At Kirkus, it’s all books, all the time, and I don’t think my colleagues would mind if I labeled us all book nerds. As a self-professed nerd, some of my favorite books are those about…well, books—and authors, the creative process, the writing life, etc. Like every year, the 2020 Fall Preview is a tried-and-true guide to the most significant titles releasing in the next four months. Among the 30 standouts I have chosen for nonfiction, there are a few that dig into that wonderfully amorphous world of “literature.”
Harold Bloom, Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles (Yale Univ., Oct. 13): Arguably the most recognizable literary critic and English professor of the past century, Bloom taught at Yale for more than 60 years, authoring more than 50 books during that time. While he received his own fair share of criticism over the years, his first posthumous publication is vintage Bloom. “In 16 dense, erudite, and surprisingly intimate essays,” writes our critic in a starred review, “Bloom (1930-2019) offers a sweeping overview of major Western poets, from Homer to contemporary African American Jay Wright, whom Bloom praises as ‘among the best American poets of whatever origin or complexion.’ As well as celebrating beloved writers, Bloom also reassesses his own work.”
David Karashima, Who We’re Reading When We’re Reading Murakami (Soft Skull, Sept. 1): This one is definitely for the nerds, especially those of us in the audience who work in the publishing industry, as the author follows one of the world’s most beloved authors through his many rounds of translation into English. “In this admiring work, first printed in Japanese in 2018,” writes our critic, “Karashima ‘travels back in time to tell the stories of the colorful cast of characters who first contributed to publishing Murakami’s work in English.’ ” While it may be overkill for general readers, translators and other “readers interested in Murakami will enjoy learning about the challenges and trade-offs involved in translation, from the different styles of his translators to his philosophical acceptance of the changes the New Yorker made to his work.”
Delphine Minoui, The Book Collectors (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Oct. 20): Though my passion for books is strong, it likely pales in comparison to that demonstrated by the dedicated book lovers in war-torn Syria. As our reviewer writes in a starred review of this book, translated by Lara Vergnaud, “Minoui, a Middle East correspondent for Le Figaro, opens with the story of a photograph she saw in 2015 on a Facebook page called Humans of Syria. Taken in Istanbul, it shows two young Syrian men standing in an enclosed room with thousands of books on shelves all around them. Their city, Daraya, was surrounded by Bashar al-Assad’s troops and was being regularly bombed; yet here was a secret, underground library….The author tells two stories: one about the library and the other about a city that had been starved and attacked since 2012 and whose population went from 250,000 to 12,000….It’s an agonizing tale, but readers will be appreciative that Minoui has brought it to light.”
Margaret Randall, My Life in 100 Objects (New World Library, Sept. 15): OK, so this one isn’t just about books, but it’s my list, so stick with me. In this entertaining, transporting book, which we call “a heartwarming celebration of the author’s compelling life,” Randall describes a number of objects that are book- or author-related, including an Old Royal typewriter from the 1940s, her first self-published book of poems, The Joy of Cooking, red-lacquer doors at Hanoi’s Temple of Literature, a book bag from City Lights in San Francisco, and a cork rollerball pen she uses at book signings.
Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction and managing editor.
