The Times’s former chief book critic Michiko Kakutani, author of “The Death of Truth,” doesn’t think in terms of genre: “J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books are no more Y.A. reading, to me, than John le Carré’s Smiley novels are spy stories.”
In “Near-Death Experiences … and Others,” his new collection, the esteemed editor weighs in on romance novels, Hollywood movies and — a longstanding love — ballet.
“The Farm,” by Héctor Abad, “In the Distance With You,” by Carla Guelfenbein, and “The Linden Tree,” by César Aira, range from rural Colombia to cosmopolitan Santiago and Peronist Argentina.
A new book assembles 255 letters, both heartbreaking and inspiring, by the former South African president and civil rights activist, who spent more than 27 years in jail.
A psychopathic but oddly charming coke dealer shoots and blusters his way through “The Price You Pay,” Aidan Truhen’s brilliant, blood-soaked thriller.
How far along is artificial intelligence and what will it do to human society? Three books ponder this question, and wonder if we and the robots can work together.
The former labor secretary Robert B. Reich reviews two new books arguing for a universal basic income: “Give People Money,” by Annie Lowrey, and “The War on Normal People,” by Andrew Yang.
Some publishers are starting to acquire books written by black, Asian and other minority writers that feature more character diversity, but barriers remain.
Michael McFaul discusses “From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia,” and Ottessa Moshfegh talks about her new novel, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”
Taking the absurdist themes and trends of his 1970s milieu as his material, the late New Journalist left behind visual reminders of his endless capacity for satire.