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For the refined reader
A bounty of books to please literature lovers REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE If there's an insatiable academic on your shopping list—the sort who exhumes dusty first editions and reads dictionaries for kicks—start taking notes now. To school you in gift ideas for that tweedy professor-type, BookPage has come up with the following titles, distinctive volumes just right for the rapacious reader or clever critic. Choose from our sophisticated selections, and you'll look smart this holiday season. A gift from the gods A cunning literary creation from cover to cover, The Genealogy of Greek Mythology: An Illustrated Family Tree of Greek Myth from the First Gods to the Founders of Rome isn't the hefty tome you might imagine. Surprisingly streamlined thanks to its clever fold-out format, this ingenious volume presents the complete history of the Greek gods, untangling their complex backgrounds through an easy-to-follow family tree that's enhanced by maps, biographies of major mythological figures and synopses of important events. The volume is printed on durable card stock and folds up neatly, accordion-style, to fit into an attractive, sturdy storage box. Read it one panel at a time, or fan it out to its full length of 17 feet for a complete picture of an ancient civilization.
By Vanessa James Gotham, $25 53 pages, ISBN 1592400132 The best in holiday humor
Contributors to this twinkling collection include William Steig, James Thurber, John Updike, Ann Beattie and Alice Munro, all sharing their singular visions of Christmas. Stand-out offerings from Roger Angell, whose poem "Greetings Friends" is an extended exercise in holiday hilarity, and John Cheever, whose story "Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor" will awaken the spirit of giving in readers, are among the many funny and poignant pieces capturing the essence of the season. Choice extracts from the magazine's "Talk of the Town" feature are sprinkled throughout the volume. There are newer offerings from the likes of Ken Kesey and Richard Ford, as well as gems from E.B. White and H.L. Mencken. There's nothing humbug about it: when it comes to spreading Christmas cheer, The New Yorker has the best in holiday humor.
Random House, $35 305 pages, ISBN 1400061407 A perfect literary pairing
Welty, who hailed from Jackson, Mississippi, possessed a unique understanding of Faulkner's fiction, and it shows here in her critiques of classics like Intruder in the Dust and "The Bear." Other highlights in the volume include a spot-on caricature of the author drawn by Welty herself, and a postcard she received from Faulkner, sent from Hollywood in 1943, complimenting her own fiction ("You are doing very fine. Is there any way that I can help you?"). Although the two were never close, Welty considered herself a "Yoknapatawphanatic" and entertained a reverence for the Nobel laureate, whom she once described as "our greatest living writer." A must-have for fans of Southern literature, the book represents a rare confluence of two very different authors, both of whom called Mississippi home. Welty and Faulkner—it doesn't get much better than this.
By Eudora Welty University Press of Mississippi, $25 95 pages, ISBN 1578065704 Classic tales, revisited
Part of this handsome anthology's undeniable appeal lies in the illustrations of artists Vilhelm Pedersen and Lorenz Frolich. Their remarkably detailed, expressive drawings appeared in the original Danish edition of Andersen's tales, and they're included here, richly reflecting the wonder of his text. With extensive notes and a thoughtful introductory essay, the book also provides abundant background information on the author. From the most sophisticated scholar to the littlest bibliophile, The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen is the perfect gift for readers of all ages.
By Diana Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank Houghton Mifflin, $27 352 pages, ISBN 0618224564
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The mastermind behind this innovative project is Vanessa James, a professor of theater at Mount Holyoke College. Featuring a multitude
of visuals, including more than 100 color photographs of Greek and Roman paintings, mosaics and sculptures, The Genealogy represents 18
years of research on her behalf and draws on the works of Hesiod, Sophocles and Homer, as well as other sources.
With more than 3,000 listings for lofty deities, abominable monsters and humble humans, it's a perfectly heavenly gift.
A collection of seasonal miscellanea from America's wittiest
weekly, Christmas at The New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art from the Editors of The New Yorker
is a timeless treasury of literary delights. This jolly volume is the latest entry in a best-selling series of anthologies from the
magazine. Offering antics aplenty, both visual and verbal, it spans 75 years and features classic, holiday-themed selections—cartoons
and covers, prose and verse—drawn from the publication's extensive archives.
Some of the world's most beloved legends get a facelift with
The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen, an authoritative new edition of the Danish author's work. Selected and translated
by Diana Crone Frank, an author and linguist, and Jeffrey Frank, a senior editor at The New Yorker, this enchanting volume provides an
overview of Andersen's timeless tales, from the 1830s to the 1870s. Featuring fresh versions of 22 classics, including
"The Little Mermaid," "The Princess and the Pea" and "Thumbelisa," the new collection also contains lesser-known narratives
like "From the Outermost Sea."