December 4, 2019
A Year Of Writing Truthfully: Great Nonfiction Titles From The New School Community
Here are some of the nonfiction books of 2019 from New School faculty, graduates, and former students that impressed us. Next week: our fiction picks.
The Impeachers
by Brenda Wineapple, part-time faculty in MFA Creative Writing. Penguin Random House.
A critically acclaimed, and certainly timely, account of the dramatic 1868 Congressional impeachment and near-conviction of President Andrew Johnson in the super-heated political atmosphere of post-Civil War Reconstruction.
Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy
by Heather Boushey, MA (1996) and PhD (1998) in Economics. Harvard University Press.
A leading expert on the economic effects of family policy and work-life conflict exposes deep problems while remaining optimistic about reducing inequality, boosting broadly shared economic growth, and preserving the best of our economic and political traditions.
No Walls and the Recurring Dream
by Ani DiFranco, Liberal Arts student (1991). Penguin Random House.
The celebrated singer-songwriter recalls a coming-of-age journey, from teenage nights sleeping in a Buffalo bus station to becoming an activist, feminist, and creator of her own music label, Righteous Babe Records.
Prisoner
by Jason Rezaian, BA Liberal Arts (2001). HarperCollins.
In July 2014, Rezaian, the Washington Post Tehran bureau chief, was accused by Iranian authorities of spying for the US. Notwithstanding the absurdity of the charges, he was held for 18 months, subjected to exhausting interrogations and a farcical trial, and became a bargaining chip in nuclear negotiations with Iran. He writes with wit and grace about his ordeal and eventual return to the US.
Racial Inequality in New York City Since 1965
Various authors. SUNY Press.
James Parrott, director of fiscal and economic policies at the Center for New York City Affairs, contributed the first chapter to this collection of original essays: “Economy: Inequality in New York City: The Intersection of Race and Class.” The book explores what City government has done and failed to do to address racial inequality.
Conversations on Conflict Photography
by Lauren Walsh, part-time faculty, Eugene Lang College. Bloomsbury.
Richly illustrated and featuring conversations with award-winning photographers, photo editors, and representatives of human rights and humanitarian organizations about the dangers and ethical dilemmas of working in the world’s conflict zones.
Contested City
by Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, professor, Eugene Lang College.
U Iowa Press.
A book that bridges art, design, activism, and urban history in exploring 50 years of community activism at the controversial Seward Park Urban Renewal Area on New York’s Lower East Side. Contested City underscores the importance of collaborative, creative public projects.
A Drama in Time: The New School Century
by John Reed, associate professor, School of Public Engagement. Profile Books.
Founded in 1919 by political dissidents and independent thinkers, for 100 years The New School has pushed cultural and intellectual boundaries and challenged the status quo. Published to celebrate its centennial, A Drama in Time weaves together history, interviews, and more than 400 striking images from The New School’s archives.
Good Talk
by Mira Jacob, MFA Creative Writing (2010). Penguin Random House.
It started with questions from her 6-year-old son: about Michael Jackson; about his being a biracial child; about his wondering “how brown is too brown?” It led Jacob to recall her own experiences as a South Asian growing up in New Mexico – and to produce a funny and poignant graphic memoir about identity, family, race, and love.
In Putin’s Footsteps
by Nina Khrushcheva, faculty, New School International Affairs, and Jeffrey Tayler. MacMillan.
As both an ex-pat and insider (she is Nikita Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter) Khrushcheva, along with her co-author, draw on their extensive travels across its vast reaches to present a panorama of contemporary Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us
by Simon Critchley; Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School. Penguin Random House.
“Ancient tragedy is not ancient, “Critchley writes. “It is quintessentially modern. What if we took seriously the form of thinking and the experience of agnostic conflict, gender confusion, political complexity, and moral ambiguity that it presents?”
No Hard Feelings
by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, MFA Transdisciplinary Design (2015). Penguin Random House.
Insecurity. Panic. Confusion. Rage. In short, just another day at the office. Two self-confessed introverts offer helpful and hilariously illustrated advice about navigating the emotional minefield of the modern workplace.
American Founders: How People of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World
by Christina Proenza-Coles (MA Liberal Studies and Sociology 1998; PhD Sociology and Historical Studies 2004). NewSouth Books.
Inventors and investors, pirates and soldiers, scientists and presidents: women and men of African descent, often far outnumbering European immigrants, founded settlements, undermined slavery, and championed freedom from their first days in this hemisphere. American Founders uses an array of classroom-friendly features to tell their stories.
Standing with Standing Rock
edited by Jaskiran Dhillon, faculty, School of Public Engagement. University of Minnesota Press.
The No Dakota Access Pipeline campaign brought together Native Americans, environmental activists, and others in an effort to stop a major oil transport project near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. This collection of essays, interviews, and photos vividly documents their story.
Various authors, CRC Press.
Ana Baptista, chair of the graduate program in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program at the Milano School, contributes a chapter on the evolution of the environmental justice movement to this inter-disciplinary essay collection.