Editorial Content for Dearborn: Stories
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Each of the stories in Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection, DEARBORN, connects different people with particular dates and causes for their immigration to America. They show the immigrants creating their new lives in Michigan, specifically Dearborn, a city of more than 100,000 and home to the Ford Motor Company. Although the population is around 50% of Arab nationality, no one of Arab heritage holds a position of leadership. Perhaps this identifies the contradictory sense of pride in being American but not being of America. Read More
Teaser
Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In 10 tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more. A father teaches his son how to cheat the IRS and hide their cash earnings inside of frozen chickens. Tensions heighten within a close-knit group of couples when a mysterious man begins to frequent the local gym pool, dressed in Speedos printed with nostalgic images of Lebanon. And a failed stage actor attempts to drive a young Lebanese man with ambitions of becoming a Hollywood action hero to LA, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have other plans.
Promo
Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In 10 tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more. A father teaches his son how to cheat the IRS and hide their cash earnings inside of frozen chickens. Tensions heighten within a close-knit group of couples when a mysterious man begins to frequent the local gym pool, dressed in Speedos printed with nostalgic images of Lebanon. And a failed stage actor attempts to drive a young Lebanese man with ambitions of becoming a Hollywood action hero to LA, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have other plans.
About the Book
A sharp, tender and uproariously funny portrait of the lives of Arab American community members in Dearborn, Michigan.
Spanning several decades, Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In 10 tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more.
In DEARBORN, a father teaches his son how to cheat the IRS and hide their cash earnings inside of frozen chickens. Tensions heighten within a close-knit group of couples when a mysterious man begins to frequent the local gym pool, dressed in Speedos printed with nostalgic images of Lebanon. And a failed stage actor attempts to drive a young Lebanese man with ambitions of becoming a Hollywood action hero to LA, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have other plans.
By turns wildly funny, incisive and deeply moving, DEARBORN introduces readers to an arresting new voice in contemporary fiction and invites us all to consider what it means to be part of a place and community, and how it is that we help one another survive.
Audiobook available, read by Sarab Kamoo and Qarie Marshall
Editorial Content for Fair Rosaline
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Whether you’re a Shakespeare aficionado or only remember the Bard from high school English class, you undoubtedly know the story of Romeo and Juliet, the ill-fated lovers whose romance was abruptly ended by the far-reaching repercussions of a family feud. You may even remember Rosaline, Lord Capulet's niece, for whom Romeo holds an unrequited love. However, when Romeo crashes a Capulet party to try to catch a glimpse of her younger cousin, Juliet, it begins the love story of all love stories. So, in a sense, there is no Juliet without Rosaline. Read More
Teaser
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet, he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions, but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life. Soon, though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, 13-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life. With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?
Promo
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet, he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions, but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life. Soon, though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, 13-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life. With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?
About the Book
The most exciting historical retelling of 2023, FAIR ROSALINE is a subversive, powerful untelling of Romeo and Juliet by New York Times bestselling author Natasha Solomons, perfect for readers of HAMNET by Maggie O'Farrell and HESTER by Laurie Lico Albanese.
Was the greatest ever love story a lie?
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet, he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions, but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.
Soon, though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, 13-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life. With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?
Bold, lyrical and chillingly relevant, this spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best-known tale reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers, shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet.
Audiobook available, read by Sheila Atim
Editorial Content for Barbara Isn’t Dying
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
BARBARA ISN’T DYING by Alina Bronsky is actually about Barbara dying. We don't realize that at first, and while the main character, Herr Schmidt (as he is referred to in the narrative) or "Schmidt, Walter" (as he refers to himself), refuses to admit that there is anything wrong with Barbara, it becomes crystal clear to us that she is not getting any better. It also becomes apparent as we read the narrative from Walter’s point of view that he is not a nice man. He has few friends, and Barbara has waited on him hand and foot throughout their marriage. Read More
Teaser
Walter Schmidt has lived his whole life within the narrow “comfortable” confines of traditional gender roles: he has made it to retirement without learning how to fry an egg or use a vacuum cleaner. After all, he could always count on his wife, Barbara. But when one morning she can’t get up from bed anymore, everything changes. With biting humor and great warmth, Alina Bronsky writes about how Walter, nearing the end of his life, is suddenly forced to reinvent himself as a caregiver and house-husband, and become the caring partner he never was in all his years with Barbara. Little by little, Walter’s rough facade begins to crumble --- and with it his old certainties about his life and family.
Promo
Walter Schmidt has lived his whole life within the narrow “comfortable” confines of traditional gender roles: he has made it to retirement without learning how to fry an egg or use a vacuum cleaner. After all, he could always count on his wife, Barbara. But when one morning she can’t get up from bed anymore, everything changes. With biting humor and great warmth, Alina Bronsky writes about how Walter, nearing the end of his life, is suddenly forced to reinvent himself as a caregiver and house-husband, and become the caring partner he never was in all his years with Barbara. Little by little, Walter’s rough facade begins to crumble --- and with it his old certainties about his life and family.
About the Book
A bittersweet and hilarious novel about a marriage whose decades-old routine is suddenly upended.
Walter Schmidt has lived his whole life within the narrow “comfortable” confines of traditional gender roles: he has made it to retirement without learning how to fry an egg or use a vacuum cleaner. After all, he could always count on his wife, Barbara. But when one morning she can’t get up from bed anymore, everything changes.
With biting humor and great warmth, Alina Bronsky writes about how Walter, nearing the end of his life, is suddenly forced to reinvent himself as a caregiver and house-husband, and become the caring partner he never was in all his years with Barbara.
Little by little, Walter’s rough facade begins to crumble --- and with it his old certainties about his life and family.
September 15, 2023
Once I sit down at my desk in the morning, I seem to be plastered there for the day, except for quick runs to the kitchen for lunch. I have perfected things like opening a bagged salad and putting it in a bowl, or adding radishes, mint and pistachios to a bowl of farro, or microwaving multigrain rice from Trader Joe’s for three minutes and adding some veggies to it. My office has a small fridge in it with water chilling in large jugs and ice cubes in the freezer. I keep a stash of salt-free pretzels, as well as a box of great dark chocolates that I try to forget about, but on some days it’s exactly what I need to keep my fingers typing.
October 2023 Bookaccino Live Event
September 12, 2023
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 11th and September 18th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our New Release Spotlight of THE RIVER WE REMEMBER, William Kent Krueger's latest stand-alone novel. It’s an Indie Next pick, a Book of the Month Club selection, a Barnes & Noble Most Anticipated Book of September, and an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On title. In the summer of 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances.
