Ask the Dusk
John Fante does the down-and-out Americana better than most. This is his flop-house masterpiece.
The Boys of Summer
For Roger Kahn, Brooklyn wasn't just a place for a team to play, but also popular culture on toast.
Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million
Martin Amis, meet Josef Stalin: From there on in its invective and left-bashing toward those who were duped.
Anagrams
Lorrie Moore's Benna Carpenter is bewitchingly ageless as she struggles to figure out just who she is.
Parma: Notes From a Year in Serie A
A forgotten little book about Italian soccer a decade ago is remarkable prescient.
By Night in Chile
An Opus Dei priest in Chile confesses his life's flaws, giving Bolaño means to outline the church-Pinochet axis.
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Jean-Dominque Bauby lived in a conscious coma for two years and dictated this reminiscence through blinking.
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi
The pride in this case is often pride violated, which the gruff Lombardi refused to do.
The Wasp Factory
Sixteen-year-old Frank is an island serial killer who likes wasps and reads the future.
The Bug
Annoyed at your computer? Having a software breakdown? Do yourself a favor and pick up Ellen Ullman.
The Devil’s Larder
Jim Crace shows off his culinary side in dozens of cleverly beautiful parables about food, love, and more food.