ODY New Books Collection

Seduction Theory

"Simone is the star of Edwards University's creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist, and campus sex icon. Her less glamorous and ostensibly devoted husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. But when Ethan and the department administrative assistant Abigail have sex, Simone and Ethan's faith in their flawless marriage is rattled. Simone has secrets of her own. While Ethan's away for the summer, she becomes inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta 'Robbie' Green. In Robbie, Simone finds a new running partner, confidante, and disciple--or so she believes. Behind Simone's back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor's marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail, and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may--or may not--be the truth. Innovative, witty, and tender, Seduction Theory exposes the intoxicating nature of power and attraction, masterfully demonstrating how love and betrayal can coexist."-- Provided by publisher

The Best American Poetry 2025

"For thirty-eight years, The Best American Poetry series has won widespread acclaim as the nation's most influential and vital poetryanthology pickhich has inspired similar ventures abroad, has garnered plaudits for its ability to capture the zeitgeist of American poetry. This year's anthology is guest edited by the esteemed poet andsongwriter Terence Winch, who brings to the task his work as a musician and poetry editor as well as his many years of experience as head of publications at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Winch, known for his inspired selections on the Best American Poetry blog, curates a vibrant array of compelling voices.The Best American Poetry 2025 is a landmark edition that not only showcases the finest contemporary American poetry but also honors David Lehman's achievement as the anthology's founding editor. "The list of editors is a who's who of US poetry elites," writes Oxford professorof poetry A. E. Stallings. "And behind it all, the poet David Lehman, the series editor, has labored quietly and diligently ensuring its continuity and continued relevance.""-- Provided by publisher

The Best Short Stories 2025

"Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Edward P. Jones has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Jones, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction."-- Provided by publisher

Women, Seated

"A novel about the unravelling lives of a nanny and the family she works for following the downfall of its patriarch, a prominent Chinese politician." -- Provided by publisher

Pan

"Nicholas is fifteen when he forgets how to breathe. It's the '90s, and he's been living with his dad in the Chicago suburbs since his Russian-born mom kicked him out. One day in geometry class, Nicholas suddenly realizes that his hands are objects. The doctor says it's just panic, but Nicholas suspects that his real problem might not be a psychiatric one: maybe the pagan god Pan is trapped inside his body. As his paradigm for his own consciousness crumbles, Nicholas, his best friend Ty, and his maybe-girlfriend Sarah hunt for answers why-in Oscar Wilde and in Baudelaire, in rock 'n roll and in Bach, and in the mysterious, drugged-out Barn, where Todd's charismatic older brother Ian leads the high schoolers in rituals that might end up breaking more than just the law. Funny, provocative, and cerebral, Pan is a new masterpiece of the coming-of-age genre by Guggenheim fellow and literary scholar Michael W. Clune, whose memoir of heroin addiction, White Out, "one of the year's best books" (The New Yorker), earned him a cult readership. Now, in Pan, Clune drops us inside the human psyche, where we risk discovering that the forces controlling our inner lives could, in fact, be anything."-- Provided by publisher

Nadja

"The most renowned of all surrealist literary works, André Breton's Nadja has been stirring passions and imaginations since its first publication in 1928. At once a poignant romance, an autobiography, a philosophical inquiry into questions of identity, and a lively illustration of the surrealist belief in life-changing chance, Nadja relates the fortuitous meeting and brief, tumultuous relationship between Breton, surrealism's founder and primary theorist, and the "wandering soul" who called herself Nadja, "because in Russian it's the beginning of the word for hope, and because it's only the beginning." Over the course of a single breathless week, recounted with scrupulous precision and a poet's sense of drama, Breton and Nadja pursue an adventure that stands outside of societal or moral conventions, and that brings both of them to what Breton termed "the extreme limit of the surrealist aspiration." Bookending this beguiling and ultimately tragic story are a series of "petrifying coincidences," episodes that initiate the reader into the surrealism of everyday life, and a penetrating examination of Breton's own share of responsibility in Nadja's ultimate fate, ending with the shattering intrusion into the author's life of a final transformative occurrence. In this, the first new translation of Nadja in more than sixty years, award-winning translator and surrealism scholar Mark Polizzotti brings a fresh perspective to this unique and haunting tale. Making use of the most recent research (including the revelation of Nadja's identity and life story and the discovery of Breton's original manuscript), he sets the narrative in its historical and biographical context and corrects a number of inaccuracies in the previous English version. This vibrant, emotionally resonant translation breathes new energy and urgency into a book that has long been recognized as one of the seminal masterpieces of twentieth-century modernism."-- Provided by publisher

