Getting Even Getting Even
Roald Dahl's Collected Stories are best enjoyed by adult readers who take their humor black.
Nov 22, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Amidon
Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day is actually four stories, each replete with brilliant patter, fancy footwork, wishful thinking and a plaintive ukulele.
Nov 22, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Leonard
Half a Life Half a Life
In The Lay of the Land, the final work in Richard Ford's acclaimed trilogy, Frank Bascombe picks up where he left off in Independence Day--taking road trips, describing houses and ...
Nov 16, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Hedin
Representative Fictions Representative Fictions
An ambitious two-volume history of the novel explores its evolution across continents and centuries.
Nov 16, 2006 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Science Fiction Science Fiction
Richard Powers's The Echo Maker speaks volumes about neuroscience, nature and environmental degradation. But it says little about what it means to be alive.
Sep 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
The Lives They Led The Lives They Led
Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children is a superb comedy of manners, a richly tragicomic view of three thirtysomething Ivy Leaguers in the days leading up to 9/11.
Sep 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Kate Levin
Londonistan Calling Londonistan Calling
Gautam Malkani's new novel explores the cross-section of youth culture, heritage and identity in London's polyglot, postcolonial neighborhoods.
Sep 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Gary Younge
Writers From the Other Asia Writers From the Other Asia
Four new books explore Korea's cold war hangover and the indelible mark left by its North-South division.
Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Feffer
The Global Village The Global Village
What does it mean to be from a place? In Monica Ali's new novel, Alentejo Blue, the collision of locals, expatriates and tourists shatters any simple answers to the question.
Jul 27, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Nell Freudenberger
The Plot Against America The Plot Against America
John Updike's Terrorist rips its plot from the headlines. But the book's Irish-Egyptian protagonist is paper-thin, and its jihad-lit plot remains stubbornly inanimate, devoid of pa...
Jun 26, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Shainin