News from this week's Communiqué
Please Take Me Off the Guest List, an art book published by Akashic Books, will be highlighted in the Fall 2010 men's fashion issue of T; The New York Times Style Magazine. The book features photographs taken by Nick Zinner, guitarist for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on travels with the band, as well as essays by native New Yorker Zachary Lipez.
Please Take Me Off the Guest List
Photographs by Nick Zinner; Text by Zachary Lipez | Akashic Books | 9781936070626 | October 2010 | $15.95 | Trade Paper
On July 31, Clarence Lusane published an excerpt from his forthcoming book The Black History of the White House in an article titled "Racism, Shirley Sherrod, and the Obama White House" on Z-Space. Since then, the excerpt has gone viral, appearing on The Huffington Post and History News Network on August 2, and CounterPunch.com on August 3. The much anticipated work, presenting the history of the White House as experienced by African Americans, is due out in November.
The Black History of the White House
Clarence Lusane | City Lights Publishers | 9780872865327 | November 2010 | $18.95 | Trade Paper
Collusion, Stuart Neville's follow-up to The Ghosts of Belfast, received two starred reviews on August 1! Library Journal wrote, "Nevilles' sophomore effort is just as well written and just as violent as his debut, winner of the Los Angeles Times book prize for best crime fiction 2009." And Booklist called it "riveting. . . . Neville's deft style builds mounting tension, and his characters, all tragic figures, are skillfully developed. . . . The violence, administered up close and personal---and the rage of those who commit it---is almost operatic. A feast for thriller fans."
Collusion
Stuart Neville | Soho Crime | 9781569478554 | October 2010 | $25.00 | Trade Cloth
The Ghosts of Belfast
Stuart Neville | Soho Crime | 9781569476000 | October 2009 | $25.00 | Trade Cloth
Three Consortium books were recently featured on Bookslut.com. Streb: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero was reviewed in its August issue, and praised for its inspirational qualities. Streb also received a starred review in Library Journal on August 1: "Streb's dynamism infuses this memoir, and her ideas will likely challenge readers' assumptions on many fronts." On July 31, Buddy Zooka was described as "Utterly original. . . . A very charming novel with an element of sweetness tempered by humor and occasional silliness." On July 1, the blog reviewed Moscow Noir, saying, "Just because Moscow Noir doesn't really reveal the ‘fetid womb' of the Russian capital, however, doesn't mean it's not a lot of fun. . . . Fans of the other Noir anthologies will find nothing to complain about."
Streb: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero
Elizabeth Streb | The Femenist Press at CUNY | 9781558616561 | April 2010 | $18.95 | Trade Paper
Buddy Zooka: In the French Quarter and Beyond
Tracey Tangerine | Chin Music Press | 9780974199580 | June 2010 | $16.00 | Trade Paper
Moscow Noir
Edited by Natalia Smirnova and Julia Goumen | Akashic Books | 9781936070060 | June 2010 | $15.95 | Trade Paper
Thanks to a plan launched by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet over a dinner in 2009, the utopic vision Ralph Nader muses over in his book "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!" has been brought closer to reality as of yesterday, according to articles on MSNBC and The Daily Beast. Forty of America's ultra-rich have made a "moral agreement" to give half of their wealth to charities of their choice. Further information about the pact and the participating philanthropists can be read about at givingpledge.org.
"Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!"
Ralph Nader | Seven Stories Press | 9781583229033 | September 2009 | $27.50 | Trade Cloth
California federal courts must have read Davina Kotulski's Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage, as the state struck down the controversial Proposition 8 yesterday for being unconstitutional. The New York Times reported that this ruling won't lead to any same-sex marriages being performed in California, but it will almost certainly help push the case towards the Supreme Court.
Why You Should Give A Damn About Gay Marriage
Davina Kotulski | Alyson Books | 9781555838737 | April 2004 | $12.95 | Trade Paper
Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman’s Tower (Busted Flush Press, LLC) has been nominated for the 2010 Crimespree Award. To date, the novel has also been nominated for Anthony, Macavity, and Spinetingler Awards.
