"Modernism After the Ballets Russes"

New from Oxford University Press: Modernism After the Ballets Russes: Movement in the British Theatre by Gabriela Minden.

About the book, from the publisher:

Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes holds a renowned position in the history of modernism across various arts. The company's daring productions brought together leading artists working in diverse fields - from Igor Stravinsky to Pablo Picasso, from Bronislava Nijinska to Coco Chanel - redefining the possibilities of artistic collaboration and shaping the trajectories of dance, music, fashion, and the visual arts. But what of the Ballets Russes's role in the text-based theatre? Despite the intrinsic link between dance and theatre as performance arts, the company's contributions to dramatic literature and dramaturgy have remained surprisingly elusive. This book establishes the Ballets Russes as a powerful force in the development of modernist theatre in Britain, revealing how the company's avant-garde repertoire inspired the creation of new composition strategies and performance techniques that privileged the immediacy of expression offered by the moving, dancing body.

Modernism After the Ballets Russes examines the philosophical conditions of early twentieth-century Britain's theatrical landscape, marked by growing interest in Nietzschean interpretations of classical drama and Wagnerian notions of the Gesamtkunstwerk, to illuminate the allure of the Ballets Russes's re-centring of dance as the foundation of theatre art. It shows that Diaghilev ballets provided new ways of thinking about the relationship between the literary and embodied aspects of dramatic performance, fueling collaborations between eminent dramatists and theatre practitioners - Harley Granville Barker, J. M. Barrie, Terence Gray, and W. H. Auden - and lesser-known choreographers: Cecil Sharp, Tamara Karsavina, Ninette de Valois, and Rupert Doone. Through the prism of the Ballets Russes, this group of artists crafted distinctive new theatrical forms, including a whimsical terpsichorean fantasia and a politically subversive poetic dramatic satire, as well as new methods of staging Shakespearean comedy and Attic tragedy. Together, this book contends, these literary and dramaturgical innovations represent a previously neglected strand of modernism: one that saw the dramatic power of the moving body expand the expressive resources of the period's theatrical arts.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Delivery"

New from The Mysterious Press: The Delivery (Mercury Carter Thrillers) by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Freelance courier Mercury Carter races against time and across New England to rescue a trafficking victim in this new thriller from the author of The Mailman.

Merc Carter is not your typical deliveryman. A former postal inspector, he specializes in moving sensitive or dangerous packages—of all sorts—from point A to B. And sometimes he needs his gun to do so. Carter’s current mission leads him to Providence, Rhode Island, but his delivery is interrupted when he comes across a woman badly injured in a car wreck in the pouring rain. Then a man with a gun appears warning Carter away from the scene and Carter leaps into action, disarming the attacker and rescuing the crash victim.

Just as Carter thinks the danger has passed, he discovers a deeper mystery stemming from the crash, a deadly puzzle involving a memorable pair of grifters, a crooked ex-cop, stolen identities, human trafficking, and murder. And it appears that Carter’s next assignment will put him right in this conspiracy’s perilous center . . .

The follow-up to last year’s acclaimed hit, The Mailman, which launched the Mercury Carter series, The Delivery is a fast-paced, unpredictable thriller following a memorable protagonist whose resourcefulness is matched only by his quick wit and determination to never miss a delivery.

Visit Andrew Welsh-Huggins's website.

My Book, The Movie: An Empty Grave.

Q&A with Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

The Page 69 Test: An Empty Grave.

Writers Read: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (April 2023).

My Book, The Movie: The End of the Road.

The Page 69 Test: The End of the Road.

Writers Read: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (November 2024).

My Book, The Movie: Sick to Death.

The Page 69 Test: Sick to Death.

The Page 69 Test: The Mailman.

Writers Read: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (March 2025).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Racializing the Ummah"

New from the University of Minnesota Press: Racializing the Ummah: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown, and White by Rhea Rahman.

About the book, from the publisher:

A robust ethnography of Islamic Relief explores difficult questions about the extensive reach of white supremacy

An ethnography of Islamic Relief (IR), the largest Islamic NGO based in the West, Racializing the Ummah explores how a Muslim organization can do good in a world that defines Muslimness as less than human. Rooted in more than a decade of international research, Rhea Rahman’s study on the organization’s projects, methods, and limitations reveals how racial capitalism permeates all aspects of humanitarianism.

Beginning with a counterhistory of Muslims in the United Kingdom following World War II, Rahman analyzes IR’s mission and transnational activities in and across places including the UK, South Africa, and Mali in the broader context of global white supremacy. She shows how IR’s approaches often effectively secularize Islam to evade anti-Muslim racism and Islamophobia, implicating concepts such as the “good” Muslim aid worker, who complies with War on Terror surveillance while attending to victims of Western colonialism. Meanwhile, Rahman theorizes the tactics of aid workers on the ground, who creatively draw on an Islamic Black radical tradition to drive real change.

