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
  • 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.
  • Excuse me, do you speak Klingon?

    A delightful journey through the realm of invented languages and its cast of dreamers, weirdos and obsessives.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • "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.
  • 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?
  • "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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Watch your language!

    Are you loaded or shitfaced? Edumacated or frakked? A new book explores the poetic, ever-changing world of slang.
  • "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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • "The Seance"

    The cursed and the dead haunt this elegantly gothic tale, tracing the line between the scientific and the paranormal.
  • "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.
  • 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.
  • "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.
  • 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."
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