Myth and Mystery“Origins of the Past”
Edited by Tom Twomey
East End Press, $40
Chroniclers, diarists, and historians often must have felt what East Hampton’s master mechanic Nathaniel Dominy IV scribed on the rear of a metal tall-case clock dial he made in 1788: “Where oh! Where shall I be when this clock is worn out?” Heaven may have been the answer Dominy was suggesting, but to the recorder or analyst of history the perfect solution is to be published and remain a viable source of information.
David Margolick on “Dreadful”
Here’s a title to prick up your ears: “Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns.” Burns, a conflicted man of no small measure of inner turmoil and anger, came out with “The Gallery” in 1947, a debut collection of related stories praised for its descriptions of wartime Italy. It contained an early depiction of what it was like to be gay in the military and sold 500,000 copies.
Notes From the Underbelly“Caught”
Jeff Nichols
CreateSpace, $9.99
About two chapters into this book I was poised to dislike it, but like a “Trainwreck,” the title of Jeff Nichols’s memoir published in 2009 and turned into a movie two years later, I found it impossible to avert my eyes.
American Gruesome“Murder on Long Island”
Geoffrey K. Fleming
and Amy K. Folk
History Press, $19.99
Claire Reed Toughs It Out
Claire Reed left behind a privileged life of country clubs and golf outings to wade hip deep into the feminist fights, civil rights struggles, and disarmament movement of the latter part of the last century. She would become a tireless organizer and activist for a number of progressive nonprofits, and the right-hand woman of Bella Abzug leading up to and during Abzug’s Congressional career.
Mac Griswold on “The Manor”
A trip into Shelter Island’s deep past — to say nothing of down “the slave staircase” at the island’s storied Sylvester Manor — awaits the historically curious on Saturday at 3 p.m., when Mac Griswold discusses the particulars of her new book, “The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island.” The talk, part of the Sag Harbor Historical Society’s annual meeting, will take place at the Annie Cooper Boyd House on Main Street in that village.
Long Island Books: (Not So) Bad Boy“Bad Boy”
Eric Fischl
Crown, $26
One of the lasting impressions I have of Eric Fischl was a night at the Parrish Art Museum, where he was in discussion with an adjunct curator about Fairfield Porter’s influences. The curator, who is no longer with the museum, had developed an elaborate theory regarding Diego Velasquez’s influence on Porter, an idea at which Mr. Fischl scoffed.
Kids’ Reviewers Impaneled
Reviewing children’s books: all delicacy and tact, or a merciless weeding out? At the Amagansett Library on Saturday, a panel of reviewers will discuss what makes a good children’s book, what criteria goes into an evaluation, and even what might make one “literary.”
Fortunate Son“Indiscretion”
Charles Dubow
William Morrow, $25.99
There are no perfect lives. Even people who seem to have it all, whose births appear to have set them on a course that ensures success and happiness, even those fortunate few encounter trouble along the way. And does having it all invite being taken down a peg? Moreover, what if you have it all and still desire more? What then?
Children’s Books Powwow
Children’s books: So many think they can write them; so few actually do so with skill. Now, for Children’s Book Week, the Amagansett Library has rounded up some top practitioners for panel discussions starting at 6 p.m. this Saturday and continuing next Saturday, May 18.
Dogs for Steinbeck
You say John Steinbeck Weekend is news to you? Never mind that and simply give in to the charm of the “Travels With Charley” dog walk on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. at Havens Beach in Sag Harbor. Jill Rappaport of the “Today” show, known as an advocate for the four-legged, is the host, and the beneficiaries are the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons and the Bay Street Theatre, where the walk will wind up with a “bagels and bones” reception.
Seedy Montauk: A Novel ViewThere’s no rock ’n’ roll and just a few mentions of drugs in Nanci E. LaGarenne’s new novel, “Cheap Fish,” but it’s all about Montauk and has sex, salty language, intrigue, and a murder mystery, all aboard a high-class floating brothel called the Lily Virginia in the middle of the ocean.
