It's been a particularly full several weeks of reading, but before going into the two novels that dominated the time, I thought it'd be good to set down some thoughts about the non-fiction I've been reading. Both works are by academics, professors that are experts in their fields, women, and great storytellers.

First up: "Nature Behind Barbed Wire" by Connie Y. Chiang. I picked this book up when visiting Bowdoin College's art museum last year. It was on sale and the subtitle ("An environmental history of the Japanese American incarceration") caught my eye. This book is the first I've read where the term "incarceration" was used in relation to the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans. The author wrote this book using the environment as a way to explore the trials and travails of Japanese-Americans during the carceral programs that forced them off their leased land (typically the farmers) and away from their livelihoods. Drawing from oral histories, statistical reports, memoranda, and public information, Chiang expands her thesis and humanizes the often rough interface between man and nature. Very impressive work.

But, not as impressive as Pamela Bannos' "Vivian Maier: A photographer's life and afterlife." This remarkable tale of Vivian Maier, famed "nanny street photographer", is far more educational than I expected. Exceedingly well sequenced, this work tells the story of Maier in great detail, alternating between the reconstructed historical record and the modern day fervor that surrounded Maier's "discovery". What truly put this book in a different league is just how well Bannos integrated the broader historical context, both globally and in the minutiae. I feel like I could read the book again and learn even more about the U.S. in the '40s – '90s. Maier was prolific in her photography and film, as well as excessive in her somewhat obsessive collections of other material, and the story of her in the broader cultural context is well told through careful sequencing and understanding of the photographic record. I think Bannos' insight, which is that Maier was photographer first (nanny second), changes completely how we understand Maier and is likely truer to her than other media (movies and otherwise) that followed the hype cycle.

Standout works for their academic importance and compelling narratives.