The AIR MAIL Summer Reading List
From Ann Patchett’s tender tale of reconciliation to Jenny Jackson’s juicy seaside romp, here are the 10 books our editors are taking with them on their travels this summer
The Missing Miracle Worker
In 1950, Joe Gaetjens helped the U.S. pull off the greatest upset in World Cup history. Fourteen years later, a Haitian death squad came for him
Diamond in the Rough
A new edition of Dawn Powell’s 1942 novel, A Time to Be Born, seeks to rehabilitate its author, whose society tales skewered the New York milieu and earned the admiration of Hemingway and Vidal
Batsheva Hay’s Guide to New York
The fashion designer shares her go-to spots on the Upper West Side
All You Need Is George Martin
The genteel record producer did not look the part of a revolutionary. But as a commemorative new book makes clear, his wildly innovative work with the Beatles changed pop music forever
What’s on Trump’s Birthday Playlist?
Trump’s favorite songs offer an unsettling glimpse into his mind: Broadway schmaltz, masculine bombast, and an eerie indifference to the world going up in flames
The View from Here
Announcing the return of AIR MAIL’s Tom Wolfe Prizes for Fiction & Reportage!!!!!!!
Barbara Hepworth’s True Colors
An exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, in London, reveals how the British modernist brought color into her abstract sculptures and geometric drawings
Rebecca Ressler
The owner of Hollywood Books has turned her small, finely curated bookstore into a Los Angeles literary hot spot, drawing guests such as Kaia Gerber and Petra Collins
The Tweet Escape
San Francisco gave away $70 million in tax revenue to lure the nascent social-media company to its bleakest neighborhood. Was it worth it?
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss: the five Cambridge grads who spied for Stalin, how birds evolved from dinosaurs, and a W.W.II novel following two Black U.S. soldiers and a Jewish boy
Phila Lorn’s Guide to Philadelphia
The James Beard-awarded chef of Mawn and Sao shares his go-to spots in the city he calls home
“We’d Just Never Seen Anything Like It”
In the summer of 1976, the Sex Pistols played two sparsely attended shows in Manchester. Among the few who did turn up were future members of Buzzcocks, the Fall, the Smiths, and Joy Division
Bigger, Better, Starrier
Twelve years after its brief run on Broadway, Sting brings The Last Ship, his autobiographical passion project, to the Metropolitan Opera House
Joe Anders
The 22-year-old son of Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes is carving out a film career on his own terms, with a Netflix screenplay under his belt and a new role alongside Amy Adams and Javier Bardem
WAGs Just Want to Have Fun
Victoria Beckham, Shakira, Georgina Rodríguez … In time for the World Cup, a look at the wives and girlfriends of soccer players who have long stolen the spotlight from the beautiful game