Prepub Alert, March 1, 2011
Mar 1, 2011PREPUB ALERT NOW ONLINE
Barbara Hoffert’s Prepub Alert is now online (blog.libraryjournal.com/prepubalert). The online edition, which posts every Monday, previews more titles one month earlier than the print edition. Going forward, book reviews that reference Prepub Alert will cite the online edition. Sign up for free weekly alerts to the online edition at bit.ly/g2UqaT.
FICTION
Anam, Tahmima. The Good Muslim. Harper: HarperCollins. Aug. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780061478765. $25.99.
In Anam’s A Golden Age, Maya and her brother, Sohail, survived the Bangladesh war for independence. Now, Maya trains to become a doctor as Sohail struggles to put wartime memories to rest by turning increasingly to religion—which drives him and Maya apart. A well-reviewed debut, A Golden Age was a best seller on several regional lists and winner of a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, so the quiet launch of this second in a trilogy—the first-copy printing is only 25,000—is a little disappointing. Look for this where readers liked the first book and where Asian settings and/or women’s fiction are popular.
Balogh, Mary. The Secret Mistress. Delacorte. Aug. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780385343312. $24; eISBN 9780440423324.
Here’s a prequel to Balogh’s popular “Mistress” series about the Dudley family. When Edward Ailsbury, the new Earl of Heyward, saves Lady Angeline Dudley from an embarrassing situation, she’s not just grateful—she falls in love. Of course, he takes a little persuading. Balogh is on a tear; she starts the summer out nicely with a two-in-one combo of More Than a Mistress and No Man’s Mistress, and in the last year she has debuted higher and higher on the New York Times best sellers list. An Editors’ Spring Pick, LJ 2/15/11.
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Crown. Aug. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780307887436. $NA.
Reportedly bought for something like $500,000 and already slated for filming, this novel from Fanboys screenwriter Cline features a geeky kid named Wade Watts who gets caught up in a worldwide virtual utopia called Oasis. There he finds himself on a virtual treasure hunt for a very real treasure. Described by Firstshowing.net as a blend of Avatar, The Matrix, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this book promises to be really, really big. Get it, probably in multiples.
Cox, Josephine. Blood Brothers. Morrow. Aug. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780062011794. pap. $14.99.
Joe is sweet, Frank is a nasty go-getter, and yet they’re brothers—who have fallen for the same gentle woman, Alice. When Frank connives to win Alice’s heart, Joe flees, but he returns for the wedding. That’s when the trouble starts. Cox’s books are No. 1 paperback best sellers in England and have been published in 19 languages, but this is her debut here. The publisher is starting out cautiously, with a 25,000-copy first printing also in trade paperback. Watch this for Anglophile and family drama readers.
Dunn, Matthew. Spycatcher. Morrow. Aug. 2011. 432p. ISBN 9780062037671. $25.99. lrg. prnt.
A veteran agent who reports to both M16 and the CIA but feels beholden to neither, Will Coch-rane suddenly has a mission: to wipe out Megiddo, a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard and current international terrorist, who is responsible not only for doing in a valuable con-tact but for killing Will’s father many years ago. One cold night a month back, I settled down with this and found the writing intriguingly brusque and elliptical and the cat-and-mouse game a real surprise. Definitely investigate, especially for readers who want not so much techno as an icy-edged psychological thriller. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
Geda, Fabio. In the Sea There Are Crocodiles: The Story of Enaiatollah Akbari. Doubleday. Aug. 2011. 176p. ISBN 9780385534734. $21.95; eISBN 9780385534741.
When Enaiatollah Akbari left his tiny Afghan village with his mother, he was only ten years old, and he had no idea what an arduous journey lay before him—a journey that eventually led him, alone, from the Pakistani city where he and his mother had fled to Iran, Turkey, Greece, and, finally, Italy. There he met Italian novelist Geda, whom he asked to tell his story. Having helped Akbari to reconstruct events and give them lyric shape, Geda is so scrupulous that he insists on calling this fiction. But the book reads like a conversation between the two. The result, both affecting and unaffected, powerfully delivers one child’s story of survival while bringing us close to the horrors that characterize Akbari’s part of the world. A major best seller in Italy and France, with rights sold to over 20 more countries, this book would seem to be on its way. Another Kite Runner? It’s certainly a lovely read.
