(Basic, $28)
This “extraordinarily strange” book brings to light the real-life misadventures of a would-be Pygmalion, said Kate Tuttle in The Boston Globe. By certain measures, the 18th-century children’s writer Thomas Day was a progressive thinker for his time: The young British aristocrat gave generously to the poor, campaigned to end slavery, and supported American independence. Yet he had curious ideas about women. His perfect wife—and he insisted on perfection—would be attractive, intelligent, and most importantly, submissive to his every whim. Finding no worthy candidates among adult women, he adopted two prepubescent orphans, figuring he could raise one into an ideal mate.
The experiment failed, of course, said Torie Bosch in Slate.com. After dismissing the younger of the two as “invincibly stupid,” Day focused on the older girl, Sabrina. He essentially made her his slave, and tested her stoicism by scalding her with hot wax and even shooting bullets at her skirts. Yet Day believed he was doing her good, basing his regimen on a wrongheaded interpretation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s theories about a proper moral education. “It somehow feels wrong” to find Day’s hubris funny, given how Sabrina suffered. But you will be forgiven the occasional chuckle.
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This isn’t the first book to describe Day’s experiment, said Michael Caines in The Wall Street Journal. Too often he’s been “cast as a deluded yet benevolent eccentric,” a mistake Moore doesn’t repeat. But “the real discovery here is Sabrina and her background,” said The Economist. Moore did an admirable job researching her life, combing through orphanage archives and letters as well as locating her previously unrecognized grave. Told that she was being adopted and trained to become a housekeeper, Sabrina was crushed when she found out Day’s real intentions long after he gave up and sent her away. At least now this forgotten girl, treated for years as a guinea pig, is finally made human.
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September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
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Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
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A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
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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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Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
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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.”