Robert Sullivan
Robert Sullivan is the author of The Meadowlands and A Whale Hunt. His newest book is Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants.
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (Ballantine, $15). This novel is great, first, because Anne Tyler is a genius, a writer with the light touch necessary to play the deepest human chords, and, second, because it is about America and how, like Tyler’s hero, it strives to cocoon itself only in what it knows.
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene (Penguin, $13). A funny story about a single father who, trying to support his teenage daughter’s horse-riding habit, reluctantly moonlights as a British spy. It’s excellent comic Greene, though in the end the joke is not completely a joke: Within it swirls the darkness of governments, their secrets, and deathly paranoia.
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.
The Van by Roddy Doyle (Penguin, $13). Two unemployed guys in Dublin with kids, babies, and wives buy a van from which to sell fish and chips during the World Cup soccer finals. They work hard, laugh, fight, don’t talk, nearly kill each other and their customers, but then manage, somehow, to stay friends. Brilliant.
Great Plains by Ian Frazier (Picador, $13). The factual is crafted to feel personal but never memoirlike in these stories that grow from Frazier’s travels out on the plains. This is a book you want never to end, but then it ends perfectly, a nearly empty gas tank talking.
The Heather Blazing by Colm Tóibín (Penguin, $13). A beautiful, gripping, yet supremely contemplative novel about a man looking back at his life and his father. Tóibín’s writing is like the surface of a quiet lake, still and quiet but deep and seemingly bottomless.
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Grecotel Luxme Dama Dama: Greek luxury with a breezy beach vibe
The Week Recommends Rhodes is reimagined in this refined and relaxed resort
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytelling
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficulties
Feature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imagination
Feature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious characters
Feature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
-
Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short stories
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more