Prepub Alert, November 1, 2011
Nov 1, 2011image tk
| In this Article |
| My Picks |
| PREPUB ALERT ONLINE: blog.libraryjournal.com/prepubalert SIGN UP: ow.ly/60SSZ |
BIG COMMERCIAL FICTION
Brown, Rita Mae & Sneaky Pie Brown. The Big Cat Nap: The 20th Anniversary Mrs. Murphy Mystery. Bantam. Apr. 2012. 224p. ISBN 9780345530448. $26; eISBN 9780345532398. MYSTERY
Dickey, Eric Jerome.An Accidental Affair. Dutton. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780525952343. $26.95. POP FICTION
Farnsworth, Christopher. Red, White and Blood. Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399158933. $24.95. THRILLER
Kerr, Philip.Prague Fatale: A Bernie Gunther Novel. Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399159022. $26.95. THRILLER
McCall Smith, Alexander.The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection. Pantheon. Apr. 2012. 224p. ISBN 9780307378408. $24.95; eISBN 9780307907158. MYSTERY
Margolin, Phillip. Capitol Murder. Harper: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780062069887. $25.99; eISBN 9780062069894. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio. THRILLER
Moore, Christopher. Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 416p. ISBN 9780061779749. $26.99; eISBN 9780062101242. CD: HarperAudio. COMIC FANTASY
Perry, Anne. Dorchester Terrace: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel. Ballantine. Apr. 2012. 336p. ISBN 9780345510624. $26; eISBN 9780345532329. MYSTERY
Quick, Amanda. Crystal Gardens. Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399159084. $25.95. ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Ross, Ann B. Miss Julia to the Rescue. Viking. Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9780670023387. $25.95. POP FICTION
Sheldon, Sidney & Tilly Bagshawe. Sidney Sheldon’s Angel of the Dark. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 336p. ISBN 9780062073419. $25.99;
pap. ISBN 9780062126894. $17.99. lrg. prnt. THRILLER
Steel, Danielle.Betrayal. Delacorte. Apr. 2012. 336p. ISBN 9780385343190. $28; eISBN 9780345532343. lrg. prnt. POP FICTION
Tyler, Anne. The Beginner’s Goodbye. Knopf. Apr. 2012. 208p. ISBN 9780307957276. $24.95; eISBN 9780307958228. lrg. prnt. CD/downloadable: Random Audio. LITERARY
Vincenzi, Penny.More Than You Know. Doubleday. Apr. 2012. 592p. ISBN 9780385528252. $26.95; eISBN 9780385534529. POP FICTION
Woods, Stuart. Unnatural Acts: A Stone Barrington Novel. Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399158865. $26.95. THRILLER
MORE HOT FICTION
Auslander, Shalom. Hope: A Tragedy. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9781594488382. $26.95. Downloadable: Penguin Audio. LITERARY
Auslander, author of the edgy, well-received memoir Foreskin’s Lament, returns with a first novel about a man who’s moved his family to uneventful Stockton, NY. But there’s an arsonist about, and in the attic he finds an ancient woman, arm tattooed, who claims to be Anne Frank. Acerbically smart and in-your-face daring; some readers will bridle. Ripe for attention.
Boyd, William. Waiting for Sunrise. Harper: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 368p. ISBN 9780061876769. $25.99. THRILLER
In 1913 Vienna, young English actor Lysander Rief is accused of rape after launching a passionate affair and escapes with the help of two dodgy British diplomats, who promptly enlist his help in a dangerous mission. Costa/Whitbread Award winner Boyd turns in what looks to be a layered and atmospheric work; even strictly literary sorts might consider
Doughty, Louise. Whatever You Love. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780062094667. pap. $14.99; eISBN 9780062094674. LITERARY
Laura has just endured that devastating event every parent fears and dreads: her nine-year-old daughter has been killed in a hit-and-run accident. Now she’s seeking the driver. Doughty certainly has writing chops—she’s been short-listed for the Costa Novel Award—and this novel has been optioned for film. Definitely worth investigating, though be prepared to hurt.
Dybek, Nick. When Captain Flint Was a Good Man. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9781594488092. $26.95.
