“Call it a confirmation bias. Everywhere I turned this year, I saw a new expression of Arab Jewish identity. The revival seems to be happening across all fields—literature, food, music—yet somehow nobody’s talking about it. . . . Imagine my excitement, then, when I discovered Eduardo Halfon’s new novel, Monastery, in which the conflicted, tragicomic protagonist denies his Arab identity when talking to certain Jews, and his Jewish identity when talking to certain Arabs.”

“Monastery, which looks at Guatemala and the world from the divided perspective of a Jew and Guatemalan [displays] a constantly surprising sensitivity, even tenderness toward both worlds and the ways they resonate even when they appear deaf to each other. . . . In the admirable translation by Lisa Dillman and Daniel Hahn, the idiomatic, contemporary American English voice comes across as innate to this cosmopolitan narrator, without losing all its Spanishness.”

“Intelligent and authentic.”

“One senses Kafka’s ghost, along with Bolaño’s, lingering in the shadows.”

“Offer[s] surprise and revelation at every turn.”

“Largent’s engaging and honest account explores how medical mysteries are shaped by prevailing narratives about venal drug companies, heroic investigators, and Johnny-come-lately politicians.”

“A moving, reflective, and humbly resounding work of fiction. . . . Monastery, with its beautiful prose, vibrant imagery, and singular outlook on the abundance of individual and shared experience, deserves to win this year’s Best Translated Book Award. As an ambassador of both worldly wonder and sublime storytelling, Eduardo Halfon’s Monastery, despite its brevity, is truly a marvel.”

“A thrilling historical account of the rise of astrophysics, the early years of astronomical photography and spectroscopy, and the innovations that transformed the astronomical telescope in the nineteenth century. Alan Hirshfeld’s thoroughly researched narrative is accessible, entertaining, and scholarly, and includes many pioneers who have been overlooked until now. I greatly admire this outstanding contribution to the history of astronomy.”

“Writing this book would ideally require an author with an extensive knowledge of astronomy, including astronomical instruments, a deep understanding of the ways of thought of astronomers, a broad range of historical knowledge, and an exceptional skill at making astronomical ideas clear and engaging. Alan Hirshfeld possesses all of these skills. His Starlight Detectives is remarkable.”

“Hirshfeld documents how the practice of astronomy changed between 1840 and 1940 thanks to innovative pioneers whose efforts made it possible to capture and preserve otherwise faint and fleeting images, and to decipher the cryptographic messages found in the light of celestial bodies. His riveting narrative brings to life their challenges, failures, and successes. It will captivate all who have observed the night sky.”

“Beautifully written, Starlight Detectives reminds us how the wonders of the modern universe would never have been possible without the ingenious advances made by pioneering scientists in the nineteenth century. They were the ones who first learned how to read the messages hidden within a star’s radiations. With his poetic eye on the nighttime sky, Alan Hirshfeld engagingly shows how science arrived, step by step, at its revolutionary discovery that we live in but one galaxy amid multitudes flying outward in an expanding universe. A must-read for astronomy and history of science aficionados alike.”

“Bellevue Literary Press is a small press in New York that publishes books about the intersection between the arts and sciences. It’s fascinating. Their books are just gems. It’s hard to find a Bellevue Literary Press book that, for me, doesn’t work.”

“Reveal[s] the persistence and imagination required for scientific progress.”

“A well-written and enjoyable title for astronomers—professional and amateur alike—as well as science history fans.”

“This comprehensive rundown of the great names in astronomical detection makes for compelling biographical reading. . . . Every researcher presented in this book is as lively in the text as if they were still personally scouring the heavens.”

“Highly illuminating. . . . A delightful, detailed chronicle of great men (and a rare woman) whose fascination with the night sky and the technology necessary to study it led to today’s dramatic discoveries.”

“Wonderfully describes this era of astronomical innovation. . . . [Hirshfeld] paints vivid portraits of the people, both professionals and amateurs, in Europe and the United States who drove th[e] shift from basic observational astronomy to more advanced astrophysics.”

“Fascinating. . . . Starlight Detectives is the story of an astronomical upheaval as profound as the Copernican revolution.”

“One hesitates to pronounce any book definitive, but [Starlight Detectives] has set a standard that will not be equaled, much less surpassed in just a single volume. . . . The author weaves a tale of personality with that of laboratory and instrumental discovery, making the story of astrophotography accessible to a wide audience.”

“A tour-de-force. . . . Eminently well written, the story lines immerse the reader in situations and events that provide real insight into the roles of numerous amateur (here meaning not formally trained) astronomers in moving the field forward, as well as how professional astronomers have worked with amateurs to the advantage of both. Hirshfeld’s writing style brings the 19th century back to life and provides a rich tapestry of astronomical history.”

“Th[e] race to see deep space is told with palpable relish. . . . No less rousing is Hirshfeld’s rendition of the coda, as Edwin Hubble—using the 2.5-metre reflector telescope at Mount Wilson, California—discovered the expansion of the Universe and opened up the cosmos.”

“Even today, amateurs trade images over the Internet that professional astronomers incorporate into their work. This abundant crossplay informs Starlight Detectives . . . Author Alan Hirshfeld explains how ‘the human eye itself was a fundamental roadblock to progress’ and how the heroes are the ones who made higher-quality telescopes and photographs. Those who applied substances like collodion, and then gelatin, to create crisper photographic negatives, are key here. And because of mounting technological advances, our era boasts great gains and great excitement. Hirshfeld sums it up: ‘The classical astronomer’s question, ‘Where is a star?’ evolved into the astrophysicist’s more profound inquiry, ‘What is a star?’”

“Hirshfeld tells this climactic discovery of the expanding universe with great verve and sweep, as befits a story whose scope, characters and import leave most fiction far behind.”

“Tales of pioneering skywatchers and their discoveries in the 19^th century show how modern astronomy was born.”

“Astrophysicist Hirshfeld chronicles the radical changes in our conception of the cosmos.”

“Michael Coffey brings us so close to his subjects it is almost embarrassing. Whether he’s writing about a sinning priest or a man who’s made a career out of branding or about himself, we can smell Coffey’s protagonists and feel their breath on our cheek. Like Chekhov, he must be a notebook writer; how else to explain the strange quirks and the perfect but unaccountable details that animate these intimate portraits?”

“A masterful balance of science, history and rich narrative.”

“Sherwood Anderson would recognize this world of lonely, longing characters, whose surface lives Coffey tenderly plumbs. These beautiful stories—spare, rich, wise and compelling—go to the heart.”

“J.L. Moreno was a pioneer of twentieth-century theater and psychotherapy. A remarkable work, Impromptu Man should be required reading for therapists and dramatists alike.”

“Starlight Detectives is just the sort of richly veined book I love to read—full of scientific history and discoveries, peopled by real heroes and rogues, and told with absolute authority. Alan Hirshfeld’s wide, deep knowledge of astronomy arises not only from the most careful scholarship, but also from the years he’s spent at the telescope, posing his own questions to the stars.”

“J.L. Moreno, who fathered psychodrama, set a new world in motion. I doubt he ever dreamed his life’s work would change the lives of trial lawyers and the people they represent, providing us with a new way to communicate and give justice a chance. This book restores him to his rightful place in history.”

“Once I started reading these stories, I couldn’t stop. They absorbed me thoroughly, with their taut narratives and evocative language—the language of a poet. The matter of identity looms over them, giving them a kind of brooding and breeding presence, one that animates the past, makes it not only real, but more than real. Michael Coffey has reached deep into his own past here, but that reality has been magically transformed, transmogrified, as the work of fiction does its job. Coffey is a fine, witty, and vibrant writer. I recommend The Business of Naming Things with gratitude to the author.”

“Jonathan D. Moreno’s thoughtful assessment of his father, J.L. Moreno, pays overdue tribute to a pioneering maverick in psychology whose concept of ‘psychodrama’ also made an important impact in the arts. Tracing Moreno’s connections with and influence on such organizations as the Provincetown Players, the Civic Repertory, the Group Theatre, the Federal Theatre Project, and the Actors Studio, this intriguing book adds a new layer to our understanding of progressive American theater in the 1930s and beyond.”

“A captivating memoir cum sixties cultural history by the son of the radical but forgotten psychotherapist who planted the vibrant seeds of our social network society.”

“A splendid account of one the most creative social scientists of the twentieth century. Impromptu Man is filled with fascinating anecdotes, many of them about famous and infamous people, and brilliant insights as to how Moreno’s work transformed vast segments of society and eventually eluded his control. This book is frank, funny, fascinating, and long overdue.”

“Jonathan D. Moreno has written an informative book about an amazing man who, over one hundred years ago, saw improv theater as a way to change the world. Today his ideas are more relevant than ever.”

“The Poetic Species explores the intersection of science and the arts in relation to the staggering environmental crisis the world is encountering. I am encouraged by this call to action by both scientific and literary communities and curious about the possible responses.”

“Well researched. . . . Between the Encounter movement of the 1960s, military morale, humanistic psychology, Second City improv, and psychodrama training for trial lawyers, J.L.’s influence appears across domains and ‘it’s hard to exaggerate the extent to which [his] pioneering ideas have penetrated the culture’ since.”

“An adept introduction to an innovative thinker.”

“A candid, engaging biography of an important pioneer in social psychology.”

“Coffey name-drops some serious literary heavyweights in the pages of his stories. Harold Brodkey, J.F. Powers, Henrik Ibsen and James Joyce all make an appearance. But that doesn’t mean that these stories are only for ‘pointy-headed’ literary types. Coffey’s writing hearkens back to stylists of 40 or 50 years ago and his subject matter is ‘meat and potatoes’ basic: the relationships between men and women and fathers and sons.”

“Fascinating. . . . Instead of a couch, [J.L. Moreno] used dramaturgy: a stage, role players, and an audience to put the patient’s concerns into heightened awareness and action. Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, and Alan Alda were among many theater people who attended Moreno’s psychodrama demonstrations. . . . The essence of Moreno’s contribution to dramaturgy is that theater is spontaneous, co-creative, authentic, and transformative action.”

“Michael Coffey is a writer who revels in language and in storytelling. In this group of beguiling short stories, the writing is rich, subtle, and often surprising.”

“[Jonathan] D. Moreno’s book is an especially engaging read, particularly for his attention to the effects of his father’s work on popular culture, and his ability to recount anecdotes from childhood, such as that he literally ‘grew up in a mental hospital.’ . . . Read [Impromptu Man] for an intimate account of what it was like to grow up in the Moreno family and how one might imagine, in serendipitous ways, that experience may have led to J. D. Moreno’s eminent career as a professor of bioethics.”

“Well-crafted stories, thick with literary references. . . . Carefully chiseled. . . Sober and smart writing that evokes the more mannered American stylists of the 1960s and ’70s.”

“Riveting. . . . Coffey brilliantly examines the efforts of a mother to cope with her son’s death in ‘Moon Over Quabbin’; he uses the J.F.K. assassination as a backdrop to a tale about a sinful priest in ‘Inn of the Nations’; and, in ‘Sons,’ he explores a difficult father-son relationship in the context of a possible Obama assassination attempt. . . . Vibrant and unsparing.”

“No matter in what direction you turned, J.L. Moreno was there: a creative, charismatic force, challenging the psychiatric hegemony of the times and daring to create theory and methods to promote growth in individuals, groups, and society. . . . [Impromptu Man] should be required reading for all graduate students and group practitioners in this field.”

“[A Solemn Pleasure] may be the handbook of the modern writer.”

