David

The Writers: Portraits (Hardcover)

By Laura Wilson, Charles McGrath (Foreword by), Louise Erdrich (Introduction by)

$36.00

ISBN: 9780300257786

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Yale University Press - October 18th, 2022

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You will need to buy two of these: one for a gift, and one for yourself.  These stunning black-and-white photographs of almost every contemporary writer you could think of, photographed not only in portraiture but in their libraries and homes, with their families and friends and dogs, and in the magnificent outdoors.  We know these authors through their books, but these images seem to bring us into their inner lives and selves in a way that the written word alone could never capture.

- David

The Beatles: Get Back (Hardcover)

By The Beatles

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ISBN: 9780935112962

Availability: Email online@portersquarebooks.com to Check Availability

Published: Callaway - January 12th, 2021

I try to choose staff picks of general interest, and I will freely admit that this book probably isn't - it is for readers who love the Beatles. You don't have to be a fanatic (I'm not), but if you love Let It Be (I do) then this book is not only appealing but probably mandatory. At a literal level, it is a textual and photographic transcript of the studio sessions preparing for their last concert, with the songs that became that album (and much of Abbey Road); but writ large it is really a narrative of the last phase of the band. They are talking, joking, playing, creating, arguing, reminiscing - far more than the story of a break-up, it is an exploration of a phenomenon. And the photos are magnificent.

David

The Boys (Hardcover)

By Katie Hafner

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ISBN: 9781954118058

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Spiegel & Grau - July 26th, 2022

NYT called this book "a wonder of storytelling" and I couldn't come up with a better description. The narrative is touching, hilarious, and poignant, yet manages to raise deep and provocative questions about loneliness, parenting, and companionship. The story takes a turn in the middle that is so astounding, and so deftly handled, that you may feel compelled to go right back to the beginning - and the rest of the book floats on the brilliance of that device.

David

Late City (Hardcover)

By Robert Olen Butler

Not Available

ISBN: 9780802158826

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Atlantic Monthly Press - September 7th, 2021

On his deathbed on the night of the 2016 election, the 115-year-old last surviving soldier of WWI reflects back on the first 50 years of his life, from his early childhood in Louisiana, his role as a sniper in the war, and his post-war career as a journalist in Chicago.  His meditation takes the form of a conversation with God, who admittedly is depicted somewhat heavy-handedly, but the real beauty of the book is Olen's description of the effect of the war on a young man, and the perspective of a journalist on local and international events and the impact of his career on his family.

David

Let's Eat Italy!: Everything You Want to Know About Your Favorite Cuisine (Let's Eat Series #2) (Hardcover)

By François-Régis Gaudry

$60.00

ISBN: 9781648290596

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Artisan - November 9th, 2021

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I love Italy, the place, and Italian, the cuisine - this book is a gorgeous amalgamation of both.  The essence of the book is recipes, but it is chock-full of food culture (pieces about great chefs, restaurateurs, Italian food movies), gastronomy (everything you want to know about Italian breads, olives, pastas, etc.), geography (the ingredients, specialities and wines of the different regions); in short, everything you want to know about Italian food with magnificent photographs and gorgeous graphics to increase the salivation factor.  An Encyclopedia Italica of food.

David

Taste: My Life Through Food (Hardcover)

By Stanley Tucci

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ISBN: 9781982168018

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Gallery Books - October 5th, 2021

Even if you do not agree with me that Tucci's The Big Night is probably the best food movie ever, you will still find this gustatory memoir a delightful, escapist read. Deliciously evocative, laugh-out-loud funny, and even including recipes for some of his favorites, I read this straight through in two sittings - slowing myself down by rereading particularly delectable passages, but eagerly anticipating what still lay in wait for me. Read this, and then watch (or re-watch) that movie.

David

Morningside Heights: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Joshua Henkin

Not Available

ISBN: 9781524748357

Availability: Unavailable

Published: Pantheon - June 15th, 2021

What starts out looking like a predictable female-English-student-has-affair-with-handsome-young-professor story quickly demonstrates that it is going to cover a lot more ground. They meet and marry in the 70s - but fast-forward 30 years, when the prodigy Spence, now in his late 50s, is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's  The novel deeply explores the relationships among husband, wife, children, and the outside (and increasingly foreign) world, and poignantly chronicles his descent into middle-aged madness without being maudlin or sentimental. It’s beautifully and sensitively written, funny, and driven by a don't-put-it-down plot.

David

Under The Wave At Waimea (Hardcover)

By Paul Theroux

Not Available

ISBN: 9780358446286

Availability: Unavailable
Because of how it is sold to us we cannot accept a return of this title.

Published: Mariner Books - April 13th, 2021

 

I thought as I began this novel that it was a reminiscence by a middle-aged Hawaiian surfer dude about his youth of waves, drugs, and girls.  And superficially it is, but it is also a moving meditation on mortality, complacence, and self-knowledge.  Theroux is as always a masterful storyteller, and the descriptive passages about the ocean and the sublimity of surfing are alone worth the price of admission.

 

David

Greenwood: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Michael Christie

Not Available

ISBN: 9781984822000

Availability: Unavailable

Published: Hogarth - February 25th, 2020

 

Novels that span multiple generations of a family are not particularly uncommon, but it's hard to do them well.  Christie, widely acclaimed in Canada but not well-known in the US, has done just that with this beautiful tale that opens and closes in the year 2038, and in between telescopes back through various points to 1908 and then forward again.  Trees are intrinsic to the book both actually and metaphorically, and the people who interact with them and with each other are drawn thoughtfully and richly.  The book doesn't moralizes but is deeply moral, and the heart of the story, set in the Depression, is riveting.

David