M.G. Lord
M.G. Lord is the author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, and the recent memoir Astro Turf: The Private Life of Rocket Science.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (Simon & Schuster, $20). This is, quite simply, the most important science story of the last century, told by its most important science writer.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy (Harvest, $13). In this memoir, novelist and critic McCarthy intersperses lively, fictive stories about her youth with more prosaic sections that detail what actually happened. McCarthy’s concern about the difference between fact and fiction may explain why she later took exception to Lillian Hellman’s autobiographical fabrications (resulting, when Hellman took exception to McCarthy’s exception, in a notorious lawsuit).
Hiroshima by John Hersey (Vintage, $7). Hersey, my college writing teacher, crafted this riveting, historically important account of six atomic-bomb survivors. His meticulous reporting makes the unthinkable comprehensible, a feat that earned admiration from most critics, though Mary McCarthy wasn’t one. Ever the contrarian, she argued that nuclear horror should remain beyond comprehension, not reduced to the “familiar order of catastrophes—fires, flood, earthquakes—which we have always had with us.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Aurora 7 by Thomas Mallon (Harvest, $16). This novel, named for Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter’s ship, brings May 24, 1962, to life—for Carpenter, who orbited the Earth that day; for a grouchy intellectual modeled on McCarthy; and, most profoundly, for an 11-year-old space-struck boy.
Seeing Mary Plain by Frances Kiernan (Norton, $25). Yet more McCarthy, revealed through the words of her famous friends and, occasionally, enemies.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (Harper, $13). Spark’s early novels are models of spare, wry storytelling. Sandy, through whose eyes this novel unfolds, writes a book called “The Transfiguration of the Commonplace”—a good description of what Spark herself achieves, here, and in other not-to-be-missed novels like Memento Mori.
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortens
The Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
By David Faris Published
-
Codeword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Samantha Harvey's 6 favorite books that redefine how we see the world
Feature The Booker Prize-winning author recommends works by Marilynne Robinson, George Eliot, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Alan Cumming's 6 favorite works with resilient characters
Feature The award-winning stage and screen actor recommends works by Douglas Stuart, Alasdair Gray, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Shahnaz Habib's 6 favorite books that explore different cultures
Feature The essayist and translator recommends works by Vivek Shanbhag, Adania Shibli, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Niall Williams' 6 favorite books with rich storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Charles Dickens, James McBride, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Nigel Hamilton's 6 inspirational books for fellow writers
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by John Banville, Ann Patchett, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Ed Park's 6 favorite works about self reflection and human connection
Feature The Pulitzer Prize finalist recommends works by Jason Rekulak, Gillian Linden, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Bonnie Jo Campbell's 6 favorite books about unconventional relationships
Feature The former National Book Award finalist recommends works by Tove Jansson, Virginia Woolf, and more
By The Week US Published