What we're reading, what we're liking
American Tabloid by James Ellroy
No one can match James Ellroy ("L.A. Confidential," "The Black Dahlia") for tales of manic depravity. Because it's (ostensibly) true, his memoir "My Dark Places" remains his all-time champion jaw-dropper, but I'm thoroughly enjoying "American Tabloid," the book in which Ellroy turns his attention from the sleazy underworld of mid-century Los Angeles to the sleazy underworld of mid-century American politics. Needless to say, there's plenty of crime, sadism and shameless mendacity in both. The Kennedys, J. Edgar Hoover and Howard Hughes all figure in this story of three guys navigating the complex interrelationships among big business, the FBI, the mob, the CIA and Castro's Cuba. It's pretty darn ugly, but compulsively readable nonetheless.
--Laura Miller
Mao II by Don DeLillo
This 1991 novel, written just before DeLillo's massive "Underworld" and just after the equally celebrated "Libra," seems a bit like a warm-up exercise. Sometimes, though, those little books sandwiched in between the epics are the most perfect, and so it is with Mao II. The plot is kind of an afterthought, but who reads DeLillo for plot anyway? It's the games he plays with you as you read. "Mao II" is about a reclusive writer coming out of hiding, and it has a blurb from Thomas Pynchon stamped on the back cover. The book's central theme is masterful -- that terrorists have a firmer grasp on the collective modern consciousness than writers do. And, of course, there are those indelible trademark DeLillo images -- like the drunken honeymoon party atop a tank in Beirut circa 1985 -- to punctuate it all.
--Anthony York
Recent books praised by Salon's critics
Stoned: A Memoir of London in the 1960s by Andrew Loog Oldham
The man who turned the Rolling Stones into bad-boy icons tells his story, and a fan weighs in.
Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek
[04/06/01]
Crawling at Night by Nani Power
In this complex, erotic novel, Asian and Western characters pursue desire's mysterious byways.
Reviewed by Mary Gaitskill
[04/05/01]
Facing the Wind by Julie Salamon
The author of "The Devil's Candy" tells the true story of the ideal family man who suddenly plunged into homicidal madness.
Reviewed by Andrew O'Hehir
[04/04/01]
Going Up the River by Joseph Hallinan
Nonviolent criminals go in and sadistic thugs come out, but with military spending down, America's small towns are hooked on prisons.
Reviewed by Maria Russo
[03/29/01]
Stalingrad 1942-1943: The Infernal Cauldron by Stephen Walsh
Two books tell the truth about Stalingrad, the most horrific battle of our time -- and a movie desecrates it.
Reviewed by Gary Kamiya
[03/28/01]
Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter
A golden girl from Birmingham's elite takes a cold, hard look at her hometown's ugly past -- and her own father's role in it.
Reviewed by Allen Barra
[03/26/01]
"The Dream of Reason" and "Socrates Cafe"
Two authors explain philosophy's mysteries to the layman, but which book is better?
By Laura Miller
[03/23/01]
What to Read: March Fiction
Allegra Goodman's hilarious tale of promiscuous spiritual seeking, Pat Barker's tough-minded look at a child who murders, Nuala O'Faolain's searing novel of middle-aged sexuality and more.
By Salon's critics [03/15/01]
Seabiscuit, An American Legend by Laura Hillebrand
Surprise! The book everyone is reading and loving stars a stocky, funny-looking hero with four legs -- the champion racehorse Seabiscuit.
By Charles Taylor [03/14/01]
Inside Pitch by George Gmelch
Podunk towns, brutal competition, wooden bats and dirty laundry -- an anthropologist shows what the lives of pro baseball players are really like.
Reviewed by King Kaufman
[03/09/01]
Buried Alive by Jan Bondeson
Has it happened? Does it still happen? A new book tells the strangely hilarious history of the ultimate horror.
Reviewed by Gary Kamiya
[03/07/01]
Purified by Fire by Stephen Prothero
Denounced as "heathen," then touted as tasteful, cremation in America has lately taken a turn for the tacky.
By Laura Miller
[03/07/01]
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]
White-Collar Sweatshop by Jill Andresky Fraser
Bullying bosses, 24-hour on-call weeks, shrinking benefits -- and corporate workers never got their cut of the '90s boom.
Reviewed by Suzy Hansen
[03/01/01]
"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, Etcby 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 Artistby 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]
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