Through her engagement with IR and other organizations, Rahman paints a frank, nuanced portrait of the constraints Islamic aid entities face in the effort to disentangle themselves from neocolonialism and Western hegemony. Yet she also locates the possibility of escape from the all-encompassing dictates of racial capitalism in alternative visions of doing good—ones that are grounded in Islam as the foundation of a revolutionary praxis.

--Marshal Zeringue

"To the End of Reckoning"

New from The Mysterious Press: To the End of Reckoning by Joseph Moldover.

About the novel, from the publisher:

After a traumatic brain injury alters a curmudgeonly psychiatrist’s mind—leaving him agitated and confused but obsessively observant—he enlists his reluctant son to help investigate a colleague’s mysterious suicide...

Twenty-three-year-old Lukas Moore has returned to his hometown of Faith, New York, and left his burgeoning acting career behind to care for his father. Dr. Richard Moore is a psychiatrist known for being nearly as misanthropic as he is brilliant, but a recent traumatic brain injury has left him dependent on his begrudgingly attentive son and has changed his worldview in unexpected ways. Attuned to the slightest detail, Dr. Moore now sees mysteries where other people see settled facts—nowhere more so than in the disappearance of his former colleague and neighbor Dr. Jason Grant.

One year ago, Jason’s shoes, watch, and car were found beside a nearby lake and no trace of him has been found since. The obvious conclusion was suicide, despite Jason’s youth, wealth, and successful career as a child psychiatrist. Only two people question his fate: Richard, obsessed with fragments of memory, and Misty, Jason’s younger sister and Lukas’s high school girlfriend.

When Misty asks for the Moores’ help in finding out what really happened to her brother, Lukas takes the chance to resolve his father’s obsession and to reconnect with someone he may still have feelings for. As Lukas, Richard, and Misty are drawn into the puzzle, however, they are forced to confront the secrets behind both Jason’s disappearance and Richard’s injury. Sometimes the deepest mysteries are found in the people we think we know best.

Visit Joseph Moldover's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Truth About Natural Law"

New from Oxford University Press: Truth About Natural Law: History, Theory, Consequences by Brian Z. Tamanaha.

About the book, from the publisher:

Long sidelined in legal discourse, natural law is undergoing a major resurgence in the United States, with dozens of books and articles on the topic, and several sitting judges referring to it in judicial decisions or legal writings. Yet its century-long dormancy has left many jurists and laypeople with a limited and superficial understanding of what natural law is about. Truth About Natural Law addresses this gap, offering an accessible yet critical exploration of the theory, history, and contemporary relevance of natural law.

Brian Z. Tamanaha draws on a wealth of original material to explore the diverse natural law and natural rights positions of prominent past and contemporary authorities. Highlighting the syncretic nature of this tradition, he engages critically with contemporary Aristotelian-Thomists and John Finnis' New Natural Law Theory, offering a critical evaluation of natural law's claims to truth. Rooted in ancient myths of divine law and later adopted by both Catholic doctrine and Western legal thought, Tamanaha demonstrates how natural law played a formative role in shaping Western legal systems-while also being used to justify slavery, the subordination of women, and imperialism. This book offers a vital, timely reappraisal of natural law's legacy and its place in today's legal and political debates.

/>The Page 99 Test: Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Maybe Tomorrow I'll Know"

New from Norton Young Readers: Maybe Tomorrow I'll Know: A Novel by Alex Ritany.

About the book, from the publisher:

A boy is trapped in a time loop―and in a girl’s body―in this heartfelt and wryly humorous love story.

Laurie wakes up in a girl’s body with no memories, driving down an unknown highway, and promptly crashes the car. Thankfully, a handsome stranger named Gideon comes to his rescue. It’s awkward for Laurie to pretend that he’s a girl, but at least this is the scariest thing he’ll ever have to deal with.

Except the next morning―and every morning after―Laurie wakes up barreling down that same highway. He re-meets Gideon every day, with no idea who this girl whose body he’s inhabiting even is. Only one thing is clear: he’s on a countdown. Laurie has been given only one hundred days to get back in the right body, break the time loop, and not fall for Gideon while he does it.

Maybe Tomorrow I’ll Know is a funny, deeply felt exploration of love, identity, and what it means to move through the world in a body that is truly yours.

Visit Alex Ritany's website.

Q&A with Alex Ritany.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Citizen and the Vagabond"

New from the University of Minnesota Press: The Citizen and the Vagabond: A Politics of Mobility by Tim Cresswell.

