Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin

With so many good books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One highlights the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Roxane Gay’s Difficult Women and Kevin Wilson's Perfect Little World, offering a glimpse into the worlds of these new and noteworthy titles.

This morning I took LSD.” A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life (Knopf, January 2017) by Ayelet Waldman. Thirteenth book, first memoir. Agent: Mary Evans. Editor: Jenny Jackson. Publicist: Paul Bogaards.

“Because my son thinks I am a citadel— / soundproof.” Tula (Milkweed Editions, December 2016) by Chris Santiago. First book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Daniel Slager. Publicist: Joanna R. Demkiewicz.

“My sister decided we had to go see her estranged husband in Reno.” Difficult Women (Grove Press, January 2017) by Roxane Gay. Fourth book, second story collection. Agent: Maria Massie. Editor: Amy Hundley. Publicist: John Mark Boling.

“It’s six in the morning on New Year’s Day and Ava cries from the crib, which means my wife says something to me like, ‘Your turn,’ and I say something whiny like, ‘Bottle, fine,’ and stumble into the kitchen and spill milk on the counter and don’t wipe it up, leave it for later, after coffee, after caffeine makes my mind fire right.” Sirens (Two Dollar Radio, January 2017) by Joshua Mohr. Sixth book, first memoir. Agent: Anthony Mattero. Editor: Eric Obenauf. Publicist: Erin Kottke.

“One looks like the side of a boxcar: flat; rectangular; russet; and so the spots on its body are passable for graffiti.” The Adventures of Form and Content (Graywolf Press, January 2017) by Albert Goldbarth. Thirty-fourth book, sixth essay collection. Agent: None. Editor: Jeff Shotts. Publicist: Caroline Nitz.

“I sniff paint thinner in Bobby the Killer’s garage.” Settright Road (Dzanc Books, January 2017) by Jon Boilard. Third book, first story collection. Agent: None. Editor: Guy Intoci. Publicist: Michael J. Seidlinger.

“A couple of years ago I joined one of those clubs where they teach you how to knock the shit out of other people.” The Correspondence (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 2017) by J. D. Daniels. First book, essay collection. Agent: Edward Orloff. Editor: Lorin Stein. Publicist: Robert Wicks.

“They’re like worms.” Fever Dream (Riverhead Books, January 2017) by Samanta Schweblin, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell. Fourth book, first novel, first English translation. Agent: Gloria Gutiérrez. Editor: Laura Perciasepe. Publicists: Elizabeth Hohenadel and Glory Anne Plata.

“Little soul—kind, wandering— / body’s host and guest, // look how you’ve lowered yourself, / moving in a world of ice, // washed of colour.” Madwoman (Alice James Books, January 2017) by Shara McCallum. Third book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Carey Salerno. Publicist: Alyssa Neptune.

“They never drove the truck, except once or twice a year to get firewood.” Idaho (Random House, January 2017) by Emily Ruskovich. First book, novel. Agent: Jin Auh. Editors: Kate Medina and Anna Pitoniak. Publicist: Jennifer Garza.

“Izzy was suffering from a dull, rattling hangover on the morning of the formal introductions.” Perfect Little World (Ecco, January 2017) by Kevin Wilson. Third book, second novel. Agent: Julie Barer. Editor: Zack Wagman. Publicist: Ashley Garland.

“I left Indiana and drove toward happiness.” Should I Still Wish (University of Nebraska Press, January 2017) by John W. Evans. Third book, second memoir. Agent: None. Editor: Alicia Christensen. Publicist: Tayler Lord.