Today in Bookish and Literary History, January 16

 1605 Book One of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes - SP

With its experimental form and literary playfulness, this classic is generally recognized as the first modern novel.

1897 My Pedagogic Creed by John Dewey - US

My Pedagogic Creed, by American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey was an essay originally published in 1897 that outlines his educational philosophy, wherein he emphasized social interaction and group learning over individual education, a theory which became the dominant influence on American education.

1963 Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore by Tennessee Williams - US

The play was based on a short story of Williams called "Man Bring This Up the Road" which he wrote in Italy when he was working on the film Senso.

2021 Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck - GR

Jenny Erpenbeck’s much anticipated new novel Kairos is a complicated love story set amidst swirling, cataclysmic events as the GDR collapses and an old world evaporates

• WINNER OF THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
• LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE

2024 The Search Party by Hannah Richell - UK ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A spellbinding locked-room mystery about a glamping trip gone horribly wrong when a powerful storm leaves the participants stranded and forced to confront long-held secrets and a shocking disappearance.

2024 Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj - US/Palestine

An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore—from young activists in conflict with their traditional parents to the poor who clean for the rich—lives which intersect across divides of class, generation, and religion.

• 2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST
• ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD FINALIST

2014 Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino - US

Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland is a wise, tender novel about a woman who doesn’t feel at home on Earth.

• A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

2024 The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler - CAN

When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.

• Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novella

2024 The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History by Manjula Martin - US

H Is for Hawk meets Joan Didion in the Pyrocene in this arresting combination of memoir, natural history, and literary inquiry that chronicles one woman’s experience of life in Northern California during the worst fire season on record.

• FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD