Red Summer
The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America
by Cameron McWhirter (Henry Holt)
Wall Street Journal reporter McWhirter’s well-researched and dramatic book recounts what was then the bloodiest summer of anti-black violence in American history (there were 83 recorded lynchings that year). Tens of thousands of black soldiers had returned from protecting freedom in Europe, and had hopes of equality at home. Instead, a wave of white mobs in anti-black riots swept the country — including cities like Chicago, Washington, Omaha, Neb., and Knoxville, Tenn. — killing hundreds. McWhirter calls it the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Bat
by Jo Nesbø (Vintage Crime)
Notorious Nordic Detective Harry Hole is finally getting a proper US introduction. Volume 1 of Norwegian crime writer Nesbø’s popular series has now for the first time been translated for American readers. Fans here already know that Hole owes his fame to his capture of a brutal Australian serial killer (it’s referenced in the other books already published in the US). Now, a trip back in time and Down Under gives us the details about the murder of a Norwegian girl in Sydney that first lead our antihero to Oz.
No Joke
Making Jewish Humor
by Ruth R. Wisse (Princeton University Press)
A Frenchman and a Jew walk into a bar. “I’m so thirsty, says the Frenchman, I must have wine.” “I’m so thirsty,” says the Jew, “I must have diabetes.” That’s a sample of the humor Harvard Yiddish literature professor Wisse delivers as she explores the often self-ridiculing jokes by Jews and for Jews. From 19th century writer Heinrich Heine to the Post’s own Joey Adams to Philip Roth and even Larry David, scholars and popular readers alike will find food for thought — and laughs — in Wisse’s analysis of this oft-illicit genre.
Lotería
by Mario Alberto Zambrano (Harper)
Something awful has happened to 11-year-old Luz María Castillo and her family. Her Papi is in jail, big sister in the hospital, Mom disappeared. Only her loving Aunt Tencha is on the scene. Remanded to a state home, Luz hjas gone mute, refusing to talk about what happened. Instead she keeps a journal, revealing her story though corresponding cards from her deck of Lotería cards — a Mexican bingo-like game. An original and beautifully written debut.
Christian Nation
by Frederic Rich (Norton)
In this alternate-history, along the lines of Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America,” the McCain-Palin ticket is victorious in the 2008 election. But wait, there’s more! President McCain dies of an aneurism shortly after taking office. What comes next is told by narrator Greg, looking back from 2029. The Palin administration rules by its Christian faith, which, here, sometimes conflicts with constitutional freedoms. Of course, it’s New Yorkers who fight for our freedom and liberty.