New & Noteworthy
A selection of books published this week; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.
Essay: How Langston Hughes Brought His Radical Vision to the Novel
Poor black lives weren’t depicted in the serious fiction of Hughes’s day. As Angela Flournoy notes, his debut novel, “Not Without Laughter,” changed that.
Nonfiction: We Are What We Read
Two new books, by Martin Puchner and Abigail Williams, explore how literature has shaped human society.
Essay: What to Read if You Want to Know More About North Korea
Nicholas Kristof recommends books about one of the most closed countries on Earth.
Fiction: Displaced Persons
In Daniel Alarcón’s “The King Is Always Above the People,” young men in new situations find out who they really are.
The Book Review Podcast: The Fire Next Time
Brendan I. Koerner talks about “Megafire” and “Firestorm,” and Henry Fountain discusses “The Great Quake.”
Ivory Tower: What’s Bad News for Coastlines Can Be Good News for Surfers
Five books on oceans, hurricanes and the perfect wave.
The Shortlist: Three Books That Track Diseases, Drugs and the World They Made
Histories of modern medicine through the 20th-century proliferations of Spanish flu, tuberculosis and penicillin.
Nonfiction: We Aren’t Destroying the Earth
In a new book, “Inheritors of the Earth,” Chris Thomas argues that animals and plants are adapting to the world we are creating. We need not worry.
Inside the List: He Wrote ‘A Gentleman in Moscow,’ and Likes Reading About Scoundrels in Los Angeles
Amor Towles, whose second novel has spent 46 weeks on the best-seller list, likes to bring vintage mysteries on vacation.
Essay: When ‘All Thumbs’ Becomes a Compliment
Calvin Trillin reflects on the idioms lost in the age of the smartphone.
Essay: Planned Obsolescence
For fiction writers, keeping up with technological and political change in their work is a risky proposition. But nowadays it is more essential than ever.
How the Literary Heavyweights of the 1960s Reacted to Vietnam
An illustrated history of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s failed attempt to garner the support of the intelligentsia for his impending war.
Nonfiction: A Memoir of a Childhood Crushed by a Despotic Father
In “The Only Girl in the World,” Maude Julien describes a series of horrors growing up the daughter of a man who believed he was sculpting her into a superior being.
Paperback Row
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.
Letters to the Editor
Readers respond to reviews in previous issues.
Our Back Pages: Notes From the Book Review Archives
In which we consult the Book Review’s past to shed light on the books of the present. This week: What will the end of the world look like?
Editors’ Choice: 10 New Books We Recommend This Week
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
‘Spalding Gray,’ the Color? It’s a Long Story
How the monologuist inspired a best-selling paint. A dog is also involved.
Nonfiction: Is Nuclear War Inevitable?
Daniel Ellsberg’s “The Doomsday Machine” is a passionate call for reducing the risk of total destruction.
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