police speak abbreviations and acronyms. But its still easy and enjoy Able to read. Bruce Owen is a free press reporter. Forget it i changed my mind changing minds the Art and science of changing our own and other Peoples minds by Howard Gardner Mcgraw Hill Ryerson 244 pages $40.95 reviewed by Ian Stewart in the bad old Days sweaty club Wield ing neanderthals hauled prospective brides to the caves sneering Cigar chomping factory owners cowed work ers and schoolmasters cuffed ears. The people in these scenarios May have accepted their fates however in the Long run coercion and violence Are not very effective tools for positive social change. In this fascinating and insightful Book eminent Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner lays out his theory on changing minds. He Hopes to convince politicians business leaders educators and individuals that a better Way exists to create More productive work environments schools and communities. It is an understatement to say that Howard Gardner is revered in univer sity education faculties and progressive schools worldwide. His theory of multiple intelligences has revolutionized teachers views on classroom practice. The theory argues that human brains take in process and evaluate information in at least eight different ways or forms of intelligence. Because of our individuality different intelligences predominate in the learn ing process therefore there is not one Correct Way to learn nor is there one Cor rect Way to teach. Consequently if Stu dents Are to grasp curricula and develop the capacity for critical thinking con paperbacks cents ought to be presented in a variety of creative ways. The concept of multiple intelligences is the Cornerstone of Gardner a propos als for mind changing. He writes that the More of an individual a intelligences you can Appeal to when making an argument the More Likely you Are to change a persons mind and the More minds you Are Likely to change. He proposes that if you want to change minds or to tip them towards your Way of thinking there Are seven factors which he terms entry Points or levers which must be considered Rea son research resonance real world events re description rewards and Resis Tance to change. In his chapters Gardner focuses on the particular lever or levers that were primarily responsible for creating the possibility of mind change. In the chapter leading a diverse population he argues that Margaret Thatcher effectively used resonance to invigorate a moribund great Britain. In Chang ing ones own mind he shows How the dramatic real world events of sept. 11 changed . President George w. Bush a perceptions of his own life and americas place in the world. Changing minds indirectly illustrates How artistic and scientific discoveries have slowly changed our collective world View through re description. Some will criticize Gardner for being Overly optimistic having too great a Faith in free will and ignoring the dynamic undercurrents of human history. However he argues we must continue to believe that the will is free and that we can make a difference. The human mind is a human creation and All human creations can be Sci ence teaches us How to do it we Only need the Art to practise it. Ian Stewart is a Winnipeg writer and teacher. How do you Nab someone who vanishes in thin air by David Pitt Lincoln rhyme the quadriplegic forensic expert returns in the vanished Man pocket 528 pages $12by Amer ican novelist Jeffery Deaver. Rhyme and his prot a Model turned detective Amelia Sachs Are hot on the Trail of a killer who May be their crafts est adversary yet. How do you catch someone who vanishes into thin air rhyme who a surely one of crime fiction a Cleverest and most compelling heroes is pushed to the limit this time. It All works out Fine in the end but Deaver knows that we know the Good Guys will win so he keeps us occupied trying to figure out his plot twist we never do and guessing which charac ters have their own hidden agendas. Top notch As always. Keith Ablow a forensic psychiatrist who lives in Massachusetts has written a series of mysteries featuring or. Frank Clevenger a forensic psychiatrist who lives in Massachusetts. But this in to simply a Case of write about what you the Clevenger novels Are dark violent and haunting and their author is a genuine craftsman. In psychopath St. Martins 370 pages $10clevenger comes up against a particularly Nasty villain a talented psychiatrist who murders people then brags about in the pages of the new York times. And then just to make things More interesting he dares Clevenger to catch him ? or die trying. Writer and once you be read one of the novels in this series you la want to read Emall. In 1985, Helena Greenwood a scientist working in the fast evolving Field of Dan research was murdered. Police knew who did it but they could to prove it ? until 15 years later when a new forensic technique provided the proof they need. The new technique came out of work that the victim had been doing when she died sur really she helped put away her own killer. Pointing from the grave Penguin 498 pages $12by British journalist Saman tha Weinberg is the highly detailed account of the crime the investigation and the people involved. This in to just the Story of a criminal Case its a history of Dan research a commentary on the american Justice system there seven a Brief summary of the . Simpson Cassand a portrait of the victim her killer and the dedicated investigators who would to let the Case go until it was solved. Originally published in 1992, and finally brought Back into print Robert j. Sawyers far seer Tor 316 pages $22 is the first volume of a wonderfully inventive trilogy. A san is an apprentice astrologer participating in an important rite of Pas Sage a Long sea voyage to the face of god. Along the Way he makes a series of discoveries that convince him not Only that the face of god in to what his people believe but that their very world itself May be doomed. Back Home instead of gratitude a san receives Swift and bewildering punish ment for his alleged heresies. Can he persuade his people to put aside their religious beliefs and open their minds to modern science As always Sawyer who lives in Ontario uses fantasy As a Way of exploring very real ideas ? in this Case a san is a stand in for Galileo. The culture in which he lives May be alien they re All dinosaurs did we men Tion that but who says alien civilizations Don to go through the same growing pains As our own Sawyer is one of the smartest most talented science fiction writers out there and this is one of his Best novels. Halifax writer David Pitts column appears the first sunday of every month. ;