ODY New Books Collection

Over Ruled

"An examination of how laws have grown to the detriment of everyday Americans."-- Provided by publisher

Morality

"We make moral judgments about all sorts of things, both mundane and momentous. But are any of these moral judgments actually true? The moral error theorist argues that they are not. According to this view, when people make moral judgments (e.g., 'Stealing is morally wrong'), although they purport to say true things about the world, in fact the world does not contain any of the properties or relations that would be necessary to render such judgments true. Nothing is morally right; nothing is morally wrong. The first part of this book ('Morality in Error') argues in favor of this version of moral skepticism. Moral properties, it is claimed, have features that cannot be accommodated within the naturalistic worldview. Some of these problematic features pertain to the 'reason-giving' nature of moral properties; some pertain to puzzles surrounding the notion of moral responsibility. Suppose that we decided that this radical skepticism about morality is correct—what, then, should we do with our faulty moral discourse? The abolitionist presents the most obvious answer: that we should just do away with morality (in the way that in the past we eliminated talk of bodily humors, say). The fictionalist presents a less obvious answer: that we should retain moral discourse even though we know (at some level) that it is false. The second part of this book ('Morality as Fiction') advocates an ambitious version of moral fictionalism. This book is a sequel to the author’s 2001 work The Myth of Morality." -- taken from publisher's website

Model Home

"The Maxwell siblings return to their childhood home in the Dallas suburbs after the shocking news of their parents' death. They return to find the house, and the family itself, haunted by strange, inexplicable terrors."-- Provided by publisher

Hampton Heights

From the author of the Washington Post notable novel "Vintage Contemporaries", something completely unexpected: a hair-raising and rollicking adventure set on one night in 1987, when six paperboys must confront a slew of monsters as well as their own personal demons in a haunted Midwestern neighborhood.

Dear Dickhead

"An epistolary novel about sex, addiction, and #MeToo."-- Provided by publisher

Connie

"In an industry dominated by white men, Connie Chung stood alone, the first and only Asian woman to break into the television news industry. This is her extraordinary story, told with incisive wit and remarkable candor. Connie Chung is a pioneer. In 1969 at the age of 23, this once-shy daughter of Chinese parents took her first job at a local TV station in her hometown of Washington, D.C. and soon thereafter began working at CBS news as a correspondent. Profoundly influenced by her family's cultural traditions, yet growing up completely Americanized in the United States, Chung describes her career as an Asian woman in a white male-centered world. Overt sexism was a way of life, but Chung was tenacious in her pursuit of stories - battling rival reporters to secure scoops that ranged from interviewing Magic Johnson to covering the Watergate scandal - and quickly became a household name. She made history when she achieved her dream of being the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the U.S. Chung pulls no punches as she provides a behind-the-scenes tour of her singular life. From showdowns with powerful men in and out of the newsroom to the stories behind some of her career-defining reporting and the unwavering support of her husband, Maury Povich, nothing is off-limits - good, bad, or ugly. So be sure to tune in for an irreverent and inspiring exclusive: this is CONNIE like you've never seen her before."-- Provided by publisher

Brothers

In this intimate and open account--nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you've ever read--Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy, Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen's love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe "Ed," but never "Eddie"), written while still mourning his untimely death. In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers' childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother--the kind of mom who admonished her boys to "always wear a suit" no matter how famous they became--a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love. "I was with him from day one," Alex writes. "We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I've spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime." There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward's life and death. Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author's private archives. -- Provided by publisher

The Book of George

"From the author of the critically acclaimed Laura & Emma comes a The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. for our times: Kate Greathead's razor-sharp but big-hearted excavation of millennial masculinity, The Book of George. If you haven't had the misfortune of dating a George, you know someone who has. He's a young man brimming with potential but incapable of following through; noncommittal to his long-suffering girlfriend, Jenny; distant from but still reliant on his mother; funny one minute, sullenly brooding the next. Here, Kate Greathead paints one particular, unforgettable George in a series of droll and surprisingly poignant snapshots of his life over two decades. And yet, it's hard not to root for George at least a little. Beneath his cynicism is a reservoir of fondness for Jenny's valiant willingness to put up with him. Each demonstration of his flaws is paired with a self-eviscerating comment. No one is more disappointed in him than himself (except maybe Jenny and his mother). As hilarious as it is astute and singular as it is universal, The Book of George is a deft, unexpectedly moving portrait of millennial masculinity."-- Provided by publisher

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the area's most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.

