July 30, 2022
These fine books represent some of the best writing of the summer. Their authors drill deep down into human psyches. Two of the novels are good old-fashioned historical fiction, both largely set during World War II. Here are characters you’ll not soon forget and plots you’ll get lost in. We’ve also added a little roundup of books we’ve loved, now out in paperback.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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The Last White Man
By Mohsin Hamid
Published by Riverhead
In Hamid’s (Exit West) latest novel, Anders is back home taking care of his ailing mother when he reconnects with a former girlfriend, Oona. One day he wakes up to find his skin has turned darker. Shocked and shamed, he wonders how he will be treated. As this syndrome continues to affect more members of the community, Hamid explores the meaning of color—how the way you look affects not only your perceptions of yourself but of others and them of you. It is a quiet but powerful and tender story by a real expert.
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Yoga
By Emmanuel Carrère
Published by FSG
Translated by John Lambert
Carrère is one of the most celebrated contemporary writers in France. My favorite among his fiction is the haunting novel, The Mustache. In his new book, an intriguing mix of autofiction and memoir, the author set out to write a slim book extolling the virtues of yoga. What begins as a silent meditation retreat soon turns into a mental breakdown, and a long re-examination of the self. His writing is always erudite, and brutally honest about his own failings (as a narcissist and a philanderer, in particular). You can’t stop reading it, and also feel incredible empathy for his fine, busy mind, and his search for some inner peace.
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Dogs of Summer
By Andrea Abreu
Published by Astra
Translated by Julia Sanches
Abreu’s coming-of-age debut stars Shit, only 10 years old but already very willful, though she’s shy and struggles with bulimia. Isora is her best friend and her opposite in every way. Shit admires/is intimidated by Isora’s early entry into puberty. Their language is rough and comic and full of local dialect; they both dream of escaping working-class life. They live in the mountains in the Canary Islands where “the topmost houses grew up from the ground like desert truffles under pine needles…” The eruption of the local volcano (literally) hangs over their lives, a constant menacing and almost sexual presence. Will it blow?
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Mercury Pictures Presents
By Anthony Marra
Published by Hogarth
Such great world-building here! Maria is an associate producer in Hollywood during WWII. An ambitious young woman whose father preferred the education of the cinema to church, she arrives with the intention of reinventing herself and leaving behind her past. Originally from Italy, she and her mother fled to the U.S. when her father was sent to prison. Marra (The Tsar of Love and Techno) is at the peak of his powers with his fascinating heroine, the colorful B-list of characters around her, the dirty glamour of B movies in L.A., Mussolini’s Italy and the background of a world at war.
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Properties of Thirst
By Marianne Wiggins
Published by Simon & Schuster
A Japanese internment camp is to be built adjacent to a sprawling California ranch following Pearl Harbor. The Rhodes family has created a rich life there inspired by the Transcendentalists, fighting water rights (echoes of Chinatown). In comes a Jewish lawyer working for the Department of Interior to run the camp. The majesty of Wiggins’s canvas feels like an instant classic of Americana. It manages to be both character-driven and political. Wiggins handles her subject with great care and compassion. As her first sentence explains, “You can’t save what you don’t love.” (The author, who suffered a stroke, was aided by her daughter and an editor to complete the final manuscript. Look for the documentary.)
