Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
In another sidesplitting collection, the author writes about his foulmouthed brother, his hopeless French and his brief career as a speed-freak performance artist.
Reviewed by Greg Villepique [06/09/00]
“The Happy Bottom Riding Club” by Lauren Kessler
A juicy, smart biography of heiress Pancho Barnes, who wanted only one thing: More.
Reviewed by Patricia Kean [05/31/00]
“Chang and Eng” by Darin Strauss
The inner life (and the sex life) of the famous Siamese twins.
Reviewed by Jonathan Miles [05/22/00]
“Stern Men” by Elizabeth Gilbert
In a terrific first novel, a restless 18-year-old feminist idles away a summer on an island of irascible Maine lobstermen.
Reviewed by Jonathan Miles [05/16/00]
“White Teeth” by Zadie Smith.
In this remarkable debut novel, London is a merry capital of mismatched lovers.
Reviewed by Maria Russo [04/28/00]
“Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit
A delightful and mind-expanding look at one of the activities that make us human.
Reviewed by Andrew O’Hehir [04/27/00]
“Horse Heaven” by Jane Smiley
A great big novel, jampacked with characters, that brings poetry to the dust and the lust of the racetrack.
Reviewed by Emily Gordon [04/17/00]
“The Custom of the Sea” by Neil Hanson and “In the Heart of the Sea” by Nathaniel Philbrick
Both books serve up hair-raising histories of maritime cannibalism with all the gory details.
Reviewed by Mark Schone [04/13/00]
“The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living” by Martin Clark
A wild and weirdly plotted novel by and about a circuit court judge, complete with a hunt for lost loot, a murder and a convoluted trial.
Reviewed by Michael Scott Moore [04/12/00]
“Le Mariage” by Diane Johnson
Yanks abroad and French nationals are still bewildering one another in a funny follow-up to the bestselling “Le Divorce.”
Reviewed by Elizabeth Judd [03/27/00]
“The Invention of the Restaurant” by Rebecca L. Spang
You didn’t know that it was invented, did you? A scholar unearths the unlikely origins.
Reviewed by Pete Wells [03/24/00]
“Patrick O’Brian: A Life Revealed” by Dean King
The bestselling novelist wasn’t, it turns out, the man he claimed to be.
Reviewed by Ian Williams [03/21/00]
“Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” by Helen Fielding
She’s back, she’s got her weight down, she’s got Mark Darcy and she’s in a Thai jail on drug charges.
Reviewed by Maria Russo [02/29/00]
“Chaos Theory” by Gary Krist
It starts quietly enough — with two kids copping a joint — and then spins into a breakneck thriller.
Reviewed by Jonathan Miles [01/27/00]
“Ghosts of Cape Sabine: The Harrowing True Story of the Greely Expedition” by Leonard F. Guttridge
Another arctic thriller — replete with starvation, executions, mutiny and cannibalism — that deserves a place alongside the best of them.
Reviewed by Jonathan Miles [01/21/00]
“Sick Puppy” by Carl Hiaasen
In a new novel and a new collection, the Florida author proves that he’s as outrageous in fiction as he is out there in fact.
Reviewed by Hal Hinson [01/13/00]
