Skeleton Coast
by Amy Schoeman (Protea, $54)
“One would think that life could hardly survive” on Namibia’s desert coast, said The Wall Street Journal. But it’s easy to see now why photographer Amy Schoeman was drawn to the place. The region is home to “a dazzling array of geological phenomena” and a desert that somehow sustains lions, ostriches, and 2,000-year-old trees. Schoeman captures it all—cracking-dry riverbeds, shorelines littered with the hulls of rusted wrecked ships, and what seems like “every color a stone can be.”
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Prom
by Mary Ellen Mark (Getty, $50)
Mary Ellen Mark was looking for more than her lost youth when she attended 13 proms between 2006 and 2009, said Kerri MacDonald in The New York Times. The esteemed photographer explored the teen rite of passage from Staten Island to Los Angeles, looking for cultural differences. With its 127 straightforward black-and-white images of diverse high school couples, Prom offers “an honest, delightful portrayal of one of the most memorable moments of adolescence.”
Blown Covers
by Françoise Mouly (Abrams, $25)
The cover of The New Yorker follows a code of its own, said Liza Donnelly in Forbes. In Blown Covers, Françoise Mouly, the magazine’s art director, offers insights on an array of proposed cover images she didn’t publish. Mouly “seems to love outrageous”—think Barack Obama dressed as a terrorist on a 2008 cover. But her gut doesn’t always win—as when she couldn’t explain to editors what she found funny about an image of the pope with his robe blown open, Marilyn Monroe–style.
Information Graphics
by Sandra Rendgen (Taschen, $70)
“Sometimes simplicity is harder to achieve than complexity,” said HuffingtonPost.com. German art historian Sandra Rendgen has created “a design nerd’s fantasy” of a book by gathering 400 terrific information graphics, which illustrate everything from government spending to the worth of body parts on the black market. Since you might also crave a solid block of straight text, Rendgen has included an insightful essay on the history of visual communication, beginning with early cave paintings.
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September 1 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Labor Day picnic, branding strategy, and more
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What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
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When does autumn begin?The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
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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.”