On This Week's Front Table, dive into the holiday season with new works that explore from the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest moments of our hidden lives. Our non-fiction selections include a buzzy new book on the secret search for alien intelligence, an intimate biography of a musical and artistic supernova, and a fresh look at ancient medicine through the lens of evolving medical technology. If something more literary is what you're after during these chilly nights, check out...
Front Table
December 8th, 2023
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November 29th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, consider books that experiment with transformation whether that be a study of the deep joy of everyday noises and the expansiveness of the auditory experience to a collection of transformative interviews of canonical authors put together by the owner of the beloved bookstore Shakespeare and Company, to a story about creating a revolutionary underground society for people who have historically been marginalized to poems about the effect of...
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November 17th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, interact with stories that explore conflicting boundaries from a collection of ghost stories that challenge the difference between the living and the dead, a pictorial essay that depicts ones relationship to the senses from an art critic who loses and gains their eyesight, an exploration of language that is shared and individualized through a set of twins that shifts between prose and poetry, and the curious backstory and duality of the...
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November 10th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, consider forms of ancient and modern power: a revisionist look at the lives of the Roman emperors, a close reading of the narratives surrounding the American health care system, and the rise and fall of a modern-day robber baron; seek wisdom in a philosophical work that asks questions about the nature of hope, trust, and forgiveness; indulge in a sumptuous facsimile of Shakespeare's First Folio; and we round out our week's selections with two stunning works of fiction by contemporary masters Olga Ravn and George Saunders.
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October 27th, 2023
(St. Martin's Press) ...
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October 20th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, savor four remarkable works of fiction, including a new novel from Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature; new work from award-winning author Bryan Washington that focuses on loss, love, and friendship; a hidden gem of 20th-century literature by Elsa Morante that explores the lives of three generations of Sicilian women; and a Co-op staff recommended collection of stories from the great Nelson Algren. In our non-fiction selections, delve into the annus horribilus of Germany 1923, unlock the secrets of visual thinkers, and find fresh perspectives on that protean philosopher of power, Niccoló Machiavelli.
A Shining
...
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October 14th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, revel in radical boundary-breaking art, cutting edge research about the effect of climate change on our species and natural world; explore a collection of original behind the scenes materials from legendary filmmaker John Waters and a meditation on the mysteries and intricacies of the writing life from poet Carl Phillips. Explore these titles and more at semcoop.com.
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October 6th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, sift through complex histories of Black queer history makers Bayard Rustin and iconic jazz musician Billy Strayhorn, to a memoir rich in psychological research and moving detail about the connection to a person's native language and what it means to learn a language later in life, to a comprehensive history and defense of the essential food assistance program SNAP, to a queer and feminist retelling of the famous story of Hercules.
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September 29th, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, excavate the past with new fiction encompassing ghostly revelations in 1930s Japan, family secrets in 1970s Puerto Rico, artistic inspiration in 1917 Paris, and a provocative short story collection set in our own times. Additionally, experience WWII from inside a notorious Nazi fortress prison, consider how storytelling impacts our environmental future, and find inspiration from a new biography of a modern-day Da Vinci.
The End of August
(Riverhead Books)
Yu Miri, tr. Morgan Giles
In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But...
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September 22nd, 2023
On This Week's Front Table, question the border between fantasy and reality with a quartet of electric fiction including Zadie Smith's new historical novel, Adam Levin on a Chicago apocalypse, and short story collections from Ling Ma and Yiyun Li; also trace the long arc of American antisemitism, investigate the political intrigue behind the critical 1968 election, and contemplate the lives and careers of four prominent 20th-century philosophers, all women, as they navigate the maelstrom of the Second World War.
The Fraud
(Penguin Press)
Zadie Smith
It is 1873. Mrs. Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper—and cousin by marriage—of a once-famous...
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