Why We Buy By Paco Underhill (Nonfiction)
Simon & Schuster, Reviewed by Todd Pruzan
Paco Underhill examines the sociology and psychology of the consumerist impulse -- and comes up with a few surprises.
(05/21/99)
Sugar and Rum By Barry Unsworth (Fiction)
W.W. Norton & Company, Reviewed Marion Lignana Rosenberg
Barry Unsworth guides the reader through the dark places of depression -- hilariously.
(05/28/99)
Morality Play By Barry Unsworth (Fiction)
Doubleday, reviewed by Rich Nichols
A ragged band of traveling players investigate a murder in this resonant meditation on evil, set in 14th century England.
Gertrude and Claudius By John Updike (Fiction)
Knopf, review by John Freeman
In his 19th novel, Updike spins a tale of feverish and furtive sex and death in a masterly prequel to "Hamlet."
(02/09/00)
In the Beauty of the Lilies By John Updike (Fiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Jim Paul
The author's seventeenth novel, which traces four generations of a single family, is an interrogation of faith, the movies, and the American century.
Toward the End of Time By John Updike (Fiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Dwight Garner
Updike's 17th novel charts one man's confrontation with mortality in the year 2020, after a war between the U.S. and China.
Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies that Matter By Christine Vachon with David Edelstein (Nonfiction)
Avon, Reviewed by Steve Kandell
A peek inside the rough-and-tumble indie film world, from the producer of "Happiness," "Kids" and "Velvet Goldmine"
(11/04/98)
THE SNEAKER BOOK: An Anatomy of an Industry and an Icon By Tom Vanderbilt (Nonfiction)
The New Press, Reviewed by Dante Ramos
A cultural history of America's obsession with athletic shoes, from 1900 through the era of Michael Jordan
(07/30/98)
The Flight By Horacio Verbitsky
(Nonfiction)
The New Press, reviewed by Kaitlin Quistgaard
An unflinching
account of the atrocities of Argentina's "Dirty War," from one of that country's best-known investigative reporters.
A Book of Reasons By John Vernon (Nonfiction)
Houghton Mifflin, reviewed by Dustin Beilke
Looking into the reclusive life of his late brother, a novelist produces an anti-memoir.
(09/17/99)
Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings By Gore Vidal (Nonfiction)
Cleis Press, Reviewed by Saul Anton
In his essays on the topic, the author grimaces at the effects of 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian morality.
(08/20/99)
The Smithsonian Institution By Gore Vidal (Nonfiction)
Random House, Reviewed by D.T. Max
The author's 24th novel is about a young boy who finds, while at the Smithsonian Institution, that he can change the course of history
(02/27/98)
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"Pre-Code Hollywood" by Thomas Doherty and "Sin in Soft Focus" by Mark A. Vieira (Nonfiction)
Columbia University Press and Harry N. Abrams, Reviewed by Peter Kurth A fascinating and important study details the "moral anarchy" of the early, pre-censorship talkies; a volume of classic photographs covers the same era.
(10/21/99)
The Way We Are By Margaret Visser (Nonfiction)
Faber & Faber, reviewed by Katharine Whittemore
Sixty quirky, far-ranging and pedagogic essays on topics such as spitting, wedding cakes and the Easter Bunny, from the acclaimed Toronto food writer.
The Atlas By William T. Vollmann (Fiction)
Viking, reviewed by Jim Paul
In this compelling mix of fiction and autobiography, the author, an obsessive traveler with a taste for danger, reports from locations such as Sarajevo, Inuit Canada and Rangoon.
Naming the Jungle By Antoine Volodine (Fiction)
New Press, reviewed by Jordana Hart
In a fictional Latin American city set deep in the rainforest, a rebel feigns madness in order to avoid being tortured.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier, "The Music Lesson" by
Katharine Weber and "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Susan Vreeland (Fiction)
Review by Marion Lignana Rosenberg
Three recent
novels shimmer with the sensuousness of Vermeer, the painter who inspired
them.
(01/10/00)
Smell: The Secret Seducer By Piet Vroon (Nonfiction)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, reviewed by Peter Kurth
An irresistible social, cultural and scientific history of aaromas, miasmas, perfumes and the most underrated of the five senses.
The Dragon Hunt By Tran Vu (Fiction)
Hyperion, Reviewed by Judith Coburn
In his first collection in English, an expatriate Vietnamese author tells grueling (and highly original) stories of suffering.
