A long-awaited novel by Dave Eggers and a contemporary comedy of manners from Maggie Shipstead; thrillers by Zoe Ferraris, Sophie Littlefield and Scott Sigler; and nonfiction by Jerry Mander, Arlie Russell Hochschild and Adrienne Arieff are among the new releases by Bay Area authors.
“A Hologram for the King” by Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s Books, $25, 328 pages). Eggers’ new novel is set in Saudi Arabia, but its hero, Alan Clay, is an American Everyman. After a life in sales, he’s 54, awash in debt, nearly broke and practically unemployable — “as intriguing to corporate America as an airplane built from mud.” That is, until a friend gets him a job with Reliant, an American conglomerate poised to sell information technology to the Saudi king. Clay, who knows next to nothing about the product, since he’s spent most of his life selling bicycles, becomes the point man for the pitch, and off he goes, in search of the big score that will put him back in the black. Eggers’ spare prose is a pleasure, and “A Hologram for the King” proves to be a deft blend of surreal adventure, absurd comedy and pointed observations about globalization, outsourcing and the beleaguered middle class.
“Seating Arrangements” by Maggie Shipstead (Knopf, $25.95, 320 pages). A pristine estate on the New England coast is the setting for Maggie Shipstead’s witty debut novel, which centers on preparations for a WASP wedding that will merge the wealthy Van Meter and Duff clans, when eight-months-pregnant Daphne and young prepster Greyson tie the knot. The author introduces a Wharton-worthy ensemble of patriarchs and maiden aunts, bridesmaids and wayward brothers. (Shipstead, recipient of a Stegner fellowship at Stanford, will read from the book July 22 at the Belmont Library.)
“Kingdom of Strangers” by Zoë Ferraris (Little, Brown and Company, $25.99, 363 pages). Ferraris returns to Saudi Arabia in her new novel. Third in a series that began with “Finding Nouf” and “City of Veils,” it opens with the discovery of a mass grave containing the bodies of 19 women. Police inspector Ibrahim Zahrani and forensic scientist Katya Hijazi embark on a harrowing search for a serial killer. Hijazi, an unusual character, is smart, hard-working and determined to break through her country’s glass ceiling. Ferraris, who has lived in Saudi Arabia, now resides in San Francisco.
“A Bad Day for Mercy” by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur, $24.99, 304 pages). Stella Hardesty — a fearless, no-nonsense crime fighter — was featured in Sophie Littlefield’s “A Bad Day for Scandal” and “A Bad Day for Pretty.” She’s back in the Bay Area author’s latest mystery, untangling a plot that involves bad gambling debts, dismemberments and black market Botox.
“Nocturnal: A Novel” by Scott Sigler (Crown, $26, 576 pages). A nightmarish breed of killers lurking beneath the streets of San Francisco? In “Nocturnal,” they’re ready to claim the city as their own. Sigler, the San Francisco author of “Infected” and “Contagious,” delivers again in this fiercely creepy page-turner.
“The Capitalism Papers: Fatal Flaws of an Obsolete System” by Jerry Mander (Counterpoint Press, $26, 256 pages). Mander, the North Bay author of “Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television,” argues that capitalism is amoral, obsolete and no longer viable. He also suggests the system is taking us to the brink of worldwide food, water and energy shortages. “What may have worked in 1850 and 1900 is calamitous in 2012,” he writes. (He will read from the book July 18 at Moe’s in Berkeley, and July 31 at Books Inc. at Opera Plaza in San Francisco.
“The Outsourced Self” by Arlie Russell Hochschild (Metropolitan Books, $27, 320 pages). Though living in a culture defined by a reputation for do-it-yourself individualism, Americans seem to be outsourcing some of their most personal choices to others. Hochschild, a sociology professor at UC Berkeley, looks at dating services, wedding planners, “nameologists” (professional baby-namers), and “wantologists” (who help define your goals) in this eye-opening exploration of a surprising trend.
“The Sacred Thread” by Adrienne Arieff (Crown, $24, 288 pages). After three miscarriages, marketing executive Arieff and her husband, Alex, decided to explore surrogacy options. At the Akanksha Infertility Clinic in India, they met a young married mother named Vaina, who served as the San Francisco couple’s surrogate, birthing their twin daughters. In this memoir, Arieff writes eloquently about the experience, the issues surrounding infertility and “the sacred thread” that binds her family to Vaina.
Additional July readings: Kaya Oakes on “The Conspiracy of Beards” July 11 at Moe’s in Berkeley; Anita Amirrezvani reads from “Equal of the Sun” on July 19 at Mrs. Dalloway’s in Berkeley; Nancy Mullane, author of “Life After Murder,” reads at Kepler’s in Menlo Park on July 24.
