Fiction Archive |
Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth - Lawrence Selden was infatuated with Lily Bart. He couldn't help it. She was from a good family. She knew everyone. She was painfully beautiful. And special, yes, special: "He had
Elective Affinities - The greatest writer of his time enters into a late-life marriage that tests his recent and unfamiliar commitment to monogamy. That’s a novel waiting to happen. Goethe is the writer, and "Elective
Endless Love - A failed movie gets more attention than a successful book published in long ago 1976, even when the book's been translated into 20 languages and has sold two million copies.
Ernest Hemingway - I once asked John Cheever, arguably the greatest American short-story of the last century, what --- if anything --- he learned from Ernest Hemingway. “Not to put
Ernest Hemingway: The Nick Adams Stories - Once again, it's Fall. Hard to believe. Like everyone, I ask: what happened to Summer? But okay, Fall. For me, that means sweaters, long pants when walking in the morning,
Euphoria - We think of Margaret Mead --- if we think of her at all --- as the Julia Child of anthropology. Square of jaw. Hair cut with bangs, like a 5-year-old.
Every Last One - A very bad thing --- for a wife and mother, the worst possible thing --- happens right at the halfway mark "Every Last One," and if I tell you what
Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever - I was reading aloud from the first story. “Your name was Patrick. You were still away, maybe out somewhere with your new friends or jerking off in some bathroom thinking about
Everything You Need to Know About Tana French - A writer has a book coming out in two months. When was the last time the Times did a feature about the writer that promotes her previous books –-- all
Exit West: A Novel - "Exit West" is the best serious fiction I read about immigration in the last decade. I wasn't the only one to think this. It made many 10 Best lists. It
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Last Tycoon - If you don't know the copyright on "The Great Gatsby" expired on January 1, 2021, it's not because that happened in silence. The novel that was a flop in Fitzgerald's
Falling Man - So many politicians have stood on the pile of sacred dead at the World Trade Center that it's difficult --- maybe impossible --- to get back
Far from the Polar Vortex: Page-turners set in distant places - Books can take you anywhere. So says the old cliche. In brutally cold weather, these novels have taken me far away --- to warmer, sunnier places. Turn on the reading
Farmer’s Son - If I said that “Farmer’s Son” is the most powerful novel I’ve read this year, you might grab it. If I disclosed that the author of “Farmer’s Son” is a close
Fifth Business - Do you know of the great Canadian writer Robertson Davies? You'd remember the look. Bearded. With an ascot. Though he died in 1995, he seemed like a character out of
Fifty Shades of Grey - “Fifty Shades of Grey” --- the E L James novel about a virginal 21-year-old college senior and the 27-year-old billionaire who tells her what to eat, what to wear, what
Fifty Shades of Grey - Everybody talks about “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but no one ever talks about the woman at the center of the E L James novel. Her name is Anastasia Steele, and
Fifty Shades of Grey: Two smart women weigh in. Praise from the Therapist (‘It’s good for women’), boos from the Healer (‘This is not the way’) - If you saw C. on the street, she’d get your attention. And not only if you’re male. She may have kids, she may be 40, but she’s a tall, cool
Frank Costello: A Novel - “A lot of people had to die for me to be me.” A chilling, memorable line. And historically accurate. That’s the first achievement of “Frank Costello,” Ronald K. Fried’s novel about
Freedom - Barack Obama went to Martha’s Vineyard and there obtained, a week before its release, a copy of Jonathan Franzen’s novel. That same week, my family was heading to the Bahamas,
