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New & Notable Nonfiction: October 2012 (page 2)

Cover art for A FREE MAN
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 22, 2012
Kirkus Star A FREE MAN: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE AND DEATH IN DELHI
by Aman Sethi
"Alternately sad, defiant, carefree and understated, this journey into a world hidden in plain sight is well worth taking."
A journalist ingratiates himself with a band of day laborers on the mean streets of Delhi, India. Read full book review >
Cover art for MASTER OF THE MOUNTAIN
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
Kirkus Star MASTER OF THE MOUNTAIN: THOMAS JEFFERSON AND HIS SLAVES
by Henry Wiencek
"Beautifully constructed reflections and careful sifting of Jefferson's thoughts and deeds."
A well-rendered yet deeply unsettling look behind the illusion of the happy slaves of Monticello. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE BIG SCREEN
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
Kirkus Star THE BIG SCREEN: THE STORY OF THE MOVIES
by David Thomson
"A profound and richly satisfying reckoning with the movies and what they mean."
Thomson (The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder, 2009, etc.) brings his encyclopedic knowledge of film and idiosyncratic, allusive style to bear on this ambitious consideration of the history of motion pictures and their effect on the audience. Read full book review >
Cover art for WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
Kirkus Star WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS: ESSAYS FROM THE CLASSICS TO POP CULTURE
by Daniel Mendelsohn
"Incisive, reflective and unfailingly stimulating. It wouldn't hurt Mendelsohn to occasionally pass up an opportunity to remind readers he's the smartest guy in the room, but then again, he almost always is."
Another top-notch collection of previously published criticism from Mendelsohn (How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken, 2008, etc.). Read full book review >
Cover art for THE OLD WAYS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 15, 2012
Kirkus Star THE OLD WAYS: A JOURNEY ON FOOT
by Robert Macfarlane
"A breathtaking study of "walking as enabling sight and thought rather than encouraging retreat and escape.""
Macfarlane (English/Cambridge Univ.; The Wild Places, 2008, etc.) returns with another masterful, poetic travel narrative. Read full book review >
Cover art for HELLO, GORGEOUS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Star HELLO, GORGEOUS: BECOMING BARBRA STREISAND
by William J. Mann
"Even though we know the answers to most of the questions--Will our heroine win the coveted role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl? Will she live happily ever after with her Prince Charming, Elliott Gould?--this book makes getting to them a treat."
Hollywood chronicler Mann (How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, 2010, etc.) divulges the blood, sweat and tears that propelled a diva's rise to stardom. Read full book review >