Edward McClelland’s Chorus of the Union Published by Pegasus Books

Edward McClelland’s illuminating new history Chorus of the Union: How Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Set Aside Their Rivalry to Save the Nation came out today from Pegasus Books. Dubbed “a wise examination of America’s divisive antebellum politics” by Publishers Weekly, it has also been praised by Harvard University professor John Stauffer as “beautifully conceived and deeply researched … a sheer pleasure to read” and by Lincoln scholar Thomas A. Horrocks, who has predicted that “this splendid book will become a classic source for understanding these two complicated men.” It is McClelland’s eighth book, along with a previous look at presidential politics in Young Mr. Obama (Bloomsbury, 2010) and his most recent release Midnight in Vehicle City (Beacon, 2021), about the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936, the most significant labor dispute in American history.

Update, June 26, 2024: In a lengthy review of Chorus of the Union published today, the Wall Street Journal observes that “McClelland vividly brings to life the drama” of the seven pivotal Lincoln-Douglas debates which led up to the 1860 presidential election.

Lynnette Marrero’s A Quick Drink Published by Abrams

Together with co-authors Ivy Mix and Megan Krigbaum, this week Lynnette Marrero served up A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood, an unconventional and highly useful manual for home cocktail-making. This exciting release features more than 100 cocktail recipes from participants in Speed Rack, the global all-women bartending competition founded by Mix and Marrero that has raised over $1,500,000 for breast cancer charities (to which the pair also intends to donate a portion of the book’s royalties). A Quick Drink arrives during the middle of Speed Rack’s Season 12 tour leading up to the national finals at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans on July 21.

David Bockino's Game On Published by University of Nebraska Press

Today marks the release of Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans, the first-ever popular history of sports media, covering the industry’s evolution over the past century, from radio broadcasts of 1920s boxing matches to state propaganda at the Olympic Games in Hitler’s Germany, the rise of the NFL into a business juggernaut, the birth of ESPN, the more recent explosion of content from all corners of the internet, and everything else in between. Author David Bockino brings to this insightful and entertaining book an unmatched expertise as associate professor in charge of Elon University’s Sports Media Lab, demonstrating to readers how sports coverage has morphed from a uniquely unifying force that brought communities together into a hyper-personalized service that caters to individual consumers and fractures fanbases, reflecting a more general social trend that continues to influence the world today and into the future.

Janet Rich Edwards's Novel Canticle Sold to Spiegel & Grau

Spiegel & Grau has acquired Janet Rich Edwards’s debut novel Canticle, a work of historical fiction set in medieval Belgium among the Beguines, a renegade religious order of women who resisted the patriarchy and corruption of the Catholic church of that era. The story follows a misunderstood seventeen-year-old forced to lodge with this group of pious radicals after fleeing her own wedding, initiating a turbulent series of events and ensnaring her in a complex web spun by manipulative religious authorities, forcing her into difficult choices that threaten her relationships and imperil her very life.

Sarah DiGregorio Spotlights Midwives in Longform Feature

In a recent article for Rewire News Group — a national nonprofit media organization dedicated to reporting on reproductive and sexual health, rights, and justice — Sarah DiGregorio examined the controversial firings of several midwives at a Manhattan hospital that mainly serves low-income immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to publishing this illuminating piece, this month DiGregorio continued to generate interest in Taking Care, her cultural history of the nursing profession, through speaking engagements with the Nursing Now Challenge’s Global Book Club and Wichita State University’s College of Health Professions.

Camper English Wraps up Busy January by Envisioning More Flexible Drinking Culture

Camper English capped off “Dry January” with a reflection for MSNBC on the binary between heavy imbibing and rigid abstinence, calling for more inclusive spaces and mixologies to help blend crowds of drinkers and nondrinkers more fluidly. The author of Doctors and Distillers and The Ice Book spent the prior 30 days of 2024 reviewing fellow Straus Literary client Danny Childs’ new book Slow Drinks for The Alcohol Professor, talking to InsideHook about absinthe, and leading several nonalcoholic cocktail and spirits tastings in San Francisco, while looking forward to pouring out more wisdom online and at the bar in the months ahead.

Umami Mart’s Everyday Sake Sold at Auction to Clarkson Potter

Craft bartender Kayoko Akabori and sake sommelier Yoko Kumano have selected Clarkson Potter to publish Everyday Sake, their approachable yet sophisticated introduction to the unique Japanese drink. Founders of the Oakland-based Japanese imports store Umami Mart, the pair will use their book to demystify sake for modern drinkers, looking at its history and range of styles while providing guidance on serving, cocktail making, and food pairing. With lighthearted pop-art illustrations and infographics, Everyday Sake will speak to novices and aficionados alike, opening doors for those who want an alternative to wine or beer on any night of the week.

Sean Sherman Honored at Julia Child Gala

Sean Sherman was feted at the 9th Annual Julia Child Award Gala on October 24, a few months after receiving the prestigious accolade in recognition of his impact on the American culinary scene as a staunch advocate of Indigenous foodways. The award comes on the heels of Time magazine naming the Lakota chef to its list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023, while his groundbreaking Owamni restaurant in Minneapolis continues to win the praise of critics everywhere. Sherman recently spoke with Forbes magazine about his life and the work that has earned him all this enthusiastic attention.

Hardie Grant Publishes Slow Drinks by Danny Childs

Today marks the release of Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, Homemade Wines, and More by ethnobotanist and bartender Danny Childs, who runs the standard-setting beverage program at The Farm and Fisherman Tavern near Philadelphia. Focusing on seasonality and preservation techniques, this innovative book explains how to transform botanical ingredients―whether foraged, grown in the garden, or purchased from the store―into incredibly unique beverages and cocktails. Thoughtfully put together with beautiful photographs and illustrations, Slow Drinks will appeal to bartenders, do-it-yourselfers, foodies, homesteaders, homebrewers, food activists, and anyone with a sense of adventure.

University of California Press Acquires Lindsey Smith's Leaving for Good

Climate journalist Lindsey Smith has reached an agreement with the University of California Press to cover managed retreat in a narrative nonfiction book entitled Leaving for Good: The Heartbreak and Hope of Climate Retreat in California. Pairing rigorous reporting with personal essay, Smith will describe how climate change is battering her home state of California and how managed retreat—the coordinated movement of people and infrastructure away from potential threats—will be required to address this challenge. Featuring wildfire survivors, beachfront homeowners, state senators, low-income renters, urban planners, climate scientists, psychologists, and others grappling with this controversial policy strategy, the book will weave in Smith’s own emotional journey as it explores how the places we love give our lives meaning and shape our identities, and how we will respond when the climate crisis takes those places from us.