Book Reviews (Selected)

Sugartime: The Hidden Pleasures of Making Maple Syrup, with a Primer for the Novice Sugarer $16.95; The Lyons Press, 1997; cloth; black-and-white illustrations; 112 pages; ISBN 1-55821-599-9. In this meditative celebration ... Hauser reflects on Native American traditions and on the process she herself uses when making maple syrup in northern Minnesota. In what is as much a practical guide as a personal essay, Hauser writes with beauty and simplicity about the joys of collecting the sap as soon as it begins to flow, and of what she has learned over the years about cooking it down into syrup. She also observes and celebrates the return of bald eagles, the slow transition from winter to spring, and the stately forests surrounding her home, at the same time offering a handful of recipes featuring maple sugar. Her lyrical ode describes in brief various types of maple trees, recommending the best ones to employ for sugaring.
--Booklist

Full Moon: Reflections on Turning Fifty $14.95; Papier-Mache Press, 1996; cloth; full color; 53 pages; ISBN 0-918949-93-9. The 50th birthday, in the view of Hauser, is "especially poignant because it is the first decade marker that offers no comfort when we double it." Her own arrival at that marker is charted in this collection of 13 reflective essays, one for each cycle of the moon, in which she journeys toward appreciation of age and aging, celebrating life's cycles and, she hopes, arriving at acceptance and un-derstanding of self. These graceful medita-tions are dotted with wry humor and comple-mented by the delicate art of California-based Barbara Van Arnam.
--Publishers Weekly

Nature's Revenge: The Secrets of Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, and Their Remedies $13.95; Lyons & Burford, 1996; paperback; color photographs; 128 pages; ISBN 1-55821-449-6.;In this witty and informative little book ... (Hauser) tells us everything we never wanted to know about poison ivy and its noxious cousins, including relevant science, mythology, prevention, and treat-ment. "The person who wants to be spared two weeks of scratching as payment for a weekend in the country should not only count leaflets but learn to recognize leaf and plant shapes as well," Hauser notes. "In its usual perverse way, nature does not make this easy." Thankfully, applying scholarship and common sense, Hauser does. A worthwhile companion on your next trek into the woods.
--Mpls.St.Paul.