NYTBR 2020-12-06 UserUpload Net PDF
Preview NYTBR 2020-12-06 UserUpload Net
*C6B1* DECEMBER 6, 2020 ROBERTS RURANS 2 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2020 Looking for the Perfect Gift? Looking for the Perfect Gift? Looking for the Perfect Gift? Look no fuRtheR! Everyone knows unicorns are the worst...or are they? Celebrate the life and career of RBG the american dream belongs to us all For your little UNICORN For your little CLASS PRESIDENT For your little TRAILBLAZER For your little SHINING STAR Because giving is always better than receiving THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 3 TO SUBSCRIBE to the Book Review by mail, visit nytimes.com/getbookreview or call 1-800-631-2580 Book Review DECEMBER 6, 2020 100 Notable Books of 2020 Pages 26-28 Roundups 18 Thrillers By Sarah Lyall 22 Music By Lauretta Charlton 24 Hollywood By Lisa Schwarzbaum 38 Cooking By Christine Muhlke 44 Travel By Sebastian Modak 50 Sports By Oskar Garcia 56 Visual Books By Lauren Christensen 60 Historical Fiction By Alida Becker 64 Photography By Luc Sante 70 Otherworldly By Amal El-Mohtar Fiction 12 Crime Reviewed by Marilyn Stasio 14 V2 By Robert Harris Reviewed by Ben Macintyre 31 THE END OF THE DAY By Bill Clegg Reviewed by J. Ryan Stradal 42 COBBLE HILL By Cecily von Ziegesar Reviewed by Kiley Reid 42 WHITE IVY By Susie Yang Reviewed by Lynn Steger Strong 66 Graphic Content By Ed Park 69 THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY By Matt Haig Reviewed by Karen Joy Fowler Nonfiction 16 ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT The Oral History of Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” By Melissa Maerz Reviewed by Patton Oswalt 17 A BETTER MAN A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son By Michael Ian Black Reviewed by Jayson Greene 20 THE MAN WHO ATE TOO MUCH The Life of James Beard By John Birdsall Reviewed by Ligaya Mishan 21 PAPPYLAND A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last By Wright Thompson Reviewed by J. D. Biersdorfer 23 150 GLIMPSES OF THE BEATLES By Craig Brown Reviewed by Bill Maher 29 BLACK FUTURES By Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham Reviewed by Scaachi Koul 30 BRITAIN AT BAY The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938–1941 By Alan Allport Reviewed by Geoffrey Wheatcroft 36 SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LIE The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of “Harriet the Spy” By Leslie Brody Reviewed by Liesl Schillinger 43 THE FABRIC OF CIVILIZATION How Textiles Made the World By Virginia Postrel Reviewed by Dana Thomas 46 MAD AT THE WORLD A Life of John Steinbeck By William Souder Reviewed by Brenda Wineapple 47 KINDRED Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art By Rebecca Wragg Sykes Reviewed by Yuval Noah Harari 48 OAK FLAT A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West By Lauren Redniss Reviewed by Eliza Griswold 49 A SOUND MIND How I Fell in Love With Classical Music (and Decided to Rewrite Its Entire History) By Paul Morley Reviewed by John Rockwell CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 mission accomplished! For your little SPY SimonKids Don’t miss any of the New York Times bestselling SPY SCHOOL Series! Looking for Their Next Adventure? Looking for Their Next Adventure? Looking for Their Next Adventure? give them an assignment they'll love! over 3 million stuart gibbs books in print! 52 THIS IS NOT MY MEMOIR By André Gregory and Todd London Reviewed by Phillip Lopate 53 SINGULAR SENSATION The Triumph of Broadway By Michael Riedel Reviewed by Helen Shaw 54 ELEANOR By David Michaelis Reviewed by Gail Collins 55 THE DAUGHTERS OF YALTA The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Family, Love, and War By Catherine Grace Katz Reviewed by Jennet Conant 62 WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST A Biography of Richard Avedon By Philip Gefter Reviewed by Caroline Weber 63 A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING The Curious History of Alphabetical Order By Judith Flanders Reviewed by Deirdre Mask 67 A WORLD BENEATH THE SANDS The Golden Age of Egyptology By Toby Wilkinson Reviewed by Rosemary Mahoney 68 MAX JACOB A Life in Art and Letters By Rosanna Warren Reviewed by Ayten Tartici 72 THE 99% INVISIBLE CITY A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design By Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt Reviewed by Kenneth T. Jackson 73 METROPOLIS