“Impromptu Man captures the remarkable impact of a singular genius, J.L. Moreno, whose creations—the best-known being psychodrama—have shaped our culture in myriad ways, many unrecognized. The record will be set straight for all time by this can’t-put-down biography, a tribute by Jonathan D. Moreno to his father’s masterly legacy.”

“Pritchard has written an incredible book that is an important testament to the role of the writer as society’s moral and spiritual compass. In A Solemn Pleasure, Pritchard meshes the personal with the political in a bold and deeply honest composition that will make every reader a more compassionate human being. This book is written from the heart. It will refresh your passions and inspire the deepest yearnings of your soul. I found myself underlining, taking notes, and feeling inspired to write.”

“The principle of consilience, or the unity of knowledge, infuses this conversation between biologist E. O. Wilson and poet Robert Hass. . . . The eminent duo explore echoes and parallels in their respective fields with eloquent concision, from Wilson’s advice to poets (“Colonize science”) to Hass’s musings on the interplay of selfish gene and social imperative in imagination.”

“Superb. . . . Startlingly original and at times darkly funny. . . . [Coffey’s] characters are as flawed and complicated as they are recognizable and sympathetic; all fiction readers can enjoy.”

“Enchanting. . . . The Poetic Species is a wonderful read in its entirety, short yet infinitely simulating.”

“‘Great writers are witnesses to the spirit of their age,’ Pritchard declares. And in her splendid collection of essays, A Solemn Pleasure, she bears witness to matters great and small, from the quotidian joys of a borrowed room in London to the life and example of Georgia O’Keeffe to the plight of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Art is for her ‘a form of active prayer,’ which leads her to journey both inward and outward, notably to Afghanistan, where the consequences of the war on terror become tragically clear. This is the spirit of our age, gracefully rendered in Pritchard’s essays, which will stand the test of time.”

“Gorgeous and moving. . . . Each of these essays confirms that to write is to think and feel, to take part in the profound and sacred act of witness. Read together—and the book is so arresting that many readers will finish it in a single sitting—the essays amount to a clear and irrefutable mandate for empathy.”

“Full of lovely sentences that often achieve an almost mystical, spiritual power.”

“From grief to daily rituals to the shape of a dachshund, Pritchard insightfully connects the most obscure of subjects to reveal gems of truth about the human experience.”

“Heartfelt . . . bear[s] powerful witness to suffering, compassion, and transcendence.”

“Moving. . . . Readers will treasure the book’s numerous memorable moments.”

“As insightful as it is engaging. . . . Pritchard will make you cry, think, and laugh; each essay is filled with wit and wisdom. . . . A great read for writers, readers looking for enlightenment, and those who savor nonfiction that explores the spiritual through the everyday.”

“Ethically rich. . . . Pay attention to the surge of [Pritchard’s] mind and the spiritual energy she demonstrates.”

“Elegant, funny. . . . Pritchard’s own prose embodies her conviction that great writing involves both imagining the inner life of its subjects and a ‘bearing witness’ to the human condition and the transcendent mystery that surrounds it.”

“A fine, delicate essayist. . . . Pritchard’s writing is inspiring.”

“A spirited, intelligent, wide-ranging exploration of the joys, frustrations, and trials of the life of the writer.”

“Pritchard’s essay collection is one to keep by your bedside to read again and again. Like Lewis Hyde’s The Gift, Pritchard plumbs the depths of why we write, in order to uncover the important reasons we need to write. . . . This book will give you super powers.”

“Pritchard once again validates the assertion that all true art is moral, as it instructs by seeking to improve life.”

“Altogether magnificent. . . . [The essay “Spirit and Vision”] bears that cynicism-disarming quality of a commencement address and enchants the psyche like an incantation. . . . [Pritchard] ends the piece like one might a commencement address—and if this were one, it would certainly be among the greatest commencement addresses of all time. . . . Complement A Solemn Pleasure, seriously pleasurable in its entirety, with Susan Sontag’s advice to writers, Virginia Woolf on writing and self-doubt, and Cheryl Strayed’s no-nonsense wisdom on the craft.”

“Invite[s] underlining, re-reading, and reading aloud. . . . Pritchard [is] a beautifully descriptive stylist and deeply committed artist. . . . A Solemn Pleasure is not only a great way for readers to meet [her], but an excellent choice to mark the launch of Bellevue Literary Press’ new series, The Art of the Essay.”

“I read a short excerpt and was immediately hooked. . . . I’m no time traveler myself, but the novel has all the makings of a wonderful film, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re placing your hold on the DVD in a few years, too.”

“In Norman Lock’s imaginative and brilliant riff on Twain’s great American novel, Huck tells us his new stories and does not leave us until he is an old man in 2077, inviting us to recall the original novel and to review American history with a fresh eye. . . . This is a provocative and challenging book.”

“The voice of Huck Finn is so vivid and felt in this novel one loses the sense there’s an author behind it. . . . [The Boy in His Winter] is a testament to friendship, sharing, a slow life derailed and a look at America from a truly unique perspective. Huck is unforgettable and this book then even more so.”

“The Boy in His Winter is delightful, glorious. It is less a book one merely reads than itself a river one allows oneself to be borne along in, carried in currents and eddies, lured to false banks and sunken towns and so forth. The places Huck/Albert winds up—in the yacht industry, Googling the world’s rivers, and finally impersonating his nemesis—seem so perfect, yet each one serves as a burst of surprise. And, of course, the sentences—what is one to say about them except that Lock is one of our great miniaturists, to be read only a single time at one’s peril. I will recommend it to every reader I know.”

“In this surreal and otherworldly river journey through time, Norman Lock transports Huck Finn down the Mississippi and deep into America’s history—and future. Elegant and imaginative, The Boy in His Winter is a tale that’s as hypnotic as it is profound.”

“If you are interested in beasts of any kind, imaginary or not, [Muir’s] writing is lovely and the chapters make it an easy book to pick up and read a few chapters at a time.”

“This fine book full of humor and love of animals real or imagined would be a great read for any explorer.”

“This imaginative collection constitutes a bestiary that is as curious as it is unsettling.”

“I read Norman Lock’s The Boy in His Winter with delight and amazement. Styled in the vernacular of a rapidly changing America, it stays true to the themes of Mark Twain’s original: class relations, race and slavery, childhood innocence, moral hypocrisy—and, of course, the stark beauty and unforgiving nature of America’s greatest river. I finished this absolutely elegant narrative feeling that Huck Finn has never been more alive.”

“A wonderful meditation on the struggle to dovetail one’s present self with the one’s past.”

“A sobering read and a wake-up call . . . which firmly places Lock as one of the most talented authors working today.”

“If you’ve lost your capacity to wonder at the myriad forms of life swarming, burrowing, swooping, and gamboling around you—and inside you—then look no further. Equal parts science and imagination, Invisible Beasts takes us on a journey to another world that turns out to be our world, as if seen and experienced for the first time. If you’re interested in what it means to be alive, and share life, then read this book.”

“Many writers are inspired by symbiology—the interdependence of nature, culture, and technology—but Muir’s intelligence and breadth of knowledge are exceptional. You could not find a better little book of ethics, politics, and ecology for our time.”

“An eclectic hybrid of literary appropriation, Zelig-like historical narrative, time-travel tale and old-style picaresque.”

“Remarkable. . . . Lock writes some of the most deceptively beautiful sentences in contemporary fiction. Beneath their clarity are layers of cultural and literary references, profound questions about loyalty, race, the possibility of social progress, and the nature of truth. They merge with an iconic American character, tall tales intact, to create something entirely new—an American fable of ideas.”

“Invisible Beasts is a delightful and stunning feat of environmental imagination, endlessly enjoyable and fascinating. With the deep inventiveness of Ursula Le Guin and the quirky vitality of Annie Dillard, Sharona Muir seduces us into a cautionary world full of creatures, at once fanciful and utterly convincing, who hold unexpected lessons for ourselves.”

“Lock plays profound tricks, with language—his is crystalline and underline-worthy—and with time, the perfect metaphor for which is the mighty Mississippi itself.”

“Lock’s work mines the stuff of dreams. . . . [In The Boy in His Winter] Huck Finn and Jim set forth down the Mississippi River and journey through a century and a half of American history, to alternatingly thrilling and horrific effect.”

“A true American novel—in many ways as moving as Mark Twain’s original.”

“Hypnotic. . . .A delightful and profound journey.”

“In this twenty-first century, there’s no one like Sharona Muir who can write, in bright accurate language, animals real or imaginary in an updated bestiary that riffs on evolution, extinction, and what it means to be human among other species. We need this view, and you’ll be right there with her on every page of Invisible Beasts.”

“Lock has long been one of our country’s unsung treasures. . . . While Twain offered a panoramic skewering of his time, Lock reimagines the travels of Huck and Jim as a survey of the history and future of America. . . . Lock has made [Huck and Jim] not only fresh but new.”

“Norman Lock is a master of the unusual. Cast through his inimitable creative lens, [The Boy in His Winter] is much more than a unique concept. It’s a rich, textured story that’ll leave you unsteady on your feet, as any great water adventure should.”

“To call [The Boy in His Winter] a work of fiction is to tell only part of the story. This book is as much a treatise on memory and time and the nature of storytelling and our collective national conscience . . . much of it wildly funny and extremely intelligent.”

“Boldly reimagines Huck Finn. . . . Striking and original. . . . The premise may be an outlandish brain-twister that takes risks with a sacred American myth, but the vessel stays afloat by virtue of [Lock’s] wily ingenuity.”

“[Lock] is one of the most interesting writers out there. This time, he re-imagines Huck Finn’s journeys, transporting the iconic character deep into America’s past—and future.”

“Has all the elegant precision of a feat of architecture—or a wonder of nature. . . . The ties that bind us to our fellow invisible beasts are never simple or straightforward; they are, in fact, as unexpected as Muir’s endlessly inventive prose.”

“At times laugh-out-loud funny . . . and sometimes sad and profound. . . . The animals featured in this book may be fictional, but the stories are strengthened considerably by the obvious scientific knowledge that underpins them.”

“Charming and inventive. . . . Sophie, through her whimsical and funny descriptions of her beloved creatures, offers us insights about love, sex, truthfulness, perspective, and the passage of time.”

“The various fantastical beings presented here are described in careful scientific detail with results that are weird, whimsical, and somewhat unsettling. Like very fractured Just So Stories.”

“Playfully and thoughtfully underlines the pain and loss of extinction . . . combin[ing] fact and imagination in 20 fables narrated by an amateur naturalist. . . . A marvelous capsule of natural history . . . not to mention crackling suspense.”

“Lines blur between the human and animal worlds in this richly detailed debut. . . . In Sophie’s struggles to find her footing in a world only she and a few others can see, Muir expertly pinpoints the frailty of the human condition. This is an amazing feat of imagination.”

“Full of language that is at once passionate and precise, flowery and full of information, [Invisible Beasts] is bursting at the seams with a strange duality, a dizzying mash-up of romanticism and science.”

“An erudite guidebook to the ‘animals’ that walk unseen among us.”

“Make[s] Huck and Jim so real you expect to get messages from them on your iPhone.”

“An absolute delight. . . . This smart, whimsical novel takes readers not only into a world of ‘invisible beasts’ but into the mind of a charmingly quirky character.”

“Brilliant . . . this novel shimmers with glorious language, fluid rhythms, and complex insights. . . . The Boy in His Winter is a glorious meditation on justice, truth, loyalty, story, and the alchemical effects of love, a reminder of our capacity to be changed by the continuously evolving world ‘when it strikes fire against the mind’s flint,’ and by profoundly moving novels like this.”

