Books: Speed Reads
Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing, out Aug. 5
The 2007 Nobel Prize winner is back with a book that contains a novella imagining what would have happened to her parents if they hadn't married, followed by a memoir recollecting her early life in Southern Rhodesia. Lessing claimed winning the Nobel Prize was a disaster and left her without the energy to write a full novel, so let that be a warning to all writers who seek accolades disaster looms!
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The Way of the World by Ron Suskind, out Aug. 5
Former Wall Street Journal writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Suskind, who has previously topped the best-seller list with investigations into the Bush administration, trains his eyes on the looming national security crisis that will confront America in what he calls The Age of Extremism. The CIA expert is sure to have an in-depth (and scary) insight into what troubles lay ahead.
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How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken by Daniel Mendelsohn, out Aug. 12
In this collection of 30 essays, popular critic and New York Review of Books writer Mendelsohn lets loose regarding film, theater and literature. Mendelsohn discusses subjects ranging from Kill Bill to the drama of Tennessee Williams to the works of Ancient Greece. Looking to link Tarantino and Homer? This ones for you.
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Superdove by Courtney Humphries, out Aug. 12
For city dwellers, the pigeon might not seem like the ideal subject to spend more time with, but science writer Humphries lays out the natural history of these former sea-cliff dwelling birds. Will the myth of the pigeon as the flying rat ever be debunked?
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Man in the Dark by Paul Auster, out Aug. 19
The Bard of Park Slope returns with a novelhis 14thabout a man recovering from a car accident who, instead of facing the personal tragedies around him, lies in bed imagining a world where 9/11 never happened and the 2000 election lead to secession and civil war. Just your typical light summer read.
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Epilogue by Anne Roiphe, out Aug. 26
This memoir by New York novelist Roiphe recounts the loneliness that consumed her after of the death of her husband of 39 years. The story examines the effort to continue her life, including a re-entry into the dating scene and the difficulty of hailing a cab for the first time, while also revisiting the life she and her husband lead together. Move over, Didion.
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Mikes Election Guide 2008 by Michael Moore, out Aug. 26
The flashpoint filmmaker and writer turns his sights on the 2008 presidential and congressional elections in this new book, offering up such thought-provoking questions as Why is John McCain So Angry? and How Many Democrats Does it Take to Lose the Most Winnable Election in American History? Surely Moore has plenty of answers that he's willing so share with all.
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American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, out Sept. 2
The author of 2005 smash Prep sets her sights on another exclusive world, this time that of the highest office in the land. Sittenfeld examines the life of first lady Alice Blackwell and her relationship with her husband, the president of the United States (a man who bears a striking resemblance to 1600 Pennsylvania's current occupant.)
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Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 by Annie Proulx, out Sept. 2
The National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner returns to the landscape of Brokeback Mountain for her third set of stories set in the wilds of Wyoming. Writing stories that cross generations, Proulx infuses harsh American lives with a mythological air using her sharp eye and bold pen.