Intellectual pursuits, criminal pursuits, carnal pursuits: The thrill of the chase runs through this week’s featured titles, from John Walsh’s “Circus of Dreams,” to 1980s literary London, to Frank Close’s “Elusive,” about the physicist Peter Higgs and his search for a subatomic particle, after Lina Wolff’s novel ‘Carnality’, in which the intellectual, criminal and carnal come together for a raw lovemaking.
Other pursuits: Longtime New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson tries to learn math later in life, Niven Govinden’s new novel follows a film director’s search for his next project, and Nicole Pasulka’s “How You Get Famous” explores the quest for stardom and creative freedom in Brooklyn’s thriving drag scene.
We also recommend a few books on sex crimes and their consequences – Ken Auletta’s account of Harvey Weinstein’s demise and John Wood Sweet’s history of a rape case in 1793 New York – along with a collection of stories set in the Penobscot Indian Nation Reserve, a history of textiles and their uses, and Eleanor Brown’s novel about an unconventional extended family. Finally, two books on geopolitics and international relations: Louisa Lim’s ‘Indelible City’ looks at Hong Kong’s attempts to defy colonialism, and Meenakshi Ahamed’s ‘A Matter of Trust’ outlines the long, complicated dynamic between India and the United States. . Enjoy reading.
Gregory Cowles
Senior editor, books
Twitter: @GregoryCowles
In this mix of memoirs and literary history, Walsh, the former literary editor of The Sunday Times of London, writes about school life in that city when Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Jeanette Winterson and their generation were in the spotlight. In Walsh’s memory, the book launch parties, which got an upgrade in the 1980s, were particularly brilliant; he remembers them as “golden and Gatsby-esque extravaganzas.”
agent | $36.99
carnality
Lina Wolff
Translated by Frank Perry
Bennedith, a 45-year-old Swedish writer, travels to Madrid on an artist grant. There she meets a stranger named Mercuro who begs her to hide him “for a few days”. Bennedith invites him to stay in her apartment. Each of them longs for a transformative event to get the life juices flowing again.
Other Press | Paper, $17.99
Auletta’s latest book is a cradle-to-prison biography of Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul convicted of third-degree rape and another sex crime in New York and awaiting trial of further charges in California. Auletta places the story in the long shadow of ‘Citizen Kane’. The author is, of course, Jerry Thompson, the reporter looking for his antihero’s Rosebud: the mysterious missing object or influence that will explain his personality.
Penguin Press | $30
Wilkinson begins this memoir by admitting that he only passed high school math because he cheated. “A Divine Language” recounts the year when, not long ago, well into his sixties, he tried to learn the algebra, geometry, and calculus that had puzzled him decades earlier. As he got older, he wanted to see if his teenage confusion was a reflection of a lack of math skills or a lack of discipline.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $29
THE SEWING GIRL’S STORY:
A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
John Wood Sweet
This story tells the fascinating and unusual story of a rape trial in New York in 1793, when the young victim bravely faced her much wealthier attacker in court with consequences that can still be felt today.
Holt | $29.99
Govinden’s elegant novel about the creative process follows a film author who is in Italy for the premiere of his latest work, but already looking ahead to what is to come. A chance meeting with a writer – and later her out-of-print novel – leads to some ideas, although the gap between vision and real life may be too difficult to bridge.
Deep parchment | $25.95
In this brash, irreverent collection of stories, Talty sheds light on life and death on the Penobscot Indian Nation reservation by following Penobscot boy David, through adventures and problems that evoke loss, intergenerational trauma, and more.
Tin House | Paper, $16.95
This book on the Scottish physicist and the boson named after him, also known as the “God Particle,” is a clear and vivid account of a major scientific breakthrough, guiding the reader through much of the history of particle physics and revealing important players and insights are introduced. underway.
Basic | $30
A former journalist dismantles received wisdom about Hong Kong’s history and replaces it with a compelling, in-depth account of China’s long struggle for sovereignty and, equally importantly, Britain’s.
Ahamed’s exquisitely written, thoroughly researched and insightful account outlines the difficult, complicated relationship of two huge democracies who need each other as allies, but can’t really be friends.
HarperCollins | Paper, $18.99
In this captivating and thought-provoking novel, three families linked by adoption embark on an ambitious vacation that goes awry after an announcement from the birth mother of their children. Brown poses serious questions about how families are formed and how they last.
In her extensive and personal history memoir travelogue, Finlay explores the often complex and always fascinating history of textiles such as linen, cotton, wool, silk and synthetics.
Pegasus | $32
This history of Brooklyn’s drag scene follows a handful of influential queens who shaped the field, using some 100 interviews and many years of reporting to investigate bigger issues.
Simon & Schuster | $27.99