A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention By Ben Wilson Reviewed by Robert Sullivan 74 THE WOMAN WHO STOLE VERMEER The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist By Anthony M. Amore Reviewed by Max Carter 78 The Shortlist Stargazing Reviewed by Kate Greene Children’s Books 32 TELEPHONE TALES By Gianni Rodari Illustrated by Valerio Vidali THE SHRINKING OF TREEHORN 50th Anniversary Edition By Florence Parry Heide Illustrated by Edward Gorey TIMELINE: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A Visual History of Our World By Peter Goes EXPLORING THE ELEMENTS A Complete Guide to the Periodic Table By Isabel Thomas Illustrated by Sara Gillingham MUSIC A Fold-Out Graphic History By Nicholas O’Neill and Susan Hayes Illustrated by Ruby Taylor RESPECT Song lyrics by Otis Redding Illustrations by Rachel Moss THE ART OF RAMONA QUIMBY Sixty-Five Years of Illustrations From Beverly Cleary’s Beloved Books By Anna Katz Essays by Annie Barrows and Jacqueline Rogers THE STORY OF BABAR By Jean de Brunhoff Archive material from the Morgan Library & Museum Essays by Faiza Guène, Adam Gopnik and Christine Nelson Reviewed by Jennifer Krauss 34 Notable Children’s Books of 2020 Features 10 By the Book Dolly Parton 79 Revisited By Michiko Kakutani and Dana Tanamachi Etc. 6 New & Noteworthy 8 Letters 75 Best-Seller Lists 75 Editors’ Choice 76 Inside the List 76 Paperback Row CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 4 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2020 “Vonnegut as we’ve never seen him before.” —james mcbride, author of the National Book Award–winning novel The Good Lord Bird S EVE N STO R I E S PRESS from the author of a is for activist “An accessible, all-too-timely manifesto for young activists (and everyone else).” —Kirkus Reviews For special free offers and our complete catalogue (from books in English and Spanish to hoodies), visit us at sevenstories.com THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 5 A Gift for Every Reader on Your List! SimonandSchuster.com Also available in ebook and audiobook editions. 6 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2020 READY PLAYER TWO, by Ernest Cline. (Ballantine, $28.99.) The sequel to “Ready Player One” (which was adapted for film by Steven Spiel- berg) picks up just days following Wade Watts’s triumph in the OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest. THE WONDER BOY OF WHISTLE STOP, by Fannie Flagg. (Random House, $28.) Flagg revisits the small Alabama town at the heart of her 1987 novel “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe,” as the cafe owner’s son — now in his 80s and living in Atlanta — returns to dis- cover old secrets. HOW DID I GET HERE? A MEMOIR, by Bruce McCall. (Blue Rider, $27.) The writer and illustrator looks back on a career that took him from ad- vertising to comedy writing for National Lampoon and “Saturday Night Live” to his current work for The New Yorker and other magazines. AMERICAN CHEESE: AN INDULGENT ODYSSEY THROUGH THE ARTISAN CHEESE WORLD, by Joe Berkowitz. (Harper Perennial, paper, $16.99.) The author spent a year learning the finer points of cheesemaking in America, visiting caves, restaurants and monger competitions. COLD MOON: ON LIFE, LOVE, AND RESPONSIBILITY, by Roger Rosenblatt. (Turtle Point, $15.95.) Now 80, the essayist and memoirist sums up his three core beliefs: Appreciate life, love others and accept responsibility for one another. I’m the slowest book reader I know, which means that when I commit, it’s a monthslong affair. (If I could get behind the word “curate,” I would say I curate my reading.) The best thing I’ve read recently is THE DOGS OF WINTER, by Kem Nunn. It’s about a legendary, hermetic surfer and the photojournalist who follows him to a mythical spot in California. They barrel along in a van, hike down cliffs, cross gangsters and suffer the consequences of trespassing against people and nature. There is no shortage of violence, depic- tions at once nonchalant and operatic — a weird, riveting combina- tion. For a novel about surfing, the gnomic pronouncements on waves are kept to a minimum: just enough to confirm that surfers love the ocean the way others are in thrall to men and women, finding elusive moments of perfection, endless heartbreak and the stubborn hope that a single ride can change your life. —ETHAN HAUSER, SENIOR STAFF EDITOR, STYLE New & Noteworthy WHAT WE’RE READING REFLECTIONS, MEMORIES, AND CONFESSIONS With