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Although there will be many new releases by perennial favorites like Anne Rice, Terry Prachett, and David Baldacci, October looks like it will be a slow month for books. However, there are some standouts to look forward to by the end of the month:
Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut – Oct. 20
Although the Slaughterhouse-Five author passed away in April 2007, this posthumous collection of short stories gives us another chance to appreciate his unique cynical yet compassionate voice. Look at the Birdie contains 14 previously unpublished short stories about post-WWII America, with topics ranging from gang troubles to an invention gone wrong and unrequited love. The stories also come with Vonnegut’s whimsical drawings, full of unspoken commentary. This book may not be Vonnegut’s best work, but it is one that diehard fans and new readers will appreciate.
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk – Oct. 20
Author Orhan Pamuk reaffirms his talent for beautiful storytelling in The Museum of Innocence, his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. The story starts off in the 1970s and tells the tale of Kemal Bey, a wealthy young man from Istanbul. He is engaged to marry Sibel, the daughter of another prominent family, yet he falls in love with Füsun, a beautiful working class girl. As he tries to choose between the two, he also finds himself torn between the opulence and supremacy of his family’s social class and the simple pleasures of the middle class. Kemel’s decision does not end with a happily-ever-after, but throughout the tribulations of his romance, Kemel keeps mementos of the good and bad times to remind him of the woman he loves.
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner – Oct. 20
Levitt and Dubner follow up their 2006 international bestseller, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, with a sequel that, as the title suggests, promises to cover even more far-fetched theories. How do two economists plan to solve the world’s social dilemmas? According to the authors, economics is really the study of the incentives behind our actions. So economic theory can move beyond just how to distribute money and resources and deal with issues like how to best catch a terrorist, whether eating kangaroo is beneficial and if a sex change can increase pay at work. It is hard to see how Levitt and Dubner connect these broad topics to economic principles, but if Freakonomics is any indication, their wild ideas — interjected with humor and trivia — actually do come full circle.
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