97 Orchard
by Jane Ziegelman
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The Wild Vine
by Todd Kliman
(Clarkson Potter, $25)
“Thorough research and entertaining spin” make Todd Kliman’s first book a real corker, said T. Rees-Shapiro in The Washington Post. The food writer unravels the tangled history of a little-known red wine varietal called Norton, which many think is America’s greatest native grape. His colorful cast includes the 19th-century doctor who bred the fruit, the bootleggers who kept the strain alive through the 1930s, and the wealthy Virginia “software guru” who recently has become “its greatest champion.”
Twain’s Feast
by Andrew Beahrs
(Penguin Press, $25.95)
Andrew Beahrs’ first nonfiction work starts with a list of foods that Mark Twain once named as quintessentially American, said William Grimes in The New York Times. The author sets off on a cross-country journey to track those foods to their “native habitats.” He finds endangered prairie chicken in Illinois, tastes Arkansas raccoon, and visits a Nevada trout hatchery. Though it can be fun to follow along, this book is a “weird hybrid”—part travelogue, part literary study, part “culinary stunt book.”
The I Hate to Cook Book
by Peg Bracken
(Grand Central, $22.99)
“In 1960, women were almost universally expected to get dinner on the table every night,” said Gail Pennington in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Peg Bracken’s humorously written collection of easy recipes introduced housewives to the art of “feeding the family with little effort”—and gave them permission to have a cocktail while doing it. This 50th-anniversary reissue’s most dated aspect is the use of canned vegetables. But even readers with no intention of cooking from it “will enjoy the wry wit.”
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August 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include Donald Trump and JD Vance at a summit, Putin's 'peace' plan, and Jeffrey Epstein haunting the White House
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Weapons: Julia Garner stars in 'hyper-eerie' psychological thrillerThe Week Recommends Zach Cregger's 'top notch' new film opens with 17 children disappearing at exactly the same time
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Freakier Friday: Lohan and Curtis reunite for 'uneven' but 'endearing' sequelThe Week Recommends Mother-and-daughter comedy returns with four characters switching bodies
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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.”