"Hurrah's Nest" by Arisa White '01
Poetry / Virtual Artists Collective, 2012
In this debut collection, White describes the cutting of her dreadlocks, her mother’s abortion, drug trafficking, and her sister’s developmental disability.
"Revelation" by Colin Winnette '07
Novel / Mutable Sound, 2011
Winnette’s debut novel retells the Biblical apocalypse in a modern setting where the mundane blends with the supernatural.
"Dickinson Unbound: Paper, Process, Poetics" by Alexandra Socarides MFA '99
Nonfiction / Oxford University, 2012
Examining Emily Dickinson’s creative process, Socarides transforms her from an elusive genius whose poems we have interpreted in a vacuum into an author who employed surprising (and, at times, surprisingly conventional) methods to a wholly new effect.
"Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun" by Liza Bakewell '78
"Villanelles" by Marie-Elizabeth Mali MFA '09
Poetry / Everyman’s Library, 2012
A comprehensive collection of the best of the villanelle, a 19-line poem with two rhymes throughout.
"It Can Be Solved Walking" by Jennifer Wallace MFA '98
Poetry / Citylit, 2012
In this collection of poems and photographs, Wallace blends two art forms to create a “psychoecology” of Baltimore, capturing glimpses of its history, pride, squalor, nature, and people.
"Singular Beauty: Inside the World of Cosmetic Surgery" by Cara Phillips '07
Photography / FW:, 2012
The artist photographed the offices of expert cosmetic surgeons, taking viewers into the heart of what she calls the “industrial beauty complex.”
"The Definition of Joy: Poems" by Joy Ladin '82
Poetry / Sheep Meadow, 2012
One review notes, “Despite the ubiquity of evil and death in her poems, there is, in Yeats’ words, ‘a gaiety transfiguring all that dread.’”
"Confucius: Discussions/Conversations" by David R. Schiller '66 (translator)
Nonfiction / Saga Virtual, 2011
This 1,650-page translation, commentary, and interpretation of Confucius’ The Analects also contains a short review of early Chinese history, a life of Confucius, chronologies of major events in both the early history and in his life, and a concordance of key Chinese characters transliterated into English.
"The Last Bohemia: Scenes from the life of Williamsburg, Brooklyn" by Robert Anasi '89
Nonfiction - Memoir / FSG Originals, 2012
Anasi chronicles the transformation of Williamsburg from a desolate artists’ refuge to hipster central.
"The Whole Story of Half a Girl" by Veera Hiranandani MFA ’96
Novel / Random House, 2012
After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school. Sonia’s mixed heritage makes her new public school classmates ask questions—that she doesn’t always know how to answer—as she navigates between a group of popular girls who want her to try out for the cheerleading squad and other students who aren’t part of the “in” crowd.
"Killing Time: An Eliza Gordon Mystery" by Amy Beth Arkawy '83
Novel / Hen House, 2012
When someone tries to kill a local hero in the sleepy hamlet of Goodship, New York, and the prime suspect turns up dead, the young former soap star Eliza Gordon and her friend and local radio personality Midge Sumner dedicate themselves to solving the murders.
"The Living End: A Memoir of Forgetting and Forgiving" by Robert Leleux '03
Nonfiction - Memoir / St. Martin’s, 2012
When Leleux’s grandmother, JoAnn, began exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s, she’d been estranged from Robert’s mother for decades. As her disease progressed, JoAnn lost most of her memories, but she also forgot her old wounds and anger, becoming a happier person who was finally able to reach out to her daughter.
"Manage Your Stress: Overcoming Stress in the Modern World" by Dr. Joseph Shrand '80
Nonfiction / St. Martin’s Griffin, 2012
Dr. Shrand, instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, aims to give readers a full understanding of the deeper biological and survival reasons we experience stress.
"Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey between Genders" by Joy Ladin '82
Nonfiction - Memoir / University of Wisconsin, 2012
After years of teaching literature at Yeshiva University, Professor Jay Ladin returned to the Orthodox Jewish campus as a woman, changing genders and creating a new self.