Misery of Love

"In Misery of Love, a spiritual sequel to the acclaimed Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures, Yvan Alagbé continues his interrogation of race and family in modern France. The book focuses on the dream-like memories of a woman named Clare, who is spending time with her family for her grandfather's funeral. Alagbé shifts between narratives of the family, all haunted by the legacy of France's colonial subjugation of Africa. Alagbé works in stormy grayscale washes, using comics, as he puts it, as "a sacred dimension which celebrates, questions and perpetuates life.... I believe that life is not damnation but grace.""-- Provided by publisher

The Magician of Tiger Castle

"The beloved author of Holes presents his first adult novel, a modern fantasy classic of forbidden love, a crumbling kingdom, and the unexpected magic all around us. Long ago and faraway (and somewhere south of France), lies the kingdom of Esquaveta. There, Princess Tullia is in nearly as much peril as her struggling kingdom. Esquaveta desperately needs to forge an alliance with Oxatania, and to that end, Tullia's father has arranged a marriage between her and the odious Oxatanian Prince. However, one month before the "Wedding of the Century," Tullia falls in love with a lowly apprentice scribe. The king turns to Anatole, his much-maligned magician. Seventeen years earlier, when Anatole first came to the castle, he was regarded as something of a prodigy. But after a long series of failures-the latest being an attempt to transform sand into gold-he has become the object of contempt and ridicule. The only one who still believes in him is the princess. When the king orders Anatole to brew a potion that will ensure Tullia agrees to the wedding, Anatole is faced with an impossible choice. With one chance to save the marriage, the kingdom, and of most importance to him, his reputation, will he betray the princess-or risk ruin?"-- Provided by publisher

A Dog in Georgia

"A missing dog in Georgia sets Amy Webb on an adventure away from her tumultuous marriage and lack-luster personal life and towards a journey of self-discovery and joy. Amy Webb is a chef. Or rather, she was a chef. Somewhere along the way she also became a wife and a stepmother and an emergency contact, and the part of her that was a chef disappeared entirely -- along with her sense of self. Which is why she is currently in the republic of Georgia, on a mission to find a lost dog named Angel, and, more importantly, the life's purpose she once took for granted. For months, Amy has escaped by watching Youtube videos of Angel walking the children of Tbilisi to school. When Angel goes missing, Amy volunteers to go find him. The fact that her husband may be having (another) affair and her stepson is away at college probably has something to do with it. Who is Amy, after all, if she's not taking care of other people? But to her surprise, Angel proves elusive, and while she does make friends with a number of stray dogs, what she finds in Tblisi is entirely human. Is she happy in her marriage? What happened to her career? Why doesn't she ever cook anymore, even just for herself? Helping her on this journey of self-discovery is a rebellious teenager, a mysterious and attractive Russian, and several post-Soviet grandmothers. And, of course, the rich food and culture and complicated politics of Georgia itself. After a lifetime of looking away from her own needs and appetites, Amy is forced to confront what she really wants and how to finally find herself -- And a dog."-- Provided by publisher

The Dancing Face

"University lecturer Gus knows that stealing the priceless Benin mask, the Dancing Face, from a museum at the heart of the British establishment will gain an avalanche of attention. Which is exactly what he wants. But such a risky theft will also inevitably capture the attention of characters with more money, more power, and fewer morals. Naively entangling his loved ones in his increasingly dangerous pursuit of righteous reparation, is Gus prepared for what it will cost him?" -- Provided by publisher

