BOOKS

The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl Harper, $27.99

Just weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 13-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air. A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party led by Hanging Maw has taken the girls as the latest salvo in the blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers who have decimated native lands and resources. With Daniel Boone in pursuit, Hanging Maw devises a plan that could ultimately bring greater peace both to the tribes and the colonists. Matthew Pearl unearths a forgotten and dramatic series of events from early in the Revolutionary War that opens a window into America ’ s transition from colony to nation, with the heavy moral costs incurred amid shocking new alliances and betrayals.

The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer by Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Shaw Becker Harper Wave; $27.99

Like their human counterparts, dogs have been getting sicker and dying prematurely over the past few decades. Why? Scientists are beginning to understand that the chronic diseases afflicting humans— cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration, and autoimmune disorders—also beset canines. As a result, our beloved companions are vexed with preventable health problems throughout much of their lives and suffer shorter life spans. Because our pets can ’t make health and lifestyle decisions for themselves, it’ s up to pet parents to make smart, science-backed choices for lasting vitality and health. The Forever Dog gives us the practical, proven tools to protect our loyal four-legged companions.

Nameless Ones by John Connolly Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books, $28

In Amsterdam, four bodies, violently butchered, are discovered in a canal house, the remains of friends and confidantes of the assassin known only as Louis. The men responsible for the murders are Serbian war criminals. They believe they can escape retribution by retreating to their homeland. They are wrong. For Louis has come to Europe to hunt them down: five killers to be found and punished before they can vanish into thin air. There is just one problem. The sixth.

Smithsonian Micro Life: Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed by DK DK, $50

With spectacular macro photography and microscope images, this book reveals a hidden, living world full of intricate structures beyond the naked eye. Included are the tiniest insects and spiders; but looking deeper, you will discover truly microscopic creatures—even bacteria and viruses. Earth is home to more microbes, and more different types of microbes, than any other living organism. Bacteria on Earth outweigh humans by 1,100 to 1; and without them, all world ecosystems would collapse. This book reveals this vital, unseen realm, but it includes large life-forms too, in extreme close-up, so that you can wonder at the beauty of a pollen grain, a butterfly egg, the spore of a fungus, and the nerve cell of a

human.

Harlem Shuffle Colson Whitehead Doubleday, $28.95

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked... ” To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver ’ s Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’ s still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Harlem Shuffle ’ s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’ s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel by Anthony Doerr Scribner, $30

The heroes of Cloud Cuckoo Land are trying to figure out the world around them: Anna and Omeir, on opposite sides of the formidable city walls during the 1453 siege of Constantinople; teenage idealist Seymour in an attack on a public library in present day Idaho; and Konstance, on an interstellar ship bound for an exoplanet, decades from now. They ’ re all dreamers and outsiders who find resourcefulness and hope in the midst of peril.

An ancient text provides solace and mystery to these unforgettable characters. Doerr has created a tapestry of times and places that reflects our vast interconnectedness— with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us and those who will be here after we ’ re gone.

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts Viking, $40

The last king of America, George III, has been ridiculed as a complete disaster who frittered away the colonies and went mad in his old age. The truth is much more nuanced and fascinating—and will completely change the way readers and historians view his reign and legacy. In The Last King of America, Roberts paints a deft and nuanced portrait of the much-maligned monarch and outlines his accomplishments, which have been almost universally forgotten. Two hundred and forty-five years after the end of George III’ s American rule, it is time for Americans to look back on their last king with greater understanding: to see him as he was and to come to terms with the last time they were ruled by a monarch. n

story

GEOFF GEHMAN

bye bye

Miss American Pie

g

REGG DE WAAL AND I shuffled around his basketball court, shooting jumpers while jumping through the hoops of American Pie, Don McLean ’ s magical musical mystery tour. Who, we wondered, is this singing jester who wears James Dean ’ s coat? Why does he steal a king’ s thorny crown? What’ s he doing in a cast on the sideline of a football field invaded by a falling fallout shelter?

Our guessing game was played around the globe in the fall of 1971, when American Pie became a sensational single and a more sensational puzzle. The game bonded me to Gregg, whose friendship eased me into my first and only year of middle school in East Hampton, a village on Long Island’ s South Fork. As the seasons changed, as I changed from outsider to insider, I changed American Pie into my South Fork story. A half century later, it still kills me—softly, loudly, every which way.

