All Book Reviews
'The Meursault Investigation' cleverly builds on 'The Stranger' by CamusThe events of 'The Stranger' are revisited, seen through the eyes of the brother of the once anonymous victim.
'Something Must Be Done about Prince Edward County' tells a horrific story of racism and US public schoolsA reporter born and bred in Virginia looks back on the racially divided schools of her childhood and asks: "What was wrong with my hometown?"
'Dreams of Earth and Sky' draws intriguing lines between philosophy and scienceAt age 91, a master physicist shares his wisdom, and the burning questions he still ponders.
'The Green Road' paints a luminous portrait of an Irish matriarchWith wonderful skill, Booker Prize winner Anne Enright returns to the theme of the Irish family, this one headed by the long-suffering, strong-willed Rosaleen Madigan.聽
'The Jefferson Rule' argues against mythologizing America's Founding FathersHistorian David Sehat makes a strong case that forefather worship has had a pernicious effect on American politics.
'A God in Ruins' is Kate Atkinson's brilliant follow-up to 'Life After Life'Atkinson has a written what looks like a big, old-fashioned book 鈥� but watch out for the trickery.
'Reagan' by H.W. Brands notes Reagan's failings, yet insists on his greatnessA new biography posits Reagan as one of the two most important figures in 20th-century American politics.
'Man in Profile' is a splendid new biography of fabled New Yorker writer Joseph MitchellThomas Kunkel offers a portrait of a writer who specialized in finding great characters, real and imagined.
'Broadcast Hysteria' sheds new light on Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds'What was truly hysterical, suggests this well researched book, was the way real reporters blew the impact of the broadcast out of proportion.
'The Last Bookaneer' is a literary thriller starring 19th-century book thieves"The Last Bookaneer" is essentially a heist caper, following literary thieves in pursuit of Robert Louis Stevenson鈥檚 unpublished last novel.
'1920' is the lively, readable biography of a seminal year1920 was the year that America 'flourished almost by default; it was rich and on the verge of growing richer than any other nation in history.'
'The Children's Crusade' explores the dynamics of a California family with an unhappy motherAnn Packer's gift for parsing complicated families all come to the fore in her latest novel.
'Ashley's War' shares the untold stories of women in combatJournalist Gayle Tzemach Lemmon follows the Cultural Support Team 鈥� a group of women supporting America's special operation forces in Afghanistan 鈥� through both the heaven and hell of battle.
'Missoula' considers campus rapes at the University of Montana during a two-year periodThe author of 鈥淚nto Thin Air鈥� and 鈥淯nder the Banner of Heaven鈥� looks at a national problem through one city鈥檚 history of sexual violence.
'The Spy鈥檚 Son鈥� is a startling story of a father-son team who bluffed the CIAA powerful father-son bond allowed the Nicholsons to mastermind treason and hoodwink the US not once but twice, all right under the nose of a clueless system that failed spectacularly.
'Re Jane' cleverly recasts Jane Eyre as a Korean American from QueensPatricia Park's debut novel is a sensitive, witty tale of the search for belonging.
'The Great War of Our Times' offers an insider's view of the war on terrorMichael Morell, former Deputy Director of the CIA, presents a memoir that is both an eye-opener and a warning.
'Academy Street' follows a young woman 鈥� and her unquenched yearning 鈥� from Ireland to NY and back againAn exiled Irish girl turned 茅migr茅 mother of New York lives a full life in just under 150 pages.
'So You've Been Publicly Shamed' considers today's cruel new forms of public punishmentIn an age of new connectivity online and beyond, a reporter finds empathy for those who鈥檝e faced mortifying infamy.
'The Ingenious Mr. Pyke' is the brilliant biography of an audacious intellectAn obituary in the London Times called inventor, fugitive, and spy Geoffrey Pike 'one of the most original yet unrecognized figures of the twentieth century.'
