What we're reading, what we're liking
The Persian Bride by James Buchan
This British novel has been touted as another "Dr. Zhivago," and there is in fact something similar in its political/historical sweep and its romantic appeal. It tells the tale of a young, true-hearted British student who falls in love with the daughter of a cruel Iranian military commander on the eve of the Islamic revolution. Buchan's description of the young couple's death-defying elopement and their "honeymoon" on the lam from the bride's dangerously unforgiving father is breathtaking to read, an intoxicating mix of suspense and eros. The young lovers pay a terrible price for their passionate rebellion against Iranian custom. Buchan gives a punishing portrait of life inside the mullahs' penal system, as the couple is caught up in the machinery of Islamic justice, as well as a harrowing picture of life on the suicidal front lines of the Iran-Iraq bloodfest which slogged on through much of the 1980s. By the novel's end, the no-longer young Englishman's love has been hammered into hard metal by some of the century's cruelest affronts. "The Persian Bride" is a demanding love story, but well worth the commitment.
--David Talbot
The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst by David Nasaw
When my boss originally urged this biography on me, I resisted -- sure he likes it, I thought: It's about a carousing, power-crazed California publishing magnate. How quick to scoff I was, and how wrong. Nasaw's meticulously crafted "riches to more riches" account of Hearst's canny construction of the first American media empire is addictive reading, filled with famous characters -- movie stars! politicians! -- and intriguing new interpretations of such standard stories as Hearst's shift from the left to the right end of the political spectrum. Hearst's life is a better story than you get in most novels these days -- and I hear someone once made a movie about him, too...
--Laura Miller
Recent books praised by Salon's critics
Salon Book Awards
Salon's book editors pick the ten books from 2000 we wished would never end.
By Laura Miller and Maria Russo
[12/18/00]
"Dreamcatcher" by Stephen King and "Ordinary Horror" by David Searcy
King's latest book takes a page from "The X-Files," while an elegantly literary debut tells of creeping, formless suburban terror.
By Laura Miller [02/22/01]
Love, Etc by Julian Barnes
The eternal triangle returns in this story of a woman who has left her stolid, successful husband for a charming wastrel.
Reviewed by Amy Benfer [02/21/01]
The Body Artist by Don DeLillo
A grieving woman, an almost empty house and a very strange visitor add up to a metaphysical puzzle by this American master. Reviewed by Maria Russo [02/21/01]
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
In this Gothic wonder of a novel, madness, incest and even worse follow a mother's ruthless desertion.
Reviewed by Suzy Hansen [02/21/01]
Rides of the Midway by Lee Durkee
With this full-tilt novel of youthful catastrophe and hellbent debauchery, a bartender kicks in the door of Southern literature.
Reviewed by Jonathan Miles [02/21/01]
The Lecturer's Tale by James Hynes
In this academic satire with a supernatural twist, a beleaguered adjunct lecturer acquires the power to fulfill his dreams -- for good and evil.
Reviewed by Amy Reiter [02/21/01]
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
This tale of a misbegotten quest to find the Garden of Eden in Tasmania effortlessly blends the hilarious and the heartbreaking.
Reviewed by Laura Miller [02/21/01]
Everyday People by Stewart O'Nan
In a neighborhood on the brink of exile, the author of "Prayer for the Dying" sets a family of criminals, converts, adulterers and saints.
Reviewed by Amy Benfer [02/21/01]
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The bestselling author returns to the epic, cross-generational storytelling that made "The Joy Luck Club" an international hit.
Reviewed by Maria Russo [02/21/01]
Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner
This unexpected but moving fictional tribute to Cleveland teems with real-life figures like Elliot Ness and Alan Freed.
Reviewed by Amy Reiter [02/21/01]
The crime of my life
Election and recession getting you down? Check out the mystery novels that got me through a very tough year.
By Charles Taylor
[01/03/01]
"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser
A stomach-churning critique of the health and labor practices of the burger business argues that Americans should change their dietary habits. Good luck.
Reviewed by Maria Russo
[02/08/01]
Our man in the shadows
With his romantic, complex spy novels about prewar Europe, Alan Furst is the heir to John le Carri.
By Charles Taylor
[01/24/01]
The Man Who Found the Missing Link by Pat Shipman
A new biography recounts the story of the brilliant scientist who fought priests, politicians and jungles to prove Darwin right.
Reviewed by Edward McSweegan
[01/18/01]
The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrire
A new book probes the case of the phony doctor who killed his family rather than confront a life of lies.
Reviewed by Laura Miller
[01/12/01]
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
A disfigured girl spins out the secrets of her family's disastrous history in this Booker Prize-nominated novel by a new Welsh writer.
Reviewed by Maria Russo
[01/11/01]
The Biographer's Tale by A.S. Byatt
A disillusioned student forsakes literary theory to unearth the truth about an enigmatic writer in the latest feast for the mind by the author of "Possession."
Reviewed by Laura Miller
[01/11/01]
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
A legendary Australian outlaw relates his adventures in this rousing tale of injustice and defiance from the prize-winning author of "Oscar and Lucinda."
Reviewed by Laura Miller
[01/11/01]
Demonology by Rick Moody
A collection of inventive and passionate stories by one of today's most acclaimed young writers.
Reviewed by Amy Benfer
[01/11/01]
The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri
Life, death and forbidden love feed the feuds in a Bombay apartment building in this elegant, clever first novel.
Reviewed by Suzy Hansen
[01/11/01]
Gob's Grief by Chris Adrian
History and fantasy combine in this powerful story of a twin killed during the Civil War and his brother's strange scheme to bring him back to life.
Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Williams
[01/11/01]
Cloning: Responsible Science or Technomadness? by Michael Ruse and Aryne Sheppard, editors
A new book shows that ethical questions about replicating humans are less consequential than the procedure's threat to our biological diversity.
Reviewed by Michael Scott Moore
[01/04/01]
On Cukor by Gavin Lambert
Back at last -- a gorgeous, discreetly gossipy cult-classic book of photos and interviews with the elusive film director.
Reviewed by Charles Taylor
[12/21/00]
The Century of the Gene by Evelyn Fox Keller
A new book argues that there may be no such thing as a gene.
Reviewed by Carolyn McConnell
[12/19/00]
Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck
A memoirist who survived a childhood of neglect and catastrophe reinhabits her younger self, with powerful and harrowing results.
Reviewed by Brigitte Frase
[12/14/00]
Castration: An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood by Gary Taylor
A look at eunuchs through the ages offers a provocative take on what it means to be a man.
Reviewed by Greg Villepique
[12/13/00]
Blood Poets: A Cinema of Savagery by Jake Horsley
A new book says the violence of great movies, from "The Wild Bunch" to "The Matrix," has a beauty that can't be denied.
Reviewed by Charles Taylor
[12/11/00]
Bellow by James Atlas
The long-awaited chronicle of the Nobel laureate's path from bootlegger's son to literary boychik to cranky old man shows why Saul Bellow has many admirers but few friends.
Reviewed by Edward Neuert
[12/06/00]
In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story by Debbie Geller
An oral history of the real fifth Beatle shows the visionary genius of the man who discovered the Fab Four.
Reviewed by Charles Taylor
[12/05/00]
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