Let Me Clear My Throat

Let Me Clear My Throat
Author: Elena Passarello
Publisher: Sarabande Books
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2012-10-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1936747502

“A remarkably entertaining and thought-provoking look at the human voice and all of its myriad functions and sounds . . . Wonderful” (Library Journal, starred review). From Farinelli, the eighteenth-century castrato who brought down opera houses with his high C, to the recording of Johnny B. Goode affixed to the Voyager spacecraft, Let Me Clear My Throat dissects the whys and hows of popular voices, making them hum with significance and emotion. There are murders of punk rock crows, impressionists, and rebel yells; Howard Dean’s “BYAH!” and Marlon Brando’s “Stellaaaaa!” and a stock film yawp that has made cameos in movies from A Star is Born to Spaceballs. The voice is thought’s incarnating instrument and Elena Passarello’s essays are a riotous deconstruction of the ways the sounds we make both express and shape who we are—the annotated soundtrack of us giving voice to ourselves. “Standout pieces include a biography of the most famous scream in Hollywood history; a breakdown of the relationship between song and birdsong; and an analysis of the sounds of disgust. Akin to: A dinner party at which David Sedaris, Mary Roach and Marlon Brando are trying to out-monologue one another.” —Philadelphia Weekly “The beauty of Ellen Passarello’s voice is that it’s so confidently its own . . . I began randomly with her essay wondering what the space aliens will make of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ on the Voyager gold record and couldn’t stop after that.” —John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of Pulphead

Animals Strike Curious Poses

Animals Strike Curious Poses
Author: Elena Passarello
Publisher: Sarabande Books
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2017-02-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1941411401

“It might be the best book on animals I’ve ever read. It's also the only one that's made me laugh out loud.” —Helen Macdonald, The New York Times Book Review Beginning with Yuka, a 39,000-year-old mummified woolly mammoth recently found in the Siberian permafrost, each of the sixteen essays in Animals Strike Curious Poses investigates a different famous animal named and immortalized by humans. Modeled loosely after a medieval bestiary, these witty, playful, whip-smart essays, from a winner of a Whiting Award for nonfiction, traverse history, myth, science, and more, bringing each beast vibrantly to life. “Stunning . . . Passarello’s keen wit is on display throughout as she raises questions about the uniqueness of humans. . . . A feast of surprising juxtapositions and gorgeous prose.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “I’ve spent decades reading books on the roles animals play in human cultures, but none have ever made me think, and feel, as much as this one. It’s a devastating meditation on our relationship to the natural world.” —Helen Macdonald, The New York Times Book Review

Wildman

Wildman
Author: J. C. Geiger
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2017-06-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1484758528

This "thought-provoking, hilarious, eloquent" (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel by a remarkable new talent explores the relationship between identity and place, marvels at the speed at which a well-planned life can change forever, and asks the question, " How can a total stranger understand you better than the people you've known your entire life?" When Lance's '93 Buick breaks down in the middle of nowhere, he tells himself Don't panic. After all, he's valedictorian of his class. First-chair trumpet player. Scholarship winner. Nothing can stop Lance Hendricks. But the locals don't know that. They don't even know his name. Stuck in a small town, Lance could be anyone: a delinquent, a traveler, a maniac. One of the townies calls him Wildman, and a new world opens up. He's ordering drinks at a roadhouse. Jumping a train. Talking to an intriguing older girl who is asking about his future. And what he really wants. As one day blurs into the next, Lance finds himself drifting farther from home and closer to a girl who makes him feel a way he's never felt before-like himself.

Bicycle in a Ransacked City

Bicycle in a Ransacked City
Author: Andrés Cerpa
Publisher: Alice James Books
Total Pages: 67
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1948579537

These quiet, descriptive poems blaze with an inferno of lamenting and loving muses as a son helplessly watches his father suffer from a debilitating illness. The inquisitive voice of the speaker gently paints an emotional landscape ranging from childhood to the present, while trying to find glimpses of happiness in the imminent sorrow.

The Rapture Index

The Rapture Index
Author: Molly Reid
Publisher: American Reader
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2019
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781942683827

A collection of award-winning stories that put the medieval bestiary through a postmodern blender to explore the wilderness of suburbia.

