In “The Novel of Ferrara,” Giorgio Bassani retrofits his novellas and stories into a sprawling portrait of a community destroyed by historical hatreds.
Women, even dying women, are often judged for putting their own needs first. The main characters in “The Bus on Thursday” and “Craving” know that — and they don’t care.
Andre Dubus III’s novel “Gone So Long” sets a dying ex-con on the difficult road to redemption. Will his long-estranged daughter even agree to see him?
Most readers haven’t noticed or been worried by omitted details or factual mistakes in the book. But is there a greater imperative for novels about the Holocaust to get basic facts correct?
“The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 2: 1956-1963,” edited by Peter Steinberg and Karen Kukil, includes 14 revelatory letters she wrote to her psychiatrist about the crisis in her marriage.
The former poet laureate and author, most recently, of “Monument” came to poetic language via Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “Before I ever committed any poems to memory I had memorized his speech.”
In his new book of essays, “The Souls of Yellow Folk,” Yang writes about the dilemmas, successes and struggles of people like Eddie Huang and Amy Chua.
In Bob Spitz’s “Reagan,” the 40th president emerges as an ambitious man, eager for fame and success, and with the communication skills to make it happen.