讀本好書,為魔幻的一年畫上句號:《財富》年度推薦書單
希望其中的一本或幾本能夠幫助你遠離2020年的喧囂。
盡管今年是多事之秋,但至少我們還有很多好書可讀。
當然,一些出版社已經將少數(shù)書作的發(fā)布日期推遲到了2021年的某個時候。盡管如此,市面上仍不乏優(yōu)秀的作品,而且書商和作者都在不遺余力地通過數(shù)字渠道推廣其作品,可能借此吸引更多以前他們沒有接觸過的讀者和團體。
不管是小說還是非小說,商業(yè)還是非商業(yè),以下是《財富》員工的推薦清單,希望其中的一本或幾本能夠幫助你遠離2020年的喧囂。
《美好而愚蠢的努力》(A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor),作者:漢克?格林(Hank Green)
繼處女作《絕對值得稱道的事情》之后,漢克?格林這部扣人心弦的后續(xù)之作講述了一個不大可能實現(xiàn)的任務:從外星人的破壞中拯救人類。作品采用了大量的社交用語以及加密貨幣、腦機接口之類最前沿的科技,從復述一位外星間諜密友觀點的交替論點拉開帷幕。閱讀該書,會給人一種在虛擬仿真世界中如沐春風的感覺。除此之外,有多少書能夠含有一段一段由人工智能猴子講述的故事,而且這只猴子還受到了外太空超強意識的控制。——羅伯特?哈克特,資深作者
《沒有工作的世界》(A World Without Work),作者:丹尼爾?蘇斯金德(Daniel Susskind)
長久以來,機器一直在取代人力勞動,然而人們會發(fā)現(xiàn)新的工作,經濟也會擴張。經濟學家丹尼爾?薩斯坎德認為,借助人工智能,這一次的情形可能不大一樣,它將大幅擴大財富的不均衡性,除非政府出面干預。——阿隆?普雷斯曼,資深作者
《血與油:穆罕默德?本?薩勒曼對全球權力的瘋狂追求》(Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power),作者:布拉德利?霍普(Bradley Hope),賈斯汀?舍克( Justin Scheck)
穆罕默德?本?薩勒曼的故事很多——與軟銀的合作,與杰拉德?庫什那的友誼,賈馬爾?哈蘇吉的死亡,利雅德麗思卡爾頓的人質事件,即便知道不少,小說用充滿戲劇性的眼光審視沙特宮廷《權力游戲》式的古怪舉措時,仍令我一再感到吃驚。其核心讀者將會是原油和地緣政治領域的粉絲(或對于WeWork冒險故事機能紊亂和障礙感到癡迷的人士)。然而,它充滿了娛樂性、驚悚、恐怖和引人入勝之處,足以擔當吸睛書作之重任。——凱瑟琳?鄧,副編輯
《種姓:我們不滿的根源》(Caste: The Origins of Our discontent),作者:伊莎貝爾?威爾克森(Isabel Wilkerson)
《其他太陽的溫暖》一書的作者將讓讀者從根源上了解美國社會和正義系統(tǒng)被用于確保白人成為統(tǒng)治階級的設計,也就是他們自踏上美國海岸開始便已固化的永存優(yōu)勢。該書對于主導多元化和包容性動議的高管來說尤為有用,能夠幫助他們理解是什么人和障礙讓少數(shù)族裔,尤其是黑人難以獲得晉升。——王波非,資深作者
這本書非常適合那些在喬治?弗洛伊德被害之后幡然醒悟,并意識到自己對根植于美國社會中的根本性不公知之甚少的人士。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《絕望的死亡與資本主義的未來》(Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism),作者:安妮?凱斯(Anne Case)、安格斯?迪頓(Angus Deaton)
依然侵蝕著美國政治的憤怒和不信任源于美國生活基礎的崩塌,包括工作、醫(yī)療和安全。安妮?凱斯和安古斯?狄盾為我們提供了大量令人震驚的數(shù)據(jù),展示了收入不公之外預期壽命的下降、家庭的分崩離析以及快速和慢性自殺的激增。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《吃顆桃子:張錫鎬的回憶錄》(Eat a Peach: A Memoir),作者:張錫鎬(David Chang )、加布?烏拉(Gabe Ulla)
在多面手張錫鎬于2004年在曼哈頓開設其Momofuku餐廳后,他永遠地改變了美國的餐飲格局。張的回憶錄將帶你領略其歷程,從小面館一直到餐飲帝國和明星大廚,本書不僅記錄了美國餐飲演變過程中的形成期,同時也向人們展示了在競爭異常激烈的餐飲界如何脫穎而出。《吃顆桃子》于疫情中期出版,從新的視角審視了這個受到新冠疫情嚴重沖擊的行業(yè)。然而,張在處理其韓裔美籍身份、情緒問題以及精神健康問題時還提出了一些質樸的觀點。這種近距離的審視將得到美食愛好者以及非美食愛好者的共鳴。——柯問思,資深作者
《健康建筑:室內空間如何提高績效和生產力》(Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity),作者:約瑟夫? G?艾倫(Joseph G. Allen),約翰?D?麥康伯(John D. Macomber)
