Book reviews

AP photos The un-American way of life

A controversial new history of Communism suggests that most everything we think we know about it is wrong
By Andrew O'Hehir Jul 3, 2009

  • What should I read next?

    Aleksandar Hemon's fictional alter ego drinks and writes his way through exile in these superb coming-of-age tales.
    By Allen Barra June 4, 2009

  • Excuse me, do you speak Klingon?

    A delightful journey through the realm of invented languages and its cast of dreamers, weirdos and obsessives.
    By Andrew O'Hehir June 3, 2009

  • Must Read: "How to Sell"

    Diamonds are a boy's best friend in this crackling novel of scams, sex and druggy escapades in the jewel trade.
    By Laura Miller May 26, 2009

  • The evolutionary argument for Dr. Seuss

    Why do we often care more about imaginary characters than real people? A new book suggests that fiction is crucial to our survival as a species.
    By Laura Miller May 18, 2009

  • "Sag Harbor"

    Colson Whitehead's autobiographical summer-nostalgia novel mixes nerdy teen boys and barbecues gone awry in this affectionate portrait of an African-American seasonal community.
    By Andrew O'Hehir May 11, 2009

  • The dirt on A-Rod

    A controversial new biography collects just about every rumor and bad story ever told about baseball icon Alex Rodriguez. But who leaked his drug tests, and what do they mean, anyway?
    By Allen Barra May 8, 2009

  • "The Little Stranger"

    This astonishing novel by the author of "Tipping the Velvet" gives the traditional ghost story a creepy twist -- and a dose of class resentment.
    By Laura Miller May 5, 2009

  • Why can't we concentrate?

    Twitter and e-mail aren't making us stupider, but they are making us more distracted. A new book explains why learning to focus is the key to living better.
    By Laura Miller April 29, 2009

  • Those ignorant atheists

    In this witty book, Terry Eagleton argues that Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and their ilk are shockingly ill-informed about the Christian faith.
    By Andrew O'Hehir April 28, 2009

  • Watch your language!

    Are you loaded or shitfaced? Edumacated or frakked? A new book explores the poetic, ever-changing world of slang.
    By Stephanie Zacharek April 16, 2009

  • "The Song Is You"

    Love among the iPods: A divorced TV director is content to be left alone with his old songs -- until he meets a new singer.
    By Laura Miller April 14, 2009

  • The woman who made it good to be bad

    Is Helen Gurley Brown's legacy more than just sex quizzes and cleavage? A new biography of Cosmo's founder proclaims her a pioneer of today's raunchy, unapologetic brand of feminism.
    By Laura Miller April 12, 2009

  • They f*** you up, your mum and dad

    So you thought your parents were weird. Two remarkable memoirs about partner swapping, revolutionary politics and other unorthodox family tales.
    By Andrew O'Hehir March 31, 2009

  • Eat your saints, purge your demons

    Why do people worship religious relics, and why is the number of trainee exorcists rising? Two new books suggest that our desire to believe in magical forces remains irresistible.
    By Laura Miller March 27, 2009

  • The invisible man of "Saturday Night Live"

    Al Franken's former writing partner, Tom Davis, has written a connect-the-tokes history of the drugs, silliness and genius of "SNL's" early years.
    By Stephanie Zacharek March 19, 2009

  • "The Seance"

    The cursed and the dead haunt this elegantly gothic tale, tracing the line between the scientific and the paranormal.
    By Laura Miller March 16, 2009

  • "The Believers"

    The members of a radical leftist family lose their patriarch and are forced to cope with disillusionment and secrets in Zoe Heller's sharply etched new novel.
    By Laura Miller March 12, 2009

  • Meet the accidental guerrillas

    Ex-Petraeus advisor David Kilcullen warns that if Western forces aren't willing to stick around in Iraq and Afghanistan, extremists will continue turning the locals into weapons.
    By Laura Miller March 11, 2009

  • "The Birthday Present"

    This dark literary thriller -- written under Ruth Rendell's pen name -- masterfully folds adultery, kidnapping and lies into a tale of psychological suspense.
    By Laura Miller March 6, 2009

  • Alan Moore's environmental monster

    The genius behind "Watchmen" redefined both the audience and the narrative possibilities of comic books with his newly reissued "Saga of the Swamp Thing."
    By Andrew O'Hehir March 4, 2009
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