ODY New Books Collection

Still Life

"These 10 sharp yet deeply human stories show how people from all walks of life can end up on the wrong side of the law, regardless of their intentions. A compelling portrait of modern Sweden that speaks to universal questions about crime and morality, from the internationally bestselling author of Quicksand. A police officer fresh out of the academy becomes acutely aware of the deadly consequences of prejudice and how biases color our actions, leading us to justify faulty choices. A teenager has lost her voice and resorts to violence to get heard, even against those she loves. A university student breaks a law on a night of youthful revelry, which soon has fatal consequences that plunge those involved into an abyss of remorse. A mother commits the very same crime her son is being prosecuted for, in order to protect him. A man extends a helping hand in defiance of state restrictions, keeping a refugee safe from the harsh Swedish winter and deportation. With her unique and prominent voice in Swedish literature, Malin Persson Giolito sheds light on the lives of people at all levels of the society through these ten thought-provoking and emotionally charged stories. She delivers a poignant portrayal of societal failure, vividly illustrating that actions driven by good intentions may still be considered criminal in the eyes of the law, underscoring that the legal system doesn't always shield those who need protection the most"-- Provided by publisher

Son of Nobody

"The most famous stories of the Trojan War and its aftermath are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. But these were not the only tales of the war sung to ancient audiences by bards-there were others, now vanished but for echoes and fragments, collected in what has come to be known as the Epic Cycle. One such tale is the Psoad: an epic that follows the son of a goatherd, Psoas of Midea, who leaves his wife and family to fight on the beaches of Troy. Psoas meets his doom, and the epic poem of his life is lost to time--until another man on a foreign shore, a Canadian academic studying at Oxford, discovers its relics thirty centuries later. A truly daring feat of imagination, SON OF NOBODY is a novel composed in two voices: the first, a series of fragments from antiquity that tell the story of Troy from a lost, alt-Homeric tradition; the second, the voice of a modern-day scholar, Harlow Donne, who assembles and comments on these fragments while navigating a conflict of his own. Obsessed with his discovery, Donne still can't seem to let go of his family's past--he weaves together the tale of uncovering ancient papyri, faded codices, and broken cuneiform tablets with memories of his daughter as a child and his wife before their separation. Donne translates and writes in the heartfelt modes of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Ares, god of war, as the parallel stories offer a poignant glimpse into both the follies of failed relationships and of battle. SON OF NOBODY upends the regal perspective of traditional epics, and by grappling with questions of ambition, family, and responsibility in both the ancient and the modern worlds, it shows 'that the past is never done with, that always there are parallels and returns and repetitions, always the song continues."-- Provided by publisher

Paradiso 17

"The intimate, sweeping tale of one man's restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope. All his life, exile has been the shadow stitched to the sole of Sufien's shoe. Born in Palestine on the precipice of 1948's Nakba, Sufien is forced to leave the only home he's ever known, the one on the hill with a beautiful blue door. This is the precise moment when time stops making sense. He spends the rest of his life propelled forward, always on the way-although in search of what, he is never quite sure. In the dusty, oil-rich desert of Kuwait, he meets his first love and decides he must leave his family. In a small Italian university town, he spends his youth wrapped up in the sweet promise of the West and the forgetful assurance of wine. When life takes him to a gritty New York, he discovers his true vocation and falls for a Jewish woman born into a wholly different world. Finally, he finds himself recalled to the wild, vast open skies of the desert, in Arizona. Sufien's life spans friendships lost and maintained, a stint selling leathers at a tanner's stall, the ineffable company of cats, and the freedom of the open road, the glowing pride of fatherhood, Sufi myths, prophetic dreams, and visions of the afterlife-and always, always, no matter how far he chases joy, the sweet, treacherous song of a balcony urging him to fly, to fall, to fall. The lyrical pages of Paradiso 17 weave in and out of time and space, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning. They are haunting, haunted with grief, struck through, as Dante once wrote, with "the arrow that the bow of exile / shoots first," and yet they throb with light-not just the light that Sufien sees as he approaches his own end, but the brilliant light of a life lived. Like all of our dead, Sufien still tries to speak, the book begins. Listen, this is his story." -- Provided by publisher

