近期这些商业书籍值得一读
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暑期阅读清单不仅适合学生。这是一年当中在公园或海滩上读新书最好的机会。以下是今年夏天一些最令人兴奋的商业和新闻新书精选。
《广场饭店：美国最著名酒店的隐秘生活》（The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel）
作者：朱莉·萨托（Julie Satow）
上市时间：6月4日
不夜城纽约最著名的广场饭店也有人写书了，仿佛与今年春天刚收获诱人回忆录的好莱坞马蒙特酒店遥相呼应。由《纽约时报》撰稿人、也是获奖记者的朱莉·萨托撰写的《广场饭店的新历史》中介绍了各种生动的故事，整本书妙趣横生。广场饭店建筑为法国文艺复兴时期城堡风格，位于中央公园南部，很多故事都涉及现实生活中的人物，如1929年华尔街崩盘后打算在酒店浴缸中溺水自杀的花花公子哈里·布莱克；连锁酒店老板康拉德·希尔顿；还有沙特王子阿尔瓦利德·本·塔拉勒。当然，还有唐纳德·特朗普，近来似乎所有故事都跟他逃不开关系，不过广场饭店曾经是他旗下最著名的资产之一。20世纪80年代顶峰时期，现任总统特朗普曾经以创纪录的价格买下了该酒店，由第一任妻子伊万娜经营，结果两年后便宣告破产。最近一位名声不佳且从未在酒店住过的印度大亨收购了广场饭店，却只能在德里的牢房里靠微薄的预算经营。由于可能被法院拍卖，2018年6月他将酒店出售给海湾国家卡塔尔。真是有趣。
《围攻：烈火烹油特朗普》（Siege: Trump Under Fire）
作者：迈克尔·沃尔夫（Michael Wolff）
上市时间：6月4日
又来了。这句话可以用来总结特朗普在推特风暴中的感受。关于迈克尔·沃尔夫关于特朗普白宫生涯的下一本书，也可以如此总结。这本是上一本《火与怒》的续集，主要介绍特朗普政府的第二年，一直写到穆勒报告发布。特朗普在推文中称第一本书中说的话是假的，结果是火上浇油，推动了该书销量和首次印刷数量创下纪录。我们只能想象《围攻：烈火烹油特朗普》会爆什么猛料出来，所以最好抱着爆米花读。
《严肃的食客：美食爱好者寻找匹萨和救赎的冒险旅程》（Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption）
作者：艾德·莱文（Ed Levine）
上市时间：6月11日
在大批Instagram用户和Netflix上以拍摄美食为生的人们前往数千英里以外的国家，在最隐蔽的角落发现最好的街头食品之前，我们发现很多勇于探索的博客和网站也在深挖食物背后的故事。“严肃饮食”便是开创性的网站之一。该网站成立于2005年，如今已成长为成熟的数字媒体中心，提供有关食物、家庭或旅行相关的一切内容。严肃饮食是餐饮界向外展示的主要窗口，创始人为艾德·莱文。这位曾经的烹饪界大奖詹姆斯·比尔德奖得主在书中讲述了激励他创立网站的初衷，不管放在当时还是现在来看，大部分原因听起来实在很简单，例如想吃世界上最好的百吉饼，或是将研究汉堡快餐店In-N-Out的秘密菜单，然后写出来。种种想法现在看起来很奇怪，因为从人人都在努力模仿；之所以当时很奇怪，因为没有人这么做过。也许莱文的工作以及对食物写作的影响是基于一些人们还不知道存在的需要，但现在我们肯定要感谢他的贡献和影响。书中的介绍跟严肃饮食网站上诱人的照片一样让人垂涎欲滴，建议聪明人：要么边吃东西边读，要么就吃完再读。
《远远不够：为自己争取空间（不必理会别人怎么说）》（More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)）
作者：伊莲·维特罗斯（Elaine Welteroth）
上市时间：6月11日
伊莲·维特罗斯担任《青少年时尚》杂志编辑时便已经闻名全国，当时她是有史以来最年轻，也是第二位在出版集团康泰纳仕担任该职位的非洲裔美国人，如今在Bravo电视台最重要的节目《天桥骄子》担纲主持人。维特罗斯还是个加州小女孩时就一直很优秀，她在新出回忆录中也回顾了成长经历，回忆录书名《远远不够》就是很准确的概括，也很励志。该书从几个层面深入探讨了性别、年龄和种族的含义，正如她的出版商Viking Books总结道：“作为专业人士：不够老，不够‘时尚’。小时候：不够漂亮，不够聪明。作为混血：不够黑，也不够白。” 维特罗斯亮眼的简历和为《青少年时尚》注入的新闻专业性推动她成为媒体开拓者，不过该书也获得诺贝尔和平奖得主马拉拉·优素福·扎伊、编剧莉娜·韦瑟和明星瑞茜·威瑟斯彭等人认可，突出了她作为女权主义代表的地位。
《流浪汉：亨利·福特和托马斯·爱迪生10年公路旅行的故事》（The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip）
作者：杰夫·吉恩（Jeff Guinn）
上市时间：7月9日
夏天是适宜公路旅行的季节。约翰·斯坦贝克、杰克·凯鲁亚克，甚至还有《权力的游戏》里的二丫和猎狗，大家都在路上。旅程总有种让读者痴迷的感觉。想象一下亨利·福特和托马斯·爱迪生踏上公路旅行。不，真的。正如畅销书作家杰夫·吉恩所说，美国企业界的两大标志人物，还有轮胎大亨哈维·费尔斯通，三人自称“流浪汉”，1914年至1925年在全国各地进行过一年一度的夏季旅行。流浪汉们在福特汽车的大篷车里配备了厨师、管家和随从，不管在地标建筑、露营地、汽车旅馆、餐馆甚至加油站，都有一群记者跟着，可能是20世纪初的狗仔队。不过他们的旅行还有附加作用：不仅宣传福特汽车，也宣传了一种新的民族生活方式，包括暑期度假和旅行。也许所谓社会“影响者”的概念并不算多新。
《解放巴黎：艾森豪威尔、戴高乐和冯·肖尔铁茨如何联手拯救“光之城”》（The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light）