There was no way American Pie wouldn ’t become my anthem. I grew up in the Bronx suburb of New Rochelle, McLean ’ s hometown. As a youngster he delivered The Standard Star, the same newspaper that led me to become a newspaper writer. On Feb. 4, 1959, when I was ten months old, the paperboy read The Star ’ s front-page article about the plane-crash death of Buddy Holly, his idol. Holly ’ s zesty tunes— “Peggy Sue, ” “That’ll Be the Day, ” “Rave On ” —had helped him hurdle major

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interview

A.D. AMOROSI

SINGS LIKE AN ANGEL, PLAYS LIKE THE DEVIL

Eliane Elias—the Brazilian Grammy-Award winner, arranger, singer, and pianist—is renowned for the sumptuous, sparkling eloquence she brings to jazz

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL-BORN classicist Eliane Elias has always been an inventive pianist who sings and an emotive vocalist who plays piano with the accuracy of an accountant, the punch of a pugilist, the dexterity of a watchmaker, and the improvisational esprit of an abstract expressionist painter. There is soul, solitude, smarts, wildness, and passion in everything classified as jazz and samba that Elias has executed since her recording career began in 1984 with over 20 albums to her name. During this rich three-decade-plus (so far) career, Elias—a lyrical cross between the innovative Carla Bley and the serene Diana Krall—has collaborated with above-the-title names such as Gilberto Gil, Stanley Clarke, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, Lenny White, and pianist Herbie Hancock with whom she recorded 1995’ s Solo & Duets—her last allpiano album.

With 2021’ s new Mirror Mirror, Elias breaks her fast and releases an all-piano album made and curated with keyboard legends Chucho Valdes and, in his last recorded performances, the late Chick Corea.

After wounding her foot and forging forward with her first live performances (several days after recovering from a throaty flu, no less) in 22 months, Elias spoke with ICON about her Brazilian origin story, finding fashion, the best of her piano work, and the friendships that knotted together every note of Mirror Mirror.

Coming back after 22 months, physically and emotionally, how did that feel?

I’ll tell you about ‘ emotionally. ’ I had a moment. I told the beautiful audience—true fans who came to New York from all over—how much I missed them. And I did. There was such a bond among us. Physically, I felt as if I was time traveling. As if nothing had ever happened bad. Musically, the band and I were so happy to be there, playing, not playing. There was such incredible energy in the air, and I know the audience felt it as much as we did. I choked up at least three times during the performance, especially since I walked on stage with crutches. I told them that after nearly two years, this was not how I expected to return. I was in a lot of pain. But the adrenaline came, and I forgot all about it.

Weird question: most of your album covers feature you, luminously and sharply dressed, staring directly into the camera. Very focused. Why? What does that say about the complete packaging of your records? How does the look of your albums ’ covers define the music, or perhaps, complete the picture?

Every time I’ m photographed for an album cover, I have a certain sense of… respect. If you came to my home, you would find that I am a bit of a perfectionist (laughs). Everything is very neat. Clean. Organized. That goes into how I present myself. My music…. You want to get into people ’ s hearts, their lives, and homes. I want to bring them beauty, love, and emotion. So, of course, I will always present myself in the best light that I can. My eyes are looking at them, the audience, when they hold my al-

bums.

It is a very face-forward vision.

That’ s very observant. You ’ re sensitive to notice that.

You ’ ve explored so many aspects and tones of Brazilian music—Bossa Nova Story, Sings Jobim. However, being from Sao Paolo, you were in the heart of Tropicalia country and the political poetics of Caetano Veloso and Tom Ze coming up. I know you worked with Vinicius de Mores and Gilberto Gil. Did that movement affect you?

I did come across that, and it did affect me. Now, they were mostly down in Baia, but I was certainly in Brazil as that was happening. They were alive with political thought, talking against the military. For this, they were exiled; this was when you could not speak of such things freely. This excited me, and I was influenced musically by what they had to say and how they said it. They opened minds when it came to issues of equality. After I moved to New York, I worked with Gil—he invited me to be the musical director for some of his presentations in the U.S. at Avery Fisher Hall, and he recorded with me. I produced Gil and Caetano performing together for the Special Olympics. That was an interesting project.

This is one of those nearly impossible-toanswer questions because you have had so many signature-worthy plateaus: what do you believe was the most crucial musical turning point in your career? Where you felt as if everything that you were was conveyed exactly how you wanted it to be?

You are correct that it is a tough question because I don ’t have one single moment… it’ s complicated. [laughs] It’ s because I have been so blessed. Look at it this way: I was born in Brazil and was classically trained very early on. Jazz was in my ears from when I was a baby more than you can imagine, just as Brazilian music was exploding. I moved to the United States and got even more exposed to different music. Mine is a spectrum that was so wide. I can point to Mirror Mirror, now, as it showcases the piano and improvisation, a language I developed to the point that, when I sat down with Chick and with Chucho, we barely spoke a word about the music. We just played. That’ s one side. We can talk about, as a pianist, playing straight-ahead jazz—say, a tribute to Bill Evans or playing Brazilian and using those signatures and rhythms. Am I singing?

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Elias with Chick Corea With husband Marc Johnson, who plays bass in her band