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.
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.
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.

Tom Brokaw presided over NBC Nightly News for 22 years as anchor and managing editor, receiving practically every major award in broadcast journalism, including two DuPonts, a Peabody, and several Emmys. He has also written six books of non-fiction, most notably The Greatest Generation. His new book, The Time of Our Lives, offers advice gleaned from his own experiences and those of other innovators about how we can revitalize the promise of the American Dream. When we asked him to pick three favorites, Brokaw responded: "Selecting just three favorite books is an unfair request, not unlike being asked to name your favorite child. So my list is conditional. It represents favorites in personal categories rather than a list of the all time, couldn't live without, best books ever written." Enjoy!
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