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Why More Books Are Going Deluxe
Joan Silber, Moudhy Al-Rashid, Joyce Hinnefeld, deluxe editions, and more ...
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BookBrowse Highlights
Hello Readers!
Our latest book club discussion features Joan Silber’s Mercy, an insightful story of friendship, abandonment, and the passage of time that captures 1970s New York and beyond.
In Editor’s Choice, Between Two Rivers by Moudhy Al-Rashid is an engaging tour of ancient Mesopotamia based on a collection of items considered to be the world’s first museum. Also, with our coverage of another title centered on a “museum” of sorts, Joyce Hinnefeld’s novel in stories The Dime Museum, we bring you a “beyond the book” article on the poet Ezra Pound’s fascist politics.
Is there a fancy edition of your favorite book? We explore the surging popularity of deluxe editions, even for contemporary literary and historical fiction.
Plus, check out our most recent and upcoming Ask the Author interviews, and try a new Wordplay!
Thanks for reading,
The BookBrowse Team
Book Club Discussions
Discussions are open to all! If you’d like to participate, you can do so by creating an account here. Please note that discussions can contain spoilers.
Mercy by Joan Silber
From the Jacket In the gritty East Village of 1970s New York, Ivan and his best friend, Eddie, a popular local bartender, are dabbling in drugs following a short tour of Europe. One night, as Ivan experiments with heroin with Eddie, things go horribly wrong. Ivan rushes Eddie to a crowded local ER and, believing his friend is about to die, leaves him there. Following a bold cast of characters across decades, and set against the changing social and sexual mores from the 1970s onward, Mercy is Silber’s most ambitious and expansive novel yet. From the Discussion |  |
“This is a perfect book for book clubs and for individuals who enjoy contemplative thought.” —Gerrie_B
“For me, Mercy was a totally captivating reading experience that I devoured in just two days. How often does one wonder about what happened to previous friends and acquaintances?…Their lives, careers, successes, and failures all come vividly to life thanks to Joan Silber’s eloquent writing style.” —John_B1
“I enjoyed this very much…each character’s voice is so distinct (cadence, wording, etc) and efficient as well. The world needs more mercy, both towards each other as well as ourselves. I will be reading her backlist.” —Michele_P
Editor’s Choice
Between Two Rivers by Moudhy Al-Rashid
In a palace in the Mesopotamian city of Ur, sometime around 530 BCE, the princess Ennigaldi-Nanna gathered together objects that would have been ancient even to her. Between Two Rivers is structured around the objects found in Ennigaldi-Nanna's ancient "museum" as if they were still on display, with each chapter focusing on a different object and what it can reveal about the people, beliefs, and technological advances of the society that produced it. Al-Rashid is an engaging and endearing guide through these muddled layers of history, one who knows how to breathe life into dry clay fragments. … continued Review by Alex Russell |  |
Beyond the Book
Ezra Pound’s Fascist Politics
Joyce Hinnefeld's The Dime Museum makes many references to the poet Ezra Pound. The Poetry Foundation calls Pound "one of the most influential and most difficult poets of the 20th century." His oeuvre was a watershed of the Modernism movement, and he supported the early careers of writers such as H.D., Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Marianne Moore, and W.B. Yeats. However, for many, Pound's politics are an insurmountable problem, making it impossible to "separate the art from the artist." He became an apologist for dictator Benito Mussolini's regime and was paid by the Italian government to spread pro-fascist propaganda to the USA. … continued Article by Rebecca Foster |  |
The Rise of Deluxe Editions
How dressed up is your bookshelf? Fancy books are by no means a requirement for readers—you may be satisfied with your discount paperbacks, which have their own easy charm, or convenient and space-saving e-book downloads. But recent years have seen a noteworthy explosion of collector’s editions, or deluxe editions, and they aren’t just for updated classics anymore. … continued |  |
Ask the Author Interviews
BookBrowse is now hosting Ask the Author sessions in our community forum. We invite you to follow along and post your own questions in any future interviews that interest you. In the meantime, see our recent conversation with Ellen Marie Wiseman, author of The Lies They Told and other books. |  |
Wordplay
Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win a one-year membership to BookBrowse!
"A W P N B"
Click for the answer to the last Wordplay (A F K of F), and a detailed breakdown of its meaning and history.
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