The most underrated and little-known American sportswriter is also the best.

Yugoslav Danilo Kiš understood the Communist era at a molecular level.

After years of short stories and memoirs, James Salter states his life in fiction.

Jean Giono's little-remembered parable about land, trees and life deserves revival.

An unusual correspondence between an author and an obese GI opens a trap door.

Jamie Quatro gets the heart of faith in ways that are stunningly indirect.

Michel Houellebecq's pugacious breakthrough novel still asks troubling questions.

For Ernesto Sabato, too much love has only one sure fate — destruction.

Ismail Kadare transforms a wartime anecdote into a watermark for conspiracies.

Enrique Vila-Matas settles on the Paris of his youth for a wry rumination on writing.

Robert Walser's stories about Berlin show a man in modernity's thrall.