Owens, an English professor at McGill University, debuts with a stimulating examination of how the stories of talented Black children from American history reflect the complicated intersection of race and childhood. She focuses on the tension between the extraordinary abilities of her subjects and the infantilization of Black people of all ages as “lacking capacities of reason.” For instance, she points out that soon after the Civil War ended, the neurodivergent teenage piano prodigy Tom Wiggins was legally indentured to his former enslavers for the rest of his life because a judge deemed him of “unsound mind” and “childlike.” White supremacists trivialized the talents of young Black individuals to preserve the lie of Black infantilism, Owens argues, noting that an 1834 biography of Phillis Wheatley, who began writing poetry at age 11, credited her artistry to the fleeting impressions of a “peculiar” mind, rather than deliberate study. Elsewhere, Owens digs into the early lives of Oscar Moore, who was only three when he began performing “feats of memorization and mathematics” in the late 1880s, and Philippa Schuyler, whose virtuosic piano performances in the 1930s and ’40s earned her a reputation as “the Shirley Temple of American Negroes.” The meticulously researched case studies reveal how white people sought to control or explain away Black prodigies’ abilities, but scholarly discussions of “literary anagrammars” and the “episteme of humanism” are a bit stuffy. Still, historians will find much to ponder. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

This expansive report from novelist Bradley (Ghost Species) studies ocean ecosystems as a means of exploring the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Emphasizing the fragility and complexity of ecological communities, Bradley notes that the industrial-scale slaughter of whales in the early 20th century counterintuitively resulted in an 80% drop in the krill population because whale “excrement provides vital nutrients for the phytoplankton upon which the krill depend.” Fish are more sophisticated than they’re given credit for, Bradley contends, citing research that found “rainbowfish learn to associate signals with food... twice as fast as dogs” and that sticklebacks ostracize group members who don’t take their turn in the vulnerable position at the front of the school. Such studies underscore what will be lost if humans don’t rein in climate change, Bradley argues, discussing how rising sea levels are endangering Australian sea turtles by submerging their traditional breeding grounds. Bradley weaves natural history, climate studies, and trivia into an elegant whole that drives home the dire threat global warming poses to the ocean, all delivered in plaintive prose (“The toxic legacies of human industry written into the bodies of ocean creatures are a reminder that the deep is not a place of forgetting, but an ark of memory”). It’s a galvanizing call to action. Agent: Camilla Bolton, Darley Anderson Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Climate scientists, advocates, and journalists have unwittingly absorbed propagandistic definitions and narratives that subtly shape the news narrative in favor of fossil fuels, argues climate activist Guenther (Magical Imaginations) in this revelatory study. Hoping to clear the air, she uncovers the origins of climate change–related terms currently trafficked by the media, showing how ideas developed by right-wing think tanks have traveled into mainstream news coverage. For example, she tracks how the term “alarmism” has been deployed since 2017—first by the center-right Breakthrough Institute, which bills itself as environmentalist but pushes for increased fossil fuel development in the short-term—to discredit activists and scientists who continue to emphasize the need to rapidly decrease carbon emissions. Other terms investigated include economic-inflected ones like “cost” and “growth,” which Guenther argues obfuscate the real on-the-ground consequences of warming, and “resilience” and “innovation,” which promise unlikely technical fixes. She also examines the fad among American talking heads and op-ed writers for (falsely, she asserts) blaming “India and China” for increasing their carbon emissions and thereby casting decarbonization efforts elsewhere as futile. Her meticulous descriptions of how these terms have been laundered across five years of New York Times op-eds and New York Magazine features makes for piquant media-junkie fare. It’s a breath of fresh air. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bernie Madoff was merely the rotten centerpiece of a wider web of scammers, according to this savvy debut. Forbes editor Behar investigates the decades-long Ponzi scheme run by Madoff’s fraudulent hedge fund and its 2008 collapse, which wiped out some $20 billion in investors’ principal and the life savings of many retirees. Behar skillfully elucidates Madoff’s scheme, which took in investors’ money, parked it in a JPMorganChase checking account instead of investing it, and paid stellar returns to old investors out of money from new ones; a sizable staff and intense labor were required to buttress the fraud with faked records of stock trades. Centering the book on his decade’s worth of interviews with Madoff after his conviction, Behar depicts his subject as a compulsive grifter who dodged questions with muddled bloviating, yet still possessed a manipulative charisma. But in Behar’s telling, Madoff was merely the apex predator in an ecosystem of flimflam, which included employees and relatives who helped cook the books; major investors who knew Madoff’s operation was a Ponzi scheme, but made huge profits by recruiting other marks into it; and JPMorganChase, which turned a blind eye to evidence of the scam. Behar’s entertaining account shows how easily a sociopathic liar will be enabled by a greedy system. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Martial artist Rousey and her sister, Burns-Ortiz, return with a scattered follow up to their joint memoir My Fight/Your Fight. The narrative gets off to a strong start, with a stirring description of Rousey’s defeat in her 2015 UFC title fight against Holly Holm. The loss triggered an existential crisis, leading to suicidal thoughts remedied only by her husband’s reassurance she was “more than a fighter.” From there, the narrative fractures, with Rousey covering aspects of her life and career before and after the defeat in diffuse, episodic chapters. For example, she recounts her tightly stage-managed time as a pro wrestler, her experiences acting in the Expendables and Fast and Furious franchises, her fertility struggles, and her adjustment to finally becoming a mother. The book concludes with an account of her loss to Shayna Baszler in a WWE wrestling match, which Rousey says she was better able to handle after her bout with Holm. While the narrative excites in its opening pages, readers not well-versed in the worlds of mixed martial arts and wrestling might struggle to sustain interest all the way through. This will appeal mostly to Rousey diehards. Photos. Agent: Erin Malone, WME. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Essayist Slice and minister Cupp (coauthors of the picture book This Is How We Play) team up for a noteworthy relationship guide for disabled people. Drawing on personal experience (Slice’s dysautonomia began at 28, and Cupp was born with cerebral palsy) and enlightening interviews with people across the ability spectrum, the authors tackle such challenges as disclosing one’s disability on dating apps, discussing caregiver duties with partners, and having sex in spite of physical limitations. The guidance takes a flexible rather than prescriptive approach—for instance, the chapter on sex advises readers to “expand what sex means” beyond penetrative intercourse and experiment with new strategies, positions, and devices. Other sections explore the intersection between disability and queerness and the higher incidence of sexual assault against disabled people. Throughout, the authors are candid about the difficulties of dating in a society that prizes “spontaneity... and effortlessness” yet is riddled with access limitations for those with disabilities. With plenty of useful tips, stories, and encouragement for readers to fashion their own approaches, this is a valuable resource. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Poet Nepo (The Book of Awakening) explores the “gifts and challenges of being close to one another” in this florid paean to friendship. Among other personal anecdotes, he shares how undergoing cancer treatment at the same time his friend Robert worked to recover from alcoholism enabled both to start over “naked, humbled, and raw”; how supporting his wife after their dog’s death “enlarged my understanding of grief and acceptance”; and even how his fractured relationship with his brother, whom he cryptically says “feels I’ve wronged him by living my life,” reminds him to strengthen his bonds with others. The author’s at his best when unpacking what such thinkers as Raymond Carver and Aristotle have to say about the topic, though these insights are overshadowed by indulgent metaphors that muddy the book’s conception of friendship (it’s alternately defined as an “electron in the center of every story,” “the sinew that connects the muscle and bone of being human,” and “among the purest gateways to the deeper dimensions of life”). This falls short. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

