New in Paperback for December
Here’s what I’ll be looking for in the bookstores this month. Goodbye to the Nervous Apprehension by Michael Heald Across eleven essays, Michael Heald compulsively measures himself against men like Eli...
View ArticleThe Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by W.H. Davies
As a New Yorker, every day I pass homeless people on the street, sometimes a group of them before I leave my neighborhood. One man sits on the corner store steps, babbling to himself, wasting away,...
View ArticleNew in Paperback for March
Here are just some of the paperbacks coming out in March that I can’t wait to read. Crapalachia: A Biography of Place by Scott McClanahan A colorful and elegiac coming-of-age story that announces Scott...
View ArticleIn the Land of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is a classic. Full stop. Whether it’s known through L. Frank Baum’s original book for children or through the 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, it lingers in the...
View ArticleThe Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
On his way to his niece’s wedding in Arizona, Hugh Densmore, a medical intern at UCLA, picked up a young female hitchhiker, took her as far as the California side of the border, and continued on his...
View ArticleNew York State of Mind: A Meaningful Life by L.J. Davis
Published in 1971, A Meaningful Life by Brooklyn writer L.J. Davis is a dark comedy and cautionary tale. Lowell Lake, thirty years old, wakes up one morning to find himself in personal crisis,...
View ArticleNew in Paperback for August
Whether they’re reissues, reprints, or originals, there are some great books coming out in August in paperback. Here are just a few. Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly...
View ArticleThe Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle
Small press HiLoBooks has been reviving stories from the “Radium Age,” a term coined by publisher Joshua Glenn to mean the era in science fiction encompassing 1904 to 1933. The Clockwork Man, having...
View ArticleTove Jansson’s Weather Vane
In the current issue of Tin House, I have an essay on Finnish author Tove Jansson. Jansson, probably best known for her children’s book characters The Moomins, also wrote books for adults. I had...
View ArticleFor Your Ears: Podcast Roundup
Here are just a few podcasts that caught my attention these past few months, with choice quotes from each. You can view my occasional podcast roundup series for Longreads here. John Freeman and Robin...
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