BOOKS

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi Tordotcom Publishing, $26.99

In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means have left the cities of the US for the comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized brick by brick, their houses sent to the colonies. Their home is now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked.

Goliath weaves disparate narratives—a space-dweller looking to reconnect with his lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping—into a mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.

Mermaid Confidential by Tim Dorsey William Morrow, $28.99

Serge A. Storms and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, have decided to pump the brakes and live on island time. After years of manic road tripping, the antiheroes drop anchor in the Florida Keys. They settle in a condo complex with friendly neighbors. But the community is at war with investors who are buying up units and leasing them to young vacationers who party at all hours. With their little slice of heaven on the line, Serge takes it upon himself to convince the tourists to move on and quickly becomes a local favorite.

Meanwhile, the island chain’s rich smuggling heritage is causing mayhem—a war erupts when a drug lord passes the family business to his son, and the residents are suddenly dodging bullets. Luckily, Florida’s most lovable serial killer is there to help!

Never by Ken Follett Viking, $36

“Every catastrophe begins with a problem that doesn’t get fixed.” So says President Pauline Green, in Follett’s nerve-racking drama.

A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis.

Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer; a spy working undercover with jihadists; a brilliant Chinese spymaster; and Pauline herself, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next election.

Never is an extraordinary novel that brims with cautionary wisdom, delivering a heartpounding read that transports readers to the brink of the unimaginable.

The Great British Baking Show: A Bake for All Seasons by Great British Baking Show Bakers and Paul Hollywood Mobius, $30

Whether you’re looking to make the best of asparagus in spring, strawberries in summer, pumpkin in autumn or blood oranges in winter, these recipes from the Bake Off team and the 2021 bakers themselves, offer insight and inspiration throughout the year. From cakes to breads and pies, tarts and pastries, this book shows you how to make the very best of what each season has to offer.

The Bright Ages by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry Harper, $29.99

The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light: the fall of Rome, Charlemagne, Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, the genius of Hildegard, and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins Tor Books, $28.99

A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death. Fleeing, she is drawn into a team of outcasts: a broken soldier; a prince; an imprisoned thief who finds a gleaming artifact—one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe. On the run, hunted by enemies, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.

History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw Atria Books, $27

Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a wellknown author of dark, macabre children’s books— he’s led to a place many believed to be a legend.

Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded by likeminded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it…he disappears. Just like St. James.

Years later, Theo, a member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, and her sister keep from each other—ones that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed.

Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind. n

<5 THE LAST DOG ESSAY < 14 STOMP

there is a sadness brewing.

It’s tough to imagine life without Jack, a Lab-mix peaking near 100 pounds but more like 85 when he was in fighting trim. That’s a lot of dog. It’s like living with a medium-size deer. I’ve had quite a few dogs and cats over the years, and none have had the mix of extraordinary traits, along with blazing smarts and awareness of Jackson Diego Atticus Blue Beck— so deigned by a wine-fed consortium of friends on a November evening in 2009. He went from kill shelter waif to Black Prince in a sweep of fate’s hand, and has brought tremendous joy to Doreen and I ever since. But we are coming to the end of that road.

It was clear that Jack was a special dog when he was first brought my studio. He was called Bentley then, a totally unsuitable name for such a genuine spirit. Even at a year old he was calm, polite, and just happy to be with people. And that’s the way it’s been. Waiting for permission for everything. Never getting on the furniture. Barking only when required. And knowing precisely when somebody needed to have a dog come lean against them.

The list of things I’ll miss is endless. Those moments walking the farm when we would look at each other, silently deciding what WE would do next. The times when he would move his paw just to have it be in contact with Doreen, or me, or someone he just met. The feel of his large head against mine looking up and seeing him watching me, knowing what I was going to do before I did. And those times outside when he would stop and look out into the woods, listening, smelling, that would remind me that the world around me is larger than I can appreciate.

Jack was a quick learner. He was always obedient, but he felt that arbitrary decisions could be negotiated; I want to go this way, he wants to go that way. He wouldn’t fight you, but he’d let you know he had a different opinion. It was all done with the eyes. My job was Protector, not Activities Manager, so he often got what he wanted. It was a partnership bordering on family. There certainly was love in it, too.

