Word’s pick: “Safari Honeymoon” by Jesse Jacobs
Things you may expect to experience while out safari honeymooning: flora, fauna, musket blasts, bare thighs, fine cheeses. Things you may not expect: anthropomorphic trees speaking in koans, being punched in the mouth by your hired guide. “Safari Honeymoon” has it all. Jacobs’s graphic novel tracks a pair of newlyweds through a world of greens as they encounter a beautiful but dangerous other world, one that demands respect and doesn’t hesitate to punish the arrogant.
— Chad Felix, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “The Argonauts” by Maggie Nelson
I’ve been waiting three months to recommend “The Argonauts!” Maggie Nelson has a way of reaching what’s deeply personal through her own narratives and curiosity of a subject. Her newest is no different and explores the idea of family, how we form one, what language we use, and who we allow into our families. It left me on the carpet in tears, doubled over with laughter (yes! Who wouldn’t want Eileen Myles to throw a pizza in their face?!). A book for all the excitement in your heart.
— Jess Pane, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].
Community Bookstore’s pick: “A Book of Memories” by Peter Nadas
What do you get when you marry Proust and Freud behind the Berlin Wall? The answer would probably be something close to Peter Nadas’s “A Book of Memories.” Set in 1970s Germany, Nadas’s monumental novel traces the love triangle between an unnamed Hungarian writer, a young German, and an aging actress. Blended into the narrative are sections from the writer’s late-19th-century historical novel-in-progress and an account from one of his childhood friends. It’s hard to do this huge, sensual book justice in 100 words, but readers looking for what happened to Modernism behind the Iron Curtain, look no further.
— Hal Hlavinka, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.commu
