Books about the famous and the fascinating

A biography that sees both sides
The interesting conflict brought to light by “Spike Lee: That’s My Story And I’m Sticking To It” (W.W. Norton, $26) is that it may well make you dislike Spike Lee for being something of an arrogant, self-righteous know-it-all, but admire him for participating in an authorized biography that isn’t afraid to make him look bad.

While writer Kaleem Aftab consistently credits Lee for artistic successes like “Do The Right Thing” and “She’s Gotta Have It,” he frankly addresses the failings of lesser-known films like “Girl 6.”

And on a more personal level, Lee’s struggles with both female characters and the actresses who portray them are a recurring theme, as are his frequent rifts with old friends and colleagues.

Similarly, the book's structure, which devotes a chapter to each of Lee’s films or a related set of films, wisely avoids the trap of glossing over his less successful work. A string of paeans to “Do The Right Thing,” after all, isn’t very enlightening at this point, but studying how Lee approached more unevenly received movies like “Mo’ Better Blues” gives a reader something new.

This is biography as it should be done: scholarly and analytical, rather than lionizing or voyeuristic.     —L.H.

Don’t fear the reaper
Mary Roach's 2003 book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" allowed readers to satisfy their curiosity about what happens to our physical bodies after we die. It's only natural that her next book, "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" (Norton, $25), does the same for what happens to our souls.

It's not an easy task, because of course no one has come back to tell us about the world beyond. So Roach explores reincarnation, spirit voices, the weight of the soul and the weird world of ectoplasm (a kind of Silly String that old-time mediums claimed to exude while in trances). She visits an operating room that is specially set up to test for any near-death experiences. Don't expect a rundown here of what various faiths believe happens to us, Roach is charging at her subject from a purely scientific point of view.

And the process is hilarious. Roach's self-deprecating humor is reminiscent of columnist Dave Barry. Of a supposed recording of the sounds of the long-dead Donner Party, she reports "To me it did not sound like communications of any sort, except possibly the sort exchanged between turkeys." After reading pages of supposed beyond-the-grave chatter, she remarks "the dead are surprisingly poor conversationalists."

She thinks the things you and I would think, were we running around India trying to figure out if a little boy was really the reincarnation of an electrocuted factory worker. Like Fox Mulder, she wants to believe, but she's nobody's fool. In the end, she may not come up with any answers, but the way she asks the questions is worth it.    —G.F.C.

Remembering Terry Fox
To create "Terry," (Douglas & McIntyre, $23) Douglas Coupland pored through the Terry Fox Foundation's storage lockers (some packed to the ceiling with get-well cards), piecing together this touching scrapbook of the young Canadian's life. 

In 1980, Terry ran his fundraising "Marathon of Hope" two-thirds of the way across the breadth of his native country, on a prosthetic leg that replaced the one that he had lost to cancer.  Twelve miles east of Thunder Bay, he was stricken with chest pain from fresh tumors in both lungs, and could not go on.  He perished soon afterward at 22.

In this volume intended for all ages, Coupland's tone is gentle, yet never condescending.  The illustrations are a patchwork of family pictures, news clippings, and original photographs, art-directed by Coupland, of the artifacts of Terry's life: the baseball cap he wore after losing his hair to chemotherapy, the jug of water he took from the Atlantic Ocean with the intent of someday pouring it into the Pacific.  These last are illuminated softly, but sharply focused, making them appear simultaneously precious yet tangible.  Most moving are the letters sent Terry from the whole of the country, such as a sheaf of a schoolgirl's notebook paper with "I love you, Terry," written out 3,339 times (once for each mile he ran.)  For both those who remember Terry's historic trek and those new to his story, it's a heartbreaking tribute.    —K.R.

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