Griffin, W.E.B. & William E. Butterworth IV. The Spymasters: A Men at War Novel. Putnam. Aug. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780399157516. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Both Operation Overlord and the Manhattan Project are threatened—in part by a mole who’s passing Manhattan Project secrets to the Soviets (who were, of course, our allies in World War II). The next “Men at War” novel from the best-selling team of Griffin & Son. What else can I say?
Hill, Reginald. The Woodcutter. Harper: HarperCollins. Aug. 2011. 528p. ISBN 9780062060747. $25.99.
A Cumbrian woodcutter’s son, Wolf Hadda is now a high-profile entrepreneur with a beloved wife in the bargain. Then he’s thrown into jail for charges he denies and is abandoned by everyone. When he returns home seven years later, he’s in the mood for revenge. A Cartier Diamond Dagger award winner noted for his popular Dalziel & Pascoe series, Hill here offers a stand-alone. Of interest to the thriller set; with a 25,000-copy first printing.
Jance, J.A. Betrayal of Trust: A J.P. Beaumont Novel. Morrow. Aug. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780061731150. $25.99.
A girl is strangled to death, captured on video that appears on the cell phone of the teenage grandson of Washington State’s governor. So the governor calls in her good friend J.P. Beaumont of the attorney general’s Special Homicide Squad to discover what really happened. Soon it goes beyond putative teenage murderers to conspiracy in the state government. Jance’s books sell at a clip of 1000 a month, and with a one-day laydown on July 26 and a 200,000-copy first printing, you know this is expected to be big. An eight-city tour.
Levien, David. Thirteen Million Dollar Pop. Doubleday. Aug. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780385532532. $24.95; eISBN 9780385532549.
Hired to protect prominent businessman–turned–political candidate Bernard “Bernie Cool” Kolodnik, private investigator Frank Behr proves his worth by saving Kolodnik when an attempt is made on his life. But he’s really not sure what happened when those automatic weapons started blazing, and he’s even more suspicious when the police hush up the incident. Levien has Edgar and Shamus nominations to his credit and seems to be building. Thriller fans should definitely investigate.
Menéndez, Ana. Adios, Happy Homeland! Black Cat: Grove. Aug. 2011. 208p. ISBN 9780802170842. pap. $14.
In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd, Menéndez’s collection of linked stories about Cuban immigrants in Miami, got her some good attention when it appeared in 2001; her follow-ups have also done well. Her latest title, again a collection of linked stories, looks at appearance and reality in the life of a Cuban American writer. Watch it, she’s good; especially for your literary readers.
Pierre, DBC. Lights Out in Wonderland. Norton. Aug. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780393081237. $25.95.
Dazzling if coruscating invention or vulgar overreach? That was the mixed (and heated) response to Pierre’s first novel, Vernon God Little, which won the Man Booker Prize. Expect the same response here: this latest has “the verbal wit and vitality” of that first book, says the Financial Times. Then there’s the plot: Gabriel Brockwell has decided to kill himself, but first he wants to go to Wonderland—that is, have the bash of bashes, which takes him ’round the world for some wild times. Glitter for your literati.
Polansky, Daniel. Low Town. Doubleday. Aug. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780385534468. $25.95; eISBN 9780385534475. Download: Random Audio.
Low Town is exactly as it sounds, a scummy place collecting the dregs of the Thirteen Lands and run by a former agent with Black House (the secret police) who’s fallen from grace. Now he deals drugs and dispenses violence, but a child’s murder gives him pause—and forces him into an uneasy game with both Black House and the underground bosses. Noir fantasy, indeed, with a reading group guide, lots of promotion to mystery, thriller, and fantasy sites, and five foreign rights sales so far.
