Classic Returns

Here's something really cool. Bloch's title combines two of his noir mysteries from the 1950s in a back-to-back volume. Finish the first one, turn it over, flip it, and there's a second novel with its own cover, ready to go. A sweet deal for the price. Based on true events, Rifkin's book relates the story of three college kids who travel to Mississippi to work for the Civil Rights Movement. When they disappear, the father of one of the boys hires New York PI Joe Dunne to find out who is responsible…and kill them.

Another hot new series from Penguin, "Great Books for Boys" offers a handful of top adventure stories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Each volume sports a nice vintage-looking cover to complete the spell. Great fun (and girls can read them, too!).

In this 1989 novel, Philoctète recounts the brutal attack on a Dominican town by Haiti's Generalissimo Trujillo. It unfurls through the eyes of Pedro Brito, who endeavors to save his Haitian wife from the slaughter. LJ's reviewer found that the book "makes the horror of this historical event feel very tangible."

Wolfe's first foray into fiction was a Goliath success, becoming a No. 1 best seller nationwide as well as morphing into a feature film (which, alas, stunk badly). It's a laugh-out-loud dark comedy in addition to being a page-turning tale of power, politics, greed, and justice.

This mammoth volume sports all of Bishop's published works as well as many unpublished poems along with translations, correspondence, travel writing, literary essays, and more. An entire Bishop library between two covers for a reasonable price.

Director John Huston tapped Bradbury to adapt Herman Melville's briny revenge story for his 1956 feature film starring a hammy Greg Peck as everyone's least favorite one-legged captain. Anything by Bradbury is always worth having.

Howe's 1985 volume took Emily Dickinson study to another level, as she revealed new depth in the poet's work undiscovered by previous critics. Howe traces the many influences on the poems, ranging from Dickens, Browning, and Shakespeare to Puritan sermons to local nature. Solid for American lit collections.

Kooper—musician, composer, and performer—had the knack of always being in the right place at the right time, which allowed him to be involved in many of rock's great moments from the 1960s on. He played with Bob Dylan, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and the Who; founded Blood, Sweat, & Tears; and discovered and produced Lynyrd Skynyrd. He told his story with great wit in this 1998 volume. This updated edition brings his remembrances to the present day.

Matthews's 1992 study covers chemical sensitivity from the patient's perspective, first defining it, then cataloging the effects and the means to deal with it.

Wolfe's 1979 volume chronicled the handful of adrenaline-junkie military test pilots who became the Mercury astronauts. Their story is juxtaposed against that of Chuck Yeager, the ace of aces pilot who broke the sound barrier but couldn't apply to the space program because he lacked a college degree. Wolfe also provides insight into the political motivations for the space race and the paranoia of the Cold War. A terrific read from beginning to end, and, unlike Bonfire above, the film version is fabulous (make sure to have it in your DVD collection).