Wint er 2020
Book Guide
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
ntagraphics I
ersity P
ress Courtesy of Fa
don’t really believe in the concept of “can’t miss” books. We all “miss” books all of
the time, to the extent that not reading every single book as it’s released is missing it.

Without such misses, how would anyone have the particular and unreproducible joy
of discovery? Th at’s half the fun of reading.

Consider the books below to be a “Miss It, But Don’t Forget It” list. Clip this one out
of the paper, stick it on the fridge and, in a month, or six months, or a year, when you’re
looking for something to read, you’ll make the long-delayed catch.

Noah Van Sciver (Nov. 2)
of Tem
ple Univ
“Please Don’t Step on My JNCO Jeans”
sy Courte
Th e newest collection of Van Sciver’s cartoons is as funny and
poignant as his previous work. Produced between 2017 and 2019,
Van Sciver’s art-as-“survival mechanism,” as he calls it, might just
help you do the same, too. Check out his previous work, “Th e
Hypo: Th e Melancholic Young Lincoln,” for a real treat.

“The Defender: The Battle to Protect the Rights of
the Accused in Philadelphia”
6 NOVEMBER 26, 2020
Courtesy House
andom sy of R
Courte Th ough Madeira died earlier this year, there’s nothing in this new
book to suggest that he was anything less than sharp as a tack when
it came to a subject that was dear to him: advocating on behalf of
public defenders and the people they represented in Philadelphia.

Th e retired chair emeritus of Pepper Hamilton teamed up with
longtime Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Michael D. Schaff er to
detail the genesis of the Defender Association of Philadelphia,
“the best lawyers money can’t buy.”
of Knopf
Edward W. Madeira Jr. and Michael D. Schaff er (Dec. 15)
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“A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians
Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life”
George Saunders (Jan. 12)
38 Cricket Ave
Ardmore, PA
19003 610-896-7494
Saunders’ fi rst book since “Lincoln in the Bardo” gives readers a
chance to more or less take a class with one of the most beloved
writers in the country. From Chekhov to Turgenev, and Tolstoy
to Gogol, Saunders writes with love and grace about the Russian
short stories that he’s been teaching in his creative writing semi-
nars for decades.

“The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the
Chinese Cultural Revolution”
Yang Jisheng. Translated by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian (Jan. 19)
For many reasons that Jisheng will easily convince you of, the
Chinese Cultural Revolution is one of the most important
developments in the second half of the 20th century. Sound smart
in front of your friends and learn something about why the world
is the way it is, too.

See Books, Page 8
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