作者：让·爱德华·史密斯（Jean Edward Smith）
上市时间：7月23日
2019年距离1944年6月6日诺曼底登陆已75周年，也是1944年8月巴黎从纳粹占领下解放75周年。历史学家和畅销书作者让·爱德华·史密斯通过三个主要人物的视角，跟踪各方对巴黎的争夺以及如何保护其免于毁灭。主要人物包括自由法国政府领导人戴高乐、美军指挥官德怀特·艾森豪威尔和德军指挥官迪特里希·冯·肖尔铁茨。虽然我们知道最终结果如何，但通往胜利的道路非常混乱，而且至今仍有人质疑当时三人做出的许多决定。根据书中介绍，盟国打算绕过巴黎横扫法国北部，因为从军事角度来看法国首都并无战略价值。但这项决定一旦出现失误，哪怕只是小差错，也可能比预想中付出更高的代价。
《埃尔维斯在拉斯维加斯：猫王如何改造拉斯维加斯表演秀》（Elvis in Vegas: How the King Reinvented the Las Vegas Show）
作者：理查德·卓格林（Richard Zoglin）
上市时间：7月23日
在布兰妮·斯皮尔斯之前，在詹妮弗·洛佩兹之前，也在席琳·迪翁之前。在所有曾经在拉斯维加斯闪耀的明星之前，只有一位真正的王者。正如时代戏剧评论家理查德·佐格林的新传记作品《埃尔维斯在拉斯维加斯》中详细描述，1969年埃尔维斯·普雷斯利在拉斯维加斯“城里最大酒店的最大展厅里”开始表演，演出为期四周，吸引的观众人数超过了拉斯维加斯历史上任何一场。然而，许多批评人士指出，正是此次演出加速了他吸毒堕落，最终于1977年离世。佐格林则故意唱了反调，他认为此次演出重振了猫王的歌唱事业，表演更精彩，评价十分热烈，而且七年中首次登上公告牌排行榜第一。后来猫王继续演出，600多场均满座。不管此次对摇滚之王来说是不是人生的转折点，拉斯维加斯倒是借机改变了自身形象，迎来了大批中美洲的观众，至今其旅游业仍然有赖于此。（财富中文网） 译者：冯丰 审校：夏林 |
Summer reading lists shouldn’t be just for schoolkids. It’s the best time of year to relax at the park or on the beach with a fresh new book. Here is a selection of some of the most exciting releases in business and journalism books this summer.
The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel by Julie Satow
Available: June 4
The most famous hotel in the City That Never Sleeps is perhaps New York’s answer to Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, which received the dishy memoir treatment this spring. New York Times contributor and award-winning journalist Julie Satow’s new history of the Plaza hotel comes packed with a host of juicy stories that don’t run out until the back cover of the book. Some of the going-ons and drama at the French Renaissance château-style building on Central Park South involve real-life characters like Harry Black, a womanizer who attempted to drown himself in his bathtub at the hotel after the 1929 Wall Street crash; hotelier Conrad Hilton; and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Then, of course, there’s Donald Trump, seemingly inescapable from any story these days—although his association with the Plaza used to be one of his most famous assets. The now President bought the hotel for a record price at the peak of the 1980s, putting first wife Ivana in charge, only to bankrupt the hotel two years later. Most recently, a disgraced Indian tycoon, who never slept at the hotel, bought the Plaza—only to run it on a shoestring budget from his prison cell in Delhi. Facing foreclosure, he sold it in June 2018 to the Gulf state of Qatar. Fun times, indeed.
