Biographies highlight an American artist, novelist, singer, and two founding fathers; memoirists, meanwhile, explore gender identity, uncover dark family secrets, and search for great meals.
Top 10
Child of Light: A Biography of Robert Stone
Madison Smartt Bell. Doubleday, Mar. 17 ($35, ISBN 978-0-385-54160-2)
Novelist Bell (All Souls’ Rising) explores the life of Robert Stone in the first biography of the late novelist.
Dirt: Adventures, with Family, in the Kitchens of Lyon, Looking for the Origins ofFrench Cooking
Bill Buford. Knopf, May 5 ($28.95, ISBN 978-0-307-27101-3)
Buford, bestselling author of Heat, returns to the kitchen with this deep dive into the world of French haute cuisine. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership
Edward J. Larson. Morrow, Feb. 11 ($29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-288015-4)
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Larson delivers a dual biography of two of America’s founders—Benjamin Franklin and George Washington—and how they shaped the country.
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs
Jennifer Finney Boylan. Celadon, Apr. 21 ($26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-26187-8)
Boylan, New York Times opinion columnist and human rights activist, measures her life by the dogs she’s known, and writes of her gender transition in middle age.
I Don’t Remember
Hilton Als. Penguin Press, June 16 ($26, ISBN 978-0-525-55778-4)
In this combination memoir and cultural criticism, Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker writer Als explores queer black life in New York City, from his childhood in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights through the 1980s AIDS epidemic, when he attended Columbia University.
Life of a Klansman: A Family History with White Supremacy
Edward Ball. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2 ($28, ISBN 978-0-374-18632-6)
Ball, National Book Award–winning author of Slaves in the Family, returns to his family tree in search of white supremacist Klan members.
More Myself: A Journey
Alicia Keys. Flatiron, Mar. 31 ($29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-15329-6)
In this long-anticipated memoir, musician and singer Keys writes of her struggles—professionally and personally—from her childhood in Harlem to her successful career. 350,000-copy announced first printing.
Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest
Ian Zack. Beacon, Apr. 14 ($28.95, ISBN 978-0-8070-3532-0)
In this first full biography of Odetta, journalist Zack illustrates the influence the singer had on Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, and Janis Joplin.
Rise: My Story
Lindsey Vonn. Dey Street, Feb. 25 ($28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-288944-7)
Olympic gold medal–winning skier Vonn takes readers through her Minnesota upbringing, her three Olympic medals and 20 World Cup titles, and her retirement in 2019 at age 34.
Warhol
Blake Gopnik. Ecco, Apr. 21 ($45, ISBN 978-0-06-229839-3)
Per PW’s starred review, “Art, commerce, homosexual camp, and the 1960s counterculture were all blithely blenderized by one man’s genius, according to this sweeping biography of pop art master Andy Warhol.”
Memoirs & Biographies Listings
37 Ink
We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance by Linda Sarsour (Mar. 3, $26, ISBN 978-1-982105-16-7). Women’s March co-organizer Sarsour tells of her life as a Palestinian Muslim American and feminist, and of the experiences that led her to activism.
Abrams Press
The Fixed Stars by Molly Wizenberg (May 12, $25, ISBN 978-1-4197-4299-6). Memoirist Wizenberg writes of being a married woman with a toddler who, after meeting a woman on jury duty, questions and embraces her sexuality.
Algonquin
Miracle Country: A Memoir by Kendra Atleework (June 16, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-61620-998-8) tells of a woman’s flight from her high desert hometown in the Eastern Sierra Nevada to L.A. and then Minneapolis, and her eventual return to the terrain of her childhood.
Amazon Crossing
A Drop of Midnight: A Memoir by Jason Diakite, trans. by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Mar. 1, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-5420-1707-7). Hip-hop artist Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité shares his family’s history of migration—from South Carolina slavery to 21st-century Sweden, where he was born to interracial American parents.
Amistad
Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Apr. 1, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-295380-3) follows up the hip-hop artist’s New York Times bestseller The 50th Law with the tale of his comeback as a businessman and cable executive.
Atria
El Chapo: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Drug Lord by Noah Hurowitz (7, $28, ISBN 978-1-982133-75-7) builds on Hurowitz’s Rolling Stone reporting to investigate the life and trial of Mexican kingpin Joaquín Archivaldo “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.
Ballantine
Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer’s Insights Into North Korea’s Enigmatic Young Dictator by Jung H. Pak (Apr. 28, $28, ISBN 978-1-984819-72-7). Former CIA analyst Pak traces the rise of North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un, from his father’s 2011 death to his meetings with President Trump.
Basic
The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Joseph E. Peniel (Apr. 7, $30, ISBN 978-1-5416-1786-5). This dual revisionist biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King explores their contrasting ideals of self-defense vs. nonviolence and black power vs. civil rights.