The Bewitched Bourgeois

"Poe and Kafka meet The Twilight Zone in this anthology of fifty fantastical tales, many of them reflecting the political and social energies of the time, by an Italian master of the short story. The modern Italian writer Dino Buzzati wrote a huge body of short fiction, several hundred pieces, spanning a forty-year period. They offer a remarkable inventory of fantastic premises and tropes, international in the reach of their geographical settings, at times commenting on Italian issues but usually reflecting the worldwide horrors, catastrophes, and fanaticisms that characterized the twentieth century. A journalist for much of his life, Buzzati was adept at turning current events into fantasies that depicted social and political nightmares. He challenged the ideological complacencies of his era in accessible stories that solicit the reader's vicarious response, mixing sentiment, humor, and tragedy. Here Poe and Kafka meet Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. Lawrence Venuti presents a retrospective anthology that ranges from Buzzati's first publications to texts written as he was dying of cancer. Buzzati's own book-length selections are sampled, so that previously untranslated stories join new versions of classics like 'Seven Floors,' an absurdist tale of a patient fatally caught in hospital bureaucracy; 'Panic at La Scala,' where, fearful of a left-wing revolution, the Milanese bourgeoisie are imprisoned at the opera house; and 'Appointment with Einstein,' in which the scientist encounters a gas station attendant who is the Angel of Death. Venuti's crisp translations re-create Buzzati's technique of making the fantastic seem frighteningly plausible, establishing unreal worlds that disrupt dominant notions of what is real. The Bewitched Bourgeois is a definitive gathering of Buzzati's work in short fiction."-- Provided by publisher

Katabasis

"Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she's going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams.... Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion. With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don't even like. But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn't always the answer, and there's something in Alice and Peter's past that could forge them into the perfect allies...or lead to their doom."-- Provided by publisher

Lonely Crowds

"Ruth, an only child of recent immigrants to New England, lives in an emotionally cold home and attends the local Catholic girl's school on a scholarship. Maria, a beautiful orphan whose Panamanian mother dies by suicide and is taken care of by an ill, unloving aunt, is one of the only other students attending the school on a scholarship. Ruth is drawn forcefully into Maria's orbit, and they fall into an easy, yet intense, friendship. Ruth's devotion to her charming and bright new friend opens up her previously sheltered world. While Maria, charismatic and aware of her ability to influence others, eases into her full self, embracing her sexuality and her desire to be an artist, Ruth is mostly content to follow her around: to college and then into the early-nineties art world of New York City. There, ambition and competition threaten to rupture their friendship, while strong and unspoken forces pull them together over the years. Whereas Maria finds early success in New York City as an artist, Ruth stumbles along the fringes of the art world, drawn toward a quieter life of work and marriage. As their lives converge and diverge, they meet in one final and fateful confrontation. Ruth and Maria's decades-long friendship interrogates the nature of intimacy, desire, class, and time. What does it mean to be an artist and to be true to oneself? What does it mean to give up on an obsession? Marking the arrival of a sensational new literary talent, Lonely Crowds challenges us to reckon honestly with our own ambitions and the lives we hope to lead."-- Provided by publisher

One Yellow Eye

"How far would you go to save your marriage? For British scientist Kesta Shelley, there is no limit. Having always preferred the company of microbes, Kesta has spent her life looking down the barrel of a microscope rather than cultivating personal relationships. But that changed when Kesta met Tim--her cheerleader, her best friend, her absolute everything. So, when he was one of the last people in London to be infected with a perplexing virus that left the city ravaged, Kesta went into triage mode. Though the government has rounded up and disposed of all the infected, Kesta is able to keep her husband (un)alive--and hidden--with resources from the hospital where she works. She spends her days reviewing biopsy slides and her evenings caring for him, but he's clearly declining. The sedatives aren't working like they used to, and his violent outbursts are becoming more frequent. As Kesta races against the clock, her colleagues start noticing changes in her behavior and appearance. She is withering away, self-medicating with alcohol, and has stopped attending her mandated ZARG (Zombie Apocalypse Recovery Group) meetings. Her care for Tim has spiraled into absolute obsession. There are whispers of a top-secret lab working on a cure, and Kesta clings to the possibility of being recruited like a lifeline. But can she save her husband before he is discovered? Or worse ... will they trigger another outbreak?"-- Provided by publisher

Shade

"Shade examines the key role that shade plays not only in protecting human health and enhancing urban life, but also looks toward the ways that innovative architects, city leaders, and climate entrepreneurs are looking to revive it to protect vulnerable people--and maybe even save the planet. Ambitious and far-reaching, Shade helps us see a crucially important subject in a new light."-- Provided by publisher