(07/20/99)
After the Madness: A Judge's Own Prison Memoir By Sol Wachtler (Nonfiction)
Random House, reviewed by David Futrelle
The former chief judge of New York writes about his life in prison after his conviction on an ugly, infamous harassment charge.
I'm Losing You By Bruce Wagner (Fiction)
Villard, reviewed by Dwight Garner
An arch, over-the-top satire of modern Hollywood, peppered with tart jokes about cellular phones, starlets and H.I.V.I.P.s.
What's Love Got To Do with It? A Critical Look at American Charity By David Wagner (Nonfiction)
New Press, review by Frank Browning
An argument that American charity lines the pockets of the well-heeled while it screws the poor.
(02/04/00)
The Bounty By Derek Walcott (Fiction)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, reviewed by Albert Mobilio
Four new collections by contemporary poets, ranging from pop culture savvy, to tropical lyricism, to mild naturalism, to the lacerating riddles of a mind on fire.
Anything We Love Can Be Saved By Alice Walker (Nonfiction)
Random House, reviewed by Elizabeth Judd
A grab-bag of essays and speeches by the activist writer, on such topics as dreadlocks, Fidel Castro and female genital mutilation.
The Same River Twice By Alice Walker (Nonfiction)
Scribner, reviewed by Susan Shapiro
A look back at the multiple controversies that surrounded Steven Spielberg's film version of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Color Purple."
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again By David Foster Wallace (Nonfiction)
Little, Brown, reviewed by Bruce Barcott
This collection of essays is an eclectic mix of literary criticism, cultural analysis and humorous observations on life.
The Bonehunters' Revenge: Dinosaurs, Greed, and the Greatest
Scientific Feud of the Gilded Age By David Rains Wallace (Nonfiction)
Houghton Mifflin, Reviewed by Thomas Hackett
The fury of two
paleontologists tells us much about the temper of the late-19th century.
(11/04/99)
Fat! So? By Marilyn Wann (Nonfiction)
Ten Speed Press, Reviewed by Michelle
Goldberg
A cheerful pro-fat manifesto from a writer and zine editor who has
become the Abbie Hoffman of obesity
(01/05/99)
Chasin' the Devil's Music: Searching for the Blues By Gayle Dean Wardlow (Nonfiction)
Miller Freeman, Reviewed by Tony Scherman
Essays, articles and interviews by a Mississippi blueshunter who proves that Robert Johnson never met Satan at the crossroads
(01/18/99)
The Sopranos By Alan Warner (Fiction)
Farrar, Straus And Giroux, Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek
Six Catholic schoolgirls head off for the city in search of trouble and go back home looking for love.
(04/08/99)
Morvern Callar By Alan Warner (Fiction)
Anchor Books, reviewed by Charles Taylor
It's dark doings in Scotland when the heroine ditches her late boyfriend's corpse and submits his novel to a publisher under her name.
Radio Priest By Donald Warren (Nonfiction)
Free Press, reviewed by Maud Casey
A biography of Father James Coughlin ("The Father of Hate Radio"), who reached some 16 million listeners in the 1930s and '40s.
Dumbing Down: Essays on the Strip-Mining of American Culture By Katharine Washburn and John Thornton, editors (Nonfiction)
Norton, reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Williams
A collection condemning the decline of American culture, from Madonna to cookbooks to the pronunciation of the word "mother."
Tipping the Velvet By Sarah Waters (Fiction)
Riverhead Books, Reviewed by Peter Kurth
An exuberant, lusty novel about a lesbian adventuress follows its heroine through the underworld of Victorian London.
(07/30/99)
On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950-1970 By Elizabeth Siegel Watkins (Nonfiction)
Johns Hopkins University Press, Reviewed by Beverly Gage
Did the advent of the birth control pill really jump-start the sexual revolution? The author argues that the two may not be as closely linked as many people think.
(11/05/98)
Jacobson's Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell By Lyall Watson< (Nonfiction)
W.W. Norton & Co., review by Maggie Jones
How we smell, why we smell and (best of all) what we smell: A guide to the most provocative, sensual and misunderstood of the senses. (03/31/00)
SOTHEBY'S: The Inside Story By Peter Watson (Nonfiction)
Random House, Reviewed by Jennifer Howard
From an intrepid British journalist, a peek inside the sometimes nefarious goings-on at the venerable auction house.