“Sensitive and elegant . . . funny and tender. . . . Beasts, a category used here in all its expansiveness, includes everything from the human to the microbe. This book is a wondrous testament to those relationships, interdependencies, and affinities. Invisible Beasts makes the bestiary a document of profoundly human dimensions, and offers to all readers, whether devotees of science or of fantasy, very real pleasures.”

“Brilliant. . . . With a light, witty, but heartwrenching touch, without preaching or hectoring in any form, Muir reveals, through the stories of her magnificent, funny, endearing invisible animals and their perils and extinctions, the anthropocentric obtuseness and mindless, casual as well as purposeful devastation of the environment and the mass slaughter of life forms, including ourselves, that puts all of us—animals, vegetables, and minerals—in dire peril.”

“At once a celebration of the power of imagination and a requiem for the species we’re losing every day. Both moving and often surprisingly funny, it’s a seductive work of speculative naturalism that has its hands in the dirt and its head in the clouds.”

“An imaginative, delightful field guide to animals that seem to be visible to only a few people—including amateur naturalist and narrator Sophie. As her detailed descriptions of the fantastic creatures unfold, Sophie reveals a bit about human nature.”

“A wild and woolly hybrid that refreshingly defies classification. . . . Compelling throughout . . . it’s the literary lovechild of Lewis Carroll and Rachel Carson filtered through the lens of zoology’s godfather, Darwin himself.”

“Vividly portrayed.”

“Wonderful and unusual. . . . [Invisible Beasts] is full of a sense of wonder, and has lyrical, passionate, and often funny descriptions of animals and the connections between people and animals.”

“[An] imaginative menagerie comes to life in [Muir’s] novel Invisible Beasts.”

“Muir astounded this reader. Liltingly physical, metaphorically sound, elusively knowing, her language is paint and clay and vibration.”

“This environmental fable—as if Where the Wild Things Are had been written by Rachel Carson—is a lyrical field guide . . . as well as a commentary on extinction and being alive.”

“Invisible Beasts is a strange and beautiful meditation on love and seeing, a hybrid of fantasy and field guide, novel and essay, treatise and fable. With one hand it offers a sad commentary on environmental degradation, while with the other it presents a bright, whimsical, and funny exploration of what it means to be human. It’s wonderfully written, crazily imagined, and absolutely original.”

“BLP brings readers amazing books that defy easy categorization or mass marketing. If you want a good read, many publishers can offer that. If you want an amazing, transformative read that will settle down in your memory and open a dialogue with the best books you’ve read, a book that will challenge you to new levels of emotional and intellectual perception, a reading experience that might blow your heart open or change your worldview, go to the Bellevue Literary Press website and pick any book.”

“Paul Harding had trouble finding a home for his debut novel, Tinkers. He signed with Bellevue Literary Press, a small publisher. . . . Then it won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize . . . These stories hearten struggling writers and everyone else who struggles too . . . These stories, finally, tell us that a healthy book industry is a diverse one . . . The more gatekeepers, the better.”

“[A] deftly constructed first novel . . . While writing about life’s dramas, Forbes refuses to overdramatize her material—making [Ghost Moth’s] revelations all the more powerful.”

“A beauty of a novel, Irish writer Michele Forbes delves deep into consequences of unrequited love.”

“A commanding debut, packed with genuine characters, telling its story with powerful control. Ghost Moth is a beautiful book, by a wonderful writer.”

“A haunting story about love, yearning and loss that never fails to surprise or move the reader. This is a most impressive debut from a supremely talented writer.”

“A bountiful river of lovely images, fresh and perfect, a triumphant story both familiar and strange. A stellar debut.”

“Norman Lock once again proves himself a master storyteller . . . These stories are brilliantly imaginative and wonderfully unsettling.”

“This slow burning tale is both guileless and deeply—sometimes erotically—charged. The writing soaks up the world, and thrills to the beauty of it. Children, bees, milk, the sea, all are wonderfully rendered and alive on the page. Katherine Bedford—so ordinary and so passionate—is a heroine to treasure.”

“A masterpiece . . . deeply thought provoking, filled to the brim with wit, and imaginative beyond belief, Love Among the Particles is a book for all who have ever dreamed and long to do so again.”

“[Lock] is not engaged in either homage or pastiche but in an intense dialogue with a number of past writers about the process of writing, and the nature of fiction itself . . . taking a trope that seems familiar to readers of the weird but analysing it in the fiercest detail.”

“Stories make their own realities, just as histories do, and Lock’s uniquely intricate understanding of this dynamic is what makes these tales so inimitable.”

“Lock is a rapturous storyteller, and his tales are never less than engrossing.”

“This fantastical collection of short stories is a joyous compendium of characters time-traveling through the annals of literary history—Mr. Hyde, Henry James, and Huckleberry Finn to name a few.”

“Ghost Moth is an impressive debut by a writer who is not afraid to address the so-called ordinary lives of real human beings. We shall be hearing a great deal more from Michèle Forbes.”

“Enticingly and enigmatically relevant for the present . . . these humorous, imaginative meditations on the nature of dreams, time, and space shimmer in their own darkness. . . . Reminiscent of the plays of Samuel Beckett, there is a wealth of insight here.”

“[Lock’s stories] are gems, rich in imagination and language. Readers will happily suspend disbelief, perhaps even finding particles of humor . . . And beyond the entertainment lie 21^st-century conundrums: What really exists? Are we each, ultimately, alone and lonely? Where is technology taking humankind? For all their convolutions of space and time, these stories are remarkably easy to follow and savor.”

“Clever, unpredictable, beautifully written and crafted—Ghost Moth stayed with me for a long time after I’d finished reading the final, sad, wonderful page.”

“Forbes’ prose is like a masterful painting you see at a museum: at first glance you may respond to the beauty, the color and texture, composition and themes. But the longer you look the more you realize the artwork is powerful, it’s both contained and expansive, incredible in and of itself, but also able to impact the way you feel . . . A terrific novel.”

“Lock’s writing is beautiful, with clean, clear, perfect sentences . . . seducing the reader with language and narrative into a fully realized alternative world to say something new about our own. . . . Love Among the Particles is topical, astonishing and provocative . . . a masterful collection.”

“Intricate and lyrical . . . [Ghost Moth] mesmerizes readers, wrapping them lazily into the tale until there is no escape but by turning the final page.” —BookNAround

“Ghost Moth is a beautifully deceptive book. It feels light, ethereal, gentle and precious. Yet it deals with such momentous issues as religious intolerance, infidelity, illness, death. . . . Revelations come not with a bang, but with a whisper, mirroring life as it truly is rather than the drama we try to pull from it.”

“This debut novel by Michele Forbes begins with a great, menacing scene in choppy ocean waters. I was thoroughly hooked by [the] opening lines.”

“Though this is Forbes’ first novel, Katherine is a sophisticatedly created heroine, perfect in her flaws, compelling in her lies, beautiful in her tragedy. . . . ‘What does love feel like?’ Katherine’s oldest daughter, Maureen asks. ‘Floating and burning,’ her mother replies. And like love, Forbes’ prose floats with captured emotion and burns with its vivid imagery.”

“What makes Ghost Moth such a compelling read is the individual characters . . . As literary heroines go, Katherine is quite ordinary; nonetheless, Forbes paints a vast and colorful tapestry of a life that is anything but. Ghost Moth is more than just a story of a woman torn between two men; it is a novel that anyone who has ever experienced a crisis of faith can identify with.”

“A magnetic pull transcends the pages of [Love Among the Particles], making for a fully addictive collection.”

“A powerful debut novel, one that brings to life 20^th-century Ireland with lyrical precision, from the people to the landscape to the country itself.”

“Lyrical and beautifully written . . . [A] riveting family drama—concerned with the secrets, lies and hidden torments between those one is closest to, and the heartbreak of lost love.”

“Personal and political turmoil erupt in the life of Irish housewife Katherine Bedford during the summer of 1969 in Forbes’s powerful debut novel. . . . Through her richly imagined characters, Forbes depicts a fully human and flawed relationship between two people with their own desires, memories, and secrets.”

“Forbes debuts a gemlike novel. Rare and luminescent, her storytelling is deliberate in its unfolding. Readers will marvel at the subtle embroidering of folk stories such as the Selkie wife and Briar Rose into the Bedfords’s narrative. Fans of Anne Enright’s fiction will admire a similar brilliance in this work.”

“Readers will revel in the skillful writing . . . complex plot . . . strong characterization . . . lyrical descriptions . . . Genre fans (Irish-history buffs, family-story readers, historical-fiction enthusiasts) will enjoy this novel, while its stylistic richness and narrative intricacy will also please readers of literary fiction. Highly recommended.”

“A brilliant novel whose cast of characters, strong, strange, vivid, eccentric, will make you feel enriched and enlivened, and will leave you wanting to visit, or to visit again, the rich interiors of Tuscany past and present, the opulent mysteries of its food and wine, and not least the magic of its natural landscapes and seasons. Melissa Pritchard’s delicate and precise prose achieves all this, as if casually, while capturing her reader in the forward momentum of her story.”

“Excellent . . . [Forbes’] writing is precisely observed, understated, elegant, and the characters live off the page.”

“Exceptional . . . Forbes is a master of creating high tension and drama. . . . Ghost Moth is a compelling novel with a sharp emotional lens.”

“Melissa Pritchard stands out among contemporary writers for her ability to portray the complex inner lives of her characters. As we follow them through their experiences and memories into their dreams, we’re invited to flex our own imaginations, even, if we’re willing, to become more supple thinkers, thanks to this writer’s supple prose.”

“Forbes, who has already won major awards for her short stories, knows how to write—her prose is unfailingly elegant . . . [Ghost Moth] confirms its author as an exceptional talent.”

“In her subtle yet breathtaking new novel, Palmerino, Melissa Pritchard seduces us once again with her characteristically sensual and deeply poetic prose. Elegantly braiding time, this woven narrative is calibrated by Pritchard’s exquisite erotic reckonings and resonant aesthetic reflections. In resurrecting Violet Paget/ Vernon Lee at our own historical moment  (and by invoking a gallery of beloved and provocative artists and esthetes), Melissa Pritchard has provided for her readers a portrait-mirror in which to gaze—a glorious vision of both Palmerino and of a writer in pursuit of its history—one that would make even Oscar Wilde blush with envy.”

“Beautifully written . . . Confident and lyrical. Michèle Forbes is a name to watch.”

“Seduction is at the lush heart of Palmerino. The Florentine retreat seduces us just as surely as it seduces the lonely and abandoned Sylvia, an historical novelist who in turn is seduced by the spirit of the brilliant Violet Paget, who lived there a century earlier. Writing as Vernon Lee, Violet’s own seduction is one of the most quietly erotic scenes ever written.”

“Startling, gorgeous and memorable . . . Fans of family stories and historical fiction will enjoy this book immensely and the vivid, lyrical language will appeal to readers of literary fiction.”

“A taut and elegant imagining of Vernon Lee’s life that sparkles with Einfühlung for the writer, for Italy and for the love—wild, unconsummated, shattered—that lies at the heart of the best creative work. Weaving fact and fiction, past and present, Palmerino becomes its own beautiful mirror, a work that ‘slips free of the self’ to reveal the mysterious other. Sublime and moving, its gorgeous prose haunts the reader long after the last page.”

