BOOK
PAUL R. LINDE: DANGER TO SELF
(University of California Press)

Despite its occasional Oliver Sacks–ian insight into the wayward human psyche, Danger to Self has more in common with the TV show ER than with the famed neu­ro­logist’s case studies. That’s because most of Paul Linde’s practice of emergency psych­iatry—in jails, in clinics, and now at S.F. General—has been devoted to very disturbed people who see him just a few times. As Linde puts it, these strung-out patients need him to be more of a “cowboy” shrink than an “introspective, sensitive” one (he imagines a professional war cry of “Man up, hombre!”). His vivid, almost hard-boiled prose suits the stories of people like Mr. Pauletti, who matter-of-factly relates his elaborate plan for killing his boss, or Mr. Hill, a 20-year meth addict. But the connective tissue between those taut tales—academic digressions into psychological theory and how therapists train—suffers by comparison. It’s hard to tell whether Linde isn’t that good at weaving it all together, or whether the patients he writes about just don’t lend themselves to rich analysis (it’s easier, no doubt, to do a fascinating study of a man who mistakes his wife for a hat). Either way, Danger to Self might still appeal to ER junkies—as long as they know to expect only half of a good book.  B
—NAN WIENER



ALBUM
TOM WAITS: GLITTER AND DOOM LIVE
(Anti-)

Tom Waits’ voice ain’t what it used to be, but what it used to be wasn’t exactly the most adroit instrument either. Now­adays, the Sonoma County sexagenarian sounds like a bullfrog on a cigar bender, breathing fire, ash, and pond scum. On his two-CD release Glitter and Doom Live, recorded during various stops on his 2008 U.S. and European tour, Waits blusters his way through 17 numbers from his electric per­iod, from 1985’s “Singapore” to 2006’s “Story,” a track from Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. The songwriting is top-notch throughout, show­casing Waits’ ability to craft vivid characters who dwell on the margins of society. But his gravelly tone tends to steam­-roll his literate lyrics, especially during upbeat numbers, like “Goin’ out West.” Waits is far more alluring during quieter spoken numbers, like “Live Circus,” which is also why the second disc—a 36-minute collection of his oddball between-songs banter—is so rewarding. Hearing Waits spin tall tales about parrot diapers, barnacle genitalia, and the origin of the word bamboozled is like sit­ting next to your nutty uncle at Christmas: You want to pour him one more eggnog just to see what he’ll say next.  B+
—DAN STRACHOTA



BOOK
MARC BENIOFF AND CARLYE ADLER: BEHIND THE CLOUD
(Jossey-Bass)

Since he started Salesforce.com in a San Francisco apartment during the heady days of the dot-com boom, Marc Benioff has shaped his online software company into a cloud-computing juggernaut known as much for gaudy hype as for dazzling innovation. Now he’s marked Salesforce’s 10th anniversary with a book that suggests the best ways to build a billion-dollar com­pany include pumping in millions of your own, tapping rich friends when VC sturn you down, mock­ing bigger rivals, and manipulating the media. Coauthored by Carlye Adler—who penned a gushing profile of Benioff in 2003 for Fortune Small Business and co­wrote an earlier Beni­off book—this volume offers 111 tired tips on how to succeed in business, even as it glosses over Ben­ioff’s clash with mentor-investor Larry Ellison and a scary 2001 exec­utive purge. Its most genuine moments illus­trate Salesforce’s admir­able philanthropic stance, which became a model for Google’s; its weakest stem from the hum­ility Benioff claims to have learned as Salesforce prepared to go public in 2004. He also posits himself as a spir­itual soul, which begs the question: Is this book half full or half empty?  C+
—TOM MURPHY



ALBUM
PACIFIC MOZART ENSEMBLE: DAVE BRUBECK: SONGS OF PRAISE
(Dorian Sono Luminus)

Just in time to miss the holiday shopping season, the Bay Area’s 30-year-old Pacific Mozart Ensemble (PME) releases a skillfully recorded album of nine choral compositions by Dave Brubeck, the celebrated local jazzman who has written more than 50 sacred vocal works. One of his most ambitious, “Can­ticles,” is based on three hymns to the Virgin Mary. Using refreshingly natural English pronunciation, PME’s volunteer choristers join Quartet San Francisco to give it their all. While the sound of the altos and basses is somewhat ped­estrian, the sopranos are often ethereal, and soloist Mari Mar­jamaa’s boy soprano–like innocence is exceptional. But nothing can alter the fact that the melodies often lack interest, the building blocks are square, and the occasionally unusual rhythms merely provide temp­orary relief from tedium. “Ev’ry Christmas I Hear Bells” consists of one simple, clunky chordal block after another. “Precious Gift His Won­drous Birth,” which Brubeck dedicated to PME, may have old-timey charm, but the mel­ody fails to engage. Even “The Commandments,” inspired by Brubeck’s experience navigating between German and American territory during the Battle of the Bulge, falls flat. Despite its longtime advo­cacy of Brubeck’s music, PME will win few converts with this clunker.  B-
—JASON VICTOR SERINUS



BOOK
ANDRE AGASSI: OPEN
(Alfred A. Knopf)

At first, former Tiburon resident Andre Agassi’s autobiography seems to contradict the late David Foster Wallace’s theory that athletes invariably write banal memoirs because of the blindingly narrow focus they must cultivate to succeed. The first half of Open serves up a unique literary treat, vividly describing a sports parent’s mania from the child’s perspective. What is it like to have your identity chosen for you at birth (Agassi’s father taped a Ping-Pong paddle to his infant son’s palm), then grind daily for par­ental affection, only to hear “harder” and “faster”? Agassi tells us: He hates tennis “with a dark and secret passion,” because swinging a racket is the only thing that makes him worthy of his father’s concern. This anxiety follows Agassi into the pros—relationships sour, toupees are worn, matches are thrown, meth is consumed. Such events make for compelling reading (not to mention media scandal). But when Agassi hones his game and turns his career around, his fast-paced, revealing narrative gives way to dull rallies, as he recollects match after match, encounters with celebrities, and his courtship of Steffi Graf. Overcoming his childhood demons may have won Agassi a career grand slam, but as Wallace correctly diagnosed, it also netted much of his memoir.  B+
—DAVID V. JOHNSON