Tower
Ken Bruen, Reed Farrel Coleman | Busted Flush Press, LLC | 9781935415077 | September 2009 | $15.00 | Trade Paper
Booklist, September 1, 2010
Innocent Monster | Reed Farrel Coleman | Tyrus Books | 9781935562207 | October 2010 | $24.95 | Trade Cloth
"This sixth Moe Prager novel is pretty much noteperfect. Coleman's take on the art world as a den of iniquity is priceless, as is Moe himself. . . . He's a mensch, and his bone-deep world weariness and mordant sense of humor should enthrall lovers of old-school, tough-talking, loner private eyes (think Loren D. Estleman's Amos Walker)."
Library Journal, August 1, 2010
Love Songs from a Shallow Grave | Colin Cotterill | Soho Press | 9781569476277 | August 2010 | $25.00 | Trade Cloth
"In his seventh installment (after The Merry Misogynist) Cotterill vividly depicts a Southeast Asia still traumatized by the Vietnam War. . . . And Dr. Siri is a one-of-a-kind protagonist rivaled only by Eliot Pattison's Shan Tao Yung."
Publishers Weekly, July 19, 2010
One Word: Contemporary Writers on the Words they Love or Loathe | Edited by Molly McQuade | Sarabande Books | 9781932511697 | October 2010 | $16.95 | Trade Paper
"These marvelous little pieces of writing highlight not so much the words themselves as what words do, how they exist as themselves but also as the carriers of meanings, which shift and branch into many paths real and metaphoric, juicy with sound."
The New York Observer, August 3, 2010
Meeks | Julia Holmes | Small Beer Press | 9781931520652 | July 2010 | $16.00 | Trade Paper
"The novel is a postmodern parable about American passion and paranoia, like The Great Gatsby as told by Don DeLillo."
Golf.com, July 5, 2010
St Andrews: The Home of Golf | Henry Lord and Oliver Gregory | Totem Books | 9781906850142 | November 2010 | $45.00 | Trade Cloth
"Please pardon us if we jump the gun here---this British import's U.S. pub date isn't until November---but longevity has its privileges, and it's not every day that a tournament celebrates its sesquicentennial. St. Andrews is a lovely, illustrated tribute to the game's cradle."
L Magazine, August 4, 2010
Mesopotamia | Arthur Nersesian | Akashic Books | 9781936070084 | July 2010 | $15.95 | Trade Paper
"Elvis is so often used as a metaphor for fame that we forget his racial transgressiveness, and that is what Nersesian focuses on here while delivering a broad satire of tabloid news."
Sacramento Book Review, July 6, 2010
The Green Guide for Business | Chris Goodall | Profile Books | 9781846688744 | May 2010 | $14.95 | Trade Paper
"Climate change is a great challenge of our generation. Thus, this book is an excellent guide to the most effective business decisions."
The Rumpus, July 30, 2010
The Orange Eats Creeps | Grace Krilanovich | Two Dollar Radio | 9780982015186 | $16.00 | Trade Paper
"Needless to say I'm looking forward to reading The Orange Eats Creeps---not only because of Erickson's elegiac praise but also because the book is inspired by great rock bands of the Pacific Northwest, like the incredible Dead Moon, or at least that's what I read somewhere."
New York Journal of Books, August 1, 2010
Home, Away | Jeff Gillenkirk | Chin Music Press | 9780984457601 | August 2010 | $15.00 | Trade Paper
"Gillenkirk possesses solid skill as a novelist. . . . Not only does [he] excel in showing us the intensity and heartbreak of the father-son relationship when work and life conflict, he also pictures the world of baseball with authenticity."
Midwest Book Review, July 2010
Buffalo Bill | Steve Friesen | Fulcrum Publishing | 9781555917197 | July 2010 | $22.95 | Trade Paper
"A superb treasury and gift book for Old West afficionados, Buffalo Bill is highly recommended."
Irish Book Club, July 6, 2010
Occasions of Sin | Diarmaid Ferriter | Profile Books | 9781861979186 | July 2010 | $49.95 | Trade Cloth
"It is a groundbreaking study embracing subjects traditionally omitted from the mainstream historical narrative."
Read more reviews here.