Innholdsfortegnelse for October 24, 2019 i The New York Review of Books

SAUDIARABIEN From Napa to Pompeii Charles Frankel Frankel takes us across the stunning and dangerous world of volcanic wines. He details each volcano’s most famous eruptions, the grapes that grow in its soils, and the people who make their homes on its slopes, adapting to an ever-menacing landscape. Cloth $27.50 Move On Up Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power Aaron Cohen “Cohen marries scholarly erudition with sincere musical affection in this intriguing look at Chicago soul.”—Library Journal Paper $20.00 Ahab’s Rolling Sea A Natural History of Moby-Dick Richard J. King “A marvelous guide to the magic and mystery that was Melville’s gift to us, for King reveals the deep, deep backstory of the making of Moby-Dick.”—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean Cloth $30.00 Cloth $30.00 A Year…

I’ve always been aware of being an inconsistent personality. Of having a lot of contradictory voices knocking around my head. As a kid, I was ashamed of it. Other people seemed to feel strongly about themselves, to know exactly who they were. I was never like that. I could never shake the suspicion that everything about me was the consequence of a series of improbable accidents—not least of which was the 400 trillion–to-one accident of my birth. As I saw it, even my strongest feelings and convictions might easily be otherwise, had I been the child of the next family down the hall, or the child of another century, another country, another God. My mind wandered. To give a concrete example: if the Pakistani girl next door happened to be…

CUP.COLUMBIA.EDU American Resistance From the Women’s March to the Blue Wave DANA R. FISHER “American Resistance is an important book, not only as a portrait of our moment but also as a challenge to traditional understandings of protest politics.… There are lessons here for 2020 and beyond.” —E. J. Dionne, Jr., coauthor of One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported After the Crash Financial Crises and Regulatory Responses EDITED BY SHARYN O’HALLORAN AND THOMAS GROLL “This fascinating compendium of essays is appropriately broad in both coverage and perspectives.… The financial crisis raised numerous questions; this book is a stepping-stone toward answers.” —Alan S. Blinder, Princeton University, and former vice chair, Federal Reserve Board Malebranche ALAIN BADIOU Translated by Jason E.…

Ancient mosaics in lands throughout North Africa and the Middle East are both works of art and insights into past ways of life. Through the MOSAIKON initiative, the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Foundation are working with international partners in the Mediterranean to protect mosaics from the destructive impact of human and natural threats. Visit getty.edu/world to discover how the Getty’s support is growing and strengthening a network of professionals working to preserve these treasures in the face of staggering challenges. A World of Art, Research, Conservation, and Philanthropy GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE + GETTY FOUNDATION + GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE + J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM Photo: Mosaic floor, Volubilis ruins, the excavations of the Roman city in the archaeological site Volubilis, northern Morocco. Text and design © 2019 J. Paul…

The thrilling true story of a wealthy heiress taken prisoner and her daring escape from Nazi Germany. “This riveting account of a little-known historical personality will appeal to World War II and general history fans alike.” —Library Journal A Best Book of the Year The New York Times Critics, The Economist, The Spectator, NPR, Mental Floss “Inventive and beguiling…. The revelations she uncovers…are affecting and occasionally (and delightfully) bizarre.” —The New York Times “A historical spellbinder…. A lively, vivid, and thoroughly researched account of a time when discord gripped the nation and wouldn’t let go.” —The Christian Science Monitor A breakthrough work that debunks the myth that there are hardwired distinctions between male and female brains. “Takes a scalpel to the research surrounding sex differences in the brain with precision…

In her biography of Elizabeth Bowen, published in 1977, Victoria Glendinning judged that it was “too soon to assess precisely [Bowen’s] place among twentieth-century novelists.” Such caution was understandable at the time, just four years after the writer’s death, but even then there could have been no question as to Bowen’s greatness in the short-story form. In her finest novels, such as The Last September—the one she prized most highly—The House in Paris, and The Death of the Heart, she was as good as, if not better than, the best of her English contemporaries; but as a practitioner of the shorter form she was the supreme genius of her time. Randall Jarrell famously, and wittily, defined the novel as an extended work of prose fiction that has something wrong with…