Band People

"Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists--these and other 'band people' are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry."--Dust jacket

Vertigo

"Germany, 1918: a country in flux. The First World War is over, the nation defeated. Revolution is afoot, the monarchy has fallen and the victory of democracy beckons. Everything must change with the times. Out of the ashes of the First World War, Germany launches an unprecedented political project- its first democratic government. The Weimar Republic is established. The years that follow see political extremism, economic upheaval, revolutionary violence and the transformation of Germany. Tradition is shaken to its core as a triumphant procession of liberated lifestyles emerges. Women conquer the racetracks and tennis courts, go out alone in the evenings, cut their hair short and cast the idea of marriage aside. Unisex style comes into fashion, androgynous and experimental. People revel in the discovery of leisure, filling up boxing halls, dance palaces and the hotspots of the New Age, embracing the department stores' promise of happiness and accepting the streets as a place of fierce political battles. In this short burst of life between the wars, amidst a frenzy of change, comes a backlash from those who do not see themselves reflected in the new Republic. Little by little, deep divisions begin to emerge. Divisions that would bring devastating consequences, altering the course of the twentieth century and the lives of millions around the world. Vertigo is a vital, kaleidoscopic portrait of a pivotal moment in German history." --Publisher's description

The Effect

"Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a clinical drug trial and find themselves falling for each other fast. But is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real or a side effect of a new depressant? Succumbing to the gravitational pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved." -- backcover

Song of Myself

"Song of Myself: A Novel is a gay man's odyssey of self-discovery. It is the story of Daniel Dell Blake, a gay man navigating his way through a tumultuous twentieth-century America. His rites of passage, including embracing his identity, garnering self-respect, and living with irrepressible creativity, will resonate for readers confronting today's culture wars. Daniel's struggles against societal norms, infused with wit, celebrate human resilience while offering historical insight, punctuated throughout by quotes from Walt Whitman, whose life and writings serve as a touchstone-to the narrator and to the reader-a testament to how truth and pride, and even humble efforts in the midst of monumental events become (in Whitman's words) 'the journey-work of the stars.'" -- Amazon

The Use of Photography

"Love and death cohabit in The Use of Photography as in no other major work by Annie Ernaux. First published in France in 2005, the book recounts a passionate love affair between Ernaux and the journalist and author Marc Marie, after the two met in January 2003. Ernaux had been receiving intensive chemo for breast cancer during the prior three months, and had lost all her hair from the treatments. At the end of January she had surgery, followed by radiation therapy. The affair took place in different locations and Ernaux describes how, shortly after it began, she found herself entranced each morning by the sight of clothes strewn about, chairs out of place and the remains of their last meal of the evening still on the table-and how painful it felt to put things back in order afterward. She went and got her camera, and began to take photographs of the scenes of disarray. When she told Marc Marie what she had done, he said he had felt the same desire."-- Provided by publisher

Undivided

"In a country torn apart by racial tension, the story of how one Evangelical church tried to bridge the divide, with notable, if not complete, success."-- Provided by publisher

The Third Realm

"From bestselling author Karl Ove Knausgaard, a kaleidoscopic novel about human nature in the face of enormous change--and the warring impulses between light and dark that live in all of us. Shapeshifting visitors, unsolved murders in the forest, black metal bands and an online bank of thousands of people's dreams--the star is back. Karl Ove Knausgaard's The Morning Star kept readers up all night, immersed with nine characters whose individual lives are heightened by the sudden appearance of a blazing new star, and The Wolves of Eternity portrayed the intimate experiences of two estranged half siblings decades before the star rises. In The Third Realm, the effects of the star are felt around the world, as people start to reckon with what it might possibly mean. With this next novel, the limitless scale and ambition of Knausgaard's new universe is clear. This is life, death, the human condition and the real-time creation of an epic and utterly immersive world."-- Provided by publisher