POP FICTION
It’s dangerous business, catching king crab on the Bering Sea each fall, but the men of Loyalty Island need the work. Cal’s parents don’t want him to join in, he’s confused by his mother’s relationship with fleet owner John Gaunt, and then Gaunt dies. At first glance swift, atmospheric, and cuttingly honest; from a first novelist who’s already won many awards. My strong guess is that you shouldn’t miss.
Faye, Lyndsay. The Gods of Gotham. Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Mar. 2012. 432p. ISBN 9780399158377. $25.95. Downloadable: Penguin Audio. HISTORICAL THRILLER
In 1845 New York, Timothy Wilde, an officer in the newly organized police force, encounters a blood-soaked girl claiming to know where plenty of bodies are buried. It’s soon evident that a serial killer is at work, eager to stoke anti-Irish sentiment. Faye has already proved herself a capable writer of historical fiction with Dust and Shadow, a beautifully done debut that revisited Sherlock Holmes.
Laukkanen, Owen. The Professionals. Putnam. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780399157899. $25.95. Downloadable: Penguin Audio. THRILLER
Unable to find jobs, four recent college grads get by with a little low-key kidnapping. But then they pick the wrong victim. Fresh premise and lots of support for this debut thriller, with so many quotes from genre heavies—from Box to Sanford. A real ground-floor opportunity for thriller fans.
LaValle, Victor. Devil in Silver. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2012. 464p. ISBN 9781400069866. $26; eISBN 9780679604860. HORROR
That old man with a bison’s head, roaming the mental ward each night at New Hyde Hospital? It’s the devil. To defeat him, newcomer Skinny Ray joins forces with three other patients. LaValle’s last novel, Big Machine, won the Shirley Jackson, Earnest Gaines, and American Book awards and got best book nods from at least a half-dozen venues. I expect a lot from this book, and I don’t even read horror.
Parameswaran, Rajesh. I Am an Executioner: Love Stories. Knopf. Apr. 2012. 272p. ISBN 9780307595928. $24.95; eISBN 9780307957573. SHORT STORIES
The characters in this first collection, including a frustrated Bengal tiger and a woman gamely managing Thanksgiving dinner with her husband sprawled dead on the floor, suggest an offbeat temperament at work. The venues where these stories have appeared—e.g., McSweeney’s, Granta, and Zoetrope—suggest talent at work as well. Great expectations; I’m eager to read.
Scotch, Allison Winn. The Song Remains the Same. Putnam. Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9780399157585. $25.95. POP FICTION
Plane-crash survivor Nell Slattery awakens in the hospital with no memory of what happened or, indeed, who she is. Friends and family try to help her reconstruct her past, but she begins suspecting their intentions—and their truthfulness. Good for book clubs that want both entertainment and something worth discussing; from the author of the New York Times best-selling Time of My Life.
Tabor, James M. The Deep Zone. Ballantine. Apr. 2012. 400p. ISBN 978035530615. $26; eISBN 9780345532282. CD/downloadable: Random Audio. THRILLER
With a terrifying pandemic threatening, scientist Hallie Leonard is sent into the world’s deepest cave to find an organism that promises a cure. Alas, someone on Hallie’s team wants her to fail. Tabor knows about caves, as evidenced by his best-selling Blind Descent, and his past life as a Washington, DC, cop means that he knows about crime, too. Good publicity on this first novel, so thriller fans should pay attention.
Thayil, Jeet. Narcopolis. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. 304p. ISBN 9781594203305. $25.95. LITERARY
Opening in late 1970s Bombay, Thayil’s debut novel features a visitor from New York who’s entranced with the city’s underworld, particularly an opium den and brothel. Yet the characters—and the author—still look for beauty. A poet, performance artist, and musician/songwriter, Thayil should write piercingly (I love it when poets write fiction), and he eschews saffron and temple bells for a more broadly cosmopolitan voice. An intriguing possibility for smart readers.
