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“Folklore is the boiled-down juice of human living,” wrote Zora Neale Hurston. The quotation struck a chord with our children’s books columnist, Meghan Cox Gurdon, who this week looked to recommend traditional stories “that enlarge the spirit rather than inflame it.” “The Annotated African American Folktales,” edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar. Kevin Crossley-Holland’s “Norse Myths.” Philip Wilson's “Irish Fairy Tales.” And of course “D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths.” These repositories of folk wisdom are always worth revisiting—and as Mrs. Gurdon writes, “at a time of division, they offer encouragement, humility and perspective.” Read the review —C.C. |
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Q: | What book opened your eyes to a culture other than your own? Email books@wsj.com |
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| President Without a Party |
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| GraphicaArtis/Getty Images |
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Odd Couple: The unlikely pairing of President William Henry Harrison and Vice President John Tyler was the work of America’s first truly contested political convention. Meeting in December 1839, Whig delegates who were bonded by little besides their distaste for the legacy of Andrew Jackson passed over statesmen like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Instead they nominated Harrison, an aging war hero then employed as a court clerk in Cincinnati. For vice president they turned to Tyler, a states’-rights Democrat who had been governor of Virginia. His teaming with Harrison set up a raucous fall campaign pitting the old soldier and his improbable running mate against President Martin Van Buren. It also made the Whig convention the defining event of a watershed election. Richard Norton Smith on “President Without a Party” by Christopher J. Leahy and “Old Tip vs. the Sly Fox” by Richard J. Ellis. Read the review |
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| | | Dead Reckoning By Dick Lehr The U.S. sought to avenge Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor by assassinating Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto: “Operation Vengeance,” carried out in the South Pacific in April 1943, was perhaps America’s first targeted killing of an enemy leader. Read the review |
| Cult of Glory By Doug J. Swanson Formed in 1823, the Texas Rangers evolved over the decades from a frontier paramilitary organization into a professional police force. For much of their history, the Rangers served as the army of Texas’s ruling class, advancing the interests of the state’s Anglo elite. Read the review |
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“The Voter File”: In David Pepper’s novel, a washed-up investigative journalist stumbles on a vote-rigging scheme devised by a foreign mastermind. Read the review |
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| | | Why We Drive By Matthew B. Crawford Some time in the past decade, cars became boring. Drivers are increasingly insulated from the road; self-braking devices, steering assistance and similar gizmos make us less attentive. Smartphones and navigation screens keep eyes off the road, to disastrous effect. Read the review |
| Golf ’s Holy War By Brett Cyrgalis Boeing engineer Homer Kelley created a dense manual on swing mechanics that influenced pros like Nick Faldo and Ernie Els. Michael Murphy—who co-founded the Esalen Institute, a fabled New Age retreat—wrote a bestseller connecting golf to metaphysics. Read the review |
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“The Yield”: Tara June Winch’s novel follows one woman’s homecoming to the inland Australian hamlet of Massacre Plains, a fictionalized version of one of the country’s indigenous Wiradjuri settlements. Read the review |
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| | | Shadowplay By Joseph O’Connor Bringing to life the young Bram Stoker—the creator of “Dracula”—and his bonds with famous actor Henry Irving and beloved actress Ellen Terry, this novel by the author of “Star of the Sea” is an affecting portrayal of accidental friendship, enduring love and frustrated ambition. Read the review |
| Fracture By Andrés Neuman Earthquakes, tsunamis and, above all, nuclear disasters serve as signposts in Andrés Neuman’s novel, which traces the life of a Japanese businessman and provides eerie glimpses of the calamities—from Hiroshima through Chernobyl to Fukushima—that punctuate his time on Earth. Read the review |
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| On Life Behind the Iron Curtain |
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The author of the story collection “Good Citizens Need Not Fear.” Read the article |
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Monday Begins on Saturday By Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1965) Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking By Anya von Bremzen (2013) Secondhand Time By Svetlana Alexievich (2013) Soviet Bus Stops By Christopher Herwig and Vera Kavalkova-Halvarsson (2015) The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin By Vladimir Voinovich (1969) |
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