Novel Regime
Tom Rob Smith’s latest explores Krushchev’s 1956 speech to the party faithful.
Robert Birnbaum
What a Year It Was!
Fred Kaplan makes the case for 1959′s primacy.
Persistently Unusual Subjects
An impressive new “Tin House” compilation.
From the Backs of the Racks
A quarterly round-up of a bunch of those, you know, “little” magazines.
It’ll Last Longer
A retrospective of Lacombe’s portraiture gives pause for big, beautiful books.
Graphic
A collection of new comics that add gravitas to illustrated text.
Brain and Bones
Jim Harrison is an author, a novelist, an anthologist, a screenwriter—but mostly, he’s a poet.
The Duh Vinci Code
The magnitude of a new Dan Brown book overshadows worthy contemporaries.
Taking Woodstock
Forty years and three days ago, hippies invaded Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, N.Y.
The Simple Art
Richard Lange’s latest dives headlong into L.A.’s dark waters.