Bloomsbury
Orwell: A Man of Our Times by Richard Bradford (May 12, $28, ISBN 978-1-4482-1768-7). In time for the 70th anniversary of George Orwell’s death, Bradford assesses the author’s relevance today, looking closely at such works as Animal Farm and 1984.
Catapult
Officer Clemmons: A Memoir by François Clemmons (May 5, $26, ISBN 978-1-948226-70-7). Known as Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers Neighborhood, the author reflects on his early life in Alabama and Ohio, and his studies as a music major at Oberlin College, where Clemmons accepted his homosexuality.
Chicago Review
Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color by Gilbert Baker (May 5, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64160-320-1) is the story of Baker’s creation of the Rainbow Flag, which debuted at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1978 and came to define the modern LGBTQ movement.
Counterpoint
Apology to the Young Addict: A Memoir by James Brown (Mar. 3, $26, ISBN 978-1-64009-286-0). The author of The Los Angeles Diaries writes about becoming sober and of helping addicts today.
Crown
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost (Apr. 14, $27, ISBN 978-1-101-90632-3). The Saturday Night Live head writer and “Weekend Update” coanchor tells of the road he took, from being an overweight kid in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to attending Harvard and finally working in comedy.
Crown/Duggan
I Want You to Know We’re Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir by Esther Safran Foer (Mar. 31, $27, ISBN 978-0-525-57598-6) traces Safran Foer’s parents’ escape from the Holocaust and of the effect it had on generations of her family.
Dey Street
This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman by Ilhan Omar (May 19, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-295421-3). One of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, Omar writes of fleeing Mogadishu, Somalia, and arriving in Arlington, Va., where she became increasingly active in American politics.
Dial
What We Carry: A Memoir by Maya Shanbhag Lang (Apr. 28, $27, ISBN 978-0-525-51239-4). “Lang (The Sixteenth of June) delivers a stirring memoir exploring the fraught relationships between mothers and daughters,” says PW’s review.
Diversion
The Unexpected Guest: A Story of Family, Friendship, and the Meaning of Home by Michael Konik (May 5, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-63576-696-7) tells of how Konik and his wife took in a homeless man named “Fisher King Mike,” who preached to people along the streets of L.A., and of how each of their lives was transformed.
Doubleday
The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser (May 12, $35, ISBN 978-0-385-54055-1). A New York Times White House correspondent and a columnist at the New Yorker chart the life of the White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III, who counseled Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
Dutton
James Monroe: A Life by Tim McGrath (May 5, $30, ISBN 978-0-451-47726-2) revisits the life of James Monroe, thanks largely due to the discovery of many primary sources rarely seen since Monroe’s own time.
Ecco
In the Land of Men: A Memoir by Adrienne Miller (Feb. 11, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-268241-3). “In this intimate account,” per PW’s review, of the New York magazine publishing world of the 1990s and 2000s, Miller writes of her time as the literary editor of Esquire and of her relationship with David Foster Wallace.
Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America’s Youngest Sommelier by Victoria James (Mar. 24, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-296167-9). In what PW calls a “gritty, eloquent memoir,” James writes of her experiences in becoming a successful sommelier.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Untitled Chelsea Manning Memoir by Chelsea Manning (June 2, $27, ISBN 978-0-374-27927-1). The former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army in Iraq explains her decision to disclose classified military documents in 2010, and describes the seven-year prison sentence she served.
Flatiron
Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto by Michelle Bowdler (July 7, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-25563-1). Health advocate Bowdler tells her story of rape and recovery as she explores how sexual violence has been addressed in America. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
Free Press
The Power Notebooks by Katie Roiphe (Mar. 3, $27, ISBN 978-1-982128-01-2). Looking at the lives of well-known female writers, The Morning After author looks at how women experience power.
Grand Central
Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn (Apr. 7, $28, ISBN 978-1-5387-0166-9). Country music singer Lynn tells of her friendship with the legendary Patsy Cline in 1960s Nashville. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
Graywolf
Later: My Life at the Edge of the World by Paul Lisicky (Mar. 17, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64445-016-1) recalls idyllic Provincetown, Mass., in the early 1990s during the AIDS crisis, by the author of the Narrow Door.
Hachette
Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson by Annye C. Anderson, with Preston Lauterbach (June 9, $28, ISBN 978-0-306-84526-0). The stepsister of blues musician Robert Johnson recalls his life, sharing new details about his family, music, and death.
Harper
We’re Better Than This by Elijah Cummings (June 2, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-299226-0). The late congressman writes of his experience during Trump’s presidency, focusing on the last year before he died.
Harper Wave
Unvarnished: A Gimlet-Eyed Look at Life Behind the Bar by Eric Alperin and Deborah Stoll (June 23, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-289928-6). Bartender and writer Stoll, and Alperin, owner of the L.A. bar called the Varnish, give readers an insider’s look at the life of bartenders.
