October 6, 2020, 9:55am
You know it’s a good day when you’re greeting with brand-new books from Rumaan Alam, Phil Klay, Tana French, Sayaka Murata, and Alice Hoffman! What’s a few more books on the TBR pile amongst friends?
*
Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind
(Ecco Press)
“Leave the World Behind is atmospheric and prescient: Its rhythms of comedy alternating with shock and despair mimic so much of the rhythms of life right now.”
–NPR
Phil Klay, Missionaries
(Penguin Press)
“Klay has something urgent to say here about the way his country operates in the 21st-century world.”
–The Boston Globe
Alice Hoffman, Magic Lessons
(Simon & Schuster)
“Hoffman writes deftly, and often beautifully, about nature, and she can plot like, well, a witch, casting a spell on her reader to flip pages, reading ahead for plot twists.”
–The Boston Globe
John Banville, Snow
(Hanover Square Press)
“[A] brilliant mix of old tropes and sadly modern evil.”
–Booklist
Sayaka Murata, tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Earthlings
(Grove Press)
“Murata has crafted an unforgettable, original hybrid of absurd fantasy and stark realism.”
–Financial Times
Tana French, The Searcher
(Viking)
“It has her keen eye for character, her excellent ear for dialogue and, above all, her narrative control, as she winds the tale tighter and tighter, upping the tension higher and higher.”
–The Star Tribune
Hiroko Oyamada, tr. David Boyd, The Hole
(New Directions)
“Oyamada’s atmospheric literary thriller puts a fresh, gripping spin on the bored housewife set-up.”
–Publishers Weekly
Pete Beatty, Cuyahoga
(Scribner)
“Pete Beatty’s very funny, rambunctious debut novel, Cuyahoga, is not a Trump-era allegory. It could be read with pleasure in 2002, or 1950.”
–Los Angeles Times
Carlos Lozada, What Were We Thinking
(Simon & Schuster)
“Readers will appreciate this useful guide to a bookshelf that grows more crowded by the minute.”
–Publishers Weekly
Vijay Seshadri, That Was Now, This Is Then
(Graywolf Press)
“Fans of Seshadri will find the thoughtfulness, humor, and lyric precision they have come to expect from the poet.”
–Publishers Weekly
Stuart Turton, The Devil and the Dark Water
(Sourcebooks)
“A devilish sea saga that never runs out of cutthroat conspiracies.”
–Kirkus
Clarice Lispector, tr. Benjamin Moser, The Hour of the Star
(New Directions)
“Sphinx, sorceress, sacred monster. The revival of the hypnotic Clarice Lispector has been one of the true literary events of the twenty-first century.”
–The New York Times
Franz Kafka, tr. Michael Hofmann, The Lost Writings
(New Directions)
“This delightful collection features dozens of untitled fragments, false starts, and unfinished work by Kafka.”
–Publishers Weekly
Cristina Rivera Garza, tr. Sarah Booker, Grieving
(Feminist Press)
“Rivera Garza’s remarkable writing captures a sense of place through evocative imagery and detail. Her incisive look at Mexico’s national grief emphasizes the humanity and struggle of daily life there.”
–Booklist
Jerry Seinfeld, Is This Anything?
(Simon & Schuster)
“This sharply observed, life-in-gags treasure trove offers essential reading for comedy fans, from a master of the form.”
–Publishers Weekly
John Birdsall, The Man Who Ate Too Much
(W. W. Norton)
“[A] rich, entertaining account of an essential tastemaker.”
–Publishers Weekly
David Michaelis, Eleanor
(Simon & Schuster)
“A comprehensive exploration of one of the most influential women of the last century.”
–Kirkus
H. W. Brands, The Zealot and the Emancipator
(Doubleday)
“An outstanding dual biography.”
–Kirkus