Posts
 |
| Follow on Twitter as @GregoryCowles |
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times by Gregory Cowles, Senior Editor, Books.
“I have a lot of apps open in my brain
right now,” Lin-Manuel Miranda once said. We know the feeling. That
quote turns up late in David Epstein’s new book, “Range,” which
reassures committed dilettantes that there’s merit in the generalist’s
approach to life: When you’re “facing uncertain environments,” Epstein
writes, “breadth of experience is invaluable.”
With
that in mind, we offer a generalist’s buffet of books for your
consideration this week. Start with Epstein’s own, then move on to an
account of the ground beneath your feet (“Underland,” by the gifted
nature writer Robert Macfarlane) or a novel based on the real-life saint
of Sudan, as St. Josephine Bakhita is known (“Bakhita,” by Véronique
Olmi). Read about pandemics, or the settlers of the Northwest Territory,
or Neville Chamberlain’s ill-advised strategy of appeasing Hitler; read
a biography of the con artist who gave rise to the loaded term “welfare
queen,” or settle in with a satire about creative writing programs, or
enjoy Elizabeth Gilbert’s new historical novel about the world of New
York showgirls. Open some apps in your brain. No environment is more
uncertain than today’s, after all, so you might as well put Epstein’s
theory to the test and broaden your knowledge.
Source: New York Times
