A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (Scribner, $13). Set on the Italian front during World War I, this is simply one of the best novels ever written about innocence, love, and loss. The first five paragraphs comprise a perfect miniature war story, full of grim foreboding about the beating that both the troops and Hemingway’s characters would take.
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A Death in the Family by James Agee (Vintage, $13). An American classic about a summons home that takes a tragic turn, and a hymn to small country towns, porch rockers, screen doors, and dewy summer nights. Because I spent part of my childhood abroad, I always missed having that sense of belonging, and Agee’s rootedness, his powerful sense of place, is mesmerizing.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Modern Library, $10). The first epic Russian novel I read, and the one that showed me there was much to learn in the pages of literature about a woman’s place in the world, the pitfalls of living life according to society’s mores, and the price of defiance.
Burger’s Daughter by Nadine Gordimer (Penguin, $14). Gordimer is South Africa’s Tolstoy, and in this book she movingly chronicles a young woman’s coming of age against the background of turbulent social change, masterfully demonstrating how the political inexorably becomes personal.
Devices and Desires
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The ‘menopause gold rush’Under the Radar Women vulnerable to misinformation and marketing of ‘unregulated’ products
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Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS’s pivotal decisionFeature A Supreme Court ruling against the Voting Rights Act could allow Republicans to redraw districts and solidify control of the House
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No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
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Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
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Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
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Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
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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
