December 16, 2019
Letter from the editor:
I think it's a pretty common occurrence for writers and readers to have stories about how a book changed their life and transformed their understanding of the world. If we grew up with books, then we know how in the pages of certain books we can often find refuge and be understood in a way that few other things in our lives make us feel seen. So picking the best books of the year is a very personal and emotional choice for writers and editors, and I think that is reflected in our choices for the top 25 books of the year.
This is Hyperallergic's inaugural book newsletter, which joins our city guides (NYC, LA) and film newsletter, as yet another focused summary of the rich content Hyperallergic offers. I hope you'll take a moment to peruse these titles and just maybe find something that will shift your perspective and remind us why we fell in love with books in the first place.
Best of 2019: Our Top 25 Books
Here are our favorite books of 2019, brought to you by the writers and editors of Hyperallergic.
Penelope Rosemont’s Essays Expand the Surrealist Canon
Threaded through this collection is an optimistic belief in Surrealism as a world-changing political and poetic practice.
Marcella Durand
A Poet Takes Up Biography
Baron Wormser offers empathetic but unflinching portraits of a diverse group of historical figures.
Carl Little
Merce Cunningham Takes the Book Out of the Box
More of an art- or archival collection than a typical book, Cunnigham’s recently reissued Changes gathers sketches, notes, photographs, programs, and all other manner of ephemera in a creative package.
Abbey Bender
The Unique Legacy of an American Indian Modernist
Mary Sully’s artwork reflects her cultural moment, but it is also as a blueprint for rewriting history to include marginalized perspectives.
Sarah Rose Sharp
Changing the Tune of Globalization
In her new book on changing patterns of cultural production and consumption, Fatima Bhutto posits that it’s not American pop songs but K-Pop that has become the soundtrack of globalization.
Shiva Balaghi
Fighting for the Future in President Zuckerberg’s Dystopian America
In her graphic novel The Hard Tomorrow, Eleanor Davis explores how different people react to living in a pressure cooker of rising fascism amidst dire inequality and a collapsing ecosystem.
Dan Schindel
A Peek Into Some of the Best Art Books of 2019
Paula Rego, John Ruskin, Donald Judd, Lucian Freud, Hokusai, and, yes, Leonardo da Vinci.
The Polymathic Mind of John Ruskin
Paula Rego, John Ruskin, Donald Judd, Lucian Freud, Hokusai, and, yes, Leonardo da Vinci.
Mark Scroggins
The Radical Side of Suburbia
In Radical Suburbs, author Amanda Kolson Hurley argues that the failures and achievements of suburban life offer a roadmap to future sustainable and equitable housing.
Kealey Boyd
A New Book on Women Artists Is Welcome, But Uneven
The title of Great Women Artists is complete with a strikethrough across “women,” to indicate that the artists within are “great artists” regardless of gender. Visually, it’s arresting, but its intention is murky.
Bridget Quinn
Giorgio de Chirico’s Dream-like Verse
These poems channel the artist’s restlessness and longings into uncanny, animated visions.
James Gibbons
More book reviews:
A Novelist Mines the Profound Humor of Human Life
A Novel Set in the Berlin of the Future Pokes Fun at the Creative Class
How Surrealism’s Playful Aesthetic Was Deeply Political
Artists Who Have Addressed Sexual Trauma Since the 1970s
Andy Warhol’s “Screen Tests” Inspire an Investigation into Criticism, Failure, and Time
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