這本書的出版可謂是恰逢其時,它揭露了當代大樓普遍存在的通風不足以及污染問題,就在該書出版之際,室內共享空間已變得尤為致命。盡管如今新冠疫情通道的盡頭已經出現(xiàn)了亮光,但這些改善室內空氣質量的洞見和指導原則在疫情后的改革中仍將發(fā)揮巨大的作用。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《加密貨幣之王:一家初創(chuàng)公司試圖將加密貨幣從硅谷帶到華爾街》(Kings of Crypto),作者:杰夫?羅伯茨(Jeff Roberts)
《加密貨幣之王》(作者為《財富》資深作家駱杰峰)講述了一群下層社會叛逆者先于他人看到了金融的未來,而且將其革命掌握在了自己的手中。閱讀這本書類似于用聽診器來聆聽這個放置著加密貨幣行業(yè)起源故事的金庫。咚咚咚——秘密如泉涌。——羅伯特?哈克特,資深作者
《開卷》(Open Book),作者:杰西卡?辛普森(Jessica Simpson)
明星的回憶錄并不總是以坦誠而出名。然而,杰西卡?辛普森今年用其新作在這個領域增添了一抹亮色。該書有個十分貼切的名字《開卷》。這本充滿洞見、令人心碎的回憶錄講述了辛普森20年的歷程,可謂是包羅萬象,從其作為流行明星的歲月一直到其職業(yè)的重大轉折——開設一家估值10億美元的時裝品牌。——艾瑪?辛克里夫,副主編
《莎士比亞在分裂的美國:他的戲劇講述了我們過去和未來》(Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future),作者:詹姆斯?夏皮羅(James Shapiro)
文學教授詹姆斯?夏皮羅公布了一段鮮為人知但異常詳實的材料,講述的是從19世紀初到現(xiàn)在美國人對莎士比亞的看法,在書中,他將莎士比亞當成了一種墨跡測試:所有人,從亞伯拉罕?林肯到約翰?威爾克斯?布斯,他們都在莎士比亞身上看到了自己想看到的內容。在這一過程中,他們無意間揭示了其內心的自我和分裂現(xiàn)象——種族主義、排外和階級沖突,這些對于當前的人們來說并不陌生。書中的故事真是棒極了。——方繪香,資深作者
《聚會:如何打造高效社交網(wǎng)絡》(The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters ),作者:普里亞?帕克(Priya Parker)
到了2020年的這個時候,在家庭之外與任何人聚會(對于我們某些人,或任何人)似乎已經成為了一種怪異的理念。然而,作者普里亞?帕克提醒我們,為什么真實生活中的會面對于我們的工作和個人生活來說如此重要。帕克還是一名戰(zhàn)略顧問,他此前工作的內容是中東、南非和印度的和平進程。(毫無疑問,在輝瑞疫苗療效的消息公布之后,Zoom連同這類居家工作公司的股價立即應聲大跌。)在《聚會》(Riverhead Books出版社)一書中,帕克明確地介紹了那些有助于(以及不利于)會面成效的要素,并給出了能夠改變疫情后各種會面方式的指導準則,從董事會一直到燒烤。——雷切爾?金(編者注:該名稱于2018年最先發(fā)布,但于2020年4月首次發(fā)布平裝版。)
《雪紡戰(zhàn)壕》(The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir),作者:安德?列昂?塔利(André Leon Talley)
如果你在期盼《時尚女魔頭》的續(xù)集,并自動將其作為《時尚》主編安娜?溫圖爾的真實寫照,你可能會對此感到失望。安德魯?萊昂?塔利在這個異常脆弱和辛辣的回憶錄中自然而然地就成為了其自己節(jié)目的明星。該書回憶了他在南吉姆克羅的兒童時代,以及其常青藤高校的教育,同時還回憶了他自己在《女性日常服飾》、《W》雜志以及最知名的《時尚》雜志工作之外在巴黎和紐約時裝走秀打零工的經歷。
塔利一直將自己描述為時尚記者圈中第一位最有權勢的黑人,這一點在其職業(yè)的早期生涯是無可爭辯的。他還坦誠地講述了自己對種族和時尚的看法,同時介紹了自己在理解自身性別方面所遇到的問題,以及自身一直以來與進食障礙所進行的斗爭。(讀者們也可以愉悅地收聽這本回憶錄,因為塔利在其有聲讀物的敘述中展現(xiàn)了自己的所有個性,很少有作者能夠成功地做到這一點。)——雷切爾?金,編輯
《水晶旅店》(The Glass Hotel),作者:Emily St.John Mandel(埃米莉?圣約翰?曼德爾)
埃米莉?圣約翰?曼德爾最后一本小說——2014年大熱書作《第十一站》——的粉絲們一直都在翹首期盼這位加拿大作者的下一部書作。然而,盡管《第十一站》疫情后的情節(jié)可能更適合(如果不是特別怪異的話)2020年這一痛苦的年份,但《水晶旅店》卻是讓人們又想起了有關不久前2008年那場經濟衰退的痛苦回憶。《水晶旅店》從一個寧靜的上流階層酒店酒吧(還記得嗎?)說起,該酒吧位于霧靄蒙蒙的不列顛哥倫比亞(這個與曼哈頓的那種酒吧可能相距甚遠)。在該書中,一系列角色的行動不可避免地導致其所熟知之人或陌生人出現(xiàn)了相應的后果(有時候悲慘甚至是致命的后果)。——雷切爾?金,編輯
《中空地帶》(The Hollow Places),作者:T.金費舍
