Review by New York Times Review
THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us, by Richard 0. Prum. (Doubleday, $30.) A mild-mannered ornithologist makes an impassioned case for the importance of Darwin's second theory as his most radical and feminist. COMING TO MY SENSES: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, by Alice Waters with Cristina Mueller and Bob Carrau. (Clarkson Potter, $27.) The founder of Chez Panisse describes her early days, explaining how a visit to France awakened her interest in excellent food and how she came to embrace the use of organic ingredients. FASTING AND FEASTING: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray, by Adam Federman. (Chelsea Green, $25.) Federman's biography is the first of a cult food writer who became famous with the 1986 publication of her influential book "Honey From a Weed." SING, UNBURIED, SING, by Jesmyn Ward. (Scribner, $26.) In her follow-up to the National Book Award-winning novel "Salvage the Bones," Ward tells the story of a Mississippi woman intent on making her fractured family whole again. THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1898, by Richard White. (Oxford, $35.) This sweeping history of the decades after the Civil War decries the spoliations White sees everywhere among Robber Barons and corrupt politicians. THE INTERNATIONALISTS: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, by Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro. (Simon & Schuster, $30.) The two authors argue for the historic importance of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, an international agreement usually dismissed by historians as ineffectual and quixotic. In their revisionist view, the pact "reshaped the world map" and "catalyzed the human rights revolution." RESET: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen K. Pao. (Spiegel & Grau, $28.) Combining memoir, self-help, tell-all and manifesto, Pao recalls the disillusionment that led her to sue a venture capital firm for gender discrimination. She lost, but showed the hurdles women still face in many fields. THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM, by Emily Culliton. (Knopf, $25.95.) In Culliton's delightful and sneakily feminist debut novel, a Brooklyn mother is on the lam after embezzling thousands of dollars from her daughters' private school. BONES: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream, by Joe Tone. (One World, $28.) A reporter brilliantly recounts the tale of a Texas bricklayer who laundered drug money for his brother, a cartel boss in Mexico, via the horse-racing industry. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 16, 2018]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A trio of performers demonstrate their considerable vocal talents in the audio edition of the latest from National Book Award-winner Ward (for Salvage the Bones). The novel's multithreaded structure may take a bit of time for listeners to grasp, particularly given that one of the three narrators is the ghost of Richie, a teen prisoner who was murdered many decades earlier. The other two protagonists-a 13-year-old boy named Jojo and his drug-addicted mother, Leonie-interact with both the living and the dead in their daily lives in a narrative that links past racial violence with a current family crisis. The elements eventually meld together seamlessly. Jojo's lingering sense of innocence and earnestness on the cusp of manhood shines through in the gentle cadence of Harrison's voice. Actor Wesley brings both edge and vulnerability to her smoky-voiced portrayal of Leonie. The listening experience requires attention to detail, but the solid performances are a great match for the material. A Scribner hardcover. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In her second National Book Award (NBA)--winning title, Ward returns to Bois Sauvage, MS, where her first NBA winner, Salvage the Bones, played out. Bones' Skeetah and Eschelle appear momentarily here. Jojo, 13, and his toddler sister, Kayla, live with their black grandparents. Their drug-addicted mother Leonie is mostly absent, until she returns announcing a road trip to collect their white father from prison. The epic journey lays bare racial, societal, and familial divides, revealing a tragic landscape still struggling with the horrific legacy of enslavement and privilege. A trio of newbie narrators make audacious debuts; each is superb. Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Jojo is old before his time as Kayla's protector. -Rutina Wesley as Leonie achingly inhabits the limbo between desperate and determined. Chris Chalk as Richie-who slips into the car on the return ride-is caught between brash and lost. With such talent, the production should have been pitch-perfect, but the jarring disconnect among narrators when voicing the same characters in their separate chapters-Harrison's Jojo, for example, is impossibly patient; Wesley's Jojo sounds unnecessarily surly-mars a potentially spectacular performance. VERDICT Directing flaws aside, libraries will want to satisfy eager literature lovers with all available formats. ["Lyrical yet tough, Ward's distilled language effectively captures the hard lives, fraught relationships, and spiritual depth of her characters": LJ 5/15/2017 starred review of the Scribner hc.]-Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
