RAVENOUS: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer–Diet Connection by Sam Apple, faculty (Liveright, 2021, $28.95.) Nobel laureate Otto Warburg, a biochemist and homosexual of Jewish descent, ranked among the most despised figures in Nazi Germany. Longtime Penn writing instructor Sam Apple recounts how Warburg survived the Nazis and how his breakthrough cancer research was rediscovered in the 21st century—including via a number of key findings made at Penn.
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THE COMPANY DAUGHTERS: A Heart-Wrenching Colonial Love Story by Samantha Rajaram G’97 (Bookouture, 2020, $10.99.) This historical novel set in 17th-century Amsterdam and Batavia (modern day Jakarta) tells the story of two women forced by circumstance to sign with the East India Company as Company Daughters. Sailing to a colonial Dutch outpost, they become the brides of male settlers and fall in love—with each other.
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Philadelphia Builds: Essays on Architecture by Michael J. Lewis G’85 Gr’89 (Paul Dry Books, 2021, $24.95.) Architecture critic Michael J. Lewis explains why Philadelphia has produced so many extraordinary architects, including Louis Kahn, Frank Furness, and Robert Venturi. This collection of 22 of his best essays examines topics ranging from Kahn’s little-known project to design a memorial for Vladimir Lenin to a profile of Willis G. Hale, cult hero of Philadelphia hipsters.
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THE DEPORTATION MACHINE: America’s Long History of Expelling Immigrants by Adam Goodman Gr’15 (Princeton University Press, 2020, $29.95.) Goodman, an assistant professor of Latin American studies at University of Illinois at Chicago, examines how federal, state, and local officials have targeted various groups for expulsion, from Chinese and Europeans at the turn of the 20th century to Central Americans and Muslims today, in this sweeping and engaging narrative.
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A RITCHIE BOY by Linda Stern Kass PT’75 (She Writes Press, 2020, $24.95.) Inspired by her father’s early life, Kass’s second novel shares the story of the little-known Ritchie Boys, who worked in US Army Intelligence and helped the Allies win World War II. Many of them were German-speaking Jewish immigrants who fled Nazi persecution. It is a novel about war, survival, immigration, and hope.
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FACING DEATH: Finding Dignity, Hope and Healing at the End by Dr. Jim deMaine M’64 (Clyde Hill Publishing, 2020, $17.00.) DeMaine, a retired pulmonary and critical care specialist, gained a deep experience of navigating end-of-life quandaries in his 40 years of medical work, which he shares in this physician’s memoir. It also serves as a handbook for helping patients plan for a more peaceful, healing death.
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HOW TO DRINK FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: 30 Steps to Everlasting Youth by Rich Tola W’85 (Self-Published, 2020, $15.00.) Author, filmmaker, and yoga teacher Rich Tola says, “Youthfulness is not contingent upon your physical body or even how old your face looks, but rather the force and energy you emanate into the Universe.” In this book, he shares step-by-step instructions for living better and stronger.
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WORLD WAR II AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: Economy and Society under Japanese Occupation by Gregg Huff W’67 (Cambridge University Press, 2020, $120.00.) In this book, Huff, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, analyzes Japan’s wartime occupation of Southeast Asia, where 4.4 million people died prematurely of famine and forced labor, and the GDP halved. He presents a new understanding of Southeast Asian history and development before, during, and after the Pacific War.
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ISLANDERS AND EMPIRE: Smuggling and Political Defiance in Hispaniola, 1580–1690 by Juan J. Ponce Vázquez G’06 Gr’11 (Cambridge University Press, 2020, $99.00.) This book examines the role smuggling played in the cultural, economic, and sociopolitical transformation of Hispaniola from the late 16th to 17th centuries. Focusing on local peoples and communities, it analyzes how residents of Hispaniola actively negotiated and transformed the meaning and reach of imperial bureaucracies and institutions for their own benefit.
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AT PENPOINT: African Literatures, Postcolonial Studies, and the Cold War by Monica Popescu G’01 Gr’05 (Duke University Press, 2020, $26.95.) Popescu, a professor of African literature at McGill University, traces the development of African literature during the second half of the 20th century, outlining how the tensions between the US and the Soviet Union impacted the culture and literature of African nations.
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THE BS DICTIONARY: Uncovering the Origins and True Meanings of Business Speak by Tim Ito C’90 and Bob Wiltfong (Association for Talent Development, 2020, $19.99.) This book takes a humorous aim at the common words and phrases of business, like all-hands meeting, give you the blow-by-blow, and move the needle, and offers a dictionary definition, an amusing “BS definition,” and etymology.
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IN THE LAND OF THE PENGUINS trans. by Cynthia Goldfine Kaiser C’85 G’87 and Howard Goldfine, faculty (Erskine Press, 2020, $58.08.) This is the first English translation of Belgian naval officer Georges Lecointe’s account of his 1898 trip to Antarctica in the ship Belgica. Translated from the French, the book includes 90 photographs and illustrations, as well as five maps of the expedition.
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