21世紀的恐怖小說受到了“怪異小說”的深刻影響,這類小說可追溯至20世紀早期,包括1907年阿爾格農?布拉克伍德異常扣人心弦的中篇小說《柳林》(The Willows)。在《中空地帶》(出版商Gallery/Saga Press)中,金費舍沒有采用布拉克伍德過度靈活的構架,以及其他怪異小說的試金石,而是運用了一種單刀直入的手法,讓閱讀體驗變得十分順暢的同時讓讀者在數(shù)月間都難以釋手。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《華盛頓幕后的人:詹姆斯?貝克三世的生平與時代》(The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III),作者:彼得?帕克(Peter Baker ),蘇珊?格拉斯勒(Susan Glasser)
美國政治文化已經崩壞,但它此前并非如此。詹姆斯?艾迪森?貝克便是一位大師級人物,能夠在華盛頓完成要做的事情。我們需要他的回歸。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《鏡與光》(The Mirror & the Light ),作者:希拉里?門特爾(Hilary Mantel)
這是希拉里?門特爾《狼廳》小說三部曲的第三部也是最后一部小說,介紹了托馬斯?克倫威爾的生平。他崛起于草根,后成為了亨利八世的首席顧問,同時也是英格蘭最有權力的男性之一。這本漸進式的小說(約800頁)值得一讀的原因不僅在于門特爾優(yōu)美的詞句,還包括克倫威爾的起落所折射出有關權力腐敗影響的深刻教訓,以及榮耀與罵名之間的一線之隔。——杰瑞米?卡恩,資深作者
《輝煌與邪惡》(The Splendid and the Vile),作者:埃里克?拉爾森(Erik Larson)
在事實與虛構之間失去明顯界定的時代,我們很高興能夠讀到一本非虛構小說,而且作者依然懂得用事實說話的意義。同時,這位作者所講述的故事依然充滿了一部一流小說所應具備的戲劇性、角色和興奮點。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《范妮?戴維斯眼中的世界:母親的底特律生活》(The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers),作者:布里奇特?M?戴維斯(Bridgett M. Davis)
范妮?戴維斯所擁有的能力可以讓其成為一流的高管:她是一名策略高手,一位事無巨細的策劃者,同時還是一位“人緣極好的人”,有著能夠按照形勢寬嚴相濟的情商。然而,對于一個生活在于南部種族歧視地區(qū)(隨后又來到了被隔離的底特律)的成年黑人女性來說,她難以進入企業(yè),因此她成為了“數(shù)字”領域(類似于彩票的非法賭博)的頂級玩家,并因此而聲名大振。在范妮女兒——小說家兼電影制片人布里奇特?戴維斯的回憶錄中,范妮成為一位異常勤勉和足智多謀的女性,盡管生活在逮捕的威脅,以及上個世紀60和70年代社會動蕩的陰影中,她依然能夠為其家人創(chuàng)造舒適安全的環(huán)境,并成為街坊鄰居的經濟支柱。——馬修?海默,資深編輯
《永不滿足:我的家族如何創(chuàng)造了世界上最危險的人》(Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man),作者:瑪麗?L?特朗普(Mary L. Trump)
沒有一本書能夠權威地解讀特朗普時代,但這本書最為接近,不過它很少提及21世紀的政治。有關特朗普家族狂暴的心理和情感虐待的直接描述并不能解釋美國當前的現(xiàn)狀,然而,它確實在某種程度上以一種幾乎令人欣慰的方式解釋了這位男士顯而易見的破碎人生,而他也成為了這個令人不安變化的化身。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯
《欲望》(want)作者:琳?斯蒂格?斯特朗(Lynn Steger Strong)
《欲望》是一部虛構小說,但在我看來像是對千禧一代經濟焦慮及其背后原因的審視。我們的主角伊麗莎白是一位博士,有兩個孩子,遇到了嚴重的財務困境。她一直在嘗試平衡自己的生活和理想,作者對此的刻畫十分生動,令人心碎,而且是很多伊麗莎白時代女性的真實寫照。——柯問思,資深作者
《我們在想什么:特朗普時代思想簡史》(What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era),作者:卡洛斯?洛扎達(Carlos Lozada)
即便面對我最大的敵人,我也不愿將閱讀150本有關特朗普執(zhí)政情況的書作為一種懲罰。但卡洛斯?洛扎達就是這么做的,他是《華盛頓郵報》非虛構小說評論員,因此至少他做這個事情有錢可賺。他對這些書作的匯編即能夠讓讀者獲得愉悅的體驗,也是在緊急呼吁更大范圍的民眾參與。在洛扎達描繪這個顯而易見、令人不安的美國經濟和文化勢力(特朗普利用其來助推自己的政治崛起,其他領導人在特朗普離任很久之后可能會繼續(xù)利用)畫像時,他吸收了來自于左翼、右翼和中間派作者的文章。——馬修?海默,資深編輯 (財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
