Books Update NYT

December 21, 2012
Books Update



On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review

Has Fiction Lost Its Faith?
By PAUL ELIE


Christian belief figures into literary fiction in our place and time as something between a dead language and a hangover.
Up Front: Paul Elie



Also in the Book Review

Lee Child: By the Book


The author, whose lead character makes his film debut this weekend in "Jack Reacher," would like to ask Shakespeare, "Why did you make 'Richard III' so damn long?"
By the Book: Archive

'Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness'
By SUSANNAH CAHALAN
Reviewed by MICHAEL GREENBERG


A journalist describes her remarkable recovery from a rare and mysterious illness.

'Brothers'
By GEORGE HOWE COLT
Reviewed by PHILLIP LOPATE


George Howe Colt looks at famous brothers throughout history, and reflects on how his own brothers have shaped his life.

'The Last Lion'
By WILLIAM MANCHESTER and PAUL REID
Reviewed by RICHARD ALDOUS


Before his death in 2004, William Manchester asked a journalist to complete the final volume of his biography of Winston Churchill.
Magazine: A Problem of Churchillian Proportions

'Panorama City'
By ANTOINE WILSON
Reviewed by ADAM ROSS


Antoine Wilson's guileless narrator takes a California journey.

'Living With Guns: A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment'
By CRAIG R. WHITNEY
Reviewed by JASON ZENGERLE


Craig R. Whitney examines America's long relationship with guns.

Where Credit Is Due
By BRENDA WINEAPPLE


A biography of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's mother, highlights her role in her daughter's life.

'Detroit City Is the Place to Be'
By MARK BINELLI
Reviewed by JONATHAN MAHLER


Mark Binelli's account of Detroit looks beyond its scarred landscape.
ArtsBeat Q. & A.: Mark Binelli

'Beggar's Feast'
By RANDY BOYAGODA
Reviewed by SARA WHEELER


Over a century, as Ceylon becomes Sri Lanka, the protagonist of this novel transforms himself.

'The Paris Deadline'
By MAX BYRD
Reviewed by ALAN RIDING


In Max Byrd's thriller set in 1926 Paris, a Frenchman's invention figures large.

Fiction Chronicle
By JULIET LAPIDOS


New books by Elena Ferrante, E. J. Levy, W. D. Wetherell, Georgina Harding and Jonas Jonasson.

'America's Unwritten Constitution'
By AKHIL REED AMAR
Reviewed by ROBERT P. GEORGE


The Constitution is more than its text, Akhil Reed Amar argues.

Element of Surprise
By MARILYN STASIO


The narrative of "The Child's Child," by Barbara Vine (a k a Ruth Rendell), turns on two parallel plots about sexual taboos, each set in a different time frame.