Genevieve Valentine
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The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers, thoughtfully edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Hollis Robbins, is a rewarding read that reminds us the past isn't a single story.
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Mary Mann's new book digs into a phenomenon as old as humanity: boredom. Why do we get bored? Is there a cure? Yawn is a thoughtful read, but its mix of autobiography and scholarship doesn't jell.
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Kate Moore's account of the sufferings and struggles of the Radium Girls — factory workers who were poisoned by the glowing radium paint they worked with — reads like a true crime narrative.
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No matter what's happening in this new collection of work from the late Filipino writer Nick Joaquin, it's probably already too late — but that doesn't stop his characters from struggling.
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In Where the Water Goes, David Owen uses the history of the Colorado River to lay out the immense complexity of America's water situation, reminding us that both water and time are finite resources.
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Disney's new live-action extravaganza is just the latest retelling of this classic fairy tale. But why do Beauty and her Beast have such a hold on us? And why are there so many versions of their tale?
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Kim Stanley Robinson envisions a future that's closer than we like to think in New York 2140. Sea levels 50 feet higher have swamped Manhattan, but there's a tiny thread of hope that we might float.
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Lydia Edwards gives a knowledgeable introduction to Western European dresses. It feels bare at times but Edwards is more interested in providing insights rather than an extensive history.
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Glenn Frankel's new book about the making of the classic Western sets its tumultuous production against the backdrop of the Hollywood "Red Scare," drawing parallels between celluloid and reality.
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Artist Joe Ollman's new The Abominable Mr. Seabrook is a biography of the Lost Generation travel writer (and sadist, alcoholic and cannibal) William Seabrook. But how much Seabrook can you stand?