THE TITLE WAVE – Sifting and Winnowing on the BEA Show Floor

A major goal of all booksellers at BookExpo America (BEA) is to identify key titles and to discover intriguing new houses. During the show, BTW staff talked with a number of publishers, particularly smaller, independent houses, to try and help highlight some of the promising books from upcoming lists. By no means exhaustive (although everyone attending BEA can plead exhaustion) the following titles struck us as good possibilities for the fall.

New York City was not only the hosting city, but the most wounded city in the September 11 attacks. Given the enormity of the tragedy, it’s perhaps not surprising to see the range of books about the attacks, the victims -- living and dead, and the scenes of the city, before and after.

Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs (Scalo/DAP, September 2002). Unusual collection of 9/11 photos by observers from all walks of life, responding to an open call for pictures, the photos are currently on exhibit in a Soho art gallery. An emotional series, mostly by amateurs -- including firefighters, area workers, and students -- as well as some professionals, the exhibit will tour along with the book.

Out of the Blue, by Richard Bernstein and the staff of the New York Times (Metropolitan, September 2002). A narrative of September 11, including its historical roots and the aftermath by one of the nation’s most respected journalists.

110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11, edited by Ulrich Baer (New York University Press, September 11, 2002). Short pieces of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by a number of notable contemporary authors -- Paul Auster, Vivian Gornick, Akhil Sharma, Edwidge Danticat, Art Spiegelman, and dozens more.

Tracy Pettit, special sales manager for Rizzoli International Publications, pointed out the house’s New York, New York by Richard Berenholtz, a massive edition that showcases the city. A limited print run of 3,000 will include a signed print. Each photograph is 12-inches high and covers a double-page spread more than 36 inches long. Priced at $275, this volume will be available in October.

NONFICTION

Blending and Crossing Cultures

Empire: Impressions of China, photos and text by James Whitlow Delano (Edition Stemmle, November 2002). The first book by the award-winning American photographer with 94 photographs in tritone.

The Pity of It All -- The Jews in Germany, 1743 – 1933, by Amos Elon (Metropolitan, November 2002). Rather than beginning with the end of the story of German Jews under Hitler, as most historians do, Elon chronicles the flourishing of Jewish art and culture, a forgotten golden age, in the three intervening centuries.

Paris: Capital of the World, by Patrice Higonnet, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, (Belnap/Harvard University Press, October 2002). A cultural portrait of modern Paris from the mid-18th century to World War II, with illustrations and photographs.

The Borscht Belt meets the Bible Belt in photographer Bill Aron’s 10-inch by 10-inch book of photographs with text by Vicki Reikes Fox and foreward by author Alfred Uhry, Shalom Y’all: Images of Jewish Live in the American South (Algonquin, October 2002). A traveling exhibition of the photographs will coincide with the book’s release.

Among the beautifully illustrated books from Abbeville Publishing Group are: Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer by Ian Mabbett et al.; Raphael by Pierluigi de Vecchi; Pacific Legacy: Image and Memory from World War II in the Pacific by Rex Alan Smith and Gerald A. Meehl; and Abayudaya: The Jews of Africa by Richard Sobol and Jeffrey A. Summit, which includes a CD of music and songs from religious services that incorporate a unique mix of African and Jewish sounds.

American History and Institutions

Anatomy of Greed: The Unshredded Truth from an Enron Insider, by Brian Cruver (Carroll&Graf, September 2002). Currently, the only book by a former Enron employee, it is the basis of a CBS movie to be broadcast in October.

Benjamin Franklin, by Edmund S. Morgan (Yale University Press, September 2002); Cited as one of America’s most distinguished historians, Morgan was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2000. He appears in a PBS series on Franklin in November.

Historical artist Mort Künstler and Civil War historian James I. Robertson, Jr. have created Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mort Künstler (Greenwich Workshop Press/Workman, October, 2002). Based on the bestselling novel by Jeff Shaara (Gods and Generals, Ballantine), the paintings and text focus on the strategic collaboration between Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson in the year leading up to Gettysburg. Gods and Generals, as a feature film from Miramax, stars Robert DeNiro and Mira Sorvino and will be released in the fall.

Two stunning collections of historical maps -- Mapping the West: America’s Westward Movement 1524-1890 by Paul Cohen and Washington in Maps by Iris Miller will be available from Rizzoli in November.

Print the Legend: Photography and the American West, by Martha A. Sandweiss (Yale University Press, October 2002). The confluence of the new medium and the new land in the 19th century, including 138 illustrations.

Secret Service: The Hidden History of An Enigmatic Agency, by Philip H. Melanson, Ph.D. and Peter F. Stevens (Carroll & Graf, October 2002).