The characters were not based on real people but may carry the qualities of some or a few rolled into one, Ms. LaGarenne said. Readers, though, are having a lot of fun wondering who’s who from the Montauk bar scene, mostly Liars’ Saloon, which plays a central role in the book.
Long Island Books: Paths to Freedom“The Underground
Railroad on Long Island”
Kathleen G. Velsor
History Press, $19.99
Storytelling Techniques
Memoir: It’s all the rage, whether you’re a reader, a writer, or a publisher. How about workshopper?
Poets Laureate, Ho!
National Poetry Month: Get it while you can, versification fans. At Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, to name one outlet, a couple of county poets laureate, Ed Stever of Suffolk and Linda Opyr of Nassau, will step to a lectern or its approximation to read starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
All Her Ducks in a RowBack in June 2000, Eva Moore of Montauk was reading a story in The East Hampton Star about a family of ducks rescued from a storm drain near Kirk Park by members of the Montauk Fire Department and a visiting tourist. Immediately, the author of some 22 children’s books realized it would make a good picture book. It took more than 10 years to find a publisher, get it illustrated, and get it on bookstore shelves, but just a couple of weeks after its Feb. 1 release, it had already won an award and sold more than 10,000 copies.
Out of Alaska
There’s more to Alaskan poetry than John Haines. Serge Lecomte, for one, who will read his work, including from his 2010 father-to-daughter collection, “Lauren at Two,” tomorrow starting at 6:30 p.m. at Neoteric Fine Art in Amagansett.
Mr. Good Barge“Bolero”
Joanie McDonell
Thomas & Mercer, $14.95
I’ve noticed that when reading mysteries I can usually tell from the opening chapter if I’m in for an enjoyable ride. With “Bolero,” Joanie McDonell’s first Nick Sayler adventure, I knew within a few paragraphs that I was in good hands. The tone is smart, the setup intriguing and fast-paced, and the protagonist appealingly eccentric.
Rattray to Be HonoredThe life and achievements of David G. Rattray, a poet and translator who was born and grew up in East Hampton, will be celebrated in Manhattan next week with a day and evening of readings, film, and visual art on the 20th anniversary of his death.
Mr. Rattray was the brother of Everett Rattray, the longtime editor and publisher of The East Hampton Star, and uncle to his son, David E. Rattray, the current editor.
Long Island Books: Like Father, Like Son“In the Land
of the Living”
Austin Ratner
Reagan Arthur Books, $25.99
The follow-up to his award-winning debut, Austin Ratner’s second novel, “In the Land of the Living,” is the story of fathers and sons, stepfathers and surrogate fathers, brothers-in-arms and brothers estranged. It may be read as multiple bildungsromans; or as a tragic family saga of ambitious, fatherless men looking for acceptance in genteel — a k a gentile — America; or as a satire of manboys with congenital hemorrhoids.
Misfits, Unite!Ever feel that modernity has gotten so strange you must be living on another planet? In “The Twinning Project” (Clarion Books, $16.99), Robert Lipsyte of Shelter Island posits a second Earth created by alien scientists to study evolution. But humans, as humans will, have made a mess of things (our stock-in-trade: war, starvation, genocide, environmental degradation), and the project is being abandoned — no more Earths.
Caro Does It Again — and Again
Robert A. Caro won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography last Thursday for “The Passage of Power,” the latest installment in his magisterial, multipart assessment, “The Years of Lyndon Johnson.” Two earlier books in the series have won the same award. This year’s ceremony was held at the New School in New York City.
Long Island Books: Buy Low, She Said“The Richest Woman
in America”
Janet Wallach
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $27.95
Long Island Books: More Than the Eye Can See“Saul Steinberg:
A Biography”
Deirdre Bair
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $40
Saul Steinberg’s sharply ironic drawings became so well known in the 20th century that the term “Steinbergian” was readily understood as a reference to a perceptive and piercing wit that stemmed from some slightly off-kilter way of looking at the world.
