Books

Former National Book Awards judge Tom LeClair weighs in on this year's finalists for the NBA's fiction prize. He argues that, far from an esoteric array of choices, the judges have selected an extremely accesible set of works. Click here to read his ru...

Although Hemingway said that all modern American literature comes from Huckleberry Finn, a case might be made for Moby-Dick as the model for everything that followed in fiction. If Nathaniel Philbrick stops just short of such an assertion, he neverthel...

This is no yoga memoir.  Melissa Holbrook Pierson's aerodynamic new book is the story of the author's quest for personal renewal through what may seem like the most unlikely of pursuits: the joys of long-distance motorcycling.  Inspired by le...

Set in the working-class outskirts of Oslo, circa 1961, Norwegian writer Roy Jacobsen's subtle, captivating coming-of-age novel tells the story of a young boy, Finn, whose life changes dramatically when a previously unknown half-sister comes to live wi...

The singer on the tracks that have built a legendary career.

In a culture increasingly populated by foodies and preoccupied with fresh ingredients, there are those who have been left behind -- cowering in confusion before rarely used knife sets and finding relief amongst frozen processed foods. With this sensiti...

Grammy-winning folk singer Judy Collins gives readers the chance to look at her life from both sides now, providing a candid account of the ups and downs she navigated on the road to musical success. She chronicles vital friendships and longstanding re...

The film critic and author recommends three of his favorite works of fiction.

An overdose delivers the 13-year-old narrator of Chuck Palahniuk's new novel straight to perdition, where she finds a veritable Breakfast Club of cohorts (cheerleader, jock, nerd, punk rocker) to cavort with in the maze of eternity. By turns hilarious ...

The brilliant conceit of composing a fresh new biography of Tintin's creator in his own clean-line, graphic novel medium was merely the first stroke of genius by Jose-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental, and illustrator Stanilas Barthélémy....

Works of enchantment, from the bookshelf of the artist and author.

William Kotzwinkle (The Bear Went Over the Mountain) and Bella Pollen (The Summer of the Bear) have already demonstrated the appeal of ursine protagonists. But their treatment of our bruinish cousins is nowhere near as encyclopedic as that of Michel Pa...