Book Review

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review 'The Leftovers' By TOM PERROTTA Reviewed by STEPHEN KING Tom Perrotta's new novel examines how ordinary people react to extraordinary situations in the wake of a rapturelike event that has whisked millions of people off the face of the earth. Also in the Book Review The Enigma of Joseph Heller Reviewed by BLAKE BAILEY A biography and a memoir examine the life and career of the author of "Catch-22." 'Redeemers: Ideas and Power in Latin America' By ENRIQUE KRAUZE Reviewed by PAUL BERMAN A look at literary and political figures in Latin America. 'The Buddha in the Attic' By JULIE OTSUKA Reviewed by ALIDA BECKER In Julie Otsuka's novel, Japanese women sail to America in the early 1900s to become the wives of men they have not met. 'Wendy And the Lost Boys' By JULIE SALAMON Reviewed by FRANCINE PROSE A biography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright reveals a full and complicated life. 'The Magician King' By LEV GROSSMAN Reviewed by DAN KOIS A sequel to "The Magicians" revolves around an unexpected quest.  Up Front: Dan Kois 'Life On Mars' By TRACY K. SMITH Reviewed by JOEL BROUWER Tracy Smith imagines a soundtrack for the universe and mourns her father, who worked on the Hubble Telescope. 'The Secret Life of Pronouns' By JAMES W. PENNEBAKER Reviewed by BEN ZIMMER A psychologist argues that pronouns, articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs and conjunctions reflect our interior lives. 'The Curfew' By JESSE BALL Reviewed by WILLIAM GIRALDI This dystopian novel reveals a world where music is banned and punishment is swift.  Excerpt: 'The Curfew' 'Starting From Happy' By WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICIA MARX Reviewed by ALEXANDRA JACOBS A woman content to be alone meets her mate.

BEST SELLERS Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Hardcover Fiction Hardcover Nonfiction Paperback Trade Fiction Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Paperback Nonfiction All the Lists RELATED COLUMNS TBR: Inside the List Editor's Choice Paperback Row Back Page ESSAY A Veteran Baseball Novel Comes Off the Bench By MATT WEILAND Robert Coover's classic revels in the sun-bright vitality of the game while plumbing its dark truths. READING LIFE What We Do to Books By GEOFF DYER The creases, the annotations and the blood stains all imprint a book with the fact of my having read it. CRIME Deaths in the Family By MARILYN STASIO Mystery novels by Mark Billingham, James Sallis, Maureen Jennings and Kjell Eriksson.  More Crime Columns Nonfiction Chronicle By MEGAN BUSKEY Books about the history of smallpox, Shakespeare's impact, Anna Politkovskaya's journalistic work in Russia and growing up in the Southern Baptist church. Book Review Podcast Featuring Tom Perrotta on the fictional Rapture in his new book, "The Leftovers"; Erica Heller reminisces about her father, Catch-22 author, Joseph Heller. Lineup for 2011 New Yorker Festival Is Announced Thinking Cap: The Seemingly Persistent Rise of Plagiarism E-Book Author Signs Print Deal With Simon & Schuster