Hokusai’s Landscapes The Complete Series By Sarah E. Thompson $45 A delightful look at Hokusai’s landscape series in full, from the largest collection of Japanese prints outside Japan Viewpoints Photographs from the Howard Greenberg Collection By Kristen Gresh and Anne E. Havinga $65 The twentieth century through the lenses of its most celebrated photographers Hyman Bloom Matters of Life and Death By Erica E. Hirshler, with an essay by Naomi Slipp $40 A reconsideration of compelling and beautiful paintings by a modern American master More information at mfa.org/publications MFA Publications is the imprint of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston…

Discovering Pluto: Exploration at the Edge of the Solar System by Dale P. Cruikshank and William Sheehan. University of Arizona Press, 475 pp., $45.00; $32.00 (paper) Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon. Picador, 295 pp., $28.00 Should We Colonize Other Planets? by Adam Morton. Polity, 122 pp., $45.00; $12.95 (paper) Nearly every civilization has recorded celestial events, partly in the hope that they might explain terrestrial ones, but also to place themselves in the grand cosmic scheme. The Nebra Sky Disk, a twelve-inch bronze disk with gold inlay, dated to 1600 BCE and discovered in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany, depicts the sun, moon, and what appears to be the star cluster Pleiades. By the second millennium BCE, the Babylonians…

The Fall of Language in the Age of English by Minae Mizumura, translated from the Japanese by Mari Yoshihara and Juliet Winters Carpenter. Columbia University Press, 221 pp., $25.00 (paper) A True Novel by Minae Mizumura, translated from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter in collaboration with the author. Other Press, 854 pp., $24.95 (paper) Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura, translated from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter in collaboration with the author. Other Press, 447 pp., $17.99 (paper) The writer from an immigrant background who exchanges his or her ancestral language for English is an American literary archetype. From Henry Roth, who arrived in Brooklyn in the 1900s from what is now Ukraine, to Junot Dĺaz, who came to New Jersey in the 1970s from the Dominican Republic,…

Bowery Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY, 10001 (646) 230-6655; www.bowerygallery.org; Tues-Sat, 11AM-6PM Hearne Pardee N/S/E/W Painting|Drawing|Collage October 1–26, 2019 Hearne Pardee expands his interpretation of everyday landscapes with images of an outdoor art installation in a suburban park. A mini-Stonehenge, it consists of stones arranged in alignment with the solstices, evoking geological time and cosmic space in a context of encroaching subdivisions. Rotating, juxtaposing and translating images among media, Pardee creates multi-panel works that use the site to investigate our awareness of time and space, and our connection to place. Marlborough Graphics, 40 West 57th Street, 2nd floor, New York 10019; (212) 541-4900; graphics@marlboroughgallery.com Monday-Saturday 10-6 Perlmutter Gallery, 60 Garner Road, Averill Park, NY; (518) 674-8711; “The Big Apple” by Jenness Cortez, perlmuttergallery.com Exhibition: Cavalier Gallery,…

ISBN: 9781487504823 “…Wendy Dobson is one of the few analysts with the vision and experience to provide an informed blueprint for the future.”–Laura Dawson, Director, Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, Washington, DC ISBN: 9781487500962 “Brian Gunia is an expert on how we can get better at bargaining through bartering…”–Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg ISBN: 9781487523992 “China’s Commercial Sexscapes is the first in-depth overview of the levels of erotic entertainment found in urban China.”–William Jankowiak, University of Nevada, Las Vegas ISBN: 9781487503789 “A very practical recipe for companies looking to dramatically improve their ability to execute sustainably.”–Celso Mello, Chief Information Office, Reliance Comfort LP ISBN: 9781487522261 “Jutel gives us enjoyable and accessible tools for thinking critically about…

