With so many good 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 The Tradition by Jericho Brown and Orange World by Karen Russell.
“It’s been twenty-five years since I last murdered someone, or has it been twenty-six?” Diary of a Murderer (Mariner Books, April 2019) by Young-Ha Kim, translated from the Korean by Krys Lee. Twelfth book, fifth story collection. Agent: Kent Wolf. Editor: Pilar Garcia-Brown. Publicist: Emma Gordon.
“Dead Papa Toothwort wakes from his standing nap an acre wide and scrapes off dream dregs of bitumen glistening thick with liquid globs of litter.” Lanny (Graywolf Press, May 2019) by Max Porter. Second book, novel. Agent: Lisa Baker. Editor: Ethan Nosowsky. Publicist: Caroline Nitz.
“you are the red dot / on the glass over the map” Documents (BOA Editions, April 2019) by Jan-Henry Gray. First book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Peter Conners. Publicist: Ron Martin-Dent.
“When I think back to my early childhood home in Minneapolis, my brain conjures up a dim outline of a blue house on Pillsbury Avenue.” All That You Leave Behind (Ballantine Books, April 2019) by Erin Lee Carr. First book, memoir. Agent: Meg Thompson. Editor: Pamela Cannon. Publicist: Jennifer Garza.
“My daddy’s side of the family has blood made of craw daddies / bayou waters / red bones / big waves of silk” When You Learn the Alphabet (University of Iowa Press, April 2019) by Kendra Allen. First book, essay collection. Agent: None. Editor: James McCoy. Publicist: Allison Means.
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.” Naamah (Riverhead Books, April 2019) by Sarah Blake. Third book, first novel. Agent: Sarah Yake. Editor: Calvert Morgan. Publicist: Shailyn Tavella.
“My name is August Epp—irrelevant for all purposes, other than that I’ve been appointed the minute-taker for the women’s meetings because the women are illiterate and unable to do it themselves.” Women Talking (Bloomsbury, April 2019) by Miriam Toews. Eighth book, seventh novel. Agent: Sarah Chalfant. Editor: Liese Mayer. Publicist: Tara Kennedy.
“// this is a test to determine if you have consciousness” Soft Science (Alice James Books, April 2019) by Franny Choi. Second book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Carey Salerno. Publicist: Alyson Sinclair.
“One day, my grandmother was no longer able to walk.” Walking: One Step at a Time (Pantheon Books, April 2019) by Erling Kagge, translated from the Norwegian by Becky L. Crook. Eighth book, nonfiction. Agent: Alexandra Cliff. Editor: Dan Frank. Publicist: Michelle Tomassi.
“In this house, everything is said.” What I Knew (Nightboat Books, May 2019) by Eleni Sikelianos. Eleventh book, ninth poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Stephen Motika. Publicist: Andrea Abi-Karam.