Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, its Chaotic Founding, its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class City by Sam Anderson 

In Tom Perotta’s recent novel, Mrs. Fletcher, a character who works in publishing observes that good sub-titles are what sell non-fiction books. Boom Town certainly offers an extensive one; I don’t think a synopsis is going to be required here. Suffice to say that this is popular history written in a rollicking, if not outright giddy and out of control style by the critic at large journalist for The New York Times Magazine. This is history that seems aimed at millennials, not readers of Thucydides. It’s an awful lot of fun though, whether Anderson is writing about the Sooners and the land rush of 1889, or the shenanigans of Flaming Lips front man and long-time OKC resident Wayne Coyne. The chapters are short and jump around from time period to subject matter at an almost dizzying speed – this is history for people who get their news from their phones and read on their public transit commutes to work. A fun read for those who enjoy unusual or seldom told stories with a hefty helping of quirk.

Adult Non-Fiction Hardcover pr2049380