JOHN BANVILLE’s latest novel is Mrs. Osmond. DAVID COLE is the National Legal Director of the ACLU and the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center. His latest book is Engines of Liberty: How Citizen Movements Succeed. JASON FARAGO is an art critic for The New York Times and the editor of the recent anthology Out of Practice: Ten Issues of “Even,”2015–18. In 2017 he was awarded the inaugural Rabkin Prize for art criticism. TIMOTHY GARTON ASH is Professor of European Studies and Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. A new edition of his book The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of ’89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and…

“A fascinatingly detailed account of one of the most important years of Winston Churchill’s life.”—Anne de Courcy, author of The Viceroy's Daughters “Lakota America is beautifully researched, persuasively argued, and Justifiably audacious in its reach and implications. It is both a landmark in American Indian history and a provocative rethinking of North American history generally.”—Elliott West, University of Arkansas ■ The Lamar Series in Western History “Sustainability represents the overarching challenge of our day, which must be met with a commitment to a spirit of progress across the global community. A better Planet offers an array of ideas for helping to deliver the ecological transition that is now an imperative.”—Emmanuel Macron, President of France “A major contribution to our understanding of the American Revolution. Lockwood demonstrates… an eye for telling…

Capitalism, Alone The Future of the System That Rules the World Branko Milanovic Belknap Press “Richly detailed… [Milanovic] belongs to a new generation of data-driven economists who have helped track what has happened to income distribution in recent years.” — New Yorker Stalin and the Fate of Europe The Postwar Struggle for Sovereignty Norman M. Naimark Belknap Press “Naimark adds an abundance of fresh knowledge to a time and place that we think we know, clarifying the contours of Soviet–American conflict by skillfully enriching the history of postwar Europe.” — Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny The Great Reversal How America Gave Up on Free Markets Thomas Philippon Belknap Press “A fascinating case study of rising corporate concentration and why this reflects not just impersonal economic forces but political choices.”…

The Capital by Robert Menasse, translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch. Liveright, 417 pp., $27.95 About eight years ago, the Austrian novelist Robert Menasse managed, with great difficulty, to arrange a meeting with a woman named Themis Christophidou. She was then deputy head of cabinet of the commissioner in charge of the European Union’s department of culture in Brussels. Christophidou, who is a Greek Cypriot, is a high flyer in the Brussels bureaucracy. Shortly after Menasse met her, she moved up the ladder and went on to be successively head of cabinet for two other commissioners. She is now back in the culture department, but this time at the top of the tree, with the grand title of director-general for education, youth, sport, and culture. She is in charge,…

I went down the narrow passage, wide enough for one slave at a time, to the harbor. An Englishman inspects the line of those leaving the fort—maybe he has unloaded his cargo of missionaries and guns and now waits for a ship to carry him over the ocean to the cane fields. A handsome man, in fact. Why is he smiling at me? Piles of gold beneath the palms, piles of salt under the sun. When will a sailor come unfasten the iron ball from my feet? I want to make sure the pencil and Moleskin notebook are still in my backpack, since I plan to turn whatever happens to me into heart-wrenching prose. “I was a good girl living with her aging parents… One day they went off to…

Revolutionary Love A Political Manifesto to Heal and Transform the World Michael Lerner “Revolutionary Love opens our minds and hearts to a fully human way of living and governing.”—Gloria Steinem, feminist, activist, and author of My Life on the Road Ithaca Forever Penelope Speaks, A Novel Luigi Malerba, Translated by Douglas Grant Heise, Introduction by Emily Hauser “A tale of homecoming, revenge, and disguised identities… such a rewarding read.”—from the Introduction by Emily Hauser, author of the Golden Apple trilogy Meat Planet Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft “A balm for those weary of the lab meat bluster—people tired of the endless promises, and done waiting for the better days ahead.” —New Food Economy Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs Ian D’Agata “A must-have and a compelling…