In the competent latest entry in Reaktion’s Critical Lives series, Hopson, an English professor at Western Kentucky University, explores the groundbreaking career of novelist and anthropologist Hurston (1891–1960), whose early life was marked by hardship. She was 13 when her mother died, after which her father sent her away to a Florida Bible school and then stopped paying tuition, forcing Hurston to work multiple jobs to cover room and board. A talented student, Hurston became the first Black woman to attend Barnard College, graduating after three years with a BA in anthropology and joining the thriving Harlem literary scene. Offering close readings of Hurston’s major works, Hopson explores themes of love and independence in Their Eyes Were Watching God and argues that Moses, Man of the Mountain is an allegory for Hurston’s life, with her literary talents recast as the biblical prophet’s divine gifts. Delving into Hurston’s anthropological work, Hopson notes that in the 1930s she collected folklore in Haiti and studied a community “made up of descendants of African people who had escaped their enslavers” in Jamaica. Hopson sets forth a concise overview of her subject’s life, but the just-the-facts approach will leave readers yearning for panache and perspective. This gets the job done, even as it lacks in style. Photos. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

This rip-roaring debut from journalist Richards profiles the individuals, most of them behind the scenes, who keep Formula One teams up and running. He details how Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner takes a hands-off approach, reasoning that personnel work best when given wide latitude to exercise their own initiative. Discussing the role of head strategist, Richards explains how Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake’s Ruth Buscombe games out plans for myriad contingencies (faster-than-expected tire degradation or weather changes, for instance) and runs through them with drivers and engineers to prepare for races. A chapter dedicated to McLaren driver Lando Norris reflects on the pressures of the limelight (he reports eating little on race days due to nerves), but the overall focus is on F1’s unsung contributors. For instance, Richards discusses how Red Bull Racing machinist Neil Ambrose manufactures custom parts and how McLaren pit mechanic Frazer Burchell views track-side repairs as “an extremely well-rehearsed” dance. The revealing profiles of performance coaches, engineers, mechanics, and technicians capture the collaboration and strategic calculations that go into making champion racers, providing a panoramic view of F1’s inner workings. Racing fans will want to take this for a spin. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink

Balf (The Last River) presents a vivid snapshot of competitive swimming in the 1920s through the stories of three star athletes (German American Johnny Weissmuller, native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, and Japan’s Katsuo Takaishi) and their performance in the men’s 100 meter freestyle at the 1924 Paris Olympic games. Foregrounding the complicated ethnic politics of the era, Balf notes that Weissmuller faced anti-German sentiment growing up in Chicago during WWI only to later be lauded by eugenicists for his “Adonis” physique. Kahanamoku, whose success in the 1912 and 1920 Olympics made him a celebrity in Hawaii, took a tortuous route to the Paris games, coming under fire for competing in a white-only pool during a qualifying race and for violating the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union by performing in a Hollywood film. Elsewhere, Balf discusses how Takaishi, despite finishing fifth in Paris (Weissmuller took gold and Kahanamoku silver), made a strong enough showing that he sparked “a revolution in Japan,” where he went on to lead a national swimming program that “in a mere eight years supplanted the U.S. as the world’s swimming powerhouse.” Balf provides a tense account of the climactic race, though his argument that his subjects “were forebearers to today’s modern athlete” goes underdeveloped. Still, this is worth dipping into. (July)

Reviewed on 05/10/2024 | Details & Permalink