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And then there are the Bad Books, those that are already contenders for The Worst Book of the Year. Please remember the rules—that to be considered in this category, a book must be taken seriously, at least in some respectable quarters: mere junk doesn't count. Two books are in the lead at the moment. The first, currently the subject of considerable publicity, is The Cave of John The Baptist: The Stunning Archaeological Discovery That Has Redefined Christian History, by Shimon Gibson (Doubleday). I could quote from the book, which is in the Robert Ludlum school of scholarship, but I think the subtitle is sufficient. Somewhere, perhaps, a budding Christopher Buckley will be inspired to exquisite parody by this volume and others of its ilk, and for that we'll be in Shimon Gibson's debt.

Now for the second candidate. When he is good, he is very, very good, but when he is bad. … We're speaking, of course, of Philip Roth, very good in The Human Stain but off the rails in his latest novel, The Plot Against America, due in October from Houghton Mifflin. The premise is an alternative America in which Lindbergh trounced FDR in the 1940 presidential election. Lindbergh's agenda is not only isolationist but also anti-Semitic, and for American Jews things turn ugly fast. When I read this book in galleys, I kept thinking I was missing something, beyond what appeared to be a leaden and—for me—never faintly plausible parable. (Is that the dark figure of Ashcroft hovering in the background?) The whole book felt terribly forced. Had Roth been so enraged by the state of the nation that his characteristically acute literary judgment deserted him? I will be very interested to hear what the reviewers have to say.

But enough of Bad Books. There are many more good ones worth mentioning, and a long list of "forthcoming," more than we have space for. Mention of Christopher Buckley (whose forthcoming novel, Florence of Arabia, was noted last week) reminds me also to mention a book by that other Buckley, Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography (Regnery), not a continuous narrative but a superb anthology assembled by the founder of National Review. (Look for a B&C review in the November/December issue.)

Not so enjoyable but indispensable is The 9/11 Commission Report (Norton). And if immersion in the failures of our intelligence agencies leaves you utterly dejected, you might consider as an antidote Dark Voyage (Random House), the latest novel by Alan Furst, master of the espionage genre. If you like this one, there are seven more; best to start at the beginning. And be sure to have an atlas close at hand.

This concludes our midyear roundup. Again, thanks for your comments.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The books mentioned above are available from Amazon.com, Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

For more books, see Christianity Today's 2004 book awards.

Books & Culture Corner appears every Tuesday. Earlier editions of Books & Culture Corner and Book of the Week include:

(Not Just) Summer Reading | Part 2 of our midyear report on outstanding books. (Aug. 17, 2004)

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August (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48