NEW RELEASES (22.3.24)
The following books have arrived this week and are awaiting your attention. Click through to place your orders and we will have them in your hands very soon!
The Earth Is Falling by Carmen Pellegrino (translated from Italian by Shaun Whiteside) $38
The Earth is Falling is a haunting and magical novel based around the existence of an abandoned village outside Naples. The deserted houses that still stand there are peopled with ghosts who live in a perpetual present from which time has effectively been abolished. The village appears to be semi-alive; the landslide which ominously awaits and which will eventually lead to the abandonment of the place has yet to arrive (yet its rumbles are heard). Pellegrino peoples Alento with eccentrics, luminaries, an eternally optimistic town crier. In the closing pages, the narrator Estella summons the remaining ghosts for a final dinner. The overall effect is unsettling, haunting and uncanny, the trapped souls doomed to repeat their circumscribed daily life for ever, cut off from the world but dimly aware of its continued presence outside. The pervading mood of nostalgia and melancholy works in stark contrast with the inevitability of the impending catastrophe of the landslide that threatens to obliterate their world forever. Beautifully written.
”What people: so vibrant and vital, if ghosts can be described as such. What a place: precarious yet utterly certain in Carmen Pellegrino’s vivid, poetic rendering. And what a book: melancholy, elegant, original and in its own particular way, totally seductive.” —Wendy Erskine
Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse (translated from Nynorsk by Damion Searls) $30
A child who will be named Johannes is born. An old man named Johannes dies. Between these two points, Jon Fosse gives us the details of an entire life, starkly compressed. Beginning with Johannes's father's thoughts as his wife goes into labor, and ending with Johannes's own thoughts as he embarks upon a day in his life when everything is exactly the same, yet totally different, Morning and Evening is a novel concerning the beautiful dream that our lives have meaning.
”He touches you so deeply when you read him, and when you have read one work you have to continue. What is special with him is the closeness in his writing. It touches on the deepest feelings that you have — anxieties, insecurities, questions of life and death — such things that every human being actually confronts from the very beginning. In that sense I think he reaches very far and there is a sort of a universal impact of everything that he writes. And it doesn't matter if it is drama, poetry or prose — it has the same kind of appeal to this basic humanness.” —Anders Olsson, Nobel committee
"He has a surgeon's ability to use the scalpel and to cut into the most prosaic, everyday happenings, to tear loose fragments from life, to place them under the microscope and examine them minutely, in order to present them afterward. The results are sometimes so endlessly desolate, dark, and fearful that Kafka himself would have been frightened." —Aftenposten
The End of August by Yu Miri (translated from Japanese by Morgan Giles) $55
In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-Cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But he would have had to run under the Japanese flag. Nearly a century later, his granddaughter is living in Japan and training to run a marathon herself. With the help of powerful Korean shamans, she summons the spirit of Lee Woo-Cheol only to be immersed in the memories of her grandfather, his brother, Lee Woo-Gun, and their neighbour, a young teen who was tricked into becoming a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers. A meditative dance of generations, The End of August is a semi-autobiographical investigation into nationhood and family - what you are born into and what is imposed. Yu Miri's distinct prose, rhythmically translated by Morgan Giles, explores the minutiae of generational trauma, shedding light on the postwar migration of Koreans to Japan.
“One thing Yu can do is write. She is simultaneously a social outcast and a literary star, a dark, brooding presence on the bookshelves. A creative genius.” —The New York Times
“Morgan Giles's translation of Yu Miri's The End of August reads at a breathlessly swift pace despite, or because of, the painstakingly meticulous care put into every word and line. Yu's rich storytelling never loses its pace as Giles relays her depiction of the resilience of the Korean nation through the tragic consequences of colonialism that reverberate to this day.” —Anton Hur
My Brilliant Sister by Amy Brown $38
Stella Miles Franklin’s autobiographical novel My Brilliant Career launched one of the most famous names in Australian letters. Funny, bold, often biting about its characters, the novel and its young author had a lot in common. Miles went on to live a large, fiercely independent and bohemian life of travel, art and freedom. Not so her beloved sister Linda. Quiet, contained, conventional, Linda was an inversion of Stella. A family peacemaker who married the man Stella would not, bore a son and died of pneumonia at 25. In this reflective, witty and revealing novel, Amy Brown rescues Linda, setting her in counterpoint with Stella, and with the lives of two contemporary women: Ida, a writer whose writing life is on hold as she teaches and raises her young daughter; and Stella, a singer-songwriter who has sacrificed everything for a career, now forcibly put on hold. Binding the two is the novella that Linda might have written to her sister Stella – a brilliant alternative vision of My Brilliant Career. Innovative and involving, My Brilliant Sister is an utterly convincing (and hilarious) portrait of Miles Franklin and a moving, nuanced exploration of the balance women still have to strike between careers and family lives.
