Joyce Oates

"Number One Is Walking" is a unique memoir of legendary actor Steve Martin's film career, featuring behind-the-scenes anecdotes and artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Join Martin as he takes readers on a journey through his most popular films, including "Father of the Bride" and "The Jerk," while sharing charming tales and exploits with Hollywood stars like Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford. With its gorgeously illustrated cartoons and witty writing, this book captures the everyday moments that make up a movie star's life and is the perfect gift for any film lover.

This book delves into the life and work of John Keats, highlighting his remarkable career as a poet in just four short years. Keats scholar Susan J. Wolfson presents seventy-eight verse selections from his work, accompanied by insightful commentary on their meanings and contexts. The collection features both well-known and lesser-known poems that redefine the breadth and depth of Keats's poetic imagination, capturing the chronicle of his artistic and personal evolution. Wolfson encourages readers to experience Keats's language as a living event, offering a cooperative experience between author and reader.

Explore the origins and evolution of xenophobia with psychiatrist and historian George Makari in his book, which delves into never-told stories and offers insights into related ideas such as conditioned response and institutional bias. Discover how this bias emerged alongside Western nationalism, colonialism, mass migration, and genocide, and how it continues to impact society today. With an elegant writing style and a unifying paradigm, Of Fear and Strangers sheds light on the dark headlines of division that plague our world.

"The Trayvon Generation" by Elizabeth Alexander is a poignant reflection on the challenges facing young Black America in the wake of civil unrest and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Named a Most Anticipated Title of 2022, this book expands on Alexander's viral essay, illuminating America's unresolved problem with race and the power of art and culture to create change. With profound insight, brilliant analysis, and interwoven works of art by extraordinary artists, this essential read offers perspective, historical understanding, and hope for the future.

"Bunk" by Kevin Young is a provocative exploration of the history of hoaxes in America, from P. T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe to today's fake news and identity theft scandals. Poet and critic Young exposes the motivations of hucksters and the gullibility of the general public, tracing how fakery is often based on harmful stereotypes and racial biases. Through captivating stories of notorious fraudsters and their deceptions, Young asks important questions about how we can survive in a post-factual world where truth and reality are constantly under attack.

"Three Rings" by Daniel Mendelsohn explores the connection between the randomness of our lives and the art of storytelling. Blending memoir, biography, history, and literary criticism, Mendelsohn intertwines the stories of three exiled writers who turned to the classics to create their masterpieces. As the book unfolds, Mendelsohn shares his own struggles to write about his family's past and his relationship with his father. With a startling conclusion that links the lives of the three heroes, "Three Rings" challenges readers to reconsider the relationship between narrative and history, art and life.

This book, written by psychologist William James, explores religion from a unique perspective. Rather than viewing religion through the lens of its established institutions, he examines it through the individual experiences of believers. By analyzing firsthand accounts from different sources, James provides a compelling argument for a pluralistic approach to spirituality. Written in 1901, this groundbreaking work remains relevant today, promoting religious openness and tolerance.