Night Night Fawn

"In a cluttered rent-controlled apartment in the middle of Manhattan, Barbara Rosenberg - old world yenta, committed homophobe, accomplished jazzercizer - is terminally ill, high on opioids, and writing the story of her life. Forget about her late husband, her career as the receptionist for an Upper East Side plastic surgeon, and her failed aspirations to be an actress. What she really wants to talk about are her unhinged thoughts on gender, Karl Marx, Jewish diaspora, and her two great disappointing loves: an estranged trans son and a long lost best friend whose betrayal haunts Barbara still. As she descends further into delirium and illness, Barbara's theories get wilder, and her circumstances put her on a crash course with these intimates once again." -- Provided by publisher

My Grandfather, the Master Detective

"He's not your average Grandpa. As a lover of classic crime stories, it's no surprise that schoolteacher Kaede encounters everyday mysteries more often than your typical twenty-seven-year-old. Solving them is another matter, though. For that, she turns to her beloved grandfather, who retains a keen sharpness of mind despite his dementia, and who was once a key member of The Waseda Mystery Club. From impossible locked room murders to confounding missing persons cases, the grandfather-granddaughter duo 'weave' stories to get to the bottom of every mystery. But all the while, an insidious shadow from Kaede's past slowly closes in on her . . . Steeped in references to classic crime from Christie to Chesterton to Poe, this Tokyo-set escapist mystery will capture your imagination." -- from dust jacket

Money beyond Borders

"Doubts about the international dominance of the dollar are only growing amid worries about tariffs, political dysfunction, and fraying international alliances. Will the dollar continue to reign supreme? In Money Beyond Borders, the leading authority on international currencies, Barry Eichengreen, puts the dollar's prospects in deep historical perspective by chronicling the entire history of cross-border currencies, from the invention of coins in the seventh century BCE to the cryptocurrencies of today and the central bank digital currencies of tomorrow. Money Beyond Borders recounts how Greek and Roman coins became the first true international currencies. It tells how the Florentine gold florin became the "greenback of the Renaissance," and how it was succeeded by Spanish silver and a Dutch fiat currency. The book explains why the British pound dominated the international economy in the nineteenth century, why the dollar rose to the top during World War II, and why the dollar has survived predictions of the imminent loss of its preeminence since the 1970s.The long history of international currencies shows that the same factors that encourage their widespread use eventually lead to their abandonment. Money Beyond Borders makes a powerful case that the dollar is now on the downside of this cycle, and it considers who the winners and losers will be when there is flight away from the greenback. Revealing important patterns in the life cycles of international currencies over the past 2,500 years, the book offers valuable lessons and insights about how currencies rise -- and why they fall." -- From publisher

Metropolitans

A love letter to a franchise and a thrilling study of New York City, Metropolitans traces the electric and calamitous history of the New York Mets. Metropolitans is for Mets fans, New York partisans, and everyone interested in the Mobius strip dynamic of sports and politics, the history of the national game, or the beautiful contradiction of baseball itself: a middle-class game owned by billionaires, in which the players--like the spectators--look to traverse the diamond and ultimately safely escape its many dangers. Along the way, A.M. Gittlitz re-introduces us to an eccentric cast of Metsian characters: Joan Payson, the first woman to buy a Major League Baseball team; a young Tom Seaver with an interest in progressive politics; and the contentious but beloved Mike Piazza. Gittlitz leads us through baseball's amateur beginnings to the Mets' first heady World Series on the heels of the Civil Rights and anti-war movements that many Mets players participated in. He guides us to the bad boy years, the exploitative development of farm academies in developing nations, and their inglorious purchase by a new breed of capitalist-- even after which they remained lovable losers. Metropolitans brilliantly shows us that sports have long been a site of political struggle, rousing class consciousness, and animating fights for racial equality. From purportedly calming riots in '69 to producing some of the greatest chokes in sporting history, from integration to desperate labor struggle against franchise owners, Metropolitans makes a deeply humane and convincing argument for the fascinating singularity of the New York Mets--and why they are not just the team of the counterculture, the freaks, and the losers, but the beloved team of anyone with a beating heart.

Lake Effect

"It's 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York, a place long fueled by the booming fortunes of Kodak and Xerox and, for some, the mores of the Catholic church. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly nonexistent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the forbidden: a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a prominent neighbor brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible-but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara's world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood. Years later, Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down. Written with Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's signature humor and insight, Lake Effect is a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most."-- Provided by publisher

Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!