NONFICTION
Alterman, Eric & Kevin Mattson. The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. Viking. Apr. 2012. 416p. ISBN 9780670023431. $29.95. HISTORY/POLITICS
So many books lately on the rise of the Right, but here, finally, is a history of postwar liberalism. Media critic, political columnist (e.g., The Nation), CUNY journalism professor, and best-selling author (e.g., Why We’re Liberal), Alterman joins with Ohio University professor Mattson to define liberalism through the individuals who have shaped it over the last decades. Important for current events readers except in really red states.
Ball, Edward. The Tycoon and the Inventor: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures. Doubleday. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780385525756. $28. Downloadable: Random Audio. BIOGRAPHY
Asked by railroad tycoon Leland Stanford to help prove that at one point a galloping horse’s four hooves leave the ground simultaneously, photographer Eadweard Muybridge invented stop-motion photography—the first step on the road to motion pictures. Stanford’s continued patronage didn’t keep Muybridge from going to trial when he killed his wife’s lover. National Book Award winner Ball (Slaves in the Family) leaves the South for a work that combines art, science, true crime, and history-in-the-making in rough-and-tumble Gilded Age San Francisco. Now, that should attract readers.
Danziger, Lucy. The Drop 10 Diet: Harness the Fat-Melting Power of Superfoods. Ballantine. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780345531629. $25; eISBN 9780345531636. DIET
Featured in Self’s August 2008 issue, “20 Superfoods for Weight Loss” remains one of the biggest draws on Self.com. Self editor in chief Danziger here expands on that story, explaining how you can drop ten pounds (or more) not by cutting back but by eating more of certain superfoods, like avocado and yogurt. First serial to Self and ongoing branding, so you’ll be hearing about this.
Delves Broughton, Philip. The Art of the Sale: Learning from the Masters About the Business of Life. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9781594203329. $27.95. BUSINESS/SELF-HELP
Delves Broughton’s New York Times best seller, Ahead of the Curve, detailed his MBA studies at Harvard (after years as a journalist). Here he visits a merchant in Morocco, a Zen-inspired Japanese saleswoman, and art dealer Larry Gagosian, among others, to explain that we’re all into sales—whether we’re selling ourselves to a boss or our children on the virtues of homework—and how we can do a better job of it. Intriguing and possibly useful.
Faber, Urijah with Tim Keown. The Laws of the Ring. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 224p. ISBN 9780062112408. $25.99. MEMOIR/SPORTS
Headliner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and former featherweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting, Faber (aka the California Kid—he’s from Sacramento and looks like a surfer) is a mixed martial arts superstar. His book is part life story, part Zen-like meditation on attaining self-awareness, and part self-help. Maybe it will help you but probably best for MMA fans, who are legion, as the 100,000-copy first printing suggests.
Finland, Glen. Next Stop: A Son with Autism Grows Up. Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399158605. $25.95. PSYCHOLOGY
Finland, a former reporter with an MFA from American University, chronicles her sometimes touching, sometimes funny experiences raising autistic son David and what life is like now that he’s grown and still living with her and her husband. So many books address the autistic child, but fewer consider the “next stop,” so strongly consider this book.
Folsom, Tom. Hopper: A Wild Ride to the Heart of the American Dream. Dutton. Apr. 2012. 416p. ISBN 9780525952299. $27.95. Downloadable: Penguin Audio. BIOGRAPHY/FILM
He wrote, directed, and starred in the iconic Easy Rider, marched with Martin Luther King Jr., bought an early Warhol soup-can painting, championed hip-hop, and was arrested numerous times for carrying firearms and engaging in disorderly conduct. He’s Dennis Hopper, and his story is presented here as the story of American pop culture and even (if weirdly) the American Dream. From the author of the New York Times best-selling The Mad Ones; get unless you have really old-fashioned readers.
Gumbel, Andrew & Roger Charles. Oklahoma City. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780061986444. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CURRENT EVENTS
Gumbel has been writing about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing for over ten years. Charles was a consultant for ABC’s 20/20 1996–97 coverage of the bombing. Both are award-winning investigative journalists, and Charles is also a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. So we should pay attention when they argue that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did not act alone but were part of a disaffected antigovernment militia. With a 100,000-copy first printing and likely of considerable import; I hope people will listen.
