All Days Are Night
Swiss novelists Peter Stamm, most at ease with uneasy peace, creates characters to suit that mood.
Franny and Zooey
Half-a-century later, Salinger's Glass family still emanates smart and shining light.
There Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya's brilliant stories eviscerate families seeking Communist-era roofs.
Twilight of the Eastern Gods
Ismail Kadare's recollection of his year among Soviet literary wannabes is great fun.
The Laughing Monsters
Denis Johnson's novel of spies in Africa falls well short of its Graham Greene-Le Carré mark.
The Book of My Lives
Aleksandar Hemon's poignant memoir falters when family tragedy becomes its focus.
Let Me Be Frank With You
Richard Ford revives Frank Bascombe in time to provide luminous late-middle age insights.
The Betrayers
David Bezmozgis takes a page from Graham Greene and Brian Moore in this moral thriller.
The Voice Imitator: 104 stories
Thomas Bernhard's one-page stories are strange and bitter realms unto themselves.
Snowdrops
A.D. Miller's debut thriller is a gripping snapshot of Moscow under "weasel" Putin.
Zeno’s Conscience
Italo Svevo's remarkable Zeno Cosini has the pedigree of a 21st-century neurotic.
The Underground Man
Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer endures as a detective ahead of his time.