Critics' Picks Out in Paperback in October 2024

“A transfixing collage of gorgeous prose and manipulated illustrations, with themes of cultural erasure and the effervescence of lust and love.” – Hamilton Cain, The Star Tribune

“The book’s scale is enormous; it contains multiple storylines that cross from the past to the present and a generous cast of characters. Most important, in this novel, is that history is alive: It is an overflowing conversation that never ends.” – Krys Lee, The Atlantic

"It's futile to predict where a great writer's boundless imagination will take us and, as Absolution affirms, McDermott is a great writer... McDermott possesses the rare ability to evoke and enter bygone worlds without condescending to them. She understands that the powerhouses can dominate the helpmeets. She also understands that playing God is the role of a lifetime – and every human actor should turn it down." – Maureen Corrigan, NPR

"[Democracy Awakening] is the most lucid just-so story for Trump's rise I've ever heard. It's magisterial." – Virginia Heffernan, Washington Post

"In the pantheon of winning books about the Met, it is right up there... Bringley offers an unusual, insider's vantage point on this vast palace of art... it's Bringley's reflections on dozens of individual paintings, photographs, sculptures, and ancient artifacts that elevate this memoir into a paean to the power of art." – Heller McAlpin, NPR

“If readers are prepared for eclecticism—and since Best American Short Stories was established in 1915, we must be—these 20 stories have something for everyone… All hits and no skips is a tall order, but this strong, solid compilation is well worth a short story lover’s time.” – Kirkus Reviews

"[Slow Down] offers more than a diagnosis of the systemic problems that brought us to this moment; it lays out, in clear and well-researched language, how those problems can be thoroughly addressed... Slow Down is that rare hybrid among ideological manifestos: It opens new insights into an existing ideology while uplifting something distinct of its own." – Matthew Rozsa, Salon

"Witty and engaging, Determined is also a goldmine of fascinating information (most of it accessible even to those of us who aren't scientifically literate) about neuroscience; philosophy; chaos theory; emergent complexity; quantum indeterminacy; evolving knowledge of the causes of epilepsy, schizophrenia, and autism; and, of course, the impact of nature and nurture on decision-making." – Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today

"Ambitious... A chronicle of almost a century of American economic life, rich with historical details and resonant narratives. It also makes a subtle but pointed argument about the present, offering a diagnosis of our current maladies and suggestions about the shape solutions could take." – Nick Romeo, The Washington Post

"Black Ball is an intriguing look at professional basketball in the 1970s, one that changes our thinking about why the NBA is considered a Black league, and – for readers who love basketball and Black history – offers a sports-centered perspective on race relations in post-civil rights America through the lens of the NBA." – Louis Moore, The Boston Globe