“Forbes’s exquisite writing keeps Ghost Moth fresh and moving. This is a terrific novel, and like everything I’ve read from Bellevue Literary Press, it’s one that will stay with me.”

“Bounding between Italy today and of a century ago, a breathtaking gallop through intellectualism, feminism, sexuality, cultural history, honeysuckle, focaccia, plums, language, landscape, love, the supernatural, metafiction, mortality and resurrection, with Pritchard always firmly at the reins.”

“Evocative . . . Forbes’ writing is lovely.”

“This lovely, sexy novel provides a sumptuous glance into the secret lives of artists. At its center is Violet, a fierce woman who never met a rule she didn’t break. Melissa Pritchard’s voice is completely her own and her characters are as unique, wild and magical as she is.”

“Palmerino finds Melissa Pritchard’s signature style in peak form. Pritchard is a writer of sensibility. Her unique gift is the ability to interweave the resonances of consciousness—memory, intelligence, emotion—with those of a historical time and a powerful sense of place, so that character emerges as a coherent, credible, internal voice uttering a sensual flow of language, both lush and precise.”

“A Belfast-born actress with experience in film, theater, and television, Forbes draws from her own professional and personal background to imbue her protagonist with authentic energy and humanity . . . deftly explor[ing] the private and public struggles of this particular Catholic family with vivid, poetic language. . . . By the end, the truth—the brutal and the beautiful—rises to the surface of this eloquent novel.”

“At the heart of Palmerino lies beauty, grace, longing, love. Melissa Pritchard’s picturesque prose is fertile, sensuous, a voice of insight, truth. Unique and refreshing as ‘the great female soul that is Palmerino.’ Gorgeous and heartbreaking. This book is a sensual treasure.”

“Dazzling in its descriptions, lush and lyrical in language, Palmerino is a jewel of a novel. It is a tale to be savored like a rich Italian pastry. Melissa Pritchard’s characters—eccentric, quirky, and brilliant—will live on in the heart and mind long after the last crumb is licked from the plate.”

“A fascinating homage to the power of thought and writing.”

“An alluring journey.”

“A fascinating, unexpected way to enter into Vernon Lee’s life. Highly recommended.”

“Pritchard skillfully blends the past and present in her novel Palmerino, a book both richly lyrical and highly imaginative.”

“Rarely has a novel based on real people reached such deftly crafted literary excellence as this historical work of fiction clearly documenting Melissa Pritchard as a writer equal to any of the people populating her superbly presented story. Palmerino is a complex and entertaining novel that is highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library literary fiction collections.”

“Vibrant, passionate and absorbing. . . . Recommended.”

“Lush, tactile descriptions and impressionistic scenes bring alive this historical novel . . . cast[ing] Paget and her late nineteenth-century lifestyle in a captivating light.”

 

“A supernaturally infused, innovative story . . . Pritchard’s fertile imagination and presentation give new meaning to the expression ‘a meeting of the minds.’”

“Enthralling . . . An intriguing introduction to Violet Paget, and an unusual look into the mysteries of writing.”

“Fiction can reimagine flesh-and-blood folks to stunning effect . . . What a pleasure, then, to discover Melissa Pritchard’s Palmerino, which envisions the life of Vernon Lee, the pen name and male persona of Englishwoman Violet Paget. Opening with the contemporary story of Sylvia, who discovers Lee while working at Villa il Palmerino in the Italian countryside and becomes her biographer, this work is related in sun-on-raindrops prose that draws in readers.”

“Haunting, seductive, and magical.”

“A fascinating historical novel. . . . A mesmerizing love story. . . . Magnificent.”

“The achingly gorgeous prose in which Palmerino is written strikes pitch-perfect harmony with its equally strong expression of humanity, promising that the hidden beauty within is always worth the time it takes to discover it.”

“In a mere 192 pages, Melissa Pritchard has created a rich, lush, and riveting story of two women writers in different eras.”

“[Palmerino] draws its life from its large and vivid characters. . . . With her signature hothouse lyricism and psychological acuity, Pritchard carries us fully into her created world.”

“Melissa Pritchard has opened the door to understanding a once famous British lesbian writer. . . . Palmerino is a beautifully written and well-structured work.”

“A novel of allure . . . as fanciful as Astrid Lindgren’s Villa Villakula and foreboding as The Eagles’ “Hotel California,” Palmerino is surprising at every turn, sometimes frightening, and above all beautiful.”

“Part love story (or stories), part treatise on aesthetics, part mysterious tale of the supernatural, Palmerino [is] a tale of multiple seductions.”

“Slim and poetic . . . the mood is of thunderstorm air thick with loneliness and longing.”

“A richly imagined, sensuous tale of a British writer holding court in Italy, flouting Victorian mores via her writing and her sexuality.”

“Lynne Jones is an internationally-known expert on the effects of war on children. Her description of the legacy of the savage war in Bosnia is a shattering but necessary read. . . . This book should be in the knapsack of every international administrator.”

“Human rights investigations tend to produce snapshots at the moment of abuse. Rarely do we have occasion to look at the aftermath. Lynne Jones adds the dimension of time. With remarkable insight and sensitivity, she follows a group of young Bosnians from both sides of the Serb-Muslim conflict as they grow up. We see how they try to cope with, comprehend, and transcend the horrors that their elders have visited upon their communities. Their successes and failures deepen our understanding of human resilience and how people rebuild their lives from tragic circumstances.”

“One of the most illuminating books to have emerged out of the embers of the Bosnian war. Few outsiders have acquired such an inside knowledge of the thoughts and feelings of ordinary Bosnians, on both sides of the wartime divide.”

“Lynne Jones brings to the extreme situation she describes a truly unique combination of hands-on communally oriented psychiatric help; sensitive research on the impact of war and upheaval on children; and an astute sense of the interplay of political policies and psychological behavior. . . . The book not only deepens our understanding of what happened in the former Yugoslavia but contributes greatly to our more general grasp of the consequences of death, loss, and dislocation, and the stubborn human persistence in the face of them.”

“Part narrative, part analysis, part thoughtful reflection, this book belongs among the classic accounts of children and war.”

“Profound . . . Rarely do we get the opportunity to delve into the thoughts of the young caught up in such a tragedy—and meet them not just once in their lives but again years later. This is a moving, well written and above all, deeply disturbing book.”

“Psychiatrist Lynne Jones, working in Bosnia’s Goražde in 1996, discovered a striking puzzle: most children exposed to the extreme trauma of bombing, rape, or ‘ethnic cleansing’ were emotional, but not ‘mentally ill.’ Written with an engaging style by a caring doctor with unique experience in setting up clinics in conflict zones, Jones describes children in this Muslim town, detailing how their interpretation of trauma protected them or rendered them vulnerable. Careful to be balanced, she also listened to the Serbian children in the neighboring town, and revisited these children on both sides of the conflict years later. This remarkable book not only contributes to social history—including our understanding of the genocide in Srebrenica—but also to psychiatry. Her astonishing work challenges the medical model in understanding human responses to cruelty.”

“Thought-provoking and readable.”

 

“This young author’s book immediately caught my interest for its narrative mastery and remarkably skillful identification with the complex atmosphere of the interbellum era . . . [A] brilliant novel.”

“Absorbing . . . offers new insights into Bosnian Serb–Muslim relations through the eyes of children.”

“Beautifully written, absorbing, and impeccably researched.”

“Careful, sensitive . . .  a deeply intimate look into the emotional makeup of children of war.”

“Out of the horror of human cruelty in the Bosnian war comes a bright note.”

“Aaron’s Leap takes you on an epic journey, which is also a very intimate and personal story—entertaining, touching and brutally honest. Her characters are full of compassion and tenderness, but are never sentimental. It’s a great book.”

“Beautifully illustrates the way in which people (in this case children) actively engage with the experience of war . . . Highly original.”

“A Czech novel about art, death and sex set against the backdrop of the Holocaust and never-ending war . . . The reader comes to connect with and care for [Platzová’s] characters as more than mouthpieces for history.”

“Platzová’s prose is as sharp and effective as the angles of an expressionist monument. . . . [A] powerfully elegiac novel.”

“Then They Started Shooting upends the traditional discourse on the victims of war by continuing the narrative long after the violence has ended. The stories in this book are eloquently and poignantly recounted, and offer a vital, complex portrait of what the long road to peace looks like.”

“A moving, humane tale of life lived in history’s long shadow.”

“This book will amaze you as it walks you through evolution, history, mythology, and a good dose of anatomy, to enlighten you about the role of the Humble Human Foot in bringing human beings to where we are today. Thoroughly enjoyable, informative, and well written, it is a must read for anyone involved in caring for our lower extremity—or interested in our evolution. In short, you will never view the foot the same way again.”

“Art and modern thought are at the center of [Platzová’s] characters’ lives and they find ways to seek truth through art, love, and friendship, inviting the reader to join them on this journey of self-discovery.”

“Among the many pleasures of this book are the intriguing subject, Carol Ann Rinzler’s lively and accessible writing style, and the amazing array of information she has gathered from so many different fields . . . Who knew that the story of our own feet could be so fascinating?”

“Just as a well-curated collection of art has the ability to capture the zeitgeist of a given era with great economy, [Aaron’s Leap] manages to position the reader in a present that is informed by the distinct motifs of the past.”

“Carol Ann Rinzler weaves together material from art, literature, science, and history to broaden our understanding of the human foot. Her book is by turns entertaining, enlightening, and altogether satisfying.”

“Dr. Reicher’s memoir tells a gripping, tragic, unforgettable tale that, like Wladyslaw Szpilman’s The Pianist, recounts the horrors of being a Jew in Poland during World War II. This important historical document distinguishes itself from other Holocaust narratives in many ways, but perhaps in none more so than this: its perseverant hero not only saved his wife and daughter but helped bring one of the most notorious Nazis of all to justice.”

“[Aaron’s Leap] takes us on a journey through the turbulent times of wars, revolutions, and new directions in art. . . . The novel is beautifully written, with masterful creation of atmosphere and sculpting of the main characters.”

“A riveting first-hand account of the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. Edward Reicher presents events from the perspective of a Jew, a physician, a survivor, a chronicler, a husband but mainly a humanitarian caught in the flux of horrific events that, but for memoirs such as this, would fade with the absolution of time. Reicher’s astonishing book insures that will not happen.”

“Carol Ann Rinzler has written a surprising and delightful book about this ‘underwhelming, underreported, and completely indispensable’ part of the human body. It’s amazing what you’ll learn!”

“This neat little book draws a clear picture of our feet, providing understanding that extends far beyond the obvious. Readers often like to walk away from a book feeling they learned something—that the author left them with a new way to look at an old idea, and this book fulfills that need.”

“Entertaining and wide-ranging. . . . Well researched and clearly presented.”

“Stylish, informative, entertaining, and pleasantly personal . . . Whether Rinzler is exploring how our feet explain or illuminate such topics as evolution, disability, racism, diet, or desire, she maintains a fascinating perspective on the peculiarities of being human.”

“Recounts the story of how Edward Reicher, a distinguished prewar dermatologist and venereal disease specialist escaped the Lodz and Warsaw Ghettos with his wife and young daughter. While on the surface Reicher’s memoirs describe the many disguises and hiding places he and his family used in order to avoid the Gestapo and Polish Blue Police, the deeper message of this work concerns the almost universal ‘moral failure’ that permeated the non-Jewish Polish population.”

