Amanda Stern
Amanda Stern, author of the novel The Long Haul, hosts the popular Happy Ending reading series in New York’s Chinatown. Here she recommends five debut titles, plus a favorite textbook.
Loverboy by Victoria Redel (Harvest, $14). A mother loves her young son so much it almost kills her. Obsessed and gripped by the extraordinary devotion she feels for her child, the nameless mother goes to all lengths to insulate her “Loverboy” from the realities of the world. The prose in this 2001 novel is stunning and ethereal; it operates with a nervous system all its own.
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson (Perennial, $12). Important prose. Every word in Johnson’s debut story collection should be crowned.
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.
Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz (Picador, $10). One of the most unusual and original American voices I’ve read. This 1998 collection knocked me flat. Budnitz sees so clearly into the far-fetched that the plausible dilemma must seem extraterrestrial to her.
First, Body by Melanie Rae Thon (out of print). Thon is a remarkable writer who swerves from the sheen and into the shadows. In this corporeal collection, body is the landscape, the one last suggestion of possession for people who have lost or are losing it all. The only decisions left are the bad ones; the only thing left to scar is the skin.
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
Driving the Heart by Jason Brown (W.W. Norton, $23). These stories feel newly harvested. Brown injects radiance and humor into stories about hopeless men stuck in grim situations, and the prose is astonishingly fresh.
DSM–IV–TR: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
DSM
DSM
-
The marvelous powers of mucus
The Explainer It's snot just a pesky cold symptom
-
What to know about the 'no tax on tips' policy
The Explainer The new bill would make tip income exempt from federal income taxes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Bryan Burrough's 6 favorite books about Old West gunfighters
Feature The Texas-raised author recommends works by T.J. Stiles, John Boessenecker, and more
-
Tash Aw's 6 favorite books about forbidden love
Feature The Malaysian novelist recommends works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and more
-
Richard Bausch's 6 favorite books that are worth rereading
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and more
-
Marya E. Gates' 6 favorite books about women filmmakers
Feature The film writer recommends works by Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and more
-
Laurence Leamer's 6 favorite books that took courage to write
Feature The author recommends works by George Orwell, Truman Capote and more
-
Amor Towles' 6 favorite books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, and more
-
Susan Page's 6 favorite books about historical figures who stood up to authority
Feature The USA Today's Washington bureau chief recommends works by Catherine Clinton, Alexei Navalny, and more
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more