Hampton, Kelle. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected: A Memoir. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780062045034. $24.99; eISBN 9780062045058. MEMOIR
After her daughter was born with Down syndrome, Hampton has been an advocate for her and for all individuals with this condition. Since 2007, her award-winning blog, Enjoying the Small Things, has had more than 15.4 million page views and more than 6.8 million unique visitors from almost 200 countries. Some parents will really need this; affecting for others. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
Herbert, Martha & Karen Weintraub. The Autism Revolution: Whole-Body Strategies for Making Life All It Can Be. Ballantine. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780345527196. $26; eISBN 9780345527219. Downloadable: Random Audio. HEALTH/MEDICINE
Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital neurologist Herbert argues that autism is not a deficiency of the brain but the brain’s reaction to bodily disorder stemming from various triggers, namely, specific foods, environmental toxins, viruses, and stress. She’s courting controversy here, but she is an internationally known expert in the field. And her book is a Harvard Health Publication, which says something; HHP books have big reach. Important for many readers.
James, Eloisa. Paris in Love. Random. Apr. 2012. 272p. ISBN 9781400069569. $25; eISBN 9780679604440. MEMOIR
By day, James is actually Mary Bly, daughter of poet Robert Bly and associate professor and head of the creative writing department at Fordham University. By night, she’s the New York Times best-selling author of 24 exquisitely written historical romances. This memoir discusses the year James spent with her family in Paris after she survived both cancer and the death of her mother. James is a smart writer in any genre, Paris is the dream city for escape, and this should be excellent.
Lawson, Jenny. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir). Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399159015. $25.95. MEMOIR/HUMOR
She’s famed on the Internet as the Bloggess (“like Mother Teresa, only better”) and also writes an (I hope) tongue-in-check parenting column and a self-styled satirical sex column that must be sizzly because my office computer denies me access. Here, Lawson revisits her rural Texas childhood. With lots of media attention expected and comparisons to Chelsea Handler, this book is one to watch.
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947–1983. Pantheon. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780307378880 $27.95; eISBN 9780307907141. MEMOIR
While Lindbergh published five volumes of letter and journal excerpts in her lifetime, much material remained when she died in 2001. This sixth and final volume begins in 1947 and proceeds to the turmoil of the Sixties. Lindbergh still has eager readers.
Mali, Taylor. What Teachers Make. Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399158544. $19.95. EDUCATION
A former middle school teacher and now a teacher advocate, Mali wrote a poem, “What Teachers Make,” that has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube and was read at Yale’s commencement by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. The essays here, on teaching hard work and reaching a difficult student, for instance, were inspired by the poem. With everyone debating the real value of what teachers do, here’s a heartfelt explanation. A crucial book on a crucial subject; get it for believers and doubters alike.
Prager, Dennis. Still the Last Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values To Triumph. Broadside: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780061985126. $25.99; eISBN 9780062097811. CURRENT EVENTS
Heard on 120 stations nationwide, Prager plumps for American values—liberty, natural rights, and the melting-pot ideal of national unity—which he sets against four basic alternatives: Islamic totalitarianism, European-style democratic socialism, state-run capitalism (as in China), and chaos. Those who remember the controversy surrounding Prager’s accusations regarding Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison will wonder about this book. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
Roberts, Geoffrey. Stalin’s General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov. Random. Apr. 2012. 448p. ISBN 9781400066926. $30; eISBN 9780679645177. BIOGRAPHY
Marshal of the Soviet Union as of 1943 and hence a key player at the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was a leading general of World War II. In fact, some scholars argue that he effectively won the war for the Allies. Roberts has written extensively about the war in Russia and should deliver a thoroughgoing biography for lay reader and scholar alike.
Rolls, Barbara J. The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet: Smart, Simple, Science-Based Strategies for Losing Weight and Keeping It Off. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9780062060648. $27.50. DIET
The Volumetrics diet cuts down on calories but not on portions, so desperate dieters still feel full. It must work; three previous titles have all been New York Times best sellers, and the diet itself has been ranked among the top programs around by venues as various as Consumer Reports and the Daily Beast. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Samuels, Allison (text) & Meg Hess (illus.). What Would Michelle Do? A Modern Day Guide to Living with Substance and Style. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781592407088. $23. STYLE
When Michelle Obama was at Princeton and then at Harvard Law School, I wonder if she knew that she would be a fashion and lifestyle icon to millions. An idea book on making the First Lady’s sense of style all your own; fruitfully read with Mikki Taylor’s Commander in Chic: Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady, coming from Atria in November.