"Global icon Liza Minnelli shares her inspiring story: stepping out from the long shadow of a mega-star mother and legendary film director father, fighting a lifetime battle with addiction, and emerging from it all to become a once-in-a-lifetime artist. Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! is the autobiography of EGOT icon Liza Minnelli. This fascinating, untold story reveals the intimate truth of the only child born to Hollywood legends Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland. For the first time, here is Liza up close: raw, strong, sexy, hilarious, and heartbreaking. Liza decided at the age of 16 that 'sympathy is my mother's business. I give people joy.' That veil of joy, however, masks a lifelong struggle with Substance Use Disorder ('SUD', which Liza inherited from her mother's branch of her family), boundless love to give and an equal need to receive it, broken marriages, multiple miscarriages, and hospitalizations--the highs and lows of unparalleled artistic success and lifelong friendships, as well as chronic anxiety and the threat of financial ruin. Despite every challenge, Liza's is a life wrapped in laughter and her tremendous capacity to give and receive love. Today at nearly 80, she opens her heart, mind, and memories, sharing secrets we never knew. Liza's book celebrates supreme artistry and, more importantly, her human rights activism. 'It's time to tell the truth,' Liza says, 'and help people heal, as I have, one day at a time.'"-- Provided by publisher

A Good Person

"An electric debut from a rising-star screenwriter about a millennial antihero who seeks revenge on her ex-situationship with a drunken hex, only for him to actually die the next day. Lillian and Henry have very much been enjoying each other's company the last few months, and quite frantically in bed. Even though Lillian's plain Jane of a best friend Jamie still frustratingly calls it "a situationship," she doesn't know anything. Lillian will lock Henry down--and she has a plan. Everyone knows you have to be strategic about these things. After all, it's clear Henry's hooked on her sexually deviant ways. So when Henry blindsides her with a breakup instead of the love declaration she told herself was on its way, Lillian exacts revenge by performing a drunken hex. There's a little wrinkle, though: Henry actually ends up dead the next morning, and Lillian becomes a prime suspect in his murder case. As the Boston police begin investigating Henry's death, Lillian quickly learns she wasn't the only woman in his life--and to cope with this reckoning, she plunges into a new obsession: stalking the long-term girlfriend Henry left behind. Desperate to control the narrative around her relationship with Henry, her season of mourning, and where she was the night he died, Lillian's chaotic pursuit for recognition (but only in all the right ways) takes her to ever darker places, and slowly she begins to uncover a reality she dearly wishes had stayed under wraps."-- Provided by publisher

Everybody's
Fly

"An electrifying memoir from a pioneering cultural icon whose fearless creativity reshaped the worlds of art, music, and style."-- Provided by publisher

Cave Mountain

In 2001, a six-year-old girl disappeared on Cave Mountain in the Arkansas Ozarks, prompting one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in the state's history. After she was found, her account of encountering an "imaginary friend" in the woods raised unsettling questions. More than two decades earlier, another young girl vanished in the same wilderness under circumstances involving a religious group, allegations of manipulation, violence, and apocalyptic beliefs. Blending investigative reporting with elements of memoir and regional history, Cave Mountain examines the connections between the two cases while exploring themes of faith and skepticism, memory, survival, and the cultural landscape of northern Arkansas

The Best Dog in the World

"Fourteen beloved authors celebrate the life-changing bond with their canine companions in this heartwarming essay collection..."-- Provided by publisher

A Bad, Bad Place

"If it hadn't been for her wee stupid dog Sid Vicious, 12-year-old Janey Devine might never have stumbled upon the corpse of Samantha Watson. And then maybe she'd still be able to sleep at night. And maybe her nana wouldn't be so worried sick all the time. And maybe Billy "The Ghost" Watson, a notorious gangster, wouldn't be on her tail--for it's Billy's daughter who was left for dead on those train tracks, and now Billy wants answers. Fear and gossip spread through the tight-knit community of Possilpark, Glasgow, and while Janey swears she can't remember the details of that morning, the cops think she's hiding something--and indeed, there's something she knows that she's not quite ready to tell anyone else, not even her nana, who won't rest until this whole thing is behind them." -- Provided by publisher

Bad Influence

When did we start trusting influencers over doctors? You used to see a doctor. Now you go online. 'Uncomfortable but essential reading. Your definitive guide to separating medical facts from online fiction.' Adam Kay Want to track your blood sugar? Your heart rate? Your sleep? You can. Need to focus? Want to lose weight fast? Everything is a click away. But who is regulating this? As NHS waiting times grow ever longer and patients in the US are priced out of medical care altogether, influencers have filled the gap. From doctors promoting new therapies, to entrepreneurs selling solutions, these self-styled experts glow with good health and guarantee results. But they are not familiar with our medical history. They don't owe us a duty of care. And they're rarely either qualified or impartial. So why do we trust them?