希望其中的一本或幾本能夠幫助你遠離2020年的喧囂。
盡管今年是多事之秋,但至少我們還有很多好書可讀。
當然,一些出版社已經將少數(shù)書作的發(fā)布日期推遲到了2021年的某個時候。盡管如此,市面上仍不乏優(yōu)秀的作品,而且書商和作者都在不遺余力地通過數(shù)字渠道推廣其作品,可能借此吸引更多以前他們沒有接觸過的讀者和團體。
不管是小說還是非小說,商業(yè)還是非商業(yè),以下是《財富》員工的推薦清單,希望其中的一本或幾本能夠幫助你遠離2020年的喧囂。
《美好而愚蠢的努力》(A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor),作者:漢克?格林(Hank Green)
繼處女作《絕對值得稱道的事情》之后,漢克?格林這部扣人心弦的后續(xù)之作講述了一個不大可能實現(xiàn)的任務:從外星人的破壞中拯救人類。作品采用了大量的社交用語以及加密貨幣、腦機接口之類最前沿的科技,從復述一位外星間諜密友觀點的交替論點拉開帷幕。閱讀該書,會給人一種在虛擬仿真世界中如沐春風的感覺。除此之外,有多少書能夠含有一段一段由人工智能猴子講述的故事,而且這只猴子還受到了外太空超強意識的控制。——羅伯特?哈克特,資深作者
《沒有工作的世界》(A World Without Work),作者:丹尼爾?蘇斯金德(Daniel Susskind)
長久以來,機器一直在取代人力勞動,然而人們會發(fā)現(xiàn)新的工作,經濟也會擴張。經濟學家丹尼爾?薩斯坎德認為,借助人工智能,這一次的情形可能不大一樣,它將大幅擴大財富的不均衡性,除非政府出面干預。——阿隆?普雷斯曼,資深作者
《血與油:穆罕默德?本?薩勒曼對全球權力的瘋狂追求》(Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power),作者:布拉德利?霍普(Bradley Hope),賈斯汀?舍克( Justin Scheck)
穆罕默德?本?薩勒曼的故事很多——與軟銀的合作,與杰拉德?庫什那的友誼,賈馬爾?哈蘇吉的死亡,利雅德麗思卡爾頓的人質事件,即便知道不少,小說用充滿戲劇性的眼光審視沙特宮廷《權力游戲》式的古怪舉措時,仍令我一再感到吃驚。其核心讀者將會是原油和地緣政治領域的粉絲(或對于WeWork冒險故事機能紊亂和障礙感到癡迷的人士)。然而,它充滿了娛樂性、驚悚、恐怖和引人入勝之處,足以擔當吸睛書作之重任。——凱瑟琳?鄧,副編輯
《種姓:我們不滿的根源》(Caste: The Origins of Our discontent),作者:伊莎貝爾?威爾克森(Isabel Wilkerson)
《其他太陽的溫暖》一書的作者將讓讀者從根源上了解美國社會和正義系統(tǒng)被用于確保白人成為統(tǒng)治階級的設計,也就是他們自踏上美國海岸開始便已固化的永存優(yōu)勢。該書對于主導多元化和包容性動議的高管來說尤為有用,能夠幫助他們理解是什么人和障礙讓少數(shù)族裔,尤其是黑人難以獲得晉升。——王波非,資深作者
這本書非常適合那些在喬治?弗洛伊德被害之后幡然醒悟,并意識到自己對根植于美國社會中的根本性不公知之甚少的人士。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《絕望的死亡與資本主義的未來》(Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism),作者:安妮?凱斯(Anne Case)、安格斯?迪頓(Angus Deaton)
依然侵蝕著美國政治的憤怒和不信任源于美國生活基礎的崩塌,包括工作、醫(yī)療和安全。安妮?凱斯和安古斯?狄盾為我們提供了大量令人震驚的數(shù)據(jù),展示了收入不公之外預期壽命的下降、家庭的分崩離析以及快速和慢性自殺的激增。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《吃顆桃子:張錫鎬的回憶錄》(Eat a Peach: A Memoir),作者:張錫鎬(David Chang )、加布?烏拉(Gabe Ulla)
在多面手張錫鎬于2004年在曼哈頓開設其Momofuku餐廳后,他永遠地改變了美國的餐飲格局。張的回憶錄將帶你領略其歷程,從小面館一直到餐飲帝國和明星大廚,本書不僅記錄了美國餐飲演變過程中的形成期,同時也向人們展示了在競爭異常激烈的餐飲界如何脫穎而出。《吃顆桃子》于疫情中期出版,從新的視角審視了這個受到新冠疫情嚴重沖擊的行業(yè)。然而,張在處理其韓裔美籍身份、情緒問題以及精神健康問題時還提出了一些質樸的觀點。這種近距離的審視將得到美食愛好者以及非美食愛好者的共鳴。——柯問思,資深作者
《健康建筑:室內空間如何提高績效和生產力》(Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity),作者:約瑟夫? G?艾倫(Joseph G. Allen),約翰?D?麥康伯(John D. Macomber)