(02/26/98)
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Patient By Ben Watt(Nonfiction)
Grove Press, reviewed by A. Stephanie Zacharek
The author, half of the English pop duo Everything But the Girl, provides a compelling account of eight months spent battling a rare illness.
WILL THIS DO?: An Autobiography By Auberon Waugh (Nonfiction)
Carroll & Graff, Reviewed by William Georgiades
An exceptionally entertaining autobiography by the journalist son of Evelyn Waugh
(07/28/98)
Left for Dead: My Journey Home From Everest By Beck Weathers (Nonfiction)
Villard, review by Jonathan Miles
A member of Jon Krakauer's ill-fated Everest expedition gives his version of the spring '96 mountaintop disaster. (04/25/00)
A Portrait of Egypt: A Journey Through the World of Militant Islam By Mary Anne Weaver (Nonfiction)
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Reviewed by Theodore Spencer
In a jolting new book, the New Yorker writer predicts that an Islamic regime will soon topple Egypt's secular government.
(03/22/99)
Altar Music By Christin Lore Weber (Fiction)
Scribner, review by Mary Elizabeth Williams
An ex-sister's tale of sexually confused priests and predatory nuns. (03/22/00)
"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier, "The Music Lesson" by
Katharine Weber and "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Susan Vreeland (Fiction)
Review by Marion Lignana Rosenberg
Three recent
novels shimmer with the sensuousness of Vermeer, the painter who inspired
them.
(01/10/00)
"Balthus: A Biography" By Nicholas Fox Weber (Nonfiction)
Knopf, review by George Rafael
A fat volume skewers
the old goat who made his name painting nymphets in bloom.
(01/04/00)
Time, Love, Memory By Jonathan Weiner (Nonfiction)
Alfred A. Knopf, Reviewed by Edward Neuert
Can molecular biologists dissect our urges?
(04/30/99)
The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America -- The Stalin Era By Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev (Nonfiction)
Random House, Reviewed by Jerome Perzigian
A historian and a journalist penetrate the secret files of Stalin's foreign intelligence -- and come away with unfiltered tedium.
(01/22/99)
Worst Fears By Fay Weldon (Fiction)
Atlantic Monthly Press, reviewed by Katharine Whittemore
The British author's 21st novel concerns a well-known actress who discovers the far-flung promiscuity of her late husband.
Filth By Irvine Welsh (Fiction)
Norton, Reviewed by Daniel Reitz
Inside the mind (and the churning bowels) of a misanthropic Scottish policeman, from the author of "Trainspotting."
(09/04/98)
Maribou Stork Nightmares By Irvine Welsh (Fiction)
Norton, reviewed by Scott Baldinger
A startling and surreal tour through the mind of a Scottish football thug.
How the Body Prays By Peter Weltner (Fiction)
Graywolf Press, Reviewed by Ruth Henrich
A beautiful novel examines the toll that pride takes on a Southern family.
(08/19/99)
Assuming the Position By Rick Whitaker (Nonfiction)
Four Walls/Eight Windows , Reviewed by Dennis Drabelle
A onetime hustler takes a long, hard look at the Life.
(10/08/99)
Marcel Proust By Edmund White (Nonfiction)
Viking, Reviewed by Peter Kurth
The first in a new series of brief biographies demonstrate that bigger isn't always better.
(01/28/99)
The Divorce Culture By Barbara
Dafoe Whitehead (Nonfiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Leora Tanenbaum
An expanded version of the author's controversial essay about family values, "Dan Quayle Was Right," published in the Atlantic Monthly.
Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood By Eileen Whitfield (Nonfiction)
University Press of Kentucky, reviewed by Charles Taylor
Whitfield combines a great command of narrative with an unerring perceptiveness in this superb biography of the silent film star.
The Inner Elvis By Peter Whitmer (Nonfiction)
Hyperion, reviewed by Sara Kelly
Pop psychology on a grand scale, this overview of Elvis's life pays special attention to his emotional (and sexual) quirks.
The Calling By Catherine Whitney (Nonfiction)
Crown Publishing, Reviewed Mary Elizabeth Williams
A lapsed Catholic goes back to her roots and explores our fascination with nuns.
(05/28/99)
Two Cities By John Edgar Wideman (Fiction)
Houghton Mifflin, Reviewed by David L. Ulin
Tales of urban life in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, from a novelist who continues to re-imagine the black experience in the United States.
