News - Book Launches

News - Book Launches

June 10, 2022

Rebecca Rukeyser’s debut novel THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH published this week to great press. Apartment Therapy featured the book as a June must-read, praising it as “a bristling, lusty coming-of-age tale.” Meanwhile, Lit Hub featured the book on its summer roundup, with Lit Hub Senior Editor Jessie Gaynor raving: “I can’t deny that there’s something enormously satisfying about reading a book that evokes a place—particularly one I’ve never been—with both tenderness and specificity. Such is the great pleasure of Rebecca Rukeyser’s debut novel.” Doubleday published the novel on June 7, 2022.

May 13, 2022

Kim Kelly’s new book, FIGHT LIKE HELL, is enjoying a whirlwind of positive press following its publication. Kelly sat down with Vogue to discuss the book, which interviewer Emma Specter refers to as “a timely ode to the labor movement” that "carefully situates the current resurgence of union power within its historical context...with depth and nuance.” The book received generous praise in a review from Publishers Weekly: “Journalist and union organizer Kelly debuts with a rousing look at the contributions of marginalized groups to the U.S. labor movement…Shedding new light on key players and episodes within a diverse range of industries—from textile and trucking to sex work—this invigorating labor history is also a powerful call for today’s workers to fight for their rights.” Meanwhile, The Washington Monthly notes its success in addressing issues on the macro level (“call[ing] out the hypocrisy of advertising the availability of the American Dream as available to all then denying some people the opportunity to work”) and the micro level (“an inspired instruction manual for labor organizers”), while a starred review from Library Journal declares that “this accessible, inspiring, and instructive read belongs in school libraries, in university classrooms, and in general readers’ hands for its lessons about workers’ united power and the unfinished business of workplace justice.” The book has been featured as a must-read title by The Philadelphia Inquirer, PW Daily, CNN, The New York Times, Bustle, Thrillist, and more, and excerpts have appeared in The Washington Post, Engadget, and Teen Vogue online. One Signal Publishers published FIGHT LIKE HELL on April 26, 2022.

May 13, 2022

THE MOVEMENT MADE US by David Dennis, Jr. in collaboration with his father, David Dennis, Sr., published this week to much fanfare. Andscape published an excerpt from THE MOVEMENT MADE US titled “The night a veiled threat encouraged a white mob to leave a Black church alone.” Dennis Jr. participated in interviews with the podcasts For Colored Nerds, Reckon Mag, and Edge of Sports, as well as ESPN’s Around the Horn and The Right Time with Bomani Jones, before beginning a book tour with a string of independent booksellers across the American South. Harper published THE MOVEMENT MADE US on May 10, 2022.

April 14, 2022

Samantha Hunt’s highly-anticipated nonfiction debut THE UNWRITTEN BOOK received a flurry of outstanding press following its publication. In a rave review for the Los Angeles Times, WHAT MY MOTHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT author Michele Filgate writes: “To attempt to categorize THE UNWRITTEN BOOK is to diminish the effect of reading it. Hunt studied geology, and her fascination with the bedrock of the natural world overlaps with her elemental love of storytelling…THE UNWRITTEN BOOK is by turns mesmerizing, philosophical and funny.” The New York Times ran a profile on Hunt titled “A Novelist Revisits Her ‘Haunted’ Childhood Home,” in which Hunt shared: “My father liked puzzle books and tricks and games…so he would be happy to think that something strange happened with his work.” Esquire featured the book on its list of “The Best Books of Spring 2022,” praising Hunt as “[o]ne of our most gifted practitioners of the short story” and the book itself as “[e]erie, profound, and daring…a book only the inimitable Hunt could write.” Lastly, Hunt sat down for an interview with BOMB Magazine about her writing process. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published the book on April 5, 2022.

April 1, 2022

Nada Alic will release a short film series inspired by her forthcoming debut short story collection BAD THOUGHTS on April 7. The films, based on three stories from the collection, will premiere at the Neuehouse Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles. The premiere will involve a screening of the series, directed by Brandon Tauszi, as well as readings and performances from Anna Seregina, Allie Rowbottom, Tea Hacic, and others. Additionally, Astra Magazine will feature the story “This Is Heaven” from BAD THOUGHTS in their inaugural issue, which will publish on April 12, 2022. Vintage will publish BAD THOUGHTS on July 12, 2022.