Scottsboro, Alabama: A Story In Linoleum Cuts, edited by Andrew Lee, foreword by Robin D.G. Kelley, (New York University Press, July, 2002). Recently rediscovered 118 linoleum prints depict a judicial travesty when, in 1931, nine falsely accused black youths were convicted of raping two white women and eight were sentenced to death. Their legal battle dragged on for six years and resulted in two landmark decisions by the United States Supreme Court. The tragic story of racism and injustice still resonates throughout this graphic depiction.

From New England University Press comes A New Order of Things: How the Textile Industry Transformed New England by Paul E. Rivard, in November, and Fixing the World: Jewish American Painters in the Twentieth Century by Ori Z. Soltes (Brandeis University Press), in December.

Biography and Memoir

Ambushed: A War Reporter’s Year on the Front Lines by Ian Stewart (Algonquin, October 2002) is an account of Stewart’s terrifying experiences as West Africa bureau chief for The Associated Press. Culminating in an attack by armed rebels in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during which his colleague was killed and he was shot through the skull, Stewart describes in excruciating detail the perilous world of journalists covering war.

Billy, winner of the British Book of the Year Award, is a fall offering from Overlook Press. Written by Pamela Stephenson, British comedian Billy Connolly’s wife, who is a clinical psychologist, this biography "takes us through the heartbreaking and hilarious life of a comic genius and what made him the man he is."

Coming in October, The Beatles Anthology (Chronicle), which sold over two million hardcover copies, will be available in paper, retailing for $35.

Also from Chronicle in October, I, Me, Mine by late Beatle George Harrison, will be reissued with an introduction by his wife, Olivia Harrison. Originally published in 1980, I, Me, Mine is the closest thing to a Harrison autobiography.

The Cancer Monologue Project, edited by Tanya Taylor and Pamela Thompson, (MacAdam/Cage, October, 2002) is not easy reading but is as compelling as any great novel. Women and men with all types of cancer relate their funny, terrifying, and spiritual experiences at all stages of their illnesses.

Charlie Chaplin: A Photo Diary, ed. By Michel Comte, essays by Sam Stourdze (Steidl, October 2002).

Off to the Side, by Jim Harrison (Grove/Atlantic, November 2002). A memoir from the author of Legends of the Fall and The Road Home. Harrison writes of his Michigan upbringing through the Depression and World War II and his unlikely move to highly paid Hollywood screenwriter and acclaimed novelist.

One Hundred Demons, by Lynda Barry (Sasquatch Books, September 2002). For the first time, Barry’s devoted following can read an explicitly autobiographical collection of her strips.

 

Lives Examined

In September 2000, John D. Freyer developed a high-concept scenario to reorder his life, a plan that became the foundation for a unique, illustrated book, All My Life for Sale (Bloomsbury, November, 2002). Harnessing the tremendous marketing potential of eBay, the largest Internet auction site, Freyer began auctioning off every item he possessed, including half a bottle of mouthwash, family photos, even the chance to replace Freyer at his own birthday party. The book, which he designed himself, chronicles Freyer’s sales, the buyers, and his subsequent trips "to visit my stuff."

Bestselling author, scholar, and activist Derrick Bell presents "a framework for thinking about our potential for success, without compromising our dignity or integrity" in his eighth book, Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth (Bloomsbury, October, 2002). The Harvard Law School professor, who in 1990 gave up his tenured faculty position after protesting the law school’s unwillingness to hire one woman of color to the faculty, distills his remarkable life experience into a series of six meditations on values.

To Be the Poet, by Maxine Hong Kingston (Harvard University Press, September 2002), In a book based on her 2000 William E. Massey Lectures at Harvard, the acclaimed writer of fiction and memoir, declares her liberation from prose after most of her 60 years, "Let my life as a Poet begin…. I won’t be a workhorse anymore; I’ll be a skylark."

Science And Health

Entanglement -- The Greatest Mystery in Physics, by Amir D. Aczel (Four Walls Eight Windows, October 2002). This particular aspect of quantum physics led Einstein to say that God does not play dice with the universe. Aczel, the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Mystery of the Aleph, theorizes the potential for teleportation and unbreakable codes.

The Hungry Gene: The Science of Fat and the Future of Thin (Grove/Atlantic). A well-researched narrative by science correspondent Ellen Ruppel Shell, The Hungry Gene offers a solution to the obesity pandemic. An excerpt will appear in the September 2002 issue of Discover.

From Chronicle this spring, Vinnie’s Giant Roller Coaster Period Chart and Journal Sticker Book. Based on how delighted booksellers were to meet Vinnie and to take his complementary bright red tampon cases at BEA, this book may top a lot of charts.

