New Books (Anyuru, Secrest, Hendrickson)

Reviews of Johannes Anyuru’s “They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears,” Meryle Secrest’s “The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti,” and Janet Hendrickson’s “Treasure of the Castilian or Spanish Language”

Shaping the future was a more optimistic endeavor for the Olivettis, an Italian corporate dynasty responsible for one of the twentieth century’s most iconic brands. Their business was typewriters, a product they elevated from office appliance to glamorous accessory with the help of renowned designers like Ettore Sottsass and Marcello Nizzoli. The *tocco Olivetti*, or “Olivetti touch,” became synonymous with speed, lightness, color, clean lines, and bold marketing; the company was Apple avant la lettre. Behind its ethos was the humanism of its namesake family, which also found expression in politics, publishing, labor relations, and urban planning. If history had been kinder, their name might have been equally synonymous with the computer revolution.