32 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020....................................................New BloodOn Nov. 25, Chloe Gong
tweeted, “My heart is going so fast I can’t
even type!! THESE VIOLENT DE-
LIGHTS is a New York Times Best
Seller!!! THANK YOU FOR READING
AND PICKING UP
THIS BOOK I NEED
TO LIE DOWN.” It’s
not every day that a
21-year-old debut au-
thor lands near the top
of the young adult
hardcover list, even for
a week; if there was
ever an occasion that
called for abundant
exclamation points, this
was the one.
Gong, a Shanghai
native who grew up in Auckland, New
Zealand, is a senior at the University of
Pennsylvania, where she is double-ma-
joring in English and international rela-
tions. She says she was in her “tiny col-
lege apartment” in Philadelphia, working
on “something that was due very soon,”
when she heard the “surreal but amaz-
ing” news: “My editor called me, and my
agent was already on the line, and I was
trembling. I’m still trembling. The New
York Times best-seller list is.... Whoa.
Big thing.”
“These Violent Delights” — a reimag-
ining of “Romeo and Juliet” set in 1920s
Shanghai — is Gong’s first published
novel, and the ninth one she’s written.
She started tapping out stories on the
Notes app on her iPad when she was 13.
Gong explains: “New Zealand has a
much more chill atmosphere than what I
imagine American high schools are like. I
watch American TV and everyone has
extracurriculars and all that. That’s less
of a norm in New Zealand. I would have
so much free time, and I would be like,
‘Hmm. I might work on my book.’ I would
crank out a manuscript every year.”
Gong wrote the first draft of “These
Violent Delights” during the summer
after her first year of college. Up until
that point, she had been under the im-
pression that she couldn’t get published
because she was from New Zealand. “But
that was completely untrue,” Gong
laughs. “The major American publishers
are open to everyone.” She learned the
ropes by “hesitantly Googling ‘how do
you publish a book.’ ” She says, “I had no
starting place or way to even know how
to begin. But there are so many re-
sources that people just put online for
free and they all popped up, one after the
other. It was the world at my fingertips,
telling me how to do it.”
Normally it would seem inappropriate
to inquire about the feelings of an au-
thor’s family, but in Gong’s case the dis-
cussion feels germane. She says, “My
parents were definitely proud but they
were also confused. They were like, ‘Pub-
lishing books? Is that a thing?’ Now they
know. Now they understand.” 0
Inside the List
ELISABETH EGAN
‘I had no
starting place
or way to
even know
how to begin.’THE DOLPHIN LETTERS, 1970-1979:
Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Low-
ell, and Their Circle,edited by
Saskia Hamilton. (Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 560 pp., $22.)“The Dol-
phin” is the book of poems in which
Lowell lifted, and altered, lines
from Hardwick’s anguished letters
to him after he left her for the
British novelist Carolyn Black-
wood. “Their circle” includes the
likes of Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne
Rich and Mary McCarthy.DRIVING WHILE BLACK:African
American Travel and the Road to
Civil Rights, by Gretchen Sorin.
(Liveright, 352 pp., $18.95.)Ventur-
ing far beyond the territory cov-
ered in the Oscar-winning film
“Green Book,” this deeply re-
searched history emphasizes
African-American car ownership,
and the ways in which the automo-
bile helped fight Jim Crow and
facilitate the civil rights movement.MANY RIVERS TO CROSS,by Peter
Robinson. (Morrow, 336 pp., $16.99.)
When one of the young women
lured to England by a pop-up
escort agency turns out to be a
“super-recognizer,” with extraordi-
nary abilities to place a face, an
“old story is given a new twist,” as
our crime columnist, Marilyn
Stasio, put it in her review of this
Alan Banks detective story.LIFE ISN’T EVERYTHING:Mike
Nichols, as Remembered by 150
of His Closest Friends,edited by
Ash Carter and Sam Kashner. (Pica-
dor, 384 pp., $19.)The title was an
oft-repeated phrase of the inimita-
ble film and stage director (and,
before that, brilliant improv actor),
feted here, our reviewer, John
Simon, wrote, with the “astonishing
diversity” of “love, truth and reali-
ty” befitting such a cultural figure
— who had above all, as Renata
Adler noted, “presence.”THE ELECTRIC HOTEL,by Dominic
Smith. (Picador, 352 pp., $18.)Our
reviewer, Stephanie Zacharek,
called this “vital and highly enter-
taining” silent-film-era novel —
about “the act of creation” and
“what it means to pick up and
move on after you’ve lost every-
thing” — “radiant.”WOMEN ARTISTS:The Linda
Nochlin Reader,edited by Maura
Reilly. (Thames & Hudson, 472 pp.,
$24.95.)Written with “a dazzling
mix of erudition and candor,” Chris
Kraus, our reviewer, noted, “none
of these essays seem dated.”