“Country of Ash is not only a tribute to strength, determination, and fortitude, but a tribute to all of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It is a tribute to those who were not Jewish, yet did strive to offer a place to hide and offer food to Reicher and/or his family. It is a memoir that honors Reicher’s daughter, Elisabeth Bizouard-Reicher’s determination to see her father’s memoir in print for all the world to read . . .  [It is] a brilliantly written account.”

“Told in clear and beautiful prose, Aaron’s Leap is a deeply moving portrait of love, sacrifice, and the transformative power of art in a time of brutal uncertainty.”

“An in-depth look at the anatomy and history of feet reveals their often overlooked importance in human evolution, medicine and art.”

“A riveting account of the will to survive.”

“What makes this diary so powerful is that Reicher dwells on very little—for it is all so crazy—and tells the facts and his story with dispatch, so that we are so caught up in events that we begin to feel as if we are living them with him, that we have somehow been dropped into a Beckett or Ionesco play where absurdity at its most extreme is reality. . . . We can give thanks to all who worked to bring Country of Ash into our lives, then read it with care, and heed its warnings.”

“A moving memoir, a finely crafted and beautifully written story.”

“Stirring”

“Rinzler lifts the lowly human foot to new heights in this appealing book.”

“Edward Reicher recorded his Holocaust nightmares from the ghettos of Lodz and Warsaw to the chilling attempts for his family to live as Aryans in a world of blackmail, informants and circumcision checks. . . . ‘This book has no literary pretensions,’ he writes. ‘It is the description of the life of a Jewish doctor who survived the worst years.’ Yet it’s far more than that . . . Country of Ash is worth reading because the riveting survival drama is framed by larger questions.”

“It’s the rough texture of Reicher’s tale—like grainy celluloid from a bygone era—that gives such a powerful, deeply disturbing immediacy to the ghetto inhabitants he remembers. Reicher tells us they’re no more, but he is wrong. Their ghosts still walk in books like this one—haunting the reader, forever.”

“[Dr. Reicher] lived through the Second World War in Poland, dodging bullets, uprisings and deportations—not to mention betrayal, starvation and airless hideouts—in a manner more reminiscent of a talented outlaw than a mild-mannered dermatologist . . . It is the impressive simplicity of the good doctor’s writing that makes [t]his book resemble [Victor] Klemperer’s, and the detailed observations of its report that makes it emotionally memorable. . . . William Carlos Williams once said that people who prize information are perishing daily for want of the information that can be found only in poetry. By the same token, there will never be a time when we will not need the information that an important, evocative book like Country of Ash provides.”

“This book is a jewel of reserve, delicacy, precision and, in the end, of love.”

“Implacable precision, with a stylistic density that brings out the most moving elements of humanity.”

“A novel with the strength of a stifled cry.”

“A flawless black diamond . . . luminous.”

“[Lock] has an impressive ability to create a unique and original world.”

“A knock-out.”

“All hail Lock, whose narrative soul sings fairy tales, whose language is glass.”

“You need to read Pascale Kramer’s books because they take you on a journey. You board a small ship that enters the human body, and what you felt while reading follows you for days after you’ve closed the book.”

“A singularly moving and disturbing novel about the ambiguity of feelings.”

“No other writer in recent memory, lives up to [Whitman’s] declaration that behind every book there is a hand reaching out to us, a hand to be held onto, a hand that has the power to touch us, to make us feel.”

“Kramer’s family portrait is a somber one . . . [an] unindulgent presentation of a world with no illusions.”

“[Lock’s] window onto fiction [is] a welcome one: at once referential and playful, occupying a similar post-Borges space to the short stories of Stephen Millhauser and Neil Gaiman.”

“One could spend forever worming through [Lock’s] magicked words, their worlds.”

“Kramer is too accomplished a novelist to spoon-feed the reader adult-sized fairytales . . . life itself is comprised of death, of disease, of a boy’s rotten teeth and a lover’s disintegrating body. As a boy grows old and corrupt so does a beloved city and civilization. Life itself has its limits, and so does love.”

“[A] contemporary master of the form [and] virtuosic fabulist.”

“The Child is a raw look at the cycles of decay that stalk our lives—the violent deterioration of a low-income neighborhood, the physical degradation of a cancer-wracked body—and the unexpected sources of hope that keep us going.”

“Intense and bravely uncompromising. An adult study of pain, thwarted affection, and guarded privacies in a world at the edge of violent public breakdown. An impressive achievement.”

“Our finest modern fabulist.”

“Weissmann has a strong and well-informed interest, unusual for a scientist, both in poetry and in art.”

“Dr. Weissmann’s juggling with the balls of global politics, biology, medicine, and culture in the framework of history is breathtaking.”

“The premier essayist of our time, Gerald Weissmann writes with grace and style…”

“How I envy the reader coming upon Dr. Weissmann’s elegant, entertaining essays for the first time!”

“Weissmann is Lewis Thomas’s heir.”

“The most brilliant and humorous manifesto ever written by a scientist against the current cult of unreason: a must for the educated layman!”

“Weissmann models his work after that of his mentor, Lewis Thomas . . . his ideas . . . are every bit as important.”

“Erudite, engaging, and accessible.”

“[Weissmann] is a Renaissance Man. . . . He’ll stretch your mind’s hamstrings.”

“Weissmann is a master of the essay form. His witty and elegant prose makes the toughest subject matter not only accessible but entertaining.”

“Weissmann writes a complex kind of essay, part Rebecca West in his startling yoking of disparate matters . . . and part Lewis Thomas.”

“He writes as a doctor, a medical scientist, a knowing lover of art and literature and a modern liberal skeptic. But more than anything else, Weissmann writes as a passionate and wise reader.”

“As a belles-letterist, Weissmann is the inheritor of the late Lewis Thomas . . . Like Thomas, he’s a gifted researcher and clinician who writes beautifully. Unlike Thomas, he is an original and indefatigable social historian as well.”

“[Weissmann] is a man of wide culture, a captivating and graceful writer.”

“Oliver Sacks, Richard Selzer, Lewis Thomas . . . Weissmann is in this noble tradition.”

“Weissmann introduces us to a new way of thinking about the connections between art and medicine.”

“A Guatemalan literature professor named Eduardo Halfon (postmodern coincidence?) searches for his origins throughout the world in this slim, haunting novel. Through stories of a gypsy Serbian pianist, Israeli travelers, and his Jewish grandfather, Eduardo seeks to understand how exile, his own and others’, has shaped his identity, and how people cope with the yearning for a homeland that they’ve never had.”

“[Weissmann] bridges the space between science and the humanities, and particularly between medicine and the muses, with wit, erudition, and, most important, wisdom.”

“Halfon’s book is one that I just keep thinking about and wondering about. It’s not possible to describe it neatly other than to say that it’s shape-shifting and without one genre and written beautifully.”

“An absolutely first-rate writer.”

“Highly entertaining! Highly recommended!”

“God, I loved this book from the first page to the last. It is deeply moving, imaginistic, achingly real and yet thoroughly enigmatic. Each experience while sharply told escapes easy meaning and yet sets us up in wonder—how was that so we ask? Halfon cares so much for his story and those who inhabit it that we simply want to squeeze his hand and say thank you, this book is a gift, a marvel.”

“America’s most interesting and important essayist.”

“Eduardo Halfon belongs to a new generation of Latin-American writers who, from the beginning, demonstrate an impeccable mastery of their craft, without any hesitation in the use of language.”

“It is not often that one encounters such a mix of personal engagement and literary passion, or pain and tenderness.”

“The Polish Boxer is an enchanting, unclassifiable book of encounters, impressions, and improvisations: a book for the ages, which can be read in one sitting, and then again, and again, and again.”

“The Polish Boxer is the most memorable new novel I have read all year—the voice pitch-perfect, the imagery indelible. What a wonderful writer.”

“Eduardo Halfon’s prose is as delicate, precise, and ineffable as precocious art—a lighthouse that illuminates everything.”

“Eduardo Halfon is a brilliant storyteller, whose gifts are displayed on every page of this beautiful, daring, and deeply humane book.”

“I can’t remember the last time a book made me cry . . . ”

“As much a novel as Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad . . . easily as good as what’s been published in the fiction section of The New Yorker.”

“Masterful . . . infused with sensitivity, humor, touching moments, magical prose, and illuminating stories.”

“Only a mind as nimble and well traveled as Gerald Weissmann’s could see, never mind make and expound on, the connections between salamanders and Prohibition . . . white blood cells, Hollywood and erectile dysfunction . . . health care reform and Marie Antoinette . . . bacteria, the Equal Rights Amendment and the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Better yet, Weissmann does so with wit and insight. A fascinating tour through history, science and pop culture.”

“Get yourself to your local bookstore or your library and ask for Eduardo Halfon’s The Polish Boxer. Get comfortable . . . Pour yourself a drink. Put on some music—jazz, gypsy, or whatever inspires your heart to longing. And enjoy this magical, unreal trip through reality.”

“Intertwine[s] the profound connections of science and art in the context of our modern era. . . . Weissmann also does a fantastic job of highlighting the role of women in both the arts and sciences. . . . Each essay provides its fair share of wit and satire, poignantly illustrating faults or curiosities in current scientific thought or public discourse of the scientific realm.”

“Like a memoir by Anthony Bourdain mixed with tones of Kerouac . . . The Polish Boxer is sexy; it’s moving; it’s a little bit in the gutter, but it’s looking up at the stars.”

“Erudite energy leaps from this lively commingling of art, culture and science. . . . In each [essay], Weissmann finds links between research and elements of history and pop culture, which play off each other to illuminating effect.”

“A revelation . . . The Polish Boxer is a book of small miracles. . . . For sheer narrative momentum and fascination with the mix of life and books, sex and art, there are echoes of the Chilean master Roberto Bolaño.”

“The tales are spellbinding, the prose is magnificent, and several parts will make you laugh out loud.”

“The Polish Boxer immediately seduced me; on the first page, I felt the spark of recognition that comes from reading something with actual depth and import.”

“Halfon’s curiosity about his grandfather’s experience in a concentration camp burns through every chapter from the most subtle level to deep investigation . . . He has succeeded in warping a modern Balkan mystery into a Holocaust memoir . . . intrinsically blend[ing] fiction with reality in a deeply visceral way.”

“Once again, Gerald Weissmann, with a firm and easy knowledge of everyone who matters from Auden to Zola, bridges the space between science and the humanities, and particularly between medicine and the muses, with wit, erudition, and, most important, wisdom.”

“In Galileo’s Gout, Gerald Weissmann . . . bemoans the onrushing darkness and then sets to chronicling individual explosions of light. . . . Throughout, Weissmann weaves evidence of political regression with details of memorable scientific discoveries, as well as occasional medical case histories of relevant literati. . . . [Galileo’s Gout] also serves as a compact guide to the highlights of American medical innovations.”

“[Weissmann] has emerged in the last three decades as America’s most interesting and important essayist. He has achieved this status both epigenetically and through Twitter, word of mouth, so to speak. . . . Much like Susan Sontag, Weissmann likes being a contemporary, and does not feel shackled by tradition. . . . This book is a joy for the heart and instructive for the mind.”

“A brave and touching and dead stylish examination of the nature of fiction, truth and lies.”

“Eduardo Halfon has been deemed one of the best young Latin American writers by the Hay Festival of Bogota; read his first work to be translated into English, The Polish Boxer, and you’ll see why.”

“In the simplest explanation, The Polish Boxer is a series of encounters for literature professor Eduardo—with a young poet, university professors at a Mark Twain conference, his grandfather, his charming girlfriend, who draws her orgasms, and Milan Rackic, a Serbian-Gypsy pianist. In the more complex explanation, it is a journey of self-discovery.”

