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Brooklyn Daily
Word’s pick: “Shriver” by Chris Belden
Shriver gets an invitation to a writer’s conference, based on his notorious one-hit-wonder novel “Goat Time.” But Shriver is not the man the organizers assume he is — he’s never written anything in his life. Can he pass himself off a literary genius, while at a conference surrounded by offbeat characters, including a detective eyeing him as the prime suspect in a missing persons case? Part thriller and all dark satirical comedy, Belden kept me laughing and questioning — who is the real Shriver?
— Kristina Kaufman, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “The True Deceiver” by Tove Jansson
Writer and illustrator Tove Jansson is best known as the creator of the Moomins, but she also wrote several less-widely-read books for adults. Set in a small Finnish village in the depths of winter, her novel “The True Deceiver” tells the story of loner Katri, who worms her way into the life of Anna, an isolated children’s book author. It is a quiet, cold, pretty book about the lies we tell to protect us from other people, and from ourselves.
— Jen Keefe, 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: “The Anatomy of Fascism” by Robert Paxton
Why read a book on fascism in 2016? Pay attention to our current election cycle and the growing right-wing unrest in Europe and you might know why. Historian Robert Paxton’s brilliant book offers a lucid analysis of the roots, rise, and radicalization of Mussolini’s razza and Hitler’s volk. By the book’s end, Paxton reasons out a clear, workable definition of the 20th Century’s most reviled and destructive invention, noting ominously that an American-born fascism will be accompanied not by the fasces or swastika, but the stars and stripes.
— Hal Hlavinka, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.communitybookstore.net].