http://dir.salon.com/topics/book_reviews/?source=rss&aim=book_reviews en-us Copyright 2007 Salon.com. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT Read book reviews by Salon's critics By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/24/matthew_kneale/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/24/matthew_kneale/index.html?source=rss The 9-year-old narrator of the heartbreaking "When We Were Romans" flees family chaos through literature. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/22/james_wood/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/22/james_wood/index.html?source=rss The fiercely talented critic takes us on an illuminating tour of fiction -- but there's a hole in his plot. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/15/jane_mayer/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/15/jane_mayer/index.html?source=rss In "The Dark Side," Jane Mayer chronicles the terrible, destructive decisions the Bush administration made in the name of fighting terrorism. By Douglas Wolk Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/14/last_man/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/14/last_man/index.html?source=rss The cartoon epic "Y: The Last Man," the most entertaining satire about gender in recent memory, comes to its triumphant conclusion. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/10/young_islam/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/10/young_islam/index.html?source=rss How sex, booze and heavy metal fit into the world of hip young Arabs today. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/08/sex_in_crisis/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/08/sex_in_crisis/index.html?source=rss The religious right is celebrating sex to stroke its conservative message. Liberals better rise to a secular defense soon. By Kevin Berger Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/03/glenn_gould/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/03/glenn_gould/index.html?source=rss Glenn Gould's obsessive pursuit of the perfect piano led to the enduring heart of his extraordinary music. By Robert Burton Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/01/michael_gazzaniga/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/01/michael_gazzaniga/index.html?source=rss Are humans unique in the animal kingdom? Neuroscience pioneer Michael Gazzaniga thinks so. He is not convincing. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/27/wroblewski/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/27/wroblewski/index.html?source=rss With its taproot in "Hamlet," this novel spins an engrossing tale of power struggles within a family of Wisconsin dog breeders. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/23/gore_vidal/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/23/gore_vidal/index.html?source=rss "The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal" reminds us that this combative political provocateur is also one of our finest literary critics. By Allen Barra Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/20/sebastian_barry/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/20/sebastian_barry/index.html?source=rss Sebastian Barry may be the most exhilarating prose stylist in Irish fiction. His new book weaves together strands from Ireland's past -- and his own. By Douglas Wolk Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/19/cartooning/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/19/cartooning/index.html?source=rss Like graphic novels, manga or superhero tales? New books by Lynda Barry, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden may inspire you to turn your stories and doodles into real cartoons. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/13/rushdie/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/13/rushdie/index.html?source=rss In Salman Rushdie's satisfying fairy tale "The Enchantress of Florence," magic and history entwine -- and so do a middle-aged emperor and a sexy princess. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/12/eskridge/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/12/eskridge/index.html?source=rss For years America has desperately tried to outlaw sodomy and other sex acts like fellatio and cunnilingus. What are we so scared of? By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/05/shenkman/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/05/shenkman/index.html?source=rss Sure, ignorance is rampant among the American electorate, as Rick Shenkman argues. But without The People, there would be no Democracy as we know it. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/03/buying_in/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/03/buying_in/index.html?source=rss Do the brands we buy and the things we own define who we are? Like it or not, two new books say they do. By Rebecca Traister Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/28/janelle_brown/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/28/janelle_brown/index.html?source=rss With its teen sex, meth habits and quarter-life crises, Janelle Brown's addictive Silicon Valley novel shows that in every boom, there's a bust. By Andrew Leonard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/19/loving_china/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/19/loving_china/index.html?source=rss Eccentric scholar Joseph Needham devoted his life to documenting the brilliant innovations of Chinese civilization -- and the mystery of why the West eclipsed it. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/13/ronald_reagan/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/13/ronald_reagan/index.html?source=rss In "The Age of Reagan," liberal historian Sean Wilentz reckons with the enormous, ongoing influence of the teflon president. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/09/horwitz/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/09/horwitz/index.html?source=rss Forget the Pilgrims. America's roots are older and more twisted, what Tony Horwitz calls a "primordial slime of false starts and mutations." By Douglas Wolk Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/07/sfar/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/07/sfar/index.html?source=rss A graphic novel celebrates a lost Algerian-Jewish way of life and wonders what it means to live as a person of faith in a world that doesn't share it. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/06/hospital/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/06/hospital/index.html?source=rss This fascinating portrait of a Brooklyn, N.Y., hospital is about much more than white coats and beeping consoles -- it's 21st-century America in a microcosm. By Laura Miller Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/01/LeGuin/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/01/LeGuin/index.html?source=rss The unlikely heroine of "Lavinia" leaps out of the Aeneid and brings an ancient culture -- deeply bound by "duty, order and justice" -- to life. By Louis Bayard Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/28/old_glory/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/28/old_glory/index.html?source=rss An infamous 1976 photo captured a violent encounter between white Bostonians and a black lawyer during an anti-busing rally. A new book explains why this image continues to haunt and define us. By Stephanie Zacharek Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/26/rotolo/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/26/rotolo/index.html?source=rss Suze Rotolo, the musician's first muse, has written an entertaining memoir about their love affair that is also a remarkable portrait of living and making art in the 1960s.