In his new book, Robert Wright explores Buddhism's take on our suffering, our anxiety and our general dis-ease — where he sees it lining up with scientific fields, says blogger Adam Frank.
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The National Book Award-winning writer's debut story collection includes stories both straightforward and surreal. Our critic calls it "brash, daring and defiantly original."
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Videogame writer Walt Williams describes his Red-Bull-and-Adderal-fueled advancement in a competitive and secretive industry. Critic Jason Sheehan says the book "plays out ... like a videogame."
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Owner Mark Fleischman's memoir drops plenty of celebrity names while detailing the day-to-day logistics (and the drugs) that kept the nightspot running.
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Alice McDermott's new novel immerses readers in the homely details of Irish Catholic Brooklyn in the early decades of the 20th century, but also addresses bigger, universal questions of love and life.
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Eleanor Henderson's novel, set in 1930s Georgia, seeks to portray a time when "slavery was over, but not past," says our reviewer. But a lack of nuance keeps its characters from emerging as individuals.
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Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two books that use experimental forms to tackle weighty topics. "Both of these odd new books offer something special," she says.
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In Jennifer Mathieu's novel, "nice girl" Vivian secretly publishes a zine decrying her high school's culture of sexist harassment. Our reviewer says Moxie works on a "pure, wish-fulfillment level."
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Annalee Newitz's tale of a pharmaceutical pirate and the dangerous agents hunting her is built on tender, intimate characterizations that probe notions of selfhood, gender and ownership.
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Technology allows mapping of wildlife movements with new precision — and a fresh approach to conservation — as evidenced by Where the Animal Go, released Tuesday in the U.S., says Barbara J. King.
(Image credit: Margaret Crofoot, University of California, Davis; Damien Farine, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology /Courtesy of Oliver Uberti)
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair is one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time. His daughter Charlotte followed him into the ring, and now, they've written a joint memoir that's moving and brutally honest.
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In her new essay collection, Minna Zalman Proctor digs deep into her relationship with her late mother. Her descriptions of her mother are beautiful, though the fragmented writing can feel evasive.
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Nathan Englander's latest tells the fraught history of Israel and Palestine with quotidian details that make the story feel not historically accurate, but historically intimate.
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A new book worries that growing up with smartphones and the internet has been harmful to a generation of kids. Critic Annalisa Quinn says intergenerational carping is a long, and unhelpful tradition.
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Lauren Markham's careful, empathetic new book follows twin brothers from El Salvador, who flee gang violence to make a new life for themselves in a country that's increasingly harsh to immigrants.
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Daniel José Older's new novel continues the adventures of magician Sierra Santiago and her tight-knit band of friends and family as they battle not just unfriendly sorcery but everyday discrimination.
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Drew and Jonathan Scott trade chapters, attempting to capture their on-camera rivalry. NPR's Linda Holmes says, "They're dunking on each other, but with Nerf balls. And a plastic hoop. At eye level."
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With The Pictures, British author Guy Bolton kicks off a mystery series set in classic-era Hollywood. He's clearly done his research on 1930s America, but sometimes all that detail obscures the story.
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Nicole Krauss' new novel, Forest Dark, tells two stories concurrently: a man at the end of a financially successful life searching for meaning, and a younger woman writer searching for meaning as her marriage collapses. The only thing that connects them is a building on the other side of the world.
Kij Johnson works fresh magic with an old story in The River Bank, a sequel to The Wind in the Willows that introduces two new characters, Miss Mole and Miss Rabbit, but keeps the original's charm.
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