June 10, 2012

This week's reviews

CRY WOLF

Red Moon, Benjamin Percy
"A man boards an early-morning flight from San Francisco to Portland, Ore. Although dressed for business, in a charcoal suit and wingtips, he carries nothing in his briefcase ......more".
Reviewed by Justin Cronin
  • The Son

    LONE STAR

    Reviewed by Will Blythe

    Bad historical novels – which is to say, most historical novels – are bad in exactly the same way: stuffed with the usual rogues’ gallery of historically certified villains, they’re banal costume dramas, predestined in...more

  • The Why of Things

    THEY'VE COME UNDONE

    Reviewed by Helen Schulman

    It has been nine months since Joan Jacobs’s beloved 17-year-old daughter, Sophie, took her own life by driving onto the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train. At home in Maryland, Joan, a novelist, feels “Sophie’s...more

  • Confessions of a Sociopath

    FEELINGS?

    Reviewed by Jon Ronson

    As a teenager, M. E. Thomas – a fittingly egotistic pseudonym – was “so uniquely accomplished, talented and charming that I was naturally included on everyone’s list of people to know.” She went to indie movies and...more

  • In the Body of the World

    THE CANCER MONOLOGUE

    Reviewed by Rosemary Bray Mcnatt

    Eve Ensler is an activist, playwright and author with a reputation as a fearless champion of women – attesting to their pain and their joys, but most of all celebrating their stories. Ensler’s signature play, “The Vagina...more

  • The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

    HORSEPLAY

    Reviewed by Alex Kuczynski

    The year is 1930 and the country has slid into the Great Depression. Fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell has been ejected from her family home in Florida for doing something very, very bad. Her punishment: to be remanded to the...more

  • See all Reviews from The New York Times