GIFT IDEAS

RUDE TALK IN ATHENS

Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writer’s Journey through Greece Mark Haskell Smith, Unnamed Press (AUG 17) Hardcover $24 (208pp), 978-1-951213-34-3 LITERARY CRITICISM

Rude Talk in Athens is a spirited introduction to the all but forgotten work of the ancient Greek playwright Ariphrades. Since none of Ariphrades’s work survives, the “all but” refers to mentions of the playwright in other plays, like those of his main rival, Aristophanes.

Ariphrades was called out for his fondness for a particular sexual act, and this serves as the spark for a deeper investigation into the man and his role in Athenian society. Mark Haskell Smith consults experts on Greek history and theater, and even writes fictional interludes depicting the playwright plotting his revenge. He postulates that Ariphrades made enemies because he fulfilled the duty of the Greek comedic playwright to humble politicians, generals, and other playwrights.

The book’s larger focus isn’t Ariphrades, per se, but rather the importance of artists as a check on power, in ancient Greece and today. Smith’s style is freewheeling, and his sharp opinions on modern politics might offend some more than his blunt humor: here, for example, European Union austerity measures are “just another siege by barbarians from the north.” But the book’s provocative edge is softened by its humorous footnotes, personal anecdotes, and semi-scholarly examinations of Greek architecture, literature, and philosophy. Entertaining and informed, Rude Talk in Athens is a dispatch from Greece with much to discuss. PETER DABBENE

FOUR-FIFTHS A GRIZZLY

A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All Douglas Chadwick, Patagonia (JUN 15) Hardcover $27.95 (288pp), 978-1-952338-01-4, NATURE

Everything is connected, says wildlife journalist Douglas Chadwick in Four-fifths a Grizzly. From the minuscule to the large scale, the book explores how knowledge of these connections can help us to reverse the land degradation and species decline that result from human interventions in the wild.

95 percent of Earth’s biomass is comprised of humans and their livestock, and Chadwick says that paying attention is a good way to begin when it comes to redressing the species imbalance. As a child, he was fascinated by microscopy. Now, in his spare time, he watches grizzlies. Learning that humans share 80–90 percent of their genes with the bears, which only thrive in wilderness, convinced him of the interdependence of creatures and habitats. He highlights such symbiotic bonds with examples, as of bacterial species, who populate the human gut and aid in digestion.

Any realistic look at the state of the planet must be depressing, right? Wrong. Chadwick lightens the tone by focusing on conservation success stories, such as island populations that were restored by eradicating invasive species, and the joined-up landscape achieved by the Yukon to Yellowstone project. “Being one with nature sounds like an aspiration. It really isn’t, because we already are,” Chadwick concludes. Drawing on memories, stories, and rich visuals, Four-fifths a Grizzly reinforces humanity’s fundamental relationship with, and reliance on, nature. REBECCA FOSTER

MY FATHER WHEN YOUNG

Michael Tisserand, Jerry Tisserand (Photographer) The Sager Group (JUN 15) Hardcover $25 (139pp) 978-1-950154-43-2, PHOTOGRAPHY

Michael Tisserand began a pandemic project: he started going through the boxes he saved after his father, Jerry Tisserand, died in 2008. That’s where he first discovered his father’s penchant for photography. He presents a selection of the elder Tisserand’s photographs in My Father When Young.

All of the images included in this collection date from the 1950s. They are presented in full color, and are divided into three sections, covering Jerry’s weekend leave in Europe while he was in the US Army; shots from his return to Evansville, Indiana; and pictures from New Orleans during Mardi Gras in 1959.

While he was not a professional photographer, Jerry Tisserand had a good sense of composition, took enough shots for his photographs to tell clear stories, and was present for interesting historical moments. His photographs from his European leave include Parisian shots of Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito’s visit there in 1956. One photograph shows the motorcade in motion; others focus in on the crowd waiting for Tito. And the Mardi Gras photographs were taken during the second official year of the gay Carnival krewe, and feature memorable, elaborate costumes.

Jerry Tisserand’s Evansville photographs are more family focused, featuring scenes like a New Year’s Eve party and the photographer’s sister’s wedding. They help to make My Father When Young a pleasant collection of 1950s imagery that pays tribute to a father’s hidden talent. JEFF FLEISCHER

THE ATLAS OF DISAPPEARING PLACES

Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis Christina Conklin, Marina Psaros, The New Press (JUL 20) Hardcover $29.99 (240pp) 978-1-62097-456-8, ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT The Atlas of Disappearing Places is a virtual tour of coastal regions that are vulnerable to climate change. “We come from the sea,” it contends, so protecting the sea is a collective responsibility.

Acidification, declining fish populations, and plastic pollution have put the oceans in a poor state. And from New York City to Shanghai, metropolises are threatened by rising sea levels—a gradual hazard, as opposed to “‘fast’ emergencies,” like the hurricanes that ravage Houston and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, construction increases CO2 levels and threatens wetland habitats.

The book’s speculative vignettes are positioned in 2050, showing what might change per high-end Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predictions, and what preventative or adaptive measures might be taken. The metaphor of the ocean as a body that’s suffering from chronic inflammation and trauma is effective. Statistics and expert quotes are used to lend support to the book’s models without overwhelming its storytelling.

Painted with water-soluble inks on sheets of dried seaweed, the book’s maps are textured, attractive, and informative. They complement its suggestions for practical ways to reduce climate impact, like cutting single-use plastics, eating less meat, and getting involved in environmental advocacy. “What we do, and when, matters,” the book insists. Climate change is not just about melting ice caps and starving polar bears, and The Atlas of Disappearing Places brings that reality home. REBECCA FOSTER

WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY

Selected Speeches of Nicola Sturgeon Robert Davidson (Editor), Sandstone Press (JUL 10) Hardcover $24.99 (320pp), 978-1-913207-60-1 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Women Hold Up Half the Sky gathers forty stirring speeches from Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland.

Arranged chronologically beginning in November of 2014, when Sturgeon took office, until February of 2020, when Scotland left the EU against its will, the speeches cover turbulent times. Still, Sturgeon’s messages brim with grace, hope, and resolve. Their topics include the health of Scotland, as well as broad concerns like equality, education, and the environment. They are moving in expressing concern for refugees: “I am not suggesting that solutions are easy … but that is no excuse for not doing everything we can.” Concise introductions precede each speech to establish their time frames and significance.

Throughout, Sturgeon shows that freedom and independence should be promoted for the good of all people. And gender equity is at the heart of the book—and it’s a message that Sturgeon lives out, as the first woman to hold her position.

While Sturgeon is a household name in Scotland, this book gifts her voice to a wider audience. Her messages and concerns may be Scottish through and through, but her progressive, caring, and committed perspective stands to resonate the world over.

Women Hold Up Half the Sky collects addresses given by Nicola Sturgeon, a passionate, loyal Scottish leader with an international vision. MELISSA WUSKE