The Darling by Russell Banks
Russell Banks, The Darling, a novel: Set in Liberia, Banks’s riveting new book explores the interrelated history of race problems in the U.S. and Africa. (HarperCollins)
Review
Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann
Mother of Sorrows, stories by Richard McCann (Pantheon): The pieces in this debut book are so tightly interwoven that the whole is novelistic, and they have a ring of truth to them so profound that the effect is practically memoiristic (indeed, one story was reprinted in an anthology of memoirs). The overall effect of the…
Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War by James Carroll
James Carroll, Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War, essays: Carroll collects his searing, passionate Boston Globe columns about the Bush administration’s "coercive unilateralism." (Holt)
Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi
Margot Livesey recommends Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, nonfiction by Peter Turchi: "I love the layering of imagery and information that Peter Turchi accomplishes as Maps of the Imagination unfolds. The illustrations throughout are wonderful—so surprising and various and interesting. My brain felt enlarged by reading this account of so many different…
Streets in Their Own Ink by Stuart Dybek
Stuart Dybek, Streets in Their Own Ink, poems: In his second poetry collection, Dybek finds extraordinary vitality in the same vibrant imagery that animates his celebrated fiction. (FSG)
Banishing Verona by Margot Livesey
Margot Livesey, Banishing Verona, a novel: A shy housepainter and a pregnant radio show host begin an affair in Livesey’s radiant, delicious new novel, and then they’re immediately separated, setting them off in transatlantic pursuit. (Holt)
Double Vision by George Garrett
George Garrett, Double Vision, a novel: As expected from Garrett, this novel is a witty tour de force, marrying fact and fiction about a gifted generation of American writers. (Alabama)
American Smooth by Rita Dove
Rita Dove, American Smooth, poems: In her eighth superb collection, Dove pays homage to the grit and mother wit that inform our mongrel cultural heritage. (Norton)
The Love Wife by Gish Jen
Gish Jen, The Love Wife, a novel: Jen, in her most exuberant and accomplished book, provides a brilliant portrait of a new "half-half" American family. (Knopf)