Kevin Guilfoile
Kevin Guilfoile is the author of Cast of Shadows, an unconventional thriller that has just been published by Knopf. Here, Guilfoile names six books that transcend their genres.
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (Signet, $7). I wonder if anyone but me still reads (and rereads) Levin, since nearly all his novels have been made into popular movies at least once. Nevertheless, his restraint was a revelation to me as a suspense writer, and Rosemary’s Baby is perhaps the best example of it. Levin doesn’t even pass judgment when Satan himself impregnates an innocent woman. He lets the reader supply the horror. Brilliant.
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.
Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Pocket, $8). King gets bonus creepy points in this 1998 novel for predicting his own near-death-by-van accident. But beyond its ghosts and poltergeists, this is one of the best books about being a writer I’ve ever read. It should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to be a novelist.
Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy (Picador, $15). After The Moviegoer, almost all of Percy’s books were clever riffs on genre. Love in the Ruins is a dystopian sci-fi novel on its face, but it’s also a wicked satire of race, sex, politics, and religion. Much of what was funny in 1971 is somehow even funnier today.
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
The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans (New Millennium, $18). The most irresistible Hollywood tell-all ever. Nearly every chapter starts with some variation of, “Nicholson and I were lying on my bed one Friday night, watching the closed-circuit Hagler-Leonard fight…” Many prefer the audio version (or even the excellent documentary film), but if you’ve ever heard Evans speak, you hear his voice in your head anyway. Also contains the best last sentence in the history of books. I won’t give it away.
Getting Even by Woody Allen (Vintage, $9). Allen’s later story collections—Without Feathers and Side Effects—are probably cited more often, but it was while reading Getting Even that I can first remember wanting to be a writer. This is the Gutenberg Bible of high-concept short literary humor.
Homicide
Homicide
The Wire
-
US, China agree to lower tariffs for 90 days
speed read US tariffs will fall to 30% from 145%, while China will cut its tax on US imports to 10% from 125%
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Does ketchup belong on a hot dog and more May 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's cartoons feature Pope Leo XIV, Newark airport, and Donald Trump's meme coin
-
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
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more