There are great book covers. And then there are the other ones.
Certain genres have better covers than others. Romance, with all its bright, illustrated images and pleasantly punning names, is one of myfavorites. Science-fictionalways has stunning visuals. And business, well, is all-business. (While Idon’t really want to learn more about why I lack wealth, I appreciate the blunt coverstyle of books like, “Money! Now! You!” andcould surely use some help.)
Or maybe you just like the range of books that useCaspar David Friedrich’s painting “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” on the front.Theseinclude editions of Mary Shelley’s“Frankenstein,” Hari Kunzru’s “Red Pill” and Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” A Goodreads list ticks off more than 33 books that have put the painting on the cover, including the one where I first saw it used: Paul Johnson’s “The Birth of the Modern.”
So there are good covers, bad covers and covers featuringthesamepainting. But what about covers that stop you dead with their inexplicable weirdness?
“Dasgroße Jazzbuch,” or “The Big Jazzbook: From New Orleans to Jazz Rock” is … one of the latter, I’d guess. I came across a copy this week whilepeering into the local Little Free Libraries as I walked the dog.
Before picking it up, I said to myself: Come on, you don’t even read German. But then thought: There’s asprouting tree in the shape of a trumpet.While it’s likely to be a catch-and-release title, one toperuse a bit beforedepositing into yet another Little Free Library, it obviously demanded further study.
This jumpingjazz juniper did something else, though. Itreminded me that there’s been a handful ofbooks recentlythat might appeal to anyone interested in the music, personalities andcool milieu of thisgreat Americanartform that I love.
So if you saw that twig trumpet and wondered if I was going to segue intoa mercifully brief dose of jazzcontent, let me just say, “Ich werde dich nicht enttäuschen.” (Or, as you doubtlessly understood, “I won’t let you down.”)
“3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane and the Lost Empire of Cool” by James Kaplan (Penguin Press)
Kaplan, who has written books on Irving Berlin and Frank Sinatra,exploresa fascinating moment in which three greats came together to make one of the best – as well as the bestselling – jazz albums of all time, 1959’s “Kind of Blue.”
“Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year”by Paul Alexander
This biographer of J.D. Salinger and Sylvia Plath usesthe final year of the singer’s life as a jumping-off point to explore her music, career, drug addiction and more.
“The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965” by W. Eugene Smith and Sam Stephenson
This large-format book collects the work of Smith, a photographer who hosted all-night jam sessions and recorded them on audioand withphotos. Mixing images of musicians such as Thelonious Monk and shots ofmidcentury Manhattan, it includes transcriptions of conversations among the musicians.
“The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins” Edited by Sam V.H. Reese (NYRB)
The 93-year-old saxophonist is one of America’sgreats, and this just-published volume distills the writing he did for himself.It begins in 1959 when he stepped away from his career to practice, sometimes for 15 hours a day, on the Williamsburg Bridge. While the book is probably more for die-hard fans, it could send you to your nearest vinyl recording or streaming service to listen to his albums “The Bridge,” “Saxophone Colossus” or “Way Out West.”
“Tokyo Jazz Joints” by Philip Arneill (Kehrer)
The name of the book says it all. This evocative book of photos shows the jazz cafes of Japan’s largest city (novelist Haruki Murakami used to run one). But unlike images of today’s high-tech Tokyo, these show the insides of intimate spaces where fans can drink and soak in the music.
Looking for other recent titles? I’ve already written about “Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound” if you’re looking for a graphic novel about the musician, but I’m also interested in “The History of Bones” by saxophonist/artist John Lurie and “Formation: Building a Personal Canon” by pianist Brad Mehldau.
Why this author is waiting for the graphic novel adaptation of her own book
While studying at UCLA, Elsa Devienne was intrigued by the story behind Los Angeles’ beaches. Her research into this history led to a PhD and her book “Sand Rush: The Revival of the Beach in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles.” Devienne spoke to contributor Liz Ohanesian and shares what she’s been reading.
Q. Is there a book that you always recommend to others?
I often recommend bell hook’s “All About Love” to students and friends of mine who find themselves in difficult romantic relationships. hooks wrote her book for Black women in particular, but we can all learn from her insights. In the book, she deconstructs the Hollywood expectations of love and she gives us her definition, which has helped me immensely over the years: “Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust.”
More recently, I recommended Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s “Notes on Grief” to a friend who lost a dear relative who lived far away. The book is about how she grieved her father in the immediate aftermath of his sudden death in Nigeria, during the pandemic. Now that I have found the love hooks talked about, I’m at the age where I contemplate the stomach-turning thought of one day having to grieve my parents and, as I’ve always done, I turn to books for help.
Q. What are you reading right now?
I am reading Kiley Reid’s latest novel “Come and Get It.” Her debut, “Such a Fun Age,” proved she was a sharp observer of race relations in contemporary America. As in her first novel, it focuses on the unhealthy obsession of a middle-class White woman with a younger Black woman and the ways in which race, social status, and money shape how we experience the world. This is also a campus novel, which is a genre I enjoy for its humorous takes on academia. I’m just getting into it but it promises to spare no one.
Q. Is there a genre that you read most frequently?
I live in the UK and I love reading modern American fiction because it keeps me in touch with the people and place I study and teach for a living.
But my favorite genre is actually graphic novels, particularly historical or autobiographic ones. I knew almost nothing about Cuban history when I recently read “Castro” by Reinhard Kleist, a vivid biography of the Cuban leader from his childhood up until present day. If I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t have picked up a Cuban history book of my own volition, but Kleist’s book is carefully researched and beautifully rendered graphically. Now I want to know more about Cuban history and literature so it’s an incredibly powerful tool to discover new topics.
I also recently read the graphic novel based on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital and Ideology” (adapted by Claire Let and illustrated by Benjamin Adam). No offense to my French compatriot, but I couldn’t face reading the book (in my defense, it is 1,150 pages). Instead, I devoured the graphic novel adaptation. My dream is to have one of my books adapted into a graphic novel.
Q. What’s your all-time favorite book?
I’m going to have to go with a comfort read: I love re-reading David Sedaris’ “Me Talk Pretty One Day.” The fact that it includes hilarious stories about Sedaris navigating life in France as an endearing, if clueless, American makes it a particularly enjoyable read for this French person!
Q. What’s next on your reading list?
I’ve just requested the 2024 book “Piglet”by Lottie Hazel from my local library and I’m hoping I get off the waiting list soon (local libraries are the best!). It’s a highly anticipated debut by a young British novelist. All I know is that it has a main female protagonist and it’s about food. And, of course, since it’s set in Britain, there should be some interesting commentary on the class system.
More books, authors and bestsellers
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‘Blue’ Clues
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Book pitch
Why Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw agreed to a new biography.READ MORE
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Remembering Alice Munro
the beloved Canadian author, revered as short story master, dies at 92.READ MORE
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Arbor and ardor
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Supreme justice
Dan Bernstein’s book about the Riverside Press-Enterprise’s legal victory winsaward.READ MORE
Next on ‘Bookish’
Today, May 17th, at 5 p.m. Adam Gopnik, author of “All That is Happiness” andSuzanne Park, author of “One Last Word” are the guests onBookish.Sign up for free now.
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