Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath
Tony Iommi with T.J. Lammers
Da Capo Press
Street: 11.01.11
A leaden hodge-podge of stuff you’ve already heard from the unofficial Black Sabbath doc (what “N.I.B” stands for and how Tony lost his finger) and some obscure gems (Tony’s irrational fear of spiders and his stint in Jethro Tull) render Iron Man a lukewarm rock tome written by one of its key progenitors. Split up into forty or so quick, slice-o-life vignettes, it has a rapid-fire “quick story” quality, perfect for the ADD generation, but lousy for those fiending to dig deep. Still, Tony’s delightfully frank about the amount of coke ingested during the Vol. 4 sessions and his personal hangups with Ronnie James Dio—he just tends to avoid anything meaty. I had to keep reminding myself that it was indeed an Iommi book, not a definitive band bio, and like the late and tired ’90s Sabbath, it flounders a bit in the middle as it fruitlessly searches for anything close to a “fall-from-grace rockstar moment.” Yeah, he took a ton of drugs, but Iommi just isn’t the nihilistic type. Maybe some people dig reading about marriages and mortgages ... just not this reader. The subject is fine, but it needs a better teller. Still, it’s honest, endearing and semi-informative, so in the vein of light, rock reading, seasoned Sab-fanatics could do way worse. I mean, have you heard Forbidden? –Dylan Chadwick

Mormons Under The Microscope
Ed D. Lauritsen, PHD
CFI Publishing
Street: 06.08.10
As a native to the LDS capital of the world, I like to think that I’ve grown to know quite a bit about the predominant religion in the state. Hosting friends from out of town, I get to give them the low-down on Mormons. So, I was eager to take a gander at this book to continue to develop a reasonably accurate understanding of those I’m surrounded by. Dr. Lauritsen does offer a lot of information, and to someone who already knows a bit about The Church, he seems to be low-balling a lot of the information. Rather than offering up the deep insight that I was expecting, I felt more like I was reading Mormonism for Dummies. Lauritsen tackles common questions like: “Do Mormons believe in Hell?” by providing a brief answer: “Yes, Mormons believe in Hell as revealed in the teachings of the Lord’s latter-day prophets,” and then offering a more detailed answer to reinforce his brief one. I don’t know if Dr. Lauritsen is LDS, but this book feels like it has been heavily influenced by the Church—there is no other view to offer a counter argument or to really engage the reader. It seems more like a desk reference for the non-Mormon. It feels like what a missionary might tell me if he was standing on my front porch. I would be down to send this to my curious friends around the country, but I would be sure to couple it with a copy of Pat Bagley and Sister Dottie S. Dixon’s The Mormon Kama Sutra to offer a little balance. –Ben Trentelman