Anthony Swofford, a Gulf War veteran, is the author of Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles (Scribner, $24).
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (Vintage, $17). Mann’s Hans Castorp is an early-20th-century guide into the emotional and philosophical horrors of warfare and nationalism. The prose is pure song, and around page 500, after Hans enters the woods during a snowstorm, the reader, like Hans, never returns to his former, simpler, and healthier self.
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On Being Blue by William H. Gass (David Godine, $12). A book-length philosophical essay on all things blue—sex, depression, Kandinsky. Gass convinced me that the sexiest thing in the world is not the narrated sex act, but the sexy sentence. You must make sentences that scream love and “yes I said yes I will yes” before you smoke that cigarette.
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (Random House, $13). Faulkner’s great mystery. Love, honor, failure, the impossibility of escaping one’s ancestors and their crimes. Shame, hate, slavery, sexual crimes, the burdens of history.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Random House, $13). Ellison’s Invisible Man takes us further into the American race journey than Faulkner was able to. Because the writer/character who emerges at the end of the novel is no longer invisible, he insists that we see him, and he asks whether or not he speaks for us. Invisible Man indeed speaks for America, her staggering failures and her hopes.
The White Album
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Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
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Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
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Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
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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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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
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Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
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Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
