From Bowie to Baseball to Bitcoin: Ten Nonfiction Books to Check Out in March
Featuring Titles by Russell Shorto, Ben Ratliff, Hannah Selinger, and More
Each month, we here at Lit Hub pore over literally hundreds of nonfiction titles—here are ten coming out in March that are worth your time. (Sign up to our weekly nonfiction newsletter for evidence of all that work…)
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Catherine Bracy, World Eaters
(Dutton, March 4)
Tech activist Catherine Bracy charts the sheer scope of venture capital’s destruction in a book that’s as enraging as it is illuminating. It’s not just a lament, though—Bracy also calls for a reimagining of the modern economy, one that places a higher value on solving real problems than making a select few disgustingly wealthy.
Russell Shorto, Taking Manhattan
(W.W. Norton, March 4)
How did New York become the first great modern city in the world? And how did its messy mix of capitalism, pluralism, empire, language, culture, and, of course, people, come to portend the very nature of America itself? Focusing on a pivotal 1664 conflict between the founding Dutch and the upstart English, historian Russell Shorto answers these questions, and more.
Will Bardenwerper, Homestand
(Doubleday, March 11)
Though its place in popular culture has changed dramatically over the last generation (or two), baseball—its role in the daily life of cities and towns across this country—still says a lot about what America once was, and what it might be. Focusing on a minor league Rust Belt team in western New York, US veteran Bardenwerper examines the impact of private equity and corporate greed not only baseball, but on the very fabric of American life.
Christopher Summerfield, These Strange New Minds
(Viking, March 11)
Falling somewhere in the middle of “AI will enslave us all” and “AI will save us all,” neuroscientist and AI researcher Summerfield at least has the experience and expertise to illuminate some of the less understood aspects of the origins and implications of artificial intelligence—whether you like it or not. (We don’t.)
Padraic X. Scanlan, Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine (Basic Books, March 11)
It’s easy (and correct) to blame capitalism for most of the ills of contemporary society, but Padraic X. Scanlan’s definitive history of Ireland’s cataclysmic Great Famine shows its work. An essential and sweeping book, Rot contextualizes the famine within British imperialism, and presents a fascinating analysis of the catastrophe from multiple angles. If only it didn’t feel so timely.
Benjamin Wallace, The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto
(Crown, March 18)
This unexpectedly gripping page-turner attempts to get to the bottom of who, exactly, is behind the online identity who invented Bitcoin. Way back in 2008 someone called “Satoshi Nakamato” uploaded a detailed model of a “a peer-to-peer electronic cash system” that would change the world. But who is Mr. Nakamato? Benjamin Wallace’s search for that identity takes him on a global odyssey filled with online puzzles, shadowy figures, near-death escapades, and much more.
Ben Ratliff, Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening
(Graywolf, March 18)
Music critic Ben Ratliff’s essays about listening to music while running—and the ways in which the body in motion is able to listen and understand differently than a body at rest—is a lovely meditation on the ways in which we can deepen our connection to even the things we imagine we understand the best.
Natalie Hammond, Style Codes: David Bowie
(Abrams, March 25)
One of David Bowie’s many preternatural talents was his bone-deep understanding of the difference between style and fashion: the former being who you are, the latter being how others think you should be. So who better to help you discover your own style via his many musings (culled from interviews) on what we wear, and how to wear it.
Jamie Hood, Trauma Plot: A Life
(Pantheon, March 25)
Jamie Hood is one of the most interesting literary critics writing today, and her excavation of trauma and survival is a wonder. Moving, thought-provoking, at once intellectual and deeply personal, Trauma Plot will change the way you think about the act of writing. This is a book that both demands and rewards your rapt attention.
Hannah Selinger, Cellar Rat
(Little Brown, March 25)
Cellar Rat, which recounts Hannah Selinger’s years as a server and sommelier in the seedy world of high-end New York restaurants, is a damn good read. Selinger’s writing about the restaurant industry is sharp, unsparing, and at times very funny, and her insights about her own life and experiences display admirable levels of candor and understanding. A thoroughly absorbing book.