Preston, Douglas & Lincoln Child. Cold Vengeance. Grand Central. Aug. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780446554985. $26.96. lrg. prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
Pendergast is seriously wounded on a trip with brother-in-law Judson Esterhazy, who tells Pendergast that his wife, Helen, is still alive and then abandons him. Now Pendergast has a reason to live—he starts hunting for Helen and thereby upsets a shady international organization no end. This is the second in a trilogy about Helen’s reputed death; the first book made all the best sellers lists and won a skyload of stars. Thriller readers everywhere will want.
Santiago, Esmeralda. Conquistadora. Knopf. Aug. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780307268327. $26.95; eISBN 9780307596772.
Having launched her writing career with the well-regarded memoir When I Was Puerto Rican and her fiction career with America’s Dream, Santiago goes for broke with this grand, sprawling novel, which starts out in 19th-century Spain. Ana Cubillas is enraptured by the diaries of an ancestor who explored Puerto Rico with Ponce de León. She therefore marries Ramón, who with his twin brother has inherited a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico, and convinces the brothers that their future lies in the plantation. She just wasn’t prepared for the heat, the wildlife, and the slave labor. At first glance, this is engrossing and polished, without the let’s-just-get-through-it writing than can mar sagas. With an eight-city tour and a reading group guide.
Schulman, Helen. This Beautiful Life. Harper: HarperCollins. Aug. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9780062024381. $24.99.
All’s well with the Bergamot family, new to New York’s Upper West Side—until son Jake receives a sexually explicit video from an eighth-grade admirer that in a moment of cockiness and confusion he sends to a friend. Soon it’s viral, Jake is suspended from his private school, and the whole family starts tearing at the seams. Schulman’s quietly thoughtful A Day at the Beach was one of those rare novels about 9/11 that didn’t exploit the event, and I expect the same here. The first pages are sobering, elegant, and fluid.
Unger, Lisa. Darkness, My Old Friend. Crown. Aug. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780307464996. $24.
Willow spots a man digging up a dead body, then drops her cell phone as she flees. He returns it, explaining to her mom that he was hunting for an abandoned mine shaft. He also explains that he has been trying to figure out what happened to his long-gone mother; a psychic he’s hired has a vision of a man named Jones, who’s just resigned as Chief of Police because he was involved in a young woman’s death. Okay, now you know why the publisher calls Unger’s plots surprising. There’s definitely something creepy going on in this latest from the New York Times best seller; read it to find out what, and let’s hope Unger can take care of all those complications. With a reading group guide.
NONFICTION
Burleigh, Nina. The Fatal Gift of Beauty: An American Girl and a Murder in Italy. Broadway. NAp. Aug. 2011. ISBN 9780307588586. $25; eISBN 9780307588609.
On November 1, 2007, Meredith Kercher, a British student at the University of Perugia, was found sexually assaulted and murdered in an apartment she shared with American student Amanda Knox and two other women. Knox, along with boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was eventually convicted of helping a local named Rudy Guede murder Kercher when she resisted his advances. Amid a firestorm of media coverage, allegations were made that the investigation was botched; counterallegations said that portrayals of Knox as a victim were unwarranted. Here, journalist/author Burleigh (e.g., Unholy Business) reconstructs a murder case that has proved to be about much more than murder. There will be interest.
Castañeda, Jorge G. Mañana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans. Knopf. Aug. 2010. 320p. ISBN 9780375404245. $26.95; eISBN 9780307596604.
Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American Studies at New York University, Castañeda gives us a state-of-the-nation view of Mexico, covering the puzzling tendency to violence, conflicted relationship with the United States, and contradictory impulses regarding outsiders and fellow citizens alike. Serious reading, not for your quick trip across the border; with a five-city tour.
Davidson, Jim & Kevin Vaughan. The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier. Ballantine. Aug. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780345523198. $25; eISBN 9780345523211.
As they descended Mount Rainier, Davidson and friend Mike Price fell 80 feet while tied together, a plunge that killed Price instantly and left an injured Davidson to climb a sheer ice wall to save himself. Here, Davidson retells the story while explaining how he has since moved forward; he’s now an in-demand motivational speaker. Coauthor Vaughan won Best of Scripps and Associated Press Sports Editor awards for a five-part story he wrote about this incident, which appeared in the Rocky Mountain News. Pitched as both you-are-there adventure and inspirational reading.
