OFFSITE EVENT: Books & Burlesque

"This story begins with Molly Crabapple's discovery of the art and ephemera left behind by her great-grandfather, Sam Rothbort. Sam was a rough-and-tumble kid who worked at a tannery deep in the Pale of Settlement in 19th century Russia. As a young man he discovered that he was not just a laborer, but an artist--and soon after that, a revolutionary, enlisted in the strikes, street fights, and study groups of a new group of radicals sweeping the Pale: the Jewish Bund. Crabapple saw herself not just in her great-grandfather's career as an artist, but in his revolutionary inclinations. In the story of the Bund, she discovered a movement of artists, philosophers, working people, and street fighters with a thrilling utopian vision for the world. The founders of the Bund understood themselves as Jews--people with a special history of oppression--but also as part of an international movement that rejected all forms of ethnonationalism. They fought for this vision in parlors, cafes, battlefields and prison camps. Their ideas helped spark the Russian Revolution, which soon swept them aside. Their fighters battled pogromists in an age of nationalism and their leaders tangled with Zionists over the destiny of the Jewish people. Their last stand was in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, where they helped lead a doomed uprising, the heroic and tragic climax to their story. In retelling the epic history of the Bund and its extraordinary cast of characters during one of the most politically and culturally volatile periods in European history, Crabapple asks a critical question: did the Bund fail because of an unworkable dream of solidarity? Or did the world, in thrall to zero-sum nationalism, fail the Bund? This dynamic story is driven by that urgent question--and offers a new lens through which to see our contemporary struggles"-- Provided by publisher.

"Lachi is an award-winning musician and leader who awakens the world to this truth: Disability has long shaped our culture and is an identity worth brazenly celebrating. In this book, Lachi welcomes readers into the vibrant world of Disability Culture, centering identity, innovation, and unapologetic pride. I Identify as Blind pulses with energy. Through magnetic storytelling, pop-culture deep dives, and historical insight, Lachi challenges mainstream views on disability with humor, heart, and high fashion. She reveals how the adaptability of visionaries with disabilities throughout the years have always driven progress. The book features dynamic conversations with trailblazing figures like U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte, Microsoft executive Jenny Lay-Flurrie, and so many more. Lachi even takes readers behind the scenes at Coldplay concerts, since after Chris Martin developed tinnitus, he transformed his concerts into some of the most accessible in the world. Each story reframes disability not as a deficit but as a wellspring of collective strength. And inventions created for people with disabilities benefit everyone-from audiobooks to curb cuts to the Internet. (Vint Cerf helped develop the first commercial email service, because he had trouble communicating by phone.) With punchy humor and radical honesty, Lachi dismantles stereotypes and builds a new narrative of Disability identity. I Identify as Blind is an invitation to a cultural movement-welcoming everyone to celebrate Disability as a source of power and pride. Come for the laughs, stay for the mic drops"-- Provided by publisher.

Stretching from the present to the future, from China to America and beyond, M Lin’s piercing debut collection depicts characters finding beauty amidst the disorientation of migration, the contradictions of living between cultures, the perverse realities of race and class, and the delicate dance between survival and resistance. In “Scenes from Childhood,” an elderly woman in a dystopian reality is visited by forgotten memories of her grandfather’s village. In “Magic, or Something Less Assuring,” a fraying couple goes on a divorce honeymoon in Morocco to surprising results. “You Won’t Read This in the News” imagines four migrant workers and petty thieves who forge an unshakable connection across one desperate night. A filmmaker thwarted by censorship untangles her fraught relationship to motherhood and artmaking in “Tough Egg.” And in a newly instated Memory Museum generations into the future, two sensory architects weave a moving tapestry of love and radical hope. Brimming with joy, insight, and emotional power, The Memory Museum unveils M Lin as an irresistible new talent with fearless political and stylistic imagination.

"Revised and updated! Humans of New York meets The French Cat in this carefully cultivated, gorgeous full-color collection featuring New York's iconic felines and the stories behind them, featuring eight new cats/shops and updated stories"-- Provided by publisher.

"Sweetbitter meets Nomadland, we follow Annie as she leaves her NYC life of bartending and dancing to drive cross-country to Alaska to meet her dying mother"-- Provided by publisher.