Buy San Francisco Is Burning at Amazon
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Vintage, $15). Better than any other book, Crime and Punishment convinces the reader of time and place at every turn. And after we’ve followed the murderer Raskolnikov through torment, guilt, and exasperation, we feel as if every synapse of his mind has been revealed.
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Downtown by Pete Hamill (Back Bay, $15). I have lived in New York all of my life, and until I read Hamill’s book, thought I knew as much as I needed to know in order to love every line in the sidewalks. But then Downtown brought me into the hallways, the lobbies, and the alleyways, and into the minds of some of the greatest New Yorkers. It’s a learning experience on the way to true love.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (Modern Library, $10). This is still the only book I know that illustrates successfully how a society changes little by little until it becomes thoroughly corrupt and falls apart. Plus, Gibbon is a writer’s historian, up there with Dante and Shakespeare.
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (Scribner, $14). I knew Angela McCourt. She was a wonderful woman, as filled with charm and wit as her son Frank is with intelligence and talent. Frank’s acclaimed memoir is a book about voice, and all English teachers in the world should memorize every page. But, indeed, everyone should read this book: It will make you laugh.
Little Chapel on the River by Gwendolyn Bounds (Morrow, $24). As clean a book about small-town American life as I have read, better than Winesburg, Ohio. This new ode to a pub is a beautifully told tale that shows how people come to know one another—talking, laughing, and learning.
Christianity and Culture
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‘Every argument has a rational, emotional, and rhetorical component’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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October 6 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include bad news overload, Donald Trump repeatedly crossing a red line, and the Statue of Liberty fallen on hard times
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Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
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Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
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Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
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Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
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Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