more than 600 photographs and a bonus DVD “HONEST, COMPELLING, INTRIGUING.” —DAN W. LUFKIN, Founder, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette The acclaimed play, The Lehman Trilogy, features Mayer Lehman, John Loeb’s great-grandfather. Discover the remarkable history of the entire Lehman family in this new book. Ambassador to Denmark, John L. Loeb, Jr. and his son, Nicholas, with Her Royal Highness Queen Margrethe of Denmark. I n c l u d e s B o n u s V i d e o S e e i n s i d e b a c k c o v e r . . JOHN’S PARTY AT BLENHEIM PALACE JOHN L. LOEB JR. JOHN L. LOEB JR. AMBASSADOR, CHAIRMAN, WINSTON CHURCHILL FOUNDATION, USA AMBASSADOR, CHAIRMAN, WINSTON CHURCHILL FOUNDATION, USA HARDCOVER ($29.99) • E-BOOK ($8.99) • AUDIOBOOK ($24.99) available from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, APPLE BOOKS and AUDIBLE NEW ON AUDIBLE Narrated by James Lurie THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 7 THE MUST-HAVE GIFT OF THE SEASON THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION All four worldwide bestselling books are now available in one gorgeous boxed set! #hungergames #songbirdsandsnakes SONGBIRDSANDSNAKES.COM © 2020 Scholastic Inc.All rights reserved. ergame hunge es “Hard to turn away from... so compelling.” —The NewYorkTimes “Collins is a master of building a fascinating world.” —The Associated Press #1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER 8 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2020 friend would laugh at the sugges- tion, as now do I. JAMES BERKMAN BOSTON � TO THE EDITOR: Michael J. Sandel’s pessimistic assessment of this country is based on the assumption that all young people want to go to college and that those who don’t face a bleak future. But neither is true. Freshman enrollment is down more than 16 percent from last year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, and the top 25 percent of those with only a high school diploma earned more on average than the bottom 25 percent of college graduates, according to a new study from the Manhattan Institute. In overlooking the many forms that meritocracy takes, Sandel perpetuates the myth that voca- tional education is a dead end. WALT GARDNER LOS ANGELES A Cut Above TO THE EDITOR: I am writing to express the high- est praise for Virginia Heffer- nan’s review of Adrian Daub’s “What Tech Calls Thinking” (Nov. 22). Rarely does a reviewer convey her opinion of a book’s strengths and weaknesses with such grace and acerbity. From Heffernan’s use of “aperçus” to the fitting conclusion regarding Daub’s elephant-in-the-room lack of attention to Silicon Valley’s ap- proach to women in and out of its ranks, the review also conveys the pernicious self-delusions rampant in tech. On a final and purely personal note, I would not like to find my- self in a verbal knife fight in or out of a dark alley with Heffernan. I’d be bleeding from multiple wounds before I perceived the first touch. JEFF ROSS PASADENA, CALIF. Holding Peace TO THE EDITOR: As an old white woman partici- pating in a daily peaceful vigil since June for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, I was fasci- nated by Michael P. Jeffries’s review (Nov. 15) of “The Dead Are Arising,” by Les Payne and Tamara Payne. I cut out the last three para- graphs to keep reminding myself why I and a handful of new friends are continuing this vigil along Broadway in our white city. CHRISTFRIEDE LARSON PORTLAND, ORE. Spine Turners TO THE EDITOR: As my bookshelves reveal, I too read Joy Williams in the Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks the way A. O. Scott mentions doing in his essay on Williams (Nov. 22). I too found that the series of wildly disparate titles felt cu- rated just for me, as though by algorithm. And I was delighted to learn that I am not the only one who has retained them, perhaps out of some weird fetish. I rou- tinely bought the books as they were released. The editor who chose these eclectic works un- derstood me and the zeitgeist of the 1980s, and the graphic de- signer did too. LESLIE MILES BETHESDA, MD. CORRECTION The hardcover fiction best-seller list and the combined print and e-book fiction list last week, using information from the publisher, misstated in some issues the title of a mystery that plays a role in Anthony Horowitz’s new thriller, “Moonflower Murders.” It is “Atti- cus Pünd Takes the Case,” not “Atticus Pund Takes the Cake.”
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