Books Update

January 21, 2011

Books Update

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review

'Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche'

By JAMES MILLER
Reviewed by SARAH BAKEWELL

James Miller argues that philosophers' willingness to reflect on their own petty failings makes their lives more, not less, worth studying.

'All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age'

By HUBERT DREYFUS and SEAN DORRANCE KELLY
Reviewed by SUSAN NEIMAN

Two eminent philosophy professors take aim at contemporary nihilism in this idiosyncratic tour of the classics.

'Late for Tea at the Deer Palace'

By TAMARA CHALABI
Reviewed by LINDA ROBINSON

Ahmad Chalabi's daughter offers an absorbing social history of Iraq through her family story.

'Cinderella Ate My Daughter'

By PEGGY ORENSTEIN
Reviewed by ANNIE MURPHY PAUL

A tour of the hyper-feminine, commercialized world of young girls.

'A Strange Stirring'

By STEPHANIE COONTZ
Reviewed by REBECCA TRAISTER

The social historian Stephanie Coontz re-evaluates "The Feminine Mystique" and its author, Betty Friedan.

•  Reviewer Spotlight: Rebecca Traister

'Crime: Stories'

By FERDINAND VON SCHIRACH
Reviewed by OLEN STEINHAUER

A story collection inspired by true stories of German jurisprudence.

'Lastingness: The Art of Old Age'

By NICHOLAS DELBANCO
Reviewed by BROOKE ALLEN

Nicholas Delbanco asks why some artists mature early and run out of steam, while others gain momentum in old age.

'Learning to Die in Miami'

By CARLOS EIRE
Reviewed by LIGAYA MISHAN

This memoir recalls the heady, scary times of an 11-year-old Cuban's introduction to America in the early 1960s.

'Caribou Island'

By DAVID VANN
Reviewed by KEVIN CANTY

In David Vann's first novel, isolation and an Alaskan winter take their toll on a marriage.

•  Profile of David Vann

'Alone Together'

By SHERRY TURKLE
Reviewed by JONAH LEHRER

Sherry Turkle once saw technology as a tool for playing with identity. Now she fears it is replacing identity.

'The Mistress of Nothing'

By KATE PULLINGER
Reviewed by LISA FUGARD

A novel recreates Lucie Duff Gordon's escape to Egypt and how her Englishness slowly melted away.

'Give Me Your Heart'

By JOYCE CAROL OATES
Reviewed by ANDREA THOMPSON

The women in Joyce Carol Oates's latest collection display a powerful and self-destructive need for love.