B8 EZ BD THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, APRIL 10 , 2022
10 SUNDAY | 3 P.M. Danielle Badra, Carol Jennings,
Phil Goldstein and Angelo Nikolopoulos read from
their poetry collections at Politics and Prose, 5015
Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-364-1919.
5 P.M. Nimmi Gowrinathan discusses “Radicalizing
Her: Why Women Choose Violence” and the women
of Ukraine and Afghanistan with Candace Rondeaux
at Politics and Prose.
11 MONDAY | 6 P.M. Lauren Rankin d iscusses
“Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to
Protect Abortion in America,” streamed through
Politics and Prose L ive at politics-prose.com/events.
8 P.M. Melissa Chadburn d iscusses “A Tiny Upward
Shove” with Martha Anne Toll, streamed through
Politics and Prose L ive.
12 TUESDAY | 6 P.M. Stacy Willingham presents and
signs “A Flicker in the Dark” at Bards Alley, 110
Church St. NW, Vienna. 571-459-2653.
6:30 P.M. Emily X.R. Pan discusses “An Arrow to theMoon” with Sabaa Tahir, streamed through Politics
and Prose L ive.
7 P.M. Stacie Murphy discusses “The Unquiet Dead”
with Greer Macallister at One More Page Books,
2200 N. Westmoreland St. #101. Arlington. 703-300-
9746.
8 P.M. Luma Mufleh d iscusses “Learning America:
One Woman’s Fight for Educational Justice for
Refugee Children,” streamed through Politics and
Prose L ive.
13 WEDNESDAY | 5 P.M. Annelise Heinz discusses
“Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of
Modern American Culture,” streamed through Lewes
Library at lewes.lib.de.us.
7 P.M. Jennifer Hillier a nd Alex Segura discuss
“Things We Do in the Dark” and “Secret Identity” with
E.A. Aymar, streamed through One More Page Books
at onemorepagebooks.com.
7 P.M. Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann discuss“Moonwalking” with Deborah D. Taylor, streamed
through Politics and Prose L ive.
7 P.M. Andrea Yaryura Clark discusses “On a Night
of a Thousand Stars” with Soraya Chemaly a t Politics
and Prose at Union Market, 1270 Fifth St. NE. 202-
544-4452.
14 THURSDAY | 5 P.M. Dawn Winter discusses
“Sedating Elaine” with Rufi Thorpe, streamed
through Solid State Books at solidstatebooksdc.com.
7 P.M. Keith O’Brien d iscusses “Paradise Falls” at
Politics and Prose.
7 P.M. Nancy Rubin Stuart d iscusses “Poor Richard’s
Women” with Larry Tise a t Politics and Prose at
Union Market.
For more literary events, go to wapo.st/literarycal.LITERARY CALENDARApril 10 - 14Book World
Washington Post Paperback Bestsellers
COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATIONFICTION1 THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO
(Washington Square Press, $17). By Taylor Jenkins
Reid. A Hollywood icon recounts the story of her
glamorous life to a young reporter, and both discover
the cost of fame.2 IT ENDS WITH US (Atria, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A
woman questions her relationship with a commitment-
phobic partner when her old flame appears.3 KLARA AND THE SUN (Vintage, $16.95). By Kazuo
Ishiguro. Solar-powered robot Klara, an Artificial
Friend, is selected as a companion for a sickly child.4 WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (Putnam, $18). By
Delia Owens. A young outcast finds herself at the
center of a local murder trial.5 CIRCE ( Back Bay, $16.99). By Madeline Miller. This
follow-up to “The Song of Achilles” is about the
goddess who turns Odysseus’s men to swine.6 THE SONG OF ACHILLES (Ecco, $16.99). By Madeline
Miller. The legend of Achilles retold from the point of
view of his friend Patroclus.7 VERITY ( Grand Central, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A
writer hired to complete an incapacitated best-selling
author’s manuscript learns disturbing secrets.8 THE LOST APOTHECARY (Park Row, $17.99). By
Sarah Penner. An 18th-century apothecary covertly
sells poison to oppressed women, while a modern-day
historian investigates a resulting tragedy.9 THE PARIS LIBRARY ( Atria Books, $17.99). By Janet
Skeslien Charles. A librarian from the American Library
in Paris joins the Resistance during World War II.10 PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION ( Berkley, $16). By
Emily Henry. Two college best friends who had a falling
out reunite for one more vacation together.NONFICTION1 MAUS I: A SURVIVOR’S TALE: MY FATHER BLEEDS
HISTORY ( Pantheon, $16.95). By Art Spiegelman. The
Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel recounts the
ordeal of the author’s father during the Holocaust.2 BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM,
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND THE TEACHINGS OF
PLANTS ( Milkweed Editions, $18). By Robin Wall
Kimmerer. Essays by an Indigenous scientist offer
lessons in reciprocal awareness between people and
plants.3 ALL ABOUT LOVE ( Morrow, $15.99). By bell hooks.
