Border Crossing
Richard Ford sends a young hero off into peril
and adventure in Canada. Review by Stefan Beck.
My Struggle
A novelist explores his own memories.
Breasts
Natural wonder.
Home
Toni Morrison delivers a soldier's story.
Beastly Things
A butcher is at work in Venice.
GRIN & TONIC
Other Charges May Apply
Finally, a "no hassle" cell phone plan.
LOVE ROCKS
The Drowned Cities
War and survival in a submerged America.
UNIVERSITY PRESSES
The Sonneteer
The creator of love poetry's most enduring form.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Town Without Pity
In Jim Lynch's Truth Like the Sun, a candidate can't keep his past buried forever.
LIBRARY WITHOUT WALLS
Magic Carpet Ride
Michael Dirda, the Arabian Nights, and the invention of fantasy.
Cocktails
A brief library of libations.
Amanda Quick
Haunting works of Victorian mystery.
In One Person
Stimulating reading for book clubs.
Pearls of the Czech New Wave
A cinematic Prague Spring.
Daybook

May 22: America's "Great Migration" westward began on this day in 1843, some 1,000 heading west in the first pioneer exodus over the Oregon Trail. Small groups had been making the five-month trek for several years, but this marked…

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Previously in Daybook
In the Margin

Do you recall the tagline from the very first Superman movie? "You'll believe a man can fly!" Well, I'm tempted to craft such a hyperbolic assertion for China Miéville's…

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Earlier Posts
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The Long List
Books CDs, DVDs to know about now
The Legend of Pradeep Mathew

When a hard-drinking Sri Lankan sportswriter faces liver failure, he decides it's finally time to track down once-great  cricket star Pradeep Mathew. Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Netherland. A Discover Great New Writers selection.

I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts

His subjects range from the suicide note as literary genre to the theme-parking of the Holocaust. But though Mark Dery's "drive-by essays" are sure to court controversy, the writer's commitment to entering intellectual no-fly zones make this collection a daring, bravura work of cultural criticism.

Old Ideas

With dates announced for his upcoming Old Ideas concert tour, we celebrate the inimitable Leonard Cohen: bard, survivor, legend. His most recent album is a return to form for the balladeer, exploring signature themes of lust and longing, spirituality and struggle, all overlaid with a droll sense of humor as familiar as Cohen's prophetic voice.