Home and The Domestic Arts

A Return to Cooking: The Chef, The Cook, and The Artist by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman (Artisan/Workman, November 2002). A collection of recipes and essays for casual, spontaneous cooking by the four-star chef of Manhattan’s Le Bernardin. Take one photogenic chef, add four majestic venues, and carefully fold in nearly 400 stunning color photographs and illustrations and, voilà, a lovely 352-page book with more than 125 recipes, retailing for $50.

Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook (Meredith Books, September 2002). Responding to public demand for better tasting food, Better Homes and Gardens has put back the salt and fat, and has added more ethnic recipes. Also coming are BHG Collector’s Style: Decorating with Things You Love (October 2002); BHG Complete Kitchen: How to Build Your Dream Kitchen (August 2002); BHG Easy Diabetic Meals (December 2002); BHG Halloween Pumpkins and Parties: 101 Spooktacular Ideas (July 2002); BHG Gifts to Make (July 2002); and BHG Christmas Comfort & Joy (July 2002).

Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking: Wine Country Recipes for Family and Friends (Chronicle, September 2002) is the companion volume to Chiarello’s new 26-part series being carried on 150 public television affiliates nationwide. The 216-page book, featuring 109 color photographs, will retail for $35. Casual Cooking is written with Janet Fletcher, cookbook author and staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and photographed by Deborah Jones, recipient of an International Association of Culinary Professionals award.

From Taunton Press, Patterns of Home (September 2002), a new home design book. A number of Rizzoli’s fall books will explore house styles: Dutch Colonial Homes in America by Geoffrey Gross, et al.; Tudor Style by Lee Goff; Barn Revisited by David Larkin, et al.; and Great American Houses and Gardens by Chuck Fischer, an illustrated pop-up book featuring eight great estates.

FICTION

First Novels

Most members of The Rock Bottom Remainders, who entertained hundreds of booksellers at BEA, made names for themselves as writers (including Dave Barry, Steven King, and Amy Tan) and then attempted to cross over into rock 'n' roll. Not so with RBR founder, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, who debuts as a novelist with And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You (Chronicle Books, 2002). She lampoons the search for fame and fortune of country-western singer Sarah Jane Pixlie, and includes such original songs as Hell on Heels, Jesus is My Lawyer Now, and I Got My Modem Working.

Booksellers are asked to consider the novel How To Cook a Tart by Nina Killham (Bloomsbury, October 2002) in the new category of "gastro-porn" by Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential. The pleasure and pain of both food and marriage are the ingredients of this witty novel that skewers food writers, Zone dieters, and all other food-obsessed people.

"Think of Lord of the Flies but with a pack of teenaged girls marooned in a boarding school," writes the Ottawa Citizen about Priscila Uppal’s first novel, The Divine Economy of Salvation (Algonquin October, 2002).

Sherri Strickland, University of New England Press sales manager, described The Round Barn (Hardscrabble Press), a first novel by former bookseller Suzi Wizowaty, as a "very easy read," about the acquisition and relocation of an historic round barn by a museum in Vermont. The story is told in a variety of voices -- gay and straight, men and women.

Short Stories

Roofwalker, by Susan Power (Milkweed, September 2002). A strong handselling candidate from the winner of the Hemingway Foundation/Pen Award for her first book of fiction, The Grass Dancer. In Roofwalker, Power presents a short story collection in which Native American characters wrestle with spirits and cultural impediments.

Late in August, octogenarian Carol Emshwiller will return with her first collection of short fiction in 11 years with 18 stories about women and men, monsters, obsessions, art, and falling in love. Her endearingly odd stories, published by Small Beer Press, play with all the genres and conventions one can name-- science fiction, Western, romance, postmodern, tabloid, literary -- and some that haven't even been invented yet.

Mystery and Fantastic Fiction

From Spinsters Ink Books, reprinted titles in the Kate Brannigan series by popular Scottish mystery writer, V.L. McDermid include Dead Beat (May 2002), Kick Back (May 2002), Crack Down (September 2002), and Clean Break (September 2002).

Some Bitter Taste, by Magdalen Webb (Soho Crime, October 2002), another in the Marshal Guarniccia Investigation series, which renowned genre writer George Simenon terms "a masterpiece."

Visionary author, Sally Miller Gearhart, has written a trilogy, Earthkeep (Spinsters Ink), which takes readers to the troubled planet, Little Blue in the year 2087. Book 1, The Kanshou (Spring 2002); Book 2, The Magister (Fall 2002); and Book 3 (Spring 2003) examines the nature of violence and peace, searching for solutions that will assure the survival of all life on the planet. Gearhart, whose groundbreaking book Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women has become a feminist fantasy classic, will be re-released by Spinsters Ink Books in May 2002.