Nochlin — author of the ground-
breaking 1971 article “Why Have
There Been No Great Women
Artists?” — “took the ’60s precept
that ‘the personal is political’ to
heart, but it’s her commitment to
clarity, investigation and active
thought that makes her work so
contemporary today.”Paperback Row/ BY JENNIFER KRAUSS
PRINT | HARDCOVER BEST SELLERS
WEEKS
ON LIST
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEKTHIS WEEKLAST Fiction WEEK NonfictionWEEKS
ON LIST1
(^) READY PLAYER TWO, by Ernest Cline. (Ballantine) In a 1
sequel to “Ready Player One,” Wade Watts discovers a
technological advancement and goes on a new quest.
2
(^) DEADLY CROSS, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown) The 1
28th book in the Alex Cross series. An investigation of a
double homicide sends Alex Cross to Alabama.
3 5 THE RETURN, by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central) A doctor^9
serving in the Navy in Afghanistan goes back to North
Carolina where two women change his life.
4 3 A TIME FOR MERCY, by John Grisham. (Doubleday) The third^7
book in the Jake Brigance series. A 16-year-old is accused of
killing a deputy in Clanton, Miss., in 1990.
5
(^2) DAYLIGHT, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central) The F.B.I. 2
agent Atlee Pine’s search for her twin sister overlaps with a
military investigator’s hunt for someone involved in a global
conspiracy.
6
(^) THE AWAKENING, by Nora Roberts. (St. Martin’s) The 1
first book in the Dragon Heart Legacy series. Breen Kelly
travels through a portal in Ireland to a land of faeries and
mermaids.
7
(^4) THE LAW OF INNOCENCE, by Michael Connelly. (Little, 3
Brown) The sixth book in the Mickey Haller series. Haller
defends himself when police find the body of a former client
in his car’s trunk.
8
(^1) RHYTHM OF WAR, by Brandon Sanderson. (Tor) The fourth 2
book in the Stormlight Archive series.
9
(^7) THE SENTINEL, by Lee Child and Andrew Child. (Delacorte) 5
Jack Reacher intervenes on an ambush in Tennessee and
uncovers a conspiracy.
10
(^12) THE VANISHING HALF, by Brit Bennett. (Riverhead) 26
The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern Black
community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other
takes on a different racial identity but their fates intertwine.
1
(^1) A PROMISED LAND, by Barack Obama. (Crown) In the first 2
volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama offers
personal reflections on his formative years and pivotal
moments through his first term.
2
(^2) GREENLIGHTS, by Matthew McConaughey. (Crown) The 6
Academy Award-winning actor shares snippets from the
diaries he kept over the last 35 years.
3
(^3) DOLLY PARTON, SONGTELLER, by Dolly Parton with Robert 2
K. Oermann. (Chronicle) The country music icon offers
insights on 175 of her songs.
4
(^6) BECOMING, by Michelle Obama. (Crown) The former first 94
lady describes how she balanced work, family and her
husband’s political ascent.
5
(^4) NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE, by Michael J. Fox. (Flatiron) 2
The actor discusses the challenges he has faced with
Parkinson’s disease and other setbacks that caused him to
reassess his outlook.
6
(^) MODERN WARRIORS, by Pete Hegseth. (Broadside) The Fox 1
News host and former combat veteran interviews soldiers
about the different kinds of battles they encountered. (†)
7
(^7) CASTE, by Isabel Wilkerson. (Random House) The Pulitzer 17
Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems
across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America
today.
8
(^13) IS THIS ANYTHING?, by Jerry Seinfeld. (Simon & Schuster) 8
The comedian shares material he collected in an accordion
folder over the last 45 years.
9
(^12) HUMANS, by Brandon Stanton. (St. Martin’s) Photos and 7
stories of people from over 40 countries collected by the
creator of “Humans of New York.”
10
(^) SAVING FREEDOM, by Joe Scarborough. (Harper) The 1
MSNBC host and former congressman describes the struggles
Harry Truman faced before and during his time as president.
An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders.
SALES PERIOD OF NOVEMBER 22-28