這本書的出版可謂是恰逢其時,它揭露了當代大樓普遍存在的通風不足以及污染問題,就在該書出版之際,室內共享空間已變得尤為致命。盡管如今新冠疫情通道的盡頭已經出現(xiàn)了亮光,但這些改善室內空氣質量的洞見和指導原則在疫情后的改革中仍將發(fā)揮巨大的作用。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《加密貨幣之王:一家初創(chuàng)公司試圖將加密貨幣從硅谷帶到華爾街》(Kings of Crypto),作者:杰夫?羅伯茨(Jeff Roberts)
《加密貨幣之王》(作者為《財富》資深作家駱杰峰)講述了一群下層社會叛逆者先于他人看到了金融的未來,而且將其革命掌握在了自己的手中。閱讀這本書類似于用聽診器來聆聽這個放置著加密貨幣行業(yè)起源故事的金庫。咚咚咚——秘密如泉涌。——羅伯特?哈克特,資深作者
《開卷》(Open Book),作者:杰西卡?辛普森(Jessica Simpson)
明星的回憶錄并不總是以坦誠而出名。然而,杰西卡?辛普森今年用其新作在這個領域增添了一抹亮色。該書有個十分貼切的名字《開卷》。這本充滿洞見、令人心碎的回憶錄講述了辛普森20年的歷程,可謂是包羅萬象,從其作為流行明星的歲月一直到其職業(yè)的重大轉折——開設一家估值10億美元的時裝品牌。——艾瑪?辛克里夫,副主編
《莎士比亞在分裂的美國:他的戲劇講述了我們過去和未來》(Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future),作者:詹姆斯?夏皮羅(James Shapiro)
文學教授詹姆斯?夏皮羅公布了一段鮮為人知但異常詳實的材料,講述的是從19世紀初到現(xiàn)在美國人對莎士比亞的看法,在書中,他將莎士比亞當成了一種墨跡測試:所有人,從亞伯拉罕?林肯到約翰?威爾克斯?布斯,他們都在莎士比亞身上看到了自己想看到的內容。在這一過程中,他們無意間揭示了其內心的自我和分裂現(xiàn)象——種族主義、排外和階級沖突,這些對于當前的人們來說并不陌生。書中的故事真是棒極了。——方繪香,資深作者
《聚會:如何打造高效社交網(wǎng)絡》(The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters ),作者:普里亞?帕克(Priya Parker)
到了2020年的這個時候,在家庭之外與任何人聚會(對于我們某些人,或任何人)似乎已經成為了一種怪異的理念。然而,作者普里亞?帕克提醒我們,為什么真實生活中的會面對于我們的工作和個人生活來說如此重要。帕克還是一名戰(zhàn)略顧問,他此前工作的內容是中東、南非和印度的和平進程。(毫無疑問,在輝瑞疫苗療效的消息公布之后,Zoom連同這類居家工作公司的股價立即應聲大跌。)在《聚會》(Riverhead Books出版社)一書中,帕克明確地介紹了那些有助于(以及不利于)會面成效的要素,并給出了能夠改變疫情后各種會面方式的指導準則,從董事會一直到燒烤。——雷切爾?金(編者注:該名稱于2018年最先發(fā)布,但于2020年4月首次發(fā)布平裝版。)
《雪紡戰(zhàn)壕》(The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir),作者:安德?列昂?塔利(André Leon Talley)
如果你在期盼《時尚女魔頭》的續(xù)集,并自動將其作為《時尚》主編安娜?溫圖爾的真實寫照,你可能會對此感到失望。安德魯?萊昂?塔利在這個異常脆弱和辛辣的回憶錄中自然而然地就成為了其自己節(jié)目的明星。該書回憶了他在南吉姆克羅的兒童時代,以及其常青藤高校的教育,同時還回憶了他自己在《女性日常服飾》、《W》雜志以及最知名的《時尚》雜志工作之外在巴黎和紐約時裝走秀打零工的經歷。
塔利一直將自己描述為時尚記者圈中第一位最有權勢的黑人,這一點在其職業(yè)的早期生涯是無可爭辯的。他還坦誠地講述了自己對種族和時尚的看法,同時介紹了自己在理解自身性別方面所遇到的問題,以及自身一直以來與進食障礙所進行的斗爭。(讀者們也可以愉悅地收聽這本回憶錄,因為塔利在其有聲讀物的敘述中展現(xiàn)了自己的所有個性,很少有作者能夠成功地做到這一點。)——雷切爾?金,編輯
《水晶旅店》(The Glass Hotel),作者:Emily St.John Mandel(埃米莉?圣約翰?曼德爾)
埃米莉?圣約翰?曼德爾最后一本小說——2014年大熱書作《第十一站》——的粉絲們一直都在翹首期盼這位加拿大作者的下一部書作。然而,盡管《第十一站》疫情后的情節(jié)可能更適合(如果不是特別怪異的話)2020年這一痛苦的年份,但《水晶旅店》卻是讓人們又想起了有關不久前2008年那場經濟衰退的痛苦回憶。《水晶旅店》從一個寧靜的上流階層酒店酒吧(還記得嗎?)說起,該酒吧位于霧靄蒙蒙的不列顛哥倫比亞(這個與曼哈頓的那種酒吧可能相距甚遠)。在該書中,一系列角色的行動不可避免地導致其所熟知之人或陌生人出現(xiàn)了相應的后果(有時候悲慘甚至是致命的后果)。——雷切爾?金,編輯
《中空地帶》(The Hollow Places),作者:T.金費舍
