Speed Reads: January's literary landscape at a glance
Shades of Grey By Jasper Fforde, out now
In this satirical novel, what range of colors you can see determines social standing.
To Sound in the Know: Besides writing books, Fforde has earned a living working on the sets of movies like Goldeneye and The Mask of Zorro.
Hairy By Robert Greene, out now
The photographer, painter and New York native explores the fuzzy world of dogs and hairy men in this photo collection.
To Sound in the Know: Greenes work is in the permanent collection of both the Met and the Whitney.
The Faith of Graffiti By Norman Mailer and Jon Naar, out now
The 30-year reissue of the classic treatise on graffiti combines Mailers essay on graffiti's role in modern urban culture with Naar's photographs on the subject.
To Sound in the Know: Naar, who remastered the photos and wrote an afterward in the new edition, recently teamed with Stussy to make T-shirts featuring his photographs.
36 Arguments For the Existence of God By Rebecca Goldstein, out Jan. 12
In this novel, a best-selling author loses his sense of self and joins a former girlfriend in the pursuit of immortality through biochemistry.
To Sound in the Know: Goldstein is a MacArthur Fellow. So, yes, shes smarter than you.
Wild Child: And Other Stories By T.C. Boyle, out Jan. 21
A new collection from one of the modern masters of the short story includes a novella.
To Sound in the Know: When he was 17, Boyle changed his middle name from John to Coraghessan.
Three Days Before the Shooting By Ralph Ellison, out Jan. 26
This unfinished epic by the author of Invisible Man, collected into over 1,100 pages, spans generations with the assassination of a controversial U.S. Senator at the center of its action.
To Sound in the Know: Random House culled the recently published posthumous Ellison novel, Juneteenth from this material.