Maximum Shelf Awareness: Picador Turns 20!

opens in a new windowToday’s issue of Maximum Shelf Awareness is all about Picador! Learn about the imprint’s rich 20-year history and its stellar list of authors, including Paul Auster, Jeff Chang, Michael Cunningham, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen, Atul Gawande, Elizabeth Kolbert, Ann Leary, Hilary Mantel, Marilynne Robinson, Robin Sloan, Olen Steinhauer, Hector Tobar and Adelle Waldman, among others.

Recent breakout Picador original titles include:
THE BIRTH OF KOREAN COOL: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong
THE ALMOST NEARLY PERFECT PEOPLE: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
PRO: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt
SELFISH, SHALLOW, AND SELF-ABSORBED: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum
BLACK MAN IN A WHITE COAT: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy

Major reprint titles and movie tie-ins:
VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
LILA by Marilynne Robinson
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION by Elizabeth Kolbert
BLACK CHALK by Christopher J. Yates
ON THE RUN: Fugitive Life in an American City by Alice Goffman
THE 33: DEEP DOWN DARK: The Untold Story of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Héctor Tobar
THE REVENANT by Michael Punke
THE LADY IN THE VAN by Alan Bennett
SILENCE by Shusaku Endo

Six Highlights of the Winter 2016 List:

opens in a new windowTHE YID by Paul Goldberg
James Meader, executive director of publicity at Picador and also the book’s editor, calls it “Inglorious Basterds crossed with Ocean’s Eleven by way of the Coen Brothers.” It’s already received two starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist!

opens in a new window100 MILLION YEARS OF FOOD by Stephen Le
Biological anthropologist Le explores the history of human diets, our evolution, modern eating habits and how all this information can be used to make the best food choices for our health. Anna deVries, the book’s editor, said that the book should reach different readers, interested in “health, history, sociological studies, like the sweet spot [achieved by] Jared Diamond.”

opens in a new windowTHE LONELY CITY by Olivia Laing
An expertly crafted work of reportage, memoir and biography told through the lives of iconic artists, Laing (author of the LibraryReads pick THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING) seeks answers to the questions of: What does it mean to be lonely? How do we live, if we’re not intimately engaged with another human being? How do we connect with other people?

opens in a new windowCITY OF THORNS by Ben Rawlence
What Katherinee Boo’s BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS did for the slums of Mumbai, India, CITY OF THORNS does for a massive refugee camp in Kenya, near the border with Somalia. “By combining his own experiences with interviews with residents of Dabaab, he makes the human rights crisis—rarely covered in the media—vivid and immediate for readers.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

THE GOLDEN CONDOM: And Other Essays on Love Lost and Found opens in a new window by Jeanne Safer, Ph.D.
Psychotherapist Safer interweaves her own experiences with those of her patients to explore the frustration, humiliation, sadness and happiness that accompanies love in this provocative and compelling collection of essays.

opens in a new windowSHELTER by Jung Yun
SHELTER weaves a bloody mystery with domestic drama into a layered portrait of race, class, money, marriage and more. Editor Elizabeth Bruce notes, “Everyone has a different takeaway, some call it THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG with Gillian Flynn (GONE GIRL) pacing. It leaves you hanging until the last chapter.”