The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna

The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna
Author: Mira Ptacin
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1631493825

A young writer travels to Maine to tell the unusual story of America’s longest-running camp devoted to mysticism and the world beyond. They believed they would live forever. So begins Mira Ptacin’s haunting account of the women of Camp Etna—an otherworldly community in the woods of Maine that has, since 1876, played host to generations of Spiritualists and mediums dedicated to preserving the links between the mortal realm and the afterlife. Beginning her narrative in 1848 with two sisters who claimed they could speak to the dead, Ptacin reveals how Spiritualism first blossomed into a national practice during the Civil War, yet continues—even thrives—to this very day. Immersing herself in this community and its practices—from ghost hunting to releasing trapped spirits to water witching— Ptacin sheds new light on our ongoing struggle with faith, uncertainty, and mortality. Blending memoir, ethnography, and investigative reportage, The In-Betweens offers a vital portrait of Camp Etna and its enduring hold on a modern culture that remains as starved for a deeper sense of connection and otherworldliness as ever.

Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves

Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves
Author: Frans de Waal
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2019-03-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0393635074

A New York Times Bestseller and winner of the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "Game-changing." —Sy Montgomery, New York Times Book Review Mama’s Last Hug is a fascinating exploration of the rich emotional lives of animals, beginning with Mama, a chimpanzee matriarch who formed a deep bond with biologist Jan van Hooff. Her story and others like it—from dogs “adopting” the injuries of their companions, to rats helping fellow rats in distress, to elephants revisiting the bones of their loved ones—show that humans are not the only species with the capacity for love, hate, fear, shame, guilt, joy, disgust, and empathy. Frans de Waal opens our hearts and minds to the many ways in which humans and other animals are connected.

It's Up to the Women

It's Up to the Women
Author: Eleanor Roosevelt
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2017-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1568585950

"Eleanor Roosevelt never wanted her husband to run for president. When he won, she . . . went on a national tour to crusade on behalf of women. She wrote a regular newspaper column. She became a champion of women's rights and of civil rights. And she decided to write a book." -- Jill Lepore, from the Introduction "Women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in It's Up to the Women, her book of advice to women of all ages on every aspect of life. Written at the height of the Great Depression, she called on women particularly to do their part -- cutting costs where needed, spending reasonably, and taking personal responsibility for keeping the economy going. Whether it's the recommendation that working women take time for themselves in order to fully enjoy time spent with their families, recipes for cheap but wholesome home-cooked meals, or America's obligation to women as they take a leading role in the new social order, many of the opinions expressed here are as fresh as if they were written today.

Patsy: A Novel

Patsy: A Novel
Author: Nicole Dennis-Benn
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 163149564X

Best Books of 2019: Washington Post • O, The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • People • Buzzfeed A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Selection Winner • Lambda Literary Award [Lesbian Fiction] A Washington Post Lily Lit Club Selection Longlisted • PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction American Library Association • A Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor Book (Stonewall Book Awards) Finalist • Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist • Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize Apple Books • Best Books of the Month New York Times Book Review • Editors’ Choice Selection Kirkus Reviews • Most Memorable Fictional Families of the Year Longlisted • The Morning News Tournament of Books A Rumpus Book Club Selection A beautifully layered portrait of motherhood, immigration, and the sacrifices we make in the name of love from award-winning novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn. Heralded for writing “deeply memorable . . . women” (Jennifer Senior, New York Times), Nicole Dennis-Benn introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine for our times: the eponymous Patsy, who leaves her young daughter behind in Jamaica to follow Cicely, her oldest friend, to New York. Beating with the pulse of a long-withheld confession and peppered with lilting patois, Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to love whomever she chooses, bravely putting herself first. But to survive as an undocumented immigrant, Patsy is forced to work as a nanny, while back in Jamaica her daughter, Tru, ironically struggles to understand why she was left behind. Greeted with international critical acclaim from readers who, at last, saw themselves represented in Patsy, this astonishing novel “fills a literary void with compassion, complexity and tenderness” (Joshunda Sanders, Time), offering up a vital portrait of the chasms between selfhood and motherhood, the American dream and reality.

Goats and Sheep

Goats and Sheep
Author: Elena Passarello
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9788874398409

- A selection of goats and sheep portraits in a profile, a sideward glance, or direct gazeWhen American photographer Kevin Horan moved from city to country, he found among his animal companions goats and sheep whose chorus of sounds suggested they were not just herd animals, but perhaps individuals as well. Experienced in portraiture, Horan decided to photograph them in his studio, as though they were privileged clients. The resulting images ask us to notice the variety, dignity, and personalities of these lowliest of creatures, who speak to us through the camera in a profile, a sideward glance, or direct gaze. With different coats, faces, and expressions, they are funny, fascinating, intelligent, curious, engaging others who command our undivided attention and respect. They remind us that we too are fellow creatures - and the camera isn't always on us.