Book Review

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review 'The Tragedy of Arthur' By ARTHUR PHILLIPS Reviewed by STEPHEN GREENBLATT Arthur Phillips's splendidly devious novel consists of a Shakespearean play of his own virtuosic creation and an "introduction" that devastatingly reveals the psychological life of its author.  Excerpt

Also in the Book Review

'Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial'

By JANET MALCOLM
Reviewed by EMILY BAZELON

Janet Malcolm studies the case of a cultivated doctor convicted of hiring a hit man to kill her estranged husband in 2007.

'My New American Life'

By FRANCINE PROSE
Reviewed by RON CARLSON

Francine Prose's wry novel of a young Albanian immigrant in New Jersey sets America in high relief, mordant and comic, light and dark.

'33 Revolutions Per Minute'

By DORIAN LYNSKEY
Reviewed by SEAN WILENTZ

A British music critic explores the tradition of protest music through chapters centered on particular songs.

•  ArtsBeat: Is the Protest Song Dead?
•   Post a Comment | Comment Highlights

'The Summer Without Men'

By SIRI HUSTVEDT
Reviewed by MARIA RUSSO

While her husband pursues an affair, this sprightly novel's heroine becomes immersed in an all-female world.

'On Black Sisters Street'

By CHIKA UNIGWE
Reviewed by FERNANDA EBERSTADT

Chika Unigwe tells the stories of four African sex workers sharing an apartment in a Belgian red-light district.

'Money and Power'

By WILLIAM D. COHAN
Reviewed by PAUL M. BARRETT

A definitive account of how Goldman Sachs became the most profitable and influential investment bank of the modern era.

'There Is No Year'

By BLAKE BUTLER
Reviewed by JOSEPH SALVATORE

Blake Butler's new novel is a family drama presented as a puzzle in diverse forms, from Whitmanesque to minimalist.

'Liberty's Exiles'

By MAYA JASANOFF
Reviewed by THOMAS BENDER

A Harvard historian considers those - rich and poor, white, black and red - who fled the American Revolution.

'In the Basement of the Ivory Tower'

By PROFESSOR X
Reviewed by CALEB CRAIN

Professor X, an adjunct instructor and self-described academic hit man, disputes the idea that college is for everyone.

'The Union War'

By GARY W. GALLAGHER
Reviewed by ERIC FONER

A Civil War historian argues that a commitment to national survival, much more than abolition, motivated the North to fight.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Picture Books About Fearless Women

By CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG and MARISSA MOSS
Reviewed by PAMELA PAUL

"Queen of the Falls" follows Annie Edson Taylor over Niagara Falls in a barrel; and "Nurse, Soldier, Spy" tells the story of the cross-dressing Civil War hero Sarah Emma Edmonds.