The Given Day
“Mystic River” writer Dennis Lehane’s new doorstop of a novel, “The Given Day,” is an expansive and well-researched narrative touching on police strikes, molasses floods, and the rules of baseball in Boston, ca. 1919.
Book Digest
A collection of 274 issues
Lost on Planet China
Where Peter Hessler and Jonathan Spence have gone before him, J. Maarten Troost adopts a “trademark gonzo” journalistic approach in an attempt to explicate China to the outside world.
Obscene in the Extreme
To coincide with Banned Books Week, we recommend a historical account of the dramatic desecration of one such honored book, Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
The Watchdogs
On the disconsolate state of American election coverage, excepting Christopher Hitchens, Paul Collins, Frank Rich, and Gail Collins.
George Grosz: Berlin-New York
A collection of over 500 pieces by George Grosz, Berlin Dadaist and New Objectivist, are assembled in a comprehensive monograph by his estate’s director.
Burning Down the House
An essay of Charles Baxter’s resurfaces appropriately close to election time to remind voters of the passively political use of deniability and the making of mistakes.
The Killing Circle
Andrew Pyper’s fourth novel simultaneously follows the meta-literary life of a young book critic and a rash of murders in Toronto.
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency
Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman levels a host of indictments against the standing vice president, the formidably secretive Chief of Staff, Dick Cheney.
On the Road
Jim Harrison’s new road novel prompts memories of a multitude of travel guides and essays, from de Tocqueville to the present.
Advertising and Art: International Graphics From the Affiche to Pop-Art
A historical look at the unsavory-to-some intersection between commercial and fine art—from Jules Chéret to Andy Warhol to the present.