21世紀的恐怖小說受到了“怪異小說”的深刻影響,這類小說可追溯至20世紀早期,包括1907年阿爾格農?布拉克伍德異常扣人心弦的中篇小說《柳林》(The Willows)。在《中空地帶》(出版商Gallery/Saga Press)中,金費舍沒有采用布拉克伍德過度靈活的構架,以及其他怪異小說的試金石,而是運用了一種單刀直入的手法,讓閱讀體驗變得十分順暢的同時讓讀者在數(shù)月間都難以釋手。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯,科技欄目作家
《華盛頓幕后的人:詹姆斯?貝克三世的生平與時代》(The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III),作者:彼得?帕克(Peter Baker ),蘇珊?格拉斯勒(Susan Glasser)
美國政治文化已經崩壞,但它此前并非如此。詹姆斯?艾迪森?貝克便是一位大師級人物,能夠在華盛頓完成要做的事情。我們需要他的回歸。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《鏡與光》(The Mirror & the Light ),作者:希拉里?門特爾(Hilary Mantel)
這是希拉里?門特爾《狼廳》小說三部曲的第三部也是最后一部小說,介紹了托馬斯?克倫威爾的生平。他崛起于草根,后成為了亨利八世的首席顧問,同時也是英格蘭最有權力的男性之一。這本漸進式的小說(約800頁)值得一讀的原因不僅在于門特爾優(yōu)美的詞句,還包括克倫威爾的起落所折射出有關權力腐敗影響的深刻教訓,以及榮耀與罵名之間的一線之隔。——杰瑞米?卡恩,資深作者
《輝煌與邪惡》(The Splendid and the Vile),作者:埃里克?拉爾森(Erik Larson)
在事實與虛構之間失去明顯界定的時代,我們很高興能夠讀到一本非虛構小說,而且作者依然懂得用事實說話的意義。同時,這位作者所講述的故事依然充滿了一部一流小說所應具備的戲劇性、角色和興奮點。——穆瑞瀾,總裁
《范妮?戴維斯眼中的世界:母親的底特律生活》(The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers),作者:布里奇特?M?戴維斯(Bridgett M. Davis)
范妮?戴維斯所擁有的能力可以讓其成為一流的高管:她是一名策略高手,一位事無巨細的策劃者,同時還是一位“人緣極好的人”,有著能夠按照形勢寬嚴相濟的情商。然而,對于一個生活在于南部種族歧視地區(qū)(隨后又來到了被隔離的底特律)的成年黑人女性來說,她難以進入企業(yè),因此她成為了“數(shù)字”領域(類似于彩票的非法賭博)的頂級玩家,并因此而聲名大振。在范妮女兒——小說家兼電影制片人布里奇特?戴維斯的回憶錄中,范妮成為一位異常勤勉和足智多謀的女性,盡管生活在逮捕的威脅,以及上個世紀60和70年代社會動蕩的陰影中,她依然能夠為其家人創(chuàng)造舒適安全的環(huán)境,并成為街坊鄰居的經濟支柱。——馬修?海默,資深編輯
《永不滿足:我的家族如何創(chuàng)造了世界上最危險的人》(Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man),作者:瑪麗?L?特朗普(Mary L. Trump)
沒有一本書能夠權威地解讀特朗普時代,但這本書最為接近,不過它很少提及21世紀的政治。有關特朗普家族狂暴的心理和情感虐待的直接描述并不能解釋美國當前的現(xiàn)狀,然而,它確實在某種程度上以一種幾乎令人欣慰的方式解釋了這位男士顯而易見的破碎人生,而他也成為了這個令人不安變化的化身。——大衛(wèi)?莫里斯
《欲望》(want)作者:琳?斯蒂格?斯特朗(Lynn Steger Strong)
《欲望》是一部虛構小說,但在我看來像是對千禧一代經濟焦慮及其背后原因的審視。我們的主角伊麗莎白是一位博士,有兩個孩子,遇到了嚴重的財務困境。她一直在嘗試平衡自己的生活和理想,作者對此的刻畫十分生動,令人心碎,而且是很多伊麗莎白時代女性的真實寫照。——柯問思,資深作者
《我們在想什么:特朗普時代思想簡史》(What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era),作者:卡洛斯?洛扎達(Carlos Lozada)
即便面對我最大的敵人,我也不愿將閱讀150本有關特朗普執(zhí)政情況的書作為一種懲罰。但卡洛斯?洛扎達就是這么做的,他是《華盛頓郵報》非虛構小說評論員,因此至少他做這個事情有錢可賺。他對這些書作的匯編即能夠讓讀者獲得愉悅的體驗,也是在緊急呼吁更大范圍的民眾參與。在洛扎達描繪這個顯而易見、令人不安的美國經濟和文化勢力(特朗普利用其來助推自己的政治崛起,其他領導人在特朗普離任很久之后可能會繼續(xù)利用)畫像時,他吸收了來自于左翼、右翼和中間派作者的文章。——馬修?海默,資深編輯 (財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
Amid everything that happened this year, at least there were plenty of good books to read.
