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LATEST ISSUE OF
Kirkus Reviews
Best-seller Jeannette Walls talks about mining her own history for her new novel, The Silver Star.
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Best Nonfiction of 2012: The Top 25 (page 3)

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Cover art for THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS
NONFICTION
Released: June 7, 2012
Kirkus Star THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS: A HISTORY OF LIFE AND DEATH
by Jill Lepore
"A superb examination of the never-ending effort to enhance life, as well as the commensurate refusal to ever let it go."
A sharp, illuminating history of ideas showing how America has wrestled with birth, childhood, work, marriage, old age and death. Read full book review >
Cover art for DARWIN'S GHOSTS
NONFICTION
Released: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Star DARWIN'S GHOSTS: THE SECRET HISTORY OF EVOLUTION
by Rebecca Stott
"Stott masterfully shows how Darwin, by discovering the mechanism of natural selection, made a unique contribution, but he did not stand alone—nor did he claim to."
Stott (English Literature and Creative Writing/Univ. of East Anglia; The Coral Thief, 2009, etc.) conjures up the spirits of Darwin's scientific predecessors in this excellent follow-up to Darwin and the Barnacle (2003). Read full book review >
Cover art for WINTER JOURNAL
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Star WINTER JOURNAL
by Paul Auster
"A consummate professional explores the attic of his life, converting rumination to art."
The acclaimed novelist (Sunset Park, 2010, etc.), now 65, writes affectingly about his body, family, lovers, travels and residences as he enters what he calls the winter of his life. Read full book review >
Cover art for FIRE IN THE ASHES
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Star FIRE IN THE ASHES: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AMONG THE POOREST CHILDREN IN AMERICA
by Jonathan Kozol
"Cleareyed, compassionate and hopeful."
The award-winning author of Death at an Early Age (1967) tells the stories of the later lives of poor children who grew up in the Bronx. Read full book review >
Cover art for MORTALITY
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012
Kirkus Star MORTALITY
by Christopher Hitchens
"Certainly, Hitchens died too soon. May this moving little visit to his hospital room not be the last word from him."
A jovially combative riposte to anyone who thought that death would silence master controversialist Hitchens (Hitch-22, 2010, etc.). Read full book review >
Cover art for ON A FARTHER SHORE
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012
Kirkus Star ON A FARTHER SHORE: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF RACHEL CARSON
by William Souder
"A poignant, galvanizing, meaningful tribute."
Fifty years after the publication of Rachel Carson's seminal Silent Spring, Pulitzer Prize nominee Souder (Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of The Birds of America, 2004, etc.) examines the legacy and lasting impact of Carson's passionate environmental work. Read full book review >