Books

November 29, 2021 • View in browser

The Complicated Legacy of Modernist Minoru Yamasaki, Architect of World Trade Center

Yamasaki’s most well-known projects — the twin towers and the Pruit-Igoe housing project — were both destroyed on national television. | Sophia Stewart

Revel in the Garden Installations of Landscape Designer Piet Oudolf

Piet and his wife Anja purchased an old farmhouse in the Netherlands, transforming it with many experiments in landscaping. | Sarah Rose Sharp

A Century of Women Designers Who Helped Shape Our Lives

Jane Hall surveys a century of women’s contributions to design, exploring the ways they have shaped life not only in our homes and workplaces, but in society at large. | Lauren Moya Ford

30 Artists and Writers Savor and Digest Those “Lunchbox Moments”

A group of food writers in San Francisco gathered personal essays and art from 30 contributors around the country. | Faith Adiele

Doris Derby’s Searing, Intimate Photos of the Civil Rights Movement

A book presents more than 110 pictures from Derby’s archive, offering a rich panorama of the key people and places behind the movement. | Lauren Moya Ford

Reflecting on the Glamorous, Political, and Artistic Covers of Ebony Magazine

The pages of the popular magazine not only instilled pride in Black communities, but also documented and contextualized their realities. | Mia Imani Harrison

California’s Radical and Multicultural Art History, No Longer Dismissed

Art historian Jenni Sorkin surveys the history of visual art in California from the early 20th century to the present. | Jordan Karney Chaim

A Gut-Wrenching but Graceful Photo Project on Trump’s America

Over four tumultuous years, Epstein’s book moves across the country to capture pivotal points of conflict between the American government, the people, and the land. | Lauren Moya Ford

Support Hyperallergic

Your contributions support Hyperallergic's independent journalism and our extensive network of writers around the world.

A Look at the Holy Roman Empire’s Most Splendid Books

A new book joins meticulous historical analysis with more than 150 lush, full-color illustrations of these magnificent books and their elaborate bindings. | Lauren Moya Ford

The Magnificent History of Japanese Screens

An exquisitely illustrated and enlightening new book reveals the screen’s unique role in Japanese history and culture from its origins to the 20th century. | Lauren Moya Ford

What Does God Even Look Like?

The author, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, pushes back against a later theological worldview that the southern Levantine deity was always a singular, unchanging entity. | Sarah E. Bond

A Freewheeling Translation of Dante’s Purgatorio

Mary Jo Bang’s interpretation updates this 14th-century poem for 20th-century readers. | Nolan Kelly

Ai Weiwei Plumbs His Chaotic Childhood in New Memoir

Ai Weiwei’s childhood recollections are vividly violent. | Kealey Boyd

Scottish History Echoes in the Writings of Two North American Poets

Poets Shara McCallum and Karen Solie channel Scotland through historical fiction and the deep-seated malaise of modernity. | Mark Scroggins

Poems That Move through Space, Negotiating Switches and Transitions

Ruth Lepson’s verse engages with Cecil Taylor, Cy Twombly, and Philip Guston among others. | Geoffrey O’Brien

On Addiction and Writing in the Work of Tao Lin

“I think addiction is a part of life. We get addicted to things in ways that each have pros and cons.” | Geoffrey Cruickshank-Hagenbuckle