Certainly, some publishing houses pushed off a few releases here and there to 2021. Regardless, there was no shortage of quality content, and book publishers and authors alike made strides in promoting their work via digital channels, perhaps attracting many more readers and communities they have not reached out to in the past.
Fiction and nonfiction, business and nonbusiness, here is a list of recommendations from the Fortune staff, hoping one (or more) of these titles can help you escape the chaos that was 2020.
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Hank Green’s punchy follow-up to his debut novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing centers on a low-odds attempt at saving humanity from extraterrestrial sabotage. Infused with social media–savvy prose and all the latest tech fads—from cryptocurrency to brain-computer interfaces—the story unfolds through retelling from the alternating points of view of an alien emissary’s closest friends. The book is as pleasant an escape as a breezy spring day in a virtual reality simulation. Besides, how many books can claim to feature portions of narrative from the perspective of an A.I.-equipped monkey possessed by a superpowerful consciousness from outer space? —Robert Hackett, senior writer
A World Without Work by Daniel Susskind
For centuries, machines have replaced people at work, but people have found new jobs and the economy expanded. Economist Daniel Susskind argues that with artificial intelligence, this time could be different, drastically exacerbating wealth inequalities unless governments step in. —Aaron Pressman, senior writer
Blood and Oil: Mohammed Bin Salman’s Ruthless Quest for Global Power by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck
Even knowing much of the MBS story—the partnership with SoftBank, the friendship with Jared Kushner, the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the hostage taking in the Riyadh Ritz—this high-drama look at the Game of Thrones antics of the Saudi court surprised me again and again. Its core readers will be followers of the worlds of oil and geopolitics (or anyone who was obsessed with the dysfunction and bluster of the WeWork saga). But it’s entertaining, grisly, horrifying, and fascinating enough to work as a broad-appeal page turner. —Katherine Dunn, associate editor
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The author of The Warmth of Other Suns walks the reader through all the ways in which U.S. social and justice systems are designed to keep white people as the dominant caste, perpetuating advantages built in since their arrival on American shores. The book is particularly useful for executives leading diversity and inclusion initiatives in understanding who and what impediments keep minorities, notably Black people, from rising. —Phil Wahba, senior writer
The perfect book for all of those who woke up suddenly after the George Floyd killing, and recognized that they didn’t understand the fundamental inequity built into American society. —Alan Murray, president
Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism by Anne Case and Angus Deaton
The rage and distrust that are (still) eroding American politics are rooted in a broad collapse in the basics of a well-lived life: jobs, health, security. Anne Case and Angus Deaton give us reams of data that hit like a truck, showing that declining life expectancy, family dissolution, and suicide by means fast and slow have skyrocketed alongside income inequality. —David Z. Morris, tech writer
Eat a Peach: A Memoir by David Chang, with Gabe Ulla
The multi-hyphenate David Chang forever changed the U.S. dining scene when he opened his Momofuku restaurant in Manhattan in 2004. Chang's memoir takes you along on his journey from that tiny noodle bar to food empire and celebrity chefdom, capturing both a formative period in the evolution of U.S. dining as well as a window into what it takes to make it in the cutthroat restaurant world. Released in the middle of the pandemic, Eat a Peach provides new perspective on an industry decimated by COVID-19. But Chang also gives you an unvarnished view as he grapples with his Korean-American identity, anger issues, and mental health. It’s an intimate look that will resonate with foodies and non-foodies alike. —Beth Kowitt, senior writer
Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity by Joseph G. Allen and John D. Macomber
Among the most luckily timed book releases ever, this exposé of the widespread under-ventilation and pollution inside modern buildings arrived just as shared indoor space became truly deadly. Though there’s now light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, these insights and guidelines for improving indoor air quality should play a huge role in post-pandemic reforms. —David Z. Morris, tech writer
Kings of Crypto: One Startup’s Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street by Jeff John Roberts
Kings of Crypto (by Fortune senior writer Jeff John Roberts) tells the story of a ragtag band of rebels who saw the future of finance before anyone else and who wrenched the revolution into their orbit. Reading this book is like sticking a stethoscoped ear to the vault containing the cryptocurrency industry’s origins. Click, click, click—and a wealth of secrets spills out. —Robert Hackett, senior writer
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Celebrity memoirs aren’t always known for their candor. But Jessica Simpson this year delivered a remarkable entry into the canon with her aptly named Open Book. The insightful, vulnerable memoir relies on two decades of Simpson’s journal entries, covering everything from her years as a pop star to her career pivot to head a $1 billion clothing brand. —Emma Hinchliffe, associate editor
Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future by James Shapiro
Literature professor James Shapiro unearths little-known but remarkably rich material on Shakespeare's reception in the United States—from the early 1800s to the present—to illustrate the ways in which Shakespeare has served as a sort of Rorschach test: Everyone, from Abraham Lincoln to John Wilkes Booth, sees what they want in the Bard. In the process they inadvertently reveal their inner selves and cleavages—racism, xenophobia, and class conflict—which remain all too familiar today. The stories are remarkable. —Erika Fry, senior writer
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
At this point in 2020, gathering with anyone outside your household (or for some of us, anyone at all) seems like a foreign concept. But author Priya Parker—also a strategic adviser who has worked on peace processes in the Middle East, southern Africa, and India—reminds us why meetings in real life are so important to both our work and personal lives. (It's no wonder that Zoom, among other work-from-home stocks, took an immediate dive upon news of the Pfizer vaccine efficacy.) In The Art of Gathering (Riverhead Books), Parker clearly lays out what makes meetings work (and what doesn't), offering guidance that will change every way you meet after the pandemic, from the boardroom to barbecues. —Rachel King, editor (Editor's note: This title was first released in 2018, but released in paperback in April 2020.)
