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Spent by Geoffrey Miller (Viking, 5/18)
Why do we buy what we buy? Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior, by leading evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller, is a bold and revelatory book that illuminates the unseen logic behind the chaos of consumerism and suggests new ways we can become happier consumers and more responsible citizens.
Evolutionary psychology—the compelling science of human nature—has clarified the prehistoric origins of human behavior and influenced many fields, ranging from economics to personal relationships. In Spent, Miller applies this revolutionary science’s principles to a new domain: the sensual wonderland of marketing and status seeking that we call American consumer culture. Starting with the basic notion that the goods and services we buy unconsciously advertise our biological potential as mates and friends, Miller examines the hidden factors that dictate our choices in everything from lipstick to cars, from the magazines we read to the music we listen to. With humor and insight, Miller analyzes an array of product choices and deciphers what our decisions’ say about us, giving us access to a new way of understanding—and improving—our behaviors. Spent has already been featured in Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Discover Magazine, as well as Library Journal, who said, “…reading this book should be considered time well spent”. Geoffrey Miller’s latest goes on-sale next week, coverage in John Tierney's column in the New York Times Science Section, as well as features in Seed, Psychology Today, The Wall Street Journal, Allure, and many more.
The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky (Riverhead, on sale now)
Mark Kurlansky, the author of Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, and other bestsellers, has made his reputation with food writing that sheds light on broader historical and cultural subjects, challenging his readers to think about the familiar in entirely new ways. In his latest (and first book for Riverhead), The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food—Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation’s Food Was Seasonal, Regional, and Traditional—from the Lost WPA Files, Kurlansky turns his attention to the culinary habits of an earlier America, where the nation’s food was regional and traditional - before the national highway brought America closer together, and before chain restaurants and frozen food imposed uniformity and low quality. The book unearths essays and recipes from "America Eats," an abandoned project from the Federal Writers Project, one arm of the WPA under Roosevelt’s New Deal. The original project, which was started in the late 1930s, was abandoned when America entered WWII. Kurlansky discovered the long-forgotten essays in the WPA files at the Library of Congress.
The book has already been generating significant national attention. Joel Stein featured Kurlansky and the book in an “Eat Local” column in this week’s Time, and Time.com posted a video, which was taped at Savoy restaurant, that features Kurlansky preparing mint juleps from recipes found in the book. The article and video can be viewed here.
Mark also sat down recently with USA Today’s Bob Minzesheimer, for a feature that ran in the paper's May 12th edition.
In addition to these national hits, Riverhead will be sending Mark on a six city national tour, jam packed with media, including nationally broadcast interviews with WBUR’s “On Point,” C-SPAN’s “Book-TV”, WNYC’s “The Takeaway,” and WHYY’s “Chef’s Table.” Print coverage includes features in METRO, Newark Star-Ledger, and AARP; and review coverage in Martha Stewart Living, Good Housekeeping, Chicago Tribune, and dozens of other papers around the country.
Fingerprints of God by Barbara Bradley Hagerty (Riverhead, on sale now)
In Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality, NPR’s award-winning religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty delivers a dramatic report from the frontline of one of the most challenging frontiers in modern science: spirituality. She combines up-to-the minute scientific discoveries with remarkable stories of spiritual experience, and a moving account of her own spiritual quest. Bradley Hagerty will kick off the publicity with an interview on NPR’s “Weekend Sunday” on May 17th followed by a 5-part series on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and an NPR radio satellite tour the week of May 18th . The author will be live for one-hour on the nationally syndicated NPR program, “Diane Rehm Show,” on May 19th. Her bookstore talk at Politics & Prose in Washington DC will be filmed for later airing on C-SPAN's “BookTV." Features about the author will appear in Philadelphia Inquirer and on the Time magazine website the week of on-sale as will an essay by the author on the very highly-trafficked web site for Newsweek ("On Faith"). Reviews are forthcoming in Washington Post Book World, Christian Science Monitor, and Weekly Standard.
The Ramen King and I by Andy Raskin (Gotham, on sale now)
Who do you turn to for dating advice? Your best friend? Your older sibling? Or Momofuku Ando, the inventor of Ramen noodles? Well, if you are Andy Raskin the logical choice would be Mr. Noodle. In The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life, Raskin uses Mr. Ando as his spiritual guide as he tries to analyze his romantic past and establishes a new dating regime according to Ando's wisdom.
Media highlights for the book include: NPR's “All Things Considered,” “West Coast Live,” “A Chef's Table” and WNYC's “Leonard Lopate,” as well as coverage across the US including, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, Newsday, The Boston Globe, New York Post, extensive blog pick up and much more.
Want to hear more about this unlikely journey to discover the meaning of love? Andy Raskin will be at Borders (Columbus Circle) on June 1st at 7PM and Barnes & Noble (Manhasset, NY) on June 2nd at 7PM for a reading and signing on his new book.