The first volume in the feminist’s Love Song to the
Nation trilogy considers compassion as a form of love.4 THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE (Penguin, $19). By
Bessel van der Kolk. A scientific look at how trauma
can reshape a person’s body and brain.5 THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE (Crown, $20). By Erik
Larson. A look at how Winston Churchill led Britain
through World War II that explores his political
gamesmanship and his family dynamics.6 EDUCATED ( Random House, $18.99). By Tara
Westover. A memoir by a woman from a survivalist
family who earned a PhD at Cambridge.7 MAUS II: A SURVIVOR’S TALE: AND HERE MY
TROUBLES BEGAN (Pantheon, $16.95). By Art
Spiegelman. The second part of the award-winning
graphic novel explores the impact of the Holocaust on
survivors.8 BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS (Random House, $18).
By Suleika Jaouad. A cancer diagnosis derails future
plans for a recent college graduate.9 TALKING TO STRANGERS (Back Bay, $18.99). By
Malcolm Gladwell. An examination of why humans are
so bad at recognizing liars and lies.10 ENTANGLED LIFE (Random House, $18). By Merlin
Sheldrake. A biologist explains the importance of fungi
to our bodies and the environment.MASS MARKET1 DUNE (Ace, $10.99). By Frank Herbert. In the classic
science fiction novel, a young boy survives a family
betrayal on an inhospitable planet.2 BRIDGERTON: THE DUKE AND I ( Avon, $9.99). By
Julia Quinn. In Regency London, a young lady and a
Duke agree to a false courtship, which develops into
something more.31984 (Signet, $9.99). By George Orwell. The classic
novel about the perils of a totalitarian police state.4 BRIDGERTON: THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME
(Avon, $8.99). By Julia Quinn. Regency London’s most
eligible bachelor has chosen a wife, yet finds himself
drawn to her sister.5 DUNE MESSIAH (Ace, $9.99). By Frank Herbert. The
second book in the Dune Chronicles picks up the story
of Paul Atreides 12 years after he becomes emperor of
the known universe.6 THE WAY OF KINGS (Tor, $9.99). By Brandon
Sanderson. The first volume in the Stormlight Archive
series.7 GOOD OMENS (Morrow, $9.99). By Neil Gaiman and
Terry Pratchett. A novel imagining the end of the world
and its fallout.8 THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL (Bantam, $7.99). By
Anne Frank. The diary of a 13-year-old Jewish girl as
she hides from the Nazis in an attic during World War
II.9 CHILDREN OF DUNE (Ace, $9.99). By Frank Herbert. A
new generation rises to power in the third book of the
Dune Chronicles.10 ANIMAL FARM (Signet, $9.99). By George Orwell.
Animals stage a workers’ coup on a farm, then devolve
into a totalitarian state, in this classic broadside
against Stalinism.Rankings reflect sales for the week ended April 3. The charts may not be
reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the
trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and
indiebound.org. Copyright 2022 American Booksellers Association. (The
bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.) B estsellers at washingtonpost.com/booksthan a celebrity under a magnifying glass, he
had to represent an entire race. In 1949, after
singer-activist Paul Robeson questioned
whether African American soldiers would
fight against the Soviet Union, Robinson
testified before the House Committee on
Un-American Activities, both affirming Black
patriotism and blasting racial injustice.
Robinson lived in paradox. He was wor-
shiped as a hero and disdained as just another
second-class citizen. He i njected baseball with
audacious exuberance, yet suffered from ex-
cruciating pressure. His Dodgers proved the
success of racial integration, winning six
National League pennants, but lost five World
Series to the New York Yankees. When the
Dodgers finally triumphed over their hated
rivals in 1955, Robinson watched from the
bench, mired in injuries and slumps.
Kennedy fleshes out a proud, sincere and
often stubborn man, especially in the final
section. There is sweetness in Jackie’s devo-
tion to Rachel, and there is tragedy in the saga
of his son Jackie Jr., who overcame drug
addiction and then died in a car accident.
There is steeliness in Robinson’s political
commitment, which included fundraising for
civil rights organizations, campaigns with
politicians of both parties and newspaper
columns that criticized anyone who deserved
it. There is an elegiac quality as Robinson
makes his final rounds, burying some linger-
ing resentments and asserting his place as
baseball’s conscience.
The episodic structure of “True” has costs,
as it bypasses some significant periods and
themes in Robinson’s life. Most obviously,
Kennedy pays minimal attention to the barri-
er-breaking integration of the Dodgers in
194 7. He devotes little space to Brooklyn’s
World Series futility or the franchise’s 1957
move to Los Angeles. Kennedy also might
have explained that as one of the most
important Black Republicans of his era, Rob-
inson championed a progressive, patriotic
political vision that got lost in the tumult of
the 1960 s.
