Smoking Typewriters
by John McMillian
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The Gospel of Anarchy
by Justin Taylor
(Harper, $14)
Justin Taylor’s debut novel is the literary equivalent of “tossing a Molotov cocktail at a Starbucks,” said Ariel Gonzalez in The Miami Herald. Set in Gainesville, Fla., it follows a “disparate group of garbage-scrounging drifters” who reside in an anarchist commune they call Fishgut. “The novel reads more like a series of character sketches than a plot-driven work of fiction,” but Taylor is an “irrefutably talented writer.” He provides “enough narrative goodies” here “to sustain a reader to the end.”
A Nation of Outsiders
by Grace Elizabeth Hale
(Oxford, $30)
This “smart new study” of post-1950s American rebelliousness puts the politics of the Left in a whole new light, said Harold Meyerson in The American Prospect. Grace Elizabeth Hale’s theories fall apart when she tries to show how conservative figures such as William F. Buckley Jr. also tried to cast themselves as standing outside the conventional white middle class. But her insights into how and why young liberals did so are invaluable in understanding the path their generation took.
Fanzines
by Teal Triggs
(Chronicle, $40)
Before there were blogs, fanzines were a “critical outlet” for rants about politics, music, fashion, and the banalities of the mainstream, said Steven Heller in The New York Times. These do-it-yourself publications peaked in influence when a punk aesthetic ruled, but they could be “extremely diverse and intensely personal.” Design historian Teal Triggs has fashioned a handsomely crafted “fanzine to fanzines” that is both an impressive visual document and a “scholarly record” of a fascinating print subculture.
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How China is battling the chikungunya virusUnder The Radar Thousands of cases of the debilitating disease have been found in the country
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Deep thoughts: AI shows its math chopsFeature Google's Gemini is the first AI system to win gold at the International Mathematical Olympiad
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Book reviews: 'Face With Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji' and 'Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story'Feature The surprising history of emojis and the brother duo who changed pop music
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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.”