Frederic Tuten is an author and a 2002 Pulitzer Prize juror. His most recent novel, The Green Hour (W.W. Norton & Co., $25), was published in September.
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien (Dalkey Archive Press, $13). No one but the other Irishman James Joyce has ever made the English language sing the way O’Brien does. A whimsical, chilling tale of murder, insane pedantry, time and infinity, and the soul’s poetry.
Gold Fools by Gilbert Sorrentino (Green Integer Press, $15). Every sentence of this 400-page pseudo boy’s adventure western is an interrogation. You do the answering and blend with the imaginative, comic tale, which includes gold hunts, campfire tales, and Freud.
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.
Shadows on the Hudson by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Dutton/ Plume, $15). Singer’s most profound and mesmerizing novel. The threatened extinction of a religious and cultural heritage, the struggle and the renewal of faith, war, holocaust, the irrationality of our passions—all subjects born from the love story of Singer’s fascinating, bedeviled characters, who live their consuming dramas in the little planet of Manhattan.
The Last Days by Raymond Queneau (Dalkey Archive Press, $12). A young student comes to Paris, lives in a dump, squanders his time in a cafe whose habitués include a charming swindler and a racehorse-betting barman who never seems to lose. An education in love and daydreams told with demotic grace and internal bite.
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis Ferdinand Céline (New Directions, $14). Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night is also my journey, one I never would have taken without him. The novel’s protagonist, the world-traveling, anarchic vagabond Ferdinand, radiates all the bitter, lyrical, joyful melancholy of the last century. This novel takes your heart away while enriching it forever.
Loves That Bind
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind,’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
‘Not all news is bad’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
