America, América: A New History of the New World
Greg Grandin ’99PhD, the Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History
(Penguin Press, $35)
“Latin America gave the United States what other empires, be they formal or informal, lacked: its own magpie, an irrepressible critic,” declares the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian in this endlessly fascinating exploration. Starting with Spain’s Conquest of America in the early 1500s, Grandin traces the often overlooked links between the development of the US and the influence of its Spanish-speaking neighbors.
Teacher by Teacher: The People Who Change Our Lives
John B. King Jr. ’07JD
(Legacy Lit/Hachette, $29)
“Every life has its turning points,” writes the author, a teacher and school system leader, secretary of education in the Obama administration, and now chancellor of the State University of New York. “At those critical moments in mine, I was fortunate that there were people who put their hand on my shoulder and made sure I went in the right direction.” In King’s memoir, the pioneering African American educator recounts how, as an eight-year-old, he “begged to go to school” the morning his mother died, and how he has worked to “create more spaces and places where educators could save students’ lives the way my teachers had saved mine.”
Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight
David A. Kessler, former dean, Yale School of Medicine
(Flatiron Books, $32.99)
“For most of my life, I have been in a battle with my body. I have been fat, and I have been thin, and I have been every size in between.” So states the author, a pediatrician, professor, med school dean, and federal health administrator, in this examination of the “cycle of despair, repair, and back to despair” that affects “nearly three-quarters of the population who are either overweight or obese.” Dr. Kessler reveals the impact of “toxic fat,” the result of diets heavy with ultra-processed foods, and the blessing of cycle-breaking anti-obesity medication. “But make no mistake: There are no magic pills here,” the physician explains, as he offers a sane, lifelong path that combines the new meds with a “clear, evidence-based, and compassionate” strategy aimed at “achieving a healthy weight.”
Early Thirties: A Novel
Josh Duboff ’08
(Scout Press/Simon and Schuster, $28.99)
Deeply distraught after breaking up with his longtime boyfriend and hooking up with a new lover, troubled entertainment journalist Victor, the protagonist, downed enough anti-anxiety pills to knock him out. He was discovered unconscious by his friend Zoey, who brings him to the hospital and, when he comes to, asks him pointedly, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” There starts a touching and often funny tale of deep friendship that follows the pair through their turbulent professional and personal lives.
Dialogues & Meditations: The Orchestral Music of Steven Holochwost
Kyiv Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Koehler ’01
(Albany Records)
If you can’t imagine meditative trumpet music, “Dialogues for a Brass Ensemble” by Steven Holochwost ’01 will enlighten and strangely calm you. It’s the steady, beautifully layered opening number on a whole album of Holochwost’s compositions performed by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and conducted by Andrew Koehler ’01. Besides being a composer, Holochwost is a developmental psychologist, and it’s tempting to relate his artistic instincts to his scientific ones. Certainly this is emotionally stirring music, grounded in romance and hopefulness, that prizes steadiness but acknowledges bold statements and revelations.
No Man’s Land
Amin Gulgee ’87
(Skira, $75.67)
This stunning book offers a compendium of work by Pakistani artist and curator Amin Gulgee ’87, capturing the trajectory of his work as a sculptor, painter, curator, and performance artist. Twelve essays, including one by author and artist Alexi Worth ’86, offer a sweeping view of Gulgee’s career to date; QR codes offer a way to see the performance pieces otherwise represented by still photos. “The artist trusts his audience,” writes Worth; “Muslim and non-Muslim, sectarian and cosmopolitan, to be seduced by beauty.”
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