Set in the summer of 1987, HS graduate Lillian Ginger Speck sits in jail pondering what led up to her murdering soap opera star Brooke Harrison. Set in NYC. combines the aching adolescent heart of "The Catcher in the Rye" with the dark suburban soul of "The Great Gatsby" set against the starstruck voyeurism of "American Idol."

With Or Without You

Literature & Fiction

Lauren Sanders

Literary

Akashic Books

Becoming Abigail

History

Chris Abani

Africa

Cultural Writing. Cartoons. Latino/Latina Studies. LLalo Alcaraz is a Los Angeles-based political cartoonist who has drawn editorial cartoons for the L.A. Weekly since 1992 and is the creator of the first nationally syndicated Latino-themed political daily comic strip, "La Cucaracha." Lalo illustrated Latino USA: A Cartoon History (HarperCollins, 2000, with text by Ilan Stavans) and produced the book La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha, the first collection from his daily comic strip. He has been the recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Southern California Journalism Award and the Rockefeller New Media Fellowship.

Migra Mouse: Political Cartoons on Immigration

Alcaraz, Lalo

Arts & Photography

Funny, haunting, touching and harrowing work from NYC's most vibrant yet unheard populations.

If These Streets Could Talk

NY Writers Coalition

United States

An absorbing and inspiring book from some of NYC's most talented and undiscovered writers.

The Hidden Chorus: Poetry and Fiction from NY Writers Coalition

Poetry

A compelling portrait of NYC's neighborhoods by eight diverse teenage girls through interviews and stories.

From Kingsbridge to Canarsie: Reflections by 8 NYC Girls

Politics & Social Sciences

Gaillard-Bennett, Makeda

Harris, Faith

Kulikauskas, Sofija

La Caille, Alyssa

Reynoso, Julianne

Anthropology

"A wide-ranging collection from the beloved but besieged Caribbean island. [] The 36th entry in Akashic's Noir series (which ranges from Bronx to Delhi to Twin Cities) is beautifully edited, with a spectrum of voices." --Kirkus Reviews "Danticat has succeeded in assembling a group portrait of Haitian culture and resilience that is cause for celebration." --Publishers Weekly "A solid contribution to the [noir] series, especially for its showcasing of a setting not commonly portrayed in crime fiction." --Booklist Who can ever judge how important Danticat has been to Americans’ understanding and re-evaluating Haiti’s position and role in the hemisphere? Not just as a novelist and essayist in her own right, but as editor and guiding force behind this collection of short stories and the re-publication and English translation of the Chauvet triptych, the Haitian-born Danticat has brought her country’s literature back into the world of English-speakers. Filled with delights and surprises, Haiti Noir, taken as a whole, provides a profound portrait of the country, from its crises to its triumphs, from the tiny bouks of the countryside to the shanties of the sprawling bidonvilles. Danticat herself has a lovely story in the collection, and permits two distinguished foreign writers on Haiti, Madison Smartt Bell and Mark Kurlansky, to slide in there among all the brilliant Haitians.” --Daily Beast Includes brand-new stories by: Edwidge Danticat, Rodney Saint-Eloi, Madison Smartt Bell, Gary Victor, M.J. Fièvre, Marvin Victor, Yanick Lahens, Louis-Philipe Dalembert, Kettly Mars, Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, Evelyne Trouillot, Katia Ulysse, Ibi Aanu Zoboi, Nadine Pinede, and others. Haiti has a tragic history and continues to be one of the most destitute places on the planet, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake. Here, however, Edwidge Danticat reveals that even while the subject matter remains dark, the caliber of Haitian writing is of the highest order.

Haiti Noir (Akashic Noir)

