Amy Tan: By the Book
The author of “The Valley of Amazement” and “The Joy Luck Club” fantasizes about catching up on reading in prison: “No email, no useless warranties, . . . no invitations to fund-raisers.”
Sunday Book Review
‘The Bully Pulpit’
By DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
Reviewed by BILL KELLER
Paul Rogers
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Bully Pulpit” is built around two relationships: one between the reformist politicians Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and the other between power and the press.
‘Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography’
By RICHARD RODRIGUEZ
Reviewed by LESLIE JAMISON
Richard Rodriguez reckons with sexuality and religion in these soul-searching essays.
‘A Prayer Journal’
By FLANNERY O’CONNOR
Reviewed by MARILYNNE ROBINSON
Flannery O’Connor’s journal addressed to God was written when she was a 20-year-old student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
‘Tatiana’
By MARTIN CRUZ SMITH
Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER
Arkady Renko turns to a translator’s cryptic notebook while investigating two deaths in Moscow.
‘Dirty Love’
By ANDRE DUBUS III
Reviewed by JEFF TURRENTINE
Four linked stories explore characters’ bottomless needs and stubborn weaknesses.
‘The Death of Santini’
By PAT CONROY
Reviewed by FRANK BRUNI
Pat Conroy’s family memoir centers on his father, the inspiration for “The Great Santini.”
‘The Boy Detective: A New York Childhood’
By ROGER ROSENBLATT
Reviewed by PETE HAMILL
Roger Rosenblatt has always loved to stroll around his city and ponder what he sees.
‘Death of the Black-Haired Girl’
By ROBERT STONE
Reviewed by CLAIRE MESSUD
In Robert Stone’s novel, several characters feel responsible for a young woman’s death.
‘Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders’
By DENISE A. SPELLBERG
Reviewed by KIRK DAVIS SWINEHART
The purchase of a Quran helped Thomas Jefferson develop an attitude of religious tolerance.
Strong Proof
By IRIN CARMON
Two books examine the increase in female drunkenness and the potential reasons for it.
‘Falling Upwards’
By RICHARD HOLMES
Reviewed by PAUL ELIE
Richard Holmes looks at pioneering generations of European and American balloonists.
‘Nostalgia’
By DENNIS McFARLAND
Reviewed by DAVID GOODWILLIE
Wounded at the start of Grant’s Overland Campaign, a soldier faces recovery in a military hospital.
‘A Permanent Member of the Family’
By RUSSELL BANKS
Reviewed by GARY KRIST
The characters in Russell Banks’s stories flirt with transgression but are ultimately resigned to their safer lives.
Crime
Without a Trace
By MARILYN STASIO
“Critical Mass,” Sara Paretsky’s new V. I. Warshawski novel, involves a character inspired by the brilliant but unsung Austrian physicist Marietta Blau.
‘The Map and the Territory’
By ALAN GREENSPAN
Reviewed by N. GREGORY MANKIW
In the wake of the Great Recession, Alan Greenspan questions fundamental assumptions about economic forecasting.
Books News & Reviews
Philippe Matsas
Owen Matthews
“Glorious Misadventures” is Owen Matthews’s tale of Russia’s fantasies of annexing the West Coast of what is now the United States.
A Writer Thrives in Two Cultures
By LARRY ROHTER
Daniel Alarcón, raised and educated in America, has a new novel, “At Night We Walk in Circles,” which is set in his native Peru, where he is known for works in Spanish.
Books of The Times
‘A Life of Barbara Stanwyck’
By VICTORIA WILSON
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN
Victoria Wilson’s lengthy “A Life of Barbara Stanwyck” covers only part of the life of its subject but teems with anecdotes about sex roles in the emerging film industry.
Siding With Google, Judge Says Book Search Does Not Infringe Copyright
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and JULIE BOSMAN
The Authors Guild said it disagreed with the decision and planned to appeal. Google said it was “delighted” with the outcome.
Jeter Prepares to Turn a Page and Publish Many Others
By JULIE BOSMAN
Jeter Publishing, whose first books are expected to be released in 2014, provides a partial answer to fans who have wondered what Derek Jeter plans to do once he retires from baseball.
Tired Metaphors? Ciao, Contestant!
By TOM RACHMAN
“Masterpiece,” a new Italian reality show in which writers compete to have their work published, may feel crass. Then again, novels normally get short shrift on television.
William T. Vollmann: The Self Images of a Cross-Dresser
By STEPHEN HEYMAN
The author and National Book Award winner on cross-dressing and his feminine side.
Books of The Times
‘A Colossal Wreck’
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
Reviewed by DWIGHT GARNER
In “A Colossal Wreck,” Alexander Cockburn puts forth his searing opinions on America.
Children's Books
In Experienced Hands
By SARAH HARRISON SMITH
Grandmothers and grandfathers are at the center of the action in two new picture books.
Books of The Times
‘The Bully Pulpit’
By DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
Reviewed by MICHIKO KAKUTANI
In “Bully Pulpit,” Doris Kearns Goodwin examines Theodore Roosevelt’s friendship-turned-rivalry with William Howard Taft and his way of harnessing the press to challenge monopolies and advance his vision.
ArtsBeat
Poets Remember Seamus Heaney
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Paul Muldoon, Lucie Brock-Broido and Paul Simon were among those who read from Mr. Heaney’s work at Cooper Union’s Great Hall.
