News - Literary News

News - Literary News

Ed Yong’s AN IMMENSE WORLD was named one of “The 10 Best Books of 2022” by The Wall Street Journal: “Vividly describing other creatures’ senses (the ultraviolet sight of bumblebees, the exquisite echolocation ability of dolphins), Mr. Yong enlarges our awe of William Blake’s ‘immense world of delight.’” The book was also featured on best-of lists from the Inquirer, Slate, Toronto Star, Bookshop, BookPage, Oprah Daily, and many more. Random House published the book on June 21, 2022.

STRANGERS TO OURSELVES by Rachel Aviv continues to receive incredible press. The book has been featured on 2022 best-of lists from The Wall Street Journal (“[a] remarkable debut work”), The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times (“both a service to medicine and a page-turner”), Vulture (“a work of fierce moral intelligence”), and BookPage (“[a] stunning book”). Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on September 13, 2022.

The original audio drama adaptation of UPGRADE SOUL by Ezra Claytan Daniels, adapted from the award-winning graphic novel and starring Wendell Pierce, Marcia Gay Harden, and Phil LaMarr, has been named Audible’s Best Podcast of 2022 in the Science Fiction category. UPGRADE SOUL was published by Fantagraphics on September 18, 2018, and the five-part Audible audio drama was released on November 3, 2022.

SWEET, SOFT, PLENTY RHYTHM by Laura Warrell has been critically acclaimed since its release, and was recently featured on 2022 best-of lists from Kirkus (“A captivating modern romance evoking love, loss, recovery, and redemption”), Debutiful ( “Warrell uses a multitude of voices to give the women oft overlooked in these types of stories to give them unforgettable voices. PLENTY RHYTHM is also a novel whose writing should be studied. The language sings in every sentence”), and Oprah Daily (“This sensual and sensuous debut is a kaleidoscopic character study, a polyphonic riff on the modern-day Casanova from the perspectives of the myriad women in his wake…Both visceral and finely observed, the novel captures social nuance and emotional wreckage with precision and compassion”). The book was also recommended as one of “5 Books to Read Next” by BLACK BUCK author Mateo Askaripour, who noted that the novel “has much to say about what happens as our dreams age along with us, and what it means to play the same tune over and over again, or choose to switch it up; to give into the sweet improvisation of life, and discover something new and beautiful, not only for ourselves, but also those we love and who love us.” Lastly, in an interview with Alice O’Keeffe for The Bookseller (who praises SWEET, SOFT, PLENTY RHYTHM as “sensual” and “gorgeously written”), Warrell spoke about the literary qualities of jazz music, the unfortunate beginnings of Circus Palmer’s story in her own previous unfulfilling relationship, and the realization of her lifelong dream to publish a book. Pantheon published the novel on September 27, 2022.

PLANES by Peter C. Baker has been named one of “The 10 Best Books of 2022” by the Chicago Tribune, which declares it “[a] criminally underrated novel about the ways our choices resonate far beyond ourselves, without our knowledge, in directions we never anticipate.” Knopf published PLANES on May 31, 2022.

Kim Kelly’s FIGHT LIKE HELL continues to make waves, named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker and BuzzFeed News (“an electrifying, inspiring history of how countless American industries have exploited employees of marginalized backgrounds, and how these workers protected one another and fought back”). The book was also featured on Bookshop.org’s “History Holiday Gift Guide 2022.” One Signal published FIGHT LIKE HELL on April 26, 2022.

The Washington Post selected Chelsea Manning’s README.txt as one of the best nonfiction books of the year. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published the memoir on October 18, 2022.

The Los Angeles Times named VERY COLD PEOPLE by Sarah Manguso one of the best books of 2022: "This unflinching first novel by poet and critic Manguso is a coming-of-age story set in a New England as icy as the title suggests. Her rendering of violence, abuse and secrecy within families and communities is clear-eyed and almost uncomfortably lyrical — the beauty of her writing makes the tragedies she describes feel all the more wrenching." Hogarth published VERY COLD PEOPLE on February 8, 2022.

Esquire named THE UNWRITTEN BOOK by Samantha Hunt one of the Best Memoirs of 2022: "Eerie, profound, and daring, this is a book only the inimitable Hunt could write.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on April 5, 2022.

Idra Novey’s forthcoming novel TAKE WHAT YOU NEED received a starred review from Kirkus. The reviewer writes: "[An] inspiring novel, spare yet packed with plot and ideas…Transforming the odd and the homely into something beautiful is both the subject and the accomplishment of this book." Viking will publish the novel on March 14, 2023.