Editor's Corner

Howard Norman, Devotion, a novel: A haunting examination of romantic and filial love in the vast open spaces of Nova Scotia. (Houghton Mifflin)

Robert Pinsky, Gulf Music: Poems , poems: Pinsky’s first book of poems since 2000 discovers connections between things seemingly disparate in this ambitious, politically impassioned, and inventive book by a major American poet. (FSG)

Gary Soto, A Simple Plan, poems: A new collection that returns to the themes of place, childhood, and kinship with the down-and-out in Fresno. (Chronicle)

Mark Strand, New Selected Poems, poems: more than twenty-five years after the appearance of his first Selected Poems, Strand offers a magnificent new gathering of work, one that spans and celebrates his remarkable career to date. (Knopf)

Ellen Bryant Voigt, Messenger, poems: A glorious arrangement of selections from six previous volumes, culminating in a series of new poems. (Norton)

Ellen Bryant Voigt, Messenger: New and Selected Poems 1976?2006, poems: In this collection, a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award, Voigt arranges poems from her six highly praised books alongside a group of astonishing new pieces. (Norton)

Kevin Young, For the Confederate Dead, poems: A passionate pilgrimage embracing the contradictions of our “Confederate” legacy and the troubled nation where it still lingers. (Knopf)

Russell Banks, The Reserve, a novel: Part love story, part murder mystery, and set on the cusp of the Second World War, this deeply engaging new novel raises dangerous questions about class, politics, art, love, and madness. (Harper)

Sherman Alexie, Flight, a novel: A troubled teenager is shot back in time, resurfacing as an FBI agent during the civil rights era and an Indian child during the battle of Little Big Horn. Alexie’s first novel in ten years is an irrepressible, groundbreaking romp. (Grove)