“True” nevertheless explains Robinson in
striking, human terms. Throughout the book,
Kennedy sprinkles in the tale of Ira Glasser, a
Jewish boy who grew up in East Flatbush and
idolized Robinson. His fandom imparted
subtle lessons about justice and equality.
Glasser grew up to lead the American Civil
Liberties Union. “We incorporated more than
his style of play,” he wrote to Rachel Robinson
upon her husband’s passing. “To us, baseball
was a metaphor of life.”culture, his complex humanity and his endur-
ing legacy.
Unlike a traditional biography, “True” fo-
cuses on four distinct years in Robinson’s life.
Kennedy starts in 1946, Robinson’s single
season in the minor leagues with the Montreal
Royals. He then jumps to 1949, when the
Dodger star glowed brightest, capturing the
National League’s most valuable player
award. In 1 956, Robinson retired after
a rocky season that included feuds
with management and long stints on
the bench, as well as glorious glimps-
es of his unique greatness. The book
ends in 1972, with Robinson as a lion
in winter, slowly fading, still fighting.
Kennedy’s approach allows him to
linger over scenes, painting lush por-
traits of telling moments from Robin-
son’s career. He depicts how Jackie
and his wife, Rachel, drew sustenance
from their stint in Montreal, where
local fans gave friendship and com-
fort. He portrays how Black fans
cheered their hero with a deep, al-
most spiritual pride. He renders the
everyday indignities and terrifying
death threats during spring training
in the Jim Crow South.
Some vivid passages describe Rob-
inson on the base paths, showcasing
his astonishing physicality and at-
tacking philosophy. “None of Robinson’s
contemporaries displayed his ability to start
and stop and start and stop and start again,
to jink his way past fielders and potential
tags, to rattle and embarrass and elude,”
writes Kennedy. “He would hover at times
and t hen explode. For Robinson, each time on
base promised an essay into new possibili-
ties.”
At his best, Robinson dominated every
facet of the game. During his 1949 MVP
season, he led Brooklyn to the pennant while
hitting .342 with 16 home runs, 38 doubles, 12
triples and 124 RBI. He stole 37 bases, scored
122 runs, turned 119 double plays and laid
down 17 sacrifice bunts.
At this same time, Robinson was invested
with enormous political significance. MoreB
y October 197 2, Jackie Robinson no
longer moved in powerful bursts. His
eyes were failing. His hair had gone
white. For a quarter-century, Robinson had
sought to represent the best of America, and
when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch
before Game 2 of the World Series, he looked
worn by the burden.
Yet during the pregame ceremony honoring
baseball’s Black pioneer, Robinson
crackled with his old energy. After all
the tributes, he took the microphone.
“I’m extremely proud and pleased to
be here this afternoon,” he conclud-
ed. “But I must admit that I’m going
to be tremendously more pleased
and more proud when I look at that
third base coaching line one day and
see a Black face managing in base-
ball. Thank you very much.”
He was a crusader until the end.
Nine days later, Robinson died of a
heart attack. In his final public ap-
pearance, he had again spotlighted
the biases that plagued the nation,
including in sports, and demanded
better.
It has been 50 years since Robin-
son’s death and 75 years since his
electric debut with the Brooklyn
Dodgers, when he became the first
African American player in the mod-
ern history of Major League Baseball. It is
comfortable, perhaps, to freeze our apprecia-
tion for him in 1947, when he endured racist
abuse with stoic dignity. But the true Jackie
Robinson should make us a little uncomfort-
able. He was a ball of pulsating tension, a man
of fierce independence, a voice for genuine
freedom. As Martin Luther King once wrote,
“He incessantly raises questions to sear Amer-
ica’s conscience.”
Kostya Kennedy’s “True: The Four Seasons
of Jackie Robinson” is the latest addition to
the literature on this American icon. A former
writer at Sports Illustrated and an author of
books on Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose, Ken-
nedy brings literary grace to his subject,
illuminating Robinson’s sizzling style on the
ballfield, his colossal significance in AmericanJackie Robinson’s
huge talent and fierce
dedication to civil rights
TRUE
The Four
Seasons
of Jackie
Robinson
By Kostya
Kennedy
St. Martin’s
Press.
278 pp. $29.99BIOGRAPHY REVIEW BY ARAM GOUDSOUZIANAram Goudsouzian is the Bizot family professor of
history at the University of Memphis. His books
include “King of the Court: Bill Russell and the
Basketball Revolution.”MARTY LEDERHANDLER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel, look at photos of the ballplayer in action in New York in 1949. Robinson was named most valuable
player in the National League that year. Just two years earlier, he had become the first Black player in Major League Baseball.