With so many great books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Prairies, Dresses, Art, Other by Danielle Dutton and First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger.
“Woke up at the edge / of Hasbro, / at the guardrail, / with the stinger / still interred.” [3] Children in Tactical Gear (University of Iowa Press, May 2024) by Peter Mishler. Third book, second poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: James McCoy. Publicist: Allison Means.
“Grandma knew right away that something horrible was happening.” Off-White (Two Lines Press, April 2024) by Astrid Roemer, translated from the Dutch by David McKay and Lucy Scott. Thirtieth book, second novel. Agent: Uitgeverij Prometheus. Editor: CJ Evans. Publicist: Karen Gu.
“I have a confession to make: I don’t really like cake.” Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees (Ecco, April 2024) by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Sixth book, second essay collection. Agent: Laura Blake Peterson. Editor: Sarah Murphy. Publicist: Cordelia Calvert.
“Helen Cartwright was old with her life broken in ways she could not have foreseen.” Sipsworth (Godine, May 2024) by Simon Van Booy. Twelfth book, sixth novel. Agent: Susanna Lea. Editor: Joshua Bodwell. Publicist: Caroline Brink.
“This year I turned my back to the world.” With My Back to the World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, April 2024) by Victoria Chang. Tenth book, seventh poetry collection. Agent: Sarah Chalfant. Editor: Mitzi Angel. Publicist: Rose Sheehan.
“From the backseat her son explains what would happen if she got sucked into a black hole.” Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other (Coffee House Press, April 2024) by Danielle Dutton. Fifth book, first hybrid collection. Agent: Cynthia Cannell. Editor: Erika Stevens. Publicist: Laura Graveline.
“She isn’t afraid, but he is.” [4] Real Americans (Knopf, April 2024) by Rachel Khong. Second book, novel. Agent: Marya Spence. Editor: John Freeman. Publicist: Michael Taeckens.
“At the time of my brother’s first psychotic break, I knew nothing about ferns but that I had one and it was dying.” [5] Little Seed (A Strange Object, May 2024) by Wei Tchou. First book, memoir. Agent: Jenny Stephens. Editor: Jill Meyers. Publicist: Walker Rutter-Bowman.
“The westerly wind blows across a patch of desert outside my apartment window facing north: the Deutschlandradio, the ever-spinning ring of Mercedes-Benz, and the metal fences set up for the construction of new housing.” Mirror Nation (Wave Books, April 2024) by Don Mee Choi. Fourth book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Joshua Beckman. Publicist: Catherine Bresner.
“Well amen, well goddamn, Mississippi is all arrivals—Mississippi is all beginnings.” The Dead Don’t Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Sh*t (Bold Type Books, May 2024) by Julian Randall. Fifth book, first essay collection. Agent: Patrice Caldwell. Editor: Clive Priddle. Publicists: Brooke Parsons and Jocelynn Pedro.
“I sent my first love letter when I was six years old.” [6] First Love: Essays on Friendship (Dial Press, May 2024) by Lilly Dancyger. Second book, first essay collection. Agent: Annie Hwang. Editor: Whitney Frick. Publicist: Michelle Jasmine.
“This isn’t an apology but rather a confession: / I loved your body before I was born.” [7] Good Monster (Copper Canyon Press, May 2024) by Diannely Antigua. Second book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editors: Michael Wiegers and Ash Wynter. Publicist: Ryo Yamaguchi.