Savage, Michael. Trickle Down Tyranny: Crushing Obama’s Dreams of a Socialist America. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 256p. ISBN 9780062083975. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio. CURRENT EVENTS
Host of the No. 3 radio program in the nation, heard by nearly eight million listeners a week and syndicated across the United States in over 300 markets, Savage continues his rant against “Barack Lenin.” Not a book to make everyone happy, but the 250,000-copy first printing and one-day laydown on April 3 indicates that the audience will be large.
Sykes, Christopher Simon. David Hockney: A Rake’s Progress; The Authorized Biography. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780385531443. $35. BIOGRAPHY/ART
Photographer and writer Sykes moves beyond David Hockney’s
paintings of cool blue Califor-nia pools to track his entire life and career, from his 1937 birth in northern England to his breakout at a Young Contemporaries exhibition in London to experiments beyond painting, including set and costume design, and more. For art lovers and other sophisticated readers.
Ung, Loung. Lulu in the Sky: A Daughter of Cambodia Finds Love, Healing, and Double Happiness. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780062091918. pap. $14.99. MEMOIR
A refugee from Cambodia’s killing fields, Ung concludes the heartrending trilogy begun with First They Killed My Father, a 2001 American Library Association Asian/Pacific American Award winner, with this account of her move into adulthood. You’ll be hearing more about her; she’s contributed her story to 10×10, a documentary film conceived and directed by Academy Award–nominated director Richard E. Robbins that chronicles the lives of ten girls from ten countries.
Williams, Vanessa & Helen Williams. You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other). Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781592407071. $27. MEMOIR
The former Miss America and Desperate Housewives star speaks up about work, love, and life with mom. Refreshingly not a Mommie Dearest; buy for your celeb followers.
EIGHT INTRIGUING TITLES FOR INQUIRING MINDS
Collingham, Lizzie. The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. 656p. ISBN 9781594203299. $35. HISTORY
The role of food during World War II? It sounds specialized, but consider: 20 million people died during the war from starvation
or malnutrition alone, equal to the number of military deaths. The Nazis set about eliminating "useless eaters." British rationing worked at home, but wholly preventable famine killed millions in India. And though America's food production remained strong, it was at this time that our "fast-food nation" got its start. Intriguing for informed readers.
Cowen, Tyler. An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies. Dutton. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780525952664. $26.95. FOOD/ECONOMICS
Get ready for a shock: local food may taste better, but it's not necessarily better for the environment. And food that is cheap is not necessarily bad for you. Probably no one knows this better than Cowen, author of the New York Times best-selling ebook The Great Stagnation, the big economics blog Marginal Revolution, and the foodie blog Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide. Lots of interesting topics, e.g., why packed restaurants serve iffy fare, and who can complain about better-tasting, cheaper, more environmentally friendly food?
Ehrenhalt, Alan. The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City. Knopf. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780307272744. $26.95; eISBN 9780307957405.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
With young adults and well-off retirees flowing in, immigrants and poorer folks flowing out, and the impulse to revitalize downtowns there if sometimes still defeated by urban sprawl, America's cities are definitely changing—and sometimes swapping roles with those upstart suburbs (that's the "great inversion"). From noted urbanologist Ehrenhalt; not just for city libraries, since this new demographic affects everyone.
Fortey, Richard. Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms: The Story of the Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind. Knopf. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780307263612. $28.95; eISBN 9780307957412. NATURAL HISTORY
Award-winning paleontologist Fortey, a longtime Fellow of the Royal Society formerly associated with London's Natural History Museum, is one of those rare and wonderful science writers who can make even fossils come alive. That's not just a cliché; remember Trilobite? Here, Fortey travels far and wide to show us the organisms and ecosystems (like the horseshoe crabs of the title) that did not get wiped out as evolution moved things along. Essential for the science-minded and delightful for the rest.
