LET THE RECORD SHOW: ACT UP New York Political History, 1987-1993, By Sarah Schulman. (Picador, 752 pp ., $ 22.) Schulman’s book is based on 17 years of interviews with about 200 members of an influential direct-action group working to eradicate AIDS, “to predatory history, not to commemorate it.” “, Writes former Times critic Paruru Segal. “This is not a devout and definitive history. This is the tactician’s Bible.”
Book hell, By Jason Motte. (Dutton, 336 pp ., $ 17.) Mott’s fourth novel is about a black writer on a tour of books across the United States, a black boy living in the southern countryside, and a person known as Kid until the perspective merges in an unexpected way. Take turns between. Winner of the 2021 National Book Award, it was cited as “a very original and inspirational work that breaks new ground.”
Object of desire: story, By Claire Sestanovic. (Vintage, 224 pp ., $ 16) This “smart and complete” debut collection, as our reviewer Kirstin Maldonado’s Quad commented, stands away from his story, overcoming the uncertainties of early adulthood. Focuses on women with calm desires. “Sestanovic’s prose is calm, unobtrusive, and sensory accurate.”
FUGITIVITIES, By Jesse McCarthy. (Melville, 288 pp ., $ 17.99.) A young African-American man who grew up in France and works at a public high school in Brooklyn said he in the world when an accidental encounter with an old college friend motivated him to uproot his life and move to Brazil. I’m looking for a place in Brazil. Our reviewer, Caleb Azumah Nelson, calls this novel a “master” and the prose is “Agile as a full-flow pianist.”
ETHEL ROSENBERG: American tragedy, According to Anseba. (St. Martins Griffin, 336 pp., $ 18.99.) Seba’s account is the first biography in 30 years, individually focusing on Ethel Rosenberg, who was famously executed for treason and atomic spies with her husband Julius in June 1953. “She became an inevitable stock politician.”
¡ HOLAPAPI!How to get out in Walmart parking lots and other life lessons, By John Paul Brammer. (Simon & Schuster, 224 pp., $ 17.99.) Brammer’s debut is a memoir of 12 essays, each organized as an advice column that answers questions about race, queer life, childhood trauma, and more. Our reviewer, Matt Will, called it a “master class of tone and kindness.”