Short Stories & Anthologies

"In Stipe’s startling photographs and 12 brief written homages, Patti Smith is depicted as a down-to-earth goddess, a part of and apart from her evolving entourage of musicians, artists, poets (Allen Ginsberg makes an appearance), and friends. This isn’t a traditional book of portraits . . . The overwhelming mood is one of disjunction, claustrophobia, exhaustion, temporariness--and the effect is raw and intimate . . . And [Stipe] is no longer the dork nerd” teenager, but a fellow musician -- and from his proud, caring mien, even a protector." --Publishers Weekly "An energetic and gracious tribute to not only a great artist, but also to a powerful moment in her oeuvre -- and to those who contributed to it and shared in it." --New York Journal of Books "Stipe's personal friendship lends something greater to the overall vision of this book. It isn't simply a set of snapshots of performances, rather a collection of rare moments. The personal nature of the anthology makes it all the more enticing and enjoyable. Smith, in all her glory and awe-inspiring talent, is portrayed in the truest light." --Verbicide Magazine "A fascinating book . . . including appearances by Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Tom Verlaine, the members of Sonic Youth and more . . . and the short text tributes to Smith by these people, scattered throughout the manuscript, are well worth your time." --Chicago Center for Literature and Photography This book comprises Michael Stipe's intimate and evocative photos of Patti Smith on tour in 1995, along with other cultural celebrities who appeared with her, such as Allen Ginsberg. In addition to text by Stipe, William Burroughs, and Patti Smith, there is also commentary from Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lenny Kaye, Tom Verlaine, and more. Michael Stipe is a singer, photographer, film producer, and activist. He lives in Athens, GA, and New York, NY. R.E.M. formed in 1980 in Athens, GA, and is composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe. Heralded by Rolling Stone as "America's Best Rock and Roll Band," R.E.M. rose from cult college radio status to sell more than seventy million albums worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Two Times Intro: On the Road with Patti Smith

Stipe, Michael

Individual Artists

Gathering of Waters

Selected as a Go On Girl! Book Pick 100 Notable Books of 2012” New York Times 50 Best Books of 2012” Washington Post "McFadden works a kind of miracle -- not only do [her characters] retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises . . . Beautiful and evocative, Gathering of Waters brings three generations to life . . . The real power of the narrative lies in the richness and complexity of the characters. While they inhabit these pages they live, and they do so gloriously and messily and magically, so that we are at last sorry to see them go, and we sit with those small moments we had with them and worry over them, enchanted, until they become something like our own memories, dimmed by time, but alive with the ghosts of the past, and burning with spirits." --New York Times Book Review "Read it aloud. Hire a chorus to chant it to you and anyone else interested in hearing about civil rights and uncivil desires, about the dark heat of hate, about the force of forgiveness." --Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR "McFadden combines events of Biblical proportions--from flooding to resurrection--with history to create a cautionary, redemptive tale that spans the early twentieth century to the start of Hurricane Katrina. She compellingly invites readers to consider the distinctions between 'truth or fantasy' . . . In McFadden's boldly spun yarn, consequences extend across time and place. This is an arresting historical portrait of Southern life with reimagined outcomes, suggesting that hope in the enduring power of memory can offer healing where justice does not suffice." --Publishers Weekly "The rich text is shaped by the African American storytelling tradition and layered with significant American histories. Recalling the woven spirituality of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, this work will appeal to readers of mystic literature." --Library Journal "McFadden makes powerful use of imagery in this fantastical novel of ever-flowing waters and troubled spirits." --Booklist "In this fierce reimagining, the actual town of Money, MS narrates the story about the ghost of Emmett Till and his from-the-other-side reunification with the girl he loved as a child in Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden." --Ebony Magazine Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families. Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit. Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion. Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The bare-bones realism--both disturbing and riveting--combined with a magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved.

McFadden, Bernice L.

Featuring brand-new stories (and a few poems) by: Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Safran Foer, Robert Pinsky, Edmund White & Michael Carroll, Richard Burgin, Paul Muldoon, Sheila Kohler, C.K. Williams, Gerald Stern, Lou Manfredo, S.A. Solomon, Bradford Morrow, Jonathan Santlofer, Jeffrey Ford, S.J. Rozan, Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini, Hirsh Sawhney, and Robert Arellano.From the introduction by Joyce Carol Oates:New Jersey!--"The Garden State"--our fifth smallest state, with only Hawaii, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island below it in land mass, yet it's the state containing the "most murderous" American city (Camden) and the state generally conceded to be, square mile per square mile, the most densely politically corrupt. (Louisiana has been, by tradition, the most corrupt of all U.S. states, but in recent years Illinois has been closing the lead.) Atlantic City, Jersey City, Hackensack, Hoboken, Secaucus, Newark, Camden (three recent Camden mayors have been jailed for corruption)--in these cities as in others corruption isn't aberrant but rather a way of (political) life . . .Sitting between the great cities of New York and Philadelphia, New Jersey has been by tradition a heavily "organized" Mafia state, as it was at one time a northern outpost of the Ku Klux Klan, with a concentration of members in Trenton, Camden, Monmouth County, and South Jersey . . . In such ways, the most civilized and "decent" among us find that we are complicit with the most brutal murderers. We enter into literally unspeakable alliances--of which we dare not speak except through the obliquities and indirections of fiction, poetry, and visual art of the sort gathered here in New Jersey Noir.

New Jersey Noir (akashic Noir)

Joyce, Carol

OATES

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