Steve Fishman
Steve Fishman, a contributing editor at New York magazine, is the author of Karaoke Nation, or How I Spent a Year in Search of Glamour, Fulfillment, and a Million Dollars (Free Press, $25).
Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow (Penguin, $15). This is the Bellow to read. All the great stuff is in this one: the narrator who wants and wants, the serial objects of desire (women), the snub-nosed business-oriented brother, the gorgeous talker Humboldt, and also the brilliant throwaway lines that other writers would kill for…all that before Bellow wanders off into a cannibal theme.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Modern Library, $10). Tolstoy’s prose is pedestrian and often ponderous. But his relentless descriptive energy, his full characters, and above all his Anna—so wonderfully and modernly unhappy—make this a treat.
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.
Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks (Touchstone Books, $14). Sly and funny, this book caught that touchstone moment when we found ourselves at cocktail parties lamenting, with a heartsick laugh, how we’d once been liberal, rebellious, but now, what with the kids and the cars, hugged the moderate middle, though, of course, we still preferred whole grains and natural fibers.
Selling Ben Cheever by Ben Cheever (Bloomsbury USA, $15). Hapless Ben, who has assigned himself the role of less-famous son, takes a series of low-end jobs and gets surprising uplift out of it. You come away knowing a lot more about the meaning of work—and adulthood—in America, though Cheever himself doesn’t really achieve either.
The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by Ryszard Kapuscinski (Vintage, $12). This is the story of the fall of the dictator Selassie in Ethiopia. Very little of it strikes the reader as literally true. Yet the madcap landscape of dictatordom, personal and political, is searing. And in its essence the book feels true.
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
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
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The Finest Summer Flavours
By Sponsored Content Published
-
Today's political cartoons - May 20, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - flags flipped, Diddy dunked, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Diddy admits to beating girlfriend after video
Speed Read Though he previously denied allegations of abuse, Combs apologized for abusing Cassie Ventura following the release of new CCTV footage
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cynthia Carr's 6 favorite books that explore social issues
Feature The former culture writer recommends works by Ling Ma, Olga Tokarczuk, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Tom Crewe's 6 favorite works that challenge societal norms
Feature The novelist recommends works by Margaret Oliphant, Patrick White, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Daniel Wallace's 5 favorite books that should not be forgotten
Feature The author recommends works by Italo Calvino, Evan S. Connell, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Sarah Langan recommends 6 women-centric horror books
Feature The horror novelist recommends works by Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Amanda Montell's 6 favorite books that will expand your knowledge
Feature The linguist recommends works by Mary Roach, Alice Carrière, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rowan Beaird recommends 6 compelling books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Stephen Graham Jones' 6 scary books with deeper meanings
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Sara Gran, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Keith O'Brien's 6 must-read books about significant moments in sports history
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Laura Hillenbrand, Jonathan Eig and more
By The Week US Published