This week's book recommendations lean heavily into European culture and history, with a new history of the Vikings, a collective biography of the Tudor ladies-in-waiting, and a collection of letters from the Romanian-born French poet Paul Celan. A biography of the great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. We also recommend the fascinating true-crime memoirs (written by the criminals in question) and Rebecca Kaufman's heartwarming new work about a complicated family in fiction. Please enjoy reading. — Gregory Cowles
One of Europe's most important post-war poets, Celan remains both puzzling and intriguing, more than 50 years after his death. The autobiographical basis of his work remained inaccessible to general readers until the 1990s, when Celan's thousands of pages of letters began to be published. The scholar Bertrand Badiou compiled the poet's correspondence with his wife, the French graphic artist Giselle L'Estrange-Seran, and the collection became available in English for the first time when it was translated by Jason Cavett.
Poets of NYRB | Paperback, $28
Wilson's biography of the German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) approaches the subject through his masterpiece and life's work, the verse drama Faust. This work is widely considered perhaps the single greatest masterpiece of German literature, and is packed with philosophical and philosophical content. A simple meditation on human existence.
Bloomsbury Continuum | $35
Kaufman's fifth novel unfolds through a series of vignettes, centering on a woman who decides to spend Christmas with her extended family, including her future grandchildren and ex-husband, taking turns taking in the perspectives of each family member.
People love the gory stories that chronicle the deeds of Viking raiders. But Barraclough, a British historian and broadcaster, goes beyond these melodramatic stories to uncover lesser-known details of the Old Norse civilization, which began around 750 AD.
Norton | $29
Fifteen years ago, Ferrell was arrested in New York City as a “hipster con man” who roamed Brooklyn bars and scammed unsuspecting men, even though he was wanted in Utah for a felony fraud charge. He gained dubious fame after being identified by the Observer. Now older, wiser, and released from prison, Ferrell appears in this captivating, incisive, and highly entertaining memoir that details his path from internet notoriety to self-awareness.
Saint Martins | $29
In her vivid biographies of the women who served Queen Henry VIII, British author and historian Clark discovers a compelling entry into the Tudor industrial complex, It shows that behind the grandeur, the royal palace was human-sized and small-scale. .
