Literary Notes: An author discusses a China mission, another talks money, and writers teach about characters
A look at an intense period in U.S.-China relations — one with enduring consequences — and a consideration of money as metaphor will jockey for nonfiction readers' attention Thursday with online author talks. And Saturday, writers get their turn, with a Traveling Pen Series class.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk will host Daniel Kurtz-Phelan as he discusses his well-regarded book “The China Mission: George C. Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-1947” (W.W. Norton, 496 pp., 2018). Gen. Marshall’s task was to prevent war between Chinese Nationalists and Communists; fallout included the mission’s becoming a target of McCarthyism, and the enduring accusation, “Who lost China?” Q&A will follow. Via Zoom; free, but register to get a link: macarthurmemorial.org.
Also Thursday, at 6 p.m., Richmond’s Fountain Bookstore hosts Frederick Kaufman as he discusses “The Money Plot: A History of Currency’s Power to Enchant, Control, and Manipulate” (Other Press, 304 pp.). He’s an English and journalism professor who has “for the past decade focused his attention on the fiction that is money,” his publisher says. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a scholarly history of cash and its metaphorical significance.” Tickets, about $30, include the book. Via Crowdcast; fountainbookstore.com.
On Saturday, Hampton Roads Writers presents “Simplifying Character Journeys Using the Story Circle Method,” with authors Rick Eley and Tony Groeschen. 9:30 to noon. Fees are about $20 and lower. Via Zoom. Register at hamptonroadswriters.org.
The National Book Awards ceremony, Wednesday at 7 p.m., will be streamed live: nationalbook.org. (The National Book Foundation, a not-for-profit, does ask for donations to replace the income it normally gets from the awards night gala.)
Spring is coming, a fact not too early to note these days. The National Audubon Society has new guides coming on April 6, its first in 25 years: its “Birds of North America” and “Trees of North America” books. (Wildflowers and mushrooms are due in 2023.) The birds book, in its Eastern and Western editions, has sold 2.3 million copies total since it came out in 1994, publisher Knopf said; the trees book, last updated in 1980, has sold 1.7 million. (Publishers Weekly, Knopf)
Books by and about Kamala Harris proved popular after the election. The vice president-elect was the subject or author of four books on Amazon’s top 10 on Nov. 8. They included her children’s book “Superheroes Are Everywhere,” her memoir “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” a children’s book by niece Meena Harris, “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea,” and Nikki Grimes' “Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice.” Also, Jill Biden’s children’s book “Joey: The Story of Joe Biden” was 14th. (AP)
New and recent
Soon after we lost Alex Trebek has come Claire McNear’s “Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider’s Guide to Jeopardy!” (Twelve, 272 pp.)
“Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now” by Evan Osnos (Scribner, 177 pp.). A study of Biden’s pursuit of the presidency by the New Yorker writer and winner of the National Book Award. “One surprise is the extent to which Biden — often seen as unwilling to apologize or admit his shortcomings — cops to his hotheadedness and even egotism,” writes David Greenberg. “Biden also possesses, in Osnos’s portrait, shrewder political judgment than he’s normally given credit for.” (Washington Post)
“Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945” by Ian W. Toll (Norton, 944 pp.). “The third volume of Toll’s outstanding trilogy of the war against Japan shows that by 1944 the outcome of the conflict, despite a huge cost in lives, was never in doubt,” said the NYT. Toll demonstrates an expert knowledge of Japan’s naval and political decision making, putting “Japan’s war in its proper perspective — as an unnecessary fight that, in retrospect, looks like a suicide mission.”
—Erica Smith, erica.smith@pilotonline.com
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