A Man Called Destruction
by Holly George-Warren (Viking, $28)
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Rebel Music
by Hisham Aidi (Pantheon, $30)
Young Muslims around the world embraced Western-style pop long ago and are continuing to repurpose it. In Hisham Aidi’s “meandering” survey of the music a new generation is listening to, many featured artists will be unfamiliar here, said Mythili Rao in TheDailyBeast.com. But readers might be interested to learn that the State Department has worked to harness music’s power in the Muslim world and that Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” was inspired by the Quran.
American Fun
by John Beckman (Pantheon, $29)
America apparently used to be a lot more fun, said Preston Lauterbach in The Wall Street Journal. John Beckman’s “freewheeling” history of New World–style fun skitters from 17th-century May Day celebrations to Wild West drag balls on its way to proposing that rebellious reveling has always been crucial to the American identity. But Beckman’s lively tour “begins to wane” when he reaches the mid-20th century, and his post-1960s rabble-rousers only suggest a nation in spiritual decline.
The Scarlet Sisters
by Myra MacPherson (Twelve, $28)
Tennessee Claflin and Victoria Claflin Woodhull “might, in the wrong hands, appear to be quirky caricatures out of an episode of Downton Abbey,” said Megan O’Grady in Vogue. But the sisters who founded the first female-owned Wall Street brokerage mounted a campaign for women’s rights that deserves to be remembered for both its sweep and savvy. Author Myra MacPherson captures it all, from the sisters’ “shockingly short” skirts to their “slightly hucksterish brand of charisma.”
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The US Open's controversial 'superstars' doubles formatTalking Point New shortened competition attracts star pairings and bigger audiences to grand slam tennis event
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Sudoku medium: August 21, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
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Sudoku hard: August 21, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
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Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
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Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
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The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
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Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
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Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
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You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
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Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”
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Also of interest…in gardens and green thumbs
feature A Garden of Marvels; Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening; The Soil Will Save Us; The Gardener of Versailles