What to read in February

Doris Lessing's scathing indictment of the '60s left, a Pynchonesque tale of two rival weapons physicists and more in the month's best fiction.

Published February 21, 2002 11:32PM (EST)

February may be a short month, but this year it's long on good fiction, with a variety that guarantees something for every taste. Our current selection shows a dazzling breadth, ranging from Doris Lessing's withering take on the radicalism of the recent past, to a tale of dueling, paranoid weapons physicists, to the adventures of a supernaturally inspired Russian advertising whiz, to two intimate portraits of the inner lives of men wracked by early loss and a sleek marital melodrama set in Kennedy-era Washington.

If you feel like curling up with a long, character-filled family saga, you'll find that here. If your tastes incline more toward spare, psychologically penetrating novels, we've got those, too. There's postmodern hijinks and old-fashioned storytelling, wicked satire and heartbreakingly simple tales. In fact, the only thing February lacks is enough days to read them all.

Our first pick: Doris Lessing's scathing indictment of the '60s-era left


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