I’ve written before about his athleticism. His on-the-run, over-theshoulder, ball-catches were legendary. So was how when he would play catch with you, he would throw the ball back. The leaps. The sprints. The playing hide and seek with Doreen in the woods out back. Sometimes you wouldn’t believe what you saw. And then there was Jack the entrepreneur. He would use that elegant nose of his to single out people in the park who had dog treats in their pocket, then go sit in front of them wagging his tail. None of the obnoxious begging and poking that other dogs exhibit. Just polite cuteness. It always worked, often twice.

But that was then. It’s clear, listening to him next to me, seeing his body move uneasily with each breath, that we are at the point of decisions. Jack won’t complain. He never did about anything. The vet’s office, the shower, getting his nails clipped—once he knew what was expected he went with the flow. I have never seen another dog hold his paw up when you took the nail clippers out of the drawer. But that’s Jack.

I say his name softly and Jack’s fat tail slaps the floor. If something hurts, he will probably push through it without mention. It’s difficult to pinpoint when discomfort outweighs enjoyment of life, and I believe it’s better to act a day early rather than a day late. Jack was a gift to us and sending him off properly is ours to him. The tears well in my eyes as I write about it, and the thought is already breaking a couple of hearts. n

Postscript: I keep expecting him to come padding down the hall, his propeller tail twirling behind, aiming for breakfast. Jackson Atticus Diego Blue, February 14, 2009–October 28, 2021.

Upon seeing an advertisement for STOMP auditions in 2016, Brooks not only ran to its try-outs but won a spot in the troupe, eventually as the group’s onstage leader, Sarge, never left and has never fallen out of love with the show. “It is as awesome now as the day I started,” he says.

As someone who eats, breathes, and sleeps real percussion but also happens to be a studio producer and composer, Brooks is down with all levels of the drum machine and programmable percussion. “My current take is that I am pro all things technology in which to make art,” says Brooks. “Whatever gets the job done in the most inventive manner, you know? There is something to be said for authentic performance, and inventive authentic live performance in particular. Something that is individual and different each time out—something never to be repeated.”

Certainly authentic, individual, and live describes what lies behind all things STOMP.

In his portrayal of its frontman character Sarge, a precise and determined leader of the STOMP group, Brooks is as much of a dancer as he is a drummer, as he is a guy prone to playing household items such as matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters and hubcaps.

Though they are no longer any performing part of STOMP, Cresswell and McNicholas still have a hand in the variety of everyday objects cobbled together as uniquely clanging percussion instruments in their shows. Brooks credits the founders with the pace, space, bang, and whoosh of every new step, never the same sight, sound, or rhythm twice. “Every so often, they’ll add new pieces—tractor tire inner tubes, shopping carts or, say, now with suitcases of different sizes where we pass them around to each other, off the cuff, and see what sounds come out of them. As a performer, I get to rediscover the show, and find new props, sounds and make new routines. It’s never dull.”

As a fan and practitioner of chamber music, Brooks is enthusiastic about using diverse instrumentation without a conductor to push the group. “You’re leading yourself while keeping the ensemble together,” says the rhythmatist about the ultimate in controlled accidental improvisation. “Like a chamber ensemble, you’re communicating with each other on stage constantly. You’re working together, musically, while developing your character on stage and in relation to the other characters. I don’t come from a dancing background or an acting background, but both of those things are part of what I have to do in STOMP. But I’m not shy. As a drummer, I love being in tune with and moving to the beat. I’m not afraid of how I’m moving onstage. You just do it. You react to the music. Besides, I’m from Texas. You automatically learn to two-step.”

Considering that the current touring edition of STOMP, which the Texan leads and rehearses, features tap dancers, improvisational comedians, and percussionists, Brooks insists that their primary means of communication is onstage body language and the collective cacophony they make. “Each STOMP show is instinctual and unique in that it allows us new ways to react to each other and our props on stage. We might have two shows in one day and have two entirely different reactions. Plus, we get new cast members who come and go, the touring companies and the New York group, which always make STOMP a new sensation with a fresh set of diverse personalities and attitudes,” says Brooks. “After being off stage for a while during Covid, it's just great to feel and be around an audience and jamming.” n