What’s new: A Darwin biography, a novel of the Roman film world and a study of American security fears
"We'll Sleep When We're Old" by Pino Corrias Credit: Atria Books
CHARLES DARWIN: Victorian Mythmaker, by A.N. Wilson. A biographer of Queen Victoria and the author of many other volumes puts the naturalist, and his theory of evolution, under the microscope. Who was Darwin? Was he a groundbreaking visionary? Or a product of his age, whose ideas reflected (and legitimized) Victorian values? (Harper, $32.50)
WE’LL SLEEP WHEN WE’RE OLD, by Pino Corrias translated by Antony Shugaar. Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” gets a 21st century makeover in this salacious novel by an Italian journalist set in the decadent movie world of Rome. Arson, kidnappings and, naturally, shady Mafia dealings swirl around producer Oscar Martello and actress Jacaranda Rizzi as they try to complete a picture. (Atria, $26)
FORTRESS AMERICA: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy, by Elaine Tyler May. With all our home security systems and gated communities, what are we protecting ourselves from? A professor of American studies and history at the University of Minnesota explores the American fear of the unknown from the Cold War through 9/11, even as crime rates have fallen. (Basic Books, $30)