Johnson, Simon & James Kwak. Deluded: Why America Can't Solve Its Debt Problem—and Why It Matters to You. Pantheon. Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9780307906960. $26.95; eISBN 9780307907127. Downloadable: Random Audio. ECONOMICS
Once upon a time, explain the authors of the best-selling 13 Bankers, the U.S. government could pay off its debt. Then came the 1970s, with Reaganism, macroeconomic change, and demographic shifts that spurred the growth of entitlement programs. And then came the recent economic collapse. Add in some intractable political attitudes, and you have a debt that's very hard to reduce—and the authors are here to explain how it affects you every day. Here's betting that no one will agree with everything they say—and that what they say needs to be heard. With a nine-city tour.
Robbins, Jim. The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, the Future of Our Forests, and a Radical Plan To Save Our Planet. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2012. ISBN 9781400069064. $25; eISBN 9781588369994. ENVIRONMENT
A brawny, hard-living, and once hard-drinking nurseryman from Minnesota, David Milarch conceived a brilliant plan after a near-death experience. He set out to find and then clone the tallest, broadest, hardiest tree for each of the 872 known species in the United States, aiming to replant the clones worldwide and thus provide a living archive of tree genetics at a time when trees are vanishing and the ecosystem faces crisis. Called Archangel Reforestation, his project has received considerable media attention; science reporter Robbins broke the story in the New York Times. A great book about someone making a difference, and the publisher is pitching his backstory and appealing persona.
Romano, Carlin. America the Philosophical. Knopf. Apr. 2012. 544p. ISBN 9780679434702. $30; eISBN 9780307958211. PHILOSOPHY
Take that, Richard Hofstadler! Americans aren't anti-intellectual. In fact, argues Romano, a distinguished book critic and professor of philosophy, American culture is more profoundly philosophical than any other culture in history, with ordinary Americans quick to question specious reasoning and trained minds just as quick to throw over stuffy debate for something refreshing. Okay, so I majored in philosophy and have a special interest in this book, but what could be more important than how we think—and how we think about ourselves? Full disclosure: I know the author, and I'm still recommending this book.
Schonwald, Josh. The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food. Harper: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780061804212. $24.95. FOOD
From Alice Waters's microfarm to bioengineering and nanotechnology—seen by some as a way to eliminate hunger—Schonwald's book explores how we'll be eating tomorrow. Not one to see bioengineered food as a bad thing, Schonwald might be kicking up a bit of controversy here. Read with Tyler Cowen's An Economist Gets Lunch, this book should give you much, ahem, food for thought.
MY PICKS
Shriver, Lionel. The New Republic. Harper: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 400p. ISBN 9780062103321. $25.99. lrg. prnt. LITERARY FICTION
Shriver’s last three novels have done splendidly: 2010’s So Much for That was a National Book Award finalist, 2007’s The Post-Birthday World was named the No. 1 Book of the Year by Entertainment Weekly, and 2003’s much-talked-about We Need To Talk About Kevin has just been made into a film. So it’s reasonable to have great expectations for her latest, which, interestingly, was written back in 1998. But now her themes—terrorism and the cult of personality—have truly come of age. In an alternate past on an invented European peninsula, Edgar Kellogg has replaced charismatic Barrington Saddler as reporter in a no-account Portuguese-speaking country plagued by homegrown terrorism. Great for book clubs.
McGill, Jerry. Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2012. 192p. ISBN 9780812993073. $22; eISBN 9780679644606. MEMOIR
In the 1980s, McGill was a well-liked 13-year-old living in the projects on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and indulging his talent for sports and dance. Then he was shot in the back and left paralyzed from the waist down; his assailant has never been apprehended. After the shooting, McGill took the high road, getting a B.A. in English and an MFA in education, traveling the world, acting, teaching, and campaigning for the disabled. His memoir, flooded with both pain and forgiveness, is written as a letter to the man who shot him, whom he has dubbed Marcus. McGill published this book himself, then sent a copy to Lorrie Moore, whose assessment in the New York Review of Books has sent it on to bigger things. One of those works that makes you feel really, really humble.
