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Some New Arrivals

Twain's said to have said something that seems about right, right about now, about summer in San Francisco. Let's hope the seasons change soon so we might taste at least one of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (Random House, 2010, hardcover, $26). The book's fully deserving of all the praise heaped on it, as are his earlier books, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, et al, all back in stock. Check him out before vacation's over and you've got to be reminded of all The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, by Alain de Botton (Vintage, 2010, paperback, $15.95). It's not all bad, not all that bad, at least; to tell the truth, he manages to make it all make a little more sense, from the rocket scientist to the biscuit maker, accountant to artiste.

And of this last archetype, there haven't been many more influential in the last half century than Ed Ruscha, photographer (Steidl, 2006, hardcover, $35), who is, of course, better known for his Fifty Years of Painting (DAP, 2009, boxed, $65). His work has been tangled up with the culture of the American West in such a way as might even warrant its being called an Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin, 2009, paperback, $16.00), who's by no means innocent of like accusations. Nonetheless, they've both a sort of grave levity, lavish gravity you just can't escape.

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Speaking of gravity, and graves, and perhaps having one foot in, two new books just might help us defy all our recent history and climb back out, and maybe even up, because no matter how Ill Fares the Land, by Tony Judt (Penguin, 2010, hardcover, $25.95) there will still always be Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky (Haymarket, 2010, paperback, $16). There will always be Dreams in a Time of War, by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (Pantheon, 2010, hardcover, $24.95).

So then, now seems as good a time as any to consider what might be, consider what's missing, consider the elisions, consider The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, 2010, paperback, $16.99).

Take a walk down along memory lane, or the avenues of progress, or Red Hook Road, by Ayelet Waldman (Doubleday, 2010, hardcover, $25.95). However you do it, just get on down here to browse awhile. Who knows what might pique your interest. There's so much to read, and you've more time than you may think.

Don't forget, we now have our very own annual publication! AMERARCANA: A Bird & Beckett Review was innaugurated earlier this year and we're just beginning to muse about the next issue. More information on the project can be found right here.