Jesus in Asia by R. S. Sugirtharajah. Harvard University Press, 311 pp., $29.95 Over the past few years, the authorities in Beijing have given churches across the country orders to “Sinicize” their faith. According to detailed five-year plans formulated by both Catholic and Protestant organizations, much of this process involves the predictable palaver of state control: “to actively practice core values of socialism, love the motherland passionately, support the leadership of the Communist Party, obey the law and serve society.”1 But the authorities want more than just political control; they want a say over Christianity’s spirit, too. According to one document, “Chinese styles” are to be promoted in the religion’s “building, painting, music, and art,” and also in Christian liturgy and theology. Other documents speak of reflecting Chinese traditions, but…

Daniel Mendelsohn Paperback • $18.95 • Also available as an e-book • On sale October 8th EVENTS WITH DANIEL MENDELSOHN Saturday, October 26th, 6pm POLITICS AND PROSE 5015 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, D.C. Tuesday, October 29th, 7:30pm LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES: ALOUD SERIES Kirk Douglas Theater 9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA In conversation with Richard Kramer For ticket information visit www.ifla.org Monday, November 4th, 7pm MCNALLY JACKSON BOOKS SEAPORT 4 Fulton St, New York, NY Saturday & Sunday, November 23rd–24th MIAMI BOOK FAIR For information visit www.miamibookfair.com “Mendelsohn’s points are always passionately argued. He strikes the perfect balance between learned and playful… One fascinating essay after another from one of America’s best critics.” —Kirkus, starred review “The role of the critic,” Daniel Mendelsohn writes, “is to mediate intelligently…

TEDGIOIA MUSIC A Subversive History “One of the most perceptive writers on music has cut a wide swath down the path of history, illuminating details often left in the shadows.… A mind-opening and totally engaging read!” —TERRY RILEY “In this excellent history, music critic Gioiadazzles with tales of how music grew out of violence, sex, and rebellion.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review) “A fast-reading big picture that takes in Roman pantomime riots, Occitan troubadours, churchbells, blues, Afrofuturism, surveillance capitalism, and much more. A must for music heads.” —NED SUBLETTE, author of The World That Made New Orleans basicbooks.com…

NOW OPEN Catalogue available at publications.artic.edu. Major funding for In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury is provided by the Gordon and Carole Segal Exhibition Fund; the Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation; Margot Levin Schiff and the Harold Schiff Foundation; and Barbara Bluhm-Kaul and Don Kaul. Additional support is provided by Maria and William D. Smithburg; Kimberly M. Snyder; the George Lill Foundation Endowment; Nada Andric and James Goettsch; Noelle C. Brock and Thomas E. Keim; the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; the Butler-VanderLinden Family Fund; the Terra Foundation for American Art; The Danielson Foundation; and CNA. Members of the Exhibitions Trust provide annual leadership support for the museum’s operations, including exhibition development, conservation and collection care, and…

press.jhu.edu / 1-800-537-5487 REPUBLIC OF NUMBERS Unexpected Stories of Mathematical Americans through History David Lindsay Roberts This fascinating narrative history of math in America introduces readers to the diverse and vibrant people behind pivotal moments in the nation’s mathematical maturation. $29.95 hardcover/ebook THE PHYSICS OF KRAV MAGA John Eric Goff The art and science of real-world fighting. Explore the physics behind the physical! $28.95 paperback/ebook SAILING SCHOOL Navigating Science and Skill, 1550–1800 Margaret E. Schotte Hands-on science in the Age of Exploration. $59.95 hardcover/ebook THE ALGIERS MOTEL INCIDENT revised edition John Hersey foreword by Danielle L. McGuire From the bestselling author of Hiroshima, a searing account of police brutality, white racism, and black rage in 1960s Detroit. $34.95 paperback/ebook NIGHTMARE FACTORIES The Asylum in the American Imagination Troy Rondinone How…

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden. Metropolitan, 339 pp., $30.00 1. A Moment of Vision In Robert Sheckley’s 1978 short story “Is That What People Do?,” a man named Eddie Quintero buys himself a pair of binoculars from an army and navy surplus outlet, “because with them he hoped to see some things that he otherwise would never see. Specifically, he hoped to see girls undressing at the Chauvin Arms across the street from his furnished room”—but he was also “looking for that moment of vision, of total attention.” Since this is a science fiction story, Quintero accidentally ends up with a pair marked “Experimental. Not to Be Removed from the Testing Room.” The binoculars turn out to have a fabulous capacity not only for seeing through walls but also for…