The Tech Coup

Over the past decades, under the cover of "innovation," technology companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even begun to seize power from governments themselves. Facial recognition firms track citizens for police surveillance. Cryptocurrency has wiped out the personal savings of millions and threatens the stability of the global financial system. Spyware companies sell digital intelligence tools to anyone who can afford them. This new reality--where unregulated technology has become a forceful instrument for autocrats around the world--is terrible news for democracies and citizens.In The Tech Coup, Marietje Schaake offers a behind-the-scenes account of how technology companies crept into nearly every corner of our lives and our governments. She takes us beyond the headlines to high-stakes meetings with human rights defenders, business leaders, computer scientists, and politicians to show how technologies--from social media to artificial intelligence--have gone from being heralded as utopian to undermining the pillars of our democracies. To reverse this existential power imbalance, Schaake outlines game-changing solutions to empower elected officials and citizens alike. Democratic leaders can--and must--resist the influence of corporate lobbying and reinvent themselves as dynamic, flexible guardians of our digital world.Drawing on her experiences in the halls of the European Parliament and among Silicon Valley insiders, Schaake offers a frightening look at our modern tech-obsessed world--and a clear-eyed view of how democracies can build a better future before it is too late. - "As a member of the European Parliament, author Marietje Schaake was on the vanguard of politicians who recognized that no technology is inherently "democratic"; only with careful regulations can we protect the disruption of democracy from AI and other innovations that might undermine it. And yet, such laws are largely absent, especially in the United States, which lags behind European regulators and has long subscribed to the Silicon Valley mantra that regulation stifles innovation. This problem has become more urgent than ever as an ecosystem of small and invisible tech players are gradually taking over crucial tasks formerly exercised by democratic governments-from intelligence gathering, to policing, voting, and more. Some tech companies have even come to resemble nations in terms of their structure and scale. Tech companies now have the means and the abilities to set policies in the digital world-a world which comprises more of our lives every day. In this book, Schaake illuminates the ways in which democracies around the world are increasingly run on technology that few in government can understand, let alone regulate. Technologies we expected to help boost democracy (such as Twitter during the Arab Spring uprisings) are now being used by authoritarians, and more and more digital products created in democracies are being exported and used for repressive means elsewhere. Schaake also discusses what can be done, pointing to successes within some European counties, as well as ideas not yet in place but necessary for the preservation of democracy moving forward. The result is a book balanced between presenting the dangers we face in clear terms and outlining a vision for a safer, more democratic future."-- Provided by publisher

Shred Sisters

"From Betsy Lerner, celebrated author of The Bridge Ladies, comes a wry and riveting debut novel about family, mental illness, and a hard-won path between two sisters. It is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Olivia is the sister in the spotlight, but when her stunning confidence morphs into something erratic and unpredictable, she becomes a hurricane leaving the Shred family wrecked in her wake. Put simply, she has no brakes. Younger sister Amy, cautious and studious to the core, dreams of winning a Nobel Prize in science. Amy believes in facts, proof, and the empirical world. Except none of that can explain what's happening to Ollie, whose physical beauty and charisma mask the bipolar disorder that will shatter Amy's carefully constructed world. As Amy comes of age and seeks to find her place-first in academics, then New York publishing, and through a series of men-every step brings collisions with Ollie. For all that upends and unsettles these sisters, an inextricable bond always draws them back. Spanning two decades, Shred Sisters is an intimate and bittersweet story exploring the fierce complexities of sisterhood, mental health, loss and love. If anything is true it's what Amy learns on her road to self-acceptance: No one will love you or hurt you more than a sister."-- Provided by publisher

She-Wolves

"First came the secretaries from Brooklyn and Queens--the 'smart cookies' who learned on the job despite the obstacles. Then came the first Harvard Business School grads, who, despite their hard-earned diplomas, often settled for less. Eventually came the yuppies of the 1980s in power suits and commuter sneakers. In She-Wolves, award-winning historian Paulina Bren tells the story of the first generations of women who fought their way into the bad-boy culture and lavish opulence of the finance world. If the wolves of Wall Street made a show of their ferocity, the she-wolves did so with tough-as-nails persistence. Starting at a time when 'No Ladies' signs hung across the doors of Wall Street's clubs and unapologetic sexism and racism were the norm at top firms, Bren chronicles the remarkable women who demanded a seat at the table. She-Wolves is an engaging and enraging look at the collision of women, finance, and New York from the go-go years to ground zero."-- Provided by publisher

The Sequel

"Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business. That is to say, she's taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and solved the mystery of the anonymous plagiarism accusations that tormented him. Now she is living her life, content to enjoy her husband's royalty checks in perpetuity, but literary celebrity continues to beckon, and this time the book in question is her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write and publish a universally lauded best seller? Then, in the wake of The Afterword's great success, Anna begins to receive anonymous accusations of her very own. Surely there is no one out there who still knows the truth about her colorful life, so who is sending her these excerpts of a justly lost manuscript by a justly unpublished author? Who knows her true name and origins? Who understands the exact nature of her many, many transgressions? Anna has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose this life. She cannot rest until she has eradicated the threat and reclaimed, definitively and permanently, her sole and uncontested right to her own story."-- Provided by publisher