Books of The Times
‘Amsterdam’
By RUSSELL SHORTO
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN
Russell Shorto, the acclaimed writer about New Amsterdam, turns his attention to the original city, in the Netherlands.
Surveillance Leaves Writers Wary
By NOAM COHEN
A survey by the writers’ organization PEN American Center has found that a large majority of its members are deeply concerned about the extent of government surveillance of email and phone records.
‘City on Fire,’ a Debut Novel, Fetches Nearly $2 Million
By JULIE BOSMAN
Garth Risk Hallberg’s novel took the publishing industry by storm last week and provides evidence of a resurgence of long fiction.
Early Beatles on the BBC, Bantering and Bluesy
By ALLAN KOZINN
A new collection of recordings on British radio, “On Air — Live at the BBC Volume 2,” filled with chat and covers of American songs, shows what made the band tick.
Martin Cruz Smith Reveals a Twist in His Tale
By PAM BELLUCK
Deep brain stimulation therapy has offered hope to the acclaimed author of taut thrillers like “Gorky Park,” who hid his diagnosis of Parkinson’s for years, fearing judgment and pity.
For Gore Vidal, a Final Plot Twist
By TIM TEEMAN
The author and master contrarian left his entire estate to Harvard, forsaking loved ones and setting off a legal battle.
Mapping a Life, and Finishing a Long Trip
By WILLIAM GRIMES
When Artemis Cooper set out to write a biography of the travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, she learned that great storytellers can be less than great when telling their own stories.
The Syllable Everyone Recognizes
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Researchers suggest in the journal PLOS One that the interrogative word “huh” could be a universal word.
40 Years On, No Foul Play Found in Chilean Poet’s Death
By PASCALE BONNEFOY
A driver for Pablo Neruda, the Nobel-winning poet who died weeks after a coup ousting Salvador Allende, had alleged he was given a mysterious injection.
Books of The Times
‘Anything That Moves’
By DANA GOODYEAR
Reviewed by DWIGHT GARNER
Dana Goodyear’s “Anything That Moves” is a gastronomic adventure of exploring unusual foodstuff.
More to Remember Than Just the Madeleine
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
The centennial of Marcel Proust’s “Swann’s Way” is being remembered through various events in the New York area.
ArtsBeat
No Fairy Tale: Robert Hilburn Talks About ‘Johnny Cash: The Life’
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Mr. Hilburn’s new biography covers the many highs and lows of the Man in Black’s career.
Books of The Times
‘Fosse’
By SAM WASSON
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN
Sam Wasson’s “Fosse” is an intensively researched and sprawling biography of the director and choreographer.
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HARDCOVER
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PAPERBACK
The Fair That Lived, Propelling Miami Arts
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
The Miami Book Fair International, opening on Sunday and going on 30, was founded in dark days for the city, lending crucial momentum to other cultural efforts.
Open Book
Uncommon Prayers
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Few modern writers address the subject of supplication, even briefly, with the seriousness of Flannery O’Connor.
Bookends
How Do We Judge Books Written Under Pseudonyms?
By FRANCINE PROSE and DANIEL MENDELSOHN
Francine Prose and Daniel Mendelsohn on what readers’ and critics’ reactions say about works written behind a false name.
The Shortlist
Jewish Identities
By ANNA ALTMAN
New books by Jeffrey S. Gurock, Seth Lipsky, Dianne Ashton and Derek J. Penslar.
Inside The New York Times Book Review Podcast
This week, Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses “The Bully Pulpit”; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; N. Gregory Mankiw talks about Alan Greenspan’s “Map and the Territory”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.
Book Review Features
Inside the List
By GREGORY COWLES
Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose “Bully Pulpit” enters the hardcover nonfiction list at No. 4, has again found up-to-the-minute relevance in history; this time, in the Progressive Era.
Hyperbole and a Book
Allie Brosh, whose blog “Hyperbole and a Half” attracts as many as five million readers a month, has published her first book.
The Read Around: Jesmyn Ward
Jesmyn Ward discusses her memoir, “Men We Reaped,” and the challenge of writing about people she has known and loved.
Best Illustrated Books
The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2013, with sample artwork from each.
Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Master of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66
By JULIE BOSMAN
Mr. Clancy’s books were successfully transformed into blockbuster Hollywood films, including “Patriot Games,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “Clear and Present Danger.”
Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet of Soil and Strife, Dies at 74
By MARGALIT FOX
Mr. Heaney, a widely celebrated Irish poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, is recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century.
Heaney Reads His Work
New Grove Dictionary Broadens Scope on American Music
November 15, 2013
Video: ‘Hyperbole,’ Comedy and Angst
November 15, 2013
Book Review Podcast: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s ‘Bully Pulpit’
November 15, 2013
From the Magazine
Talk
Terry Lenzner on Tricky Dick and Dirty Tricks
Interview by AMY CHOZICK
Washington’s most-feared private investigator isn’t afraid of Dumpster diving.
Bookshelf
Boy Detective, Gilded New York and Best-Dressed Man
By SAM ROBERTS
Books about a curious boy growing up in Gramercy Park; the lavish homes and belongings of early philanthropists; and well-dressed criminals.
Heads Up
Hotels, a Place to Lay Your Head, or Bury It in a Book
By ELAINE GLUSAC
To serve guests with time to read, hotels build a literary trove just outside their rooms.
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