Damned
As outrageous as ever (if a little repetitious), Palahniuk takes you way down south.
Goon-listening
Jennifer Egan's acclaimed novel honors the changing face of modern language.
Train Dreams
Denis Johnson's novella of the frontier is among the finest work he's ever produced.
Wittgenstein’s Nephew
Young Werther is minor league when it comes to Teutonic crankiness.
Flux
Allan Hollinghurst's "The Stranger's Child" may close out the 'country house' novel.
Nada
Carmen Laforet's retranslated "Nada" brings a long-lost Spain to vital life.
The Seamstress and the Wind
Another fanciful flight of realm-building from Argentine César Aira.
The Tartar Steppe
Dino Buzzati's melancholy masterpiece covers loneliness and false grandeur.
The Passion According to G.H.
Clarice Lispector's forgotten classic is a rumination that defies known gravity.
Between countries
Colm Toíbín's "Brooklyn" focuses on immigration and the anxiety of choice.
The Curfew
The remarkable Jesse Ball is a poetic alien who reads and writes in English.