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On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review Roaring at the Screen With Pauline Kael Reviewed by FRANK RICH "The Age of Movies" and "Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark" chronicle the life and career of the movie critic who transformed the sensibility and standards of mainstream pop culture criticism in America.  Up Front: Frank Rich  Excerpt: 'The Age of Movies'  Excerpt: 'Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark' Also in the Book Review 'The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume II, 1941-1956' Reviewed by DENIS DONOGHUE A new collection features letters from the years when Samuel Beckett wrote "Waiting for Godot." 'Zone One' By COLSON WHITEHEAD Reviewed by GLEN DUNCAN In Colson Whitehead's novel, humans spared the effects of a plague battle zombies in Lower Manhattan. 'The Journals of Spalding Gray' Edited by Nell Casey Reviewed by RON ROSENBAUM Spalding Gray's journals reveal how hard he worked at appearing spontaneous.  Excerpt: 'The Journals of Spalding Gray 'James Madison' By RICHARD BROOKHISER Reviewed by RICHARD BEEMAN Richard Brookhiser presents a portrait of James Madison. 'Pulphead' By JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN Reviewed by GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS John Jeremiah Sullivan's essays balance an emphasis on pop heroism with a search for his own roots. 'Mr. Fox' By HELEN OYEYEMI Reviewed by AIMEE BENDER In a series of vignettes, Helen Oyeyemi constructs a love triangle involving a writer, his wife and his most inspired creation. 'Practical Jean' By TREVOR COLE Reviewed by MEG WOLITZER In Trevor Cole's novel, a ceramist wants to make sure her friends feel a moment of joy before they die. 'Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War' By TONY HORWITZ Reviewed by KEVIN BOYLE For John Brown, violence was necessary to defeat slavery. 'Is That a Fish in Your Ear?' By DAVID BELLOS Reviewed by ADAM THIRLWELL David Bellos offers a new approach to translation. 'Jerusalem: The Biography' By SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE Reviewed by JONATHAN ROSEN Simon Sebag Montefiore tells Jerusalem's long history, from King David to the 1967 war. 'Lucky Break' By ESTHER FREUD Reviewed by CARYN JAMES Esther Freud's novel charts the diverging fortunes of a group of actors who meet as students at drama school.

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 Inside the List Editors' Choice Paperback Row Back Page ESSAY The Short, Unsuccessful Life of the American Book Awards By CRAIG FEHRMAN In 1980, the publishing industry's awards ceremony went Hollywood - with results disastrous enough to ensure it would never happen again. HORROR Ambrose Bierce: The Man and His Demons By TERRENCE RAFFERTY "The Devil's Dictionary, Tales and Memoirs" is a new collection of the most spine-chilling of the powerful American horror writer's work. Book Review Podcast Featuring Frank Rich on the life of film critic Pauline Kael; and Richard Brookhiser on his new biography of James Madison. Holy (Cash) Cow! Vintage Comics Covers From Joker Creator Up for Auction Yale Press to Publish Forgotten Eugene O'Neill One-Act in Book Form Whiting Foundation Names Winners of Writers' Awards