‘Zoo World’ offers thoughtful essays about nature, humanity | Book Talk

In “Zoo World,” an illuminative collection of essays by Hiram College creative writing teacher Mary Quade, the common thread is the natural world as it engages with humanity and the savagery committed by each.

The first essay, “Hatch,” is the most intimate, as Quade monitors a handful of duck nests on her property. She’s named them by the location (“rototiller duck” is in her barn near a broken sump pump) and watches the progress of incubation. Some of the ducklings don’t survive and Quade concludes that sink duck likely killed four of car duck’s hatchlings. She spends more than two days trying to sustain an injured duckling that eventually dies. All of this is interspersed with breaking news of the environmental disaster of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Quade write of her visits to Vietnam and Cambodia, where she sees pathetic animals in markets and zoos and where she and her husband feast on pho, crab and papaya.

The decline in the numbers of monarch butterflies and the dreadful story of a series of early expeditions to the Galápagos to collect specimens are examples of the ways in which people fail as custodians of the Earth.

“Steel,” a sharp detour, is a nightmarish swirl of references to Eliot Ness and the 1930s Torso Murders with Cleveland labor history, Superman and local serial killers.

“Zoo World” (208 pages, softcover) costs $21.95 from Ohio State University Press. Some of the essays were previously published. Quade also is the author of two poetry collections.

‘Long and Winding Phone’

Helen Marketti talked to only one Beatle for “The Long and Winding Phone,” a collection of interviews with people associated with the group. Pete Best, the original drummer until he was replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962, talks about the Casbah Club in Liverpool and about his relationship with fans.

Best’s brother talks about the Beatles museum he runs in Liverpool. Marketti had to go through a public relations representative to interview Julian Lennon, but he talks readily about his new music and film projects.

Fans will recognize Beatles-adjacent names like May Pang and Pattie Boyd, and there are those related, however tangentially, to the Fab Four: secretaries, assistants and members of Beatles tribute bands. Rocker Edgar Winter now plays in Ringo Starr’s band, and Moody Blues and Wings co-founder Denny Laine talks about his British Invasion Tour with other members of ‘60s English bands.

Janice Mitchell, author of “My Ticket to Ride: How I Ran Away to England to Meet the Beatles and Got Rock and Roll Banned in England (a True Story from 1964),” tells of her secret trip from Cleveland Heights to London,

“The Long and Winding Phone” (130 pages, softcover) costs $20 from online retailers. Marketti writes for LifeStyles and North Coast Voice magazines, which previously published some of the essays in the book.

She will sign “The Long and Winding Phone” from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Tuesday at the North Olmsted branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, 27403 Lorain Road, and from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the library’s Strongsville branch, 18700 Westwood Drive. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Events

Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Anesa Miller signs her Ohio-set Gothic novel “I Never Do This,” 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Mentor Public Library (8215 Mentor Ave.): Jim Sweeney signs “What’s the Deal with Dead Man’s Curve? And Other Really Good Questions About Cleveland,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday. Register at mentorpl.org.

Renaissance Theatre (138 Park Ave. W., Mansfield): Matthew Desmond, whose “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” won a 2017 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, joins the Kaleidoscope Series to talk about poverty in Richland County and similar areas, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Suggested donation is $25. Register at mrcpl.org.

Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): Erik Larson (“The Devil in the White City”) talks about “The Demon of Unrest,” about the five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. An overflow room will be available. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jennifer Chiaverini signs “The Museum of Lost Quilts,” latest in the Elm Creek Quilts series. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Wadsworth Public Library (132 Broad St.): Vince Guerreri talks about “Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports,” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Maltz Performing Arts Center (1855 Ansel Road, Cleveland): Kiese Laymon (“Heavy” won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in 2019) and Imani Perry (“South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon”) join the William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday. Individual in-person tickets start at $35. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Mentor Public Library (Mentor-on-the-Lake branch, 5642 Andrews Road): Jennifer Boresz Engelking signs “Lost Lake Erie,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Register at mentorpl.org.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: The Online Author Talk Series continues with Nina Simon, talking about “A Murder Mystery, Family Story, & Love Letter to Strong Women Everywhere,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at smfpl.org.

Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Poets John Burroughs, Jeremy Jusek and Barbara Marie Minney read from their work, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Ken Knabe discusses “Cycling Rights,” 7 p.m. Wednesday. Register at lakewoodpubliclibrary.org.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Norman Finkelstein reads from his work, including “Where the Wanting Leads Us: Reading the Poetry of Norman Finkelstein,” 7 p.m. Thursday.

Music Box Supper Club (1148 Main Ave., Cleveland): The Cleveland Stories Dinner Party series continues with Marc Bona, author of “Joe Thomas: Not Your Average Joe” and “Hidden History of Cleveland Sports,” 7 p.m. Thursday. Dinner is $25; the lecture is free. Go to musicboxcle.com.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (60 S. High St.): The Main Event Many Voices series returns with Leah Rothstein in person and Richard Rothstein in a virtual appearance to talk about “Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Code of Law,” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. The first 70 attendees will receive the book.

Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Poets Philip Metres, John James, Zach Savich, Bridget Lowe and Dave Lucas read from their work, 7 p.m. Friday.

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Mother and daughter Sylvia Harris and Camryn Brooke sign their children’s books, including “The Gift of You,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Canton Palace Theatre (605 Market Ave. N.): Actor Andrew McCarthy talks about his travel book “Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, but registration is required; ticket levels from $50 to $125 include preferred seating and a copy of the book. Register at starklibrary.org.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Zoo World’ offers environmental essays by Mary Quade