About the book, from the publisher:

An expansive treatise on the power relations that govern our movement

The Citizen and the Vagabond develops a theoretical approach to the study of mobility and its relationship to the production, maintenance, and transformation of social and cultural hierarchies. Expanding upon his foundational work on the subject, Tim Cresswell examines human movement from around the globe to better understand the various forms of inequality and injustice that shape our lives.

Establishing a framework for movement in terms of rhythm, speed, routes, and friction, Cresswell extends these themes to address the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, exploring what this turbulent period reveals to us about the politics of mobility. He demonstrates that while flexibility and ease of movement are typically considered markers of personal freedom, increased mobility brings with it new modes of control and surveillance. As he investigates the hierarchies and embodied experiences that emerge amid these tensions, Cresswell employs two figures: the citizen, whose mobility within and across borders is expected and accepted, and the vagabond, whose perpetual mobility is deemed suspect and in need of ordering.

In conversation with the work of theorists such as Mimi Sheller, Zygmunt Bauman, Paul Virilio, Henri Lefebvre, Ivan Illich, and Anna Tsing, Cresswell reaches beyond geography to incorporate insights from the humanities and social sciences. An interdisciplinary intervention into the study of mobility and citizenship, The Citizen and the Vagabond provides a new set of coordinates from which to grasp the shifting dynamics of movement and power.

Visit Tim Cresswell's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Leave Your Mess at Home"

New from Pamela Dorman Books: Leave Your Mess at Home: A Novel by Tolani Akinola.

About the novel, from the publisher:

The Longe siblings are really botching their parents' American Dream.

Sola Longe, eldest daughter, estranged from the family, is secretly back home in Chicago for the first time in a decade. She’s a newly single and recently disgraced influencer trying to quietly put her life back together again. The other three Longe siblings aren't doing much better.

Anjola is in love with her best friend, who just got engaged to someone else; Karen, a college junior and the baby of the family, is grappling with her sexuality and self-image; and Ola, the golden child with a baby of his own on the way, is questioning his marriage and how to raise a Black son in America.

Sola’s unexpected return sets them on a crash course towards each other, and when the four siblings find themselves together again at their Nigerian immigrant parents' Thanksgiving table, a decade’s worth of secrets and a lifetime of resentments explode to the fore.

In the wreckage of their fateful reunion, each Longe is forced to reckon with the past, take stock of what really matters, and find a way back to each other. Big-hearted, hilarious, and wise, Leave Your Mess At Home is a poignant exploration of forgiveness, unconditional love, and becoming who you want to be, asking the question: what do we owe to our families, and what do we owe to ourselves?

Visit Tolani Akinola's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Making Care Work"

New from the University of California Press: Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First by Nancy Folbre.

About the book, from the publisher:

A bold critique of conventional economics that reveals why the time and money we devote to care work is vital to our economic future.

Our economy is much bigger than the dollar value of things we buy and sell. It depends on us—our health, our creativity, and our moral commitments. These capabilities don't have price tags but are crucial to a sustainable future. We need to acknowledge and reward the value of caring for ourselves and others, especially our children, our elderly, and those experiencing illness or disability.

From leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work provides a compelling historical and economic account of care provision in the United States. Folbre traces the long and colorful history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work "counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable today, she argues that more attention to the public benefits of care provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement policies that put people first.

In this comprehensive and bold book, Folbre upends conventional economic thinking and maps a hopeful path toward a more equitable and sustainable economy.

Visit Nancy Folbre's website.

--Marhsal Zeringue

"Storm Warning"

New from William Morrow: Storm Warning: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series, 5) by Alice Henderson.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter jumps at the chance to work with hawksbill turtles in Hawaii, only to face an unthinkable threat that endangers countless lives in the captivating latest entry of the acclaimed series by Alice Henderson.

Alex Carter is thrilled to be in lush, tropical Hawaii for her new assignment: to study and protect hawksbill turtles. From global warming to poaching to the simple fragility of a turtle’s nest, these creatures are under constant threat. And as excited as Alex is to swim, explore, and relax, she’s also ready to be these turtles’ fiercest protector.

Alex looks forward to a break from the danger of her past assignments, but soon finds that environmental crime can happen anywhere, even in a Hawaiian paradise. As a massive hurricane approaches, armed thieves storm onto the beach where Alex and her volunteers are desperately trying to move turtle eggs to safety out of the storm surge.

When the gunmen take one of her volunteers hostage and Alex tracks them to a nearby paleontology museum, Alex suspects that there’s more to these mysterious criminals than meets the eye and that the repercussions of their success will extend far beyond the shores of the Big Island. Whatever their treacherous plot may be, Alex must scramble to protect the turtles, her friends, and the world at large… before irreversible damage is done.

Visit Alice Henderson's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Vanishing Kind.

My Book, The Movie: The Vanishing Kind.

Q&A with Alice Henderson.

--Marshal Zeringue