FICTION
Released: Oct. 25, 2011
"Orwellian dystopia, sci-fi, the modern world (terrorism, drugs, apathy, pop novels)--all blend in this dreamlike, strange and wholly unforgettable epic."
"Things are not what they seem." If Murakami's (
After Dark, 2008, etc.) ambitious, sprawling and thoroughly stunning new novel had a tagline, that would be it.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 18, 2011
"More comedy than tragedy: It's hard to garner much sympathy for characters whose lives are determined by their own selfish choices as much as by fate, but Guterson maintains an enjoyably sharp edge to his humor that will keep readers hooked."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 18, 2011
"The latest from a generation of literary novelists who are erasing the distinction between art and pulp."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 11, 2011
"A treat no fan of Discworld--and there are boatloads of them--will want to miss."
Pratchett's new Discworld (
Unseen Academicals, 2009, etc.) novel--the umpteenth, but who's counting?--features the Duke of Ankh, otherwise known as Commander Sir Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, whose estimable wife, Lady Sybil, decrees that they shall take a vacation at her ancestral estate in the country.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 11, 2011
"Dazzling work—Eugenides continues to show that he is one of the finest of contemporary novelists."
A stunning novel—erudite, compassionate and penetrating in its analysis of love relationships.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 11, 2011
"Although the complexity of the historical and political events threatens to overwhelm Jacquetta's story, the suspenseful pace never flags."
A duchess endowed with second sight is caught up in the War of the Roses, in another installment of Gregory's Cousins' War series (The Red Queen, 2010).
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
A Southern gothic narrative that's strong on characters and backwoods atmosphere but undermined by literary affectation.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
"Each one of these stories could establish itself as some reader's favorite."
Another stellar selection from an anthology that has sustained high standards for 35 years.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
A Southern gothic narrative that's strong on characters and backwoods atmosphere but undermined by literary affectation.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
"A close, yes--but with wiggle room for more Acacian adventures. At any rate, on the strength of this installment, Durham's many fans will be clamoring for more."
Durham (
Gabriel's Story, 2002, etc.) brings his sci-fi Acacia Trilogy to a satisfying close.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 4, 2011
"An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill."
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 3, 2011
"In rueful, witty, unpredictable and compassionate prose, Enright gives expression to subtle, affecting shades of human interaction."
An adulterous love affair and Ireland's financial collapse overlap in the consistently impressive latest from the Man Booker Prize winner.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"Delaney keeps all of the incipient tragedy beautifully and heartbreakingly balanced through artful plotting and an unadorned but graceful prose style."
Broken Irish Americans from South Boston, that is—and there's plenty of brokenness to go around at the turn of the 21st century.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"A delectable serving of Tudor dish."
Another "historical entertainment" from Erickson, in which the third wife of Henry VIII has her say.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"Elegiac, mature and nostalgic--a fine evocation of childhood, and of days irretrievably past."
A graceful, closely observed novel that blends coming-of-age tropes with a Conradian sea voyage.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"Idiosyncratic, outlandish--and a good read."
Barth delivers a slim postmodern novel about--what else?--a postmodern novelist experiencing a series of uncanny coincidences and visions.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"Wounds-and-all portrait of a lion in winter, beleaguered but still battling."
A mountain, a mess and an agonized moralist, Detective Sunderson makes this mock-epic one of the most memorable tales of contemporary master Harrison (In Search of Small Gods, 2009, etc.).
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
A historical novel with a timeless theme--the inhumanly human brutality of war and the attempt to sustain a life of compassion and grace in response to it.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"A lovely, lively novel for all its sometimes bitter view of the war between the sexes; impeccably written, and without a false note."
Man Booker Prize winner Jacobson (
The Finkler Question, 2010, etc.) delivers a cross-the-pond rejoinder to Philip Roth in this entertaining, sexually laden picaresque.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2011
"Virgil fully deserves to have Willard Pye kiss his ass."
A methodical bomber gives Virgil Flowers a welcome chance to recover from his atypically bombastic last outing (Bad Blood, 2010, etc.).
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