Related Issue
January/February 2012
Fresh Ink: Newly Published Books from Brown People
January 4th, 2012
The Vices by Lawrence Douglas '81 (Random House).
This cutting and funny mystery probes the death and life of celebrity philosopher and art collector Oliver Vice, who vanishes off the Queen Mary 2 in the mid-Atlantic. Did he slip, or did he jump? That's the question Oliver's closest friend, a writing professor, pursues as he peels back the layers of lies with which the Vice family has veiled its secrets and self-hatred. A law professor at Amherst College, Douglas is a keen and wry observer of the world in which he lives, and fans of academic mysteries may find themselves laughing out loud.
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston '79 AM (Ecco). In this nostalgic take on a graphic novel, Preston uses a scrapbook format to record the diary of a penniless early-twentieth-century New Hampshire girl determined to become a writer. A series of unhappy circumstances serendipitously lands Frankie Pratt at Vassar, and she follows her dream to Greenwich Village and Paris. In the book's credits, Preston thanks the more than 300 eBay sellers from whom she purchased the artifacts that detail Frankie's memoir, including yearbook photos, ticket stubs, and an Automat menu.
The Book Art of Richard Minsky by Richard Minsky '70 AM (George Braziller).
While studying economics at Brown, Minsky took up bookbinding and began crafting sculptural casings that embody their contents. The results are wonderfully Dadaistic. He cloaked a copy of The Birds of North America in pheasant skin, complete with feathers. His binding for 1984 contains a tiny camera and a screen that displays the viewer's face.
ALUMNI FICTION
Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down by Robert Fitzpatrick and Jon Land ’79 (Forge).
High Finance: a Wall Street Novel by Eli Lederman ’85 (Mighty Elm Partners).
Short Dark Oracles by Sara Levine ’94 AM, ’98 PhD (Caketrain).
Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine ’94 AM, ’98 PhD (Europa Editions).
The Glass Harmonica by Dorothee E. Kocks ’89 AM, ’93 PhD (Rosa Mira Books).
Jackhammer Sam by Peter Mandel ’81 AM, illustrations by David Catrow (Roaring Brook Press).
ALUMNI NONFICTION
Reluctant Hero: A 9/11 Survivor Speaks Out About That Unthinkable Day, What He's Learned, How He's Struggled, and What No One Should Ever Forget by Michael Benfante ’87 and Dave Hollander (Skyhorse Publishing).
Love Is Strong As Death: Our Walk Through the Valley of Its Shadow by Nancy and Rick Fleeter ’76, ’81 PhD (Outskirts Press, Inc.).
The Seven Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane by Matthew Hutson ’00 (Hudson Street Press).
Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone by Eric Klinenberg ’93 (Penguin Press).
Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done by Art Markman ‘88 (Perigee).
The Millionaire’s Handbook: How to Look and Act like a Millionaire, Even if You’re Not by Vicky Oliver ’82 (Skyhorse Publishing).
Building After Auschwitz: Jewish Architecture and the Memory of the Holocaust by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld ’89 (Yale University Press).
Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure by Julia Flynn Siler ’82 {Atlantic Monthly Press).
Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship in Transnational Jamaica by Deborah A. Thomas ’88 (Duke University Press).
Health Justice: An Argument from the Capabilities Approach by Sridhar Venkatapuram ’93 (Polity Books).
ALUMNI POETRY
It Might Turn Out We Are Real by Susan Scarlata ’04 MFA (Horse Less Press).
FACULTY NONFICTION
That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion by Rachel Herz (W.W. Norton & Co.).
A Clockwork Counterpoint: The Music and Literature of Anthony Burgess by Paul Phillips (Manchester University Press).
