It’s difficult to summarize the myriad changes taking place in American public libraries, but one thing is certain. Libraries are no longer hushed repositories of books. Here at the Central branch in Memphis, ukulele flash mobs materialize and seniors dance the fox trot in upstairs rooms. The library hosts U.S. naturalization ceremonies, job fairs, financial literacy seminars, jazz concerts, cooking classes, film screenings and many other events—more than 7,000 at last count. You can check out books and movies, to be sure, but also sewing machines, bicycle repair kits and laptop computers. And late fees? A thing of the past. Read more
Rare first printing of U.S. Constitution sells for record $43 million
The document offered for sale was one of 13 known copies of the first printing of the Constitution and one of only two in private hands. This printing of the Constitution was last sold in 1988, when real estate developer and collector S. Howard Goldman bought it at auction for $165,000. Read more
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French dictionary accused of ‘wokeism’ over gender-inclusive pronoun
A French reference dictionary has defended its official recognition of a gender-inclusive pronoun, after traditionalists pounced on what they called the latest incursion of US-inspired “wokeism”. Read more
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American Comics: A History
There are several recent histories of comics; however, none are as comprehensive or well-researched as this one. Dauber’s book sets itself apart, and comics enthusiasts will be enthralled. Read more
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Jason Mott Wins National Book Award for ‘Hell of a Book’
Tiya Miles won the nonfiction prize for “All That She Carried.” The author Karen Tei Yamashita received a lifetime achievement award. Read more
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The Library: A Fragile History
Despite its subtitle, this history of libraries is anything but fragile. At more than 500 pages, it is a robust, near definitive effort, tracing the evolution of the institution from the clay tablets of the Assyrian Empire to the wired libraries of today … Much of this material is familiar, though in a welcome way, comprehensive like the rest of the authors’ admirable effort. Though its primary audience will likely be academics, the book is so accessible and well written that it may also find a general readership among all those who love libraries. May their numbers be legion. Read more
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Baillie Gifford prize goes to ‘controlled fury’ of Empire of Pain
Patrick Radden Keefe’s investigation into the Sacklers, the dynasty whose company Purdue Pharma sold the OxyContin painkiller which is said to have fuelled the US’s opioid crisis, has won the £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction. Read more
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The hottest new book merch is… NFTs
Gary Vaynerchuk, a business author and NFT creator, included one NFT as a freebie for every purchase of 12 copies of his new book Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success. (You know, like cereal box prizes, if each cereal box prize burned down several hundred acres of the Amazon.) And, because everything I ever thought I knew about finance, books, and art is wrong, the book’s pre-orders now stand at over a million books—“one of the industry’s biggest advance orders for a single title in a 24-hour period,” according to the Wall Street Journal‘s reporting. Read more
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The 2021 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books
Since 1952, we’ve convened a rotating annual panel of three expert judges who consider every illustrated children’s book published that year in the United States. Read more
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Celebrated Indian Poet Translated His Nobel-Winning Work From This London Villa
This Hampstead Victorian villa is a former residence of India’s most celebrated poet and writer, Rabindranath Tagore. Price: $3.54 million. Read more
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