Books We Recommend This Week Reviews of notable new fiction and nonfiction.  American Zion, by Benjamin E. Park (Norton). Park, a historian, traces Mormonism from its inception in New York, in 1830, to its struggle amid persecution in the mid-nineteenth century, to its present status as a global empire of more than seventeen million adherents. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Unshrinking, by Kate Manne (Crown). Fatphobia, as defined by the author of this polemic, is a “set of false beliefs and inflated theories” about fat people which inform both health care and culture at large. Manne’s argument draws on personal experiences—she relates having gone on drastic diets and engaging in “dangerous, exploitative” relationships as a teen-ager—and on trenchant analyses of the ways in which fatness has been regarded throughout history. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Termush, by Sven Holm, translated from the Danish by Sylvia Clayton (FSG Originals). This hypnotic novella, written in the nineteen-sixties but appearing only now in the U.S., takes place after a nuclear cataclysm, and is narrated by a man living in a luxury resort that has been converted into a sanctuary for the rich. “We bought the commodity called survival,” he dryly notes, but, as the story unfolds and refugees stricken by radiation sickness pour in, the delusional nature of that notion becomes clear. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Cross-Stitch, by Jazmina Barrera, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Two Lines). The words “text” and “textile” contain a common Latin root, a teacher tells Mila, the narrator of this skillful début novel about female friendship. Mila and Citlali meet as schoolchildren in Mexico City, and bond over a love of embroidery. For Mila, embroidering is both an aesthetic pursuit and an act of political resistance. Years later, Citlali’s sudden death leads Mila to reflect on their past. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. What are you reading this week? Reply to let us know. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment