• Itisatimeofcalamityinamajormetropolitan

  city'sDepartmentofElevatorInspectors,andLilaMaeWatson,

  thefirstblackfemaleelevatorinspectorinthehistory

  ofthedepartment,isatthecenterofit.

  Therearetwowarringfactionswithinthedepartment:

  theEmpiricists,whoworkbythebookand

  dutifullycheckforstriationsonthewinchcableand

  such;andtheIntuitionists,whoaresimplyableto

  entertheelevatorcabinquestion,meditate,andintuit

  anydefects. LilaMaeisanIntuitionistand,

  itjustsohappens,hasthehighestaccuracyrate

  intheentiredepartment.Butwhenanelevator

  inanewcitybuildinggoesintototalfreefall

  onLilaMae'swatch,chaosensues.It'san

  electionyearintheElevatorGuild,andthegood-old-boy

  Empiricistswouldlovenothingmorethantoassignthe

  blametoanIntuitionist.ButLilaMaeis

  neverwrong.
  The Intuitionist
• TillerisanaverageAmericancollegestudentwithagood

  heartbutminimalaspirations.PongLouisalarger-than-life,

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  inTillerbeyondhisboredexteriorandtakeshim

  underhiswing.WhenPongbringshimalongon

  aboisteroustripacrossAsia,Tilleriscatapultedfrom

  ordinaryyoungmantotalentedprotégé,andpulledinto

  aseriesofevermoreextremeandeye-openingexperiences

  thattransformhisviewoftheworld,ofPong,

  andofhimself.
  My Year Abroad
• WhenWeCeasetoUnderstandtheWorldisabook

  aboutthecomplicatedlinksbetweenscientificandmathematicaldiscovery,

  madness,anddestruction.FritzHaber,AlexanderGrothendieck,WernerHeisenberg,

  ErwinSchrödinger—thesearesomeofluminariesintowhosetroubled

  livesBenjamínLabatutthruststhereader,showingushow

  theygrappledwiththemostprofoundquestionsofexistence.

  Theyhavestrokesofunparalleledgenius,alienatefriendsand

  lovers,descendintoisolationandinsanity.Someoftheir

  discoveriesreshapehumanlifeforthebetter;otherspave

  thewaytochaosandunimaginablesuffering.Thelines

  areneverclear.Atabreakneckpaceandwith

  awealthofdisturbingdetail,Labatutusestheimaginative

  resourcesoffictiontotellthestoriesofthe

  scientistsandmathematicianswhoexpandedournotionsofthe

  possible.
  When We Cease to Understand the World
• Eachdisparateobjectdescribedinthisbook—aCasparDavidFriedrich

  painting,aspeciesoftiger,avillainRome,

  aGreeklovepoem,anislandinthePacific—shares

  acommonfate:itnolongerexists,exceptas

  thedeadendofapapertrail.Recallingthe

  worksofW.G.Sebald,BruceChatwin,andRebecca

  Solnit,AnInventoryofLossesisabeautifulevocation

  oftwelvespecifictreasuresthathavebeenlostto

  theworldforever,andthat,takenasawhole,

  openmesmerizingnewvistasofhowtothinkabout

  extinctionandloss.
  An Inventory of Losses
• InTheSeventhFunctionofLanguage,Laurent-Binetspinsamadcap

  secrethistoryoftheFrenchintelligentsia,starringsuchluminaries

  asJacquesDerrida,UmbertoEco,GillesDeleuze,MichelFoucault,

  JudithButler,andJuliaKristeva—aswellasthehapless

  policedetectiveJacquesBayard,whosenewcasewillplunge

  himintothedepthsofliterarytheory(startingwith

  theFrenchversionofRolandBarthesforDummies).Soon

  Bayardfindshimselfinsearchofalostmanuscript

  bythelinguistRomanJakobsononthemysterious“seventh

  functionoflanguage.”
  The Seventh Function of Language
• MirroringthestructureofGabrielGarcíaMárquezsChronicleofa

  DeathForetold,thenovelgoesbackintime,recounting

  theeventswhichledtoLaMatosa’switch’smurder

  fromseveralperspectives.
  Hurricane Season
• Ducks,Newburyportisa2019novelbyBritishauthorLucy

  Ellmann.Thenoveliswritteninthestreamof

  consciousnessnarrativestyle,andconsistsofmostlyasingle

  sentence,runningovermorethan1000pages.
  Ducks, Newburyport