The Top Five New Books at The Hastings Bookshop...

Reviews by Charlie Crabb of hastingsbookshop.co.uk

Fassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors

by Ian Penman (Paperback, £12.99)

The first original, full-length book by ex-NME journalist and music critic Ian Penman explores the life and work of the late German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The book, recently published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, is written in 450 short fragments and was completed quickly under a self-imposed deadline, in the spirit of Fassbinder himself, who was so prolific he would release multiple films a year. The book isn’t a biography of Fassbinder, nor is it a conventional study of the film maker, instead it is a collection of fragments that evoke Fassbinder's films and the time and place of West Germany in the 1970s; its art and music, the explosive revolutionary politics of the post-war period and the dark pull of drug and alcohol addiction. A must read for fans of cinema and cultural, political history.

The Late Americans

by Brandon Taylor (Hardback, £18.99)

Brandon Taylor burst onto the literary scene in 2020 with his Booker-prize shortlisted debut novel 'Real Life', which was followed a year later with a magnificent collection of short stories, 'Filthy Animals'. In his new novel, 'The Late Americans', Brandon Taylor paints an intimate portrait of contemporary American life in a way that undoubtedly confirms his place as one of this generation's most perceptive and gifted novelists. The novel explores a group of young Americans living out their complicated and confusing interconnected lives in Iowa City. The circle of friends, lovers and enemies in 'The Late Americans' is centred around Ivan, Fatima and Noah, all of whom are at some sort of crossroad in their lives. Their broad social circle is populated by a diverse range of characters who are black and white, queer and straight and who do a varied mix of different jobs, from photographer and poet to landlord and meatpacking worker. Brandon Taylor uses the lives of these young people in the American Midwest to explore interpersonal questions of love, damage, trauma, precarity and loss, as well as larger social and structural questions related to queerness, race and inequality in contemporary America.

Sagittarius & Valentino

by Natalia Ginzburg (Paperback, £8.99 each)

Small Worlds

by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Hardback, £14.99)

From the bestselling author of 'Open Water', this is an exhilarating and poetic novel about joy, faith dancing, fathers and sons and the worlds we build for ourselves. Over the course of three summers, we follow Stephen’s life in music and dance in London and Ghana, as he tries to find a space in which he can feel free to be himself. 'Open Water' is a novel driven by the rhythm of dance music, from the gospel sounds of the church he attends with his family to the garage music he dances to in basements, Stephen can only feel free when he is losing himself in music. It is through his father’s records that he discovers an aspect of his father that he never truly knew, but how can he build a loving relationship with his father and the world beyond the safety of music?

Daunt Books are continuing their posthumous revival of the work of the Italian 20th Century novelist Natalia Ginzburg with the publication of two more short novels, 'Sagittarius' and 'Valentino'. Admirers of Ginzburg's writing include Sally Rooney, Maggie Nelson and Colm Tóibín and her clear, direct style of prose has led readers to draw comparisons with Elena Ferrante and Annie Ernaux. Both 'Sagittarius' and 'Valentino' are deeply concerned with class, ambition and aspiration. In 'Valentino', a spoiled child disappoints his parents by scandalising the family with his choice of bride. In 'Sagittarius' a domineering mother moves from a small Italian town to a city and strikes up a friendship with the mysterious Scilla, who opens up a new world of possibility and potential. Both novels explore the complexities of family life and offer psychological insight into the problem of living with and through other people.

August Blue

by Deborah Levy (Hardback, £18.99)

'August Blue' is the latest novel from celebrated writer Deborah Levy, who is the author of several novels including 'Hot Milk' and 'The Man Who Saw Everything', as well as her formally innovative and highly praised work of auto-fiction, the 'living autobiography' trilogy. Levy's latest novel opens in Greece, where Elsa Anderson, a concert pianist in her thirties who recently walked off stage in Vienna mid performance, is being watched by another young woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Elsa. As Elsa drifts across Europe, escaping her past, she is followed by her elusive doppelgänger. 'August Blue' is a dazzling novel about melancholy, identity and the stories we get lost in. ⚫ pg.55

Dahl Curry Recipe by Colombo 16 pg.58

District Guide –Queens Road pg.62

Young Voice –Charlie Moon: Artist pg.64

How We Met: Katy & Dan pg.66

1 x 5 – 1 Person in

5 Minutes: Su Warren