With so many great books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Getting to Know Death: A Meditation by Gail Godwin and Hell Gate Bridge: A Memoir of Motherhood, Madness, and Hope by Barrie Miskin.
“Out of habit, I search the shore / for bodies.” A Map of My Want (Haymarket Books, July 2024) by Faylita Hicks. Second book, poetry. Agent: Annie Hwang. Editor: Maya Marshall. Publicist: Aricka Foreman.
“Robert liked to quote Ingmar Bergman: ‘An artist should always have one work between himself and death.’” Getting to Know Death: A Meditation (Bloomsbury, June 2024) by Gail Godwin. Twenty-second book, fourth nonfiction. Agent: Moses Cardona. Editor: Nancy Miller. Publicist: Emily Fishman.
“The following are the names of the people whom the Seer, Igbala Oludamisi, encountered in his eight-hour vision which stretched into the early hours of March 19, 1947.” The Road to the Country (Hogarth, June 2024) by Chigozie Obioma. Third book, novel. Agent: Bill Clegg. Editor: David Ebershoff. Publicist: Carrie Neill.
“when the tide / of silence / rises /say / ‘ocean’” Call This Mutiny: Uncollected Poems (Omnidawn, July 2024) by Craig Santos Perez. Eighth book, seventh poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Rusty Morrison. Publicist: Adrienne Meyers.
“Everyone loves the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, understandably so, with its glorious and cocky tulips, its vibrant rhododendrons and azaleas, blooming all year despite the season.” All Friends Are Necessary (Algonquin Books, June 2024) by Tomas Moniz. Second book, novel. Agent: Eleanor Jackson. Editor: Evan Hansen-Bundy. Publicist: Marisol Salaman.
“After wind was water” Instructions for the Lovers (Nightboat, June 2024) by Dawn Lundy Martin. Fifth book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Stephen Motika. Publicist: Lina Bergamini.
“‘You’re too stupid to ever write about anything’ is what my auntie laughed and said to me in response.” Traveling Without Moving: Essays From a Black Woman Trying to Survive in America (University of Minnesota Press, June 2024) by Taiyon J. Coleman. First book, essay collection. Agent: Jennifer Thompson. Editor: Erik Anderson. Publicist: Heather Skinner.
“I take the compliment / to my second self // in the garden, / white vinegar breath // an axil from her lips.” Domestirexia (Soft Skull Press, July 2024) by JoAnna Novak. Seventh book, fourth poetry collection. Agent: Markus Hoffmann. Editor: Mensah Demary. Publicist: Lena Moses-Schmitt.
“A nurse in green scrubs arrives at my bedside, his rubber-soled shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor.” The Body Alone: A Lyrical Articulation of Chronic Pain (University of Iowa Press, July 2024) by Nina Lohman. First book, nonfiction. Agent: None. Editor: Meredith Stabel. Publicist: Alyson Sinclair.
“It was as if nothing had happened.” Tongueless (Feminist Press, June 2024) by Lau Yee-Wa, translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley. First book, novel. Agent: None. Editor: Lauren Rosemary Hook. Publicist: Nadine Santoro.
“They lived in New York City in an apartment overlooking a park.” Concerning the Future of Souls: 99 Stories of Azrael (Tin House, July 2024) by Joy Williams. Thirteenth book, seventh story collection. Agent: Amelia Atlas. Editor: Masie Cochran. Publicist: Becky Kraemer.
“I’ve always been good at remembering names.” Hell Gate Bridge: A Memoir of Motherhood, Madness, and Hope (Woodhall Press, June 2024) by Barrie Miskin. First book, memoir. Agent: JL Stermer. Editor: Miranda Heyman. Publicist: Alisha Gorder.
