Tues. March 18

 Nicholson Baker is known as a minimalist and controversial novelist. He's certainly courting controversy for his non-fiction book "Human Smoke," about World War II and the motivations for all parties concerned. What Baker does is blow fog over the notion of the "good war," by citing anti-Semitic statements from the likes of, especially, FDR and Churchill. Of Hitler, Churchill wrote in 1937, "a highly competent, cool, well-informed functionary with an agreeable manner." Yeah, that sounds right. FDR argued for Jewish quotas at Harvard. Both the Americans and British sold Germany war machinery in the '30s. There's the kind of detail and precision Baker is well-known for. The Los Angeles Times reviewer reviewer, Mark Kurlansky, called it "a meticulously researched and well-constructed book, demonstrating that World War II was one of the biggest, most carefully plotted lies in modern history." He knows Baker's going to tick off a whole lot of people with this book, but believes in the research and believes Baker has hit on a core truth, saying it "may be one of the most important books you will ever read." On the other hand, the New York Times reviewer William Grimes says Baker puts "events and incidetnts out of context" and calls the tome "muddled and often infuriating. When Baker raises the question "Did the war help anyone who needed help?" Grimes figuaratively throws up his hands in rage, answering "The prisoners of Belsen, Dachau and Buchenwald come to mind, as well as untold millions of Russians, Danes, Belgians, Czechs and Poles. Nowhere and at no point does Mr. Baker ever suggest, in any serious way, how their liberation might have been effected other than by force of arms." Feel like joining this argument? Baker is at Brookline Booksmith Tuesday March 18 at 7 and the room downstairs is likely to be packed and the discussion heated. Free.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-566-6660 www.brooklinebooksmith.com