Harvard Univ.
Dante’s Bones: How a Poet Invented Italy by Guy P. Raffa (May 12, $35, ISBN 978-0-674-98083-9) tells of how, after the death of the 14th-century Italian poet, his body was exhumed and his bones were stolen and revered by politicians and artists alike.
Holt
Pelosi by Molly Ball (Apr. 28, $28, ISBN 978-1-250-25286-9) examines the work of the current Speaker of the House, focusing on the 2018 midterm elections, when the Democrats took control of the House.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy by Larry Tye (May 5, $36, ISBN 978-1-328-95972-0). Bobby Kennedy biographer Tye charts the life of Wisconsin senator Joe McCarthy, based on access to his papers and recently unsealed transcripts of his closed-door congressional hearings. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Knopf
Brother & Sister: A Memoir by Diane Keaton (Feb. 4, $25.95, ISBN 978-0-451-49450-4). Actor Keaton centers this memoir on her relationship with her younger brother, contemplating the inner workings of a family, the ties that hold it together, and the special bond between siblings. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Nicholas A. Basbanes (June 2, $35, ISBN 978-1-101-87514-8) is the result of 12 years of research on the 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from the author of On Paper.
Little A
The Club King: My Rise, Reign, and Fall in New York Nightlife by Peter Gatien (Apr. 7, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-5420-1531-8). A nightclub impresario looks back on his role in creating 1970s and ’80s New York City hot spots, the Palladium, the Tunnel, and Limelight.
Little, Brown
Yogi: A Life by Jon Pessah (Mar. 24, $30, ISBN 978-0-316-31099-4). The founding editor of ESPN Magazine takes a close look at the life of New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.
Morrow
The Adventurer’s Son: A Memoir by Roman Dial (Feb. 18, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-287660-7). In what PW calls “a gripping memoir,” Dial, a biology professor, recounts searching for his 27-year-old son, Cody Roman, who disappeared in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park.
Norton
Half Broke by Ginger Gaffney (Feb. 4, $25.95, ISBN 978-1-324-00307-6). Horse trainer Gaffney tells of her work at alternative prison ranch in northern New Mexico, where she taught inmates how to train troubled horses.
Other Press
Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women’s Voices from the Gulag by Monika Zgustova, trans. by Julie Jones (Feb. 4, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-59051-177-0), collects stories and interviews with female prisoners of Stalin’s labor camps. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Penguin Press
On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist by Clarissa Ward (Apr. 14, $28, ISBN 978-0-525-56147-7). Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, recounts her life as a journalist in what PW says is an “affecting insider view of international reporting.”
Random House
Young Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Memoir and a Reckoning by Alex Halberstadt (Mar. 10, $28, ISBN 978-1-4000-6706-0). Journalist Halberstadt returns to his native Russia to explore his family’s history in what PW calls an “illuminating but dense memoir.”
Rowman & Littlefield
America, the Band: An Authorized Biography by Jude Warne (May 15, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-5381-2095-8) tells the story of three British musicians who formed the band America and who had such 1970s hits as “Ventura Highway” and “Sister Golden Hair.”
Scribner
The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone by Colin O’Brady (Feb. 4, $28, ISBN 978-1-982133-11-5). O’Brady debuts with a memoir chronicling his 932-mile solo crossing of the Antarctic landmass in 2018.
She Writes
I’m Still Here: A Memoir by Martina Reaves (Apr. 21, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-63152-876-7) is the story of the writer’s life, from living in a commune in 1960s San Francisco to her 2008 diagnosis of tongue cancer.
Simon & Schuster
Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century by John Loughery (Mar. 3, $30, ISBN 978-1-982103-49-1) is the first full biography devoted to Dorothy Day, a pacifist and Catholic convert who protested the draft during WWII and Vietnam.
Tiller
The Lady of Sing Sing: An American Countess, an Italian Immigrant, and Their Epic Battle for Justice in New York’s Gilded Age by Idanna Pucci (Mar. 10, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-982139-31-5) presents the biography of American activist Cora Slocomb, who in 1895 attempted to save from the death penalty an illiterate Italian immigrant named Maria Barbella, who killed the man who had abused her.
Tin House
My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland (Feb. 4, $22.95, ISBN 978-1-947793-28-6). Shapland uncovers love letters between writer Carson McCullers and a woman named Annemarie, and interweaves moments of her own life with those of McCullers.
Univ. of Nebraska
Out of the Crazywoods by Cheryl Savageau (May 1, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-4962-1903-9). Abenaki poet Savageau writes of her bipolar disorder, which she was diagnosed with late in life.
Viking
Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit (Mar. 10, $26, ISBN 978-0-593-08333-8). According to PW’s review, “Solnit (Whose Story Is This?) writes in this enlightening, nonlinear memoir of her life as a poor young woman in 1980s San Francisco and her development as a writer and feminist thinker.”