“[A] popular refuge for well-regarded authors. . . . At a time when publishers increasingly see books as products and need to be convinced of their chances of selling at least 25,000 copies, Bellevue Literary Press thinks smaller and aims higher.”

“I can’t pretend to know the future of publishing, but I can testify to the astuteness of the staff at Bellevue Literary Press.”

“Bellevue Literary Press . . . must be lauded for its prescience in publishing.”

“This is a press that knows good books.”

“Brilliant . . . opens with one of the best classroom scenes I’ve ever read.”

“Highly readable and engaging . . . provides readers food for thought about the nature of literary creations.”

“These are the stories of life . . . the question of survival (of both people and cultures) and the way the fictional makes the real bearable and intelligible.”

“Halfon passionately and lyrically illustrates the significance of the journey and the beauty of true mystery. The Polish Boxer is sublime and arresting, and will linger with readers who will be sure to revisit it again and again.”

“This book provides multiple pleasures: clear, intense prose; sharp, laugh-out-loud depictions of classrooms and conferences . . . and the apparent seamlessness of the translations . . . . The book itself gives a resounding retort to those who might dismiss it as ‘another’ book ‘about’ the Holocaust.”

“Beautiful and provocative . . . a wonderful read which begs to be re-read.”

“A mix of finely nuanced prose and humor.”

“[The Polish Boxer] exists in the no-man’s-land between fiction and memoir. In the end, we decide, this is fable: only the stories are important.”

“Tight and lean . . . falling somewhere between the novels of Roberto Bolaño, WG Sebald, and Junot Díaz.”

“Stimulating and inspiring.”

“This globe-trotting novel digs into mysteries of the past and present.”

“A professor mentors a student, gains wisdom from a Mark Twain scholar and searches for a Gypsy musician, and that’s only part of the story in this incredible, achingly real yet enigmatic novel.”

“Deeply accessible, deeply moving.”

“Elegant.”

“The hero of Halfon’s novel delights in today’s risible globalism, but recognizes that what we adopt from elsewhere makes us who we are.”

“Engrossing . . . The Polish Boxer by Guatemalan novelist Eduardo Halfon, is a semi-autobiographical tale about roots and origins, identity and cultural loss, and the complex relation between the individual, his or her family story, and the heavy burden of History . . . Short but intense.”

“Fantastic . . . Intense pain and beauty are offset by an unabashedly boyish sense of humor; in the same page, Halfon can skillfully switch from a discussion about intense immigrant alienation to a hilarious observation on the short male attention span for pornography.”

“A Borgesian, post-Communist-era, comic detective noir.”

“Funny and revelatory.”

“You draw in a deep breath. Your day has been hectic. You feel overwhelmed and are longing for a simple moment where life will just stop. You pick up a book and begin reading. Your quiet comes. The words rest on the page, pulling you into the lives of each character. Suddenly your day melts away and you no longer care about yourself—you are transported. This is what it’s like to read Inukshuk.”

“A powerful tale of a father and son struggling through despair and loss.”

“A stunning achievement.”

“An incredibly honest account of a relationship between a father and a son after their wife and mother left them. . . . Spatz does a superb job finding a balance between the vivid descriptions of the main characters’ imaginary worlds and the moments of acute awareness they both have of their painful situation. A very convincing and beautiful novel.”

“The Lives They Left Behind is a tour de force, a must-read for anyone concerned with social justice, human rights and historical reclamation. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny brilliantly rescue ten people who spent time at Willard State Hospital from certain historical anonymity and silence by giving them voice to speak for themselves. Their riveting accounts invite us to explore the turmoil and strengths of their inner terrain while mourning the erosion of hope after years of captivity and inhumane treatment in the name ‘help’ and under the guise of ‘best interest.’ The Lives They Left Behind is more than a testament to the past, it is a wake up call to our collective conscience, to uphold the spirit and dignity of all human beings.”

“A unique and mesmerizing evocation of lives erased . . . at once unnerving, heartbreaking, and a bitter testament to an era in psychiatric history whose legacy is all too present today.”

“One of the most innovative and unusual fictional incarnations I’ve ever read of the persistent allure of Sir John Franklin’s final, fatal Arctic voyage. It’s a remarkable accomplishment.”

“In unpacking the prior lives stored in these suitcases, Darby Penney and Peter Stastny turn remembrance into an act of alchemy.”

“As we have yet to provide a full measure of support and treatment to men and women diagnosed with mental illnesses, The Lives They Left Behind offers a sobering reminder of past tragic errors, lest, in our search for new therapies, we lose sight of what should matter most: our sense of common humanity.”

“At its heart Inukshuk is about family. But Spatz has transfigured this beautifully told, wise story with history and myth, poetry and magic into something rarer, stranger and altogether amazing. A book that points unerringly true north.”

“Darby Penney and Peter Stastny have . . . performed an important service, reclaiming these individuals from the nameless, faceless fate of being only ‘mental patients.’”

“An important and profoundly moving story. . . . The exquisite details we learn about the patients’ lives—the color of lace on a dress, a plea to a bishop, the photo of a wife who died—convey the particulars of their humanness, their strengths, and their tragedies, and a chapter revealing sad and frightening parallels between long-ago and current treatment of many people called mentally ill should shock us all into action.”

“Gregory Spatz’s prose is as clean and sparkling as a new fall of snow.”

“No reader will walk away untouched by these compelling portraits.”

“[Spatz offers] what I look for in any book: people I can dream myself into and be remade in the process.”

“A gifted writer.”

“Inukshuk is a feat of empathy and honesty, a taut tale of fear and resentment and other threats from within, meticulously observed and fearlessly rendered in vivid, authoritative, gripping prose. It’s a virtuoso performance.”

“You can almost feel the chill of the arctic . . . a great weaving together of history and fiction.”

“Entertaining and much recommended.”

“A powerful indictment of healthcare for the mentally ill.”

“This enthralling, tense book should lure not only fans of extreme weather novels but also those who admire a good, traditional structure and a satisfying and meaningful resolution.”

“Inukshuk better communicates darkness and distress than any S.O.S. signal. . . . We can’t help but oscillate between feeling empathy and agony for this family as we are absorbed by Spatz’s cold, gripping tale.”

“Thomas, bullied at school, confused by love (with a delightfully original girl), pining for his mother, and distrustful of his father, takes control of the only thing he can—his physical survival. . . . A frozen lullaby . . . written for teens left behind.”

“This book should be required reading for anyone who struggles with the treatment of mental illness in community settings.”

“Lockhart has written an important, and eloquent, lamentation and exultation: he laments about the state of math education today, but exults in the hope that teachers might be inspired to invite students to experience mathematics as the exciting ‘poetry of ideas’ that it truly is.”

“A mesmerizing story of a father and a son.”

“This brief and elegant celebration of mathematics is a charming rant against the way you and I learned the subject.  Is painting just coloring in numbered regions?  Is the sunset just a list of wavelengths and a compass setting?  No more, Lockhart argues, than mathematics is just definitions and formulas.  To put back play and joy in our mathematics classrooms, he shows, all we need do is restore the real mathematics.”

“A Mathematician’s Lament is a fascinating argument that anyone interested in mathematics education should read.  I promise that they will enjoy the experience, whether they agree with all that Lockhart writes or not.”

“Intimate and meditative . . . A thoughtful and sympathetic look at the sometimes troubled relationship between fathers and sons.”

“Exact, haunting prose tells the story of a boy obsessed with Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin after his mother abandons the family.”

“An elaborate tale of family and the paths people take to understanding.”

“An excellent work of scholarship. . . . Cassidy tells this story with nuance and passion.”

“[This] mix of well-researched history and contemporary fiction makes for a fine, sad read.”

“Cassidy has written the definitive biography of a great and tragic physicist.”

“Shadowed by the Inuit word for stones resembling ‘a human form,’ a marker to reassure that ‘Someone was here,’ Spatz portrays a discordant family crippled by emotional and physical distance. . . . This tale of familial dysfunction is carefully interwoven with the historical retelling of Sir Franklin’s quest, resulting in a layered journey that is hauntingly honest and emotionally resonant.”

“[The authors] spent 10 years piecing together a handful of poignant biographical narratives, tracking down medical records, talking to former staff and using artifacts from the suitcases as clues to the lives these patients lived before they were nightmarishly stripped of their identities.”

“A must read book about key players in science and world history.”

“In their poignant detail the items helped rescue these individuals from the dark sprawl of anonymity.”

“Provides a fresh way of thinking about math, and education in general, that should inspire practical applications in the classroom and at home.”

“An excellent follow up on Cassidy’s earlier masterwork Uncertainty. Cassidy offers deep insight into Heisenberg’s role as a principle founder of quantum mechanics and as the leading German physicist during the WWII years in the quest for atomic energy and weapons.”

“Fascinating. . . . The haunting thing about the suitcase owners is that it’s so easy to identify with them.”

“Exhaustively detailed yet eminently readable, this is an important book.”

“Jonathan D. Moreno quietly continues to be the most interesting bioethicist of our time. He is without peer in appreciating the subtle but important role of bioethical discourse, conflict, and consensus within our society.”

“If you want to read one book to get up to speed on evolution, read Written in Stone.  Switek’s clear and compelling book is full of fascinating stories about how scientists have read the fossil record to trace the evolution of life on Earth. In it, you will read how dinosaurs gave rise to birds, how small deer-like land animals evolved into whales, and how many types of horses, elephants and early humans once roamed the Earth. In short, you will see how scientists through the ages have figured out man’s place in nature.”

“Brian Switek proves himself a compelling historian of science with Written In Stone. His accounts of dinosaurs, birds, whales, and our own primate ancestors are not just fascinating for their rich historical detail, but also for their up-to-date reporting on paleontology’s latest discoveries about how life evolved.”

“It is hard not to be awed reading Brian Switek’s magisterial Written in Stone.  Part historical account, part scientific detective story, the book is a reflection on how we have come to know and understand ancient events in the planet’s history.  Switek’s elegant prose and thoughtful scholarship will change the way you see life on our planet. This book marks the debut of an important new voice.”

“Brian Switek’s Written in Stone is a wonderful journey through the fossil record, and the people and events that have shaped our understanding of fossils and their meaning. He weaves in entertaining anecdotes about the scientists and their discoveries (impeccably researched and up-to-date in historical detail) with our current view of these creatures, utilizing all the latest discoveries from new fossils to molecular biology. After reading this book, you will have a totally new context in which to interpret the evolutionary history of amphibians, mammals, whales, elephants, horses, and especially humans.”

“In Written in Stone, Brian Switek simultaneously depicts our place in Nature while capturing the flavor of discovery and understanding our remote past in the fossil record. Elegantly and engagingly crafted, Switek’s narrative interweaves stories and characters not often encountered in books on paleontology—at once a unique, informative and entertaining read.”

“Highly instructive . . . a warm, intelligent yeoman’s guide to the progress of life.”

“In delightful prose, [Switek] . . . superbly shows that ‘[i]f we can let go of our conceit,’ we will see the preciousness of life in all its forms.”

“Switek seamlessly intertwines two types of evolution: one of life on earth and the other of paleontology itself.”

“[Switek’s] pithy accounts explain how the fossils … came to be discovered and interpreted . . . [an] excellent book.”

“In this thoroughly entertaining science history, Switek combines a deep knowledge of the fossil record with a Holmesian compulsion to investigate the myriad ways evolutionary discoveries have been made…It’s poetry, serendipity, and smart entertainment because Switek has found the sweet spot between academic treatise and pop culture, a literary locale that is a godsend to armchair explorers everywhere.”

