Thomas Pynchon vs. the WorldAgainst the Day is exhausting, twisted, and paranoid. But that doesn’t mean Pynchon can’t also be fun.
Dinosaur On IceThe NHL has mandated a cleaner, more elegant game, but Darius Kasparaitis, the Rangers’ superthug, refuses to let extinction keep him down.
Last Exit to BaghdadThe first soldier memoirs and a sweeping history describe a war unlike any we’ve ever known.
Case of the BenzRafi Zabor’s I, Wabenzi is a wild ride through grief—until it hits a disappointing detour.
7 2/3 Innings With SalmanLike his beloved Yankees, Rushdie is struggling to play up to expectations.
The Smartest Guy in the RoomEdmund Wilson’s brilliance won him
untold love and admiration,
but for him, nothing beat a good book.
The Toughest JewsAvner Mandelman’s stories
capture the tortured
psyche of Israel’s baby-boomers.
Between Punk Rock and a Hard PlaceHilly Kristal, the cash-strapped
owner of CBGB, has threatened to move his legendary club to Las Vegas — and what if he really did it? How wou […]
From BeyondMichel Houellebecq, France’s
bard of sex and anomie,
finds an unlikely kindred spirit
in H. P. Lovecraft.
Heart of GlassIan McEwan raises big
questions that his cold,
controlling muse can’t answer.
Atrocity ExhibitionA Canadian general recounts his efforts to stop the Rwandan genocide—and then to remain sane.
The Way We Don’t Quite Live NowA ballyhooed Corrections knockoff from Down Under points up
the stalled state of the social novel.