On the Future of Species

"What if we could create new species? What if we could supersede evolution? Adrian Woolfson, a scientist at the forefront of synthetic genomics, shows us how the application of artificial intelligence now gives us the power to produce new forms of life--and explores the dangers that will come with that power." -- Provided by publisher

Work, Retire, Repeat

"The issue of the future of Social Security, on which millions of Americans depend, produced great political theater at the State of the Union address. That highlighted a bigger problem of financing retirement as baby boomers seek to retire, often with limited resources. Many argue that the solution to the problem is for people to work longer. Teresa Ghilarducci, a noted expert on retirement, argues that the 'working longer' idea is wrong, unnecessary, and discriminates against people who work in lower wage occupations. Ghilarducci pushes for a national plan to finance retirement that would draw on contributions by both employers and employees to replace our privatized and ramshackle personal retirement system and make changes in the tax system that supports Social Security to give people a real choice whether to retire or continue to work in their later years. This book tells the stories of people locked into jobs later in life not because they love to work but because they must work. She demonstrates how relatively low-cost changes in the way we manage, and finance retirement will enable people in their so-called 'golden years' to choose how to spend their time. Ghilarducci has a good public platform, writes for Bloomberg and other outlets, and is passionate about her ideas and reaching as broad a public as possible. The book is for the growing number of people in the public and policy community who are worried about their retirement and engaged in the renewed debate about Social Security and Medicare."-- Provided by publisher

Whidbey

"Birdie Chang didn't know anything about Whidbey Island when she chose it, only that it was about as far away as she could get from her own life. She's a woman on the run, desperate for an escape from the headlines back home and the look of concern in her girlfriend's eyes--and from Calvin Boyer, the man who abused her as a child and who's now resurfaced. On her way, she has an unnerving encounter with a stranger on the ferry who offers her a proposition, a sinister solution and plan for revenge. But Birdie isn't the only girl Calvin harmed back then. There's also Linzie King, a former reality TV star who recently wrote all about it in her bestselling memoir. Though the two women have never met, their stories intertwine. Once Birdie arrives on Whidbey, she finally cracks the book's spine, only to find too much she recognizes in its pages. Soon after, on the other side of the country, Calvin's loving mother, Mary-Beth, receives a shocking phone call from the police: her only son has been murdered. Calvin's death sets into motion a series of events that sends each woman on a desperate search for answers. A complex whodunit told from alternating points of view, Whidbey is searingly perceptive and astonishingly original. Exploring the long reach of violence and our flawed systems of incarceration and rehabilitation, this is a tense and provocative debut that's sure to incite crucial questions about the pursuit of justice and who has real power over a story: the one who lives it, or the one who tells it?"-- Publisher's website

Stories

"A finely etched collection of short stories from the "generous, category-defying imagination" (The New York Times Book Review) of Helen Garner, one of Australia's most beloved writers. A woman sends postcards to a former lover from the idyllic Gold Coast. A chorus of hometown voices gossip about a wayward friend returned. A young girl discovers a hidden box of horrors. Helen Garner is best known for her frank, unsparing, and intricate portraits of Australian life. Now, in Stories, comes the collected short fiction of a singular literary voice. These stories delve into the complexities of love and longing, of the pain, darkness, and joy of life, and all told with Garner's characteristic sharpness, honesty, and humor. Each one is a perfect piece, but together they showcase a rare talent and a master of many literary forms." -- Provided by publisher

The Paradox of the Organism

"The unity of the organism - an assembly of organs, tissues, cells, and genes working toward a common goal-has long been taken for granted. The essays in this collection pierce the organismal veil to consider how an organism persists, even as internal conflict, from cancer cells to selfish genes, threatens its integrity and survival."-- Provided by publisher