“A beautifully scrupulous, intricately detailed novel about joy and despair, anti-Semitism and assimilation, and like a great photograph, it seems to miss nothing, and to catch its subject in all his complexity.”

“After reading The Jump Artist, I was overwhelmed by Austin’s talent as a novelist …[he] has written a compelling, must-read book whose subject matter has universal appeal, especially in these troubling times.”

“Ratner’s brilliant first novel . . . presents a fascinating tribute to the ‘jump artist’ through the prism of a dark and horrific time in European history.”

“The book is a beautiful, if dark, psychological portrait of a man suffering under the weight of his own doubts, as well as the world events that have deeply personal consequences for him.”

“Ratner weaves a psychologically arresting fiction from these facts, imagining the creep of Nazism in 1928 Europe.”

“Ratner uses a historical figure to discuss the trepidations felt throughout a Europe aware that the future was unknowable yet around the corner. It is this confusion, on an individual and collective level, that allows the novel to transcend the bounds of historical fiction. Ratner describes the era well, but his more substantial achievement is in the creation of a character that history already knows.”

“Ratner. . . vividly depicts his character’s ordeal and amazing recovery from the trauma of the event.”

“Fortunately, in Ratner’s hands, all this material is transmuted into engaging fiction, not pedantic reportage. The novel’s protagonist feels like a thoughtful presence; we understand the historical material through Philipp’s perspective, which is well measured, complicated, convincingly dark.”

“Ratner knows how to use rhythms and metaphors to evoke a sensory, psychologically grounded reality that writers with vastly more experience than him would envy.”

“A remarkable work.”

“This elegantly-written tribute makes as beautiful a use of the darkness and light of one man’s life, as a Halsman photograph of a pretty young woman.”

“Mark Podwal’s original drawings on current events in the fields of both politics and medicine reflect his great talent; endowed with insight and beauty they acquire the weight of personal commentary.”

“Mark Podwal is one of those startling souls — they are very few — who can imagine, through the power of a unifying eye, connections so new that they shake the brain into fresh juxtapositions of understanding.”

“Mark Podwal is in every sense an illuminator.”

“Mark Podwal’s Doctored Drawings is plain brilliant! Podwal is like no one else that I know of, and his work will withstand the test of time.”

“To read Understories is to lose oneself on a spelunking expedition and stumble across a subterranean library sprouted from the Earth’s core. You’ll thank me for this one.”

“The Lives They Left Behind is a deeply moving testament to the human side of mental illness, and of the narrow margin which so often separates the sane from the mad. It is a remarkable portrait, too, of the life of a psychiatric asylum—the sort of community in which, for better and for worse, hundreds of thousands of people lived out their lives. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny’s careful historical (almost archaeological) and biographical reconstructions give us unique insight into these lives which would otherwise be lost and, indeed, unimaginable to the rest of us.”

“Explores the connective tissue between the practice of medicine and literature in a way that is sensitive, surprising, and compassionate.”

“Part of a national trend in medical education for schools to use literature to teach doctors how to write better and clearer case histories and to emphasize more with patients.”

“The nation’s most venerable public hospital and physician training ground has turned to literature to help its doctors better understand their patients, and themselves.”

“A high quality magazine…one of the few journals that celebrate the creative results of incorporating writing into the practice of medicine.”

“A kaleidoscope of creativity…unsentimental and sometimes unpredictable.”

“Varley O’Connor’s The Cure is a moving, beautifully written, character-driven novel about a compelling couple and their children living in rural New Jersey in the thirties.  The book captures the dangerous intersection between private life and the forces of history — the crises of the post-depression years, the war, polio epidemics, racial prejudice — and gives the reader that rare pleasure of inhabiting another family life that feels at once entirely familiar and new.”

“In this poignant and well-told novel, Varley O’Connor inhabits the fragile lives that unravel in the face of illness and disease.  But, as with all wonderful writers, this is just the beginning for this tale ripples into one of race and class. Part period piece, part family saga, The Cure is a particularly American story and an achingly beautiful one at that.”

“A sustained tenderness and rare emotional sympathy for all her characters infuse Varley O’Connor’s latest novel, her best. The Cure is fresh and engaging from author’s commanding literary skill, her imaginative control of the historic details, and her marvelous feeling for the fragility of family dynamics.”

“This sublimely written novel takes on large issues such as illness, race, family relations, and the varieties of human love. Honesty and compassion inform every page, and there are passages so musical and full of grace they read like hymns. Reading groups should rejoice at this book.”

“Nangle looks at the suffering body with a concentration that yields almost hallucinatory detail. What she writes is a stunning realism like no one else’s, explosively quiet, painful, and beautiful.”

“The Leper Compound succeeds remarkably in giving a sense of how, during the last years of white rule in southern Africa, the daily experience of ordinary people was interfused with the larger historical drama.”

“…a beautiful and complex work.”

“The Leper Compound interweaves the study of a historic moment with a lovely depiction of one African girl’s development as affected by that moment.”

“The Leper Compound will … remain with the reader long after the book has been closed.”

“Science Next illustrates the profound connections between science and the many facets of our society. I have enjoyed hop-scotching through the book, and others who are concerned about the need for evidence-based policies in government and industry will too.”

“Science Next addresses important topics in science policy in prose that is beautifully written, clear, and to the point.”

“Science Next is exactly the book we need, with more provocative ideas per ounce than any volume you are likely to read this year.”

“This elegant book lucidly covers an impressive amount of territory and sheds light on the current horizons of science. As such it will be invaluable to informed citizens, scientists and policy makers alike.”

“I’m excited about Science Next because in its pages I sense visions of the future that combine knowledge with a concern for justice, marrying what we can be intellectually with what we can be morally. Innovation is not simply the abstract victory of knowledge; it is not just the research that gave me years to live; the next science can advance human flourishing and serve the common good. That’s the kind of world I want to leave for my children, and for yours.”

“Despite subsidized Big Oil, infrastructural collapse, food inspection system failures and ever worsening wildfires, this volume brings hope into focus with reports of innovation that will enhance lives, from caregivers to those running out of fresh water, from No Child Left Behind to university research.”

“Fascinating, clear-headed, optimistic, and lucidly written, Mind Wars makes a compelling yet nuanced case for scientific progress in the area of neurology enhancement and for the transparent collaboration of the academy and the military.”

“Few people ever think about brain research as a national security discipline. This intriguing and provocative book lays out how neurotechnologies for brain analysis, repair and enhancement can be multi-purpose and serve both good and nefarious functions. Moreno forces the reader to think about the possible dangers and the accompanying ethical issues that co-occur with the great potential benefits of accelerating neuroscience advances.”

“The revolution in neurosciences is drawing increasing attention from ethicists, public policy experts and the general public. But, one aspect of that revolution has elicited little notice or comment—how those charged with ensuring the national security and the military dominance of their nations will utilize the growing understanding of the human brain to achieve these ends. The paucity of attention to this crucially important topic is now over. Mind Wars presents the science, outlines the potential applications of it for military and national security purposes, and sounds exactly the right cautionary warnings about where the enormously powerful merger of brain sciences and biodefense might go. This will certainly be the source book on the ways in which neurobiology may rewrite the rules of warfare, spying and intelligence collection in the twenty-first century.”

“One of the most important thinkers describes the literally mind-boggling possibilities that modern brain science could present for national security.”

“Raises serious social and policy questions . . . deserves a wide readership.”

“Renowned bioethics authority Moreno travels to the nexus of brain science, engineering, and national security to explore the connections between neuroscience research and national defense agencies. . . . Given the topic’s provocative nature, this is recommended for all science and bioethics collections.”

“Crisply written . . . praiseworthy.”

“The world we encounter in Mind Wars is like the world in [Philip K.] Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.”

“A fascinating and sometimes unsettling book. . . . Any academic involvement in military research presents an ethical dilemma, and Moreno’s exploration of this theme is one of the most interesting aspects of the book.”

“An exhilarating and anxiety-provoking whirlwind tour of recent developments in neuroscience that possess defense or national security potential . . . groundbreaking.”

“More than a serious work of public policy, the volume is a son’s quest to understand the work of his psychiatrist father, who pioneered lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) experiments in the 1960s . . . Moreno deserves credit for having the courage to go where no bioethicist has gone before. His philosophical forays into mind-brain questions are learned, and his narrative about the rise of big science and the ‘garrison state’ represents a provocative historical synthesis. . . . Mind Wars is not the last word on this fascinating, frightening, and potentially transformative corner of neuroscience and neuroethics. But it is the first.”

“Fascinating and frightening.”

“Even-handed and thought-provoking. [Mind Wars] is very readable, and easily accessible to people without a background in neuroscience.”

“Quietly provocative . . . Moreno takes an evenhanded, thorough look at how deeply the intelligence and defense communities are involved in many of those advances and the mindfields that might lie ahead.”

“There has been virtually no debate on the ethical questions raised by the brave new brain technologies. . . . The time to speak up is before the genie is out of the bottle.”

“An excellent work in its comprehensiveness and accuracy, and in its success in recreating the personal drama of one of the greatest and most influential scientists of this century.”

“Searing and pointed. . . . An easy, thoughtful, and entertaining read. . . . [Lockhart’s] passion makes the critique compelling.”

“Horvath’s stories simultaneously stimulate the intellect while being fantastically imaginative. 
Contemporary urban life is examined through the looking glass, twisted slightly but still entirely recognizable and relatable. His images imprint, linger and the characters balance on the fine edge of what is real and what is imagined. This is memorable stuff.”

“The Body Politic is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of American political thought about science, the dynamics of current controversies such as the stem cell debate, and the battle between those who see science as the route to a better future and those who see within the science the potential for a loss of our sense of human distinctiveness and dignity.”

“A beautiful book.”

“The Body Politic reminds us that science occurs within a complex context that exerts powerful forces upon scientists, public officials, advocacy groups, and patients. Moreno has written the kind of book that needed to be written, combining detailed research, enlightened analysis, and an important message, all wrapped in accessible text.”

“Moreno clarifies major points of science-society tension over the last half century and brings a sharp eye to the societal context confronting future advances and their applications.”

“Provides a fascinating, timely exploration of one of our era’s most momentous issues, the applications—and misapplications—of biomedical research.”

“The Body Politic is a penetrating and uncommonly fair-minded analysis of how science is construed, nourished, and antagonized across the rainbow of American thought and belief. Highly recommended for all those who would base their political opinions on facts, rather than on other people’s opinions.”

“This groundbreaking must-read book situates the biological revolution in its historical, philosophical and cultural context and, with almost breathtaking elegance, shows how society may come to define itself by the body politic.”

“A new wave of issues is coming at us—genetic testing, brain scans, synthetic biology, consumer eugenics—and radically challenging our notions of left and right. Jonathan D. Moreno has written a clear-eyed map of the emerging biopolitics—greens, transhumanists, bioconservatives, technoprogressives—and a thoughtful defense of inquiry, innovation, and the liberating power of science.”

“Since the beginning of our quest to win the Indianapolis 500 our family has believed in the power of technology. The only limits to that technology have been human ones. The Body Politic reminds us that in biology as well as engineering, America will always need that pioneer spirit.”

“Moreno shrewdly tracks the history of science in American politics from Thomas Jefferson to today’s science culture wars. He explains how science and discovery have been central to our vision for the country, but often fueled a significant counter reaction. A must read for anyone who wants to understand science policy today.”