(09/15/98)
Almost Heaven By Marianne Wiggins (Fiction)
Crown, Reviewed by Peter Kurth
A foreign correspondent returns home after eight years in war-torn Eastern Europe, in a novel that's equal parts love story, psychodrama and balderdash.
(09/17/98)
All Rivers Run to the Sea: Memoirs By Elie Wiesel (Nonfiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Jim Paul
The Nobel Peace Prize winner recalls his formative years and the birth of his life as a writer.
Plain and Normal By James Wilcox (Fiction)
Little, Brown, Reviewed by Peter Kurth
In New York City, a drab, overworked gay businessman is beset by eccentrics and gets dragged out of the closet against his will.
(09/10/98)
Bloodstained Kings' By Tim Willocks (Fiction)
Random House, Reviewed by Peter Kurth
This thriller about a New Orleans psychiatrist who's drawn into a vast sea of corruption has an unusually nasty edge
(02/17/98)
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online
John Wayne's America By Garry Wills (Nonfiction)
Simon & Schuster, reviewed by Charles Taylor
An examination of how Wayne, although an intellectually unfashionable figure, has deeply invaded America's psyche.
Saint Augustine By Garry Wills (Nonfiction)
Viking, Reviewed by Allen Barra
The newest title in the Penguin Lives series is swift, invigorating and disappointing.
(06/29/99)
Hearing Voices By A.N. Wilson (Fiction)
W.W. Norton, reviewed by Megan Harlan
The fourth novel in the author's noted "Lampitt Papers" series is part murder mystery, part religious dialogue and part exploration of the British upper class.
Whatever It Takes: Women on Women's Sport Edited by Joli Sandoz and Joby Winans (Nonfiction)
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Reviewed by Kate Sekules
Some things do change: In a new anthology, women jocks take up the pen.
(08/12/99)
The Professor and the Madman By Simon Winchester (Nonfiction)
HarperCollins, Reviewed by Charles Taylor
A fascinating account of the 70-year development of the OED, and a profile of its most unlikely major contributor -- an inmate at a prison for the criminally insane.
(09/03/98)
The Death and Live of Bobby Z By Don Winslow (Fiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Charles Taylor
The brisk, nifty tale of a three-time loser who agrees to impersonate a legendary drug dealer to escape prison -- and the Hell's Angels.
Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery
By Jeanette Winterson (Nonfiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Susan Shapiro
This collection of nonfiction from one of the U.K.'s most talented -- and notorious -- novelists covers such topics as Virginia Woolf, book collecting and the trouble with contemporary gay literature.
Girls Only: Sleepovers, Squabbles,
Tuna Fish and Other Facts of Family Life By
Alex Witchel (Nonfiction)
Random House, reviewed by Katharine Whittemore
Arch and epigrammatic essays, from the New York Times cultural reporter, about her eccentric family.
Parting from Phantoms: Selected Writings, 1990-1994 By Christa Wolf (Nonfiction)
University of Chicago Press, reviewed by Rob Spillman
Essays, lectures, interviews and journal entries from the prickly, passionate and controversial East German writer.
The
Entertainment Economy: How Mega Media Forces Are Transforming Our Lives By Michael J. Wolf (Nonfiction)
Times Books, Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Williams
The Shopping News: Move over, Adam Smith -- make way for Mickey Mouse
(03/15/99)
ONE NATION, AFTER ALL: How the Middle Class Really Thinks About God,
Country and Family By Alan Wolfe (Fiction)
Viking, Reviewed by Laura Green
A sociology professor argues, after extensive polling, that
Americans are nicer and have more in common than we'd ever imagined
(03/16/98)
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online
The Night in Question By Tobias Wolff (Fiction)
Knopf, reviewed by Charles Taylor
Self-knowledge torments the characters in these naturalistic short stories by the author of the memoir "This Boy's Life."
Meeting Lily By Sarah Woodhouse (Fiction)
St. Martin's Press, reviewed by Meg Cohen Ragas
Romantic chaos takes over a quiet Italian country inn and its eccentric guests.
"Killer in Drag" and "Death of a Transvestite" By Ed Wood Jr. (Fiction)
Four Walls Eight Windows, Reviewed by Greg Villepique
The hopelessly inept transvestite filmmaker was also, it turns out, a hopelessly inept transvestite novelist.