Dwyer, Jim & Kevin Flynn. 102 Minutes. Holt. Aug. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780805094213. $NA.
In 2004, New York Times reporters Dwyer (a Pulitzer Prize winner) and Flynn (the paper’s police bureau chief at the time of the World Trade Center attacks) released an account of the attacks told from the inside, drawing on radio transcripts, phone messages, emails, and interviews with survivors and rescue workers to communicate what being at ground zero was really like. This revised edition would seem important to consider in light of forthcoming 9/11 observations.
Dyer, Geoff. The Missing of the Somme. Vintage: Random. Jul. 2011. 176p. ISBN 9780307742971. pap. $14.95.
Noted for his sharp criticism (Out of Sheer Rage was a National Book Critics Circle finalist) and inventive fiction (e.g., Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi), the London-based Dyer wrote this reflection on World War I in 1994, but it has never been published here. Not your standard history, it’s “about mourning and memory, about how the Great War has been represented,” said the Guardian—and it will appeal to readers interested in looking beyond the facts to the meaning and consequences of war in general.
Holroyd, Michael. A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers. Farrar. Aug. 2011. 272p. ISBN 9780374115586. $26.
Award-winning biographer Holroyd takes on an interesting task here: he starts with the Villa Cimbrone, located in the hills above Ravello, Italy, and then profiles the intriguing people who have passed through its halls, e.g., Rodin muse Eve Fairfax and Vita Sackville-West’s lover, Violet Trefusis. Absorbing for the smart set.
Kessler, Ronald. The Secrets of the FBI. Crown. Aug. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307719690. $26; eISBN 9780307719723. CD/Download: Random Audio.
Having reported on the FBI for decades and written two best sellers on the agency, Kessler really does have some secrets to share. These have less to do with how the FBI functions than with what its agents have learned while dealing with the White House, Wall Street, terrorists, spies, the Mafia, and more. Oooh, some dirty revelations? Try for all your crime-fiction fans.
Leibowitz, Herbert. “Something Urgent I Have To Say to You”: The Life and Works of William Carlos Williams. Farrar. Aug. 2011. 560p.ISBN 9780374113292. $35.
A quick search suggests that not a lot of biographies on leading American poet William Carlos Williams are currently available, so it’s good to see this big new work examining his life, times, and accomplishments. That the author is the longtime editor of the literary magazine Parnassus is a plus. Buy where serious readers gather.
Mann, Charles C. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Launched. Knopf. Aug. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780307265722. $27.95; eISBN 9780307596727. CD: Random Audio.
In 1491, winner of the National Academies Communication Award, Mann argued that recent findings show that in the Western Hemisphere, pre-Columbian society was more sophisticated and more diverse than we have been led to believe. Here he discusses what happened after Columbus hit landfall, which began the greatest exchange of flora and fauna ever witnessed and created a whole new world—the one we know today. Sounds like smart and fascinating reading, and I can’t wait; with a six-city tour.
Manning, Lauren. Every Day, a Choice. Holt. Aug. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780805094633. $NA.
A partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, Manning was burned over 80 percent of her body during the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. Here she recalls ten long years of recovery while detailing the early experiences that taught her the will to survive. Follows Love, Greg & Lauren, husband Greg’s 2002 account of Manning’s first months of recovery; obviously affecting and timely.
Manso, Peter. Reasonable Doubt: The Fashion Writer, Cape Cod, and the Trial of Chris McCowen. Atria: S. & S. Jul. 2011. 448p. ISBN 9780743296663. $25.
It was big news when Christa Worthington was found murdered in her Cape Cod cottage in January 2002, her toddler clinging to her body. A fashion writer from a high-profile local family, she had returned home for the simpler life, only to have an affair with a local married fisherman. Several locals were suspect, and African American garbage collector Chris McCowen was finally convicted in a questionable trial. Journalist Manso’s probing of the case so enraged the local DA that he indicted Manso. Good for all true-crime collections.
Peck, Don. Pinched: How the Great Recession Has Narrowed Our Futures & What We Can Do About it. Crown. Aug. 2011. 192p. ISBN 9780307886521. $22.