“A solid addition to any politics collections.”

“Historians will agree that ‘progress’ is as American as apple pie. What constitutes progress, of course, is always a point of contention. In The Body Politic, Jonathan D. Moreno examines the attitudes Americans hold about modern science’s treatment of the human body. . . . Throughout the discussion, it’s clear he has his thumb on the cultural and historical contexts in which these issues have arisen [and] Moreno explains that people on both sides of the aisle are expressing concern for unrestricted use of bioscience for different reasons . . . an excellent addition to any syllabus.”

“A concise but nuanced account of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment debates about the role of science in American life.”

“Moreno shows how biological discoveries aggravate cultural tensions, challenge our political system and values, and stimulate debate about the place of science and scientists in America. . . . Sophisticated, useful, and well-written.”

“An important analysis of the societal currents swirling around volatile scientific issues . . . Moreno delivers a powerful defense of science [and] respects his readers’ intelligence in this nuanced and thoughtful book.”

“Moreno pulls apart the debates on eugenics, abortion, end-of-life decisions, embryonic stem-cell research, reproductive cloning, chimeras, and synthetic biology, among others, carefully reassembling what’s at stake for each side. In graceful, sparkling prose, he illuminates intricate threads of history and complex philosophical arguments. . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in the[se] vital issues.”

“Erudite and sophisticated . . . provide[s] a historical and philosophical framework to enrich present bioethical debates.”

“Scholarly, sophisticated and compelling . . . If only more of our contemporary political battles were as careful, as cogent and as well grounded as The Body Politic, I’d be more confident that the unprecedented decisions being forced upon society by revolutionary advances in biology would most wisely and effectively be made.”

“Human cloning. Synthetic biology. Mood (and mind) altering drugs. Personalized medicine . . . The human future may be very different from the human past as these changes are negotiated and assimilated. And so may human politics. To help us prepare for this radical future is Jonathan Moreno, author of the new book The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America, which underscores the strange bedfellow allegiances that may occur in what has been called our ‘biological century’.”

“The most penetrating characterization and analysis of the shrill political battles fought over the use of our new biotechnologies (and the battles to come).”

“A timely take on the debate raging over biotechnology breakthroughs . . . Moreno shows how developments in biotechnology have affected people across the ideological spectrum. . . . conservatives concerned about abortion, neoconservatives worried about threats to human dignity and liberals fretting that new biotechnologies will exacerbate existing economic inequality.”

“Regardless of who ends up occupying the White House in January 2013, one hopes that a few hours will have been set aside on the campaign trail to engage with this important book.”

“An impassioned defense of scientific study . . . an essential dose of logic.”

“Every passionate reader lives for that first page of a book that alerts her, straightaway, she’ll be sorry when the book ends. So it is with Michelle Latiolais.”

“Widow is a hymn to reverence, simultaneously heartbroken and celebratory. Michelle Latiolais has given us the rarest item, a splendidly articulated masterpiece.”

“There is something mysterious about this book, as there always is in the writing that matters most. It eludes explanation. It illumines terrifying realities. Only because these pages seem nakedly willing to take the imprint of every emotion, no matter how ugly, do they possess this great beauty.”

“In this luminous collection of stories, the gifted Michelle Latiolais writes of loss in all its surprising manifestations. Widow is a devastation and a wonder.”

“Totally original . . . the book maintains its sense of literary savoir faire to the end.”

“Every story in this collection is uniquely enjoyable.”

“Latiolais uses the finest details to weave strands of hope.”

“All who venture here will discover some very fine writing.”

“A master of banter, Latiolais is happily bawdy and gorgeously sensual. She is also archly imaginative and psychologically astute.”

“A truly excellent collection of short stories, the best I have read in a long time . . . There is an emotional vitality to them, a clarity of insight, a sense for the ridiculous and the poignant that make them simply truthful and engaging.”

“Intimate and charged . . . [Latiolais] revels in words and in language, and while saturated in loss, grief, and longing, her prose is also fiercely humorous, angry, sexual, and alive.”

“Latiolais is not only a good observer of human nature, but a fearless one. It takes a certain bravery to make stories of loneliness, of sadness, of reminiscences, and of contemplation enjoyable to read.”

“As humans face death – our own or our most beloved – the best writers have the ability to rise up and eloquently sing. I speak, of course, of Joan Didion in The Year of Magical Thinking, of Francisco Goldman in Say Her Name, of David Vann in Legend of a Suicide. And now, Michelle Latiolais takes her place in that very top tier of talented writers. . . . [Widow] positively pulsates with pain and beauty, with heartbreak and reverence, with alienation and survival. In short, it is stunning writing, courageous writing.”

“All is certainly not gloom and doom in these imaginative tales . . . Widow is an enjoyable read, especially since Latiolais is such an accomplished lover of the written word. Though the stories amply reflect the shattering and paralysing loss of widows, they are not depressing.”

“Latiolais is bold and frank, and utterly unsentimental. . . . Widow rivets our attention because it offers what all literature, tragic, comical or otherwise, should: a distillation of experience and a concentration of thought that invests a simple moment with all the profundity of existence itself.”

“Excellent, heartbreaking . . . reading Widow was a profound experience. . . . [Latiolais] takes the ordinary and shows how it doesn’t exist. There is only the great mystery of the moments of our lives, which can at best turn into vivid memories. And after that? It is that afterlife, the after of all those mysterious, precious moments, that soaks this book. Death, something so final, still remains the unanswerable question that follows our lives, and Latiolias ponders this beautifully, painfully, honestly.”

“For the intimate ways that it explores the recesses of grief with warmth, earthiness, and humor, Widow is the most emotionally resonant book I’ve read this year.”

“A short story collection whose writing gives us pleasure in just being in the company of the writer.”

“Latiolais has a supple, sensitive way with words. . . . [Widow] celebrates the Geiger counter aspect of human consciousness that records and overwrites a deep document of self-reflection.”

“There is poetry in Latiolais’s prose. Charged by memory and the frisson of association, these stories revel in the texture of words, their sounds, their vagaries, their betrayals. . . . offer[ing] pearls rough, mottled, shimmering.”

“Filled with an intensity of vision . . . Latiolais plunges courageously into odd territory, noticing and observing the felt life in precise and often beautiful language.”

“This is an elegant book of stories, precise and glittering, like jewels. Latiolais writes exquisite, mandarin prose, in sentences you want to memorize.”

“Latiolais writes about grief in such a raw way—she joins the general pantheon of No-More-Husband literature (high priestess: J-Did), but her style is so unique as to be another genre altogether.”

“The inveterate readers among you may be asking yourselves, do I read this book or Joyce Carol Oates’ book of stories about widows and her recent memoir about widowhood? And I say to you, read them all, but begin first with Michelle Latiolais.”

“Sublime . . . [Latiolais] manages to find something luminous in the broken shards—still sharp, still drawing blood—that remain in the wake of losing what could not feasibly be lost.”

“Latiolais is as close to Alice Munro as a writer can get, but with a more modern edge to her tone, low graceful notes, not too much flash, perfect restraint and the feeling of contents under pressure.”

“Bracing, exposed, ruthlessly mercurial . . . The writing thrums with aggression and a lush, rooted sensuality . . . the rewards here are enormous.”

“Pulse[s] with a surprising, offbeat erotic energy.”

“Autism and grief acquire powerful and enigmatic reality as the reader turns the pages of A Proper Knowledge. To invoke one of its own metaphors, this novel is a refuge, not because it elides trauma or sorrow, but because it confronts them with gallant and unswerving clarity. A thousand things are noticed in this novel that you won’t have seen in fiction before. Don’t be fooled: for all the delicacy of its language this is a work of burning ferocity.”

“The novel courts—in elegant and sometimes elegiac prose—the shadowy and elusive opportunities for redemption.”

“An elegant and engaging novel of beauty and pain, and how one will often reveal the other. Precise, insightful, lovely.”

“In prose shimmering with intelligence and compassion, Michelle Latiolais dissects the essentials of everyday life to find the heartbeat within. [Her work] reveals an author with that rare eye which is at once both clinical and poetic.”

“Every passionate reader lives for that first page of a book that alerts her, straightaway, she’ll be sorry when the book ends. So it is with Michelle Latiolais’ astonishing, sparklingly intelligent new novel…. The work strives, with bold zest, to arrive at the marrow of things…. Latiolais triumphs, folding the work’s clinical ruminations into the story’s delicious batter. Powerfully recommended.”

“Some of [Hayes’s] most memorable writing describes the dissection classes he attended in San Francisco. We are treated to a selection of fascinating anatomical snippets…”

“With prose both lucid and arrestingly beautiful . . . Hayes pays eloquent tribute to two masterpieces: the human body and the book detailing it.”

“One of those rare authors who can tackle just about any subject in book form, and make you glad he did.”

“Hayes moves nimbly between the dour streets of Victorian London…and the sunnier classrooms of a West Coast university.”

“All laud and honor to Hayes. In perusing the body’s 650 muscles and 206 bones, he has made the case that we are…’fearfully and wonderfully made’ and that dissection has an aesthetic all its own.”

“Hayes searches for the elusive man behind the great reference work and his own scalpel’s-eye tour of the human body.”

“A wonderful writer, Bill Hayes tells the multi-layered story of the two extraordinary young men who produced the most famous medical text of all time—a turning point in medical history, and a continuing influence and inspiration for artists, doctors and anatomists a century and a half later. Part memoir, part biography, part guided tour into the marvels of the human body, The Anatomist deserves a place on every bookshelf.  And if you do not already have a copy of Gray’s Anatomy, Bill Hayes’s remarkable account will surely inspire you to get one.”

“[An] excellent discussion of science, society, and the influence of the individual scientist.”

“Tim Horvath is a wonderful writer. There’s a musicality to his prose. It’s evident that he enjoys the way words can sound on the page. His debut short story collection from Bellevue Literary Press reminds me a bit of Kevin Brockmeier, in the sense that both writers combine wordplay with speculative fiction.”

“A page-turner.”

“‘The Understory’ is a terrific reach through history from the pre- and post- Nazi era in Germany up to the present. . . . This is a wonderful story, a first-rate creation by a fine writer.”

“Intimate and keenly observed, [The Sojourn] is a war story, love story, and coming of age novel all rolled into one. I thought of Lermontov and Stendhal, Joseph Roth and Cormac McCarthy as I read. But make no mistake. Krivak’s voice and sense of drama are entirely his own.”

“Gorgeous. . . . Lockhart is passionate, contagiously so.”

“A monumental effort.”

“Horvath seems to be channeling, all at once, Borges and Calvino and Kevin Brockmeier. And it all works.”

“The Sojourn is a work of uncommon strength by a writer of rare and powerful elegance about a war, now lost to living memory, that echoes in headlines of international strife to this day.”

“A fascinating, well-documented biography.”

“Tim Horvath is a fluid, inventive writer who deftly interweaves the palpably real and the pyrotechnically fantastic. At once playful, deeply moving, and sharply funny, Understories satisfies the mind, the heart, and the gut.”

“One of the best critiques of current K-12 mathematics education I have ever seen, written by a first-class research mathematician who elected to devote his teaching career to K-12 education.”

“The Sojourn is a fiercely wrought novel, populated by characters who lead harsh, even brutal lives, which Krivak renders with impressive restraint, devoid of embellishment or sentimentality. And yet—almost despite such a stoic prose style—his sentences accrue and swell and ultimately break over a reader like water: they are that supple and bracing and shining.”