Goldstone, Lawrence 1947-

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Goldstone, Lawrence 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born 1947; married; wife's name Nancy. Education: Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Westport, CT.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked on Wall Street in New York, NY.

WRITINGS:

Rights (novel), Permanent Press (Sag Harbor, NY), 1992.

Off-Line (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution, Walker (New York, NY), 2005.

The Anatomy of Deception, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2008.

NONFICTION; WITH WIFE, NANCY GOLDSTONE

Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2005.

Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lawrence Goldstone writes both fiction and nonfiction and often collaborates with his wife, Nancy Goldstone. In his first book, the novel Rights, Goldstones features black activist lawyer Herbert Whiffet, who takes on unusual cases for the "little people," such as the one in which a homeless black man defecates in public. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "lambastes white liberals, black rabble-rousers, the media and a colossally inept legal apparatus." In his 1998 Off-Line, Goldstone writes of Phil Gagliardi, a cop investigating the death of a woman in a bookstore. Eventually, Phil discovers that an artificial intelligence prototype is involved with the death and that he must neutralize it in order to save the world.

The nonfiction Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution discusses sectionalism and slavery as key issues in the Constitutional Convention. Goldstone focuses primarily on four delegates, including Roger Sherman, who was primarily responsible for the "Connecticut Compromise," which laid the foundation for the number of House representatives for each state being based on population while two Senate seats were granted for each state regardless of population. Goldstone also includes a state-by-state analysis that shows how each state influenced the creation of the U.S. Constitution, often factoring in the state's economy and its relation to slavery. "This is a well-argued contribution to our evolving understanding of the role of slavery in our nation's origins," wrote Jay Freeman in Booklist.

In their first collaborative effort, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone write about their love of books. Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World begins with their search for a rare copy of War and Peace and evolves into a discussion of how the couple's shared love for tracking down old books rekindles their life together. They also profile many of the people they meet during their hunts, including booksellers and collectors. "All in all, a delightful education in the book arts," wrote Paul A. D'Alessandro in the Library Journal. A Publishers Weekly contributor referred to Used and Rare as "an entertaining introduction to the world of book collecting."

Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore again focuses on book collecting as the authors offer not only tips for collecting but write about some of their most-prized acquisitions and favorite writers. "This is delightful, quick reading for the beginning or experienced book collector," noted Joseph Hewgley in the Library Journal. Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales is a collection of essays by the Goldstones about the American rare book world. "The Goldstones write about a rarefied world in an accessible way," explained Booklist contributor Allen Weakland.

The Goldstones explore the life of Michael Servetus in Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World. Servetus was a theologian and physician in the 1500s who advanced medical science's understanding of the pulmonary circulation system but who was ultimately executed for his controversial writings concerning Christian philosophy. The Goldstones particularly focus on Servetus's Christianismi Restiturio, a rare book in that all but three copies were kept from being burned. Servetus himself was burned at the stake, supposedly with a copy of the book chained to his leg. Ironically, the ideas set down by Servetus in Christianismi Restiturio ultimately laid the foundation for the Unitarian Church. Writing in Booklist, Bryce Christensen commented: "This fascinating study should help remedy … [the] neglect" Servetus has received by historians and scholars. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted: "Regrettably, this story of close-mindedness and redemption still resonates today."

In The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World, the Goldstones explore the Voynich Manuscript, a thirteenth-century manuscript that is written completely in cipher and includes hundreds of illustrations, many depicting unknown plants with nude women inside of them. In writing about the book and its history, the authors go back to the writings of Plato and Aristotle and discuss modern efforts to break the manuscript's code. They also explore the theory that Roger Bacon might have been the mansucript's author. Morris Hounion wrote in the Library Journal that "this book addresses lay readers, for whom the complex story will come alive." A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented: "Compelling … are the Goldstones' accounts of myriad but unfruitful attempts by some very bright people to break the code."

In Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading, the authors provide a guide that helps young readers and their parents go beyond superficial readings of children's books to a more nuanced understanding. Judith Rovenger, writing in the School Library Journal, noted: "This wise, insightful book empowers readers, young and old, to engage more deeply with literature." Booklist contributor Laura Tillotson wrote that "anyone organizing an elementary-level parent-child book group will find this volume both useful and inspiring."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Book, May, 2001, review of Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales, p. 20.

Booklist, May 15, 2001, Allen Weakland, review of Warmly Inscribed, p. 1710; September 1, 2002, Bryce Christensen, review of Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World, p. 23; January 1, 2005, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World, p. 786; April 15, 2005, Laura Tillotson, review of Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading, p. 1415; September 15, 2005, Jay Freeman, review of Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution, p. 9.

California Bookwatch, May, 2006, review of Dark Bargain.

Choice, March, 2003, D.A. Rivard, review of Out of the Flames, p. 1251; October, 2005, M.V. Golden, review of The Friar and the Cipher, p. 310.

Christian Century, January 25, 2003, William C. Placher, review of Out of the Flames, p. 40.

Contemporary Review, December, 2003, Geoffrey Heptonstall, "The Legacy of Michael Severtus," p. 373.

Entertainment Weekly, June 12, 1998, review of Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World, p. 69.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2002, review of Out of the Flames, p. 1008; December 1, 2004, review of The Friar and the Cipher, p. 1131.

Library Journal, March 1, 1992, review of Rights, p. 117; May 1, 1997, Paul A. D'Alessandro, review of Used and Rare, p. 104; April 15, 1999, Joseph Hewgley, review of Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore, p. 92; May 15, 2001, Joseph Hewgley, review of Warmly Inscribed, p. 124; September 1, 2002, George Westerlund, review of Out of the Flames, p. 182; February 1, 2005, Morris Hounion, review of The Friar and the Cipher, p. 78; October 1, 2005, Karen Sutherland, review of Dark Bargain, p. 93.

Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, fall, 2003, Peter F. McNally, review of Out of the Flames.

Publishers Weekly, January 1, 1992, review of Rights, p. 46; March 31, 1997, review of Used and Rare, p. 54; April 13, 1998, review of Off-Line, p. 52; April 5, 1999, review of Slightly Chipped, p. 231; May 31, 1999, George Boulukos, "Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone: A Lust for Books," p. 60; April 9, 2001, review of Warmly Inscribed, p. 57; July 29, 2002, review of Out of the Flames, p. 64; December 13, 2004, review of The Friar and the Cipher, p. 54; August 1, 2005, review of Dark Bargain, p. 55.

Queen's Quarterly, summer, 2004, Stan Corbett, "Knowing the Mind of God."

School Library Journal, May, 2005, Judith Rovenger, review of Deconstructing Penguins, p. 172.

Science News, August 13, 2005, review of The Friar and the Cipher, p. 111.

Tribune Books, December 8, 2002, review of Warmly Inscribed, p. 6; October 26, 2003, review of Out of the Flames, p. 2.