The Flight of the Penguins

July 30: The first Penguins were published on this day in 1935, the event generally regarded as the birth of the modern paperback industry. When Allen Lane, managing director of the Bodley Head press, couldn’t find anything worthwhile to read for his train ride...

Himes in Harlem

July 29: The novelist Chester Himes was born on this day in 1909. Himes titled his autobiography My Life of Absurdity to convey the dark comedy of mischance, mistake, and racism that combined to send him to prison and to inspire his Harlem Detectives novels, which...

My Lunches with Orson

A comprehensive and enlightening collection of recorded conversations between director Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles, filled with fascinating insights into the mind of one of America’s all-time greatest actors and directors.

Zibaldone

The personal notebook of the eminent Italian poet of the nineteenth century, Zibaldone is a behemoth translation – years in the making – of Leopardi’s essential reflections on culture, society and literature of his era.

Men in Miami Hotels

This Floridian thriller’s lush, poetic prose beautifully clashes with its steamy plot:  a Key West gangster goes on the run with the woman he loves after stealing his boss’s emeralds.

Viral Hate

This enlightening study on the rise of anonymous commentary across social media platforms explores the ubiquitous issue of online hate-mongering, and whether it should be protected under the First Amendment.