March 11, 2022

Election-law professor Rick Hasen appeared on the Slate podcast Amicus with Dahlia Lithwick to discuss his latest book, CHEAP SPEECH, and “the speech that’s undermining elections, and what to do about it.” Yale University Press published the book on March 8, 2022.

March 4, 2022

THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE by Tara Isabella Burton is accumulating a wealth of positive press in the lead-up to its publication. The novel was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s must-read list for March, praised as “equal parts dangerous and delicious.” Vogue describes the novel as “THE SECRET HISTORY meets THE PRICE OF SALT,” while The Millions describes it as “THE SECRET HISTORY meets FIGHT CLUB, but younger, more feminine, more queer,” and Harper’s Bazaar “THE GIRLS meets FIGHT CLUB...plung[ing] readers into a vortex of dark academia and queer desire." Booklist’s review of the novel raves: “Burton writes with a heart-stopping understanding of the micro-dynamics among adolescents still uncentered at their cores. The insular campus setting and small scenes in crypts, libraries, and dorm rooms contain big emotions and powerful dialogue...Burton skillfully offers readers treacherous and believable adolescent experiences surrounding sex and suicide.” Lastly, Vanity Fair’s March preview praising the way “Burton harnesses the fresh desire of teenage-dom in this story of a boarding school on the coast of Maine.” Simon & Schuster will publish the book on March 8, 2022.

February 25, 2022

OUR AMERICAN FRIEND by Anna Pitoniak received a flurry of critical acclaim following its publication last week. In a starred review from Booklist, reviewer Stephanie Turza writes: “Pitoniak has glazed current events with an intriguing veneer of fiction…[She] skillfully drives the pace of the novel forward in multiple time lines, letting characters emerge and recede…Exploring interpersonal loyalties and the difference between cowardice and patience, the well-researched and twist-FILLED OUR AMERICAN FRIEND is a natural next-read for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld, A. Natasha Joukovsky, and Stacey Swann.” The book also received a glowing review from Justine Harman for The New York Times: “From its very first sentence, [OUR AMERICAN FRIEND] wastes no time hitting a dramatic note…[Pitoniak] skilfully nests each Russian doll inside the next, keeping each chapter of the story intact as she builds a new one around it. The result is an elegant and well paced ‘thriller’…Like EMILY IN PARIS meets SCANDAL — fantastic fun.” The Christian Science Monitor placed the novel at #3 on its list of “Tales of Courage and Grit Lead the 10 Books of February.” Lastly, Pitoniak appeared on MSNBC to discuss the real-life world events that inspired the novel. Simon & Schuster published the novel on February 15, 2022.

February 25, 2022

Wayne Koestenbaum’s ULTRAMARINE published this week to a stunning review from the Poetry Foundation. Reviewer David Woo writes: “In ULTRAMARINE, the third volume of his ‘trance' diaries, the poet, essayist, painter, queer gadfly, erudite aesthete, and conflicted moralist Wayne Koestenbaum assembles 474 pages of brief thoughts, dreams, and observations… I especially loved his representations of ephemeral cultural phenomena…ULTRAMARINE amply succeeds in animating the reader to move into the sphere of the poet’s otherness.” Koestenbaum also sat down for an in-depth interview with Tony Leuzzi of The Brooklyn Rail to discuss ULTRAMARINE, which Leuzzi calls “enthrall[ing] and “brim[ming] with quotable moments.” Nightboat Books published the book on February 22, 2022.

February 25, 2022

IN SENSORIUM by Tanaïs continues to enjoy positive press following its publication this week. Akwaeke Emezi recommended the book for ELLE magazine’s Shelf-Life feature. They chose the book as the one that “sits on [their] nightstand,” praising Tanaïs as “brilliant” and the book as “an incredible and evocative text that [they] can’t wait to drown in.” Lit Hub also highlighted the book on its list of “20 New Books to Dive into This Week.” Harper published the book on February 22, 2022.