The Stuff of Thought
by Steven Pinker (Viking, $30) Steven Pinker’s probing yet playful inquiries into the hidden structure of language can make a reader rethink everything philosophy has ever taught us about mind and matter, said William Saletan in The New York Times. Looked at another way, his sweeping theories about human nature might be merely the logical outgrowth of a language geek’s idiosyncratic love of verbs.
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Filthy Shakespeare
by Pauline Kiernan (Gotham, $20) Everybody knows that the collected works of Shakespeare include scads of sexual double- entendres, said Joseph B. Frazier in the Associated Press. This 300-page “romp of a read” reveals how much dirtier the plays sounded to the Bard’s red-light-district audiences. It’s a fun way to develop an appreciation for the rough edges of 16th-century daily life, and the line “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” will never sound the same to you again.
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Sixth Edition
(Oxford, $175) The new, two-volume, 3,745-page “SOED” is “a work of heroic distillation,” said Edward Short in The American Spectator. The complete OED currently stands at 20 volumes and doesn’t include the 2,000-plus new words and phrases that this edition adds. Though many obsolete words have been culled, it remains the “most reliable and capacious” of all abridged dictionaries.
Divided by a Common Language
by Christopher Davies (Houghton Mifflin, $11) Christopher Davies’ guide to the differences between British and American English is a “very fun” read for any language fan, said Marjorie Kehe in The Christian Science Monitor. This reprint will be especially cherished, though, by crossword puzzlers and British murder-mystery aficionados. For these readers, “there could hardly be a more useful book.”
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How will the new Repayment Assistance Plan for student loans work?the explainer The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) will replace existing income-driven repayment plans
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In the Spotlight Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been at odds with US forces
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Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black KeysFeature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
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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.”