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Around the world in 80 books
By David Damrosch. 2021
A transporting and illuminating voyage around the globe, through classic and modern literary works that are in conversation with one…
another and with the world around them *Featured in the Chicago Tribune' s Great 2021 Fall Book Preview* Inspired by Jules Verne&’s hero Phileas Fogg, David Damrosch, chair of Harvard University&’s department of comparative literature and founder of Harvard&’s Institute for World Literature, set out to counter a pandemic&’s restrictions on travel by exploring eighty exceptional books from around the globe. Following a literary itinerary from London to Venice, Tehran and points beyond, and via authors from Woolf and Dante to Nobel Prize–winners Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mo Yan, and Olga Tokarczuk, he explores how these works have shaped our idea of the world, and the ways in which the world bleeds into literature. To chart the expansive landscape of world literature today, Damrosch explores how writers live in two very different worlds: the world of their personal experience and the world of books that have enabled great writers to give shape and meaning to their lives. In his literary cartography, Damrosch includes compelling contemporary works as well as perennial classics, hard-bitten crime fiction as well as haunting works of fantasy, and the formative tales that introduce us as children to the world we&’re entering. Taken together, these eighty titles offer us fresh perspective on enduring problems, from the social consequences of epidemics to the rising inequality that Thomas More designed Utopia to combat, as well as the patriarchal structures within and against which many of these books&’ heroines have to struggle—from the work of Murasaki Shikibu a millennium ago to Margaret Atwood today. Around the World in 80 Books is a global invitation to look beyond ourselves and our surroundings, and to see our world and its literature in new ways
Warmth: Coming of age at the end of our world
By Daniel Sherrell. 2021
&“ [ Warmth ] is lyrical and erudite, engaging with science, activism, and philosophy . . . [Sherrell] captures the…
complicated correspondence between hope and doubt, faith and despair—the pendulum of emotional states that defines our attitude toward the future. &” — The New Yorker &“Beautifully rendered and bracingly honest.&” —Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing From a millennial climate activist, an exploration of how young people live in the shadow of catastrophe Warmth is a new kind of book about climate change: not what it is or how we solve it, but how it feels to imagine a future—and a family—under its weight. In a fiercely personal account written from inside the climate movement, Sherrell lays bare how the crisis is transforming our relationships to time, to hope, and to each other. At once a memoir, a love letter, and an electric work of criticism, Warmth goes to the heart of the defining question of our time: how do we go on in a world that may not?
Unthinkable: Trauma, truth, and the trials of american democracy
By Jamie Raskin. 2022
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. In this searing memoir, Congressman Jamie Raskin tells the story of the forty-five days…
at the start of 2021 that permanently changed his life—and his family's—as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation's Capitol, and led the impeachment effort to hold President Trump accountable for inciting the political violence. On December 31, 2020, Tommy Raskin, the only son of Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, tragically took his own life after a long struggle with depression. Seven days later on January 6, Congressman Raskin returned to Congress to help certify the 2020 Presidential election results, when violent insurrectionists led by right wing extremist groups stormed the U.S. Capitol hoping to hand four more years of power to President Donald Trump. As our reeling nation mourned the deaths of numerous people and lamented the injuries of more than 140 police officers hurt in the attack, Congressman Raskin, a Constitutional law professor, was called upon to put aside his overwhelming grief—both personal and professional—and lead the impeachment effort against President Trump for inciting the violence. Together this nine-member team of House impeachment managers riveted a nation still in anguish, putting on an unprecedented Senate trial that produced the most bipartisan Presidential impeachment vote in American history. Now for the first time, Congressman Raskin discusses this unimaginable convergence of personal and public trauma, detailing how the painful loss of his son and the power of Tommy's convictions fueled the Congressman's work in the aftermath of modern democracy's darkest day. Going inside Congress on January 6, he recounts the horror of that day, a day that he and other Democrats had spent months preparing for under the correct assumption that they would encounter an attempted electoral coup—not against a President but for one. And yet, on January 6, he faced the one thing he had failed to anticipate: mass political violence designed to block Biden's election. With an inside account of leading the team prosecuting President Trump in the Senate, Congressman Raskin shares never before told stories of just how close we came to losing our democracy that fateful day and lays out the methodical prosecution that convinced Democrats and Republicans alike of Trump's responsibility for inciting insurrectionary violence against our government. Through it all, he reckons with the loss of his brilliant, remarkable son, a Harvard Law student whose values and memory continually inspired the Congressman to confront the dark impulses unleashed by Donald Trump. At turns, a moving story of a father coping with his pain and a revealing examination of holding President Trump accountable for the violence he fomented, this book is a vital reminder of the ongoing struggle for the soul of American democracy and the perseverance that our Constitution demands from us all
Hemingway's boat: everything he loved in life, and lost, 1934-1961
By Paul Hendrickson. 2011
Explores the last twenty-seven years of the life of writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and describes the solace that he found…
aboard his fishing boat Pilar, which he obtained in 1934. Discusses both Hemingway's literary career and his family, including his cross-dressing youngest son Gregory. Some strong language. 2011
The book in the Renaissance
By Andrew Pettegree. 2010
Chronicles the first one hundred fifty years of the printed word. Details the origins and evolution of print, culminating in…
Gutenberg's innovation and its momentous consequences for humankind. Examines the religious, economic, and cultural concerns that influenced the production of books. 2010
Letters of Note: Grief
By Shaun Usher. 2022
An immensely moving collection of letters on the theme of Grief, curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters…
of Note website.The first volume in the bestselling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name--an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. From Virginia Woolf's heartbreaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression 'OMG' in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job application letter. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme. In this volume, Shaun Usher turns to the theme of grief. Contributors to be confirmed.
Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife
By Francine Prose. 2009
Analyzes The Diary of a Young Girl (DB 57022) as a literary work, a Holocaust narrative, and a cultural artifact.…
Examines the evidence that Anne rewrote her memoir to increase its appeal. Discusses the published book's use in classroom instruction and its adaptation for stage and film. 2009
Role models
By John Waters. 2010
Baltimore director of cult films Pink Flamingos and Hairspray pens essays about the people he admires, including singers Johnny Mathis…
and Little Richard, writer Tennessee Williams, former Charles Manson groupie Leslie Van Houten, gay pornographers, and bar owners. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2010
The Grimm legacy (Grimm Legacy Ser.)
By Polly Shulman. 2010
Elizabeth gets an after-school job as a page at the New York Circulating Material Repository, which houses magical objects from…
the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. When items disappear Elizabeth and the other pages are drawn into frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods. For grades 6-9. 2010
Never say die: the myth and marketing of the new old age
By Susan Jacoby. 2011
Social critic and author of The Age of American Unreason (DB 66150) paints a pessimistic, yet realistic, overview of old…
age. Combines social, economic, and historical analyses as well as personal experience to portray the issues--with special attention to Alzheimer's disease--that aging baby boomers will encounter. 2011
Why Orwell matters
By Christopher Hitchens. 2002
Essayist explores the life and work of George Orwell (1903-1950), best known as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm.…
Discusses Orwell's political beliefs and the ways they were shaped by the times in which he lived. Challenges Orwell's critics and argues that his ideas remain relevant. 2002
The Sookie Stackhouse companion (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)
By Charlaine Harris. 2011
Features the novella Small-Town Wedding, in which Sookie and her boss Sam, a shape-shifter, attend nuptials in Sam's Texas hometown.…
Includes trivia and fan questions, recipes, and a guide to Sookie's world of vampires, werewolves, and fairies. 2011
Death (Journey of Life Ser.)
By Sarah Levete. 2010
Discusses customs surrounding death that are practiced by six major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Examines issues…
being debated about these customs, such as whether environmental concerns should outweigh the Hindu funeral pyre tradition. For grades 3-6. 2010
Blue nights
By Joan Didion. 2011
Didion, who wrote about her husband John Gregory Dunne's death in The Year of Magical Thinking (DB 61740), here focuses…
on her adopted daughter Quintana Roo, who died at age thirty-nine in 2005. Didion reflects on Quintana's childhood, her own role as a mother, adoption issues, and aging. Bestseller. 2011
Beauty is a verb: the new poetry of disability
By Sheila Black, Jennifer Bartlett, Michael Northen. 2011
Anthology shows disability through the lenses of poetry and essays. Features works of early and mid-twentieth-century poets, such as Josephine…
Miles and Larry Eigner, as well as from participants in the later "disability/crip poetics" movement, including John Lee Clark and Daniel Simpson. Offers critical commentary. 2011
Author retraces the travels of English adventurer Sir John Mandeville, who left for the Holy Land in 1322 and returned…
in 1356 with tales of countries throughout Asia that he claimed to have visited. Discusses the influence Mandeville had on explorers and writers in his day. 1996
Rin Tin Tin: the life and the legend
By Susan Orlean. 2011
Relates the 1918 discovery of an abandoned German shepherd puppy on a French World War I battlefield by American soldier…
Lee Duncan. Describes Rin Tin Tin and his descendants' acting roles from early silent movies to the 1950s television show. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2011
Annual anthology of stories, essays, and poems published by small presses. In "We Don't Deserve This" married, globe-trotting physicians Jake…
and Sarah, who haven't seen their kids in years, discover that the two young teens are child pornographers. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2011
The white goddess: a historical grammar of poetic myth
By Robert Graves. 1999
Grevel Lindop, editor of this 1997 edition, describes it as "(among other things) an adventure in historical detective-work," in which…
Graves linguistically deciphers much of the world's mythology, explains the place in anthropology of goddess and god, and provides a basis for understanding his poetry and the modern world. 1952
My stolen son: the Nick Markowitz story
By Jenna Glatzer, Susan Markowitz. 2010
Describes the 2000 murder of the author's fifteen-year-old son Nick. Explains that the killers were young men who had a…
drug dispute with Nick's half-brother. Discusses Nick's life and the nine-year search for Jesse James Hollywood, who fled the country after arranging Nick's death. Strong language and some violence. 2010