Waiting for Britney Spears

"A frenetic, gonzo account of Britney Spears's historic rise and equally tragic fall told by an iconoclastic music journalist. America, 2003: A country at war, its shiny veneer beginning to crack. Von Dutch and The Simple Life dominate. And on the cover of every magazine, a twenty-one-year-old pop star named Britney Spears. Tracking her every move for a third-tier gossip rag in Los Angeles was an unknown young writer taking whatever job he could while pursuing his distant literary dreams. He'd instead become an eyewitness to the slow tragedy of a changing nation, represented in spirit by "the coy it-girl at the end of history." Years later, after finally establishing himself as a celebrated journalist, Jeff Weiss presents Waiting for Britney Spears, a gonzo, nostalgic, and "allegedly true" recounting of his years as a tabloid spy in the lurid underbelly of Los Angeles. Weiss follows America's sweetheart through Vegas superclubs and Malibu car chases, annulled marriages and soul-crushing legal battles, all the way to Britney's infamous 2007 VMA performance. As Weiss lives through the chaos leading to Britney's conservatorship, he observes, with peerless style, cringe-inducing fashion waves, destructive celebrity surveillance, and a country whose decline is embodied by the devastating downturn of its former golden child. With the narrative flair that established him as a singular chronicler of modern pop culture, Weiss goes for broke in Waiting for Britney Spears, a descent into a neon hall of mirrors reflecting our obsession with fame, morality, and the mystery of what really happened to the last great pop star." -- Provided by publisher

Vegas

"'In the summer of my nervous breakdown, I went to live in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada.' So begins John Gregory Dunne's neglected classic of first-person writing, a mordant, deadpan, grotesque tale that blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, confession and reportage. Panicked by his own mortality, despondent over his many failings as a writer and a man, Dunne leaves his wife and their three-year old child for the solitude of a crummy apartment off the Vegas Strip. There he plans to write an account of the city as he finds it; the book he ends up writing is 'a fiction which recalls time both real and imagined.' The remarkable central characters are Artha, a student at cosmetology college by day, a sex worker by night; Buster Mano, a private detective whose specialty is tracking down errant husbands; and Jackie Kasey, a lounge comic who opens for Elvis at $10,000 a night and wonders why he is still only a 'semi-name.' Pimps, bail bondsmen, parking-lot moguls, used-car tycoons, ex-jockeys, and women who look as if they had 'spent a lifetime meeting guys in Vegas or Miami Beach or Louisville for the Derby'--these are the people who wander through the lives of Artha, Buster, and Jackie; and, for a dark season, the life of the narrator. John Gregory Dunne captures a low point in American culture and in one American life with rare vitality, honesty, and perception. Sad, powerful, wildly funny, Vegas is like no memoir before or since."-- Publisher's website

Tonight in Jungleland

"A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the making of Bruce Springsteen's ground-breaking album, Born to Run - one of the most iconic records in rock history - Tonight in Jungleland combines lush music writing with unprecedented inside access to Springsteen, his bandmates, and the full story behind every song... and coincides with the album's 50th anniversary in August 2025. From the opening piano notes of 'Thunder Road,' to the final outro of 'Jungleland' - with American anthems like 'Born to Run' and 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' in between - Bruce Springsteen's seminal album, Born to Run, established Springsteen as a creative force in rock and roll. With his back against the wall, he wrote what has been hailed as a perfect album, a defining moment, and a roadmap for what would become a legendary career. Peter Ames Carlin, whose bestselling biography, Bruce, gave him rare access to Springsteen's inner circle, now returns with the full story of the making of this epic album. Released in August, 1975, Born to Run now celebrates its 50th anniversary. Carlin reveals a treasure trove of untold stories, detailing the writing and recording of every song, as well as the intense and at times tortuous process that mimicked the fault lines in Springsteen's psyche and career, even as it revealed the depth of his vision. A must-read for any music fan, Tonight in Jungleland takes us inside a hallowed creative process and lets us experience history."-- Provided by publisher

Stan and Gus

"A joint biography of the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and the architect Stanford White."-- Provided by publisher

Rehab

"Our country's leaders all seem to agree: People who suffer from addiction need treatment. Today, more people have access to treatment than ever before. So why isn't it working? The answer is that in America--where anyone can get addicted--only certain people get a real chance to recover. Despite record numbers of overdose deaths, our default response is still to punish, while rehabs across the United States fail to incorporate scientifically proven strategies and exploit patients. We've heard a great deal about the opioid crisis foisted on America by Big Pharma, but we've heard too little about the other half of this epidemic--the reason why so many remain mired in addiction. Until now."-- Amazon.com