SHAKESPEARE CHARACTERS MUG The mug, elevated. These heirloom quality bone china mugs are decorated with humorous illustrations depicting more than 40 of the central characters from 14 of Shakespeare’s major plays. Each time you pick up these mugs, you’ll find more to look at in the wonderfully detailed illustrations: swords and daggers, masks and cauldrons, snakes, fairies, phantoms, and much more. Made in Scotland by a family business. Hand wash only. Suitable for use in a microwave. Size: 3.54"H x 3.34"D. Capacity: 1.5 cups #05-QPD04 • $24.95 BOOK OF HOURS SILK CHIFFON SCARF The sumptuous imagery on this luxurious scarf is based on illustrations found in copies of the book of hours. These medieval manuscripts were embellished with intricate borders and initial letters depicting flowers and leaves, vines and tendrils,…

Edited and with a foreword by Edwin Frank Paperback • $17.95 • Also available as an e-book “The NYRB Classics series is amazingly fine in its choice of titles and in the design of the books.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post “The real contribution that New York Review Books makes [is] it helps you to see that the world is more different than you thought.”—D.T. Max, Los Angeles Times “New York Review Books Classics is acting, yet again, in its capacity as the Savior of Lost Greats.”—Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review To join the NYRB Classics Book Club, visit www.nyrb.com or call 1-800-354-0050 In Greek mythology, Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of red thread to guide him through the labyrinth, and the Red Thread offers a path through…

The Glassblower’s Children Maria Gripe Illustrated by Harald Gripe Paperback • $11.99 • For ages 8–12 Also available as an e-book Full of curious and vivid characters, Maria Gripe has drawn on fairy tales and Norse myths to tell a thrilling story about a childless royal couple, a kidnapping of two children, a carpet-weaving witch, and a one-eyed raven, with a very modern sensibility. “The Glassblower’s Children retains its mystical, allegorical power…. Stirring and distinct, this fable by the 1974 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award lends itself not just to bedtime reading but also to quiet reflection.”—Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal The Lady From Philadelphia: The Peterkin Papers Lucretia P. Hale With the original illustrations Paperback • $12.99 • For ages 8–12 The Lady from Philadelphia…

SHE WRITES PRESS (480) 275-4280 OUT OF THE BRONX by Irene Sardanis Danger wasn’t just the slum area in the Bronx. Danger lay within the tenement where I lived. Danger was my mother. 9781631525407 • Paper, $16.98 206 Pages • Memoir/Nonfiction Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, IndieBound, and Powell’s Author’s website: http://bit.ly/IreneSardanis MAGICAL WAND PRESS www.donaldfiresmith.com; (412) 216-0658 THE SECRETS OF HAWTHORNE HOUSE by Donald Firesmith The story of an unlikely friendship, the clash of two radically different cultures, secret magic, and a search for the long lost Hawthorne treasure. 9781726283151 • Paper, $14.99 413 Pages • YA Paranormal Fantasy Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and Kobo Author’s website: www.donaldfiresmith.com. BRIGHTHORSE BOOKS www.brighthorsebooks.com; (402) 455-1500 THE J HOROSCOPE by Sharon Chmielarz A re-imagining of Genesis stories.…

CATALONIAN COMPLEXITIES To the Editors: On page 255 of his book Scots and Catalans, Professor John Elliott, referring to the TV images of scuffles and confrontations between police and would-be voters in an illegal referendum in Barcelona on October 1, 2017, speaks of a “barrage of manipulated images and false information” that were shown on news programs around the world, including some “widely disseminated images of blood-stained voters [which in reality were] carry-overs from earlier incidents quite unrelated to the 2017 referendum.” Elliott adds, “Truth counted for little. Foreign opinion-makers, many of them knowing little about the Catalan domestic situation or the background to the secessionist movement, were all too happy to accept the images and stories that were being put about by the independentistas.” Unfortunately, this seems to be…