I just received a copy of the Counterpoint Spring 08 catalog which included titles from Counterpoint, Sierra Club Books and Soft Skull Press. While I was happy to see all the titles offered here (and especially Sierra Club - I really need to track down a copy of Birding Babylon. I just read about it again in Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point and it sounds great), there were a few that really sounded appealing. Here they are:

X-Films by Alex Cox. The flimmaker behind Six & Nancy and Repo Man has a memoir that extends beyond not only his own influences and experiences but also offers looks at his favorite films. He also provides some thoughts on the future of indy fillmmaking. You get an inside look at the life and work of an influential artist and also some pointers on how to pursue a career like his. Very cool.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Kevin Powell. In my ongoing effort to prove that poetry can be cool (admittedly I leave most of this fight up to folks like Kelly Fineman who are real poets and just make comments from the sidelines :), Powell's work stands out. Political and personal, Powell excels at making his point in a thoroughly literary way. From the description:

Within this rich weave of musings, confession, and sometimes painful introspection, he confronts such issues as racism, black self-hatred, gender violence, and his own anguished revelations about sex, love, and misogyny. Powell samples the sights and sounds and scenarios of American life, then reshapes them into a provocative soundtrack for our times.

I wrote about Martin Millar's Lonely Werewolf Girl last December and was quite pleased to see it listed here. Fans of urban fantasy should take particular note:

Lonely Werewolf Girl is an expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world; elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashion designers, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians - an entire Clan of Werewolves, getting in trouble from the Scottish Highlands to London, and in several dimensions beyond...

The Bandana Republic an anthology by gang members and their affiliates (perfect for Guys Lit Wire don't you think?). It includes fiction, essays, poetry, etc from current and former gang members. From the description: "Intergenerational in scope, The Bandana Republic focuses on creative literature written by adolescents from such contemporary gangs as Crips and Bloods, Latin Kings and Mexican Mafia, Black Spades and Black Gangster Disciples. It also includes work by former gang members who have entered the arena of social work or gone on to other careers. The anthology showcases writing by television and film actors Malik Yoba, Edward James Olmos, Ruby Dee, Mos Def, and Jim Brown; performers and lyricists Oscar Brown Jr., Gil Scott-Heron, Dead Prez, and Snoop Doggie Dog; and journalists Felipe Luciano and Mumia Abu Jamal - all of whom have either come from urban gangs or were closely affiliated with street-based organizations."

Writers in Paris by David Burke is one of those literary geographies that always seems to sound like candy for book lovers. Consider: "From natives such as Molière, Genet, and Anaïs Nin, to expats like Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, and Gertrude Stein, author David Burke follows hundreds of writers through Paris's labyrinthine streets, inviting readers on his grand tour. Unique in scope and approach, Writers in Paris crosses from Right Bank to Left and on to the Ile de la Cité as it explores the alleyways and haunts frequented by the world's most storied writers. Burke focuses not only on their writing but on their passions, ecstasies, obsessions, and betrayals. Equally appealing to Francophiles and serious readers, this engaging book includes maps and more than 100 evocative photographs."

Now that's some beach reading!

Victoria Glendinning has a biography now out in paper of Leonard Woolf. I think he has been terribly overlooked by literary fans - even those of his famous wife. Glendinning comes to this one with a perfect pedigree - she has already written about Rebecca West and Vita Sackville West. The hardcover got starred reviews from both PW and Booklist - sounds very interesting (and readable).

And a Winter 2008 title that sounds fascinating: On the Lower Frequencies from Erick Lyle (aka Iggy Scam). Here's the general description: "Iggy Scam's Secret History of Cities is both a manual, a memoir and a history of creative resistance and fun in a world run rotten with poverty and war." Now that sounds appealing enough but I do worry that it is just aimed too much at being punk and in your face and not a lot of substance. The description addresses that though with: "But he never seeks refuges in the abstract - in one of the book's key set pieces, "The Epicenter of Crime: The Hunt's Donuts Story," Scam celebrates the history and passing of a donut shop that was once a nerve center in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood. On one level, it's an epitaph for a beloved hangout. On another, it's a metaphor for the racial and economic tensions that can accompany gentrification. And on yet another, it's an untold history of an entire neighborhood via a single retail establishment."

I"m all about the urban planning and development that can be related in a hip (and dare I say) interesting way. If Katrina taught us anything it is that we have to think about how our cities are built and the significance of community to the residents. In that light, Iggy Scam certainly sounds worth a look.

[Is that an awesome book cover or what?]