Book Nook

Two of the most harrowing tales of chemical dependency addiction and the ways it which it cripples its users are contained in High on Arrival by singer and actor Mackenzie Phillips and American on Purpose by actor and talk show host Craig Ferguson. That these people survived decades of significant substances abuse and retained sufficient brain cells to write these books is stunning.

When it comes to total debauchery and hitting rock bottom as hard as possible, Phillips' habit of mainlining speedballs and claims of having periodic sex over a number of years with her dad -- Mamas and Papas creative force John Phillips -- are terrifying and horrific. But Ferguson's destructive pattern of addiction to everything from cheap wine to heroin also ran deep.

For a lighter read, The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum, by Rebecca Loncraine, tells the tale of the famous author. Born a few years before the Civil War and dying shortly after the close of World War I, Baum was witness to some of the most turbulent decades of American history.

More than a writer of the Oz books, he authored dozens of others published under multiple names, and was a brilliant mechanic and illusionist who play a key role in developing innovative special effects for the theatrical productions he wrote and mounted, and played a similar part in the early days of the film industry.

The author also brings to life a vivid portrait of America during these decades, covering issues such as the popularity of spiritualism, the immense interest in amateur photography that allowed the documentation of daily life, the domestic effects of the dreadful mortality rate in the 19th century of children under the age of five, and robust political debates regarding the right of women to vote and the proposed panacea of prohibiting the manufacture and consumption of alcohol.