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Staff Recommendations

Yael L.'s Recommendations

Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
by Thurston Moore
Universe

Our Price: $22.50

I am not a mix-tape aficionado. I lack the intuition that'll lead the real pro to throw Def Leppard on an otherwise serious mix and thereby lift the final product above the level of mere library-shuffle. But probably, my cluelessness creates my fascination for the special ones–the ones who churn out soundtracks before the directors have time to make the films. In fact, I surround myself in mix tape lovers. Maybe this gives me an unbalanced perspective, but I'm pretty sure that if I gave this book to any of about fifteen of my friends, they'd be thrilled.

What Maisie Knew
by Henry James
Penguin Classics

Our Price: $9.95

The question "how does divorce really affect children?" has been asked to death, right? In Cambridge divorcing parents are required to take a several hour-long workshop on the subject, the plaintive "how can you do this to me?" warbles from many a quivering sitcom star's lips, and the shelves of my parents' houses, for one, are generously littered with titles like Difficult Conversations and The Good Divorce. But in 1897, the year James created Maisie, the number of marriages ending in divorce was on the rise, almost tripling between 1880 and 1916; this now-stale question was fresh on the tips of many tongues. Maisie is James' answer, and though she is now 120, give or take a few years, she is far from obsolete--no, Maisie's story is unique and convincing. Maisie is unencumbered by the cheap sentiment that characterizes modern portrayals of the "victims" of divorce. Maisie is a child (and then a young woman) saddled with the nigh impossible task of protecting everyone (herself included) from her parents' egotism and hostility. Maisie is a pawn; the strategems of the war between her parents dictate whether she's to be shuttled back and forth, abandoned, or embraced. Maisie wants to be loved, or at least acknowledged, but more than that she wants to see somewhere amid the countless contraindications that her parents are good, worthy, and loveable. This book taught me about my parents' divorce, what I had and had not gone through, and the ways that innocents protect themselves from terrible, obvious truths. I think it will teach you something, too.

Suggestion
by Michael McDevitt
Chronicle Books

Our Price: $12.95

I am allergic to inspirational books, and so I stay away from them like people with nut allergies can't eat anything processed in a factory where nuts might also be processed. For fear of Hallmark corniness I avoid them categorically, so thoroughly, in fact, that I bet (though I can't be sure) that I miss out on something. But that's not to say that I'm allergic to being inspired. I like being inspired, so when I come across an exception to the rule, I'm excited. This book is just that exception.

Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia
by Danzig Baldayev
Steidl Publishing

Our Price: $25.00

If the contents of this book were not shocking & illuminating & fascinating, I might still recommend it based solely on the story of its conception. The son of an intellectual unwilling to bend to Soviet Ideology, Danzig Baldayez spent his childhood in a home for children of imprisoned or eliminated "Enemies of the State." Forbidden to enter higher education lest they follow in their recalcitrant parents' footsteps, the intellectually precocious children of the home were assigned professions. Baldayez was sent to work in the penal system. Once there, he began to secretly sketch the tattoos of the inmates, but, as he reports in his forward, it was not until his father said, "my son, collect the tattoos, the convicts' folklore, their anti-social drawings, or it will all go to the grave with them" that he knew this would be his life work. Then his father "taught (him) the methodology for collecting prison folklore and how to encode material, which was essential to this dangerous undertaking." Baldayez sketched & recorded the meanings of over 3,000 tattoos during his 30+ years in dozens of prison camps across Russia. Eventually, he came under investigation by the KGB, who, in an unexpected turn, did not condemn him, but instead used his research to convict more than 300 criminals. This book is not for the faint-hearted. Nothing that provides an education in the varieties of hatred could make for light reading. Expect to be sucked in, nauseated, educated.

What I Loved
by Siri Hustvedt
Picador

Our Price: $14.00

My copy of What I Loved is definitely a well-loved one. I've recommended it to family and friends and not only have they all loved the book, but this exchange of art reflects the conversation and creation of art at the very core of the novel. The main characters are artists and art enthusiasts, friends and family. Running alongside the story's captivating plot is an account of the exchanges and thoughts which give rise to artistic impulse and creation. Through the jarring travails life brings her protagonists, Hustvedt shows us the ins and outs of intimacy, how life translates into art, how art transforms life, and how similarly precious grief and joy and intimacy are. This book, I think, can serve as an explanation for why art is important.

ps: If you're a fan of Paul Auster you might, as I did, find it intersting to compare his work and Hustvedt's. They're married.

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