(06/22/99)
The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief By James Wood (Nonfiction)
Random House, reviewed by Euny Hong Koral
Literary criticism remains alive and well (the novel is another story) in the work of two masters of the form.
(07/01/99)
Tomato Red By Daniel Woodrell (Fiction)
Holt, Reviewed by Jonathan Miles
In this "country-noir" novel, a vaguely threatening man insinuates
himself into the lives of three people in a skanky Ozarks hamlet
(08/07/98)
Give Us A Kiss: A Country Noir By Daniel Woodrell (Fiction)
Holt, reviewed by A. Scott Cardwell
A rollicking, white trash libretto about two brothers hiding out from the law in the heart of the Ozarks.
Pontius Pilate By Ann Wroe (Fiction)
Random House, review by George Rafael
Who was he? This fascinating study is the closest thing to a biography of the man who sent Jesus to his death that we'll probably ever have. (04/21/00)
Troublemaker: One Man's Crusade Against China's Cruelty By Harry Wu with George Vecsey (Nonfiction)
Times Books, reviewed by David Futrelle
A memoir by the well-known and controversial Chinese dissident, who seeks to expose the truth about China's forced labor camps.
Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women By Elizabeth Wurtzel (Nonfiction)
Doubleday, Reviewed by Lily Burana
An examination, from the author of "Prozac Nation," of how women are punished, and men aren't, for certain types of behavior.
(04/20/98)
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online
Lying on the Couch By Irvin D. Yalom (Fiction)
Basic Books, reviewed by Katharine Whittemore
A revealing novel about therapy and its discontents, from the psychoanalyst author of "Love's Executioner."
Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers
By Lois-Ann Yamanaka (Fiction)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, reviewed by Anne Whitehouse
Set in Hawaii, this bumptious first novel, narrated by the daughter of poor agricultural workers, delves into language and identity.
Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism By Jeff Yang, Dina Gan, Terry Hong and the staff of A. Magazine (Nonfiction)
(Nonfiction)
Houghton Mifflin, reviewed by Gary Krist
This playful book smartly introduces readers to all things Asian, from Connie Chung to calligraphy to feng shui to sumo wrestling.
Misfit: The Strange Life of Frderick Exley By Jonathan Yardley (Nonfiction)
Random House, reviewed by Dwight Garner
A slim, informal biography of the author of "A Fan's Notes," Frederick Exley, a perpetual misfit who died far too young.
Don't Die Before You're Dead By Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Fiction)
Random House, reviewed by Rich Nichols
A gripping novel of epic scope, informed by firsthand knowledge, about the attempted coup in Russia in 1991.
Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil By Rafael Yglesias (Fiction)
Warner Books, reviewed by Robert Spillman
A big, rambling and ambitious novel about a psychotherapist who believes he can rid people of their darker impulses.
On Parole By Akira Yoshimura (Nonfiction)
Harcourt, review by Emily Gordon
A bestselling Japanese novelist depicts the grim aftermath of a grisly crime. (03/09/00)
Black Girl in Paris By Shay Youngblood (Fiction)
Riverhead, review by Gaiutra Bahadur
A breathless novel traces the footsteps of Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, but sidles around the topic of race.
(02/16/00)
Soul Kiss By Shay Youngblood (Fiction)
Riverhead, reviewed by Jabari Asim
A complex, erotic first novel about a girl's odyssey toward adulthood in small-town Georgia.
Best American Spiritual Writing 1998 Edited by Philip Zaleski (Nonfiction)
HarperSanFrancisco, Reviewed by Michael Joseph
Gross
An egocentric collection of essays -- from writers such as
Cynthia Ozick, Andre Dubus and Rick Moody -- and the nature of spiritual
belief
(12/08/98)
Layover By Lisa Zeidner (Fiction)
Random House, reviewed by Maria Russo
A woman on the verge of a breakdown finds herself sneaking into hotel rooms.
(06/09/99)
Animal Husbandry By Laura Zigman (Fiction)
Dial Press, Reviewed by Sally Eckhoff
When a TV producer named Jane Goodall loses yet another boyfriend, she searches the natural world for lessons about commitment
(01/05/97)
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online
The Frequency of Souls By Mary Kay Zuravleff (Fiction)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, reviewed by Maud Casey
An illicit romance between two refrigerator engineers becomes a quirky meditation on the mysteries of electricity, love and death.