Crazy Love

Leslie Morgan Steiner (St. Martin's Press, 336 pages, $24.95)

"If you and I met at one of our children's birthday parties, in the hallway at work, or at a neighbor's barbecue, you'd never guess my secret: that as a young woman I fell in love with and married a man who beat me regularly and nearly killed me." So begins Morgan's riveting exploration of a promising young adulthood nearly ruined by a poisonous relationship she couldn't leave. An elegant stylist, Morgan eschews the easy pop psychology route in favor of a thought-provoking peek into how violence and abuse curdle into distorted thinking.

I Love Yous Are for White People

Lac Su (Harper Perennial, 272 pages, $14.99)

The best memoirs trace not only the writer's personal evolution, but also give the reader an insider's view into history. That's the case with Su's account of his family's escape from Vietnam and subsequent resettling in a gang-ridden pocket of Los Angeles. The dislocation cracks open Su's father's sense of his place in the world, and he takes his misery out on his tender-hearted son, who eventually turns to a gang for companionship. Heavy stuff, to be sure, but Su's delight in the telling detail -- whether it's the shiny 747 that whisks his family to their new life or his Vietnamese uncles' incredulity at not being able to take home stray California dogs for dinner -- pokes a few pinholes in the darkness.

UNDER THE TABLE

Katherine Darling (Atria Books, 384 pages, $25)

Saveur magazine editor Darling serves up a breezy, behind-the scenes exposé on the competition, petty jealousies and lasting friendships that flourish in the stress-filled kitchens of the legendary French Culinary Institute in New York City. With the precision of the top chef that she is, Darling vividly demonstrates how creating a truly great meal is both an art and a science. She also treats her readers to interesting tidbits of food history. Favorite recipes are interspersed throughout the narrative, making this the latest addition to the cookbook/memoir hybrid first made popular by Amanda Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte."

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner

PLENTY ENOUGH SUCK TO GO AROUND

Cheryl Wagner (Citadel Press, 242 pages, $14.95)

A proud Louisianan, it never occurred to Cheryl Wagner to not return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina mashed her neighborhood into a tangle of homes opened dollhouse-style to the street, citizen vigilantes and desperate attempts to rebuild the community. Wagner's hipster sense of humor keeps the operatics to a minimum, especially in her unflinching look at how post-traumatic stress disorder took its toll on boyfriend Jake. A must-read for anyone interested in a sassy, opinionated view behind the Katrina headlines.

NOT NOW, VOYAGER

Lynn Sharon Schwartz (Counterpoint, 176 pages, $23)

A classic memoir in that it shifts between stories and reflections, Schwartz's book combines tenderly rendered remembrances of events such as a Rome New Year's Eve in the wake of the J.F.K. assassination with a takedown of our society's travel lust. Seen through her exacting eye, the consuming of new places that is the essence of travel distracts us from the deeper work and insights that are the byproduct of staying put. It's a perspective that's so stodgy and old-fashioned that you have to give it to her for staking her flag in her ground, even if that turf is her own back yard.

INVISIBLE SISTERS

Jessica Handler (Perseus Books, 272 pages, $24.95)

How do you make a claim on life when your siblings are gravely ill? That's the terrain of Handler's gorgeously written and deeply affecting account of her family's battle with leukemia and the rare Kostmann's syndrome. But while her story is almost impossibly sad -- the diseases claim the lives of both her sisters -- it's also a riveting documentation of the 1960s as seen through the eyes of a daughter of progressive Jewish parents who moved south to take part in the social-justice movement.