”A creative triumph.” —The Guardian
”A rich, playful meditation on art, domesticity, wildness and the struggle to be understood — I loved it.’ —Emily Perkins
The Tailor Shop at the Intersection illustrated and written by Ahn Jaesun (translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell) $40
“Why do Westerners wear leashes around their necks?” When Deokgu opens a brand new tailor shop in town in the early 20th century, all of Seoul is skeptical of his Western styles. Who would want to wear such funny-looking suits? But Deokgu remains devoted to his craft, and it's not long before the shop begins to flourish, becoming a beloved fixture in the community. The Tailor Shop at the Intersection follows three generations of tailors weaving themselves and their business into the fabric of their community in a rapidly changing Seoul, and stress the irreplaceable value of individuality, creativity, and care. “A single suit contains the lives of the person who makes it and the person who wears it.”
Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom by Grace Blakeley $39
All over the world, democracy is in crisis. Liberal political systems are straining under the pressure imposed by authoritarian strong men undermining institutions, the rule of law and the international system that governs relations between countries. Obvious examples include Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, but these issues stretch around the world from Brazil, to Hungary, to the Philippines. People see this liberal collapse stemming from 'populist' leaders, working class voters and rogue states. But what if the threat to liberal democracy does not come from the outside, but from within? Liberal democracy and free market capitalism always go hand in hand but it is capitalism that is responsible for the crisis of liberalism. In the modern world, democracy and competition have been replaced with oligarchy and monopoly. What we are left with is corporatocracy — societies governed by a tight-knit cartel of big monopolies, financiers, states and international institutions. From technology to food, healthcare to capital, the decisions made by senior execs at the top of the world's most powerful corporations increasingly determine the conditions of life for everyone else. In Vulture Capitalism, Grace Blakeley takes on the world's most powerful corporations by showing how the causes of our modern crisis are a result of our capitalist system. And she shows how it is too full of contradictions for it to even be 'fixed' instead, it must be replaced.
”A galvanising takedown of neoliberalism's ‘free market’ logic, one rooted as much in history as it is in current events. Blakeley's argument is well researched, clear and devastating. Most important of all, she charts a path forward based in hope, democracy and liberation.“ —Naomi Klein
”Brilliantly exposes the lie at the heart of capitalism — that there is no alternative — and systematically demolishes the myths that bolster its power. Rigorous and forensic, this ultimately hopeful book hands us the keys to redesign our own destiny. Another world is possible — and Grace Blakeley expertly charts the roadmap to reach it.” —Caroline Lucas
”Grace Blakeley shows how it is the logic of ultra-monopoly capitalism, rather than greed of the elite or money politics, that is at the root of our socio-economic problems. Using sharp theoretical arguments and instructive real life examples, she tells us that only greater collectivism and a democracy that goes beyond the ballot box will allow us to create a system that can restrain that logic and make society better. Read this book if you want to make fundamental changes to the world.” —Ha-Joon Chang
The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata (translated from Japanese by Haydn Trowell) $40
With the Second World War only a few years in the past, and Japan still reeling from its effects, two sisters — born to the same father but different mothers — struggle to make sense of the new world in which they are coming of age. Asako, the younger, has become obsessed with locating a third sibling, while also experiencing love for the first time. While Momoko, their father's first child — haunted by the loss of her kamikaze boyfriend and their final, disturbing days together — seeks comfort in a series of unhealthy romances. And both sisters find themselves unable to outrun the legacies of their late mothers. A thoughtful, probing novel about the enduring traumas of war, the unbreakable bonds of family and the inescapability of the past, The Rainbow is a searing, melancholy work from this superb writer.
”It is impossible to understand the soul of Japan without reading Yasunari Kawabata. Snow Country is his greatest hit, a beautiful novel that both reflected and shaped Japanese culture, but The Rainbow — translated into English for the first time — is Kawabata's missing classic. The Rainbow is where modern Japan begins - a nation born again in the shadow of the nuclear mushroom cloud, and in its bitter-sweet tale of two sisters is also the story of a nation struggling to find a way to live in the rubble and ruins. As always with Japan's greatest novelist, his themes — the bonds of family, wounds that will never heal , love that endures and loser boyfriends — are painfully universal. A book for anyone who loves Japan, or great story-telling, or both. Dazzling, brilliant, unmissable.” —Tony Parsons
Where the Lost Ones Go by Akemi Dawn Bowman $20
Eliot is grieving Babung, her paternal grandmother who just died, and she feels like she's the only one. She's less than excited to move to her new house, which smells like lemons and deception, and is searching for a sign, any sign, that ghosts are real. Because if ghosts are real, it means she can find a way back to Babung. When Eliot chases the promise of paranormal activity to the presumably haunted Honeyfield Hall, she finds her proof of spirits. But these ghosts are losing their memory, stuck between this world and the next, waiting to cross over. With the help of Hazel, the granddaughter of Honeyfield's owner (and Eliot's new crush), she attempts to uncover the mystery behind Honeyfield Hall and the ghosts residing within. And as Eliot fits the pieces together, she may just be able to help the spirits remember their pasts, and hold on to her grandmother's memory.
