RECOMMENDED READS

Welcome to our literary circle, in which San Diegans pass the (printed) word on books

Stephanie Kern

Job: Librarian, Santee Branch Library, San Diego County Library

They recommend: “At Night All Blood Is Black” by David Diop (New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2020; 145 pages)

Why? Alfa Ndiaye, a Senegalese man fighting for the French army during World War I, is haunted by his decision not to mercifully end the life of his mortally wounded friend, Mademba Diop. But what he could not do for Mademba, he does for the enemy: Every night, he returns from behind enemy lines with the rifle and severed hand of a German soldier he has killed. His fellow soldiers soon take this ritual to be a sign of sorcery, but what will happen when Alfa is removed from the front lines? Translated from the French by Anna Moschovakis, this winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize is a stark, harrowing look at life in the trenches, the aftermath of colonialism, and the (in)humanity of war.

James Jensen

Job: Local Author Coordinator, Warwick’s

They recommend: “Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades” by David Steinberg (Knopf, 2021; 352 pages)

Why? If you want to learn the inside story on comedy for the last 50 years, you can do no better than the man who appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson 140 times and spent over 26 years in stand-up. Although clowns for the public, comedians are notoriously private. Only an insider like David Steinberg would be trusted with their stories. From George Burns to Robin Williams to Chris Rock, this treasure of a book is a peek behind the stage curtain.