Book Reviews

It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The British journalist talks with Steve Inskeep about his tenure as editor of the Sunday Times in London and his crusade to maintain journalism's commitment to public good. Evans has a new memoir called My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

In his wide-ranging, expertly curated anthology Becoming Americans, Ilan Stavans collects four centuries of immigrants' stories.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Hendrik Hertzberg, author of Obamanos!, assesses the year since President Obama's election. And former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee and NPR political editor Ken Rudin talk about gains Republicans made in the 2009 elections.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us



As Barack Obama's presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe was responsible for constructing an unprecedented grass-roots campaign. In his new book, The Audacity To Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory, Plouffe presents a behind-the-scenes look at a historic campaign.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw” enters at No. 3, while Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner land at No. 2 with “SuperFreakonomics.”

Sarah Palin's upcoming memoir, Going Rogue, will be released Nov. 17. It's already a best-seller and a target for parody. Going Rouge, a book of essays from two editors of The Nation, will be released the same day. Marjorie Kehe, book editor for The Christian Science Monitor, calls it a perfect storm for publishers.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

It's been nine years since Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible, has released a new novel — but is The Lacuna worth the wait? Critic Maureen Corrigan says this personalized perspective on the Red Scare in Mexico reflects the hidden meaning of the book's title: vacancy.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us



Kati Marton read her parents’ secret police files to research this powerful narrative of their imprisonment in Stalinist Hungary.

The Liar's Club, Mary Karr's memoir about her hardscrabble childhood in Texas, was named one of the best books of 1995. In her new book, Lit, Karr details her early adult years and her struggles with alcohol, depression and motherhood.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

In the 1980s, the "golden era" of the NBA, basketball superstars Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson had an intense rivalry that elevated the entire league. But after years of hating each other, they developed a close friendship, chronicled in a new book, When The Game Was Ours.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

A new weekly feature spotlights staff picks of standout books. This week, new novels from Barbara Kingsolver, Philip Roth and Paul Auster. Jonathan Safran Foer makes the case against Eating Animals, and Ken Auletta's Googled profiles one of the world's most significant companies.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Ken Auletta's new book, Googled, chronicles the behemoth search engine company from the bottom up. But critic Troy Patterson says that few of the book's points are so penetrating that they couldn't be easily discovered via a quick Google query.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us