"Full of heart and captivating from start to finish, Where the Lost Ones Go takes the sharp pieces of grief and molds them into a story full of warm, radiant love. With both the fantastical elements and profoundness of a Miyazaki film, it's a story that'll stick with me for a long time." —Lyla Lee
The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown by Adam Welz $47
The stories we usually tell ourselves about climate change tend to focus on the damage inflicted on human societies by big storms, severe droughts, and rising sea levels. But the most powerful impacts are being and will be felt by the natural world and its myriad species, which are already in the midst of the sixth great extinction. Rising temperatures are fracturing ecosystems that took millions of years to evolve, disrupting the life forms they sustain — and in many cases driving them towards extinction. The natural Eden that humanity inherited is quickly slipping away. Although we can never really know what a creature thinks or feels, The End of Eden invites the reader to meet wild species on their own terms in a range of ecosystems that span the globe. Combining classic natural history, firsthand reportage, and insights from research, Adam Welz brings us close to creatures like moose in northern Maine, parrots in Puerto Rico, cheetahs in Namibia, and rare fish in Australia as they struggle to survive. The stories are intimate yet expansive and always dramatic. An exquisitely written and deeply researched exploration of wild species reacting to climate breakdown, The End of Eden offers a radical new kind of environmental journalism that connects humans to nature in a more empathetic way.
"At once an elegy and an exhortation." —Elizabeth Kolbert
Chugga Tugga Tugboat by Sally Sutton and Sarah Wilkins $21
What a lot of jobs a tugboat has to do in a busy city port! Will it ever get some time off? Spend the day at the port with a very busy tugboat in this colourful picture book, perfect for preschoolers fascinated with boats and ships. Chugga tugga tugboat, chugging out to sea, Can't you, won't you, play with me? No, I'm too busy with this tanker. Splish splosh, wish wash, TOOT TOOT TOOT! Chugga tugga tugboat, chugging out to sea, Can't you, won't you, play with me? No, I'm too busy with this cruise ship. Splish splosh, wish wash, TOOT TOOT TOOT! Appealing illustrations by Sarah Wilkins.
Relic (‘Object Lessons’ series) by Ed Simon $25
Every culture, every religion, every era has enshrined otherwise regular objects with a significance which stretches beyond their literal importance. Whether the bone of a Catholic martyr, the tooth of a Buddhist lama, or the cloak of a Sufi saint, relics are material conduits to the immaterial world. Yet relics aren't just a feature of religion. The exact same sense of the transcendent animates objects of political, historical, and cultural significance. From Abraham Lincoln's death mask to Vladimir Lenin's embalmed corpse, Emily Dickinson's envelopes to Jimi Hendrix's guitar pick, relics are the objects which the faithful understand as being more than just objects. Material things of sacred importance, relics are indicative of a culture's deepest values.
Cabarets of Death: Death, Dance and Dining in Early Twentieth-Century Paris by Mel Gordon and Joanna Ebenstein $48
From 1892 until 1954, three cabaret-restaurants in the Montmartre district of Paris captivated tourists with their grotesque portrayals of death in the afterworlds of Hell, Heaven and Nothingness. Each had specialized cuisines and morbid visual displays, performances with flashes of nudity, and grotesque optical illusions. These cabarets were considered the most curious and shocking amusements in the city. Entrepreneurs even hawked graphic postcards of their ironic spectacles and otherworldly interiors.
Classic Cookbooks: 1000-piece puzzle by Richard Baker $42
Classic Cookbooks 1000 Piece Puzzle features 42 paintings of beloved classic cookbooks, ranging from the iconic, like The Joy of Cooking, The French Chef Cookbook, and The Edna Lewis Cookbook, to quirkier classics like Fabulous Fondues and Love and Knishes. Each cookbook cover featured in this puzzle is intentionally painted to capture the telltale signs of wear from years of use in the kitchen. Whether you're a home cook, chef, bibliophile, or puzzle fanatic, you will love piecing your way through decades of cookbook classics and chatting with family or friends about your favorite recipes as you assemble. From Tatsuji Tada's Japanese Recipes, to Meera Sodha's East to Irfan Orga's Turkish Cooking and Elsie Masterton's Blueberry Hill Cookbook, you are sure to find a few of your favorite kitchen resources depicted in this charming and engaging puzzle. This 1000-piece puzzle features high-quality pieces that assemble to 64 x 50 cm, accompanied by a folded, oversize insert of the puzzle image for easy reference. Very enjoyable.