The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by André Leon Talley
If you're coming for a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada that simultaneously functions as a tell-all about Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, you might actually be disappointed. André Leon Talley is rightfully the star of his own show in this incredibly vulnerable and acerbic memoir, recounting his childhood in the Jim Crow South to his Ivy League education to bouncing between the sidelines of catwalks in Paris and New York City while working at Women’s Wear Daily, W magazine, and, most famously, Vogue.
Talley repeatedly describes himself as the first most powerful Black man in fashion journalism, and it's hard to dispute that early in his career. Talley is also brutally honest not just about race and the fashion industry, but also his struggles with comprehending his sexuality and a lifelong battle with eating disorders. (This memoir is also one that would make for an enjoyable listen as Talley brings all of his personality to the audiobook narration in a way that few authors can manage to do successfully.) —Rachel King, editor
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Fans of Emily St. John Mandel's last novel, 2014's smash hit Station Eleven, have long been waiting for the Canadian author's next work. But while Station Eleven's post-pandemic plot might have seemed more fitting (if not downright eerie) for the miserable year that has been 2020, The Glass Hotel brings back dark memories of the the most recent recession of 2008 instead. Launching from the hotel bar (remember those?) of a quiet but upper-crust hotel in the calm mist of British Columbia—possibly as far removed (at least in mood and pace) from Manhattan as one can get—The Glass Hotel follows a cast of characters whose actions inevitably result in (sometimes dire, even lethal) consequences for people they know and people they don't. —Rachel King, editor
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
Horror in the 21st century is profoundly influenced by a tradition of "weird fiction" dating back to the early 20th century, including Algernon Blackwood’s incredibly unnerving 1907 novella The Willows. In The Hollow Places (Gallery/Saga Press), T. Kingfisher filters Blackwood’s excessively agile trees and other weird fiction touchstones through a style that’s unusually straightforward for the genre, making for a read that’ll go down easy...then haunt you for months. —David Z. Morris, tech writer
The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
American political culture is broken, but it hasn’t always been that way. James Addison Baker was the consummate master at actually getting things done in Washington. We need him back. —Alan Murray, president
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel
This is the third and final book in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall fiction trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell, who rose from obscurity to become a chief adviser to King Henry VIII and one of the most powerful men in England. This doorstop of a novel (it’s approximately 800 pages long) is worth reading for Mantel’s beautifully crafted prose, but also for the insightful lessons her telling of Cromwell’s rise and fall offers about power’s corrupting influence, and the thin line between glory and infamy. —Jeremy Kahn, senior writer
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen
At a time when fact and fiction have lost all clear distinction, it’s a pleasure to read a nonfiction book by an author who still knows what it means to stick to the facts, yet can tell a story with all the drama and character and excitement of a first-rate novel. —Alan Murray, president
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis
Fannie Davis possessed the kinds of skills that could have made her a top-notch executive: She was a savvy strategist, a meticulous planner, and a “people person” with the emotional intelligence to be stern or generous as the situation demanded. But as a black woman coming of age in the Jim Crow South and, later, in segregated Detroit, corporate avenues were closed to her—so she made her mark instead as a leading player in “the numbers,” the illegal, lottery-like gambling racket. In this memoir by Fannie’s daughter, novelist and filmmaker Bridgett Davis, Fannie emerges as a figure of incredible diligence and ingenuity—able to earn comfort and security for her family and become a financial pillar of her neighborhood, even while living under the threat of arrest and the shadows of the social upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s. —Matthew Heimer, senior editor
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump
No single book will ever be the definitive account of the Trump era, but this one—which barely mentions 21st-century politics—is as close as any. The firsthand account of rampant psychological and emotional abuse in the Trump clan doesn’t explain what’s happening in America, but it does explain, in a way that’s almost comforting, the manifest brokenness of the man who has become the avatar of that disquieting change. —David Z. Morris, tech writer
Want by Lynn Steger Strong
Want is a work of fiction, but it read to me like an examination of millennial economic anxiety and the myth of having it all. Our protagonist, Elizabeth, has a Ph.D., two kids, and serious financial struggles. Watching her attempts to balance her life and her aspirations was both vivid and heartbreaking—and very real for many women of Elizabeth’s generation. —Beth Kowitt, senior writer
What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era by Carlos Lozada
Reading 150 books about the Trump presidency is a punishment I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But Carlos Lozada did just that—he’s the nonfiction book critic at the Washington Post, so at least he got paid for it—and his synthesis of those books is both an entertaining read and an urgent call to greater civic engagement. Lozada draws on authors from the left, right, and center as he creates a lucid, disturbing portrayal of the economic and cultural forces that Trump tapped into to fuel his political rise—forces that other leaders will probably continue to tap long after Trump has left office. —Matthew Heimer, senior editor