When the Atlantic hit the newsstands in March 2010, the cover story “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America”—written by deputy editor Peck—kicked up quite a storm. It generated over 700,000 page views in three weeks, was printed out by some 100,000 people, and attracted the attention of President Obama, who had it distributed throughout the White House. In this expansion, Peck argues that the aftermath of the current recession will be long and hard and will affect everyone regardless of age or class. While he assesses government efforts to ease the pain, he seems to aim mainly at providing a sobering portrait of where we are now and where we’ll be in the foreseeable future. Important reading.
Phillips, Christopher. Constitution Café: Jefferson’s Brew for a True Revolution. Norton. Aug. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780393064803. $24.95.
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson argued that the Constitution should be periodically revised to keep up with the times? He wanted democracy to stay fresh. In that spirit, Phillips talked with folks at high schools, parks, malls, and venues like the Burning Man Project about possible additions/revisions to the Constitution. He’s no stranger to such things, having penned the Socrates Café books, which report his cheerful and accessible chats about big philosophical questions. This book should be as cheerful and accessible, too, and it’s powerfully germane. A good bet for most readers; with a five-city tour.
Salamon, Julie. Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Aug. 2011. 368p. ISBN 9781594202988. $29.95.
A distinguished author with a range of books to her credit, from nonfiction (Hospital) to fiction (White Lies) to memoir (The Net of Dreams), Salamon now assays biography. Here she considers not just the plays but the life and complex secrets of Wendy Wasserstein, the first woman playwright to win a Tony Award. Should be good, and not just for theater people.
Sharlet, William. Sweet Heaven When I Die: Faith, Faithlessness, and the Country in Between. Norton. Aug. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780393079630. $24.95.
A contributing editor to Rolling Stone and best-selling author of The Family and C Street, about fundamentalist influence in America (and beyond), Sharlet here profiles the fringiest of fringe beliefs to give us a broader view of faith in this country. Evangelists, banjo players, urban anarchists, the Mind, Body, Spirit Expo—they’re all here in what should be a fascinating read.
Wainaina, Binyavanga. One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir. Graywolf. Aug. 2011. 272p. ISBN 9781555975913. $24.
Kenyan-born Wainaina won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002, then founded Kwani?, a major African literary magazine and currently serves as director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Writing at Bard College. Here he ranges from memories of his mother’s beauty parlor to the start of his writing career to postelection violence in his home country. Given the rise of African literature and of Africa itself, I’m eager to read.
MY PICKS
Waldman, Amy. The Submission. Farrar. Aug. 2011. 528p. ISBN 9780374271565. $27. FICTION
Ten years after 9/11, writing about the attacks without seeming to exploit them can still be a challenge. Debut novelist Waldman takes an effective approach by imagining a search for a fitting memorial that ends up revealing the divisions underlying American society. A member of the jury choosing the memorial, Claire—who lost her husband on 9/11 and now finds herself cast as a “star widow”—champions a garden whose walls contain the names of the dead. The design wins, the anonymous submission is opened, and the architect is revealed to be Muslim American—born here, hardly a practitioner of his faith, and not ready to fall into the role of the enemy. At first glance, Waldman’s tale unfolds in fluid, accessible language, and the issues raised here will deeply engage readers.
Fuller, Alexandra. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Aug. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781594202995. $25.95. NONFICTION
If you loved Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight —and I certainly did—you’ll want to bury yourself in this sequel. Fuller here focuses more fully on her mother, Nicola, who was born on the Isle of Skye but raised in Kenya and was passionately devoted to family, land, and her belief in the goodness of animals. Then came both personal tragedy and continental upheaval, as Nicola and husband Tim found themselves constantly on the run with their old world collapsing and a new world looming. Now they’ve found some peace sitting under their Tree of Forgetfulness, a tradition taken from the locals, who gather under such a tree when disputes are to be settled. Everything that made Dogs wonderful reading seems to be here, too: the deep comprehension of sorrow, certainly, but also the dead-on portraits, leavening wit, and, finally, generosity. Get the reading group guide and go to town.