Siege: Trump Under Fire by Michael Wolff
Available: June 4
Here we go again. Those four words could be used to sum up the feeling any time Trump goes on a tweetstorm. It can also be said regarding the next book from Michael Wolff about the Trump White House. This sequel to the explosive Fire and Fury will cover the second year of the Trump administration, leading right up to the delivery of the Mueller Report. Trump’s tweets about what he said was false in the first book only fueled the fire, propelling the title to record sales and first-print publishing numbers. We can only imagine what Siege: Trump Under Fire will reveal, so grab your popcorn now.
Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption by Ed Levine
Available: June 11
Before the deluge of Instagram accounts and Netflix docuseries professing to have found the best street food on the most tucked-away corner in a country thousands of miles from your home, there were a handful of what we now know to be trailblazing blogs and websites reporting about good food with meaningful backstories. Among these pioneering sites was Serious Eats. Launched in 2005 and now a fully fledged digital media hub for all things food, domestic, or travel-inspired, Serious Eats is a major outlet in the culinary world—all started by founder Ed Levine. The James Beard Award winner recounts what inspired him to start the site, much of which sounds almost laughably simple then or now, like wanting to eat the world’s best bagel or sample everything on In-N-Out’s secret menu, and then write about it. The ideas seem quaint now because everyone has tried to copy the approach since, and it was quaint then because no one had done it yet. Perhaps Levine’s work and influence on food writing was something we didn’t know we needed—but we’re surely thankful for his contributions and influence now. With a narrative almost as mouthwatering as the delectable photos on the Serious Eats website, a word to the wise: Read while and/or after eating.
More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth
Available: June 11
Elaine Welteroth gained nationwide recognition when she became editor of Teen Vogue—at the time the youngest ever and only the second African American to hold that position at Condé Nast—and now as a host on Bravo’s cornerstone franchise Project Runway. But Welteroth has been hustling in the best sense of the word since she was a young girl in California, which she recaps in her new memoir, appropriately and inspiringly titled More Than Enough. The book dives deep on several levels as to what that means by gender, age, and ethnicity, as summed up by her publisher Viking Books: “As a professional: not old enough, not ‘fashion’ enough. As a young girl: not pretty enough, not smart enough. As an interracial person: not black enough, not white enough.” Welteroth’s impressive résumé and the level of journalism she infused at Teen Vogue are more than enough to distinguish her as a media trailblazer, but endorsements for her book from the likes of Malala Yousafzai, Lena Waithe, and Reese Witherspoon underscore her status as a feminist icon and champion for her generation.
The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip by Jeff Guinn
Available: July 9
Summer is the season of road trips. Whether they involve John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, or even Arya and the Hound, there’s something about these journeys that readers can’t get enough of. Now imagine a road trip taken by Henry Ford[f500link] and Thomas Edison. No, really. As illuminated by bestselling author Jeff Guinn, the two icons of American enterprise, along with tire tycoon Harvey Firestone, dubbed themselves “The Vagabonds” and joined one another for annual summer trips around the country between 1914 and 1925. Outfitted in a caravan of Ford automobiles with an entourage of chefs, butlers, and other handlers, the Vagabonds were followed by a gaggle of journalists—perhaps the early 20th-century version of the paparazzi—at landmarks, campgrounds, motels, diners, and even gas stations. But their trips had a side effect: They were essentially advertising not only Ford cars but also a new national lifestyle involving summer vacations and life on the road. Maybe the idea of social “influencers” isn’t so new after all.
The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light by Jean Edward Smith
Available: July 23
2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy (a.k.a. D-Day) on June 6, 1944. But that also means it’s the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi-occupied Paris in August 1944. Historian and bestselling author Jean Edward Smith tracks the race for Paris and the campaign to save it from destruction through the prism of three main characters: Free French government leader Charles de Gaulle, American commander Dwight Eisenhower, and German commandant Dietrich von Choltitz. Although we know how the story turned out, the path to victory was a tumultuous one—and plenty of the decisions these men made are still questioned today. As illuminated in the book, the Allies were going to bypass Paris and sweep across Northern France, as the French capital had no strategic value from a military standpoint. And yet the decision to turn south, even slightly, might have come at a higher cost than previously realized.
Elvis in Vegas: How the King Reinvented the Las Vegas Show by Richard Zoglin
Available: July 23
Before Britney. Before J. Lo. Before Celine. Before all of the Las Vegas residencies you know now, there was only one true king. As detailed in TIME theater critic Richard Zoglin’s new biography Elvis in Vegas, Elvis Presley launched his Vegas act in 1969 at what was deemed “the biggest showroom in the biggest hotel in the city,” drawing more people for his four-week engagement than any other show in Sin City’s history. And yet many critics point to this as the beginning of the drug-fueled downward spiral to his 1977 death. Zoglin plays devil’s advocate, suggesting it actually resurrected his career with a comeback as a more exciting performer with better reviews and his first Billboard No. 1 hit in seven years. Presley would go on to perform more than 600 sold-out shows. And regardless of whether or not this was a pivot point for the King of Rock and Roll, Vegas changed its image too, welcoming a mass audience from Middle America that the city’s tourism industry still depends upon to this day. |
